Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The job was sold, but life had to go on as usual. The burned land had cooled down, just in time for planting. Zhou Rui got up as usual, prepared the meal, and went to work before his younger siblings were awake.

Planting soybeans is quite simple, but today's main task is to till the soil. This land used to be wasteland, never planted with crops before, so the soil is quite hard. We need to till it again to break up the clumps of soil. We don't have a tractor, and oxen are too precious, so we have to dig by hand. Everyone lined up, each with a hoe, and started digging.

Zhou Chen, along with three others, scattered around Zhou Rui, their intentions unclear. Zhou Rui outwardly appeared unconcerned, but inwardly he remained vigilant, curious to see what kind of trouble these good-for-nothings could cause.

After working for a short while, Zhou Chen gave the others a wink, and they nodded in acknowledgment. One of the men glanced around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, suddenly threw dirt and dust at another man with his hoe.

Qian Fulai threw down his hoe, walked over, and shoved Zhou Rui on the shoulder. Covered in black ash, he yelled, "Rui, you bastard with no parents, what are you trying to do? If you're going to dig, dig. Why are you throwing it at me?"

Zhou Rui put down his hoe, leaned on it with one hand, and tilted his head to look at Qian Fulai. "Damn it, a bunch of idiots. I've been waiting for ages, and this is all they've got. And is Qian Fulai out of his mind? He's always the first to step forward in every conflict; looks like he hasn't had enough of being cannon fodder."

If someone makes the first move, Zhou Rui has no reason to tolerate it. Adhering to the principle of "if you can fight, don't talk," Zhou Rui released the hoe with his right hand, spread his five fingers, and slapped the person across the face.

Although Qian Fulai was half a head taller than Zhou Rui, Zhou Rui's strength was enough to knock Qian Fulai to the ground with a single slap.

Zhou Chen and his friends had already planned to provoke a conflict, and if Zhou Rui fought back, they would all attack together. They just didn't expect Zhou Rui to act so quickly. But the remaining three did not hesitate. As planned, Chen Dabiao, the strongest of the four, grabbed Zhou Rui while the others ganged up on him.

Chen Dabiao lunged at Zhou Rui from behind, arms outstretched. Hearing the sudden gust of wind behind him, Zhou Rui whirled around to make way, extending his left foot and simultaneously shoving Chen Dabiao in the back with his right. The 180-pound man crashed to the ground in a diving motion, kicking up a cloud of dust and stunning Zhou Chen and Chen Erbiao, who had just reached Zhou Rui. Zhou Rui kicked the stunned Chen Erbiao two meters away, then prepared to deliver an uppercut to take down Zhou Chen as well.

But Zhou Rui, quick-witted, didn't do that. Instead, he used a leg grab to throw Zhou Chen to the ground and then began slapping Zhou Chen repeatedly across the face. Qian Fulai stood up, but having been slapped down twice by Zhou Rui, he was somewhat afraid of him. Looking around, he saw a wooden stick stuck in the ground to mark the boundary, and only after picking it up did he feel a little more confident.

With his tool in hand, Qian Fulai swept it directly at Zhou Rui from behind. Zhou Rui had already spotted the stick out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that it was only as thick as an egg, he thought he could withstand it and quickly stretched out his right hand to block. Bang... The stick struck Zhou Rui's arm and broke. Qian Fulai, holding the broken stick, immediately froze.

"Coward, ptooey." Chen Dabiao, who had just gotten up from the ground, had a dark face and looked down on Qian Fulai, this softie. After spitting, he kicked Zhou Rui, who was sitting on Zhou Chen.

Zhou Rui had actually heard the commotion behind him, and logically he should have been able to easily dodge it. However, Zhou Rui did not do so. Instead, just as Chen Dabiao's foot touched his body, he rolled away in the direction of Chen Dabiao's kick, creating the illusion that Zhou Rui had been kicked away.

The commotion grew louder, attracting the attention of villagers who were working nearby. Most just watched the spectacle, thinking it was just a bunch of hot-tempered young men having nothing better to do than fight. Only a few women believed that some of the village's hooligans were bullying the weaker Zhou Rui.

"Quickly, go tell the team leader that Zhou Chen and his gang of hooligans are bullying Zhou Rui again."

"Which eye of yours saw Zhou Chen bullying Zhou Rui? It was clearly Zhou Rui slapping Zhou Chen repeatedly."

