Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

From Zhang Wenhui's perspective, she had already been thinking about what she would do if she could obtain legal status in the future, long ago when she was recovering from her injuries.

He had thought a lot about his future.

He would work as a temporary laborer in the forest farm, go down into the mine shaft in a small coal mine, or even try to buy a few bullets from the black market. He would hunt in the mountains and exchange them for money at the black market down below, temporarily living in an abandoned dugout until he had enough money to buy a house and settle down.

Among these choices, there is an important consideration: no matter what you do, you need a place to stay.

He settled down at the mountain farm, where Zhao Dashan and Yue Feng took good care of him. But Zhang Wenhui knew that they had spent a lot of manpower, resources, and money to rescue him.

Then another shooting incident occurred, and after paying compensation, the favor became even more significant.

He knew Yue Feng was quite capable, well-connected, and had a network of resources in the area, but his pride as a man prevented him from asking for help with his residency registration and then asking for help finding a job.

Zhang Wenhui carried simple luggage and his old gun out of the farm gate and went down the mountain along the Chaiji Road. However, he stopped less than 100 meters from the pass leading out of the mountain.

As a stranger from out of town, carrying a hunting rifle around was too conspicuous. If some nosy villager reported me, I would waste a lot of time and breath.

The hunting rifle is now out of bullets, so it's practically useless. It's better to find a place to hide it and retrieve it when things are more stable in the future!

Having made up her mind, Zhang Wenhui turned around and disappeared back into the woods through the woodpile path.

Some time ago, while he was hunting in the mountains, he discovered a very hidden tree hole, which was perfect for hiding a gun.

Zhang Wenhui wandered around the secondary forest for a while before finally finding the location of the tree hole. After glancing around to make sure no one was there, she quickly climbed the tree and hid the old gun in the dry tree hole.

After concealing the gun, Zhang Wenhui walked a few more steps with her limited luggage. This time, she felt significantly stronger. At least she wasn't as conspicuous as before, carrying a gun.

After hiding his hunting rifle, Zhang Wenhui walked down the mountain, made a few simple inquiries from the villagers, and then hitched a ride on a donkey cart to the city.

He had nowhere to stay, and if he wanted to work to support himself, he had to find a job that provided accommodation.

Now that she has her household registration documents and a letter of introduction in her bag, Zhang Wenhui feels much more at ease, no longer worried about being discriminated against or bullied by locals wherever she goes.

When they came down the mountain, Zhao Dashan gave him ten yuan as start-up capital. With this money on him, Zhang Wenhui felt more confident, at least for the time being, he wouldn't have to worry about food, drink and lodging.

Over the next few days, he roamed around the city and its outskirts, leaving his mark in places such as the black market, the gates of major factories, the forestry bureau, and the coal mine residential areas.

His plans before coming down the mountain were good, but after learning about the options, he found that there were still very few job opportunities available for him.

The fact that he has a rural household registration means that it is difficult for legitimate employers to hire him, and he can only look for gray or even shady job opportunities.

Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. Just before Zhang Wenhui ran out of money, he finally met a middle-aged man who was recruiting workers at a small coal mine.

A private coal mine is hiring. They only need healthy and strong men. They provide food and lodging. The frontline workers in the mine can earn 1.2 yuan a day and work eight to ten hours a day.

Zhang Wenhui had no choice, and after a moment's hesitation, she decided to give it a try.

"Judging from your appearance, you haven't done any strenuous work, have you? Can you endure hardship? Working in the mine is no easy task!" The man recruiting looked Zhang Wenhui up and down and asked in a questioning tone.

"I can do it! Don't let my fair skin fool you, I'm strong!" Zhang Wenhui clenched her fists, trying to strike a powerful pose to prove herself.

"Where are you from? Are you a local? We don't want anyone without a household registration certificate!"

"Yes! Yes! I have the paperwork, I'm a local!" Zhang Wenhui hurriedly pulled out her paperwork from her pocket, speaking in a thick Shandong accent.

The recruiter took the documents and letter of introduction, glanced at them, and returned them: "Do you have a guarantor? Your household registration only lists you! What if you run away if something happens?"

"I don't have a guarantor, and I desperately need this job! Brother, what do you think..."

Zhang Wenhui quickly pulled out a slightly deformed but unopened pack of Grape brand cigarettes from her pocket.

The recruiter, seeing that this guy seemed quite sensible, took the cigarette, stuffed it into his pocket, and nodded: "Alright, you seem pretty smart, I'll give you a chance! Wait here for a bit, I'll take you to the job interview later!"

