Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

An An lunged forward and delivered a heavy blow to Zhou Rui's chest.

"Cough cough..." Zhou Rui suddenly sat up, and An An rolled onto his lap, which startled him so much that he quickly reached out and grabbed her.

Surprisingly, An'an wasn't scared at all. After Zhou Rui picked her up, she kept giggling.

"Second brother, when did you get back?"

"I got back last night." Zhou Rui sighed inwardly; he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep now.

"Then why didn't you wake me up? I didn't even know my second brother was back."

An'an pouted, unhappy. Every time her second brother came back, she was always the first one to go out and greet him.

"Isn't this my precious little sister asleep? I can't bear to wake her!"

"Hehe...hee hee...am I your darling?"

Zhou Rui was infected by An An's smile, and he couldn't stop smiling, nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice.

However, Zhou Rui's smile didn't last long.

"So, what delicious treats did Second Brother bring back for our darling?"

Zhou Rui's face immediately fell: "So, An'an isn't thinking about her second brother, but about the delicious food he brought back."

"No, no, I like my second brother more. Mmm!"

An'an tried to make amends, even giving Zhou Rui a kiss on the cheek.

Zhou Ping watched with great amusement. "If you don't keep looking at the canned food on the table, I'll believe what you're saying."

"Alright, alright. Let's go see what Second Brother brought back."

Zhou Rui released An An, knowing that An An in his arms could no longer suppress her greedy heart.

"Second brother, you also brought back a rifle?"

Zhou Ping picked up the five-six-and-a-half and asked Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui nodded: "From now on, you can use this gun. When I'm not home, you'll have a weapon to defend yourself."

"Really?"

Zhou Ping opened his eyes wide, his heart filled with boundless joy.

He usually liked Zhou Rui's two guns, but Zhou Rui always said he was too young and only let him play with them twice.

"Of course. After Little Rice Cake's birthday, I'll take you to the mountains to get familiar with this rifle."

"Hehe... Thanks, Second Brother."

Zhou Ping stroked the gun, treating it like a precious treasure, as if he wanted to kiss it.

"Alright, Pingwa, put this gun away carefully. Keep the bullets and the gun separate, don't let An'an get her hands on it easily."

"Huh? What?"

When An'an heard Zhou Rui mention her name, she quickly turned her head, her mouth covered in cookie crumbs.

Zhou Rui chuckled and wiped An An's mouth with his thumb: "Why are you eating these compressed biscuits? Aren't there canned ones?"

"The cookies are delicious!"

An'an hid the biscuits behind his back, afraid that Zhou Rui wouldn't give them to him.

Zhou Rui shook his head and smiled. He didn't think much of these compressed biscuits, but the kids, who had never eaten them before, thought they were a delicacy.

"Alright, alright, you can have it all, but don't eat too much. Your second brother will put the rest away for you."

Zhou Rui took the opportunity to collect the remaining unopened compressed biscuits, afraid that his precious little sister might not know her limits and eat too much.

"No, I want to eat more."

"Eat canned food, eat canned food. This is canned meat, you've never had it before."

Zhou Rui quickly picked up a flat, military-green tin can and carefully pried it open with a knife.

In Zhou Rui's opinion, no canned food tastes as good as fresh vegetables, but kids don't care about that; they just like these strange and unusual things.

"Alright, you eat here. Second brother, go rinse your mouth."

Zhou Rui yawned and prepared to get up.

"Oh dear, umm."

Zhou Rui turned his head and saw that Xiao Niangao had woken up, kicked her legs up, and pulled off the blanket.

"Oh dear, Little Rice Cake's awake? Uncle, could you go wash your face first?"

Zhou Rui rubbed his eye with his finger, and there was still some eye discharge on it.

"……&Y%*&…￥#… a piece of shit."

"What's wrong? Why are you so irritable? Are you not letting your second uncle leave?"

"Second brother, Xiao Nian Gao wet the bed."

An'an pointed a finger at the bedding on the kang (a heated brick bed), where there were some damp marks in one corner.

Zhou Rui lifted the quilt, and sure enough, Xiao Niangao had drawn a large map on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Zhou Rui quickly helped Xiao Niangao clean up; Xiao Niangao's bottom was much more important than his face.

"Pingwa, have you put your gun away? Come and hold Xiaoniangao, I haven't washed up yet!"

"Coming, coming. Second brother, I'm coming!"

Zhou Ping quickly ran out of his room and took the small rice cake from Zhou Rui's hands.

The weather is nice today, but I have a lot to do.

Zhou Rui estimated that there would be at least three or four tables of guests tomorrow, and a lot of ingredients would have to be dug out of the snow to thaw.

While they were working, Liu Kangri arrived with Liu Mo, bringing a full set of knives.

"Uncle Anti-Japanese War, you've arrived? We'll have to rely on you for the next couple of days."

Liu Kangri patted Zhou Rui on the shoulder: "Actually, your cooking skills are already quite good. Even without me, this meal would be fine."

"Uncle Anti-Japanese War, you flatter me. I'm still far from good enough. Brother Mo, how much of your skills have you learned from Uncle Anti-Japanese War?"

"Hehe... I'm still far from good enough. My dad is making me practice my knife skills now, but he won't let me cook, saying he's afraid I'll waste the ingredients."

"It's alright. I have plenty of ingredients today. I'll have Uncle Kangri give you some pointers so you can practice."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. Actually, I've been watching my dad for so long, I've learned how to cook a lot of dishes."

Liu Mo's chubby face was all smiles, and he looked more and more like Liu Kangri.

"Then you'd better be careful. Even though it's not for entertaining guests, but for your own meal, you still need to strictly follow the recipe."

Liu Kangri's expression turned serious whenever cooking was mentioned.

For him, Liu Mo was his successor, unlike Zhou Rui who treated cooking as a hobby.

"Understood, Father."

Liu Mo is now genuinely afraid of his father. Liu Kangri, who used to be a kind father, has become strict ever since he started teaching him to cook.

Sometimes, if you make a slight mistake, you'll get a beating.

Looking at the ingredients Zhou Rui had prepared, Liu Kangri made notes on them one by one, trying to figure out what dishes they could be paired with.

He plans to focus on Shandong cuisine and create some distinctive dishes.

"Ruiwa, didn't you want to eat braised pork intestines? We don't have any at home."

Zhou Rui scratched his head, as if he had mentioned it briefly, but he was too busy to remember.

"Oh, Uncle Kangri, I forgot, I'll go to town and buy some right away."

"Going to town is too far, it's really unnecessary just to buy large intestines."

"It's not specifically to buy large intestines. I'm running low on spices at home, and I'm worried I won't have enough for tomorrow's cooking."

"Alright, go and come back soon."

Zhou Rui led the mule out of the woodshed. In this freezing weather, riding a mule was much more reliable than riding a bicycle.

"Second Brother, where are you taking Mao Dazhuang?"

An'an spread her short legs and outstretched her arms in the yard, looking like a female bandit blocking the way.

"You're not allowed to go alone; you have to take me with you."