Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

While others were both amused and exasperated, Zhang Maixiang felt a pang of sadness, as if a needle had gently pricked her heart.

She's been at the drying yard for so long, and Xiao Yan'er hasn't called her "Grandma" once, but she's very friendly to outsiders.

"Ruiwa, what are you doing? Can't you be a little more active? Stop being so idle." Zhao Youzhi walked over with his hands behind his back at some point.

"That's ambitious! He didn't stay in the fields to wait, but came running here."

"Old Party Secretary, you're making Ruiwa work again. Don't push him like that. He gets twelve work points a day, so it's no big deal for him to take a break now and then."

The village elders greeted Zhao Youzhi one after another, and some even spoke up for Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui is quite popular among the elderly, and everyone is on his side.

In fact, Zhao Youzhi has been quite satisfied with Zhou Rui lately.

When assigned a hunting mission, he would go up the mountain; when asked to work in the fields, he would do the heaviest work every day.

He was asked to help the farm hunt wolves, and he left with a gun on his back. I heard that his brigade received another award at the end of the year.

It's just that this mouth... seems to cause trouble everywhere. It can argue with anyone, so why can't it just shut up and save itself some trouble?

If Zhou Rui could hear Zhao Youzhi's true feelings, he would definitely cry out that he was wronged.

He was known throughout the village as an honest and simple boy, but all those troubles just happened to happen to him; it wasn't that he liked to cause trouble.

"Grandpa Zhao, I haven't watered my vegetable garden yet, I have to go now."

As Zhou Rui spoke, he scooped up the small rice cake with one hand and tucked Xiao Yan'er between the other, then slipped home like a greased rag doll. As he passed An An, he gave her a quick wink.

Since Zhao Youzhi stepped down from his position as brigade leader, he has had some free time. People want to teach him a lesson whenever they see him. He's someone you can't afford to mess with, really someone you can't afford to mess with.

"Zhou Rui..."

He reached out and only caught a gust of wind; all he could see was a fleeing figure, with An'an, her short legs dangling in pursuit.

"Second brother, huff huff... Second brother, what are we going to do?" An'an ran until her face was red, and half of her two little braids were undone.

"What do you want to do?" Zhou Rui didn't care; he had three little ones with him, so he could do whatever he wanted.

"Fish!" Little Rice Cake suddenly poked her head out from his arms, drool dripping down her chin, and pointed her little finger in the direction of the stream.

"Fish?" Zhou Rui chuckled; this little girl had been craving fish lately.

"Hmm, a big fish." Little Rice Cake stretched out her little hands wide, making them bigger than the mouth of a bowl.

"Then let's go home, get our fishing rods, and go fishing," An'an immediately chimed in, her eyes shining like stars. She was a well-known fishing expert.

Zhou Rui paused, a hint of embarrassment on his face.

It's not that he's afraid of not catching anything, it's just that this little girl seems to be his natural nemesis.

He could catch a full catch every time he cast his line alone, but as soon as An'an came over, the fish in the water would all bite her as if they had made a pact.

It's embarrassing to say that I haven't moved an inch in half a day.

He hesitated for a moment, and the two little girls in his arms became unhappy, slapping his face with their soft little hands and shouting incoherently, "Fishing, big fish."

It urged him on, making him quicken his pace.

"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say." Zhou Rui completely surrendered.

Now he's just a babysitter, and he dares not disobey his little darlings' orders.

An'an's eyes immediately crinkled with laughter. Swinging her loosely tied braid, she skipped and hopped ahead of everyone else.

This time, Zhou Rui deliberately chose a secluded pond surrounded by waist-high reeds, so dense they formed a natural wall that passersby couldn't see inside.

After waiting for more than an hour, three fat crucian carp were already lying in the bucket, but Zhou Rui's face grew longer and longer.

My float was stuck to the surface of the water, it didn't move at all.

"An'an, can we switch seats?" He shamelessly moved closer, convinced that he was sitting in the wrong place today, blocking his luck with fish.

"Okay." An'an didn't hesitate at all, picked up her thin bamboo pole and moved to her new spot.

The two little girls had long since stopped clinging to Zhou Rui. They squatted down at An An's feet, their eyes fixed on the fishing rod in her hand, as if the thin bamboo rod were a magic wand that could conjure fish with a flick of the wrist.

Zhou Rui lay down on the grass, and soon his eyelids became heavy from the sun, and his breathing gradually became even.

In a daze, I heard someone call "cousin" in my ear. The voice seemed to come from near and far. Then I was hit hard in the stomach.

He reached out and touched a warm, soft little body. It turned out that Little Rice Cake had pounced on him and woken him up.

"Little Yan'er, don't imitate her! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Zhou Rui quickly pressed down on the little girl next to him who was rubbing her hands together, afraid that she would be hit again in the next second.

"Auntie Daya!" Little Rice Cake suddenly called out in a clear voice.

Zhou Rui turned his head and saw Daya standing by the reeds, with Da Huang squatting at her feet, panting with its tongue lolling out.

Only our hunting dog could lead us to such a remote place.

Da Ya covered her mouth and laughed, looking at the two soft little girls, and then at Zhou Rui who had just woken up and looked dazed. She felt that this scene was more interesting than anything else.

"I have a day off today, Sunday, and I was thinking of staying here for the night and then going back to the forest farm early tomorrow morning. My home is too far away, and I can't make it back in time."

"Come anytime you want, this is like your second home." Zhou Rui rubbed his face to fully wake up.

Da Ya nodded emphatically. She loved coming here. Her cousin's house was always lively, and even her little niece welcomed her.

Just as Daya was holding Xiaoniangao in her arms, An'an suddenly cheered and yanked up a lively crucian carp with a flick of her wrist; its scales shimmered silver in the sunlight.

"An'an caught the biggest fish." The little girl swung her braids, her face practically screaming, "Praise me!"

The little gosling ran over and stretched out her little hand to make a big circle: "Big. Big fish."

Zhou Rui glanced into the bucket and exclaimed, "Wow, there are already six fish!"

So, in the short time he was dozing off, An'an caught fish one after another without stopping.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, Da Ya suddenly pointed at his fishing rod and shouted, "Cousin, it moved! The float is sinking, quick, lift the rod!"

Zhou Rui's hands moved faster than his brain. In an instant, he grabbed the fishing rod stuck in the mud, and the rod bent downwards into a bow. The force underwater was so strong that his arm went slightly numb.

"See that? Today, your cousin's showing off his skills, catching the biggest one yet," Zhou Rui called out as he slowly reeled in the fish.

"When we catch it, do you want it steamed or braised?"

"How about we stew it with cured pork? It'll be so delicious you'll want to swallow your tongue."

"Wow, Second Brother caught a big fish!" An An jumped up and clapped her hands beside him.

Zhou Rui straightened his back immediately, all the pent-up anger he had been holding in for over an hour dissipated, and he even deliberately sighed.

"Oh dear, this fish is so clueless. I've been waiting for it for ages, and it's only now that it's finally taking the bait."

The creature struggled for a few moments before surfacing. Its bluish-black shell and palm-sized skirt shone brightly in the sunlight.

Daya's eyes widened, her voice filled with surprise: "Cousin, it's an old turtle! We're going to be rich!"

Zhou Rui's lips twitched, unable to speak. He had intended to catch a fish, but instead, he had hooked up a giant turtle.