Seeing that she had finally secured the opportunity, Zhang Wenhui breathed a sigh of relief.

About half an hour later, the middle-aged man, along with two other people and Zhang Wenhui, headed out of the city.

I walked for about three kilometers with my head down, and arrived at a small coal mine outside the city.

There were only a few rows of low adobe houses, and the coal that was dug out was hauled away by horse-drawn carts; the conditions were extremely rudimentary.

The rest was relatively simple: we connected with the small coal mine's pipeline and were assigned accommodations.

When it was time to eat, we had our first meal at the coal mine.

The stewed cabbage was almost devoid of oil, along with burnt, hard coarse grain flatbread. Compared to the daily meals at the mountain farms, where meat was a staple at every meal, this stuff was only fit to feed livestock.

However, Zhang Wenhui was quite good at understanding her place. Although the conditions were poor, it was still much better than the lack of food and clothing in the dugout.

The food is poor, but there's not much restriction on portion sizes, so you should be able to handle eating more.

Over the next few days, Zhang Wenhui gradually integrated into the daily work at the small coal mine.

The mine safety training involved going down into the mine in teams with experienced workers to work in the production area. Every time we safely returned to the surface, we were a black guy with only white eyes and teeth.

It's definitely tough and tiring, otherwise they wouldn't be able to offer such a 'high price' of one dollar and two cents a day.

During her recovery, Li Wenhui did not suffer from poor food or drink, and her physical condition recovered quite well, so she was able to endure it.

Because of the high turnover rate of workers in small coal mines, a weekly wage system is implemented, meaning that wages are paid once a week.

In the first week, Li Wenhui received her full attendance bonus of eight yuan and forty cents.

Having earned her first paycheck with her own hands, Zhang Wenhui saw hope for a better life.

In his heart, he planned to pay back the money he owed Yue Feng and Zhao Dashan once he had saved enough.

The idea was good, but once the money was made, trouble followed.

Just as he returned to his lodgings with his wages, several burly men with unfriendly expressions crawled into the low shack and closed the door behind them.

"Zhang Wenhui, right? Brother Liu sent me to collect my referral fee from you!"

The burly man at the head of the group had a fierce-looking face and spoke with a heavy local accent.

"What referral fee? I don't know Brother Liu!" Zhang Wenhui's heart sank; she knew she was being targeted. "Don't play dumb. You think you can get this lucrative job for a pack of cigarettes? Believe me, I'll talk to my brother-in-law, and you'll be fired tomorrow!" the burly man said, his voice trembling with fear.

"I earned this money with my own hands, why should I give it to you! I have no money!"

When Zhang Wenhui was recruiting, she didn't hear about any referral fees, nor did she meet the person recruiting, so she definitely wouldn't be paid.

Once this precedent is set, the company will inevitably be manipulated and controlled by others; this is almost a given.

"Damn! Still a tough nut to crack, doesn't he know any better! Guys, teach him a lesson!" The big man shouted, and several men immediately surrounded Zhang Wenhui, punching and kicking him.

In the cramped space, three against one, Zhang Wenhui had almost no room to resist. She was beaten until her mouth bled, she was out of breath, and she was bent over for a long time without raising her head.

"I'll ask you one more time, are you going to pay or not? I thought you had some guts, but this isn't acceptable!"

The burly man grabbed Zhang Wenhui by the collar with his right hand and lightly slapped her mouth with his left, speaking in a flippant tone.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I give up!"

"Give me the money! Pay up and I'll let you go! Otherwise, don't blame me for marking you! It'd be a shame to have a scar on you, you pretty boy!"

The burly man grabbed a pair of fire tongs from beside the earthen stove, heated them in the stove for a few minutes, and then held the red-hot tongs up to Zhang Wenhui's face.

Zhang Wenhui dared not move an inch. Even a slight rub against this thing would leave a burn mark that wouldn't heal for at least ten days to half a month! If it got infected, she could forget about going down into the mine to work!
Seeing that he had Zhang Wenhui under control, the big man became even more outrageous, roughly reaching out to grope him. In addition to taking the money, he also deliberately touched his genitals in a perverse way.

Zhang Wenhui could tolerate being robbed, but he couldn't tolerate being touched in his private parts by an old man.

In an instant, he felt his blood rush to his head, and he snatched the fire tongs and stabbed them at the big man in front of him.

Caught off guard, the big man tilted his head back to dodge, only to have the fire tongs pierce his chin.

