Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Upon hearing this, the militiamen and hunters standing in the open space unconsciously straightened up, their casual expressions vanished, and their eyes became more serious.

Some of them had lived most of their lives and had never seen a city kid so tough.

To protect the crops in their fields, they dared to risk their lives, braving the wild wolves that would pounce on them every day.

This reckless spirit completely overturned their previous impressions of educated youth.

In previous years, many of the educated youth sent down to the village would complain of being tired after working for only two days, and would shed tears when they encountered difficulties. As long as they didn't cause trouble, the villagers were too lazy to bother with them.

"Now that everyone's here, let's rest for a while. Come in and have a cup of hot tea to warm ourselves up..."

Before Farm Manager Wang could finish speaking, Gu Dayong took a step forward and said decisively, "Farm Manager Wang, I suggest we stop resting and patrol the farm first, digging out clues about the wolf pack."

"Yes, Director Wang, we're not tired."

"Director Wang, assign us a mission immediately. We're here to hunt wolves."

The militiamen below were instantly ignited, each one brandishing their weapons and shouting, afraid of being outdone by the educated youth.

While Wang Houtian was still weighing his options, his correspondent Li Jixue whispered a few words in his ear, and he immediately made the decision: "Okay, a few leaders, come in with me and let's meet."

Li Jixue glanced around and immediately spotted the key figures in the crowd: Gu Dayong, the militia captains of each team, and several seasoned hunters like Guai Ziye who could keep the scene in check.

Gu Dayong's gaze swept towards Zhou Rui, who shifted his feet and hid directly behind Gu Jiacheng.

He secretly made up his mind that he would not get involved in such public affairs, as it would be too eye-catching and easily cause trouble.

Before long, several people came out of the house, and the arrangements were made.

The militiamen were divided into several shifts and patrolled back and forth along the field ridges and forest edges. This served two purposes: first, to protect the educated youth who were going to the fields to collect grain, and second, to keep everyone calm and focused.

The hunters, along with their hunting dogs, slowly searched along the foot of the mountain to find out where the wolves frequently went and roughly how many wolves there were, so they could be more confident in hunting them later.

Wang Houtian leaned against the office wall, looking around, feeling extremely satisfied.

These militiamen were gathered from several different villages, but the team leaders arranged the shifts very clearly, specifying who would patrol which section of the road and when the shifts would change, so there was not a single problem.

Although the hunters were used to being free and noisy, most people were willing to listen when a few old hunters spoke.

Two hot-blooded young men tried to sneak into the mountains alone to chase wolves, but they were stopped by Gu Dayong and the kidnapper. The whole scene was lively, but not chaotic at all.

"Don't push, follow the shifts we just arranged. Shift one, come with me to the east wheat field. Shift two, patrol the woods and the farm headquarters warehouse around the west slope. Shifts three and four, stay put and rest. You'll be on night shift tonight."

The militia captain of Gujiatun held up a tin whistle and blew it loudly. The militia, which had been making a ruckus just moments before, immediately dispersed along the ridges of the fields.

The militia from Gujiatun came the most, so he was elected as the main leader of the militia, with the militia captains from other villages serving as his deputies.

The militiamen split into several small teams and marched out. One young man in a faded military uniform was walking too fast and almost tripped over a clod of dirt on the ridge of the field.

An old militiaman next to him reached out and helped him up, laughing and scolding, "What's the rush? Do you think wolves will just walk right up to your gun? Take it easy, or you'll end up falling into the wheat field before you even hit the wolf."

The hunters also brought out their dogs; a dozen or so dogs ran ahead with abandon, the copper bells around their necks jingling.

The old man with the crutch, leaning on his well-worn pear wood crutch, lightly tapped his left foot on the ground.

When he was young, he was chasing wolves and one of his Achilles tendons was bitten off, so he walks with a limp, but his nose is more sensitive than a dog's.

He squatted on the dirt road in the northwest corner of the farm, picked up a small clump of dark brown mud mixed with bits of grass with his fingers, brought it to his nose and smelled it, his brows instantly furrowing into a knot.

"No, these aren't yesterday's footprints."

Several hunters immediately surrounded them.

"What's wrong, Mr. Kidnapper? Isn't this just wolf droppings? It's not surprising it's here, is it?"

The old man threw the mud ball on the ground and tapped the ground with his knuckles, leaving a few shallow, almost invisible marks.

"It's not a matter of whether it's strange or not, but the fact that the droppings were just left this morning shows that the wolf pack has always coveted the farm and has been constantly probing for its weaknesses."

Zhou Rui waved his hand, and Da Huang immediately darted off along the path by the forest. Gu Shaofeng, Liu Qingguo, and Gu Jiacheng followed without stopping, showing no intention of joining the main group.

Gu Jiacheng left decisively, without even saying goodbye to his own father. He handed all the family's hunting dogs to Gu Dayong, and then ran off with Wu Liuban on his back.

Tie Tou and Zhui Yue from Gu Shaofeng's family had never seen Da Huang before. When they saw it, they pounced on it, wanting to check its quality.

As a result, Dahuang didn't even flinch, but with two swipes of its paws, it sent the two sturdy hunting dogs rolling on the ground, instantly subduing them.

When Da Mao and Ji Feng saw them, they tucked their tails between their legs and didn't dare to make a sound.

"This dog is awesome!" Gu Shaofeng's eyes lit up, and he turned to stare at Gu Jiacheng beside him.

"Brother, you're also surnamed Gu? What a coincidence!"

"I'm afraid we won't be able to find any relatives." Gu Jiacheng smiled.

"Your family migrated from Shandong, while my father came from the south. He crossed the border with the army back then and settled here after his discharge. Our roots are different."

"It doesn't matter if we're not relatives, we all share the surname Gu, we were one family five hundred years ago." Gu Shaofeng ignored Gu Jiacheng's shy nature and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You're my junior brother's brother, which means you're my buddy, Gu Shaofeng's buddy. From now on, I'll protect you."

"Come on, Senior Brother? Your marksmanship might not even be as accurate as Jia Cheng's. He was personally taught by his father."

Zhou Rui glanced back at him and half-jokingly retorted to Gu Shaofeng, fearing that he was exaggerating too much and would actually show his weakness when it came to marksmanship.

Gu Shaofeng blushed and was about to retort when Liu Qingguo immediately stepped in to smooth things over: "Hey, I'm the worst one here. Brother Shaofeng, if you're going to protect someone, you have to protect me first. I missed all three shots in the last shooting exercise."

"No problem." Gu Shaofeng went down the slope quickly, patting him on the back and laughing heartily.

"You just don't have enough bullets to practice. Once we hunt wolves and get the reward bullets, we can use them as much as we want. I guarantee you'll be a sharpshooter in half a month!"

Liu Qingguo immediately chimed in: "Absolutely. The militia only fires five bullets each time they train. If I could fire a hundred or eighty, I might be even more accurate than you."

The two hit it off as they chatted, one a master of flattery and the other a master of compliments. Before they'd even walked half a mile, they were already arm in arm, becoming best buddies who knew each other better than anyone else.