Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui was woken up by a knock on the door in the morning. When he got up, he touched his lips.

His lips were swollen, and even his most powerful self-healing ability couldn't reduce the swelling.

Zhou Rui opened the courtyard gate and looked at He Wu with some helplessness.

"Hey bro, isn't this a bit too early? It's not like it's a market day, why are you here so early?"

Zhou Rui looked up at the stars and guessed it was only three in the morning. He wondered what time He Wu had gotten up and rushed over from Xiangyang Forest Farm in the middle of the night.

"Hehe...hehe...I'm so excited I can't sleep, so I just rode my bike here."

Zhou Rui glanced at the nearly new 28-inch motorcycle, nodded, and felt that He Wu was much more composed than he was six months ago, no longer showing off his family's motorcycle all over the world.

"Come in." Zhou Rui opened the courtyard gate, his voice a little hoarse, clearly indicating that he hadn't had enough sleep.

He Wu pushed his bicycle in, with a large backpack on the back seat and canvas leg wraps on his feet, clearly well-prepared.

"Go back to the guest room and get some more sleep. We have another companion who hasn't arrived yet."

Zhou Rui led He Wu into the house. Five pairs of eyes in the courtyard quietly closed. He Wu was so preoccupied with going into the mountains that he didn't notice anything.

As dawn broke, Liu Qingguo knocked on Zhou Rui's door, neither too loud nor too soft. Almost a year had passed, and he no longer foolishly waited outside the door.

He Wu was dragged off the edge of the kang by Zhou Rui. His eyes were still sticky with sleep, and he couldn't find his shoes after pacing on the ground for a long time. All the sleepiness from traveling all night was now surging up.

Let me introduce myself.

Zhou Rui put the enamel mug on the table and pointed at He Wu: "He Wu, who came from the city, came along to the mountains to join in the fun."

He then turned to Liu Qingguo: "This is Liu Qingguo, my assistant during the busy farming season and hunting. He's been running around the mountains with me for almost a year."

Gu Jia originally wanted to team up with Zhou Rui for this year's hunt, but Chen Ye objected, saying that splitting up into several teams to search the mountains would increase the harvest.

Even the militia captain Zhao Changshan got involved, pulling four militiamen carrying old guns into a separate team, clearly wanting to show off and let everyone see that he wasn't just a figurehead captain.

Zhou Rui packed his gear as fast as the wind, putting away his shotgun, lighter, and food bag in just a few minutes.

The steamed white flour buns from last night were still warm, and I stuffed them one by one into the side pockets of the three people's backpacks.

Liu Guoqing unceremoniously grabbed two steamed buns and ate them as he walked.

He knew all too well that by following Zhou Rui into the mountains, he could not only get meat to eat, but also have plenty of white flour steamed buns that he usually couldn't bear to touch.

Zhou Rui raised his arm, and the large white bird that was perched on the roof swooped down, its wings brushing against the back of his hand.

With a flick of his arm, he shot diagonally into the newly brightening sky, drawing a clean arc in mid-air.

The moment the three closed the door, a shadow silently crept up behind them, its thick, fleshy feet making no sound as it sank into the mud.

"Holy crap! What is that?!"

He Wu jumped three feet high in fright, his elbow hitting Liu Qingguo's ribs directly, almost making the man spit out the steamed bun in his mouth.

The shadow took half a step forward, and the morning light fell on its fur, giving it a cool, yellowish-gray hue. Who else could it be but the big yellow dog that Zhou Rui had picked up?

"This is Dahuang, my hunting dog," Zhou Rui explained casually.

Liu Qingguo, munching on a steamed bun, asked indistinctly, "Ruiwa, when did you secretly raise such a big guy? I've never seen him before."

He Wu circled around Da Huang for half a turn, his eyes wide with disbelief: "Wait a minute, Zhou Rui, this isn't an ordinary hunting dog. Its size and eyes are just like a wolf from the mountains."

"Why don't you bring back a puppy and train it slowly? If you raise it into a full-grown hunting dog, aren't you afraid it will bite people because of its fierce temperament?" Liu Qingguo added.

"Stop, stop, stop." Zhou Rui rubbed his forehead, his temples throbbing from the two of them talking back and forth.

"The two men are almost a hundred years old combined, and they have more questions than the old ladies at the village entrance gossip."

"I found it on the back mountain when I went to my third senior brother's place last time."

"It's probably a descendant of the old mountain herders. They've been living in the mountains for a long time, and they look like wolves."

"My God!" He Wu slapped his thigh, his face full of envy.

"Zhou Rui, are all these mountains in Northeast China your backyard? You can find gyrfalcons and even wolf-like hunting dogs. I could never have such luck in eight lifetimes."

Zhou Rui paused, feeling that the words sounded very familiar. Yesterday, Yang Ping sat on the stone stool in his yard, swinging her braid and saying almost the exact same lines.

"I'm not bragging," He Wu said, getting more and more excited, and put his arm around Liu Qingguo's shoulder.

"Look, all the good things in the mountains are coming to you. It's no exaggeration to say that you are the 'son of the mountains.' Others go into the mountains for half a day and don't even find a rabbit's fur, but you can step on a treasure with just one step."

Zhou Rui walked slowly forward, the morning breeze blowing through his hair, He Wu's words echoing in his mind.

Since the day he was reborn, his luck has been ridiculously good. Ginseng, Ganoderma lucidum, and fat roe deer always seem to appear in his sight at the most opportune time.

The extraordinary self-healing ability and keen sixth sense he possessed were simply ways to hold onto his luck even tighter.

Even without these skills, he could still make a good living with the experience he gained from running around in the mountains.

Could it be that I really am the son of some great mountain?

He didn't respond to their conversation after that, and his pace quickened unconsciously.

Lin Qiuyue's foot was injured, and he didn't want to spend the night in the mountains. He would take whatever he could find, even if he returned empty-handed, just to keep the warmth of home with him.

He Wu was naturally outgoing and could open up to people in just a few words. Liu Qingguo was a simple-minded and playful person, and the two of them were chatting enthusiastically after walking less than two miles.

They talked about everything from the tractors in the forest farm to last year's autumn harvest in the village, as if they were sworn brothers who had known each other for more than ten years.

"Zhou Rui!" A shout suddenly came from the dirt road ahead.

Zhou Rui looked up and saw Chen Ye and his son Chen Feiyue sitting on a roadside rock to rest, with a hunting rifle at their feet. They had obviously entered the mountains much earlier than them.

The one who called out was Chen Feiyue, who was holding two turtledoves strung together with straw and swaying them with a smug look on his face.

"Zhou Rui, look what this is!" Chen Feiyue held the turtledove high, his chin almost pointing to the sky.

"You haven't even seen a bird yet, have you? How about you compete with us, father and son? Whoever catches more prey today wins."

Zhou Rui rolled his eyes, finding the kid ridiculously childish.

He went into the mountains today to earn real harvests and exchange them for work points, not to play house with teenagers and argue about who wins.

Moreover, he didn't have much of a relationship with the Chen family father and son, and they didn't see eye to eye, so he had no intention of getting involved in the fun.

As he passed by the two men, he simply nodded to Chen Ye and said, "Uncle Chen, you two rest. We're leaving now."

Before Chen Ye could say anything, Zhou Rui walked straight past the two of them.

Chen Feiyue instantly exploded, grabbing the dove and taking a step forward, his face flushed red: "Zhou Rui, what are you so arrogant about? I'm talking to you. Don't you have any manners? You..."