Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Chapter 130 New Intelligence: Investigating the Yang Family Grandfather and Grandson

Liu Shouxin's cold words clearly stung Wang Er's heart; his smile froze, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

It was Liu Benshan who stepped in to smooth things over.

"Thank you so much for your help today. Please come visit me anytime you have time."

His words were a little warmer, unlike his son's cold tone.

Hearing this attitude, Wang Er's expression softened, and he readily agreed.

"Alright, Brother Liu, I'll head back now."

After Wang Er finished speaking, he didn't stay there any longer and turned to leave.

After he left, Liu Shouxin snorted coldly, "Dad, what's the point of talking to someone like that? I'd rather have nothing to do with him."

"You brat, what do you know? Today is your wedding day. If you ruin your relationship with him, it won't do our family any good."

Liu Benshan picked up his chopsticks again and started eating, talking as he ate.

"Grandpa Zhou, don't you think that makes sense? I also dislike their family, but there's nothing I can do about it. After all, you can't hit someone who's smiling at you."

Zhou Yong'an, standing to the side, had a kind face. He smiled slightly and looked at the other person in response.

"You can't deny it."

The minor incident didn't significantly disrupt their meal.

After the two families had a pleasant dinner together, Zhou Rui and his group returned to their own home.

It was past nine o'clock when everyone got home. The two students were getting ready to wash up and go to bed when Yang Laidi came back with them after they finished eating in the afternoon.

The Zhou family also gave a monetary gift this time. It's not that you don't have to give anything if you help out; the amount they gave was moderate.

Upon arriving home, Zhou Rui, who had been in a calm mood and was even happy for Liu Shouxin, looked at his dilapidated, cramped, and damp house.

He felt somewhat helpless; building houses was still the only option.

After seeing that his childhood friend's family had also built a small house, Zhou Rui's desire to build a house became uncontrollable.

However, this requires far too much money, so we can't rush it.

The Zhou family's mud-brick house was only considered average in the village, because they thought things would be better after they were allocated a new house. Who would have thought that reality would give them such a blow?

Because of supporting my uncle's schooling and my maternal grandfather's serious illness, the family's fortune, which was originally set to split up, plummeted overnight.

Zhou Rui kept these thoughts to himself and secretly resolved to build the house as soon as possible.

None of them had the habit of staying up late, and since they had all eaten, they went to sleep after sitting for a while.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Zhou Rui got up and was getting ready to wash up when there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Rui opened the door, and the person who came in was Liu Shouxin.

"Little Ruizi, come here, I'm bringing some vegetables to your house, otherwise they'll go bad in this weather."

Liu Shouxin stood outside the door with some leftover food, his wife Lu Qin standing behind him. It was around eight o'clock, still quite early.

It seems the Liu family spent quite a bit of time last night.

"Old Liu, what are you doing? Why didn't you go to your mother-in-law's house on the first day of your wedding? Why did you come here specifically to bring me dried vegetables? Aren't you afraid your wife will be angry?"

Zhou Rui invited the two men into the house, but neither of them wanted to come in. At this moment, Lu Qin spoke up at the right time: "Brother, you are joking. Shouxin has told me about you countless times. It's nothing. We were just passing by and thought it would be a waste if the grain went bad, so we brought it to you. We were just afraid that you would find it unpalatable."

Lu Qin was very dignified. She was two years older than Liu Shouxin. Although she was not particularly beautiful, she had a blessed appearance, which was one of the reasons why Zhou Rui sighed that his childhood friend was so lucky.

After hearing those two sentences from this woman, I immediately felt different.

With a smile, Zhou Rui took the covered basin from Liu Shouxin. The aroma of meat wafted from inside, and Zhou Rui hesitated again.

"What are you saying, sister-in-law? I'm so grateful, but... this looks like a meat dish. Maybe you can keep it and eat it."

These days, nobody dislikes leftovers from a big feast; on the contrary, these things are in high demand. Liu Shouxin said that on purpose.

In times of food and clothing shortages, no family would leave grain uneaten; it was all precious, let alone meat and vegetables.

After a large banquet, leftovers are usually packed up and taken away by the host's close relatives and friends, while meat and vegetables are kept by the family for their own consumption.

Zhou Rui knew from the smell that Liu Shouxin had done it on purpose; he wanted to send meat and vegetables to his family.

Liu Shouxin readily agreed with his wife, not finding the meat and vegetables unusual, or rather, compared to Zhou Rui, they were just a few vegetables and nothing special.

"If you don't accept it, then you're looking down on us. Don't be so fussy. It's just some leftovers, not some treasure. Besides, your whole family was busy yesterday, and I didn't even say thank you."

