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

The saleswoman was somewhat stunned. Despite trying to calm herself, she still managed to ask:

"Young man, you can't make impulsive purchases! Where did you get this money? Do your elders at home know?"

Zhou Rui was clearly half a head taller than her, but the saleswoman still subconsciously treated Zhou Rui as a child when asking her questions.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui first glanced at Zhou Ming beside him, then turned back and politely said:

"Sister, this isn't an impulsive purchase. My brother likes it, and my family likes these things too, so I'm buying it. This money came from our hunting."

After saying that, Zhou Rui thought for a moment and added:

Thank you for your concern.

After listening to Zhou Rui's explanation, the salesperson finally took out the comic books and divided them into three sets.

One set of "Three Battles with the White Bone Demon", one set of excerpts from "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and one set of the currently popular "Shaolin Temple".

There are thirteen comic books in total.

The Shaolin Temple series consists of five volumes, and each volume is the most expensive.

Comic books are less expensive than printed books because printed books have more content, while a single comic book usually has very little content, so the price is cheaper.

Even so, these comic books added up to 2.44 yuan.

Although it wasn't as expensive as the whole set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" I bought last time, these comic books just aren't very appealing...

However, Zhou Rui did not feel it was a waste, because anyone in the family could read this comic book format, and his mother and second aunt also liked it.

Not to mention my two little cousins.

So, Zhou Rui finally took out another 2.5 yuan and gave it to the salesperson, and then received 3 sets of the comic book.

Just when everyone thought the boy's shopping trip was about to end, Zhou Rui still hadn't left.

He walked towards the tobacco and alcohol section again...

Seeing this, the only male sales clerk who had been watching Zhou Rui but hadn't said a word came over.

He stood by the tobacco and alcohol counter, looking at Zhou Rui.

Although Zhou Rui was curious as to why the other party had come over, after thinking about it, he assumed that it was because of his actions earlier that had attracted attention. So he ignored the other party and started looking at the cigarettes on his own.

He remembered that his father and grandfather both loved to smoke, especially the "Hongmei" brand, as well as the "Daqianmen" and "Hongtashan" brands.

Of course, among these, "Hongtashan" is an absolutely high-end cigarette, costing twice as much as the other two, so it is generally only bought to entertain distinguished guests during the Chinese New Year.

Of course, even the first two are considered high-end products, because there are also everyday cigarettes such as "Spring City", "Blue Goose" and "Jinsha River".

These daily cigarettes are usually priced between 1 cents and 1.5 cents.

Compared to "Huang Hongmei" (with a filter) and "Da Qianmen" (also around 40 cents), these are more than half the price.

Zhou Rui is very familiar with the price and brand of every type of cigarette currently available, and he is not alone; most people in Southwest China are the same.

This is because it is also one of the main places of origin for tobacco.

Just as Zhou Rui's gaze swept over the packs of cigarettes, the man who had come over from the other side asked a question.

"Young comrade, your eyebrows and eyes look a lot like someone. Are you a descendant of Sergeant Zhou Yong'an?"

The man looked to be in his fifties or sixties, a generation older than Zhou Rui's father. He wasn't as energetic as Zhou Shiwei, as his hair had started to turn white.

Zhou Rui looked up at the other person in surprise.

When the male sales clerk saw Zhou Rui again, he simply murmured repeatedly:

"Yes, it looks just like it..."

Seeing this, Zhou Rui figured the man must have a connection with his grandfather, so he tried asking:

"Uncle, do you know my grandfather?"

Upon hearing this reply, the man sighed deeply and said:

"Of course I know him... How could I not know him... Back when our old squad leader led us to fight the Japanese, he was so impressive..."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Zhou Jian. We're from the same clan. I served under your grandfather back in the day, and he took good care of me."

The man named Zhou Jian's eyes were filled with reminiscence of the past. Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui immediately replied politely:

"Hello Uncle Zhou, um... how come I haven't seen you before?"

Zhou Rui was puzzled because he was quite familiar with the supply and marketing cooperative, and logically he should know all the salespersons there.

However, there are exceptions, such as the recent personnel changes.

As expected, Prosecutor Zhou smiled and explained:

"I just took office today, but I didn't expect to meet the descendants of my old sergeant here. How has the old sergeant been doing lately? Is he still smoking like before?"

"I know that back then, our old squad leader would never stop until he'd taken down a few Japanese devils after smoking a cigarette."

Zhou Jian spoke with great enthusiasm, as if he had returned to that era.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui mumbled:

"Grandpa is actually doing well, everything is fine. That's why I've come to buy him cigarettes."

Upon hearing this, Prosecutor Zhou seemed to sense something amiss and asked carefully:

"From what you're saying, it seems the old squad leader... he should be retired by now, after all these years of hard work. And what about Brother Zhou Wei? How's he doing lately?"

He respectfully addressed Zhou Shiwei as his elder brother.

Zhou Jian naturally assumed that Zhou Yong'an, as the former squad leader, would receive very generous treatment, but to his surprise, Zhou Rui simply said without changing his expression:

"My grandfather refused the arrangement made by the higher authorities and chose to stay at home to farm for the rest of his life. He said: 'We can't cause trouble for the country. If we don't have the ability, we should stay at home honestly.'"

"As for my dad, he's doing quite well. He does odd jobs at the local primary school and works with construction teams during holidays."

Upon hearing the first sentence, Zhou Jian didn't seem surprised, because he knew the old squad leader's temperament; he was an upright and incorruptible person who always thought of others.

But upon hearing the second sentence, he keenly sensed something was amiss. Immediately, Zhou Jian frowned and asked in a deep voice:

"What's going on? It's one thing that the old squad leader didn't make arrangements, but he requested it himself. And your dad won't make arrangements either? I don't remember this happening back then."

When Zhou Rui was answering, he had already thought about it. Over the years, how could he not harbor resentment? How could he? He had always remembered Li Dehua's despicable methods.

Now that he had the chance, he decided to file a complaint, even though he didn't know if it would actually work, but he was willing to give it a try.

Moreover, he did not state it directly, but simply spoke the truth about his father's current situation.

Zhou Rui shook his head, pretending not to know.

Seeing this, Prosecutor Zhou looked around and finally said:

"This isn't the place to talk. How about this, I'll visit our old sergeant tonight and maybe even get a free meal while I'm at it?"

Zhou Jian proposed a solution: firstly, he hadn't seen Zhou Yong'an for many years and missed him dearly; secondly, there were some things he needed to see in person.