Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui and his group rushed from Aunt Changchun's house to Zhao Dazhu's. The little girl, Niangao, didn't wake up once on the long journey, probably because she was so comfortable being rocked on Zhou Rui's back. But as soon as they reached the gate of Zhao Dazhu's courtyard, the little girl woke up crying loudly. Zhou Rui wondered what was going on; did she know there was milk to drink? Was her nose that sensitive?

The door opened, and Wang Xinghua, carrying her daughter, came out, followed by Zhao Dazhu.

"What's wrong? Are you starving?" Wang Xinghua said, shoving her daughter into Zhao Dazhu's arms while she came over to hug Xiao Niangao.

"I don't know what happened. She started crying as soon as we got to your door. She was fine when we arrived." Zhou Rui put An'an down, untied the baby carrier, and let Wang Xinghua take Xiao Niangao over.

Little Niangao stopped crying as soon as she was in Wang Xinghua's arms, and kept pawing at Xinghua with her little hands.

Seeing that Zhou Rui was still carrying a basket and Zhou Ping was carrying a basket on his back, Zhao Dazhu greeted Zhou Rui and his group as he led them into the house, saying, "You're here, what did you bring with you this time?"

"It's nothing, just fish I caught this morning, and a crucian carp and tofu soup. It's gotten cold now, Brother Dazhu, heat it up for your wife." He put the basket on the table and then turned to unload Zhou Ping's basket from his back: "There's also a piece of roe deer meat. We were really lucky today. We ran into a silly roe deer while picking mushrooms on the mountain and killed it. You guys are in for a treat."

Although Zhou Rui hadn't spent much time with Zhao Dazhu before, they were both young people, and Zhou Rui's deliberately relaxed tone made Zhao Dazhu feel closer to him.

"Wow, you've had a great haul! Looks like you're a natural hunter." Zhao Dazhu, having decided to spend more time with Zhou Rui in the future, didn't stand on ceremony and readily accepted the prize.

Sister-in-law Xinghua carried Xiaoniangao into the inner room to breastfeed, while Zhao Dazhu placed his daughter Yan'er in Zhou Rui's arms, saying, "Let me hold her for a while, I'll go heat up some fish soup for your sister-in-law."

Little Gosling is two months younger than Little Rice Cake, but she's chubby and has a round face when you hold her.

"Second brother, this little sister is so pretty, with chubby cheeks and big eyes." An'an lay on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), staring intently at Xiao Yan'er's face, admiring her very much.

Zhou Ping stood by and watched, but his introverted personality made him hesitant to speak much in other people's homes.

"You're wrong, this isn't your little sister. This is your sister-in-law Xinghua's daughter, and also your little niece. Isn't she chubby and cute? After Xiaoniangao drinks her milk, feed her more porridge, and she'll be even prettier when she grows up." Zhou Rui shook Yan'er's little hand and tapped An'an's nose.

"But what if Little Rice Cake grows up? Won't I be too heavy to carry her?" An An tilted her head and looked at Zhou Rui.

"How could that be! Little Rice Cake has grown up, and An An will grow up too. So you need to eat more so you'll be stronger and able to carry Little Rice Cake."

After the three of them talked for a while, Wang Xinghua and Zhao Dazhu went into the main room one after the other.

"Come on, wife, have some fish soup that Ruiwa cooked last night. I secretly took a sip, it's so delicious." Zhao Dazhu ladled a bowl for Wang Xinghua with a soup spoon.

Looking at Zhao Dazhu, Zhou Rui thought he seemed to be a doting husband.

Seeing this, Wang Xinghua also put the little rice cake into Zhou Rui's arms. The two little babies were awake and staring at each other with wide eyes.

"Let me try it." He said, picking up the bowl and taking a small sip from the rim.

"Delicious, truly delicious. Ruiwa, how did you make this? It tastes so good. And this tofu, mmm, so smooth and tender, it went down in one go." Wang Xinghua praised as she drank.

Zhou Rui grinned and said, "It's nothing, I just added some patchouli picked from the mountains. The main thing is that the fish in our Jiaolong Creek are so good."

"Yesterday's chicken soup, today's fish soup, with your cooking skills, your future wife will be very lucky," Zhao Dazhu teased.

"Yes, my second brother is a great cook," An'an chimed in from the side.

"Yeah, Ruiwa, with your cooking skills, you'll definitely find a wife easily. Tell your sister-in-law, do you have a girl you like? I'll go and find you a match," Wang Xinghua teased.

"Sister-in-law, you're joking. I'm still young, and my family is struggling financially. Let's wait a few years before talking about it."

"Okay, let's talk about it in a few years then. Let me tell you, there are many hardworking and beautiful girls in my sister-in-law's hometown, Wangjiazhuang. If you want to get married, you must tell my sister-in-law."

After chatting and laughing for a while, Zhou Rui quickly took his leave, saying he had something to do at the village chief's house. Zhao Dazhu and Wang Xinghua, seeing that they couldn't persuade him to stay, saw him off at the door.

When Zhou Rui arrived at the village chief's house, the village chief was checking the village's accounts. When he saw Zhou Rui arrive, he quickly asked Zhou Rui to sit down.

Zhou Rui didn't rush to cook; instead, he asked Zhou Ping to bring out the carp and roe deer meat.

"Grandpa Zhao, look at the fish I caught upstream on the river, and the roe deer meat I just caught today."

Seeing Zhou Rui's smug expression, Zhao Youzhi slapped Zhou Rui on the head.

"Going to the river to catch fish is fine, Jiaolong Creek isn't deep and it's not dangerous at all, but how dare you go up the mountain alone? There are many wild beasts on the mountain, even adults have to go up in groups, you brat, are you tired of living?"

