Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"The smell of blood dissipates quickly, and if it stays hanging on the tree, it will attract other things and cause more trouble."

The female educated youth was the first to come down, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.

Meng Huaiyuan then slid down the tree trunk, supporting himself on his knees with both hands to barely keep from kneeling on the ground.

Huang Jianming climbed down the tree branch, but his foot slipped and he tumbled and fell into the haystack.

He ignored the pain and immediately ran to the female educated youth with an injured leg under the tree.

"Lin Xiaotang, how are you? Does it hurt?"

Zhou Rui stepped forward and glanced at her, discovering that Lin Xiaotang's injury didn't seem to be caused by a wild boar, but rather looked like abrasions.

This man had short hair and looked like a tomboy; he seemed to know Huang Jianming very well.

However, Zhou Rui wasn't surprised. If they weren't familiar with each other, he doubted that a girl like her would have come to this deep forest to take the risk.

Just as he was about to relax, the big yellow dog at his feet suddenly perked up its ears and started barking wildly at the bushes in the distance.

Zhou Rui gripped his rifle and was about to step towards the source of the sound when he heard a chaotic shouting coming from the woods. It was Chen Zhejiang leading his men over.

It turned out they had been waiting in the deadwood area for almost ten minutes, and were worried because they heard the continuous squeals of pigs coming from there.

So everyone grabbed machetes and sticks and rushed over, making a racket to embolden Zhou Rui and his men and scare away the wild boar.

Seeing Zhou Rui standing next to the dead pig covered in blood, Su Yuanyuan almost dropped the machete in her hand again.

Yu Sitian ran over quickly and saw that his arm was covered in pig's blood. She thought he was injured and her fingertips trembled as she wanted to touch it, but she didn't dare to go forward.

Zhou Rui waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

He glanced at everyone who had gathered around him and said, "It's good that everyone's here. Don't linger here."

"Lady, please treat Lin Xiaotang's wound first. I'll clean up the wild boar's internal organs so that the stinky entrails won't go to waste."

Finding the axe awkward to use, Zhou Rui borrowed a machete from Yu Sitian to gut the wild boar.

Unfortunately, the machete wasn't as sharp as the knife, and it took Zhou Rui quite a while to finish.

When Zhou Rui threw the pig's heart to Da Huang and then hung the rest of the offal and entrails on the tree, Huang Jianming spoke up again.

"Zhou Rui, why did you throw the pig offal into the tree? That's such a waste!"

"It's a custom in the mountains to worship the mountain god." Zhou Rui ignored what Huang Jianming was saying and went about his own business.

After finishing, he grabbed a handful of dry leaves from the ground and wiped the sticky residue off his hands.

"What? Why are you still practicing feudal superstition?"

The girl named Lin Xiaotang stood up with Su Yuanyuan's help. Although she didn't dare to criticize Zhou Rui loudly in the face of his explosive fighting skills, she still muttered something under her breath.

"Feudal superstition?" Zhou Rui turned his head and looked at Lin Xiaotang.

Sometimes he really felt that having such sensitive hearing wasn't a good thing, because all sorts of good and bad things would get into his ears.

"Then I'll explain it to you using scientific methods."

"Having just killed such a large prey, the smell of blood can travel two or three miles on the mountain breeze."

"You can smell all the wolves and leopards hiding in the woods."

"These are the most pungent sewage odors, and hanging them high up can lure most wild beasts to circle around under the trees."

"We can safely descend the mountain with the whole pig along the mountain path, without being chased by wild animals halfway down."

"Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

After Zhou Rui finished speaking, he looked at Meng Huaiyuan, Huang Jianming, and Lin Xiaotang. Among this group of educated youth, these were the few troublemakers.

There used to be a Wei Dazhi, but after Zhou Rui taught him a lesson twice and ate his flesh, Wei Dazhi completely switched sides.

Instead, Meng Huaiyuan, who had been dismissed from his post, filled the vacancy.

"Hey, we were just ignorant. Reading from books is never enough; the knowledge in the mountains can't be fully written in textbooks."

Chen Zhejiang reacted the fastest, managing to smooth over the awkward atmosphere with a few self-deprecating words.

