Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"No, no. Ah Xiang and Lu Cheng have nothing to do with each other. They're not dating."

Zhang Shitou quickly waved his hand, saying that he was not the kind of person who would steal someone else's partner and that he wouldn't take the blame for it.

"Tell me, tell me."

Gu Shaofeng immediately became excited; he loved hearing these kinds of things.

Although Wang Zhen and Zhou Rui didn't say anything, they were also watching intently, clearly showing their interest in the matter.

Even Wang Shouye's face was full of hope: "Speak, before your master's wife finishes cooking."

"Isn't this what Junior Brother said, asking me to find an excuse to go with Lu Cheng to Ah Xiang's house to see how her sister is doing?"

"After I got home, I went to find Lu Cheng. He bought some things and came to propose marriage, and I secretly watched from the side."

"result……"

Zhang Shitou was tongue-tied, and he would have to think things through as he spoke, which made Gu Shaofeng anxious.

"Go on, what happened?"

"The result was not what Lu Cheng said at all."

Wang Zhen glanced at Zhang Shitou; it seemed there was something going on here.

"What's wrong? Isn't Ah Xiang pretty?"

"No, Ah Xiang is quite pretty. It's just that she's not like what Lu Cheng said, that she's having an affair with him."

"When we went to A Xiang's house to propose marriage, her mother didn't agree, so the marriage didn't happen."

"No way. Didn't Lu Cheng say that Ah Xiang's mother was quite materialistic? He's made so much money this time, he definitely has enough for the bride price, and he can even save a lot to build a house and buy furniture, how could it fall through?"

Gu Shaofeng was somewhat incredulous. Logically speaking, the marriage should have gone smoothly, since Zhou Rui had extracted a lot of information from them in the mountains.

"We parted ways after leaving Ah Xiang's house. I went to their village to inquire and found out that Lu Cheng hadn't told us the truth at all."

As he spoke, Zhang Shitou picked up his cup and took a big gulp of hot water. He had never spoken so much at once before and felt extremely thirsty.

"Lu Cheng used to have a bad reputation in the village. He was always cheating and swindling. He liked to drink and gamble. Anyway, nobody in the village spoke well of him."

"His so-called relationship with Ah Xiang was just him harassing her one-sidedly."

"Ah Xiang's mother set a high bride price to discourage him from pursuing her son."

"This Ah Xiang is very filial. She didn't get married so late not because she was waiting for Lu Cheng, but because she wanted to help with more chores at home."

Hearing this, Zhou Rui suddenly interjected, "Didn't Ah Xiang's mother see how much money he made? Didn't she change her mind and marry her daughter to him?"

"No. Her mother said that Lu Cheng is not a good person to manage money. Even if he makes so much money this time, he won't be able to keep it sooner or later. She doesn't want her daughter to live a hard life in the future. But her mother is right."

"What's wrong?"

"When Lu Cheng and I came out, I overheard him muttering a few words. After Lu Cheng took the money from us, guess where he went first?"

Zhang Shitou paused here, looking as if to say, "You'd never guess this."

"We went to the casino." Zhou Rui answered without hesitation, following up on Zhang Shitou's words.

"Junior brother, how...how did you know?"

Zhang Shitou's eyes widened in disbelief. Gu Shaofeng and Wang Zhen also turned to look at Zhou Rui, surprised that Zhou Rui had actually guessed correctly.

Only Wang Shouye remained relatively calm. He had long known that Zhou Rui was intelligent; all his other apprentices combined couldn't match his brains.

"Didn't you say he likes to drink and gamble? A leopard can't change its spots."

Zhou Rui shrugged. He had seen plenty of people like this in his past and present lives. Wasn't it this very thing that he had used to get his cousin, Zhou Chen, sent to jail?

"Third brother, what are you thinking? Have you taken a liking to Ah Xiang?"

Wang Zhen's eyes darted around. Hearing Zhang Shitou keep mentioning Ah Xiang but never mentioning her sister, he seemed to understand something.

"Hehe... Didn't my junior brother say that marriage is a lifelong commitment, and the most important thing is that you like it?"

As Zhang Shitou spoke, he kept staring at Zhou Rui, as if he wanted Zhou Rui's approval.

Zhou Rui thought about it and realized that since Zhang Shitou had inquired about this Ah Xiang in Lu Cheng's village, she was indeed a person who lived a simple life.

Moreover, the fact that Ah Xiang's mother was able to refuse Lu Cheng's high dowry, so that Ah Xiang wouldn't suffer in the future, shows that she wasn't someone who only cared about money.

"Third Senior Brother, I support you. If you really like Ah Xiang, then find someone to propose marriage."

Zhou Rui sincerely offered his suggestions.

He has good character, his family has sound values, and most importantly, Zhang Shitou likes him.

The family is facing some financial difficulties, and Zhang Shitou, as their son-in-law, may need to contribute more in the future. However, this should not be a problem for Zhang Shitou in the future.

"That's right, that's right..."

Zhang Shitou hesitated for a moment.

"What is it?"

Zhou Rui was also a little confused at this point, wondering what Zhang Shitou could possibly be hesitating about.

"That is, where Lu Cheng will be in the future..."

Zhou Rui listened to Zhang Shitou's half-finished sentence and realized that Zhang Shitou was afraid of delaying his future cooperation with Lu Cheng.

Zhou Rui turned his gaze to Wang Shouye, as this matter needed to be resolved by his mentor, since Lu Cheng was his mentor.

"Don't worry about Lu Cheng. He came to us because he values ​​our integrity and money. If he stops contacting me with information because of this, that's his loss. I don't need him as a source of information."

Wang Shouye was very magnanimous; compared to those small gains, his apprentice's life was more important.

"Have you made up your mind? If you have, I'll have your master's wife go and propose marriage to you."

"Dinner's ready. What are you all talking about? Who asked me to propose marriage?"

Just then, Li Mei came in carrying the food.

"Sixth Aunt".

When Wang Zhen saw Li Mei enter the room, he quickly took the food from her.

"We're talking about Shi Tou. He's taken a fancy to a girl. Uncle Liu said he wants you to go and propose marriage to Shi Tou."

"Okay then. How old is the girl? Where is she from? Are her parents still alive? How many siblings does she have? How much is the bride price?"

Li Mei set out the bowls and chopsticks while talking. She was bored at home and was very interested in these kinds of things.

Zhang Shitou was bewildered by Li Mei's barrage of questions. He hadn't even made a decision yet, so how did they start talking about betrothal gifts?

"Master's wife, their village is quite far away. She's not from our town, she's from Aoshan Village in the neighboring Hongxing Town..."

"What's so far? It's just the next town. We can just rent an oxcart and go. It's settled then, I'll start preparing as soon as you get back. What kind of gifts should we buy for our visit? We can't be impolite."

Li Mei waved her hand, interrupting Zhang Shitou. Wang Shouye was earning quite a bit now, and she had nowhere to spend it; renting an oxcart wouldn't cost much.

But arranging marriages for younger generations is a rare pleasure, and we can't let it slip away.

"Huh? Huh?"

Zhang Shitou was stunned. This was settled already, and he hadn't even told his parents yet.

"Alright, let's eat. Listen to your master's wife about this. A good girl should be brought up early, or someone else will definitely snatch her away."

Wang Shouye made the final decision, giving Zhang Shitou no chance to speak at all.

It is said that a teacher for a day is a father for life. Once parents make a decision, how can a child like you have the chance to object?