Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui was stunned by Zhao Youzhi's slap.

"This...this mule doesn't give birth? Then what's this?" Zhou Rui asked, pointing to the bulge on the mule's belly.

"Mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey, so it can't get pregnant. Look at this mule's swollen belly, it's probably sick and can't eat, that's why it's so thin." Fortunately, Liu Gu didn't have the temper of Village Chief Zhao and explained it to Zhou Rui properly.

"It's a foal born from a horse and a donkey? How can a horse and a donkey have foals?" Zhou Rui still couldn't figure it out.

Seeing Zhou Rui's expression, Zhao Youzhi lost his anger and could only say to Liu Gu, "Sigh, let it go. Those thugs have already run away after being sold. We can't catch them, but at least we can keep some meat if we take them back."

Zhou Shumin had just paid for the cattle and was signing the sales receipt with the other party when he saw Zhao Youzhi returning with his men, so he quickly came over.

"Village chief, how's it going?"

Zhao Youzhi glared at Zhou Rui with annoyance: "What else? Go ask that bastard from your Zhou family, I'm too ashamed to even say it."

Zhou Shumin then looked at Liu Gu, who spread his hands with a helpless expression. Well, there was no other way but to ask him directly.

"Ruiwa, come here."

Zhou Rui led the mule, looking dejected. An'an sat on the mule, her face beaming with joy.

Zhou Rui handed the rope to Zhou Ping, then walked over and asked Zhou Shumin a question that left him speechless. "Seventh Uncle, is it really true that this mule can't have calves?"

Zhou Shumin glanced at Zhou Rui, then looked back at Zhao Youzhi and Liu Gu. Upon hearing this, Zhao Youzhi and Liu Gu turned their faces away, as if they didn't know this person.

Zhou Shumin was worried. Was this really the prodigy of the Zhou family? It seemed he couldn't jump to conclusions too soon; a trip to the livestock market had exposed the truth.

Back in the village, Zhou Shumin repeatedly warned everyone not to let anything slip, only saying that Zhou Rui had bought a sick mule, and not to mention whether it would have calves.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Changshan, the militia captain, already had a grudge against Zhou Rui, so why would he cover for Zhou Rui? In less than half a day, the news that Zhou Rui had bought a mule that could calf spread throughout Jiaolongxia Village, and it might spread throughout Hongqi Town later with his daughter visiting her parents.

In the evening, An'an was playing with Mao Mao in the yard. Having ridden the big mule before, she insisted on riding Mao Mao. Mao Mao refused to lie down, the loyal protector resolutely refusing to be a mount. An'an had no choice but to hold onto Mao Mao's head and pull on it, determined to be led by it.

Zhou Rui was engrossed in washing vegetables, and the oppressive atmosphere around him kept Zhou Ping at a distance.

At this moment, Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping arrived at the door.

"Zhou Rui, I heard you bought a pregnant mule. Let's come and take a look."

Zhou Rui looked unhappy. "I've already embarrassed myself so much, and you two still come to ask me questions."

"Are you two here to laugh at me?"

Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping didn't notice Zhou Rui's mood and started shouting loudly when they saw the mule tied up in the yard.

"So this is what a mule is. I've never seen one before."

"But it looks a lot like a horse, so why is it called a mule?"

"Look at its bulging belly, it won't give birth to a calf for several more months."

Zhou Rui looked at the two female educated youths making a racket next to the mule and couldn't help but ask a question.

"You two really aren't here to laugh at me?"

"What are you laughing at? Zhou Rui, you tell me, when will this mule give birth to a foal?" Yang Ping didn't care about Zhou Rui; she only cared about her own question.

Seeing the eager expressions on Yang Ping and Lin Qiuyue's faces, Zhou Rui's mood instantly improved. It seems I'm not the only one who doesn't know mules can't reproduce; look at these two female educated youths, both high school graduates, and they're just as clueless as I am.

"Ahem... mules can't have calves."

"Ah, how is that possible?" the two women exclaimed again.

Looking into their innocent, big eyes, Zhou Rui no longer felt ashamed. He had simply not unlocked the livestock breeding technology tree, which was nothing to him.

"Let me tell you two, a mule is the offspring of a donkey and a horse... so a mule can't have foals on its own." Zhou Rui repeated what Grandpa Liu Gu had told him on the way to the two women.

Zhou Ping watched from the kitchen doorway as Zhou Rui's mood improved. She thought to herself, "Both Sister Lin and Sister Yang can make my second brother happy, but which one would be a good sister-in-law? They're both nice, it's hard to choose. Oh well, let my second brother worry about it himself."

