Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui set three cages in total, mainly because there were still fish in the pond at home, and he didn't plan to catch too many. Even so, he still managed to pull up seven fish, and none of the cages were empty.

"Uncle Kangri, let's see your cooking skills today." Zhao Dazhu held up a mandarin fish weighing more than two pounds and grinned at Liu Kangri.

"Sure, you can cook it however you like today, steamed or braised, it's up to you." Liu Kangri finished smoking his pipe and tapped it on a stone. He was still very energetic when he was with young people.

"If you ask me, you can have any of those. Steam one, braise one, make more if you like," Zhou Rui replied.

"Alright, since Ruiwa is so generous, I can't be stingy with my cooking skills. I'll show you all what I can do today." Liu Kangri tucked his pipe behind his waist. "Come on, let's go back and cook some food, my hands are itching."

Little Locust Flower didn't say anything, just watched everyone laughing foolishly. She preferred working with everyone to seeing others pity her.

On the way back, Chen Huaihua insisted on picking the fish, saying that Uncle Kangri and Brother Dazhu could pull the sled, and Brother Zhou Rui only needed to follow behind. Zhou Rui didn't object; he knew Chen Huaihua had a strong personality.

When everyone returned to Zhou Rui's house with a large amount of game, a loud exclamation suddenly erupted in the small courtyard far from the village. Aunt Changchun, with her two children, Wang Xinghua holding Yan'er, Zhou Ping holding Xiao Niangao, and An'an all gathered around the sled.

"So many? Did Ruiwa catch all of these? I thought Ruiwa usually only hunted pheasants and rabbits." Aunt Changchun was so surprised that her jaw almost dropped.

"Brother Rui is really amazing. None of the hunters in my Wangjiazhuang village can kill five wolves at once." Wang Xinghua was amazed as she looked at the terrifying wild wolves.

"Dad, why didn't you wake me up this morning? I should have gone with you." Liu Mo was jumping up and down in regret. Liu Mo was only 17 years old, an age when he was still growing, so he went to bed early. Besides, the fat guy was a good sleeper and had no idea what his father had been doing from last night until this morning.

"Who told you to sleep like a log? I couldn't wake you up no matter how much I tried." Liu Kangri scolded Liu Mo, but he was actually worried about the child and wanted him to sleep a little longer.

"Dad, did Xiao Rui really do this?" Liu Yue was also incredulous. She never seemed to know Zhou Rui like this before. It's just that he fought pretty hard last time, beating up all four of Zhou Chen's friends by himself.

"Xiaoyue, look how good Zhou Rui is at hunting. You won't have to worry about running out of meat when you get married and have your banquet in a couple of months," Wang Xinghua teased Liu Yue with a smile.

Liu Yue is already 19 years old and has found a boyfriend. They will get married after the autumn harvest.

"Sister-in-law Xinghua, you're so annoying! We were just talking about the wolf Xiaorui killed, why are you bringing that up?" Liu Yue was very shy and kept chasing after Wang Xinghua, tickling her.

"Stop, stop! I'm holding the baby, I can't outrun you!" Wang Xinghua kept twisting and turning, but she couldn't escape Liu Yue's hands. She'd miscalculated; she should have put Xiao Yan'er down before trying to play with Liu Yue.

An'an hid behind Zhou Rui, peeking at the wolves on the sled through the gap between his legs. What ferocious wolves! She was a little scared.

Only Zhou Ping remained calm, believing it was normal for his second brother to come looking for trouble.

"Alright, stop looking. Let's tidy up and make lunch." As the oldest man in the entire courtyard, Liu Kangri still felt he should take the lead.

Everyone immediately got to work, some boiling water, others chopping wood. Wang Xinghua shoved Xiaoyan into Zhou Rui's arms, grabbed a basin, and went to wash vegetables, which were freshly picked from her family's private plot.

Chen Huaihua was about to join in when Zhou Rui quickly stopped her, saying, "Little Huaihua, go back and call your brother first. We'll have dinner together later."

"I won't go, I'll just eat at home," Chen Huaihua said softly, seemingly unaccustomed to the kindness shown to her by people other than her relatives.

"Listen to me, go now. You've been a great help today, so you should eat with everyone. My family hasn't had a housewarming party since we moved, so let's all have a good time today and celebrate together, consider it a housewarming party for us." Zhou Rui's words brooked no argument, and he gave the order directly.

Chen Huaihua fell for this kind of thing and immediately agreed when Zhou Rui said that.

