Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui was completely unprepared for Lin Qiuyue's decision to reject the spot without even a second thought.

"You'd better think this through. This job isn't something you can just get whenever you want. If you regret it later, even if Zhang Zhenbei gets a permanent position, you might not be able to get another one."

Zhou Rui was all too aware of the current situation. Jobs in the city were so competitive that people were fighting tooth and nail to get them; otherwise, so many educated youth wouldn't have flocked to the countryside.

Last year, Zhang Zhenbei was just the head of the logistics department. In order to help his superiors solve a problem, he spent 800 yuan to secure that job position.

"I'm not going." Lin Qiuyue looked up at him, her eyes resolute. "I just want to stay in Jiaolongxia Village. There's Xiaoniangao, An'an, Pingwa, and you here."

"Even if I got a stable job at Xiangyang Forest Farm in Taiping Town, what good would it do?"

Her voice softened, tinged with barely concealed panic: "Living alone in a dormitory, without a single familiar face around, what if something happens one day, I..."

"Stop." Zhou Rui immediately reached out and gently pressed her shoulder. If she continued, tears would well up in her eyes.

He knew better than anyone what Lin Qiuyue had experienced in the city, that she had gone to the countryside to escape that turmoil, and that her family had abandoned her last year and disappeared without a trace.

This matter was like a thorn stuck in her heart; if touched even slightly, she would turn back into that little animal cowering in a corner, afraid of being abandoned.

"Nobody wants to kick you out. I just want you to stop suffering so much in the fields under the scorching sun. Look how tanned you've gotten lately. Besides, the forest farm has holidays, so you can come back anytime."

"I'm not going. I don't find working in the fields hard at all. I just want to stay at home." Lin Qiuyue looked at Zhou Rui with red eyes, her attitude even more resolute than before.

Zhou Rui's heart softened, and he immediately got up and sat down next to her, gently putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his arms.

Lin Qiuyue buried her face in his chest, and the tears she had been holding back for so long finally fell, instantly soaking Zhou Rui's clothes.

Zhou Rui didn't try to persuade her any further, but simply patted her back gently and quietly stayed with her.

After a while, Lin Qiuyue suddenly stopped crying, raised her hand and hooked her arms around the back of his neck, pressing her soft lips directly onto his mouth.

Zhou Rui froze instantly, completely unprepared for her sudden change of mood.

Those images that had been suppressed in my heart suddenly surged up: the marriage certificate I was forced to sign, the two-year agreement we made, and the room on our wedding night with its flickering red candles, where we never had a chance to consummate our marriage.

Zhou Rui suddenly realized that she had fallen for him. When did it begin?

The temperature between his lips and teeth grew hotter and hotter, and the blood in his body surged upwards. Just as he began to react, a soft "Second Uncle" suddenly burst out by the door, instantly shattering the ambiguous atmosphere in the room.

Lin Qiuyue was so frightened that she immediately turned her back, her fair cheeks turning so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

Zhou Rui composed himself and looked down to see Xiao Niangao swaying over, clutching half a thorny cucumber in her little hand.

"Why did you run in by yourself? Where's An'an?"

"Auntie... pick it for Uncle." Little Niangao tilted her head up and held the cucumber to his mouth. The little yellow flower at the top was still tender and hadn't completely fallen off.

The next second, Little Rice Cake stared at the two of them, then suddenly grinned and laughed out loud. She let go of Zhou Rui's leg and hugged him, adding in a childish voice, "Second Uncle, Auntie, kisses."

"Ah!" Lin Qiuyue suddenly covered her face and strode out of the room. She heard An'an call out "Sister-in-law" in the yard, and then there was no more sound.

An'an walked in and pointed outside the yard: "Where did my sister-in-law go? She ran so fast, like a little rabbit."

Zhou Rui scratched his head, picked up Xiao Niangao, and was glad that it wasn't An'an who had seen the two being affectionate earlier, otherwise, with her clever appearance, the whole village would have known.

