Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Who are you? Why are you in the back hills of our production brigade?" Zhao Changshan saw He Wu, a stranger, and immediately went up to question him.

He Wu puffed out his chest and took two steps forward: "I am He Wu from Xiangyang Forest Farm. I've come to Jiaolong Gorge to visit Zhou Rui."

He had seen too many village officials who abused their power, and he felt no guilt whatsoever.

"You say so? Who can prove it?" Zhao Jie, who had just been humiliated by Zhou Rui, was trying to regain his pride and stubbornly moved closer to He Wu.

He Wu didn't even glance at him, but reached into the pocket of his Zhongshan suit and slowly pulled out a red notebook.

The words "Xiangyang Forestry Farm Employee Certificate" on the cover still smell of freshly printed ink, and the words "Officer" are prominently displayed next to the photo.

When Zhao Changshan saw those two words, his eyelids twitched violently twice.

I thought he was just some random loafer, but he turned out to be a proper forestry cadre. My arrogance instantly deflated.

He was calculating in his mind. Today, he originally wanted to stop Chen Datou and his sister from stealing that fat badger. He was already in the wrong, and if he really made a scene at the brigade headquarters, he would definitely not get the better of them in front of the forest farm cadres. So he immediately waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, you two can go now. Chen Datou, Chen Huaihua, I'm telling you this: it's the busy harvest season right now, everyone else is in the fields earning work points, you two shouldn't always be shirking your duties and sneaking off into the mountains!"

After saying that, he turned around and beckoned the four militiamen behind him to walk down the mountain.

Zhao Jie was still not giving up and opened his mouth to say something, but Zhao Xiaogang next to him grabbed him by the back of his collar.

Zhao Xiaogang cursed his cousin inwardly for being so clueless. Everyone else was just putting on an act to keep things going, but this guy was the only one who foolishly tried to get close to Zhou Rui and cause trouble.

Who is Zhou Rui? He doesn't hold any official position in the village, but everyone knows he has three genuine merit awards and is even more agile than soldiers.

City leaders have all come to his house for banquets. People with a sense of propriety are now rushing to curry favor with him. He's not someone you can mess with casually.

Only when the footsteps of those people completely disappeared into the woods did Xiao Huaihua dare to walk out from behind Chen Datou. Her eyes were red, and she turned around and squatted down to pick up the wild vegetables and schisandra berries scattered on the ground.

Zhou Rui and Chen Datou quickly squatted down to help. This basket of mountain produce was the livelihood of the uncle and nephew, so they couldn't just leave it in the mountains.

After picking up the small locust flowers, she sighed softly. Several bunches of schisandra berries were trampled and crushed. In her eyes, those were not rotten fruits, but hard-earned money that could be exchanged for salt and cloth.

The group walked along the mountain path toward the village. Chen Datou deliberately lagged behind, tugged at Zhou Rui's sleeve, and whispered like a mosquito.

"Ruiwa, do you think they... noticed anything strange just now?"

Zhou Rui glanced at him: "You mean the medicinal herbs you hid at the bottom of your basket? Don't worry, Schisandra chinensis grows all over the mountains. Everyone in the village picks some to take home, dry, and steep in water."

"Just now, Zhao Changshan and the others were so focused on the badger hanging on you that they didn't think about anything else."

"But you two shouldn't go up the mountain for the next few days. Lay low for a while. Zhao Changshan is already holding back his anger. If he runs into you in the mountains, he'll be suspicious even if he doesn't suspect anything."

Chen Datou's face immediately fell: "But there are still a few trees on the other side of the mountain with ripe Schisandra chinensis that haven't been picked yet. If they fall to the ground and rot in a few days, that's a lot of money."

"I'm getting married to Zeng Ping at the end of the year. The bride price, the wedding banquet—all of that costs money! Those bills hanging on the branches aren't just fruit, they're practically ten-yuan notes!"