"It was Zhou Chen and his gang beating up on Zhou Rui. I saw Qian Fulai hitting Zhou Rui; the stick they used even broke."

"Yeah, I saw it too. Da Biao kicked Zhou Rui flying."

This was actually the illusion Zhou Rui wanted to create, to manipulate public opinion among the villagers. If Zhou Rui had simply used his skills honed on overseas battlefields in his previous life to easily defeat Zhou Chen and the others, it wouldn't have had the same effect. The goal was to create the impression that Zhou Rui and Zhou Chen were fighting amongst themselves, thus gaining the villagers' sympathy. After all, Zhou Rui couldn't possibly bully four people alone; conversely, it would be reasonable for four people to bully a minor like Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui rolled to his feet and looked at Chen Dabiao. What should a fifteen-year-old boy, who was not tall or heavy enough, do when facing a tall and strong adult? Like Zhou Rui, he charged forward like a calf and headbutted Dabiao in the stomach. Thump, Chen Dabiao fell to the ground for the second time, this time clutching his stomach and landing on his back.

At this moment, Chen Erbiao and Zhou Chen surrounded him simultaneously. Chen Erbiao prepared to imitate Zhou Rui and attempt a takedown. However, Zhou Chen, having learned from his previous mistake, dared not get too close to Zhou Rui and instead kicked directly. Zhou Rui merely twisted his waist, and Zhou Chen missed his kick. But it wasn't over yet. Before Zhou Chen's foot touched the ground, Zhou Rui swiftly grabbed Zhou Chen's ankle and pulled him backward. With a ripple and the sound of tearing fabric, Zhou Chen landed on the ground in a split. Then, Zhou Chen clutched his groin and silently curled up.

The men around felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing this; had Zhou Chen accidentally pulled out his balls?

Zhou Rui dodged Zhou Chen, but not Chen Erbiao. Taking advantage of Zhou Rui's struggle with Zhou Chen, Chen Erbiao grabbed Zhou Rui's waist and tried to throw him to the ground. Seeing that he was about to fall, Zhou Rui quickly hooked one foot around Erbiao's leg, wrapped both arms around his neck, and headbutted Chen Erbiao in the nose.

Chen Erbiao's nose was broken by Zhou Rui's headbutt, and blood gushed out. He then collapsed to the ground, his eyes gleaming. Zhou Rui, who had the upper hand, didn't want Chen Erbiao to fall so easily. He grabbed Chen Erbiao's neck and controlled their weight, causing them to fall towards Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen hadn't recovered from Dandan's sadness when the weight of the two of them, through Zhou Rui's elbow, landed on Zhou Chen's stomach. Zhou Chen let out a cry of "Oh..." and flailed his arms wildly, unsure of what to do with them.

Immediately afterward, Zhou Rui and Chen Erbiao rolled around on Zhou Chen. On one side, Zhou Rui kicked Zhou Chen's leg; on the other, he slapped him across the face. Chen Erbiao, meanwhile, was thrashing about in the dust with Zhou Rui, his mind racing: Where am I? What am I doing?

While Zhou Rui was dragging Chen Erbiao around and wrestling with Zhou Chen on the ground, he kept an eye on his surroundings. Seeing that the people who went to call the team leader were about to return, Zhou Rui knew the farce was about to end. Zhou Rui thought, "I'm fighting four against one, I can't be without some injuries, right? I need to pretend later, and also, I need to smear some blood on my face." Saying this, he casually pressed Chen Erbiao's nose, which had already stopped bleeding, and felt some liquid. He quickly wiped it on his own face.

At this moment, Chen Dabiao got up from the ground again. Having been knocked to the ground twice by Zhou Rui, Chen Dabiao felt extremely humiliated and picked up his hoe, ready to kill Zhou Rui.

"Songcheng, Qingguo, stop him quickly! Take his hoe! How dare he lay weapons on the villagers? He's gone too far!" Liu Jianguo arrived just in time and quickly called for people to stop Chen Dabiao.

"Chen Dapao, you guys go up and separate them. A bunch of you are doing nothing but fighting. Are you all just bored and looking for trouble?"

"And you lot, is this entertaining? Is this entertaining? All you do is watch the show, don't you know how to pull people apart? A few were injured, are you going to fill in for them?"

"They've got their eyes on this from the top. It's such a good show, worth the money." Someone muttered from behind.

"Who is it? Who's chirping behind my back? Come out and say it!" Liu Jianguo roared in anger. "I'm already here, and there are still people who don't listen to me."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet.