Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

It wasn't that he was really afraid Old Man Lang wouldn't recognize him; the main thing was that the old fox had hidden countless good things in his hands, and Zhou Rui felt that if he took some good meat over there, he might be able to pry something out of him.

Zhang Shitou shook his head as he listened. These days, everyone's teeth ache from eating corn and sweet potatoes, so who would complain about meat being prickly?

However, the meat of wild goats is indeed so tender that you can squeeze juice out of it. If we manage to catch one and bring it home, it will be perfect for nourishing my wife who is pregnant with twins.

Both men were seasoned hunters, and they skinned the wolf clean in no time at all.

Zhang Shitou casually removed the heart and liver from the wolf he had knocked down and gently placed it in front of the yellow dog.

This is the custom of the old hunters in the mountains: if a wild dog accepts this food, it considers it as having a connection with a human.

But the big yellow dog merely glanced at the fresh meat at its feet, didn't even wag its tail, and turned back to continue munching on the wolf meat on the ground.

It's clear that this big dog, having lived alone in the mountains, is used to a life of irregular eating habits. When it catches a good meal, it has no time to be distracted by anything else.

"Third senior brother, let's go." Zhou Rui stuffed the neatly folded wolf skin into Zhang Shitou's backpack and patted him on the shoulder.

"What should we do with the rest of the wolf meat?" Zhang Shitou asked casually, glancing at the two naked wolf carcasses on the ground.

"Hang them on this tree. If they're still there when we come down the mountain, we'll take them back and make them into jerky. If they're gone, then forget about them."

With a swift motion, Zhou Rui cut off two large chunks of the firmest wolf meat and stuffed them into his backpack as overnight rations. He tossed the rest of the wolf meat onto the branches of the old pine tree, then glanced at the yellow dog who was still engrossed in eating.

"Seriously, why don't you try calling it a couple more times?"

"I'm not going to try anymore." Zhang Shitou slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder and sighed with a smile.

"My time with it wasn't meant to be. It's free in the mountains; let it live however it wants."

Without further delay, the two hurried deeper into the mountain valley, stepping on the fallen yellow leaves.

The chase after the wolves took up almost half an incense stick's time. If we had been any slower, the herd of wild goats would have disappeared into the old, desolate forest across the way, and it would have been much harder to find them then.

As soon as it got dark, Zhou Rui and Zhang Shitou took out their lighters and started a fire in a sheltered mountain hollow.

The two had timed it perfectly; it was the time when wild goats would be feeding in the evening, and the flock would never venture into the deep mountains.

Once they've eaten their fill and are lying down on a shady slope, sneak up in the middle of the night and catch them all in one go. After you've succeeded, head straight down the mountain, and you'll be able to step into Old Lang's backyard in Hongxing Town by noon the next day.

The wolf meat sizzled and dripped oil over the fire, while the cornbread roasting against the stone emitted a wheaty aroma, and the oil sparkled and crackled in the flames.

Before the meat was cooked through, a rustling sound of branches and leaves rustling suddenly came from the woods.

Without a second thought, Zhang Shitou picked up the five or six pistols with a clatter and aimed the muzzle steadily in the direction from which the sound came.

Zhou Rui didn't move an inch, his fingertips pinching fine salt as he slowly sprinkled it onto the wolf meat, each grain landing evenly.

He had heard the commotion half an hour earlier; it was the big yellow dog that had been chasing after them as they fought off the wolves.

I don't know what that beast was thinking. From the moment they left that ravine, it followed them from a distance, neither getting close nor losing them, always hanging in the shadows of the trees two or three hundred meters away.

It wasn't until the two of them had rested for about half an hour in the ravine that the dog finally came out of the woods and revealed itself.

"Is that the big yellow dog? What does it want by following us?" Zhang Shitou lowered the muzzle of his gun and turned to look at Zhou Rui.

"How would I know? I'm not familiar with dogs' temperaments. An'an usually feeds Mao Mao at home, so I don't understand it either."

Zhang Shitou stared at the dog for a long time, gritted his teeth, reached out and tore off a piece of wolf meat still with red blood streaks from the fire, and threw it towards the big yellow dog.

The big yellow dog didn't even lift its eyelids.

Zhang Shitou sighed, thinking to himself that it was another failure. He had just thought that the dog chasing after him was giving him a chance.

The flames leaped a little high, and half of the cornbread on the side was burnt black.

Zhou Rui frowned with heartache and casually tossed the burnt pancake aside.

As soon as the corn tortilla hit the ground, the big yellow dog that hadn't moved an inch suddenly stood up, sniffed the corn tortilla twice, picked it up, and retreated to where it had been lying.

It placed the biscuit under its paws but didn't take a bite. It had eaten the wolf's food alone that afternoon, and its belly was already round and full; it couldn't fit any more in now.

"Damn, it recognizes you!" Zhang Shitou yelled and jumped up, giving Zhou Rui a light kick in the calf.

"What? You acknowledge me?" Zhou Rui's hand, which was flipping the meat with a skewer, stopped abruptly, and oil droplets shot high into the flames.

He was a little confused. He hadn't done anything, so why had this dog, which had been wandering in the mountains for so long, suddenly targeted him?

However, Zhang Shitou's words should be correct, after all, the third senior brother had dealt with the hunting dogs for at least five or six years.

"Try it, don't make a sound, just slowly reach out your hand towards it, don't move around." Zhang Shitou squatted down and said to him in a low voice, his eyes shining.

He had his eye on this dog from the very beginning. Even if he wasn't lucky enough to win it over, it would be a great thing if Zhou Rui could bring it home.

You know, every wild dog that can live alone in these deep mountains and become a local overlord is a born hunter.

If you were to bring this kind of dog back to the village and train it properly, it would be the kind of dog that would put all the other hunting dogs to shame.

Zhou Rui was taken aback by Zhang Shitou's suggestion. He stuffed all the roasted meat in his hand into Zhang Shitou's hand before extending one hand and spreading it out with his palm facing up.

The big yellow dog looked up and glanced over. It didn't get up or move forward. Its amber pupils stared at Zhou Rui's hand for a full half minute.

Just when Zhou Rui thought there was no chance, the big yellow dog suddenly stood up, slowly walked over, lowered its head, and gently touched his palm with its wet, cool nose.

"It's done! It's done!" Zhang Shitou clenched his fist excitedly, secretly pleased.

Zhou Rui flipped his hand over and casually touched the big yellow dog's head, then scratched its neck.

The dog's fur was somewhat rough, with many clumps, and it had some old scars on its body, which were the badges of honor for the big yellow dog's solitary life in the mountains.

"Let's give it a name, so it'll be easier to call out when we go into the mountains."

Zhang Shitou raised his hand to touch it but then smiled and pulled it back. The dog had just become close to Zhou Rui, and he couldn't bear to rashly reach out and interrupt this newly warm-up.

Zhou Rui looked up at the dark forest and after a long while spoke: "Let's call him Big Yellow, it matches my Big White pretty well."

Zhang Shitou, holding the charred and fragrant roasted wolf meat, froze on the spot, his mouth twitching so hard it was almost like a cramp.

He mentally screamed, "That's it? That's it? Are you trying to match colors? You spent all that time coming up with this corny name?"

However, upon recalling that the magnificent gyrfalcon was named Da Bai, Zhang Shitou felt relieved.

So Zhou Rui's education level is much higher than his, yet he's not as good as him and his senior brother at naming things.