Liu Shouxin was straightforward, so Zhou Rui stopped refusing. At this moment, Zhou's mother came out from the inner room.

"You're trustworthy, why don't you come in and sit down?"

"No, Auntie, I need to go back to my parents' house with Xiaoqin."

Zeng Jiamei took the dish from Zhou Rui's hand. She didn't deliberately refuse, as that would seem a bit hypocritical.

She poured the vegetables into her own vegetable basin, then washed the basin with water before putting it back into Zhou Rui's hands.

Zhou Rui returned the cleaned vegetable basin to Liu Shouxin.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Haha, okay, Auntie, Little Ruizi, I'll be going now. Come visit sometime."

Liu Shouxin left with his wife, and Zhou Rui closed the door and went inside.

At this moment, Zhou's mother also praised, "Shouxin is a good child, sensible. I think that girl is also a good person. The Liu family will be happy and fulfilled in the future!"

"Mom, our family isn't doing badly either."

"I'd be happier if you could give Mom a grandson or granddaughter soon."

Zhou Rui: "————"

The Zhou family did not go out, because after being delayed yesterday, they still had to go out to harvest wheat and rice today.

However, Zhou Shiwei went to the village primary school. Although it was Saturday, he went to help move things in preparation for the formal classes next week.

Because it was Saturday, Zhou Guo'er and Zhou Xing didn't go to school and stayed home. Of course, Zhao Qingya, who was also a student, didn't go back to the county town either.

At this time, the whole family was preparing to go out to work. Zhou Shijie and his wife had already taken their two children, Zhou Ming, ahead of them.

Only Zeng Jiamei and her son Zhou Rui were inside; the grandparents were at home, busy processing the harvested wheat.

The mother and son were delayed because they were waiting for Zhao Qingya, who said she was coming to harvest wheat with Zhou Rui today. Zhou Rui initially refused, telling her to focus on her studies.

Zhao Qingya refused, but Zhou Rui eventually agreed.

Zhao Qingya didn't keep the two of them waiting too long. Around 8:30, she knocked on the Zhou family's door.

Zhou Rui opened it again, but at some point, his grandfather Zhou Yong'an quietly came up behind him.

"Oh~ Qingya is here! Come in quickly, Ruizi has been waiting for you for so long~"

Standing by the door, Zhou Rui, whose smile had just appeared on his face, froze instantly.

No, Grandpa, what are you doing!

Why are you still so gossipy at your age? You're ruining your grandson's life!

Zhou Rui's lips twitched, and he almost rolled his eyes to the sky. He never expected that his grandfather would still be such a playful old man. Zhou Rui slowly turned around, and sure enough, there stood an old man with his hands behind his back, thick eyebrows, and a thin face. His expression was very kind, and Zhou Rui saw a hint of satisfaction.

That shows his satisfaction with his granddaughter-in-law.

Before Zhou Rui could speak, Zhao Qingya, who was outside the door, spoke up confidently.

"Grandpa, really? Brother Rui is really waiting for me?"

"Sorry, Brother Rui, my dad had something come up at home and told me I was a little late. Come on, let's go to work in the fields together, hehe~"

Zhou Rui took several deep breaths, looked helplessly at his grandfather for a while, and then turned to look at Zhao Qingya.

"It's alright, Xiaoya. Lao Liu is coming over anyway, so it won't take long. Shall we head now?"

Zhou Rui cleverly avoided bringing up other topics and simply prepared to take Zhao Qingya to the fields.

Just then, Zhou Yong'an's voice rang out from behind.

"You rascal, you actually took that girl to the fields? What an idiot!"

Zhou Yong'an seemed somewhat disappointed in his son.

Zhou Rui scratched his head, "That seems to be true."

He hadn't even finished his work at Old Zhao's house, and Xiao Ya was already running over to help her family?

Why is that?

Zhou Rui wasn't unaware of the situation, but he simply hadn't thought about it that much.

However, Zhao Qingya cleverly defused Zhou Rui's embarrassment.

"Grandpa, Brother Rui said he would help my family, so it's only right that I come and help first."

Zhou Yong'an didn't say anything more, but just patted Zhou Rui's shoulder and gave him a look.

In the end, Zhou Rui, his mother, and Zhao's daughter went to another wheat field that could be harvested.

Upon arriving at the place, everyone already working there had strange looks in their eyes. Zhou Ming was also slowly regaining some of his former personality, and he was gradually emerging from that sadness.

Zhou Rui was very pleased.

No one teased Zhou Rui; they all just smiled.

Today, Zhao Qingya didn't wear a skirt, but rather a simple outfit that ordinary women in the village often wear.

She knew she was there to work, so she didn't wear any pretty clothes. Even so, she was still fair-skinned and had an ethereal quality that drew attention.

