Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Stone, you're good at this. Skin this tiger cub. If it freezes, it won't be so easy to handle," Wang Shouye instructed Zhang Stone directly.

"Understood, Master. Leave it to me." Zhang Shitou said without any complaints, as if it were all the way it should be.

"Everyone else, hurry back to sleep. We have to get up very early tomorrow." After saying this, Wang Shouye immediately ended the conversation and urged everyone to return to the snow hut to rest.

Zhou Rui was carefree; he lay down and fell asleep immediately after returning home. Gu Shaofeng, on the other hand, was excited and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He wanted to talk to Zhou Rui, but Zhou Rui was already asleep.

So Gu Shaofeng got up again and went out to keep Zhang Shitou company. Now only Zhang Shitou could talk to him.

"Third brother, tell me, how exactly did Ruiwa shoot him? He only fired one shot, and that tiger cub was dead." Gu Shaofeng was full of energy now.

Zhang Shitou patiently peeled the lynx pelt; such an expensive pelt couldn't be damaged in the slightest.

"What else can we do? Slowly approach and then headshot them."

"I've noticed that you and Ruiwa are both pretty bad at storytelling. How did you get close? How did you aim? What were your feelings when you fired? You have to do that a few times. That's what storytellers on the radio say."

Gu Shaofeng spoke with great enthusiasm, as if Zhou Rui had already fought hundreds of rounds with the tiger cub in the snow in his mind.

"This is hunting, not war. Why go through multiple rounds? Just one shot, if you hit it, you hit it; if you miss, it runs away. Do you think this tiger cub can fight you?"

Zhang Shitou didn't pay much attention to Gu Shaofeng's feelings; all his focus was on the work at hand.

"You're such a spoilsport." Zhang Shitou's words shattered the image in Gu Shaofeng's mind, and his mood instantly plummeted. Why couldn't anyone understand him?

"Third brother, now that you've made money, how do you plan to spend it?"

"How else can we spend the money? Didn't you say you were going to get me and my second senior brother new guns?" Zhang Shitou asked Gu Shaofeng, puzzled.

"Aren't there still some left? Buying guns won't cost too much money." Gu Shaofeng spoke with great arrogance; a gun costing a little over a thousand yuan was nothing to him now.

"Then buy more fabric for my mother, so she can have some new clothes made for the New Year. Buy some good wine for my father, the kind my junior brother brought, so he can have a good time."

A smile appeared on Zhang Shitou's face, as if this was a good life.

"Useless."

Gu Shaofeng stretched out his hand, wanting to slap Zhang Shitou, but seeing the lynx pelt on Zhang Shitou's hand, he had no choice but to hold back.

"Haven't you thought about building a new house in the spring, buying a three-wheeled, one-ring, seventy-two-legged house, so you can find a wife? You're already twenty-two." Gu Shaofeng was particularly anxious, worried sick about his junior brothers.

"Build a house? And buy a three-wheeled vehicle, a radio, and seventy-two legs? How much will that cost? I can't afford it." Zhang Shitou kept shaking his head.

"What, can't afford it? Look at this, we've only been up the mountain for a few days and we've already caught so much meat. Master said that the three of us will each get at least two thousand yuan."

Gu Shaofeng counted the costs for him on his fingers.

"Then there are still more than two months until the end of the year. If we come a few more times, we'll have everything we need. How much does it cost to build a house? It'll be enough to build a big red brick house."

"Can you really talk about your wife?" Zhang Shitou's eyes lit up. He skipped over everything else and went straight to the result.

"Hehe... I knew it! A grown man like him, how could he not miss his wife?"

Gu Shaofeng patted his chest and said confidently, "Yes, definitely. If you get all of these things, you'll definitely be able to get married next year, and you'll be pregnant by the end of the year."

Zhang Shitou was so captivated by the scene described by Gu Shaofeng that he slowed down his movements considerably.

Actually, his parents were getting anxious because he was still unmarried at his age, but his family was poor and no girl was interested in him, so he was still single.

That night, Zhang Shitou fell asleep with a smile on his face, dreaming of getting married in his new house. The house was filled with sewing machines, bicycles, and new furniture. He held a wine glass filled with the kind of liquor his junior apprentice had brought, and went from table to table toasting.

He kept drinking and drinking until he woke up at dawn. Sigh… Zhang Shitou sighed; he hadn't gotten a clear look at his new bride in his dream.

When Wang Shouye got up in the morning, he drank piping hot porridge.

"Ruiwa and I will leave right after we finish eating. You can leave the dogs with you. Keep an eye on them. Always keep your guns handy, and be especially wary of strangers."

"Understood, Master. We're not children anymore." The rebellious youth found the old man a bit annoying.

"What's wrong? Do you think your master is being long-winded? Some things can never be said too many times, especially for you, kid." Wang Shouye had a headache with Gu Shaofeng. Among his disciples, the eldest was the most troublesome.

"What's wrong with me? I always listen to my master the most," Gu Shaofeng said with a smirk.

Zhou Rui, Wang Zhen, and Zhang Shitou all turned their heads away at the same time. Whether they were the most obedient or not, they weren't sure; but their skin was truly thick—they could lie through their teeth.

Seeing this, Gu Shaofeng immediately raised his head and glanced at the three of them sideways: "What do you three mean? Do you think what I, the senior brother, said is wrong?"

Wang Zhen and Zhang Shitou exchanged a glance, then looked at Zhou Rui and kept winking at him.

Zhou Rui and his two other senior brothers were working together for the first time and had not yet developed a tacit understanding. He didn't know what Wang Zhen meant, but he still nodded silently.

Anyway, whatever his second and third senior brothers were going to do, he could just follow along.

While Gu Shaofeng wasn't looking, Wang Zhen and Zhang Shitou quietly put down their lunchboxes and grabbed a handful of food from the snow.

Zhou Rui understood; he had played with it as a child. So he followed behind and grabbed a handful from a snow-covered spot.

Suddenly, the three people rushed forward, trapping Gu Shaofeng in the middle, and stuffed the snow in their hands into Gu Shaofeng's collar.

As Wang Zhen handed it back, he exclaimed, "Yes, Senior Brother is right."

"Hey... what are you three doing?"

As soon as the cold snow touched his skin, Gu Shaofeng jumped up, simultaneously lifting the hem of his clothes and twisting his body incessantly.

Zhou Rui and his two companions dispersed, keeping a distance, and burst into laughter.

"Hei Zi, I know it was your idea. You just wait." Gu Shaofeng shook the snow out of his clothes and shouted angrily.

At the same time, he bent down, rolled up a large snowball, and took long strides to chase after Wang Zhen.

Laughter and screams erupted, snowflakes filled the air, and even Zhang Shitou, who usually had a sour face, beamed with joy.

Wang Shouye ignored his apprentices' playful antics, holding his bowl and watching them chase each other with a smile. He liked seeing this scene; it meant they got along well and there wasn't much infighting.

After the meal, Wang Shouye and Zhou Rui shouldered their large bags, took their guns, and headed down the mountain. A gust of wind blew, swirling up snowflakes behind them.

"Let's go, senior brother. Let's pack everything up, and we can leave as soon as the villagers arrive." Zhang Shitou always had something to do and never slacked off.

"We'll pack our things later. Let's go see how Junior Brother managed to kill the tiger cub last night."