Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Is it tasty?"

Zhou Rui turned to ask An An, whose face was covered in thick soup, which had smeared all over her face.

"Ah, ah." Little Rice Cake kept peeking out, sticking out its tongue, and stretching forward.

Zhou Rui was so engrossed in talking to An An that his spoon stopped a little bit in front of the small rice cake, the delicate, white ribbonfish meat inside constantly tempting her.

"Hmm~"

The voice was off; Zhou Rui sensed a murderous aura and quickly turned around. He saw Xiao Niangao frowning slightly, looking at him with unfriendly eyes.

The spoon was handed over quickly, touching Xiao Nian Gao's lips directly. She just licked it with her little tongue, and the piece of fish disappeared instantly.

With something in its mouth, the little rice cake immediately squinted its eyes and waved its two chubby little hands.

Seeing that Xiao Niangao was eating happily, An'an scooped up a piece of sea cucumber from her own bowl, preparing to feed it to her.

"No, this braised sea cucumber is a little spicy, she can't eat it."

Zhou Rui raised his hand and blocked An An's spoon.

Unexpectedly, Little Rice Cake became unhappy. Not only did she refuse to feed herself, but she also wouldn't allow others to feed her. She grabbed two of Zhou Rui's fingers with both hands and tried to forcefully pull them away.

Zhou Rui quickly prepared a piece of fish and stuffed it into Xiao Niangao's mouth. Sure enough, with the fish in her mouth, Xiao Niangao immediately forgot about it and stopped trying to pry Zhou Rui's fingers open.

After working for a long time, Zhou Rui once again brought the spoon to Xiao Niangao's mouth, but Xiao Niangao turned her head away.

Only then did Zhou Rui realize that she had finished eating. He wiped Xiao Niangao's face clean with a towel and handed her to Zhou Ping, who had finished eating.

Zhou Rui picked up a piece of sea cucumber and took a bite. It was not bad, but a little too soft. It seemed his cooking skills weren't up to par yet. Next time, he should let Uncle Kangri take charge of the cooking, otherwise, the ingredients would be wasted.

After tasting it, Zhou Rui poured the remaining braised sea cucumber and broth over the noodles and ate it quickly.

All the leftovers, including noodles, were eaten by Zhou Rui within ten minutes.

Zhou Rui comfortably rubbed his belly when An An brought over a cup of tea. Ever since he got some tea leaves from Zhang Zhenbei, Zhou Rui had gradually developed some extravagant habits.

After serving the tea, An'an nestled softly into Zhou Rui's arms.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Rui asked softly, looking down.

An'an shook her head: "It's nothing, I just want my second brother to hug me."

Zhou Rui's heart was touched. He didn't say anything, but gently put his arm around An An and patted her back lightly with one hand.

Seeing that Zhou Rui had finished eating, Zhou Ping quickly asked Zhou Rui to hold Xiao Niangao while he went to wash the dishes and clean up the mess.

But for some reason, An'an seemed somewhat resistant. She spread her arms wide, hugged Zhou Rui's waist, and rested her head on his chest, wanting to monopolize this warm embrace.

Zhou Rui could only shake his head at Zhou Ping, then gestured with his chin for Zhou Ping to put the small rice cake on the kang (heated brick bed).

Little Niangao, oblivious to her aunt's rejection, was having a great time playing on the bed.

Zhou Rui had lived two lives, but he still couldn't understand the little girl's thoughts.

An'an usually dotes on her little niece, Xiao Niangao, and adores her. But sometimes, An'an can be a bit selfish; she wants to monopolize all of her second brother's love.

Zhou Rui didn't want to think about these things at the moment. He just quietly held An'an, gently rocking her, enjoying the feeling of being relied upon by a six-year-old girl.

"Second Brother, are we going to Uncle Zhou's and Uncle's house again tonight?" Zhou Ping broke the silence as he came in after finishing cleaning the kitchen.

Zhou Rui looked down at An An, and seeing that she didn't react, he turned to look at Zhou Ping.

Zhou Rui squinted, a strange expression on his face: "Go? How can I not go?"

"Here's what you'll do: cut off two ounces of the mutton I brought back and make a soup. Be sure to add plenty of spices, and before it's done, crush some leftover pork cracklings and sprinkle them on top."

Zhou Ping listened to Zhou Rui's instructions thoughtfully, but still didn't understand what his second brother wanted to do, so he had no choice but to follow the instructions and get the medicine.

Zhou Rui held An'an, half-lying motionless on the kang (a heated brick bed). He would only occasionally nudge the little girl with his foot, making her turn around if she crawled in the wrong direction.

Unexpectedly, Little Rice Cake seemed to have taken a liking to the game, constantly climbing up the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), just waiting for a big foot to fall from the sky.

"Hehe... Mmm."

Hearing the noise, An'an lifted her head from Zhou Rui's arms and turned around.

Then you see Little Rice Cake, who was flipped over by Zhou Rui's big foot, lying on its back giggling, but it's unclear whether it's laughing at Zhou Rui or at itself.

An An smiled slightly, crawled over, and helped Xiao Niangao sit up. Unexpectedly, Xiao Niangao jumped directly into An An's arms, and with a sudden pull, the two of them fell backward.

"Hehe...ha..."

Little Rice Cake rubbed its head against something, trying to get a grip, but unexpectedly it tickled An An's skin, making An An burst into laughter.

An'an kept twisting her body, and the two became entangled. An'an laughed more and more weakly, pressed down by the small body, and couldn't get up at all.

Seeing that An'an was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, Zhou Rui picked them both up.

"You little rascal, bullying your auntie! You can't do that!"

An'an gently tapped Xiao Nian Gao's nose with her finger, her still somewhat rough fingertip already showing signs of plumpness.

This is the result of Zhou Rui's hard work over the past six months. The calluses on his hands will gradually disappear once An'an starts school.

Little Rice Cake saw a round, plump thing dangling near its mouth. Its stomach, which had just been full, seemed to be getting hungry again, so it opened its mouth and took a bite.

"You can't eat Auntie's fingers!" An'an quickly pulled her fingers back and hugged them tightly with her other hand.

Although Xiao Nian Gao hasn't grown any teeth yet, her gums still hurt a little when she strains.

Little Rice Cake was a little unhappy. "You won't give me any, but you keep circling it around my mouth. Are you teasing me or what?"

She suddenly kicked her foot and was about to pounce forward, and Zhou Rui felt a surge of force as he held the little one in his arms.

An'an grabbed Xiao Niangao's little hands with both hands, pressed her forehead against Xiao Niangao's, and pressed her face against Xiao Niangao's, her long eyelashes brushing against Xiao Niangao's cheeks.

"Little Rice Cake, are you trying to rebel?"

Little Rice Cake wasn't scared at all by the serious expression An An made; instead, she found it amusing.

"Ah-yi, hehe..."

Then, Little Rice Cake stuck out its little tongue and licked An An's nose.

An'an loosened her grip, her terrified face snapping back. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand, feeling a slight chill.

"What's wrong? Little Rice Cake's drool isn't dirty." Zhou Rui found An An's actions somewhat amusing.

"Drool, how can it not be dirty?" An'an continued wiping her nose with her other hand.

Before the two could continue their discussion about whether children's saliva was dirty or not, Zhou Ping walked in.

"Second brother, the meat soup is ready."