Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Alright, let's see what Second Brother does." Zhou Rui stretched the net down and, following his senses, poked it into the silt more than 20 centimeters deep beneath the ice.

Zhou Rui simply spun the net around once and then pulled it up. Everyone craned their necks to see if there was anything in the net. But the net was still covered in mud, making it impossible to see clearly.

"Move aside a bit, you can't see clearly like this."

Upon hearing this, the group quickly stepped back. Zhou Rui flipped the net down, and they heard several thuds as the contents of the net froze into ice blocks and slammed onto the ice.

An'an and Zhou Ping acted quickly, immediately squatting down in the mud and shoveling it with their gloves.

"Yay, I found one!" An'an held up both hands and showed it to Lin Qiuyue.

A dark brown object, about the size of An'an's palm, was stretched out in front of her.

Lin Qiuyue took a step back: "This is a toad? It's so ugly."

An'an was a little confused; why had such a delicious treat scared Qiuyue? An'an flipped the toad over and saw the red mark on its belly, which made her even happier.

He jumped up and down, shouting, "It's a female leopard!"

"I found one too." Zhou Ping squatted down and raised his right hand.

With a thud, Zhou Ping tossed the frog in his hand into the bucket, the frozen frog making a crisp sound as it collided with the bucket.

Then Zhou Rui scooped up again, dumping a puddle of mud onto the ice. An'an and the other girl then frantically scrambled to get it out.

After several attempts, a total of nine forest frogs were caught.

"That's all, let's move on." Zhou Rui pulled up the net, grabbed the ice chisel, and left.

More than an hour later, the bucket was filled with an unknown number of frogs, only about two-thirds full.

Zhou Rui picked it up and felt it; the haul was pretty good.

"Let's go, warm ourselves by the fire, and then go home."

"Are we leaving now? Second brother, let's play a little longer." An'an was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave.

"It's windy here. If you don't leave soon, your nose will freeze off." Zhou Rui looked at An An's nose, which was bright red.

"Oh, really?" An'an was a little skeptical, so she turned around and asked Lin Qiuyue.

"Of course it's true, your second brother wouldn't lie to you." Lin Qiuyue nodded, suppressing a laugh.

"I don't want my nose to freeze off, let's go quickly." After saying that, she took off running towards the fire.

In the evening, Zhou Rui stewed a large pot full of frogs with soybean paste. Apart from a few potatoes and cabbage, it was almost entirely frogs.

"Alright, let's get started and eat." At Zhou Rui's command, An'an, Zhou Ping, and Yang Ping each picked up one and put it in their bowls.

"This, this, how do you eat it? And the belly isn't even cleaned properly yet." Yu Sitian looked at the whole stewed frog with a bit of fear.

"It's alright, this toad has been hibernating for two months, its belly is completely empty, it's clean," Zhou Rui gently advised, because Lin Qiuyue also didn't dare to touch her chopsticks.

The aroma wafting towards her couldn't be resisted any longer, and she slurped a forest frog into her mouth. A satisfied hum escaped her nose.

"Sister Qiuyue, look at me."

An'an grabbed a frog with her hand, put its leg near her mouth, and with a slurp, the whole frog disappeared. Then she moved her mouth a few times and spat out a pile of bones.

Lin Qiuyue and Yu Sitian exchanged a glance, then their outstretched chopsticks trembled slightly. Seeing this, An'an grabbed a chopstick from the bowl and, taking advantage of Lin Qiuyue's inattention, shoved it into Lin Qiuyue's mouth.

"Ah..." Lin Qiuyue gasped softly, then closed her lips tightly to prevent the soup from spilling out.

Yu Sitian remained still, quietly waiting for Lin Qiuyue's feedback.

"Sweet, tender, and delicious." Just like An'an, Lin Qiuyue spat out the bone in no time, leaving not a single piece of meat on it.

Seeing that Lin Qiuyue was alright, Yu Sitian had no choice but to muster up her courage, close her eyes, put the frog's two legs in her mouth, and chewed them a few times, her mouth was filled with a delicious aroma.

"How is it? Delicious, right?" Yang Ping asked while eating. In just a short while, Yang Ping had already devoured several.

"Mmm, delicious." Yu Sitian nodded quickly.

After eating the first one, Lin Qiuyue and Yu Sitian couldn't stop, and their chopsticks moved faster and faster, almost as fast as Yang Ping's.

Zhou Rui watched with great satisfaction, feeling that his culinary skills had not been wasted. He slowly savored each bite of food and sip of wine, occasionally tearing off a piece of meat for Xiao Niangao and Yan'er.

Half an hour later, everyone put down their bowls and chopsticks.

"I can't eat anymore, I'm so full." Yang Ping rubbed her stomach.

"There are still about ten left, let's eat them all, don't waste them," Zhou Rui said to the three of them, because An'an and Zhou Ping had already ate their fill and were lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"We really can't eat anymore." Lin Qiuyue's appetite was still a bit small; she didn't eat as much as Yang Ping, but her stomach was still full.

"Then I'll put it in your bowls, and you can take it back to eat." Zhou Rui stood up.

"Yes, we can take it back for He Wei to try." Yu Sitian suddenly remembered the last female educated youth in the courtyard.

"Why bring it to her? She always acts so high and mighty, thinking she's so great just because she's from the capital." Yang Ping's expression changed instantly.

Seeing Yang Ping's reaction, Zhou Rui knew that there might have been some friction among the group.

Zhou Rui thought for a moment: "You should still bring some for her. After all, you're sharing a room, and if things get out of hand, it'll be hard for you two to get along."

"Bring some along. He Wei isn't a bad person; it's not good to target her." Lin Qiuyue gently shook Yang Ping's arm.

"Alright then. Actually, I didn't mean to target her, it's just that I don't like some of her ways." Yang Ping is easygoing and doesn't hold grudges. Since everyone agreed, there was no need for her to strongly object.

"Then we're leaving, An'an, goodbye." The group, holding their bowls, said goodbye to Zhou Rui's family one after another.

Zhou Rui saw them out, but unexpectedly Yang Ping suddenly turned around and said, "Zhou Rui, I'll help you invite Qiu Yue out again next time, and you can cook something delicious for us again."

Zhou Rui was taken aback. Had he done anything to Lin Qiuyue? Then he smiled and shook his head. This little girl.

Only after seeing the three return to the educated youth compound did Zhou Rui go back to his room to tidy up the table. He was washing the dishes when he heard shouts from outside the courtyard.

"Ruiwa, are you home?"

"I'm here, come in."

Zhou Rui recognized Liu Qingguo's voice. He hadn't seen him for quite some time because Liu had gone hunting with Wang Shouye.

Seeing Liu Qingguo enter, Zhou Rui didn't stop washing the dishes, but tilted his head slightly: "What's wrong? Is there something you need at this hour?"

"The village chief received a notice from the town that two spies had wandered into our Hongqi Town territory, and we should be on guard."

The village chief was a bit worried, so he ordered the armed men in our village to start patrolling in three shifts starting tonight. You and I are both on tonight's shift.

After washing the dishes, Zhou Rui wiped his hands with a towel.

"A spy? Do you know the specifics?" Zhou Rui appeared very calm.