"No. I just went to the place where we usually pick wild vegetables and mushrooms in our village. I didn't dare go deeper into the mountains." Zhou Rui was slapped and felt that the village chief's strength was too great, so he quickly made up an excuse.

"Alright, just be careful. Going up the mountain is no joke. Don't stray too far when you're gathering firewood or wild vegetables. Sit down."

After Zhou Rui sat down, he noticed that Zhao Youzhi looked troubled and hesitant, so he took the initiative to ask, "Grandpa Zhao, is something the matter?"

Zhao Youzhi sighed. "It's like this, I called you here today because there are two things I need to tell you, and they may not be good news for you."

"Grandpa Zhao, just tell me what's wrong. Even the hardest things can't kill a person."

"Then I'll talk about it. The first thing is that your family had an accident during the spring planting season a while ago, and you haven't been able to work for a period of time since. Now that your family's problem has been resolved, although it's not as busy after the spring planting season, there's still a lot of work to be done. You still need to come to work, otherwise you won't have enough work points by the end of the year, and your family won't get enough food to eat."

"My dad and brother are gone, so I should take care of things at home. I'll clean up the house in a few days and then go back to work. It's nothing. Grandpa Zhao, are people in the village gossiping?" Zhou Rui asked calmly after hearing this.

"It must be your uncle's side causing trouble. A few people were being sarcastic at work, saying things like you were skipping work to avoid it. They even said you'd cut ties with your parents so you wouldn't support them in the future, calling you an ungrateful wretch. These people are all close to your uncle's family; they just want to ruin your reputation in the village. I think you should step up and do a good job, then these people will have nothing to say."

Despite his advanced age, Zhao Youzhi is very perceptive and can see right through people's schemes.

"Okay, this isn't a bad thing. I'll do the work I'm supposed to do, and you can assign me to the adult group from now on, so I can get more work points. I can't say I'll get the full number of work points, but I can definitely get seven or eight." Since his rebirth, Zhou Rui felt that his strength had increased every day, all thanks to the benefits of that brand's body modification. With this benefit, Zhou Rui had the confidence to say this.

"Good, that's spirited. You're a true son of Jiaolong Gorge. Without this spirit, how could our ancestors, the Zhao, Zhou, Chen, and Liu families, have taken root in this poor and harsh Jiaolong Gorge? You haven't disgraced your ancestors."

"The second thing is about your family's job spot at the forest farm. Someone used their connections to find Zhang Zhenbei, the logistics director of the forest farm, and wanted to trade your spot. Director Zhang contacted me through my eldest son and asked me to talk to you. He said he wanted to buy it for eight hundred yuan and that we could discuss any other requirements you might have."

Zhao Youzhi's eldest son, Zhao Changhe, graduated from a vocational school and then worked in the town's commune. It's not surprising that he was able to get acquainted with the director of the forest farm.

"Sure, I have no objection." Zhou Rui was thinking that I was just about to sell my job offer, and this was exactly what I needed.

Zhao Youzhi took a puff of his pipe and continued, "Ruiwa, actually I think this is a bad deal. Look, a regular employee at the forest farm earns 34.8 yuan a month, plus some other benefits during holidays. You can actually earn back 800 yuan in two years. Although you might offend Zhang Zhenbei because of this, and he might make things difficult for you at work, as long as you work honestly, Zhang Zhenbei can't do anything about it, and he can't fire you."

This era was still quite friendly to regular workers. As long as they didn't do anything illegal or disorderly, the leaders couldn't fire them, and even if they cheated or slept, there was nothing they could do.

"I still want to sell."

"Rui, you..." Zhao Youzhi thought Zhou Rui was too young to notice the eight hundred yuan.

"Grandpa Zhao, don't be anxious, please listen to me first." Zhou Rui saw that Zhao Youzhi was so anxious that he almost slammed his fist on the table, so he quickly stopped him. "Well, our family doesn't need this quota. You see, in three years I'll be eighteen and can start working at the forest farm. But Pingwa is only fifteen, An'an is nine, and Xiaoniangao is four months old. Do you think I'll be comfortable leaving the three of them at home alone while I live at the forest farm?" As Zhou Rui spoke, he patted An'an and Xiaoniangao's heads.

"If we let Pingwa grow up and start working, it will take another six years, which is too long. I'm afraid something might happen. Actually, I'd rather Pingwa continue his studies. You're older than my grandfather and more knowledgeable. You should know that only through education can one achieve success."

Zhao Youzhi nodded, agreeing with Zhou Rui's point. This kid Rui was thoughtful, always considering his family's needs.

"Brother, I'm not going to school. I want to stay home and work so I can help you take care of An'an and Xiao Niangao."

"When adults are talking, kids shouldn't interrupt. Your brother can support you all," Zhou Rui scolded Zhou Ping, but there was a hint of doting in his eyes.

"Well, you know the second thing. My uncle has always wanted to take my job, and other relatives might have the same idea. Although you're keeping things under control this time, it's not the theft itself that's the problem, it's the people who are eyeing it. You manage such a large group of affairs in the village, there are times when you can't be there for everyone. I was thinking that if I sell the job, I should also spread the word so everyone knows. Then I can use the money to buy some clothes for my younger siblings and some new things for the house, so that these people won't have any designs on it, and there won't be so much trouble."

After listening to Zhou Rui's explanation, Zhao Youzhi pondered for a moment and felt that Zhou Rui's words made perfect sense.

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, I'll let Director Zhang of the forest farm know. Once he notifies me, you can go to the forest farm and get things done."