Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

After resting by the fire for a while, Zhou Rui learned that the two men claimed to be from a small village below the state capital.

The mixed-race man, named Tong Guwei, is a doctor. The strong, muscular man, named He Hongbing, is a farmer who lost his voice at a young age and was born unable to speak.

Because his mother had contracted a strange illness, the very filial He Hongbing had no choice but to ask Dr. Tong Guwei to go up the mountain to collect herbs, and brought an old-fashioned hunting rifle to protect him.

There was nothing wrong with what he said, and the story made sense, but Zhou Rui still had some doubts. However, since both sides were still chatting around the fire, Zhou Rui couldn't say anything and could only keep his doubts to himself.

As night fell, He Hongbing took advantage of the time while Zhang Shitou was grilling meat to build a snow hut near Zhou Rui and the other's snow hut.

The distance wasn't very close, about twenty meters away. Seeing that he wasn't moving very smoothly, Zhang Shitou went to lend a hand.

"Dr. Tong, come and have some meat. Try my apprentice's cooking." Wang Shouye greeted him warmly. Doctors were still widely respected in this era.

Especially for people like them who travel through the mountains, encountering danger and getting injured is common, so their need for doctors is much greater than that of ordinary people.

"Alright, haha... I'll benefit from your brother's generosity. But I can't let you guys suffer, the drinks tonight are on me."

As Tong Guwei spoke, he pulled out a wine jug weighing at least five jin from his bag, which was even larger than the first one.

There were a lot of people tonight. Although we weren't very familiar with each other, there was plenty of alcohol and meat, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

Around the entire campfire, only two people didn't drink: Zhou Rui and the mute man who had never spoken a word.

A bottle of wine was passed around among the five people. When it reached Zhang Shitou's hands, he suddenly felt something poking him from behind.

Turning his head, he saw Zhou Rui pull out the barbecue stick and poke it in his waist.

He looked up at Zhou Rui, only to see Zhou Rui's lips move but no sound come out. He could only barely guess a few words: "Drink less."

Zhang Shitou didn't understand why Zhou Rui was doing this, but he still decided to trust his junior brother. He nodded slightly, then tilted his head back and took a big gulp, though most of the wine spilled onto the ground in the shadow of the firelight.

Dinner lasted for more than an hour. Seeing that Wang Shouye was getting unsteady on his feet, Zhou Rui quickly went over and said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Uncle Wang, it's late. Let's go to bed early."

Wang Shouye was a little dazed: "Oh, Ruiwa. Is it getting late? Then go to sleep early."

"Dr. Tong, you eat, I, I'm going to sleep now." Wang Shouye stammered, trying to stand up, but almost fell over.

Zhou Rui reached out and steadily supported Wang Shouye.

"Third senior brother, come and help me, help Uncle Wang inside."

The two men were much better off; one on each side, they supported Wang Shouye and quickly got him into the snow hut. Wang Shouye lay down on the leather mat and soon began to snore softly.

"Third Senior Brother, you'll sleep in the same room as Uncle Wang tonight. I'll sleep with Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother. We're more likely to wake up at night."

Hearing Zhou Rui's words and seeing his somewhat serious expression, Zhang Shitou couldn't help but ask worriedly, "What's wrong, Junior Brother? Is something the matter?"

"I had a feeling that something was off about those two, but I couldn't see any clues. I figured we should be careful ourselves."

"After all, as the old saying goes, one should not have the heart to harm others, but one should not be without the heart to guard against others. Tonight, only the two of us brothers are sober, so we will each take care of one room."

"Okay, I understand."

Seeing Zhang Shitou's suddenly gloomy expression, Zhou Rui clenched his fist and punched his shoulder.

"Don't be too nervous, this is just my guess. Maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily, and nothing will happen tonight. Don't laugh at me then."

"Okay, let's go help our eldest and second eldest brothers into the snow hut. I think they've had enough to drink."

The night passed peacefully, but Zhang Shitou tossed and turned in his snow hut, unable to sleep soundly.

Zhou Rui, on the other hand, slept soundly. In his previous life, he had already learned on the battlefield how to maintain sufficient sleep while remaining vigilant.

Zhou Rui stepped out of the snow hut and stretched his arms backward as far as possible, his knuckles cracking.

"Good morning, junior brother."

The fire was blazing, illuminating Zhang Shitou's two dark circles under his eyes.

"Third senior brother, why don't you go back to your room and get some sleep? I'll wake you up when breakfast is ready."

"Okay, I'll go back and get some sleep, otherwise I really won't be able to hold on today." Zhang Shitou turned his head and looked at the snow house opposite, where snow blocks blocked the entrance.

"Fortunately, those two were relatively well-behaved and didn't cause any trouble."

Zhou Rui gave a strange laugh: "You thought there was still someone in that room? It was already empty two hours ago."

"What?" Zhang Shitou asked in disbelief.

"Go and take a look," Zhou Rui advised directly.

He needs to know this, otherwise Zhang Shitou will always have something on his mind and won't be able to rest well.

Zhang Shitou walked over and moved the ice bricks aside. The snow house was empty, and even the fire had been reduced to embers.

Zhang Shitou walked back: "Who exactly are those two people? Why did they leave so early? Are they keeping an eye on us or...?"

"Alright, alright, go back and get some sleep. Who cares who they are? As long as they're not around, we don't need to worry." Zhou Rui pushed Zhang Shitou's shoulder and led him back, stopping him from thinking about things further.

Zhou Rui picked up a handful of fodder, fed the mule first, and then tidied up the two flying dragons.

He tasted it last night, and it was indeed delicious, but it lacked the aroma of the mushrooms from the mountains.

More than an hour later, everyone gradually got up, with Zhang Shitou being the last to rise. Wang Shouye didn't think much of it, assuming that Zhang Shitou had a low alcohol tolerance and had drunk too much the night before.

"Mmm...delicious." After taking a sip of hot porridge, Wang Shouye felt warm all over, and his hangover from last night was much lighter.

"Really? I added some pheasant soup to it. Here, Master, another bowl of soup."

"Yes, the pheasant soup is sweet. This porridge has both the fresh aroma of pheasant and the fragrance of rice, each with its own unique flavor."

"It tastes so good, let me try it." Gu Shaofeng eagerly picked up the bowl. "Mmm... tart, tart, soup."

"Serves you right. They say you can't rush things. You can't taste the flavor of even the best food." Wang Zhen complained as he slowly slurped the food along the rim of the bowl.

"Ruiwa, go and wake up Doctor Tong and the others so they can have something to eat." Wang Shouye still had a good impression of Tong Guwei, even though the other party had gotten him drunk last night.

"No need, Uncle Wang, they've already left, there's no one in that house anymore." Zhou Rui sipped his soup, feeling incredibly comfortable. He definitely wanted to take two back, stew them with mushrooms, and let the younger ones try some.

"Oh, they left so early? I was just telling them to come with me today so I could help them look for you."

"Perhaps there's something urgent." Zhou Rui and Zhang Shitou exchanged a glance, without mentioning that they had been on guard against each other all night.