Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

A bonfire was lit in the mountains, and Zhou Ping held a yellowish bear bile in his hand with great delight.

"Second brother, is this copper-coated?"

"Hmm, not bad quality, worth some money," Zhou Rui said calmly, grilling bear meat in his hand. The bear meat was chopped into pieces the size of eggs, skewered into strings, each skewer containing more than half a pound of meat. A dozen or so skewers were rolled back and forth on the flames in Zhou Rui's hands, like flowers being arranged.

"Hehe..." Zhou Ping laughed when he heard Zhou Rui's affirmative answer and quickly put the bullets into the bag.

"Oh, right, everyone who finds it gets a share. Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping, this bear skin and wolf skin are yours. It's winter, and it's cold. Make two fur coats to keep warm."

"I don't want it. I haven't been of any help." Lin Qiuyue refused directly.

"The wealth from the mountains cannot be kept to oneself; that's the rule."

Ever since Yang Ping returned with An An and the others, she's felt something's off, looking left and right.

"Alright, Zhou Rui is right, we can't keep all the mountain treasures to ourselves. Here's what we'll do: the bear skin will be used to make a coat for Qiuyue, and the wolf skin is mine. I'll have someone make a wolf skin vest for her." Yang Ping said generously, without any hesitation.

"I really don't want it. You should make it for Pingwa and An'an; they need it too."

"Don't worry, I've already bought them for them. They're Suen, made by the Oroqen people, and they're very warm."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ping exclaimed in surprise, "Really? I've seen Su En in the provincial capital. She's very beautiful; you don't usually see anyone like her."

Women are only ever interested in beauty; as for Zhou Rui's comment about keeping warm, Yang Ping said she didn't hear it.

"Really? Sister Yangping. My second brother bought these for us when he went to see our aunt off last time. I'll wear them for you when it snows in a few days." An'an had been waiting for snow for a long time, hoping to wear her pretty clothes.

"Alright, alright, look, An'an and the others all have Su En, so just accept the bear skin. If you don't accept it, how can I possibly take the wolf skin? My wolf skin vest will be gone." Yang Ping kept shaking Lin Qiuyue's arm.

Lin Qiuyue looked at Yang Ping's shameless behavior with a bit of helplessness. It was the first time she had ever seen Yang Ping like this. Could it be that the wolf skin vest had such great magic?

"Okay, stop shaking it. You're going to shake it to pieces. I promise. But do you know anyone who makes leather coats?"

"I don't know," Yang Ping readily admitted. "But I'll ask the village chief if anyone in the village knows this skill. Even if no one in the village knows it, I'll look in town; there's bound to be someone who does."

"Alright, stop chatting. The meat is cooked, everyone have a taste. This is the freshest, fattest bear meat."

Zhou Rui wasn't making things up. He only picked the fattest and tenderest parts from hundreds of pounds of bear meat, sprinkled them with seasonings, and the flavor was incredibly addictive.

An'an and Zhou Ping each took a handful. Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping didn't stand on ceremony either; they had eaten roasted sparrows at Zhou Rui's house before and were familiar with his cooking skills.

"Mmm..." Lin Qiuyue took a bite, the rich aroma of the meat filling her mouth, and she let out a soft, nasal hum. "It's so delicious. Meng Huaiyuan and the others are really unlucky; I asked them to go up the mountain to chop firewood, but not a single one of them came."

"Why bring them up? They're all petty and have no manly spirit." Yang Ping spoke with great resentment about the male educated youth, clearly indicating that they had offended her badly.

Ugh, only this mouthful of greasy fat could relieve her dissatisfaction.

"Zhou Rui, your cooking is amazing. The sparrows you roasted last time were so crispy and fragrant. I've been craving them for ages, but you never went to hunt them. I didn't expect the bear meat you roasted this time to be even better than last time, so tender and smooth."

Since going through this dangerous experience together, Yang Ping and Lin Qiuyue have become much more familiar with Zhou Rui's family. They no longer address each other as "comrade" or "educated youth" but simply call them by their names.

"If you like it, come over often. I can make many other dishes too, I guarantee you'll be satisfied." Zhou Rui took a bite from the stick, two pieces of meat at once.

"Hmm, eh, ee-ya." *slap*

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Xiao Niangao was unhappy that Zhou Ping wouldn't give him meat, so he slapped Zhou Ping across the face.

"Ha ha……"

"Oh, hehe..."

Everyone burst out laughing.

Zhou Rui quickly put down the meat in his hand and took the small rice cake from Zhou Ping's hand.

"My little darling, it's not that your third uncle won't let you eat barbecue, it's just that your teeth haven't all grown in yet, so you can't chew it. Come on, let's drink some milk." Zhou Rui said, pouring a glass of milk that had been prepared in advance from the kettle.

"Little rice cake, what if you can't finish this? This meat is so delicious. Mmm." An'an held a meat skewer in her hand, her eyes crinkling with laughter, and ate it in big bites, her face covered in oil.

"Don't tease her. If she gets angry, she might slap you, and you'll end up like your third brother."

"Hehe... It's okay. Her slap didn't hurt at all." Zhou Ping laughed from the side, as if being slapped by Xiao Niangao was a glorious thing.

Lin Qiuyue watched the interaction between Zhou Rui's family from the side and felt very envious.

"Sigh... I'd like to eat at your house more often, but we're not really related, so I'm a little embarrassed to go," Yang Ping sighed.

Zhou Rui was about to say they were friends when Yang Ping made a sudden change of topic.

"Why don't you marry Qiuyue? That way, as Qiuyue's best friend, I can come to your house every day and freeload."

Zhou Rui's mouth, which had just opened, suddenly gaped shut; he hadn't expected Yang Ping to speak so bluntly.

Lin Qiuyue was so embarrassed by Yang Ping's words that she slapped Yang Ping on the back: "Are you that greedy? You're willing to marry me off just for a bite of meat. Why don't you get married yourself?"

"Sigh, I know my place. I'm not as pretty as you. Even if I married Zhou Rui, he'd just make me do chores every day and feed me only porridge. You're so beautiful, even heroes can't resist your charms. Zhou Rui would definitely cook you lavish meals every day, and I'd just go there to freeload."

"I'll make you eat... I'm just trying to make you marry Zhou Rui, and then work non-stop every day until you're exhausted."

An'an, holding bear meat in her hand, didn't even bother to eat it. Her eyes were wide open, and her head kept swaying along with Lin Qiuyue and the other girl's laughter and playfulness.

Is this to find her a second sister-in-law? But can there be two sisters-in-law? Although both older sisters are very nice. Not understanding, she decided to continue eating her meat and took another bite.

Zhou Rui stood by helplessly. It was clearly a joke from Lin Qiuyue and her sister, but why did they have to say it in front of him? Although he was thick-skinned, he was still a little embarrassed, so he could only concentrate on feeding Xiao Niangao milk and pretend he hadn't heard it.

Only Zhou Ping, standing to the side, truly cared. He knew how hard his second brother worked. Not only did he have to hunt in the mountains to earn money, but he also had to manage the household, taking care of them and Xiao Niangao. If he really had a sister-in-law, his second brother wouldn't have to work so hard.