Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

In the past few days, the construction at the educated youth settlement next door has been progressing rapidly. The village chief specially approved rice and white flour buns, and even ordered people to fish in the river every day. This gave everyone the motivation to work, and the houses were built quickly and well. Zhou Ping was also very happy, helping to chop firewood and carry water every day, and occasionally delivering materials to the construction site. Although he only earned 5 work points a day, he was full of energy thinking about how these work points could be exchanged for more grain at the end of the year.

An'an wasn't idle either. Because of the construction of this educated youth settlement, some children from the nearby villages came to play here, so An'an wasn't bored by herself. Although she was tied down by Xiao Nian Gao, she was happy to see so many friends playing around her.

Zhou Rui was rather frustrated, as he couldn't hunt freely in the mountains these past few days. If he hunted too much, he would definitely be seen when he returned, and then there would be gossip in the village, causing him trouble. For the time being, Zhou Rui had to focus on gathering herbs, and picking some mushrooms and wild vegetables as well. The day before yesterday, he hunted two pheasants and three rabbits, but the village chief confiscated most of them, leaving only one rabbit for Zhou Rui, saying it was to supplement the nutrition of the villagers building houses.

Although I was given work points, ten centimeters for every pound of meat, I was still unhappy. This was chicken soup prepared for An'an and Sister-in-law Xinghua.

Fortunately, the village chief didn't go into the kitchen that day. Otherwise, if he had seen so much cured meat hanging in Zhou Rui's kitchen, he would have confiscated it all.

Zhou Rui thought this wouldn't work; the kitchen was too obvious. If someone came by, the meat wouldn't be hidden and would be immediately visible. It seemed they needed to dig cellars, one in the front yard and one in the back, one open and one hidden. The front cellar could store fresh vegetables and fruits, and in winter, it could store cabbages and radishes. Everyone else stored the same things there anyway, so it wouldn't be conspicuous.

The back section can be slightly smaller to store cured meat and bullets. The antiques Zhou Rui bought can also be stored there; they're not needed now, but can be taken out later when they become more valuable. We can find more of these things later and have Tong Lei keep an eye out for them; after all, no matter how much money we store, it will depreciate eventually.

After thinking it over, Zhou Rui immediately got to work, drew a rectangle 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters long with a hoe, and started digging.

"Second Brother, aren't you going to the mountains today?" An'an asked Zhou Rui, who was standing in the pit.

The pit is three or four centimeters deep; this is the result of Zhou Rui's work over an hour.

"Okay, Second Brother, you'll stay home and dig a cellar today to look after Little Rice Cake, so An'an can go play with the other kids, okay?" Zhou Rui said, leaning on his hoe.

"Actually, I can watch the little rice cake too." An An rolled her eyes. "But, but I'll only play for a little while." An An gestured with her ring finger.

"Go on, go on. Put the little rice cake in the yard and go play by yourself."

An'an ran out happily, and then her laughter could be heard from the other children outside. An'an then brought the other children in to see the babies in the yard, and they all ran out again in a flurry.

After digging a meter deep, Zhou Rui looked at the pile of mud in the yard and found it quite a nuisance. So he found a winnowing basket and carried the mud out, load by load.

"Ruiwa, what are you doing going in and out like that?" an old man who was building a wall nearby greeted him.

"Oh, I was just bored at home, so I dug a cellar. There's too much soil, so I'm removing some before continuing to dig," Zhou Rui replied.

"Okay, this is important. Otherwise, we won't have anywhere to store cabbages and radishes in winter, which would be a real problem."

"Zhou Rui, why didn't you go up the mountain to hunt pheasants today? Hunting pheasants is great, you can earn work points. If you catch a few, that'll be our work points for a week," a young man in his twenties shouted.

"Isn't it going to rain soon? Then there won't be time to dig a cellar. And the busy farming season is coming soon, and we won't have the energy to dig a cellar after working so hard every day."

"I think hunting is better. It's not tiring and you can earn more work points. You can dig the cellar slowly." The man continued to persuade Zhou Rui.

The old man next to him laughed and scolded, "I think you ate meat the day before yesterday and are craving it again today, just trying to trick Ruiwa into running up the mountain. What's wrong? Can't these big white steamed buns and rice fill your stomach? Hurry up and get to work, or someone will see you slacking off and deduct your work points."

Zhou Rui ignored what these people were saying and continued carrying mud. Now that someone knew Zhou Rui was digging a cellar at home, he could take this opportunity to dig out the cellar in the backyard as well, since no one was counting how many loads of mud he had carried out.

With Zhou Rui's current strength, he dug two cellars in just two days. The front one was a large rectangular pit; it just needed to be dried in the sun for two days, then covered with wood for the roof, and finally filled with a thick layer of soil before it could be used. The one in the backyard was different; Zhou Rui dug a cellar with a narrow opening and a wide belly, similar to a jar.

After finishing with the cellar work, Zhou Rui still didn't want to go up the mountain. After all, the educated youth settlement next door was still under construction, and the things he brought back wouldn't stay; the village chief would requisition them. He was tired when he was busy, but bored when he was idle. Zhou Rui sat on a stool with Xiao Niangao in his arms, the two of them staring at each other. Xiao Niangao didn't understand; she thought Zhou Rui was playing with her, and waved her little hands, trying to scratch Zhou Rui's face.

The village chief came in and nodded when he saw the more than two-meter-deep pit dug in the yard. Then, looking at Zhou Rui, who was playing with Xiao Niangao, he interrupted, "Ruiwa, you've dug this cellar now. If you have nothing to do, can't you go up the mountain and hunt some pheasants or rabbits?"

"Grandpa Zhao, I just finished and finally got a break, and you're making me work again. Besides, I'm not a professional hunter, so it's impossible for me to have a good catch every time." Zhou Rui was still trying to hide his abilities. Apart from the village doctor Zhao Changhai, only a few close friends knew about Zhou Rui's skills.

"Since you're just idling around anyway, why don't you go up the mountain and hunt something? At least you'll get more work points. Several villagers have complained to me these past few days, asking me to get some meat as a reward." Zhao Youzhi was actually hoping that Zhou Rui could earn more work points.

"It's not the busy farming season, Grandpa Zhao, you don't need to spoil them. Aren't these white flour buns enough?"

"The main problem is that the construction of the houses at the educated youth settlement was rushed, so the working hours were long and the intensity was high, and everyone was a bit overwhelmed. Besides, the busy farming season will start soon after the houses are built, and we can't let these strong laborers lose their health, or it will cause delays." Zhao Youzhi didn't force Zhou Rui to do anything, but explained to him carefully.

"Alright. Since Grandpa Zhao said so, I agree. But it's too late today, I'll go up the mountain tomorrow. But if I catch another pheasant, you have to save one for me. My little Niangao goes to Sister Xinghua's house to drink milk every day, so I have to stew a chicken for Sister Xinghua to nourish her. My fifth grandfather hasn't eaten meat for many days either, so I'll save some for him too." Zhou Rui nodded in agreement.

"Sure, I have no objection. It's kind of you to remember your sister-in-law Xinghua's kindness, and it's filial piety to remember your fifth grandfather. How could I possibly object?" Zhao Youzhi had seen Zhou Rui fall out with his uncle and grandparents at such a young age and was worried that he might be impulsive. But now, seeing that Zhou Rui could remember the kindness others had shown him and care about the elders in the clan, it showed that the child was kind by nature and hadn't gone astray.