Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Third brother, move that quilt over here. Fourth sister, go get a broom." Zhou Rui, carrying Xiao Nian Gao on his back, was arranging things in the house while directing his younger siblings.

A few days ago, ever since Zhao Youzhi helped resolve the troubles of Zhou Dashan and his gang, he had been busy renovating this dilapidated house. He had also sold his own new house to a family getting married. That family had many able-bodied men and were considered relatively well-off in the village. Seeing Zhou Rui and his friends' plight, they gave them an extra twenty yuan. After paying off their debts, the family had over forty yuan and nearly two hundred jin of grain left, enough to last for several months.

Finally finished with his work, Zhou Rui boiled a kettle of water and rested with his younger siblings on the kang (a heated brick bed). Zhou Rui held Xiao Niangao (a type of rice cake) and rocked it while pondering.

The kang (heated brick bed) wasn't big, and the two rooms combined weren't even as big as one of the three rooms his father had originally built. But it belonged to them, and no one came to bother them or demand repayment of debts anymore. Moreover, the militia members not only helped him repair the house but also built a kitchen outside using the leftover wood.

Although no formal letter of severance was signed that day, it was practically the same as a complete break in ties. Everyone saw it, and presumably, my uncle and his family wouldn't dare to openly bully us. However, the forestry job opportunity was still a hot potato. My uncle and his family would likely cause trouble again, and other members of the Zhou family might also be eyeing it. It seemed we still needed to find an opportunity to sell the job.

Zhou Rui wouldn't go to work at the forest farm. If he did, his family would be left without anyone to care for their young and vulnerable children; if something happened, no one would know. As for his younger brother, although the family had to drop out of school last year due to financial difficulties, Zhou Rui still wanted him to continue his studies. Zhou Rui knew that the college entrance examination would be reinstated in a few years, and Zhou Ping would be able to take it then, giving him a much better chance than those who had stopped studying for years. Those would be the years with the highest value for university graduates; Zhou Rui would regret missing that opportunity for the rest of his life.

My younger sister, Zhou An, is of school age now, so I'll send him next year. Pingwa will be there to look after him, which will save me a lot of trouble. As for myself, it seems I need to pick up my hunting skills from my previous life again. Otherwise, with just those work points, I probably won't be able to support my family, let alone myself.

Zhou Rui was still deep in thought when he suddenly heard his younger sister calling out.

"Second brother, second brother, I'm hungry."

"Huh? Oh. An'an is hungry? It's all my fault, Second Brother. I was so lost in thought that I forgot everything. There's no time to cook now. Pingwa, go pick some potatoes, we'll roast some potatoes."

"Okay, Second Brother."

"Make some more batter, we haven't eaten the little rice cakes yet."

Luckily, there was still so much wheat flour at home, otherwise what would Xiao Niangao eat? It seems that the village chief was also thinking that Xiao Niangao would have something to eat that day, which is why he forced Zhou Dashan to compensate with so much wheat flour. However, Zhou Dashan's family didn't have that much, only about thirty catties, and they had to add more than ten catties of rice to make up for it. Now, even if they haven't completely emptied Zhou Dashan's family's fine grains, they're pretty much done for. Serves them right! Zhou Rui thought angrily.

"Second Brother, Little Rice Cake's eyes are so big! They're so bright and sparkling, like the stars in the sky. Do you think he'll call me Auntie when he grows up?" Zhou An lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), teasing Little Rice Cake with his little hands.

Zhou Rui looked at the baby in his arms and sighed inwardly. It wasn't that the baby had big eyes; it was because the baby was malnourished from lack of milk, and its face was thin, making its eyes appear larger.

"Yes, when Xiao Nian Gao grows up, An An will teach her herself, okay?"

"Okay, I'll definitely teach her."

As Zhou Rui chatted with his sister, he was thinking to himself that he should go hunting soon so that he could raise Xiao Nian Gao to be plump and healthy.

"An'an, do you know which family in the village just had a baby?"

"I know that. Tie Niu said his mother gave birth to his seventh brother, and Zhu Zi's family just had a daughter."

Tie Niu Zhou Rui knew that his mother was also very fertile; she was over forty and had given birth to their seventh child. However, with so many people in their family, they were all malnourished and probably wouldn't have much breast milk. Zhu Zi's name was Zhao Dazhu, five years older than Zhou Rui. He had just gotten married and belonged to the same clan as the village chief, Zhao Youzhi. The young couple had just given birth, so they figured he would have plenty of milk. It seemed they needed to hunt some game immediately to get some milk to feed Xiao Nian Gao.

