Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

The two men and three dogs dragged over 700 pounds of prey, and they weren't too tired. Zhou Rui was strong, Wang Shouye was in his prime, and with the three hunting dogs, their progress wasn't slow. However, they covered a longer distance than usual today, and by the time they got home, it was almost 8 o'clock. Along the way, to complete the task assigned by the village chief, Zhou Rui also hunted a few pheasants and wild ducks.

The villagers at the educated youth settlement had already finished work, which saved Zhou Rui the trouble of not having to hide and bring his prey home.

"Pingwa, An'an, I'm back. This is my master, you can call him Uncle Wang."

"Uncle Wang." "Uncle Wang." An'an looked at the fierce Wang Shouye, a little scared, but still called out.

"Hey...look, I came in a hurry and didn't bring any gifts. This rabbit is for you." Wang Shouye smiled and picked up a wild rabbit and handed it over.

"Thank you, Uncle Wang." "Thank you."

Although the children in the family are from the countryside, they have all been taught by Zhou Rui to be very polite.

"Pingwa, go to Dazhu's house and ask them to come over. Tell them that your sister-in-law's cousin has come," Zhou Rui instructed Zhou Ping.

Then he said to Wang Shouye, "Uncle, please sit down and rest for a while, have some water. I need to go to the village chief's house to hand in today's tasks, so he won't scold me."

"Okay, go ahead. Your sister's here with me, it'll be fine."

An'an was looking at the three hunting dogs lying at Wang Shouye's feet, panting heavily with their tongues hanging out, with great curiosity. "Uncle Wang, what's wrong with them?"

With a dog she liked, An'an was no longer so afraid of the fierce Wang Shouye.

"You're tired from working, just take a rest."

Zhou Rui ignored the two people talking, picked up four pheasants and three wild ducks, and left. He first delivered two pheasants to Aunt Changchun and Uncle Zhou's houses, and then took the remaining two pheasants and three wild ducks to the village chief's house.

"Hey, not bad! With these five chickens and ducks, these workers won't complain at all." The village chief's family had already finished dinner and were enjoying the cool evening air in the yard. "Are you alright? Why are you so late?"

"Hunting isn't easy. You have to search everywhere and chase after the prey. It's exhausting. I haven't even eaten yet; I just got back and came here to report to you," Zhou Rui recounted the difficulties. "I need to rest for a couple of days."

This is a lesson learned from a past life: when dealing with your boss, you must not only complete the tasks but also learn to complain. If you confidently tell your boss that it's too easy and you can finish it with a simple gesture, your boss won't think you're particularly capable; they'll just think the task was too simple and anyone could have done it.

Zhao Youzhi was very satisfied with Zhou Rui's work attitude. "Okay, then you should get some rest. I'll have the accountant record your work points tomorrow. Go home and have dinner early."

After leaving the village chief's house, Zhou Rui couldn't wait to get home. When he arrived, he saw Wang Shouye and Sister-in-law Xinghua chatting inside. Sister-in-law Xinghua was holding Xiao Niangao, and Xiao Yan'er was in Wang Shouye's arms. Zhao Dazhu and Zhou Ping were busy cooking in the kitchen, while An'an was taking care of the three hunting dogs in the yard.

"Ruiwa, my sixth uncle said you're really amazing. You can kill a sika deer with one shot." Wang Xinghua said to Zhou Rui with a smile, and even gave a thumbs up with Xiao Niangao's hand.

"No, Uncle Wang was just praising me. I'm not as amazing as he said."

Before Wang Shouye could confirm, Wang Xinghua continued, "I know my sixth uncle's personality; he doesn't praise people easily. If he says you're a good shot, then it must be true. Otherwise, how could you have brought back five wild wolves last time?"

"Wow, you even killed five wolves. Tell me, what happened?"

Zhou Rui couldn't stand being praised to his face, so he quickly said, "Uncle Wang, please sit down first. I'll go to the yard and skin the deerskin."

Wang Shouye waved his hand, telling Zhou Rui to hurry up and not delay his listening to the story.

By the time Zhou Rui had cleaned up the four sika deer, the kang (heated brick bed) in the house was already filled with food. Zhao Dazhu was serving pheasant soup to An'an and Wang Xinghua; they hadn't had it in a long time, well... only about five or six days.

Zhou Rui took a bottle of wine out of the kitchen cabinet. "Uncle, drink less tonight, we have to get to town early tomorrow."

"Alright, business comes first. Next time you come to our village, make sure you have a good time."

