Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Qin Bowen shook his head: "I don't like sweets."

"Then why are you buying all this? Are you just spending money recklessly because you have it? Tell me honestly, how much have you saved up right now?"

Qin Bowen gave an embarrassed smile: "Brother-in-law, I know what I'm doing. I'll be an adult next month, not a child anymore."

Zhao Lei thought he bought it to satisfy his nephews and nieces' cravings: "I still have a lot of snacks at home. Your sister is also keeping an eye on the kids and doesn't let them eat too much, for fear of cavities. And you bought so many."

Qin Bowen waved his hand, looking mysterious, and refused to elaborate: "It's not for the children; I have another use for it."

Seeing that he was unwilling to explain, Zhao Lei did not press him further.

The two, carrying large and small bags of gifts, set off for Zhoujia Village in Sanhe Township.

I asked for directions along the way, and all the people I met were young men.

"Brother, can you tell me where Liu Yishou from Zhoujia Village lives? We need to talk to him about something."

The young man put down his hoe, frowned, and thought for a long time before shaking his head: "Never heard of that nickname. What's his real name?"

Zhao Lei was stunned.

So busy remembering the nickname, he forgot to ask Deng Changhai for Liu Yishou's real name.

He offered two cigarettes, but the other person still had no clue, so he had to give up.

The two continued walking along the ridge, intending to ask an older villager for more information.

Three roads diverged in front of them, and just as they were wondering which way to go, Qin Bowen suddenly grabbed Zhao Lei and led him down a side path.

"Brother-in-law, this way."

Zhao Lei looked puzzled: "Bowen, do you know where Liu Yishou is?"

Qin Bowen chuckled: "Brother-in-law, instead of asking around aimlessly, why don't you just go find the captain?"

Zhao Lei suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing what had happened.

Yes, once we get to Zhoujia Village, we can ask around and go directly to Zhou Defu, the village head. Wouldn't that be much easier?

Zhao Lei gave Qin Bowen a thumbs up: "Well done, Bowen, your mind is getting sharper and sharper."

Qin Bowen chuckled, his face full of smugness.

The two brothers mounted their old-fashioned bicycles and headed towards Zhou Defu's house. They arrived at his doorstep in no time.

It has been more than a month since I last came to participate in pest control and grain protection.

At this moment, Zhou Defu and his wife Zhu Meihua were turning over the soil and weeding in their private plot next to the house.

Zhao Lei called out loudly from afar, "Captain Zhou!"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Defu raised his head, squinted to make a careful observation, and when he saw that the person was Zhao Lei, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

"Hey? Lei Zi, what brings you to our Zhoujia Village?"

He quickly put down his hoe, hurried forward to greet them, and turned to shout loudly into the house, "Wife, come in quickly and make some tea, we have guests!"

The two followed Zhou Defu into the courtyard.

Zhao Lei noticed Qin Bowen bringing in the gifts he was carrying from the car. He wondered what the kid was up to when he saw Qin Bowen looking around as if searching for someone.

Zhao Lei asked in confusion, "Bowen, what are you looking at?"

"No need for a brother-in-law, you can just talk to Captain Zhou about serious matters."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Bowen walked straight up to Zhu Meihua and handed her the cigarettes, alcohol, and pastries he was holding.

"Auntie, this is just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Zhu Meihua recognized Qin Bowen, knowing that he was the youngest son of Qin Mancang, the captain of the Heping Brigade, and that he had come to the village with Zhao Lei last time.

Seeing such a large pile of gifts, I was quite surprised.

"Oh, Bowen, you're here, why did you bring so much stuff?"

Qin Bowen, thick-skinned as ever, ignored the other's refusals and insisted on stuffing it into his arms.

"Auntie, this is a small token of my appreciation; please accept it."

Zhu Meihua waved her hands repeatedly to decline. These things would cost ten or twenty yuan, which was almost equivalent to an ordinary person's monthly wages. He felt really bad about accepting such expensive gifts for no reason, and the gifts almost slipped from his hands several times.

Seeing that it was really difficult to force the things on him, Qin Bowen simply put them on the stone stool by the door.

"Auntie, I'll leave the things here. Remember to bring them inside later."

"Bowen, what are you doing? Just say what's on your mind. Why go to all this trouble?" Zhu Meihua said, looking troubled.

Qin Bowen scratched his head, quickly came up with an excuse, and gestured with his chin toward Zhao Lei, who was talking to Zhou Defu, saying, "It's my brother-in-law who came to ask Captain Zhou for a favor; this is just proper etiquette."

Zhu Meihua couldn't refuse him, so she could only let the gifts be placed on the stone stool. Feeling increasingly embarrassed, she quickly turned around and went inside to make tea.

"Bowen, Leizi, you must be tired from your journey. Have some tea. It's just some ordinary tea from home, don't mind it."

"Auntie, you're too kind. We all grew up in the countryside, we wouldn't be picky about these things," Qin Bowen replied casually.

He sat down to the side and chatted idly with Zhu Meihua, but the conversation would occasionally veer towards his children.

"Auntie, why do I only see you two? Where is the rest of the family?"

Without much thought, Zhu Meihua answered truthfully, "I have four children. The eldest and second eldest went out to work, and the third and fourth eldest went to the back mountain to collect firewood."

"Who was home when I came here last time?"

Zhu Meihua didn't notice anything unusual at first, but Qin Bowen's questions kept circling back to the girl, and he suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh, you mean my youngest daughter, Qingqing?"

Qin Bowen's eyes lit up: "Is that the one with the two black braids? Is that your husband, Zhou Qingqing?"

"Yes, that's him. He should be hauling firewood up the back hill right now."

"Auntie, which way do we go from the back of the mountain?"

With her vast experience, Zhu Meihua immediately saw through the young man's thoughts.

Qin Bowen is tall and strong, comes from a good family, and has a sweet tongue. It's obvious that he has his eye on his youngest daughter.

He didn't object to the young people interacting with each other, so he pointed out the location of the back mountain to Qin Bowen.

Qin Bowen immediately turned to Zhao Lei: "Brother-in-law, I have something urgent to attend to and need to go out for a bit. I'll be going to see Liu Yishou later. Are you sure you can manage by yourself?"

Zhao Lei was completely confused, not understanding why he had made such a fuss after entering the room, and assumed that he had some personal matters to attend to.

"Okay, how long will it take you?"

"It's hard to say. If you don't see me at Captain Zhou's house later, you can go back first if you have something to do."

Zhao Lei was eager to get information from Liu Yishou, so he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then go ahead."

Without saying a word, Qin Bowen dashed off towards the back of the mountain.

His pockets were bulging with a big bag of White Rabbit milk candy.

He remembered his brother-in-law's experience; he had won over his sister-in-law in the late Qing Dynasty with candy, and now he wanted to do the same.

My brother-in-law once said: Women are like water, they rely entirely on their generosity!

In Southwestern dialects, the word "豁" has two homophones: one refers to the "喝" in "喝水" (to drink water), and the other refers to "豁" in "豁骗人" (to deceive or cheat).

A man should be thick-skinned and bold enough to take initiative.