"Oh, so the mule is sick? Poor thing, it's so thin." Lin Qiuyue said with some regret.

"It's alright, I'll ask Uncle Changhai to take a look tomorrow and treat it." Zhou Rui comforted Lin Qiuyue. There was nothing he could do; he couldn't bear to see a woman upset.

"Come, come, look, I bought some snacks from the market, and some candied hawthorns too. Yang Ping, you should eat some too, don't just look at them."

Seeing that the mule they had brought back couldn't eat anything, only drinking some water, Zhou Rui brought over the reluctant Zhao Changhai early the next morning.

"I already told you, I don't know how to inspect mules, why did you bring me here?"

"Don't the pigs and cows in the village usually come to you for treatment when they get sick? They're all livestock, so it's pretty much the same."

Zhao Changhai looked disgusted: "How can this be the same? Besides, when I was taking care of the pigs and cattle, I followed the instructions in the book given to me by the livestock station, and the medicine was also prepared by the livestock station. I just administered the medicine according to the book."

Zhou Rui's mind raced as he listened: "Here's what you'll do. Check the books the livestock station gave out for any problems with horses. Just look at the horses and you'll be fine."

Zhao Changhai had no choice but to take the book out of the medicine box. Zhou Rui glanced at it and saw that the book was quite new. It was called "Rural Veterinary Handbook".

Zhao Changhai turned to the section on treating horses: "What symptoms are they?"

"I didn't see anything else, it just drinks water and doesn't eat. If you force-feed it, it keeps turning its head away."

Zhao Changhai touched the mule's bulging belly again. "According to the book, I suspect it has a tumor in its stomach and needs surgery."

"Then you can proceed. You can decide what medicine to prescribe and how much it costs."

"What do I need to move? I've never even touched a scalpel," Zhao Changhai said irritably.

"Then what should we do? You can't just examine the patient without providing treatment."

"Then I have no choice. How about we take it to the town's livestock station? Maybe one of the veterinarians there can perform surgery."

Faced with Zhao Changhai's suggestion, Zhou Rui was speechless: "Uncle Changhai, you don't even know if the livestock station has any veterinarians who can perform surgery."

"They didn't mention that during the training; they only taught us things like prescribing medicine."

"Okay, I'll do the surgery. You just need to tell me where to make the incision." After thinking for a long time, Zhou Rui finally made his decision.

"You really want to do it? I don't have any anesthetic here."

"Don't worry, I'll just give it a few bottles of strong liquor. And when you get back, prepare some anti-inflammatory medicine for me. If it survives the surgery, you can give it an injection."

"That's it."

A short while later, Zhao Changhai returned, carrying a syringe as thick as a child's arm. He was followed by Zhao Youzhi and Zhou Shumin, apparently having heard about Zhou Rui's upcoming surgery and come to check on him.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw the mule lying on the ground, with several empty wine bottles around it.

"How much alcohol did you drink? And you're already passed out?" Zhao Changhai was surprised by Zhou Rui's decisiveness.

"Four bottles of Lao Bai Gan." Zhou Rui held up four fingers.

"Ruiwa, are you going to gut the mule? If it dies, all those eight hundred dollars you spent will be wasted."

"Grandpa Zhao, this mule won't live much longer if we don't gut it, so let's try anything."

"As long as you know what you're doing," Zhao Youzhi said, seeing Zhou Rui's resolute attitude.

With the needle and thread all prepared and Zhao Changhai waiting nearby, Zhou Rui didn't hesitate and picked up the scalpel that had been heated over the fire to begin.

Zhou Rui often gutted his prey, and he was quite fast; he opened the mule's abdomen in just a few minutes.

"That's it, that lump on the stomach, cut it off." Zhao Changhai pointed directly at it with his sharp eyes.

Zhou Rui acted even faster, grabbing the bulging bulge and cutting it cleanly along the edge.

Then it got even faster; they picked up a needle and thread and started sewing. It wasn't very neat, but it was fast, and it wasn't clothing, so nobody cared.

Anyway, by the time Zhou Rui finished stitching it up, the mule was still alive.

"Ruiwa, you've struck it rich! This is a baby horse. With this, you're guaranteed to succeed no matter what," Zhao Changhai said, opening the tumor and looking at the contents.

"Quickly, don't talk about that now, give the mule an anti-inflammatory injection."