Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Chen Datou placed his palms on the table, feeling confident; this was the change brought about by the money in his pocket.

"The Zhao family never raised Zhao Gensheng and Zhao Xiaoni before, so from now on, no matter whether they are surnamed Zhao or Chen, they should not interfere."

"As for the Chen family, no one has taken care of me since my parents died, so why would I listen to them?"

Zhou Rui relaxed his brow: "Okay, as long as you keep that in mind. If a conflict really breaks out, don't resort to violence. Call Grandpa Zhao and Captain Zhang."

"Grandpa Zhao is the Party Secretary and a member of the Zhao family. His words carry weight and won't let those people act recklessly."

"Captain Zhang was sent from above. He spends all day reading from a script about national policies. Let's send him to explain the law to those old fogies from the Zhao and Chen families. Freedom of marriage is not just a casual saying."

Chen Datou clapped his hands together, making a snapping sound: "I knew Ruiwa, you had a way. Get the village committee to deal with the stubborn old folks in the family, let them fight like dogs. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant."

"Hey, hey, hey, stop right there! Who are you calling a dog? Grandpa Zhao and Captain Zhang are government officials; they'll be the ones who speak up for you in the future. Don't spout nonsense."

"Besides, who told you to talk like a traitor? You're really good at it. What, are you going to betray us?"

Zhou Rui was somewhat disgusted; this guy really had a sharp tongue. But it was also because the Tunnel Warfare was so famous; the county's film crew showed it every year, and Commander Tang's line from the puppet army was a hit all over the country.

"Hehe... that traitor's acting was so convincing, I only remembered that one line. Do you think the film projection team will come to our village to show movies this year? They didn't come last year, I had to go to the next village to watch..."

Chen Datou's conversation veered off-topic, mainly because Zhou Rui had come up with a suggestion. Now he felt no pressure about marrying Zeng Ping.

Just as the two were chatting, a crisp knocking sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.

Little Rice Cake, with its pointed ears, crawled toward the door with half a peanut in its mouth, only to be scooped back into Zhou Rui's arms.

"Zhou Rui, are you home?"

It was Liu Shunli's voice, with a hint of panting from running in the wind.

Just as Zhou Rui got up to open the door, it was gently pushed open, and Liu Shunli ran so fast that the tear in his jacket had come off, and fine sweat was beading on his forehead.

"Rui, Brother Rui..." Liu Shunli gasped for breath, "Sister-in-law Qiuyue hurt her foot and bled a lot..."

Zhou Rui jumped up and shoved the little rice cake into Chen Datou's arms.

"Uncle Big Head, could you watch my two kids for me? I'm going to check on them."

Zhou Rui dashed out, but less than two minutes later the still-shaking door suddenly opened again, and Zhou Rui ran back, pulling Liu Shunli along as they hurried outside.

"Where does your sister-in-law live? Take me there quickly."

Before Chen Datou could even speak, he hurriedly moved the little rice cake with peanuts in its mouth further into the kang (a heated brick bed), and then reached out to grab the little gosling who was clinging to the edge of the kang, trying to jump off.

The two children had their mouths stuffed full, and their round eyes were fixed on Zhou Rui's retreating figure, which swept away like a gust of wind.

The wind whistled past Zhou Rui's ears on the ridge, while Liu Shunli ran alongside, panting, and explained the situation in fits and starts.

It turned out that the team had arranged for the female educated youth to go to the wheat field to harvest wheat. Lin Qiuyue was originally lined up with everyone and everything was going well.

As a result, Liu, a male educated youth in the same team, made a bet with the villagers to see who could cut the sickle faster. After losing, he casually threw down his sickle and went to drink water by the edge of the field.

After the sickle was thrown to the ground, its blade facing upwards, it was hidden gleamingly in the waist-high wheat bushes.

Later, Lin Qiuyue was frightened by a snake that crawled out of the wheat field. As she backed away, her calf slammed into the blade of a sickle that had been carelessly thrown around.

Zhou Rui became even more anxious after hearing this. He knew how sharp the sickle was. It was easy to cut your hand while harvesting, let alone when your calf bumped into the blade in the rush.

After getting the address, Zhou Rui took off running, leaving Liu Shunli far behind.

When Zhou Rui rushed to the wheat field, he saw Lin Qiuyue sitting on a haystack by the edge of the field.

A group of educated youth gathered together. Yu Sitian and Yang Ping squatted on the ground, holding freshly picked clean wormwood leaves in their hands, applying them to the wound on her calf.

There was a male educated youth next to him who was still chattering and trying to get closer, but He Wei stopped him a few steps away.

Lin Qiuyue rolled up her trousers to her knees, revealing her fair calves, where a two-inch-long gash on the inside was slowly oozing blood.

Zhou Rui squeezed in directly. The closer he got, the clearer he could see. The cut was longer and deeper than he had imagined, and the flesh had been turned inside out.

"Qiuyue, how is it?" Zhou Rui asked in a deep voice.

But even he himself didn't realize that the five short words he asked weren't as steady as he had imagined; in fact, they were trembling uncontrollably.

When Lin Qiuyue saw Zhou Rui running over, her face, which had been trying to maintain a composed expression, turned even paler, but she still managed to force a smile.

"It's nothing, I just slipped and fell, it doesn't hurt."

Zhou Rui wanted to give her a smile in return, but the muscles in his cheeks twitched a few times, and he just couldn't manage to smile.

He knelt down, quickly took off his white coat, tore it into wide strips, and gently and quickly wrapped them around her wound to stop the bleeding.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here, I'll get you to the clinic right away."

After he finished, he didn't wait for anyone to help. He picked the person up horizontally and, as he stood up, glanced at Da Liu, who was standing next to him with a pale face. His eyes were as cold as ice shards in a mountain stream.

"A sickle is a tool for making a living, not something for you to vent your anger on. You need to give me an explanation for this injury."

The surrounding villagers also pointed at Da Liu and berated him. Da Liu lowered his head and didn't dare to raise it. He didn't expect that throwing tools around would cause such a consequence.

Lin Qiuyue leaned against Zhou Rui's chest, in so much pain that she didn't even have the strength to speak, but she still gently tugged at his clothes, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"It's not his fault... I wasn't looking where I was going when I backed up..."

Zhou Rui glanced down at her bluish lips, pulled her closer to him, and walked quickly away.

The wind blew from the wheat field, carrying the scent of wheat and a faint smell of blood.

Lin Qiuyue pressed her small face against Zhou Rui's chest, smelling his scent, and seemed to feel that her wounds didn't hurt so much anymore.

"Uncle Changhai, Uncle Changhai, let's stop the bleeding first. Do you have a tetanus shot?"

By the time he stepped into the clinic, the white shirt he was wearing was already soaked red with blood.

Zhao Changhai wasn't as panicked as Zhou Rui; he'd seen this kind of thing many times in the countryside. Although he didn't understand internal medicine, he had some experience treating external injuries.

Zhao Changhai remained completely calm, unlike Zhou Rui who was frantically pacing around.

Over the years at the Jiaolongxia Health Clinic, he has seen more bumps and bruises than anyone else.

He dared not dabble in the intricacies of internal medicine, but when it came to treating these kinds of lacerated wounds, his accuracy and experience surpassed anyone else's.

Zhao Changhai took a clean basin and poured half a basin of water from the thermos.

"Take a fan and cool the boiling water down. You need to treat her wound. It's covered in filth from the wild; you need to pick out the bits of debris to prevent pus from forming."