"Okay, for the next few days, let Xiaohua dry the herbs you picked earlier at home. You go to the village entrance every day and keep an eye on Zhao Changshan. If you see that he hasn't gone up the mountain to hunt, come and call me. I'll go with you to pick the herbs."

Chen Datou's eyes lit up immediately. That's right, how can you hunt every day?

Moreover, Zhao Changshan and his group were only enthusiastic for a short time. After a couple of days, they would find that the work points earned from hunting in the mountains were less than those earned from digging grain in the fields, so they naturally stopped going to the mountains.

Upon returning to the village entrance, the group parted ways. Zhou Rui gave one of the pheasants he had just hunted to Liu Qingguo, and took the rest to the village office to register and hand over the accounts.

Liu Qingguo was overjoyed as he carried the pheasant. This pheasant with a big hole in it was one he had hunted himself, and he didn't mind at all.

The other tasks at the team headquarters also yielded many work points, and he felt that following Zhou Rui was better than following Zhao Changshan.

He Wu had only taken three days off, so how could he go back after just one trip to the mountains? He shamelessly stayed at Zhou Rui's house, wanting to freeload for a few days.

Chen Datou and Xiao Huaihua deliberately chose deserted paths to sneak home, afraid of running into villagers coming home from work, lest they be unable to carry the small amount of goods in their baskets.

But before evening, gossip had already spread throughout the village.

They say that Xiao Huaihua, an unmarried young woman, spends all her time in the mountains with Chen Datou, a bachelor. A lone man and a lone woman, who knows what kind of shady things they might be doing.

When Chen Datou heard this while drawing water from the well in the evening, he didn't even have time to eat. He stayed up until eight or nine o'clock at night, then put on a patched jacket and ran to Zhou Rui's house.

Chen Datou walked briskly, his cloth shoes crunching on the dirt road, his anger and panic swirling in his heart, making his chest feel tight.

He is forty-three years old this year. His parents passed away early, and he is all alone at home.

In the village, orphans with no one to rely on are easily gossiped about. He didn't care before, but now that he wants to get married and have children, he can't bear this reputation for nothing.

Now, these foul words have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, not only ruining his reputation, but more importantly, they will ruin Xiaohuahua.

Little Locust Flower is well-behaved and sensible, introverted but strong enough. Perhaps she herself doesn't care about anything, but what will her uncles and brothers in the Chen family think of her?

"Zhou Rui, what should we do?" Chen Datou was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat. The little tricks he used to use to shirk work were now completely useless.

In the main room of Zhou Rui's house, an oil lamp stood on the table, and three shadows flickered on the floor.

He Wu hadn't slept well in the inner room, and when he heard the hurried commotion outside, he put on his coat and came out.

Zhou Rui glanced at him but didn't chase him away. In trouble involving interpersonal relationships in the village, having an outsider lend a hand would actually make it easier to clarify things.

"Tell me first, where did these rumors come from? Do you know who the source is?"

Zhou Rui poured Chen Datou a glass of cold water, hoping he could calm down first.

Chen Datou gulped down a large mug of water in a few mouthfuls, but the fire in his heart didn't die down at all; instead, it burned even brighter.

"I haven't figured it out yet. I just overheard that old woman Li Xiujuan talking about it with other people when I was getting water."

"Then on the way back, I saw a few people pointing at me. I wanted to go up and talk to them, but they ran away when they saw me."

Zhou Rui tapped the table with several fingers in turn; it had become a habit of his. He liked to tap the table whenever he was thinking, and he stopped after a while.

"In that case, let's investigate first. If we don't find the person, these people won't believe what you're saying."

"Alright, let's split up. I'll try to get information out of the women from Aunt Changchun, starting with Li Xiujuan, whom you mentioned."

"Go to the men's side, use your old connections. Do you still have any wine? If not, bring two bottles from here. When you're drunk, you'll ask all sorts of questions."