Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui shook his head rapidly, repeatedly saying, "No, no, I won't do it."

He wasn't stupid; why would he take on a job that would keep him in the mountains year-round, where he wouldn't even have time to go home?

The comfortable life of staying with my wife and children in a warm bed is a hundred times better than living a life of hardship and exposure to the elements in the mountains.

Seeing his second uncle shaking his head in such an interesting way, the little boy next to him bobbed his head back and forth, mimicking him, muttering incoherently, "To go or not to go... to go or not to go..."

Lin Qiuyue couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. She reached out and gently supported Xiao Niangao's little face, knowing that if she let the little girl sway any further, her neck would probably get sore from all the twisting.

"Why not go? Look how valuable this opportunity is! First, take charge of the village's sideline businesses, achieve some results, and then you'll naturally become a team leader, a brigade leader, and eventually the village party secretary..."

Before Zhou Rui's family could even express their opinion, Zhao Youzhi was already wringing his hands anxiously.

The village needs someone who knows how to grow ginseng and can keep wild animals at bay, so that they can stay there year-round.

In this position, there is no one else in the entire Jiaolongxia Village more suitable than Zhou Rui.

Zhao Youzhi originally regarded Zhou Rui as a promising talent and even laid out a clear path for his future advancement. However, he never expected that the kid would be so unambitious and completely disregard his good intentions.

"Grandpa Zhao, I haven't even had a baby yet, how can I stay in the mountains all day and never go home?"

Zhou Rui directly countered Zhao Youzhi's previous words, causing Lin Qiuyue, who was standing to the side, to blush.

How could Zhou Rui say such shameless things in front of so many people?

Zhou Rui, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed the slender white fingers pinching his arm under the kang table. He belatedly realized that his wife was shy.

Zhao Youzhi was so annoyed by his words that he glared and his beard bristled. His chopsticks, which were holding the meat, hovered in mid-air for a long time before he suddenly slammed them down on the table.

"You little brat. Who told you to stay in the mountains all day?"

"I'll build you two rooms next to the ginseng field, with kang beds. It's less than 20 li from the village, so you can walk home whenever you want."

"The team will assign you two more helpers."

"The educated youth in the educated youth institute are all educated. I plan to select two of them and have the technical instructors from the agricultural research institute guide them when they come."

Zhou Rui glanced up at him but didn't reply.

He knew all too well what the old Party Secretary was planning; he was mainly afraid that others wouldn't take it seriously and would mess things up.

The idea of ​​planting ginseng was proposed by Zhou Rui, so he must be confident that he can make it a success.

Seeing that he was unyielding, Zhao Youzhi was both anxious and amused, so he simply laid all his cards on the kang table.

"Don't play dumb with me, kid. Guarding ginseng in these mountains means you get full work points every day."

"If this ginseng farm is successful, the year-end dividends will be calculated per person, and you will receive three shares."

"Sigh..." Zhou Rui gently placed the chopsticks in his hand on the table, not intending to beat around the bush with Zhao Youzhi anymore.

"Grandpa Zhao, I'm not pretending to be confused. I really don't want to take this job."

"I already have a lot of work points every year, and I have enough money to spend."

"I've already saved enough money to pay for my younger siblings' schooling and to raise my little one to adulthood. I really don't want to go through any more trouble."

Zhou Rui tapped his fingertips lightly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) twice, having already figured out the exact amount involved.

After taking charge of ginseng cultivation, I'm afraid I'll have to plunge into the mountains, leaving Lin Qiuyue to manage everything at home alone.

She was responsible for fetching water and chopping wood, soothing the baby to sleep at night, and carrying firewood into the house during windy and rainy weather.

He talked about wanting a wife, children, and a warm bed, but what he really couldn't bear to do was let Qiuyue suffer with him.

Zhao Youzhi stared into Zhou Rui's eyes for a long time, and seeing that he didn't seem to be deliberately using a retreat as a pretext to negotiate, he could only sigh heavily.