Everyone else was busy cleaning fish, plucking pheasants, and skinning wolves; even An'an was running around busily. Only Zhou Rui had nothing to do. Zhou Rui wanted to chop firewood, but Zhou Ping said his injury hadn't healed yet. Zhou Rui wanted to clean fish, but Liu Mo told him to go and rest and not take his work. After going around in circles, they finally assigned him to look after the two babies and keep them from causing trouble.

Zhou Rui sat on a stool, gazing at the two babies on the bamboo bed. Little Niangao was a bit older and would occasionally roll over. Little Yan'er was three months younger than Little Niangao and could only silently giggle while clutching Zhou Rui's finger, unable to utter a sound yet.

Aunt Changchun and Wang Xinghua squatted together plucking feathers from a pheasant, chatting amongst themselves as they worked: "Look how well Ruiwa takes care of the kids. He can hunt and he's a good homemaker. He'll definitely be a great head of the household in the future."

"Yes, my husband Dazhu also said that Zhou Rui is loyal and righteous, and also has a strong personality outside. He asked me to find a good girl for him at my parents' home."

"We need to find someone good. Anyway, Ruiwa is still young, only sixteen after the New Year, so there's plenty of time. You can take your time to pick one out. She must be good-natured and able to manage the household. Otherwise, it'll end up like Chen Zhiyong's family, where they had a wife who moved in, and the house was in complete chaos."

"I heard that Chen's wife doesn't do any work all day, and just wanders around the village dressed to the nines..."

As they talked, the conversation drifted off to who-knows-where.

Chen Huaihua brought her younger brother over. Although Little Locust Tree had drunk some meat broth last night, he was still looking rather sickly. Zhou Rui quickly called An'an over: "An'an, Brother Locust Tree is sick, what should we do?"

An'an's two big eyes darted around: "I want to eat candy. That's how it is when An'an is sick. Eating candy makes me better." As she spoke, An'an took out two White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket and stuffed them into Xiao Huaishu's hand.

Actually, it was because Zhou Rui had given An An some Chinese medicine last time, which was too bitter, so Zhou Rui peeled a piece of candy for him to eat. An An remembered that and thought that he should eat candy when he was sick.

Zhou Rui pinched An An's little cheek, "Go, take Brother Xiao Shu to play."

Chen Huaihua was overjoyed to see the smiling face of the little locust tree. Looking around the yard, everyone had work to do, but the water vat was almost empty, so she picked up a bucket and prepared to go to the stream to fetch water.

Zhou Rui quickly called out to Chen Huaihua, "Little Huaihua, there's water in the backyard. You can go fetch some from there."

Chen Huaihua was somewhat puzzled, but she did as she was told. A little while later, she returned carrying water and asked in surprise, "Brother Rui, how come there's a spring in your backyard?"

So Zhou Rui explained to everyone again how he saw water seeping from the stone wall, how he thought the original spring water should have flowed along the route, how the stone wall was cracked by the fire, and how the water was smashed out.

After seeing the spring and pool, everyone was amazed, saying that the spring water tasted much better than the stream water and was also more convenient.

Liu Kangri said he used to drink from this spring when he was a child. Later, the spring dried up, and the whole village moved away one after another, which is why the place was abandoned.

Zhou Rui warned everyone not to tell anyone, otherwise they would come to his house and he wouldn't be able to keep the fish in the pond. Everyone quickly agreed. In these days, villagers can't even get enough to eat, and you're raising so many fish? It would be strange if some people were envious and jealous and caused trouble.

After all the food was cooked and a table was full in the yard, Zhao Changhai finally arrived late, carrying a bottle of cheap liquor.

"Wow, this is quite a feast. Pig's trotter soup, braised pork, braised pig's head, stir-fried chicken, steamed fish, braised fish, this is too much! Brother Kangri, have you used all your best skills? It smells delicious, it smells really delicious." Zhao Changhai put the wine on the table, his eyes darting back and forth between each dish.

"You're such a busybody, everyone's been waiting for you. Come on, everyone, get on. Ruiwa brought out so much meat, how can I not show you all my skills?"

"Come on, everyone, sit down. Pingwa, bring over the bowls and fill everyone's cups with wine." Zhou Rui invited everyone to sit down at the table. Now that there were no elders in the family, he was the one in charge.

Zhou Rui raised his glass: "Today, I'd like to take this opportunity to say two things. First, to thank everyone for your help. Without your support, my family wouldn't have been able to get through such difficult times. Second, to celebrate our new home. Since we moved here, we haven't treated everyone to a meal. We just happened to hunt a wild boar and a wolf yesterday, so let's all get together and wish everyone a better life in the future. Cheers!"

"Dry."

"Done."

Those who had alcohol drank it, and those who didn't had soup. Even An'an was holding a big bowl.