Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"What's wrong? Do you think there's a problem?" Zhang Aimin looked at Zhou Rui, wanting to see if Zhou Rui was trying to cause him trouble.

Zhou Rui nodded seriously: "Some of the unfamiliar faces had shifty eyes, looking like they weren't there to watch the movie properly."

Zhang Aimin followed his gaze and swept it across the dense crowd, hundreds of people packed tightly together. A few villagers and unfamiliar hooligans were also scattered around the perimeter.

Just now, I was only thinking about keeping the projection team on for a few more days and didn't care about order at all. Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out on my spine.

"Alright, I'll arrange for the militia to patrol around the perimeter right away. There can't be a single mishap tonight!"

Zhou Rui watched Zhang Aimin walk away in a hurry and continued searching for An'an.

With so many unstable factors in the village, Zhou Rui felt it was better to keep that little rascal by his side.

He followed the wall where the children were gathered and asked around. A little girl from the village told him that An'an had gone to catch sparrows with a group of little boys.

The haystacks are warm from the winter sun, making them a perfect nesting spot for sparrows.

Zhou Rui searched through the village's haystacks one by one. Just as he turned a corner around a haystack that was taller than a person, he suddenly heard an unusual noise coming from above.

Sticky, foul language drifted over on the wind, and he suddenly stopped, turning to walk back.

If these filthy words were to reach the ears of the two children, it would unnecessarily soil their ears.

But the next second, a shrill voice that sounded all too familiar pierced through the air, and he stood frozen in place as if his feet were nailed to the ground.

"Stop messing around. The whole village is watching a movie in the threshing ground. If someone walks around and sees us, I'll never be able to show my face in the village again."

"What are you afraid of? Everyone's eyes are glued to the movie, who has time to run around this haystack? Let me relax a bit more."

"Hurry up, I told Dashan I was going to the outhouse. If I linger too long, he'll get suspicious. Don't let me give myself away."

"Don't worry, it'll be quick, almost done."

The rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other, mixed with heavy groans, drifted down. Zhou Rui's lips twitched, and he quickly scurried away along the wall; if he kept listening, he'd get a sty.

But he recognized that shrill voice perfectly; it was his aunt, Tian Xiuying.

The Zhou family just had two incidents involving Zhou Chen and Zhou Ji a while ago, and she still had the leisure to sneak into haystacks to steal people in the snow at minus ten degrees Celsius.

Zhou Rui slipped behind a tree, his eyes darting around, and a wicked idea instantly popped into his head.

If we light a small spark and set the haystack on fire, attracting all the moviegoers, we could trap that adulterous couple right there. That scene would definitely be the most exciting spectacle in the village this year.

But then he thought, Zhou Dashan wasn't a good person either. He had bullied him when he was young and weak, so he should let him wear this green hat for a while longer.

If Tian Xiuying really gives birth to a son of unknown origin, the Zhou family will probably make a huge fool of themselves.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle. The little rice cake holding the sugar figurine looked up at him, her little brows furrowed tightly.

What's wrong with my second uncle? Did he not get any candy?

"Second Uncle, have some candy." Little Rice Cake held up a large dragon candy figurine with half a piece missing, and offered it to his mouth with her chubby little hand covered in sugar frosting.

"If Second Uncle doesn't want to eat, Gao Gao will eat it herself." Zhou Rui lowered his head and rubbed his nose against her cold little face, which was soft and had a sweet smell of fried rice.

"Second Uncle, eat the rabbit." Little Yan'er imitated her older sister, holding a sugar rabbit with half an ear missing to his mouth, her little face full of seriousness.

Just as Zhou Rui was about to shake his head and refuse with a smile, a burst of maniacal laughter, like the honking of a goose, suddenly came from ahead.

"Ha ha... Goose goose goose..."

"Auntie, over there!" Little Rice Cake, with her sharpest ears, immediately recognized An'an's voice and pointed her little finger deep into the haystack.

"Haha, Iron Bull, I'm still the best, aren't I! I told you I could hit the bullseye every time. Look, two plump sparrows!"

Zhou Rui could picture An An looking like this with his eyes closed—hands on hips, head held high, tail practically wagging in the air.

He had just taken a step in that direction when he heard a loud clatter from behind the haystack, followed by Tie Niu's wailing voice that nearly knocked his ears off.

"An'an, let go! Why did you stuff the sparrow into the collar of my cotton-padded jacket?"

He quickly circled around to the side of the haystack and immediately saw An'an holding up her two chubby little hands, which were red from the cold, and pressing them firmly against Tie Niu's neck and onto his cotton-padded coat.

Tie Niu hunched his neck and bounced like a spring, a small bird-shaped bulge appearing on the back of his cotton-padded jacket collar, and sparrow wings fluttering through the coarse cloth.

"An'an, who told you to come here to steal sparrows?" Zhou Rui deliberately frowned and coughed.

The two kids froze on the spot, forgetting to put their hands down.

An'an clutched half a straw covered in grass clippings in her hand, her face red from the cold like a frozen persimmon.

Seeing the little rice cake and little gosling in Zhou Rui's arms, he quickly hid the sparrow in his hand behind his back, his back straighter than an old red pine in the mountains.

"I...I didn't take it out. The sparrow went into the haystack by itself."

Little Rice Cake held up the large dragon sugar figurine with a missing corner, and stood on tiptoe to peek behind him: "Sparrow, I want to see Sparrow."

An'an felt stared at and had nowhere to hide, so she reluctantly stretched out her hands from behind her back. Two fluffy little sparrows were lying in her palms, their tender yellow claws gently scratching at her.

When Little Rice Cake saw it, he stuffed the unfinished sugar figurine into An An's hand and immediately stretched out his chubby little claws.

Zhou Rui looked up at the sky and knew that if the sparrow fell into Xiao Niangao's hands, it probably wouldn't survive.

An'an, on the other hand, happily licked the sugar figurine. She had come out too early and hadn't seen the sugar figurine vendor.

This is why my little niece remembers her and gives her delicious food, making her so happy she wants to jump for joy.

"Alright, everyone come with me to the threshing ground, to play where the adults can see you."

"It's pitch black here. If you can't find your way home, don't you think your parents will spank you?"

This wasn't just said to An'an, but also to several other little boys.

The teenagers, who were still clutching the sparrows and reluctant to let go, immediately threw the grass clippings in their hands into the snow and quickly lined up in a small row to follow Zhou Rui when they heard the words "spanking".

Tie Niu didn't forget to turn the back of his cotton-padded jacket over and shake it, and sparrows fluttered their wings and flew into the twilight.

He touched the back of his neck, the tear stains on his face still wet, and burst out laughing.

As Zhou Rui and his group of kids rounded the corner of the haystack, they bumped into Tian Xiuying, who was wrapped in a disheveled cotton-padded coat, running towards them in a panic.

The straw tassels stuck to her hair swayed back and forth, two buttons on her collar were fastened incorrectly, and she didn't even dare to lift her face in this direction.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Zhou Rui and the group of children behind him, which startled her so much that she slipped and almost sat down on the snow.

After stammering for a while, he managed to squeeze out, "I...I couldn't find the outhouse, I took the wrong turn."

Zhou Rui deliberately glanced at the haystack behind her, speaking slowly.

"Auntie, you have to be careful. The edge of this haystack is very slippery. Don't fall."

For a moment, Tian Xiuying panicked and could barely speak: "Oh, I, I understand."

As soon as she finished speaking, she wrapped herself in her cotton-padded coat and, without looking back, plunged into the crowd at the threshing ground, wishing she could just hide herself in the sea of ​​heads.