Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The group of people all had pretty good cooking skills. Although they weren't as professional as Liu Kangri, they could still make decent home-style dishes.

Zhou Rui was already hungry, and after drinking a bowl of fish soup, his appetite was greatly stimulated.

"Zhou Rui, do you know when the market in Hongxing Town opens?"

Zhou Rui glanced at Lin Qiuyue, then at An'an's leather coat placed on the kang (heated brick bed).

"You really want to buy Suen?"

"This coat is too expensive. I already have a bearskin coat, so I don't necessarily need to buy it. I just want to go to the market since I'm cooped up indoors all day."

Lin Qiuyue still had some money, but she didn't dare buy everything, afraid of attracting unwanted attention. She could say the bearskin was a gift from Zhou Rui, but if she really spent a lot of money to buy Su En at the market, people would immediately discover her financial situation.

"Okay, I'll go hunting in a few days. I have a senior brother from Red Star Town, I'll ask him for some information."

Zhou Rui nodded. He also wanted to visit his aunt in the next town. Little Niangao was almost a year old, and he wanted to invite his aunt's family over for a meal, and also check on his uncle's health.

As for some members of the Zhou family, Zhou Rui felt there was no need to invite them.

After all, someone else's family has just suffered a misfortune, going to jail and losing money. We should be kind and not stab them in the heart.

"Are the markets in Northeast China fun?" Yu Sitian had lived in the city all her life and had never seen a market in the rural areas of Northeast China.

"You must have visited markets in Shanghai when you were kids, right? It's actually quite similar to those markets, except there are many more things that you can't find in the city."

Things like handmade crafts, farm tools, and items related to cattle and sheep.

"There must be lots of delicious food there, right?"

Yu Sitian had only been there a short time when she noticed the scarcity of resources in the countryside; it was practically impossible to find anything she wanted. Jiaolongxia Village was too small to even have a local sales outlet; she had to go all the way to the supply and marketing cooperative in town to buy anything.

"There are some local snacks, but not many. There is a shortage of food now, so only people with surplus food at home make some to sell."

They didn't drink any alcohol at noon, and the meal was eaten quickly. After finishing their meal, Lin Qiuyue and the other two cleaned up the dishes and went home.

They assumed Zhou Rui must be exhausted today and didn't want to disturb him; they wanted him to rest.

Zhou Rui didn't try to stop them. After all, he was at home, and if Lin Qiuyue and the others stayed at his house, people would gossip.

Zhou Rui, who had just taken a short nap, was now wide awake and, not knowing what to do, took out the radio to listen to.

This radio has hardly ever been used since we bought it. Zhou Ping and An An are both wild children who are rarely home, and Zhou Rui is often up in the mountains, so the radio is covered in dust.

Zhou Rui lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), legs crossed, with An'an and Xiao Niangao beside him, listening to the radio, thoroughly enjoying himself.

After the winter fishing season, things were mostly settled in the village, and everyone was leisurely waiting for the New Year. However, there was some good news: at least Chen Huaishu had survived.

Moreover, the fish sold well; more than 12,000 catties of fish were sold for a little over 3,000 yuan, which earned back the money the village had spent on buying cattle.

This time the rest period was long enough that Zhou Rui felt like his bones were about to rust.

"Second Brother, how long will this trip take?" Zhou Ping asked while helping Zhou Rui pack his things for the trip up the mountain.

"It shouldn't take more than a few days. This time we're going to raid the bear farms that Uncle Wang used to keep an eye on. We just need to travel quickly, visit all the farms, and then go home."

"Then be careful, An'an and I are waiting for you at home."

Zhou Rui rubbed his hand on Zhou Ping's short hair: "Don't worry. You know how strong your second brother is. I'll be back safely."

Zhou Rui glanced at the two little ones fast asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed), then slung his large bag over his shoulder and went out the door. He didn't dare linger his gaze for too long, afraid he would be reluctant to leave.

Because of the tacit understanding formed during the previous two hunts, everyone arrived quite early today. So they didn't stay for lunch at Wang Shouye's house, but just rested for a while before heading up the mountain.

"Ruiwa, why did you bring the big mule again? Aren't you afraid it will get hurt?" Gu Shaofeng remembered how distressed Zhou Rui was when the mule was found last time.

"This time, when we raid the bear's den, are you going to have to drag a black bear along? With a big mule, it'll be much easier, won't it? At most, when we're camping, I'll have to put in a little more effort to surround it with snow."

"That's true. With cover, the mule will be much less dangerous. I'll put a few clips on the cloth outside to make sure it doesn't get hurt this time."

Wang Zhen largely agreed with Zhou Rui's idea and even offered supplementary measures.

"Master, how many places will we be visiting this time?" Gu Shaofeng couldn't keep his mouth shut; he felt that traveling without talking was too tedious.

"There are about sixteen or seventeen warehouses. They're quite far apart; I estimate it will take three or four days to walk through them all."

Wang Shouye stopped to catch his breath. The snow that had fallen a few days ago had made the mountain roads even more difficult to traverse. Sometimes his feet sank so deep that it took a lot of effort to pull them out.

"That's not just the bear meat alone, which can yield over 10,000 jin (5,000 kg). If you add the bear bile and hide, you might earn even more than last time."

Wang Zhen couldn't stand Gu Shaofeng's smugness. Seeing Gu Shaofeng shaking his head and fantasizing, she immediately poured cold water on him.

"You're so lucky. Have you ever seen anyone raid a bear market? Every single one of the bear markets has black bears. On average, you're lucky if you find one black bear in every three markets."

Wang Shouye nodded in agreement: "Zhenzi is right. Not every suitable hibernation chamber has black bears living in it."

Furthermore, a warehouse might have had bears last year, but not necessarily this year. Bears have a very large range of activity and won't stay in one place for long.

However, you must remember one thing: some bear enclosures may not only have one black bear. After killing one, you must not let your guard down, lest you lose your life.

"How could that be? Uncle Wang, aren't black bears and bears solitary creatures?" Zhou Rui asked, not understanding, as this concerned his safety when going up the mountain alone in the future.

"Some are mother bears with cubs, and the cubs may be over a year old but still haven't left their mothers. But they already weigh one or two hundred pounds and can easily crush a person's head."

Another type is a larger underground enclosure, where one bear was already hibernating. Then another bear arrives, and the two bears hibernate in the same enclosure without interfering with each other.

Wang Shouye enjoyed Zhou Rui's questions, which inspired his desire to teach. As a teacher, he naturally wanted to pass on his skills.

"When I was young, I followed your advisor to raid underground granaries. There was one particularly dangerous time." Wang Shouye fell into deep thought.

"Originally, a mother and her baby black bear had already come out of that warehouse, but unexpectedly, a bear also jumped out at the end. It was a close call that we were left there."

"So what happened in the end?" Gu Shaofeng loved hearing these legendary stories, and this was one that Wang Shouye hadn't told him yet.

"That bear killed seven of the hunting dogs we brought, and then it ran away. Your advisor and I were both injured. I broke two ribs, and your advisor had half his face licked by the bear."