Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

As soon as Zhou Rui opened the courtyard gate, Gu Shaofeng and He Wu burst in, covered in snow and ice crystals still clinging to the brim of their cotton hats.

Hello, sister-in-law.

"Hello, Comrade Lin Qiuyue."

The two knew the place well. They greeted Lin Qiuyue first, then turned to He Wei and Yu Sitian with smiles and nods.

"Uncle?" Little Rice Cake tilted her head and stood there, pointing her little finger at the two of them, looking both curious and somewhat familiar.

"No, I'm your senior uncle!" Gu Shaofeng patted his chest and deliberately raised his voice, trying to tease the child.

"Hehe... I'm your uncle." He Wu squatted down and took out half a bag of roasted fruit from his pocket.

Little Rice Cake and Little Goose immediately surrounded him, calling him "Uncle, Uncle."

"How did you two end up together?" Zhou Rui raised an eyebrow.

He had introduced the two of them, but they weren't close enough to brave the wind and snow to come here together.

He led the two men into the house, leaving the main room for the women to chat.

Little Rice Cake tiptoed behind Zhou Rui, trying to sneak into the inner room, but He Wei grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her back like a chick after only two steps.

"Second Uncle! Second Uncle!" Little Rice Cake danced in the air, her toes kicking so hard they barely touched the ground.

Little Yan'er rushed over and grabbed his leg, leaning back with all her might to try and save him.

There was still quite a while before lunchtime, so Zhou Rui poured each of them a cup of steaming hot tea and pushed it onto the table: "Okay, what's up?"

"We can't make up for the shortfall in this month's meat harvesting target."

When He Wu spoke, there was no trace of worry on his face; instead, he was beaming with joy.

"How could that be? Weren't they all distributed?" Zhou Rui counted on his fingers and figured that based on last year's output, it was only eight to ten thousand catties per month.

Zhang Zhenbei distributed the profits to the forest farm secretary and several high-ranking officials, including Deng Xiangrong from the canteen. Logically, the task should have been easy to complete.

"Hey, Secretary Yang is about to retire, so he took the initiative to choose the largest share." He Wu smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits.

"As it turned out, the people he found were useless. They ran themselves ragged but still couldn't raise the required amount. Now, they're still short 3,000 kilograms every month."

"So you took this job?" Zhou Rui saw right through them, guessing that these two had come specifically to show off to him.

"Of course, Director Zhang has already assigned the tasks, how could he possibly take them back? That would be like publicly slapping Secretary Yang in the face."

He Wu rubbed his hands together: "I'm taking advantage of my brother-in-law's connections to take on this mess. Nobody can say a word against it, and it'll even be counted as a political achievement for me later."

"Besides, I've already told the farm leaders that I want to personally go to the countryside to collect meat."

"That makes perfect sense, so I can go hunting with you in the mountains."

Zhou Rui knew perfectly well that all the political achievements and benefits were secondary; the real reason He Wule was like this was because he wanted to go hunting in the mountains.

"It's only three thousand catties. If a few of us brothers lend a hand, we can get it done by making one trip up the mountain each month."

Zhou Rui gave Gu Shaofeng a look, indicating that he should inform his fellow disciples to gather, as he was too lazy to go out and had to stay home to take care of his child.

"Junior brother, don't get your hopes up." Gu Shaofeng shook his head with a smile.

"Master went to the city to see his daughter last week."

"The second brother, Heizi, took a job from a fur trader and went into the mountains to trap sable. He won't be out for at least a month or two."

"Not to mention Shi Tou, he goes up the mountain even less often than you after getting married. He stays at home with his wife every day and is too lazy to move even half a step outside."

Zhou Rui was stunned. He really hadn't expected that his fellow apprentices wouldn't be able to get enough people together. He had originally planned to team up and pull off a few big hits this year.

"The three of us are definitely not enough; we need to call two more people." Zhou Rui was too embarrassed to say outright that He Wu's marksmanship was just there to make up the numbers, so he spoke very tactfully.

"You mean Gu Jiacheng and Liu Qingguo?" Gu Shaofeng immediately realized, while He Wu looked completely bewildered.

"We're all from the same village as our junior brother," Gu Shaofeng quickly added, catching him up on his studies.

"Gu Jiacheng is a hunter, and his marksmanship is about the same as mine. Liu Qingguo is the village militiaman; he's very funny and can chat with anyone."

He Wu suddenly realized that Liu Qingguo was just like him, only there to make up the numbers.

"Brother Qingguo is my right-hand man. He can help me find my way in the mountains and peel animals," Zhou Rui quickly added, afraid that He Wu would underestimate his village playmate.

"By the way, Senior Brother, did you two decide which mountain to go to on the way?"

"Did you bring all your gear? I didn't see any of you carrying hunting rifles when I opened the door."

"The mountain position hasn't been decided yet. I was on my way to deliver meat to the forest farm when Brother He Wu dragged me here."

Gu Shaofeng pointed to the outside of the courtyard gate, "But I brought the hunting rifle and food bag, and they're all tied to the back of the bicycle."

He just came down from the mountain yesterday to deliver a sika deer to the forest farm, and he wasn't tired at all.

The thought of going into the mountains with Zhou Rui filled me with energy.

He Wu nodded vigorously beside him, his enthusiasm for hunting more than ten times greater than when attending a business meeting at work: "I've brought everything too."

"Alright, you guys sit down and have some tea while I go to Jiacheng and Qingguo's houses and ask them to come over."

Zhou Rui lifted the cotton curtain and walked out. They were all familiar faces, so there was no need for any formalities.

He turned and gave Lin Qiuyue a few instructions. Just as he was about to step out the door, the two little ones behind him started to protest, clinging to his cotton trouser legs and refusing to let go.

"It's snowing heavily outside, and it's freezing." Zhou Rui quickly squatted down to comfort him.

"I'm not afraid of the cold, I'll wear a cotton-padded coat." Little Rice Cake turned around and pulled down the thick cotton-padded coat hanging on the wall.

"Snow...it's fun." Little Yan'er climbed up his knees, her little face red from the cold, not afraid of the cold wind and the fluttering snowflakes outside at all.

Zhou Rui had no choice but to wrap the two children up tightly in their cotton-padded coats.

He put on his coat and pulled them into his arms, burying their little faces in his clothes. He pushed open the door and plunged into the swirling snow.

In order to venture deep into the old forest during the day, the five made a decision that night and set off at dawn the next day.

He Wu and Gu Shaofeng spent the night on the heated kang bed at Zhou Rui's house. Before dawn, the group trudged through the snow, heading straight into the vast mountains behind Jiaolong Gorge.

They were all young people who dared to take risks and fight hard; they made their minds clear before even entering the mountains.

The mountains are treacherous and full of hidden pitfalls, and everyone follows Zhou Rui's lead without question, leaving no room for ambiguity.

The gyrfalcon and the white eagle led the way, and even in the freezing cold of winter, they were more spirited than usual.

However, the team ran into trouble not long after entering the mountains. Gu Jiacheng's pet dog, Xiangxiang, kept arguing with the big yellow dog next to him from beginning to end.

It kept struggling against the reins and charging forward, clearly trying to steal the title of lead dog.

"This little brat is too wild, I can hardly hold him down." Gu Jiacheng's arm was bulging with veins as he gripped the dog leash, and he finally couldn't help but speak up halfway through the journey.

The young hunting dog was full of spirit and so strong that it almost pulled him over.

Zhou Rui looked up at the open snowfield ahead and said decisively, "Once we get to that flat area, we'll just untie the rope and let it fight."

"The position of the leader has always been determined by merit, not by assignment."