Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui hasn't gone out much these past two days, staying home diligently preparing for his hunt. He's disassembled all his rifles and pistols, cleaning and maintaining them meticulously, and slowly sharpening his knife to an exceptionally fine point.

These are all life-saving items, so I have to be careful. It would be terrible if something went wrong when I needed them. Then I stuffed some bottled liquor and firecrackers into my backpack. It seems like I don't have much left. I'll have to go to town to replenish some when I have time.

Today, the snow finally stopped. Zhou Rui went to ask Old Sesame in the village about the recent weather. He learned that the next few days would be sunny with no strong winds or heavy snow, so he packed his backpack and set off.

Before leaving, as usual, Lin Qiuyue, Sister-in-law Xinghua, and Aunt Changchun asked her to take care of the children in the house.

Zhou Rui walked towards the distant horizon, stepping through the vast expanse of white snow.

I called Gu Shaofeng in Gujiatun and finally got a bicycle seat to ride on.

On the way, Zhou Rui brushed the snow off his clothes: "I'm not sitting anymore. Your driving skills are terrible. How many times have you made me fall?"

"How can you blame me? Look at the road, it's all frozen and slippery. You can't blame me." Gu Shaofeng, like Zhou Rui, had fallen quite hard.

"Alright, let's walk there. It's not far from Uncle Wang's house anyway."

More than half an hour later, the two arrived at Wang Shouye's house, where Wang Shouye's other two apprentices were already there.

"Come here, junior brother, let me introduce you. This is your second senior brother, Wang Zhen. You can call him Senior Brother Hei Zi. He's very good at setting traps; he almost always succeeds."

"Second Senior Brother," Zhou Rui greeted Wang Zhen with a fist salute.

Wang Zhen is chubby and doesn't look like a hunter; he looks more like a cook. He's not dark-skinned, so why is his nickname "Blackie"?

Wang Zhen chuckled, "Hello, junior brother, don't listen to Senior Brother Gu's nonsense. He gave me a nickname out of nowhere."

"This is my third senior brother, Zhang Shitou. He's not very talkative, so please don't mind him," Gu Shaofeng said, pointing to the silent young man standing to the side.

Zhang Shitou had an honest face, and a kind of resilience that came from a poor family.

"Hello, junior brother."

"Greetings, Third Senior Brother." Zhou Rui clasped his hands in greeting, treating all his senior brothers the same.

"Alright, now that you all know each other, come sit down and have a cup of hot water to rest. Let me tell you about the situation of this hunt." After Gu Shaofeng introduced Zhou Rui to the second and third brothers, Wang Shouye directly asked everyone to sit down together.

"Here's the thing, this hunting operation was initiated by your junior brother. Ruiwa has some connections at Xiangyang Forest Farm, and he got a big job this time, which will last for several months. It's quite intense, so you need to be prepared."

"Of course, it's tiring, but the money is definitely substantial. I can't say the exact price, but it's certainly much better than the black market."

"It's alright, Uncle Liu. As long as there's money to be made, I'm not afraid of anything," Wang Zhen said first.

"Master, I'm not afraid of being tired." Zhang Shitou said simply and directly.

"Alright. This job was brought in by your junior brother, and we'll need him to settle the accounts at the forest farm, so this is how it'll be divided. Your junior brother and I will each take two shares, and the three of you will each take one share. Is that alright?"

"No problem." "Master, you're in charge." "I'll listen to Sixth Uncle."

"Uncle Wang, my share is too high. I'll just take the same share as my fellow disciples," Zhou Rui quickly declined.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shouye completely ignored Zhou Rui's words: "Since everyone has no objections, then it's settled."

"I've already chosen the hunting location for the first time. It's in the next village. We were just harassed by a group of wild boars a few days ago. Let's go and look for them. Maybe we can complete the mission that will take half a month in no time."

Zhou Rui nodded. Sometimes, hunting down large groups of animals can indeed save a lot of time.

"Alright, let's eat first, and then we'll set off."

In the afternoon, Zhou Rui and his group, their faces veiled in black, followed Wang Shouye through knee-deep snow, with a dozen or so hunting dogs scattered around them.

Every now and then, some pheasants and a few rabbits would be startled into flight. Da Mao and the others even brought back a few rabbits that were stuck in the snow.

"Dinner's ready now." Gu Shaofeng didn't mind at all and happily hung it on his waist.

Gu Shaofeng was having a good time by himself, and no one had the energy to pay attention to him. With such deep snow, it would be better to spend more energy getting on the road.

"Master, let me go first." Seeing that Wang Shouye was a little out of breath, Zhang Shitou hurriedly stepped forward to switch places with him.

Zhou Rui then realized that Wang Shouye, who was walking at the front, must be tired. Walking through the snow at the very front of the group was the most physically demanding, while those following behind had it much easier.

"Let's take turns later. One person can lead the way for half an hour. Otherwise, no one can stand leading the way the whole time," Zhou Rui suggested.

"Okay, this way everyone can have their energy distributed most evenly." Everyone nodded in agreement.

The mountains in winter have lost much of their color, leaving only a blinding expanse of white snow. Most animals have also donned new fur, making them almost invisible unless you get very close.

With everyone's eyes hidden behind the thin veil, even the slightest movement went unnoticed. Zhou Rui thought to himself that this was quite inconvenient; perhaps he could check the black market for sunglasses sometime, which would make things much easier.

A loud eagle cry rang out from the horizon, a dark shadow drew a beautiful arc, and rose again, with a tuft of colorful fur beneath its claws.

Zhou Rui looked up, filled with envy. What a wonderful reconnaissance aircraft! With this, they wouldn't have to go through so much trouble searching the mountains.

Zhou Rui's perception was not very useful this time either; after the leaves had all fallen, his eyes could see farther than his senses.

Whoosh... The hot breath exhaled by everyone condensed into a layer of frost on the thin gauze.

While Zhou Rui was searching the mountains, Lin Qiuyue had already brought Yu Sitian to Zhou Rui's house to cook dinner. Yang Ping didn't come; after all, she couldn't leave He Wei alone at the educated youth settlement. But it wouldn't be appropriate for everyone to come, since no one's food came easily.

Lin Qiuyue now brings food with her on her own initiative, so she can't keep taking advantage of Zhou Rui's family, even though the Zhou family doesn't really care.

Yu Sitian watched Lin Qiuyue stir-fry cabbage, putting a large spoonful of oil into the pan.

"You, you, you, you put oil in like this?" Yu Sitian was so shocked that her mouth stammered. She herself would never put oil in like this even in Shanghai.

"Ah, Zhou Rui taught me that you should use more oil when stir-frying vegetables so that they will be more fragrant. Look, I don't use any oil when I steam cured pork, just some sauce."

Looking into Lin Qiuyue's innocent, big eyes, Yu Sitian leaned closer and whispered, "Won't his elders say anything if you cook like this?"

"His parents passed away, and he lost contact with his uncle, grandparents, and now he's in charge of his own household, and nobody cares about him."

"That's good." Yu Sitian patted her chest. "Won't the villagers gossip about him cooking like this every day?"

"This place is far from the village, and nobody knows Zhou Rui cooks like this. Aunt Changchun did mention it, but he wouldn't listen. He even said that people need to eat more oil to stay healthy and to consume less grain. I think he's right."