Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Snowflakes were still falling from the sky, and a thick layer had already covered the ground. The family's mule was gone; it had been taken to the village livestock shed by the village chief yesterday, right after the snowfall. He said Zhou Rui's family didn't have a shed and it would freeze.

A moment later, Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping arrived and exclaimed upon seeing An'an in the yard, "An'an, your clothes are so beautiful! I've never seen them before!"

"Wow. Is it Chinese New Year? Suen is dressed so beautifully."

"Yang Ping, is this Su En? She's so beautiful."

"Yes, this is the Suen of the Oroqen people, made of roe deer skin. It's so comfortable and warm to the touch."

Zhou Rui heard the two people talking about clothes outside but not coming in, so he had to call out from inside.

"It's so cold outside, what are you chatting about? Come on in."

The two then took An'an back inside. The room was steamy and An'an was sweating, but she still refused to take off Su En's clothes. Zhou Rui tried to persuade her for a while, saying he would put them on her when they went outside.

An'an had no choice but to take off Su En's clothes and put them on the kang. There were two other sets of clothes on the kang, which belonged to Zhou Ping and Xiao Niangao.

"Zhou Rui, where did you buy this? Are you still selling it?"

Lin Qiuyue stared wide-eyed at Zhou Rui. Shanghai had always been at the forefront of fashion, and Lin Qiuyue had no resistance to beautiful clothes. Yang Ping, on the other hand, was much better off; after all, such pretty clothes wouldn't be practical for working.

"I bought it at the market in Hongxing Town. An'an's outfit cost a little over forty yuan, but if you want to buy it, it might cost over a hundred. After all, it's made of roe deer hide, and adults would need to use several more hides."

"So expensive?" Yang Ping was a little dumbfounded. She never imagined that such beauty would come at such a high price. A set of children's clothes cost as much as an ordinary worker's monthly salary.

"Over a hundred?" Lin Qiuyue was calculating how much money she could afford and whether she could buy such a beautiful dress.

Yang Ping noticed Lin Qiuyue's expression was a bit off and nudged her with her elbow. "What, you really want to buy it? It's so expensive. My dad would work for three months straight without eating or drinking to afford one."

"It's not impossible. If I buy this one, I won't need to buy a cotton-padded coat for many years. I can wear it every year for the New Year." Lin Qiuyue's eyes curved into crescent moons, as if she could picture herself wearing Su En in her mind.

"Then ask Zhou Rui what market is in Hongxing Town, and we'll go take a look. Even if we don't buy anything, it'll be good to see."

While feeding Xiao Niangao porridge, Zhou Rui listened to their conversation. When they mentioned him, he quickly chimed in, "I don't know the exact time of the market in Hongxing Town; I'll have to ask around. But I think it will definitely be there before the New Year."

"Alright, you two stop chatting and come have some porridge, it's still warm."

Lin Qiuyue finally put aside her daydreams and picked up the porridge Zhou Ping had prepared. She and Yang Ping had gotten used to it these past few days; they felt right at home at Zhou Rui's house.

"What kind of porridge is this? It tastes delicious."

"Fish congee. It snowed and got cold yesterday, and the pond in the yard froze, so I had to dig out a fish and cook it."

"Ugh, it's so cold. I don't even want to go out in this cold weather." Lin Qiuyue shivered as she listened to the howling wind outside. As a southerner, she had never known that winters in Heilongjiang Province were this cold.

"It's already the time of year for hibernation, so if you don't want to go out, you don't have to. You can just stay home, read a book, and chat."

But these words had no effect on An'an and Zhou Ping. What were the little kids thinking? Wouldn't it be a waste not to show off their pretty clothes? They put down their bowls, put on their fur coats, and ran outside, prompting Zhou Rui to call after them.

"Button up your coat before going out, or you'll catch a cold."

The autumn harvest is over, and the grain has been distributed. There have been many weddings and celebrations in the village these past few days, but none of them are related to Zhou Rui.

After Zhou Rui's father passed away, many people who had been on good terms with Zhou Rui's family cut off contact. The only family Zhou Rui was close to was his aunt Changchun's daughter's wedding, but unfortunately, the banquet was held in another village, and Zhou Rui couldn't attend.

Zhou Rui had no choice but to take Xiao Niangao to Zhao Dazhu's house to find Xiao Yan'er to play with.

"Brother Dazhu, are you home?" Zhou Rui's loud voice rang out in the yard before he even entered the house.

"Come in, they're inside."

Zhou Rui carried Xiao Niangao in one arm and a burlap sack in the other as he entered the house. Xiao Niangao, seeing Yan'er rolling around on the kang (heated brick bed), happily babbled and wanted to get down.

"Are you going downstairs to play with Xiaoyan? Wait a minute, I'll take off your coat for you. It's hot in here, so don't sweat." Zhou Rui put the sack on the table and started to take off Xiaoniangao's clothes.

"Oh my, my goddaughter looks so good in this outfit. Let me take her." Wang Xinghua took Xiao Niangao from her. The little one was still a bit heavy in her hands, a world of difference compared to when Zhou Rui first brought her to breastfeed a few months ago.

"What's this? It smells awful. Is this meat you made again?" Zhao Dazhu rummaged through the sack.

"It's not meat, it's greyhound pelt. I brought it to your house to ask for your help." Zhou Rui took off his old cotton-padded coat and sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed). His military overcoat was dirty; he had washed it that morning and it was still drying at home.

"There's enough leather here to make two doll outfits, one for Yan'er and one for Xiao Niangao. You can have someone make them for you, and you'll pay for it."

"Of course, of course." Zhao Dazhu grinned as he touched the fresh squirrel skin that still smelled of it.

Zhou Rui is incredibly good to his daughter Yan'er, always thinking of her whenever he has something nice. Basically, if Xiao Niangao has something, he'll bring some for Yan'er too. Actually, he's mainly grateful to his wife for feeding Xiao Niangao when she didn't have any milk, and for becoming her godmother.

Little Gosling is several months younger than Little Rice Cake; she can't crawl or sit up steadily yet. Even so, she's still very happy to see Little Rice Cake come to play with her.

The two were babbling and it was unclear how they were communicating. It might have been baby talk, with sign language added as well.

Zhou Rui and Zhao Dazhu chatted and played with the two children, keeping the conversation lively.

"Why didn't you go out today, Brother Dazhu? Did no one invite you to a feast?"

Little Yan'er especially liked Zhou Rui and kept climbing on him.

"No. Chen Bo is the only one getting married in the village today. I don't get along with him, so he didn't invite me. What about you?"

"If you don't have any, then I have even less to invite. How many people do I even have a relationship with?"

"Why haven't your eldest and second cousins ​​found wives yet?"

"Their family affairs are none of my business, I don't care."

They were having a great time chatting when Zhou Ping came running in, panting, looking for Zhou Rui.

"Second brother, hurry, go to Ping An's house and help Aunt Li Ying. Someone's causing trouble."

"What's wrong? Have some water to calm yourself down, and stop talking nonsense." Zhou Rui handed over his teacup, the water in which had cooled down after a while.

Glug, glug... Zhou Ping drank the water all in one gulp.

"Liu Ping'an's uncle came back and brought a bunch of relatives to their house to kick Aunt Li Ying out."

"Quick, let's go!"

Liu Ping'an and Liu Shunli are Zhou Ping's best friends. When their friends' families were bullied, Zhou Ping didn't know what to do, so he had to go to his all-powerful second brother.