Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

When Zhou Rui returned home, his younger siblings weren't waiting for him at the door this time. Inside, he saw An'an drinking corn porridge with pickled vegetables, and Zhou Ping feeding Xiao Nian Gao a bowl of gruel.

"Don't we still have some flour at home? Why don't we make some noodles?" Zhou Rui asked.

"Brother, you're back?" Zhou Ping simply replied before continuing to feed Xiao Nian Gao.

"Second Brother said that there isn't much flour at home, so we should focus on eating the rice cakes. We can just eat some mixed grains." An'an was probably hungry, and she drank the bland corn porridge in big gulps.

Zhou Rui felt his eyes getting a little wet. His younger sister was so sensible. If she had been born into someone else's family, she probably would have thrown a tantrum and demanded rice and noodles.

Zhou Rui reached out and touched An An's hair, saying, "Don't worry about saving. Your second brother can earn money. I'll use the money to buy you noodles."

"Wow, second brother! You caught so many fish!"

"Brother, what are you carrying? It's so big, it's not a Siberian roe deer, is it?"

Only then did the brother and sister belatedly realize the extent of Zhou Rui's gains.

"Hehe..." Zhou Rui took the roe deer off his shoulder and put the fish in a basin. Then he put the basket on the kang (a heated brick bed) and took out the items one by one: lingzhi mushrooms, wild eggs, and mushrooms.

"Wow……"

"Wow..."

"Hmm... Hey..." Even Little Rice Cake joined in the fun.

Zhou Rui scooped up Xiao Niangao, kissed her, and smiled as he looked at An'an and Zhou Ping, whose eyes were wide open. "Hehe, I love seeing you two so naive."

"Second brother, this roe deer is so big, with so much meat!" An'an drooled as she grabbed the roe deer's little hooves with both hands.

Zhou Ping picked up the fish and said, "Second Brother, you caught so many fish with your fish trap! Hey, this fish's tail is still moving, it's still alive. I need to quickly fetch some water, it can still survive."

"And eggs, brother, do the eggs smell good?" An'an didn't really care for fish, but she had eaten fried eggs when she was little, so she had a few memories of them.

"It smells delicious, definitely delicious. I'll save these for you."

"Brother, should we keep these fish in water?" Zhou Ping filled a basin with water.

Zhou Rui picked up the mandarin fish from the basin: "It won't survive, it's been out of the water for so long. I'll make you steamed fish."

"If you want to keep some fish at home, you'll have to bring a bucket next time."

"Then I'll go with you next time, and I'll carry the bucket." Zhou Ping, despite his young age, always had a deep sense of crisis and was always thinking about bringing more food home.

"Okay, let's go fishing next time." Zhou Rui thought to himself that he would set aside a day next time to take his younger brother and sister fishing.

Zhou Rui took the fish to the backyard and found that Zhou Ping had indeed completed the task he had been given yesterday: a pond about thirty centimeters deep and one meter in diameter. Although it wasn't perfect, it was still finished. Zhou Rui thought that when he had some free time in the afternoon, he could fix it up a bit and then go to the river to collect some pebbles to build it up, and it would be perfect.

Zhou Rui scraped off the fish scales, cut open the fish's belly, and took out all the internal organs.

"Pingwa, take these and feed them to that live pheasant. Find a cage first, so it doesn't escape."

Zhou Rui returned to the kitchen, made incisions on both sides of the mandarin fish, rubbed it with fine salt, and then laid it flat on a plate. Next, he boiled water in a pot, and while the water was boiling, he chopped some scallions and ginger. After the water boiled, Zhou Rui put the mandarin fish in, and after about ten minutes, he took it out, topped it with the scallions and ginger, and added some soy sauce—that was all he had at home. He then heated the oil in the pot again and poured all the hot oil over the mandarin fish. A sweet aroma immediately filled the entire kitchen. Fortunately, Zhou Rui's parents had passed away; otherwise, seeing him wasting so much cooking oil, a meal of stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork would have been inevitable.

"Come, come, come over and try the mandarin fish that your brother steamed for you." Zhou Rui placed a large plate of mandarin fish on the small table on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"It smells so good!" An'an couldn't wait to reach for the mandarin fish with her chopsticks.