He took half a step forward, looking at Zhou Rui with an honest gaze, "If I don't understand anything about things in the mountains, can I ask you for advice privately?"

"We were completely clueless before, we couldn't even hold a hoe properly."

Zhou Rui stared into his eyes for two seconds and saw no sign of pretense. This educated youth team leader genuinely wanted to settle down and establish himself in the village.

He didn't put on airs and proactively extended his hand, which was covered in pine resin, and the two of them clasped hands tightly.

These two people from completely different backgrounds found themselves appreciating each other's talents at this moment.

Huang Jianming felt a little embarrassed and turned his face away, kicking the decaying leaves at his feet.

Lin Xiaotang pursed her lips and stopped muttering, secretly pressing her fingertips against the abrasions on her calves.

I slipped and fell while climbing the tree, it looked scary but it was just a minor injury.

She had just thought it was from a wild boar's tusks, and she was so scared she almost lost her mind.

"Alright, stop standing there in the wind." Zhou Rui withdrew his right hand. "Come on, a few men, lend a hand and carry the wild boar over there."

"The work of chopping wood is not finished yet. Let's finish gathering the firewood and go home as soon as possible."

The group immediately sprang into action. Meng Huaiyuan, who had been full of resentment, dared not shirk his responsibilities and took the initiative to stand at the front of the pig-lifting team, gripping the front legs and shouting "Start!"

The moment the several-hundred-pound orphan was lifted, Huang Jianming lost his footing and swayed.

Zhou Rui reached out and supported the pig, his heavy weight absorbing most of the weight and preventing the team from tilting even slightly.

By the time the group returned to Jiaolongxia Village, it was already dusk.

Zhou Rui took about twenty pounds of the fattest pork belly and carried it home.

He personally slaughtered the lone pig. According to the rules, half of it was given to the educated youth compound, and the rest went to the production brigade, so that everyone in the village could enjoy some of the meat.

If it weren't for so many eyes watching, he would have dragged the whole pig home and smoked it into cured meat long ago.

"Weren't you going up the mountain to chop firewood? Why did you bring back such a big piece of meat?" Lin Qiuyue took the pork and looked Zhou Rui up and down.

Fortunately, Zhou Rui washed himself by the stream on his way back, otherwise the bloodstains on his body would have frightened his family.

"Yeah, I came across a lone boar while chopping wood, so I just killed it." Zhou Rui always spoke of hunting with such nonchalance.

"The wild boar is still lying in the educated youth compound. I guess they'll invite you over for a meal."

"No, I'm not going." Lin Qiuyue shook her head directly: "It's okay if it's just having dinner with Tian Tian and He Wei."

"Some people in there just don't get it right; eating with them is torture."

In the evening, the village and the educated youth compound each hosted a wild boar feast, which made the villagers extremely happy.

Everyone praised Zhou Rui for his kindness and righteousness; as soon as the busy farming season ended, he hunted a wild boar for the village so that everyone could enjoy it.

However, Zhao Youzhi did not preside over the distribution of meat at the brigade committee tonight; instead, he sat on the kang (heated brick bed) at Zhou Rui's house.

"It smells good, much better than what we make in the village." Zhao Youzhi picked up a piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, the juices dripping down.

"There aren't that many big pieces of food in the village that we'd be willing to give away." Zhou Rui reached out and poured Zhao Youzhi a full glass of wine.

"Did Grandpa Zhao need to see me today?"

"You've seen that ginseng field, haven't you?" Zhao Youzhi took a sip of wine, the liquid sliding down his throat, warming him and making him feel comfortable all over.

"I saw it. The village has good execution; the soil was turned over quite deeply, and they even mixed in the surrounding humus. They've done a lot of preparation."

Zhou Rui didn't understand what Zhao Youzhi meant, so he could only go along with what he said.

"Look, the fact that wild boars can appear in that area means there's still some danger. Besides, the village needs someone knowledgeable to guard that place."

Upon hearing this, even Lin Qiuyue and Zhou Ping looked over.

Everyone understands Zhao Youzhi's meaning: he wants Zhou Rui to be in charge of the ginseng planting fields.