Zhou Rui was reluctant to let Zhao Qingya actually go down to work in the fields. The two of them stood on the edge of the field, and after his mother got her tools and went down to the field, Zhou Rui also prepared to go down to work.

"Xiaoya, why don't you stop working and just wait for us here? When we're done, I'll take you out to play."

As Zhou Rui picked up the sickle, he turned his head to talk to Zhao Qingya.

However, at this moment, he saw a different scene.

Zhao Qingya had already rolled up her sleeves, grabbed her sickle, and jumped down onto the ridge first.

"Brother Rui~ Let's see who can cut faster and better~"

Zhao Qingya didn't treat herself like a decorative vase; she also got down on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhou Rui didn't say anything more; he didn't actually like vases either.

"Coming right up!"

The sun shines brightly today, the golden wheat swaying in the breeze, and the aroma of wheat wafts into my nostrils—the smell of harvest.

Around a certain time, Zhou Rui, who was chatting and laughing with Zhao Qingya, realized that today's intelligence had been updated. He closed his eyes almost imperceptibly, quickly sensed the information, and couldn't help but feel a little happy.

Today's intelligence reports are two, both in white, but they are both very gratifying.

[Intelligence 1: This afternoon, Long Er was taken away by the police station for investigation. The reason is that he slandered others, damaged their reputation, and spread incorrect ideas.]

[Intelligence 1 Quality: White]

Yes, the reason Zhou Rui was overjoyed was that Long Er, that annoying guy, had finally been taken away for investigation.

But that's not all; Zhou Rui was also delighted by another piece of information.

[Intelligence 2: This afternoon, Yang Mu was taken away for investigation for spreading rumors and abusing his power. This also led to another case, with multiple people jointly reporting that Yang Mu bullied women without cause. At the same time, his grandson Yang Bao was also taken away for education for stealing property.]

The two intelligence reports involved three people: Long Er, Yang Mu, and Yang Bao.

The matter is quite simple; the two pieces of information essentially explain the same thing.

He got his comeuppance.

Zhou Rui opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and clear. Now, he could finally have some peace and quiet.

Do not live by committing sins.

After muttering something to himself, Zhou Rui realized that this time, his efforts to sever ties between the two sides might not be so simple.

Leaving aside Long Er for now, the intelligence about Yang Mu clearly mentioned that he had committed other crimes as well.

Unjustifiably oppressing women—perhaps this is just a euphemism; there are deeper issues to be uncovered, and this is something Yang Mu was capable of doing.

His grandson, Yang Bao, was arrested for theft and treason. Both of their crimes seem to be much more serious than Long Er's. If we dig deeper, things could get very complicated for the Yang family.

Looking at the second sentence, Zhou Rui knew about the defamation and the destruction of others' reputations, and that they were all related to him. But what about the second sentence?

Spreading incorrect ideas.

Zhou Rui recalled those words again, and now he felt a cold sweat break out. Those few words, though short, were both very big and very small.

It depends on what label they're being given...

However, Long Er might actually do such a thing. After all, given his temperament, wouldn't he be considered a traitor in that era?

Zhou Ruitai and the other man showed no pity whatsoever. This was his own doing, and they were merely pushing things to the surface.

Regaining his composure, Zhou Rui looked at everything before him and immediately felt much happier.

Although he could turn a blind eye to some neutral parties, it didn't mean he was indifferent. First, he learned about the mastermind, and now that the mastermind had become the acting prime minister, how could he not be happy?

What's more, the reason for my even greater happiness is all that's happening right now.

In the golden wheat field, several figures dotted the landscape. Zhou Guo'er, who was a little older, was working alongside the others, while Zhou Jian was catching insects in the fields.

That's how it is for children in rural areas. After school, they usually have to go to the fields to cut pig feed to cook for the pigs, or they have to help with farm work during busy farming seasons.

The Zhou family doesn't raise pigs or any large animals, only a few chickens. They sold their pigs after struggling to make ends meet in the first half of the year, which is why they don't have any large livestock now.

Zeng Jiamei had originally suggested that Zhou Guo'er and her two children should stop coming to the fields and stay home to study.

As a result, Zhou Guo'er said that knowledge gained from books is ultimately superficial, and true understanding requires practice. She also wanted to join in.

Zhou Rui gave a thumbs up to these words, because he had taught them to Zhou Guo'er during his free time, and the girl had not only remembered them but also understood them.

Finally, watching Zhao Qingya's beautiful and graceful figure moving through the mall, occasionally looking up, she would always look for a tall figure first. If that figure happened to see her, a smile would always appear on her face.

Everything was so vibrant and pleasant.