"Fine, if you don't want to, then you don't want to. I'll find someone else to choose from."

He couldn't help but feel worried. Now he would have to rack his brains to find a suitable candidate. This kid was really a tough nut to crack.

"By the way, Ruiwa, have you stocked up on enough firewood? Old Sesame said this winter is unusually cold, so stock up on some dry firewood so Little Rice Cake doesn't get frozen."

Seeing that the work discussion had completely fallen through, Zhao Youzhi changed the subject and started chatting about everyday things.

"Don't worry, Grandpa Zhao, everything is ready. I've prepared twice as much as last year. Besides, this is the only two-story house in the whole village."

Zhou Rui smiled and glanced at the rooftop, a hint of smugness creeping into his voice as he spoke to the old Party Secretary.

"Is the insulation in your two-story house reliable? If it's really not, let An'an move down here, so the child doesn't get cold."

Upon hearing this, An'an immediately shook her head like a rattle drum. She really loved the room upstairs with the small balcony and refused to move no matter what: "No, Grandpa Zhao, I won't move."

Just as Zhou Rui's family was enjoying a lively meal of stewed meat, a storm was about to break out, accompanied by the cold night wind.

An old bachelor, carrying the meat he had just received from the brigade, didn't go home to eat it; instead, he went to Widow Zhao's house.

The old bachelor held a bowl and banged on the door of Widow Zhao's house for a long time, his knuckles turning red, but there was no response from inside.

Finally, unable to resist, he climbed into the yard, only to find that the house was empty.

He turned and left, cursing, but rumors began to circulate in the village that Widow Zhao had disappeared.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Zhou Rui pedaled his old-fashioned bicycle and safely delivered Zhou Ping and An An to school.

It was freezing cold. In the morning, Lin Qiuyue had to use all her strength to coax and drag An'an out of her warm bed. She had to wrap An'an up like a little dumpling before she would agree to go out.

When Zhou Rui returned and arrived at the village entrance, he immediately noticed something was wrong.

The whole village ran around like madmen, and a few loud voices banged on the doors of people who were still sleeping in, calling for everyone in the village to go to Chen Datou's house.

Zhou Rui propped up his bicycle kickstand, glanced around the crowd, and grabbed Liu Jianguo, who was trying to squeeze into the throng.

"Brother Jianguo, what's all this commotion so early in the morning? The whole village is in an uproar."

Liu Jianguo turned around, saw it was him, immediately gave a gossipy smile, and waved his hand, saying...

"Hey, it's nothing serious. Old Zhao's widow, Zeng Ping, has moved to Chen Datou's house. We outsiders can just watch the show; it has nothing to do with us."

Zhou Rui's heart sank instantly, knowing that Chen Datou and Zeng Ping's affair had finally been exposed.

If no one stops this, the Zhao and Chen families will start fighting, which could at best tear the star-crossed lovers apart, and at worst escalate into a violent armed confrontation between the two families, throwing the entire Jiaolongxia Village into chaos.

"Brother Jianguo, don't just stand there watching the fun." Zhou Rui grabbed him.

"You're the group leader of the third group, and your wife is the women's director. Both of you are cadres in the brigade, both in some way. How can you just stand by and watch this happen?"

Liu Jianguo was stunned for a moment before realizing his identity. He turned around and was about to rush to Zhao Youzhi's house: "Oh right, I'll go find Secretary Zhao to put an end to this."

"Don't go find Secretary Zhao first, go and call Captain Zhang first." Zhou Rui pulled him back directly.

Liu Jianguo couldn't quite process what was happening, but the situation was urgent and he didn't have time to think it through. He took off running towards Zhang Aimin's house next to the brigade headquarters.

Zhou Rui didn't sit idle either. He leaned his bicycle against a tree by the roadside and turned to rush towards Chen Datou's house.

He had to get to the scene as soon as possible to stabilize the situation and figure out what was going on before he could put out the fire that was about to start.