Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"By the way, Second Brother, Grandpa Zhao asked me to inform you that the village's fishponds will be used for fishing next week, and the supply and marketing cooperative will be buying the fish." Zhou Ping ate the meat quickly, one piece at a time.

"Don't eat so much venison. Don't you remember last time? You even had a fever," Zhou Rui advised. "Why is the supply and marketing cooperative starting to buy so early this year? Didn't they usually wait until the end of the year?"

"According to the village chief, it seems that many factories have heavy workloads this winter and are short of meat, so they have to ask the supply and marketing cooperative to buy fish from all over the place to supplement their supply."

Yu Sitian didn't like staying cooped up at the educated youth settlement; she often wandered around the village and was more well-informed than Lin Qiuyue.

"Great, Zhou Rui, I knew you were back. You were secretly eating delicious food at home without even calling me."

Yang Ping pushed open the door and came in. She was very outgoing and didn't stand on ceremony with Zhou Rui at all. She probably treated Zhou Rui like a buddy.

"With your keen nose, do I need to tell you? You just came over by smelling the scent." Zhou Rui teased with a smile, no longer showing the indifference he had when they first met.

"That's right, I have a very keen nose. I can smell your cooking from far away. It smells better than Qiuyue's."

Yang Ping didn't care about Zhou Rui's teasing at all. In front of delicious food, everything else was insignificant, and she could even make fun of herself.

Then, with her large buttocks, she squeezed next to Lin Qiuyue: "Move over, you have absolutely no sense of propriety."

Lin Qiuyue gently pinched Yang Ping's waist with her small hand: "You're really shameless. You're flattering me like this, and you're even using me as a scapegoat."

Yang Ping didn't care at all about Lin Qiuyue's ticklish playfulness. She snatched Lin Qiuyue's chopsticks and stuffed a big piece of meat into her mouth.

"You heartless little brat, how dare you talk to me like that? You're living the high life, you've probably forgotten all about me."

Zhou Rui smiled and shook his head: "Pingwa, go get a set of chopsticks and a bowl for your sister Yang Ping, so she won't complain that we didn't give her meat to eat."

Yu Sitian covered her mouth and chuckled. She particularly admired Yang Ping's straightforwardness, a quality far superior to that of He Wei, the educated youth who had come with her. He Wei, relying on her background in Beijing, was somewhat pretentious in her speech and actions.

"Sister Yang Ping, have a bowl of soup first. My brother made it, it's delicious." Zhou Ping picked up a bowl and served Yang Ping soup. The soup was clear and had some mushrooms floating on top.

"What kind of soup is this? Pigeon or dove?" Yang Ping looked at the things in the basin. It didn't look like chicken; they were too small.

Yu Sitian was somewhat surprised: "You haven't tried this famous dish from Northeast China?"

"What famous dish?" Yang Ping picked up the bowl and took a big bite.

"Flying Dragon!" Yu Sitian felt that Yang Ping was a bit ignorant, not even knowing the dishes from her own hometown.

"Cough, cough..." Yang Ping choked on the soup, but couldn't bear to spit it out.

Lin Qiuyue quickly patted her back to prevent her from choking.

Yang Ping finally calmed down, then took a small sip, swirling it around on her tongue. This soup was so expensive; she hadn't really tasted it properly before.

Fragrant and fresh.

Yang Ping finished tasting it before explaining to Yu Sitian. She had seen it all; Yu Sitian had been looking at her like she was a fool.

"Sitian, although Flying Dragon is a famous dish in Northeast China, it is still quite rare. Most people in Northeast China have only heard of it but have never seen it."

"Of course, since it's rare, it means this flying dragon is very expensive. Being expensive means that most people wouldn't be willing to buy it even if they saw it. Even if they were willing to buy it, they wouldn't be willing to eat it themselves; they would all give it away as a gift."

"Do you think my ordinary working-class family could afford such a meal?"

"Expensive? How expensive?" Yu Sitian pressed.

"Based on the ingredients alone, this bowl would cost about thirty yuan. In a state-run restaurant, it would probably cost at least fifty yuan."

"So expensive?" Now it was Yu Sitian's turn to be stunned. Even in her family, where her father was a high-ranking factory worker and her mother was a low-level government employee, they wouldn't dare to eat like this.

"Mmm," Yang Ping replied with a smile.

An'an looked left and right, not understanding what the two older girls were talking about. But none of that mattered as much as her determination to eat; she thought the stir-fried shredded potatoes with vinegar were especially delicious today, much better than the big chunks of meat.

"Alright, you guys stop chatting. Eat more if you like it. It's quite a rare opportunity for me to hunt this dragon."

Zhou Rui drank his wine while serving food to everyone, but the meat he put into An An's bowl was all taken away by her using some kind of magic trick.

In the morning, after a day of snow, the sky finally cleared up, and the sun shone brightly in the yard.

"Second brother, are you taking me to the village to play today?" Usually, when Zhou Rui is not at home, An'an follows Zhou Ping, but as long as Zhou Rui comes back, An'an is like an accessory hanging on his lap.

"Do you want to go to the village to play?" Zhou Rui was still shoveling snow, and the little one on his leg didn't bother him at all.

"Yes." The voice was both firm and loud.

"Alright. You go take care of Little Rice Cake first, I'll feed the mule and then we'll head out."

Zhou Rui was feeding the baby after mixing the feed when he saw a big, fleshy creature carrying a small, fleshy creature come out, swaying as if it were drunk.

"Give it to me quickly, or you two will fall." Zhou Rui was startled and rushed over in one stride.

"Hehe... I'm pretty good, I won't fall." An'an put her hands on her hips, but Zhou Rui couldn't find her waist anywhere.

"I know you're good, but aren't you two wearing too many layers? It's hard to hold you up properly."

"Let's go, second brother."

"Wait, let me find a cloth strip to carry with me."

"Isn't that unnecessary? Little Rice Cake doesn't like being tied up anymore, and she always wants to get down when I hold her. She can't walk."

An'an is very distressed now, feeling that her little niece is becoming increasingly disobedient to her.

"Oh, our little rice cake wants to learn to walk? Then we'll have to take her with us even more."

"Pingwa, do you want to go out and play together?" Zhou Rui asked Zhou Ping, who was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a cloth strip in his hand.

"Second Brother, you guys go ahead. I'll listen to the radio for a bit before I go out." Zhou Ping has recently become obsessed with a storytelling program that airs in the mornings, and he won't leave the house until he finishes listening to it.

"Alright then, remember to lock the door when you go out, and leave Mao Mao at home to guard the house."

"Understood, Second Brother."

Before long, Zhou Rui carried Xiao Niangao, An'an led Maoqiu, and Maotuan and Maodou out of the house.

A puppy a few months old is just like a toddler a few years old, full of energy. It can't be kept at home and always wants to run outside, unlike its mother, Mao Mao, who is so steady.

"Ruiwa, it's been a few days. Have you gone hunting again?" An elder in the village greeted Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui is now a celebrity in the village, and he's been involved in quite a few recent events.

"Hmm. I had no hunting experience, so I apprenticed myself to a gunner from Wangjiazhuang to learn how to hunt." Zhou Rui habitually concealed his lack of skill.

Uncle Kangri and Brother Dazhu kept their mouths shut; no one knew that he had hunted other prey.

"You think you have no experience? You hunted wild boars and jackals during the busy farming season. You're really something."

"No, Uncle, I was just lucky. There are many things I don't know. I can't always rely on luck. It wouldn't hurt to learn more hunting skills."