Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Unexpectedly, the fat woman was particularly ruthless. When she found that she couldn't press down on the head with her hands, she did the opposite and smashed her own head down.

Their foreheads collided, making a loud clanging sound.

Just then, a fragrance wafted into the fat woman's nose; it smelled like face cream, though it was slightly different from the one she used.

"Well, you little vixen. I told Zhang Hongbo I had a receipt for face cream in my pocket that I never saw the product, and he lied to me that he gave it to a leader. Turns out, that leader was you."

"I'll scratch your face so you can go out and seduce men."

As he spoke, he swung his claws at Shen Yanhong's face.

At this moment, a sturdy figure stood up, pulled away the old woman who was grabbing the fat woman's arm, and kicked her.

The fat woman fell to her side and rolled several times on the ground, demonstrating the force of the kick.

Everyone looked up and saw that it was Zhao Zhigang who had stepped forward. He could handle his wife himself, but no one else could.

As the pressure eased, Shen Yanhong used her hands to prop herself up, her hair obscuring her face.

She looked up, peering through her hair. The tall man, who had always stood in front of her, was there again this time.

She silently lowered her head, lost in thought.

The plump woman was thick-skinned and tough; she rolled around on the ground a few times, and apart from getting a little dust on her body, she was completely unharmed.

She stood up, still wanting to pounce on Shen Yanhong, when she saw Zhao Zhigang standing there straight, his bloodshot eyes fixed on her.

The fat woman paused, and unconsciously took a step back.

Then, she suddenly turned around and charged at Zhang Hongbo again. She was seething with anger and wouldn't be satisfied until she vented it.

This time, no one stopped her. She punched Zhang Hongbo repeatedly in the face and cheered.

"Stop! All of you, stop! Hachi, huff huff..."

A middle-aged man wearing glasses ran over, his clothes open, no hat on his head, and his shoes shuffling along. The strong smell of alcohol emanating from his mouth made several middle-aged women and older women back away.

"Hoo hoo... I said stop, didn't you hear me?"

The middle-aged man with glasses was somewhat angry, feeling that his authority had been challenged, as no one here listened to him.

So he put one hand on his hip and pointed at the crowd surrounding him with the other.

"Hey you, Luo Qiang, and Cao Yi, you guys pull these people apart. Where are we? This is a woodworking factory compound, not some rural street corner. What kind of behavior is this, fighting and killing like this?"

Zhou Rui looked at the man. Although he seemed to be in a hurry and his clothes were a bit disheveled, he could tell from his tone that the man held a certain position in the factory.

Those men pointed at by the middle-aged man, though somewhat unwilling, still stepped forward and forcefully pulled the two apart.

After the fat woman was pulled away, she still looked unconvinced, but when she saw the bespectacled middle-aged man standing there, she didn't go forward to fight again, clearly still having some reservations.

A gentle breeze blew by, and the middle-aged man felt a chill. He quickly buttoned up his clothes, one button at a time, from top to bottom, neatly and carefully.

Then, he smoothed his hair, which had been messed up by the wind as he ran over.

Once everything was in order, the middle-aged man slowly began to speak.

"Hey, Zhao Zhigang, you tell me, what's going on here?"

Zhou Rui frowned as he looked at the man with glasses. What was wrong with him? He always addressed people with such disrespectful language and acted like a leader.

Zhao Zhigang grunted in response, said nothing, and squatted down again.

"Zhao Zhigang, what's your attitude? I'm asking you a question, stand up and answer me."

Grandpa Wang quickly stepped forward: "Officer Li, please don't be angry. Gangzi was wronged and is still upset. What do you want to know? I'll tell you."

Grandpa Wang, with his kind face, nodded and bowed as he tried to smooth things over.

Zhou Rui was somewhat displeased. Wasn't it supposed to be that the factory's top leaders were notified? Why did only a junior staff member show up?

He turned to look at Tong Lei, who noticed Zhou Rui's displeased gaze and instantly understood.

Tong Lei waved to the side, and a young man about the same age as Tong Lei walked over.

"Shunzi, what's going on? Didn't I tell you to notify the factory manager? Why is it only a clerk showing up now?"

Although the two were about the same age, the young man named Shunzi was very polite to Tong Lei.

"Brother Lei, I did exactly as you said. The factory manager is having dinner with leaders from other units in a private room, and this Secretary Li is also there with them."

"After hearing about what happened here, the factory director couldn't leave, so he asked Officer Li to handle it."

"Don't worry, this Li is a staff member in the personnel department. He's about to be promoted to deputy section chief. He's the factory director's right-hand man and has the authority to deal with Chef Zhang."

Shunzi explained quickly and clearly, so as not to displease Tong Lei and make him feel that he had taken the money but had not done a good job.

Tong Lei didn't say anything after hearing this, but instead turned to look at Zhou Rui. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Rui nod.

"Okay, I understand."

Shunzi found the interaction between the two rather strange. In his eyes, Tong Lei was a man of some standing in this town, yet he was being so respectful to this young man.

"Officer Li, it's like this. Gangzi, that's Zhao Zhigang. Wasn't he out driving today? He ate dinner at home and then left."

"But after a while, he came back for some reason. Then we saw Zhang Hongbo come out of his house, still like this. Ugh."

As he spoke, Grandpa Wang spat on the ground, because Zhang Hongbo's current appearance was simply unbearable to be seen by others.

"Isn't it obvious that Zhang Hongbo and Gangzi's wife were having an affair at Gangzi's house? Gangzi deserved to beat him up. If we weren't afraid of killing him, we wouldn't have stopped them at first."

Grandpa Wang recounted what he had seen, but his words were clearly biased towards Zhao Zhigang.

Officer Li adjusted his glasses, thinking to himself, "Although Grandpa Wang doesn't understand the whole story, at least it's simple and clear."

It's just a shameful affair involving prostitution in the factory. There are precedents for this; those who have jobs are fired first, then paraded through the streets with placards displayed.

However, it's not good that Zhao Zhigang abandoned his work and ran back. He should still be criticized and educated, as this is a matter of work attitude.

All he wanted to do right now was get things done quickly so he could go back and have drinks with the factory manager. They were still entertaining the manager's friends there, and he wanted to get to know more people so he could build relationships in the future.

"Zhao Zhigang, Zhao Zhigang, get up. Tell me, why did you drive the car out and then come back?"

Officer Li kicked Zhao Zhigang's thigh.

Zhao Zhigang suddenly stood up and stood in front of Officer Li, half a head taller than him. Officer Li was so frightened that he took a step back, thinking that Zhao Zhigang was about to make a move.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhigang didn't make any move, but just said in a muffled voice, "The car broke down. It stopped as soon as we drove out of town. I'll come back and call a mechanic to fix it."

"Then I overheard Mr. Li and the others chatting, saying that Zhang Hongbo often gives my wife gifts, and that Zhang Hongbo saw me drive my car out today and then run towards my house."

"My mind went blank when I heard that, so I ran home, and then... and then I saw..."