Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

After Lin Qiuyue had finished crying for a while, Zhou Rui slowly spoke.

"Comrade Lin Qiuyue, your parents didn't abandon you; they just made a decision they had no other choice. Actually, you know they're still alive, and there will be a time when you can see them again, right?"

Zhou Rui knew that such an opportunity was very slim, and that for some people, once they parted, it was for a lifetime, but he had to persuade her like this now to give Lin Qiuyue hope.

"It's just going abroad, it's not like flying off the planet. Once the environment improves, going abroad will be a simple matter."

"What you need to do now is take care of your health and not get sick. You don't want to get sick because of this sudden bad news, then collapse, and never have the chance to see your loved ones again, do you?"

"Really, really, can we... can we meet again?" Lin Qiuyue asked stammeringly, tears welling in her eyes, hoping to get a definite answer from Zhou Rui.

Looking at Lin Qiuyue's tearful face, Zhou Rui couldn't help but feel a tremor in his heart, and a little bit of attraction crossed his mind.

"Of course, we'll definitely meet again." Zhou Rui's tone was firm, as if it possessed a mysterious power.

"So, you have to take care of yourself and not let difficulties defeat you. Who are you? You're a hardworking educated youth who went to the countryside to fight against all odds. How can you cry over such a small..." Zhou Rui gestured with his thumb and middle finger, "just because of such a small difficulty."

"Pfft, it's not as amazing as you say." Lin Qiuyue was amused by Zhou Rui's exaggerated manner.

"We used to think that going to high school made us superior, and that we were sent to the countryside to help the farmers. But after we got here, we found that the knowledge in books was useless. We couldn't even do farm work well, and we just caused trouble."

Zhou Rui nodded inwardly, thinking that Lin Qiuyue had a clear understanding of the situation. However, he couldn't say that, otherwise his advice would have been in vain.

"No, knowledge is still useful, but not all knowledge is applicable in rural areas. Farm work, no one is born knowing how; everyone has to learn, even in the countryside. Do you think Chen Datou looks like he knows how to do farm work? By next year, you'll be doing a much better job in the fields."

Chen Datou was a celebrity in Jiaolong Gorge; his extreme laziness was known to everyone in the village. Even the educated youth had heard of his various ways of shirking work, and some of them even tried to imitate him.

"Thank you, Zhou Rui. Thank you for listening to me and for comforting me." Lin Qiuyue's heart gradually calmed down. Although she would still be sad when she thought about being abandoned by her parents, there's a saying that time heals all wounds.

"Alright, it's good that you're not sad anymore. But from now on, keep this to yourself and never, ever mention it again. You're just like everyone else, an ordinary educated youth sent to the countryside, not some capitalist's daughter. Understand?"

Hearing Zhou Rui's solemn instructions and seeing his serious expression, Lin Qiuyue felt a lingering fear. If it had been someone else instead of Zhou Rui, they might have used this as a reason to report it to the Revolutionary Committee.

"Yes, I know. I won't talk about this again. If I have to, it'll be you." Lin Qiuyue didn't know why she added the last sentence. Maybe it was because she trusted him enough. After all, he had reminded her last time not to read romance novels in front of others.

"Good to know. By the way, does your youth settlement have enough firewood for the winter? The temperature has dropped sharply recently, and it looks like it's going to snow soon. If you don't have enough firewood, winter will be very difficult to get through."

"We've prepared firewood for cooking. It shouldn't be a problem if it snows in winter. It snows a lot in Shanghai too. We'll just use more blankets."

Zhou Rui slapped his forehead with his right hand; he knew then that these educated youths from the south had no idea about the cold of the north. Even Yang Ping from the provincial capital, who burned coal at home, probably hadn't thought about storing firewood.

Jiaolongxia Village didn't have any educated youth in previous years, but villagers from the neighboring village had mentioned it. Many educated youth, on their first year in the countryside, didn't know to prepare enough firewood and suffered terribly from the cold. Some educated youth with a little spare money even went to other people's homes to buy firewood.

"Let's go home, we can talk on the way. It's too cold sitting here, we'll freeze if we stay any longer," Zhou Rui said, getting up to greet them.

Lin Qiuyue thought about it and agreed, so she quickly stood up as well. Perhaps she had been sitting by the stream for too long, because her legs went numb when she stood up, and she cried out and fell backward.

Seeing this, Zhou Rui quickly stepped forward, stretched out his right hand, and swiftly grabbed Lin Qiuyue's hand. Her cold hand had the softness typical of city dwellers, and some calluses that had formed after she went to the countryside.

After Lin Qiuyue regained her footing, Zhou Rui slowly loosened his grip on her hand, seemingly still reluctant to let go of the lingering warmth.

Lin Qiuyue only realized what had happened after everything had passed; it seemed like their skin had touched. A blush crept onto Lin Qiuyue's face, but it was too dark to conceal it.

Zhou Rui led the way with a flashlight, while Lin Qiuyue followed behind with her head down, looking like a newlywed.

"Let me tell you, the snowfall here in Northeast China is completely different from that in Shanghai, and the temperature is much lower. Sometimes the snow is so heavy that you can't even go outside; you can only stay inside and warm yourself by the fire. And if you're at home..."

Lin Qiuyue kept glancing up at Zhou Rui's back, her face flushing as if she were thinking about something. She didn't hear a word of what Zhou Rui said afterward.

Zhou Rui explained the weather in Northeast China and how people hibernate there to Lin Qiuyue, then asked, "Do you understand now?"

But there was no response from behind for a while, so he stopped and turned around: "I'm asking you a question. Did you understand?"

"Huh?" Lin Qiuyue had been walking with her head down and had no idea that Zhou Rui had suddenly stopped. It wasn't until Zhou Rui turned around and spoke loudly that she came to her senses.

They almost bumped into each other; Lin Qiuyue could even smell Zhou Rui's scent. She quickly lowered her head again, her chin almost touching her chest.

"Never mind. I was just thinking of going up the mountain to chop firewood tomorrow anyway. Why don't you call all the educated youth to come up the mountain with me?"

Zhou Rui didn't know why he made this decision. Was it because he was lustful? But according to the standards of later generations, women of this age were still just high school students. He wasn't that thirsty, was he?

"Okay, I'll let them know tomorrow so we can go up the mountain together." Lin Qiuyue agreed softly, and Zhou Rui would have almost not heard her if he hadn't been so good at hearing.

After that, the two fell silent, and Zhou Rui didn't know what to say next. The shy Lin Qiuyue became even more hesitant to speak to Zhou Rui.

The conversation she had just shared by the river was the boldest Lin Qiuyue had ever been.

Nothing was said that night, except that a young girl tossed and turned on the kang (heated brick bed) in the Northeast educated youth compound, her mind full of thoughts.