"Brother, the potatoes are ready." Zhou Ping came in carrying freshly roasted potatoes.

After finishing the potatoes, Zhou Rui fed Xiao Niangao some of the cooked porridge. He put Xiao Niangao on the kang (a heated brick bed), stood up, and said, "Pingwa, you stay home and look after your sister and Xiao Niangao. Your second brother is going out to take care of some things."

"Okay, second brother, but you need to come back soon. Our new home is still too remote, there's no one around, and we're a little scared when it gets dark." Zhou Ping is still young, and although he has courage, he doesn't have much.

Zhou Rui nodded: "I understand. But you're a man now, and you'll have to take care of your sister and niece in the future, so you need to be brave. In a while, I'll find you a dog, then you won't be afraid."

"Really? Brother, I like puppies." An An's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"Of course, you have to be good at home too, and help Third Brother take good care of Little Rice Cake."

"it is good."

Zhou Rui headed straight for the village committee office after leaving the house. He had no materials at home, so he needed to go to the office to find some to make a slingshot.

In his previous life, Zhou Rui seemed to have a natural affinity for shooting-related things. He could easily master slingshots, bows and arrows, and guns; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to live to his fifties despite living in war-torn regions for so long. Moreover, after being reborn this time, Zhou Rui discovered that his nerve reflexes and five senses were more developed than in his previous life, wondering if it was due to mutations from his rebirth.

"Fifth Grandfather, have you eaten?"

"Just finished eating. Ruiwa, is everything settled at home? What brings you here?" The one who answered was an elder of the Zhou family. He was the fifth son in his generation, had no children, and was a recipient of the village's five-guarantee household allowance. Seeing that he was getting old, the village chief arranged for him to manage the warehouse at the brigade headquarters.

Zhou Rui stopped in front of Fifth Grandfather: "Fifth Grandfather, we haven't had any meat at home for a long time, and my younger siblings have gotten thin from hunger. I was thinking of going to the team headquarters to find some materials to make a slingshot and shoot some sparrows or pheasants for them to try."

"Alright, Ruiwa, you've got guts. I've heard about your family's situation. Your grandpa's heartless, only thinking about himself, afraid your uncle won't support him, he won't even say a word to you. Next time you're wronged, tell Fifth Grandpa, and I'll beat Eighth Brother to death."

"Yes, I understand, Fifth Grandfather."

"Come here, Ruiwa. I made a slingshot a few years ago, it was made of ironwood, it was very sturdy, look, even the rubber band broke."

The slingshot was covered in dust. I wiped it off and saw that it was straight with two evenly forked ends and the slingshot body was reddish. It seemed that my great-uncle used to play with it a lot when he was young.

"Fifth Grandfather, does the team headquarters have any discarded bicycle tires or wire? That's pretty strong. I reckon if you tie them together, you could even take down a roe deer."

"Yes, I'll look for it for you."

Before long, Uncle Zhou found it and even found pliers and a hammer. With the bow already in hand, the two of them hammered and tinkered, and it was done without much effort.

"Here, you can try it."

Zhou Rui took the slingshot, walked out of the team headquarters, and found a few evenly sized pebbles on the threshing ground. Then he aimed at a branch of a large tree more than ten meters away and shot it.

With years of experience, Zhou Rui found his rhythm on the third try and snapped the branch in two with a snap. He then followed up with several more shots, breaking five branches in total.

"Hey, not bad. Rui, with this skill, Pingwa and Anwa will definitely not go hungry." Zhou Wuye was very pleased to see Zhou Rui's accuracy, which showed the style of his younger days.

"Thank you, Fifth Grandfather. Just you wait, once I catch some meat, I'll definitely bring it to you to enjoy with your drinks."

"Good, that's ambitious. I'll be waiting for your meat. My Zhou family's kid will definitely live well even without those heartless people helping him. He'll have meat to eat every day, just to make them jealous." Master Zhou wasn't after Zhou Rui's prey; he just wanted to show Zhou Rui's spirit and didn't want to discourage him. After all, hunting isn't about aiming; it's about finding the prey.

"Then I'll be going now, Fifth Grandfather."

"Let's go back."