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

The 28th day of the seventh lunar month, a Tuesday, the sun was shining brightly.

Zhou Rui got up. He didn't have the habit of sleeping in late, but it was still a bit late because it was around eight o'clock in the morning.

I rolled out of bed, the wooden bed creaking. My younger brother was nowhere to be seen on the bed next to mine; he probably went to the construction site with Dad.

Zhou Rui felt a little embarrassed, as if he were just a freeloader. Since his rebirth, he had never gone out to work with his father again.

Sunlight streamed in through a spotted old-fashioned window, making the fine dust particles in the air clearly visible.

Zhou Rui touched his shoulder; the injury there had healed considerably, scabbing over, and the redness and swelling on his arm had subsided.

He got up and walked out of the room to the stove in the backyard. He picked up the mottled red kettle, poured hot water into a basin, and prepared to wash up.

The house was quiet. My dad, second uncle, and younger brother were probably out working. My grandparents would take a walk around every morning, as was their usual routine.

What Zhou Rui found strange was that his mother and second aunt were not home either, but the house and backyard were very clean.

"Big brother, get up! Auntie said she and Mom won't be back for lunch, so we have to cook for ourselves. There are still leftovers from last night."

Zhou Rui was washing up when Zhou Guo'er, who was reading aloud in the vegetable garden in the backyard with a textbook, heard the noise and came in.

She usually calls Zeng Jiamei "Auntie," and in the village, people also call her "Auntie," which means the same thing.

Zhou Rui rubbed his face haphazardly, put a tattered towel back on the shelf, and then carried the water from washing his face to the vegetable garden and poured it into the dirty water bucket.

"Little sister, where did your aunt and the others go? Did your second aunt go too?"

Zhou Rui went back into the house and put the basin away.

Zhou Guo'er is not tall, with the typical height of a person from Southwest China, and is 20 centimeters shorter than Zhou Rui, who is 175 cm tall.

She walked up to Zhou Rui, tilted her head back, blinked, and said:

"Big brother, it seems that Grandma and the others are going to town on business. I saw them leave with their food this morning."

Zhou Guo'er has clean and neat eyebrows and a delicate nose. She looks very cute at first glance, no wonder her mother loves her. Who wouldn't like this little sister?

Zhou Rui smiled, took a piece of candy out of his pocket, and handed it to Zhou Guo'er.

"Little sister, have a candy first. Have you had breakfast yet? Or I can make you a bowl of noodles so we can eat together."

Zhou Guo'er happily accepted the candy, but instead of tearing off the wrapper, she put it in her pocket.

Because she still had a book in her hand, if she tore open the candy wrapper now and ate it, the candy would stick to her hand, which would be very uncomfortable, let alone turn the pages of the book.

Zhou Rui was not surprised at all; he knew his cousin would do this.

Zhou Guo'er accepted the candy, sweetly said thank you, and then continued:

"Big brother, you're so lazy! We just ate noodles, so we didn't cook any more. We were afraid they'd clump together and not taste good."

"The lady also made some toppings, which are still in the vegetable cabinet. They smell so good, we specially saved some for you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui blushed slightly, turned around to provide cover and lit the firewood, then put a pot on the stove to boil water in preparation for cooking noodles. After doing these two things, he walked to a dark red wooden cabinet.

This is an old vegetable cabinet that the Zhou family has used for many years. They usually store the clean dishes and chopsticks in this cabinet.

Opening the cabinet, a meaty aroma wafted into my nostrils; these were leftovers from last night's meal.

The topping that Zhou Guo'er mentioned is actually the term used in the Southwest. In later generations, it usually refers to a stir-fry made with minced meat or similar ingredients.

People would have a spoonful of Chongqing noodles before eating them or before going to work in the fields. They would blanch a small handful of pea shoots and add a little lard. The taste was simply wonderful.

Zhou Rui brought out the bowl of toppings, which were actually quite simple. It was just some leftover musk deer meat from last night, which Zeng Jiamei had stir-fried with chili peppers.

There was still half a bowl left, and Zeng Jiamei and the others didn't want to put in any more.

Seeing this, Zhou Rui felt quite embarrassed...

Judging from the looks of it, he seems to be the laziest person in the family now. His father and second uncle go to work early, while his mother and younger sister also get up early to read or do chores.

Even Zhou Guo'er was teasing him just now.

Zhou Rui, holding a half-bowl of toppings, coughed lightly. Fortunately, Zhou Guo'er's attention wasn't on him; she continued reading her book.

Zhou Rui returned to the stove, where flames flickered in the fire pit. While the noodles were cooking, Zhou Rui also focused his attention on today's daily intelligence report.

He actually noticed it when he woke up, but he just hadn't looked closely.

[Intelligence 1: Today, Li Dehua will receive news that his henchman has acquired a top-quality deer antler in the county town, telling him he bought it for 160 yuan. Li Dehua doesn't believe the price is that high, but to save face in front of his henchman, he ultimately accepts it for 165 yuan.]

[Intelligence 2: Today, Zeng Jiamei deliberately gathered information in town while also selling handicrafts, hoping to do something for her son. Unfortunately, she didn't gain any valuable information.]

The two pieces of information seem to be of little value, the kind of things to talk about over tea, and the latter one might not even attract anyone's attention.

However, Zhou Rui is not in this group.

He vaguely guessed that the deer antler that Li Dehua bought at a high price in the first intelligence report seemed to have flowed out from him, passing through Zhao Jianjun and his henchmen.

As for whether there were any other people, Zhou Rui didn't know, but he guessed there were.

Perhaps Li Dehua can vaguely guess the origin of this deer antler today, but he can only accept it with a guilty conscience.

After all, Zhou Rui didn't beg Li Dehua to buy it; you voluntarily offered a high price...

Zhou Rui was naturally pleased with this, as it allowed Li Dehua to bleed more money, which could be considered a form of redistribution of social resources.

Putting aside the distractions of the first piece of intelligence, Zhou Rui stared at the second piece of intelligence in silence for a long time, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He had been wondering why his mother had gone out so early in the morning, but now it seemed that his father had probably told her his thoughts last night.

After my mother found out, she silently supported me in her own way, even though it might ultimately be in vain.

But Mom still went ahead and did it.

Zhou Rui's mind was in turmoil, and at the same time, a thought arose in his mind.

What can't a harmonious, understanding, and supportive family achieve? This is one of the important cornerstones of a family's prosperity.

Most families will do well as long as they work together, have a clear goal, and are heading in the right direction.

There were many reasons why the Zhou family almost couldn't make it through before. It wasn't because the father gambled or frequented brothels, but because the grandfather had a serious illness a couple of years ago, and the family did everything they could to help him.

Due to other reasons, the family's situation deteriorated to that point, which ultimately led to them borrowing money from Li Dehua.

Zhou Rui's slightly thin face was expressionless. The water in the pot in front of him was boiling and steaming. He grabbed the noodles next to him and cooked enough for one person.

After a while, the noodles were cooked, and Zhou Rui used chopsticks to scoop them out.

He didn't pour all the topping into his bowl; he just scooped out a little with his chopsticks.

"Mom too, how could I possibly finish all that food?"

After saying that, Zhou Rui's lips curled up slightly:

"Hehe, I'll give all of it to Grandpa for lunch!"