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

At that moment, Zhao Qingya was looking at a radio in a glass display case on the other side.

"Xiaoya, here, this is a gift for you."

Just as she was engrossed in watching, Zhou Rui's voice rang out from behind her.

Zhao Qingya seemed not to have heard Zhou Rui's words clearly, but she heard his voice and turned around to see him.

Zhou Rui was holding a notebook with a velvet cover and a small lock on it; it could also be called a diary.

The notebook is made of high-quality material, and the paper inside is very fine.

People around them cast envious glances, and two young men even spoke up.

"Wow, bro, you're rich! Buying such a nice notebook as a gift."

The other person echoed this.

Zhou Rui smiled at the two people who were talking, but did not reply.

Zhao Qingya recognized it at a glance. She went to high school in the county town, so she naturally knew about this kind of notebook.

She had always wanted one, but she didn't have enough pocket money.

Although the Zhao family was relatively wealthy compared to other families, they strictly controlled Zhao Qingya's allowance.

So she never got it.

Locked diaries held an unparalleled attraction for female students of this era, especially for those with very progressive ideas like Zhao Qingya.

It represents people's emphasis on "privacy".

Zhao Qingya's eyes were filled with emotion, and she couldn't wait to say a few words.

"Brother Rui, is this for me? Really?"

"How did you know I like this! I really, really love these kinds of doujinshi."

"Thank you, Brother Rui."

Zhao Qingya was still very excited and couldn't calm down for a long time. Her tutor had told her that she shouldn't accept gifts from others casually.

But the situation before her left her no choice; her inner hopes had already taken over her mind. After Zhou Rui nodded in confirmation, she took the diary with both hands and held it in her palms as if it were a precious treasure.

At this moment, Zhou Ming obviously noticed the situation as well. He walked over, glanced at it, and then turned away, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhao Qingya, engrossed in fiddling with the lock on her diary, was unaware of what was happening; she was immersed in joy.

But Zhou Rui saw it and smiled helplessly.

As the eldest brother, how could he possibly forget his younger brother?

And they have such a good relationship.

Zhou Ming, being sensible, didn't go forward to ask for it, fearing that Zhou Rui wouldn't have enough money.

However, Zhou Rui knew what his younger brother Zhou Ming liked, and he would buy it for him even if Zhou Ming didn't say so.

Zhou Rui took two steps forward, walked to the side of the glass display case, and came behind Zhou Ming.

At this moment, a somewhat disappointed Zhou Ming was looking at a set of currently popular martial arts novels, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," under the glass display case.

Zhou Ming looked at it again, then took out some money from his pocket, intending to buy one of the books himself. The price was very expensive, more than one yuan per book.

His disappointment wasn't about not having the money to buy it, but rather that Zhou Rui seemed to have no intention of giving it to him.

Just as he was taking out his money, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Big sister, how much is this set of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'?"

It was Zhou Rui's voice. His height of 175 cm made him stand out in the bustling crowd at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Zhou Rui, who was a little taller than Zhou Ming, was asking the salesperson a question from behind.

Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment when he heard the voice, and then his face lit up with joy.

He turned his head quickly: "Brother, you're buying me a set?"

Zhou Ming was somewhat incredulous. A set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" had four volumes, and the cheapest one cost at least four yuan.

That's enough to buy about 20 jin of rice and about 3 jin of meat!

This is a gift that would drive someone his age crazy!

At the age of 16, many people have a martial arts dream, and they yearn for that magical world.

This gift held a deeper attraction for Zhou Ming than the notebook had for the girl.

And the most crucial point, the reason that made Zhou Ming almost jump for joy, was:

His elder brother, Zhou Rui, had not forgotten him.

It's just a simple sentence, yet it contains magic.

The saleswoman looked over when she heard the noise, and when she saw that it was Zhou Rui again, her voice was filled with strong surprise.

"It's you again, young comrade. Buying the whole set of this book will be cheaper, but it will still cost four yuan."

"I don't recommend buying the whole set. You can rent it to see it; it's not expensive even for a day, and it's much more cost-effective."

The saleswoman couldn't understand Zhou Rui's behavior, because at this time, very few people would directly buy a whole set of martial arts books.

To most people, this is an absolutely unprofitable deal.

The children standing nearby looked up when they heard that someone wanted to buy the whole set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Among them, many cast green eyes at Zhou Ming, they were so envious!

One of the bolder ones directly pleaded with Zhou Ming.

"After your brother buys it for you, can I borrow it after you've finished watching it...?"

Zhou Ming was still immersed in emotion and joy, and had no time to reply to this person.

Zhou Rui looked at the saleswoman and nodded very seriously.

"Yes, please wrap it up for me. I'll take the whole set."

Zhou Rui waved his hand and pulled out a five-yuan bill from the neatly stacked banknotes, handing it to the saleswoman.

The saleswoman added another word of persuasion: "Young man, why don't you reconsider...?"

The saleswoman was just trying to be helpful; she didn't want to see Zhou Rui suffer such a loss because he was so sweet-talking.

But Zhou Rui's determined gaze said it all. After a few seconds of stalemate, the saleswoman gently shook her head and sighed, saying:

"Remember, no returns or exchanges after purchase."

Zhou Rui responded seriously with "I understand".

And so, the sales clerk took the five-yuan note from Zhou Rui's hand and skillfully gave him one yuan in change.

After receiving the money, the salesperson quickly opened the glass display case and took out the only complete set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Then, she took out a intact piece of kraft paper, carefully packed it, and handed the packaged books to Zhou Rui.

This scene left everyone around staring in disbelief.

An elderly woman who was picking out flashlights couldn't help but feel sorry for Zhou Rui when she saw this.

"Wow, four yuan! Young man, you're really rich. That's enough to buy twenty jin of rice..."

At that moment, her child was clamoring to rent a comic book.

The old woman didn't say the second half of her sentence, afraid of offending someone.

The child's noise seemed to displease the old woman, who grabbed him by the ear and pulled him outside...

Zhou Rui could naturally guess what the other party was going to say, which was nothing more than that he was too wasteful.

However, for him and for Zhou Ming, renting and buying are completely different things, and the difference in their meanings is too great.

They are worlds apart.

Amidst the envious gazes of more than a dozen people around, Zhou Rui picked up the exquisitely packaged copy of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and gently placed it in his younger brother Zhou Ming's palm.

"Brother, I know, I understand. Some things are different when you rent and when you buy."

"It has a different meaning."

"Actually, I used to love reading martial arts novels and wanted to become a great hero."

The four books are light, yet they carry the "heroic spirit" of a young boy in his childhood.

......