Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

After lunch, Zhou Rui was preparing things at home when An An pulled Lin Qiuyue over to the door, followed by Yang Ping and Yu Sitian.

"Aren't you at home? Why do you need us to come and take care of Xiao Niangao?" Lin Qiuyue asked curiously.

"I had nothing to do at home today, so I thought I'd take Pingwa and An'an to catch toads. But the place we're going to is upstream of Jiaolong Creek, and it's a bit windy, so I'm afraid to take the kids there," Zhou Rui explained earnestly.

"What is a toad?" Yu Sitian and Lin Qiuyue were both from Shanghai and didn't know what it was. It sounded strange to them.

"Have Yang Ping give you a brief explanation." Zhou Rui was organizing the tools he needed to bring, so he asked Yang Ping to explain.

"Ahem... Snow frog, scientifically known as the Chinese forest frog. Snow frog is nutritious and delicious, and is a top-quality ingredient in Northeast China. Snow frog oil nourishes yin and moistens the lungs, tonifies the kidneys and replenishes essence, and has high medicinal value. During the Ming Dynasty, it was listed as a tribute to the imperial court."

"Wow, that's amazing! You guys in Northeast China have so many delicious foods. Qiuyue, shall we go with Comrade Zhou Rui and see for ourselves?" Yu Sitian exclaimed, clearly a true foodie herself.

Yang Ping glanced at the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes darting around, and said, "Oh dear, there are two babies today, I can't take care of them all by myself. How about Qiuyue goes first today, and you can come along next time you have a chance?"

"Sigh, that's true, it's definitely harder to take care of two kids."

Yu Sitian sighed, feeling like she hadn't left the village since arriving; she'd practically been hibernating. But after what had happened to Lin Qiuyue's family, she really needed to go out and clear her head.

"No, no, I don't actually... really like going out that much." Lin Qiuyue wanted to go, but was also a little shy.

"Oh dear, we're not going out to play, we're going out to help with some work. Sitian and I are afraid of the cold, so we want to stay at home to keep warm." Yang Ping held Lin Qiuyue's shoulders and pushed her outside.

"Hey, don't push me..."

On the frozen surface of Jiaolong Creek, Zhou Rui carried An'an on his back and walked slowly against the wind, which rushed into his collar from the canyon.

"Are you alright? Are you cold?" Zhou Rui asked, turning his head.

"It's not cold. Look, the coat you made from the black bear you hunted last time is very warm. Plus, you're blocking the wind in front of me, so it's not cold at all."

Lin Qiuyue raised her head, her face peeking out from under her bearskin coat, flushed but with excitement in her eyes.

"Well, as long as it's not cold."

Zhou Ping, carrying sacks and tools, was at the very back, secretly glancing at the two people in front of him without saying a word, lost in thought.

At a bend in the road, Zhou Rui stopped and put An An down.

"Second brother, are there any toads down there?"

"There are some nearby, but not under our feet. We're going to be staying here for a long time. It's not windy here, so we'll make a fire and come over to warm ourselves when we get cold."

Zhou Rui's physical condition doesn't actually require him to warm himself by a fire, but this time there's a child and a young lady from Shanghai, so he has to consider things a bit more.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll go and gather some firewood."

"Zhou Rui, shall I go with you?" Lin Qiuyue wanted to go along to prove that she wasn't just a useless person.

"No need, you stay here and watch over An'an. It's so windy, I'm afraid she'll misbehave and run off to play again."

An'an wrinkled her nose: "Hmph, you stinky second brother, you're talking nonsense. I'm a good girl, very obedient."

After saying that, he turned around and hugged Lin Qiuyue's leg.

Zhou Rui smiled slightly, turned around and walked into the wind.

"Second Brother, what am I doing?" Zhou Ping followed and put the bucket on the ground.

"Come with me, I'll find you a place, you can start chiseling." He said, taking the ice chisel out of the bucket.

The ice chisel has a cross-shaped handle at the head and a triangular blade at the tail. Zhou Rui had a blacksmith make it according to his specifications.

Zhou Rui had already located the spot using his senses; it was under a large rock.

Zhou Rui drew a circle on the ice with an ice chisel: "Break through this area."

"Okay, Second Brother." Zhou Ping now blindly worships Zhou Rui, believing that everything Zhou Rui says is right.

Zhou Rui gathered firewood very quickly, collecting a bundle of small branches in about ten minutes. He also chopped down a tree the size of a bowl and dragged it back with one hand.

Zhou Rui put the branches in the nest, poured kerosene on them, and the fire started instantly.

"An'an, your second brother has a task for you and Sister Qiuyue. You can only come out to play after you've burned all these big logs. Okay?" Zhou Rui said, pointing to the logs he had just cut.

Actually, Zhou Rui wanted them to warm themselves by the fire, and he figured they would get warm once the large tree trunks caught fire.

An'an tilted her head and glanced in Zhou Ping's direction, where she saw Zhou Ping holding an iron rod and making a lot of noise with it.

However, her second brother gave her another task: to start a fire, which was a bit of a challenge.

Seeing that An'an was silent, Zhou Rui knew that she wanted to go play, so he quickly gave Lin Qiuyue a look.

Lin Qiuyue instantly understood and quickly squatted down: "An'an, shall we make the fire bigger? I'm afraid it won't burn well by myself, can you help me?"

"No problem, I learned to start a fire when I was just a few months old. I'll help you, sister." An'an patted her little chest, boasting confidently. A few months old? She probably couldn't even walk yet back then.

Lin Qiuyue winked at Zhou Rui. "Done."

Looking at Lin Qiuyue's somewhat playful expression, Zhou Rui silently gave her a thumbs up.

Zhou Rui walked over and glanced at where Zhou Ping was straining. The ice chisel was working well; it had already made a small dent, but Zhou Ping's strength was still a bit lacking, and it hadn't broken through yet.

"Let me do it." Zhou Rui stretched out his hand, which was covered in work gloves, just like Zhou Ping's, both of which he had brought from the forest farm.

Zhou Ping's face was flushed, and even his body was covered in a misty haze, indicating that he had exerted a lot of effort just now.

Zhou Rui took the ice chisel from Zhou Ping and measured it in the pit. It was more than 30 centimeters deep and still hadn't broken through, so the ice layer seemed to be thicker than last time.

Zhou Rui raised the ice chisel high and began stabbing it repeatedly, his arm blurring into the distance. Zhou Ping only saw ice shards flying everywhere, and it seemed as if he saw sparks where the tip of the chisel touched the ice.

Zhou Ping wondered if his second brother had set the ice on fire.

Just as Zhou Ping's thoughts were racing, with a loud thud, the ice layer cracked, and a jet of water gushed out.

Zhou Rui pulled Zhou Ping back two steps to avoid the splashes of water, waiting for the pressure under the ice to slowly dissipate.

"Pingwa, go get the bucket and net, I'll make the hole a little bigger."

"Okay, Second Brother."

With the ice layer broken through, the rest of the work became much easier. Zhou Rui used an ice chisel to scrape along the edge layer by layer, and chunks of ice fell off one by one.

Zhou Ping walked over carrying a bucket of water, with An'an and Lin Qiuyue following behind.

"How did you get here?" Zhou Rui thought to himself, "That big log couldn't have been set on fire so quickly, could it?"

"I poured all the kerosene that my second brother brought in there. Whoosh... and all those big logs caught fire." An'an said, stretching out her arms wide.

Lin Qiuyue spread her hands, her pretty face showing a hint of helplessness, but also a touch of slyness. It seemed she also wanted to arrive as soon as possible.

"Hurry up, second brother, hurry up and catch the frogs."