With a soft "poof," the sharp tip of the fire tongs pierced through the face at an angle, emitting a burnt, smoky aroma of cooked meat, and blood spurted out immediately.

The next second, the lewd man let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

In an instant, Zhang Wenhui's mind went blank.

Oh no! Back in my hometown, I escaped because I killed someone in a fight.

Just when things were starting to settle down a bit, I'm pretty sure I'll lose my job again.

The burly man, whose mouth was full of blood from being stabbed, touched the iron pincers protruding from his face and immediately panicked.

They would seize the opportunity of payday to come to the workers' sheds and collect money from the lone workers who were pressing oil, which was already a tacit acceptance. Even if they reported it to the mine protection team, no one would care. As for going through the authorities, it was even more difficult. Private small coal mines were a very special existence at the time, and their relationship with the local system was quite complicated.

The burly man who was stabbed is named Ma Erhu. He is the brother-in-law of one of the shareholders of the small coal mine. After running rampant for so long, he has finally met his match.

After Zhang Wenhui took action, she became very clear-headed, and time seemed to slow down.

We can't get caught. The other party is definitely a local resident. If things get out of hand, it'll be hard to tell who's right and who's wrong, and we might end up suffering a huge loss!

The next second, he seized the opportunity, pulled out the iron pliers, waved them wildly a few times to force back the two people next to him, grabbed his small bundle and rushed out of the house.

Zhang Wenhui didn't know how long she had been running. The scenery around her rushed past, and all she could hear was the whistling wind. She only stopped when she could no longer see the outline of the small coal mine.

In an instant, it was as if all the strength in his body had been drained away. He lay stiffly on the field, panting heavily.

Why? Why?
All I want is to work hard, earn money, and live a peaceful life. Why is it so difficult?

While hunting in the mountains, the villagers bullied him, stealing his prey and even trying to ambush him with sticks. If he hadn't been so lucky, that blow to the back of his head would have killed him!
After recovering from my injuries, I came to work in a small coal mine, and even after receiving my wages, I was still extorted, exploited, and harassed by local thugs!

He hurt someone, and now he's definitely lost his job. Even if the coal mine doesn't pursue the matter, those people will definitely not let him off the hook!
Where can we go next? What else can we do?

Lying in the open field, Zhang Wenhui's mind was in complete turmoil, and she had no direction for a long time.

Zhang Wenhui didn't know how long she had been lying in the wild; she felt like she was about to freeze to death.

Vehicles and people carrying flashlights passed by on the nearest rural road in the distance, which likely means that the matter has been reported to the authorities and has escalated.

Feeling that she had been driven to the brink of despair, Zhang Wenhui gritted her teeth and made a decision that even she found hard to believe!
Fuck you, since you won't let me live a peaceful and good life, then I'm not going to be a good person anymore!

Having made this decision, Zhang Wenhui stood up from the ground and made her way back towards the small coal mine.

To be a good person, you only need to consider the rules of survival: who you work for and who pays you.

When you're a bad person, you don't have to think about these things!
If you don't want your buddy to have a good time, then you shouldn't have one either. I'll use you as an example to test my courage!

My only salary has been taken away, and now I have nowhere to go but to get my money back!
That idiot got injured, so he must have gone to the nearest mine clinic. He'll most likely need to be kept under observation and given IV fluids to reduce inflammation.

Having made up her mind, Zhang Wenhui determined the location and direction, and walked unsteadily towards the mine's health clinic.

In the mine clinic, Ma Erhu was receiving treatment. The penetrating wound from his chin to one side of his face was quite troublesome, but fortunately he was lucky that his important trachea and arteries were not damaged.

After disinfection and wound cleaning in the clinic, the wound was sutured and bandaged.

After all that was done, he was placed on a hospital bed and given an IV drip of anti-inflammatory medication.

After settling him in, the group of cronies who had worked with him at the oil press all dispersed, leaving not even one person to keep watch at night.

This gave Zhang Wenhui an opportunity.

Zhang Wenhui arrived at the mine clinic on foot after 9 p.m. More than three hours had passed since the accident, and he had not eaten or drunk anything.

"Hello, may I ask if there has been a patient with a chin injury who came to our clinic this evening?" Zhang Wenhui asked, trying to appear calm.

"There is such a person. Are you his friend?"

"Yes, I just heard the news and came to check! Is he in the hospital or has he gone back?"

"She's on an IV drip in the detention room! Detention room number 4!"

"Thank you, I'll go take a look!"

Zhang Wenhui nodded and strode towards detention room number four. (End of this chapter)