"Uh, it's nothing, maybe something urgent has happened."

Zhou Ping had disappeared without a trace, and Lin Qiuyue was nowhere to be found. Zhou Rui, bored, was organizing the things he had brought back from the mountains and the supply and marketing cooperative.

An'an and Xiao Niangao were very excited, sharing the candies and cookies. Of course, some were left for Zhou Ping, but it seemed that pile was a bit small and not distributed according to age.

Zhou Rui watched the two playing around on the kang with a smile, then casually opened the backpack that Gu Jiacheng had brought back yesterday and took out the fifth-grade wild ginseng.

The cut ends of the rhizomes that were previously cut off are already visibly shriveled and withered. If left untreated, the medicinal properties will be lost, so we must deal with them as soon as possible.

Zhou Rui found a soft-bristled brush, gently brushed away the dust from the object with light pressure, then turned around and took it to the second-floor balcony, where he hung it securely with a thin rope.

Once today's sun has dried the surface moisture, move it to a cool, well-ventilated place tomorrow to let it dry slowly.

When Zhou Rui came down, he found a cloth bag had been opened, and some red fruits, smaller than mung beans, had been poured out. Xiao Niangao was grabbing a handful and preparing to stuff them into her mouth.

"Don't eat that, it's not a fruit you can eat."

Zhou Rui rushed forward, grabbed her soft little fist, and planted a kiss on her round little face.

With his other hand, he grabbed a fragrant cake of unknown origin from the side and shoved it to Xiao Niangao's mouth.

He'd already gotten the hang of taking care of the baby a lot lately. If he wanted to take something away from the little one, he absolutely couldn't just snatch it from her. He had to quickly stuff something even better into her hands, so she wouldn't have time to even think about getting angry.

Sure enough, as soon as the sesame seed cake was stuffed into his mouth, Xiao Niangao's hand immediately loosened, and a handful of red ginseng seeds were scattered all over the kang (a heated brick bed).

After he squatted down by the kang (a heated brick bed) and picked up the ginseng seeds one by one, putting them back into the bag and tying the bag tightly, Zhou Rui slapped his forehead and realized that he had gone to great lengths to bring this bag of stuff back in the first place. What was he even planning to do with it?

In the mud-brick house of the village brigade headquarters, Zhao Youzhi and Zhang Aimin, whom Zhou Rui had just called back from the field, plopped down at the long table.

"What's up, Ruiwa? We're squatting on the ground watching those lazybones chasing away sparrows. Don't waste our time if it's nothing important."

Zhao Youzhi picked up the enamel mug, tilted his head back, and gulped down most of the cold tea. Right now, the most important thing for the whole village was to compete with the sparrows for grain and secure this year's harvest. Everything else had to wait.

Zhou Rui didn't reply. He took out a small coarse cloth bag from his shirt pocket, poured it gently onto the table, and a pile of bright red granules rolled out, forming a small half-bowl on the table.

"What is this?" Zhao Youzhi and Zhang Aimin looked at it for a long time, but they couldn't recognize it.

"Ginseng seeds, wild ginseng seeds, I got them from the black market."

Zhang Aimin rubbed his stubble under his lip with his thumb, without making a sound.

Zhao Youzhi glanced at Zhou Rui. Bought on the black market? He didn't believe a word of that. Nine times out of ten, this kid had gone deep into the mountains on his own, and maybe he had personally picked most of the ginseng seeds from the ginseng spikes.

"What, worried that we'll get tired from chasing sparrows, so you're bringing us some good stuff to make tea and nourish ourselves?" Zhao Youzhi grinned, his words tinged with a hint of teasing.

Zhou Rui didn't take the joke seriously, his expression remained calm. He reached out and poked at the pile of red seeds with his fingertips, then turned to Zhang Aimin beside him.

"Captain Zhang, you came from the commune, so you must know the policies from above. I heard that the country is now encouraging production brigades to collectively grow ginseng under the forest canopy, mobilizing everyone to work together to earn foreign exchange for the country through exports."