Zhou Rui quickly stopped him, saying, "Let me pick it up for you. This fish has bones, be careful not to choke." He then picked up a large piece of the plump fish belly and put it in the bowl.

Actually, mandarin fish have very few bones, only one main bone and some large bones around it. But little sister, you still have to bear the pain yourself, not a single one can be missing.

"Pingwa, you eat too, help yourself." It's already a favor that Zhou Rui is willing to let his younger brother eat a bite, so he didn't even think about serving food to Zhou Ping.

Fortunately, Zhou Ping was sensible. "Second brother, you eat too. I'll get you a bowl of porridge."

Zhou Rui nodded with satisfaction.

"Ah, oh... ah..." Little Rice Cake was shaking her hands and feet on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Zhou Rui poked Xiao Niangao's little feet with his finger: "You want to eat fish too? Too bad you're too small. When you're a little older, your aunt will feed you fish, okay?"

Zhou Rui picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. It was fresh and sweet... He then drank another bowl of porridge.

Unfortunately, the fish was too big, and An'an and Zhou Ping had already eaten some before Zhou Rui returned, leaving more than half uneaten.

"Take it to the kitchen, we'll eat it tonight."

"Okay, Second Brother." Zhou Ping cleared the table. His Second Brother worked very hard outside, and Zhou Ping did all the chores at home to help Zhou Rui as much as possible.

"Second brother, Grandpa Village Chief came this morning. He said he has something to discuss with you."

"Did they say what it was about?" Zhou Rui asked, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) after finishing lunch, fiddling with small rice cakes.

Zhou Ping shook his head: "He didn't say, he just asked where you went. I told him you went fishing. He then told me to come find him when you got back."

"Then let's go have dinner tonight. Since you said I went fishing, I'll bring him a carp tonight. That day, with the village chief as a witness, we severed ties with Uncle's family, so we're not afraid of them causing trouble again. But we also need to let the village chief know that I have the ability to support you and An'an, Little Rice Cake."

"My second brother can definitely support us, but I'm not one to sit around doing nothing. I also do extra chores at home," Zhou Ping said firmly.

"Me, and me too, I can do chores too." An'an held up her little hand, afraid of leaving her out.

"Oh, so what can you do, An'an?" Zhou Rui asked with a smile.

"I can cut pig feed, take care of Xiao Nian Gao, and feed the chickens."

Zhou Rui gave a thumbs up: "Amazing! Our An'an is the best!"

"Hi hi...hehe."

"After you finish eating, you can rest for a while. I need to go and clean the roe deer. Tonight we'll chop up the roe deer meat and make dumplings. We also need to send a piece to Fifth Grandfather, Village Chief Grandfather, Aunt Changcun, and Brother Dazhu's family. The rest need to be hung in the kitchen to smoke, otherwise they'll spoil."

"I'm not tired, I'll help my brother clean up."

"No need. Take five cents later and go to Uncle Fugui's house to buy two pieces of tofu. They're secretly making tofu, so don't let anyone find out. I'm making tofu and crucian carp soup tonight. This tofu and crucian carp soup is especially good for lactation. If Sister Xinghua eats it, Little Niangao will be blessed."

"Don't we have roe deer meat? Why do we have to pay? Can't we trade it for roe deer meat?" Zhou Ping asked.

"It's not good for too many people to know that your brother can hunt. Others will be envious. Just let a few close families know. If other families are eating coarse food and you're eating meat at home every day, what will people think?"

"Think what you want. The fact that I can eat meat is because my second brother is capable. If his family wants to eat it, let them go get it themselves," Zhou Ping said, somewhat unconvinced.

"Your thinking is correct, but not everyone will think that way. People will wonder what bad things you've done to get so rich. Or they might think it's because you hunted all the pheasants in the mountains that I can't catch them anymore. Let me tell you, don't assume everyone is like you. People are different. Let me tell you, if we hadn't moved here, I wouldn't dare cook meat for you every day." Zhou Rui patiently instructed Zhou Ping. Although Zhou Ping might not understand some of the道理 (principles/reasoning) at his age, as long as Zhou Ping followed the advice, that was fine.

Zhou Ping quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed): "Alright, I'll go right away."