The three of them shared a bottle of wine. Each person didn't have much, but they were all very happy.

"What? You've taken Sixth Uncle as your master? Then we're officially relatives now." Zhao Dazhu had been busy in the kitchen and had no idea what his wife had been talking about until he had a few drinks.

"We're already proper relatives. Have you forgotten? I'm Xiao Nian Gao's godmother!" Wang Xinghua said reproachfully.

"Yes, yes, I forgot, I was wrong." Zhao Dazhu admitted his mistake quickly, but his attitude was not very sincere.

"Ruiwa, we hunted four deer this time, which is a bit more than usual. I'm worried the black market will drive down the price. I'm not worried about the deer antlers though; if the price is low, we can buy them first."

Zhou Rui had been to the black market before; the prices weren't high to begin with, and if the price was lowered further, it would be even less worthwhile.

"It's alright, we won't go to the black market, we'll go to Xiangyang Forest Farm. I have a temporary purchasing agent's certificate from Xiangyang Forest Farm, I can deliver directly to the canteen, I guarantee a good price." Since they were all real relatives, Zhou Rui didn't intend to hide anything.

"What? You're still a temporary purchasing agent for the forest farm?" Wang Shouye and the others were somewhat surprised.

"Well, when I went to sell job openings, Director Zhang gave me a temporary purchasing agent certificate after I told him I was going hunting in the mountains, but there was no salary," Zhou Rui explained.

"What do we need wages for? For us hunters, this certificate is more valuable than anything else. Each time we sell meat, we earn a few cents more than on the black market, and over the course of a year, it adds up to a significant amount." Wang Shouye was right. Take this time, for example; the deer they hunted weighed over 500 jin (250 kg). If they earn two cents more per jin than on the black market, that's a hundred jin, equivalent to several months' wages for a regular worker.

The group didn't chat for long. After finishing their drinks and dinner, they went to bed early. Fortunately, Zhou Rui's house had two rooms. Wang Shouye slept alone in Zhou Ping's room, while Zhou Rui, along with his younger brother and sister, slept in the other room.

The next morning, Zhou Rui borrowed a cart from Liu Kangri's house and left in the dark, afraid of being seen by the people who came to build houses at the educated youth settlement. When he arrived at Xiangyang Forest Farm, it was just in time for the forest farm to start work. He was surrounded not far from the gate. Seeing the cart full of venison, the forest farm workers all clamored to buy some.

"Make way, make way. I'm a purchasing agent for the forest farm. This meat was originally purchased by the forest farm. If you want to eat it, go to the canteen." Zhou Rui had no choice but to shoo people away, otherwise they wouldn't be able to move.

After finally getting to the cafeteria, Zhou Rui went straight to Supervisor Deng with a pheasant. Although Zhou Rui had a temporary purchasing agent's certificate and a note personally approved by Zhang Zhenbei, interpersonal relationships were never simple. Since it was their first meeting, Zhou Rui didn't know Deng Xiangrong's preferences, so he could only offer him a pheasant first.

Deng Xiangrong, holding a cigarette that Zhou Rui had lit for him, said, "Director Zhang has already spoken to me. You can just bring the things directly. Why bring any smuggled chickens?"

"What's the big deal? My Uncle Zhang said you manage the canteen for hundreds of people so well, it must be really hard work. I don't have any other skills, I just hunt. This is what I caught yesterday, I'm bringing it to you to try." Zhou Rui always knew how to use someone else's name to his advantage, so he might as well use Zhang Zhenbei's name.

Upon hearing this, Deng Xiangrong was overjoyed. "Even Director Zhang has praised me, and Zhou Rui is Director Zhang's nephew, so there must be no mistake."

"What's the hardship or not? We're all serving the people. Brother Zhou, come on, let's weigh it quickly. There's a shortage of meat and a lot of work these days, so prices are high. I'll give you 1.8 yuan per pound for this venison."

Yes, only venison. The rest—the yellow-haired animals, rabbits, pheasants, and the like—were divided up among Zhou Rui's three families.

Wang Shouye was dumbfounded. His apprentice was too good at talking; he'd barely said a word before charging 1.8 yuan per jin (500g). The highest price Wang Shouye ever sold was 1.5 yuan, and that was for the deboned, clean meat sold in small quantities. Unlike Zhou Rui, who weighed it by gross weight. This much meat would probably fetch less than 1 yuan on the black market. Those people on the black market are ruthless; that's why it's called the black market.