Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

In the following days, Jiaolongxia Village returned to its usual tranquility.

After the movie screenings in the countryside ended, people from other villages stopped coming to visit.

That night, the grain theft caused quite a stir, and nearly half a bag of grain was damaged during the grain depot's transport.

But the commune's compensation ended up in the village.

As a reward for the capture of the two criminal gangs, half of the four captured livestock was directly allocated to the Jiaolongxia Production Brigade.

Zhao Youzhi and Zhang Aimin circled a cow and a horse three times, their rough hands stroking the smooth back of the horse, their mouths never closing.

That day, Chen Datou specially brought half a basket of eggs and blocked Zhou Rui's door to invite the whole family into his home, saying that he had to thank Zhou Rui for snatching Chen Xiaoni back from someone in the woods that day.

Zhou Rui didn't come empty-handed either; he dug out two large, fat carp from the snowdrift in the backyard, strung them together with straw rope, and carried them up to the gate.

He was squatting by the bluestone slab in the yard, the blade of the knife scraping the fish skin, making a soft swishing sound.

At the foot of the neighboring courtyard wall, two elderly women sewing shoe soles huddled together, glancing into the yard, their lips pursed, their words full of thoughtful consideration.

"Why is Zhou Rui getting so close to that lazy bum Chen Datou out of nowhere?"

"That's right, Chen Datou's wife, Zeng Ping, was known as a slut in the village. She's not someone you can just walk into."

"I think Zhou Rui might have other intentions."

"Don't talk nonsense. Zhou Rui's wife is even more beautiful than Zeng Ping when she stands there."

"Hey, who can say for sure? There's an old saying that wildflowers are always more fragrant than garden flowers."

The wind carried these whispers to Zhou Rui's ears word for word. He glanced up at the courtyard wall, then lowered his head to continue scraping the black membrane inside the fish's belly with his knife.

His modified body is great in every way, but sometimes having such good hearing isn't a good thing. Good words and bad words all get into his head, and he can't escape them.

An'an and Chen Xiaoni squatted at his feet, their little faces red from the cold, their eyes fixed on the fish knife in his hand, not even bothering to shrink back as the cold wind crept up their collars.

As An'an watched, her gaze suddenly fell on Chen Xiaoni's wrist as she raised it to gather her hair. She pointed with her little finger and spoke in a clear voice.

"Sister Xiaoni, what are you wearing on your wrist?"

"You mean this?" Chen Xiaoni held her wrist up to his eyes, revealing a string of polished peach wood beads, the wood grain exuding a faint sandalwood fragrance.

"My mother said it was blessed by an old Taoist priest in the mountains to ward off evil and ensure peace."

Ever since she returned from the woods that day, Zeng Ping had been rummaging through drawers and cabinets, and finally managed to find a string of beads.

He immediately made Chen Xiaoni put it on, and wouldn't let her take it off no matter what.

Having never worn any jewelry in her life, this string of wooden beads was the first decent little item she owned.

Upon hearing this, An'an immediately rolled up the sleeves of her cotton-padded jacket, revealing her chubby, white wrists.

It has a polished iron ring on top, with two lifelike little fish engraved on the ring.

"Look, Sister Xiaoni, I have one too."

Zhou Rui just watched without stopping them. These things weren't valuable gold, silver, or jade, so there was nothing wrong with showing them off.

Actually, An An was wearing something more precious on her chest, but she didn't particularly like it.

On the contrary, she was particularly fond of the old iron rings that were found in the house, and she wore them and refused to take them off.

"This fish is so beautifully carved, even shinier than my wooden beads." She couldn't help but exclaim softly, the peach wood beads brushing against An'an's hand, carrying a hint of the warmth of the sun.

"See? I told you it looked good." An'an swayed her two braids, her smiling face making Chen Xiaoni's eyes dazzle.

There were many people in the kitchen, and several dishes were quickly served on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Come on, Ruiwa, have a drink. Thank you for saving my little girl."

Despite being a woman, Zeng Ping was very generous at the dinner table, downing her bowl in one gulp.

"Aunt Zeng, please don't be so polite. There's no need to thank me. If that's the case, then I should thank Uncle Datou for saving An'an and Pingwa before."

Zhou Rui raised his bowl in a gesture, then downed it in one gulp.

"Hehe... Eat, eat, the food's getting cold from all this thanking." Chen Datou said as he put food on Chen Xiaoni's plate.

"Thank you, Dad."

As Zhou Rui watched Chen Datou carefully and warmly serving food to Chen Xiaoni, he thought to himself that this was truly different.

Chen Datou used to live alone. Although he had a house with a roof, it wasn't a home; it was just a place to shelter from the wind and rain.

Now he's married to a widow with a child, and he's even become a father to her.

Lin Qiuyue fed Xiao Niangao to the side, just smiling and not saying a word. No matter whose house she was in, she liked this kind of warm and cozy scene.

"Ruiwa, tell me, how did you catch up with the kidnappers, and how did you manage to wipe out the whole gang of grain thieves?"

Chen Datou got into the mood after taking a couple of sips of wine.

He used to be well-informed because of his love for gossip.

Although people are more diligent and busier than before, habits formed over more than ten years cannot be changed.

"What's there to say? We caught up with them by using the hunting dogs to track their scent."

"Later, the villagers cornered the kidnapper and the grain thief together and sent someone back to the commune for help."

"The commune director made a phone call to the armed forces department, and the leader of the armed forces department immediately brought over a platoon of regular soldiers, who took them down in a few shots."

After Zhou Rui finished speaking, not only Chen Datou, but also Lin Qiuyue and Zhou Ping rolled their eyes.

Even this isn't as good as the stories the old man at the village entrance makes up on a whim.

Just as Chen Datou was about to press for more information, a series of firecrackers suddenly went off outside.

Zhou Rui paused, counted on his fingers, and turned to look at Lin Qiuyue: "What's this? Is it the Little New Year yet?"

"What are you thinking about? Look at the way you're living, you don't even know if you've celebrated the Lunar New Year yet." Lin Qiuyue covered her mouth and laughed.

Since the snowfall, Zhou Rui has been living a more comfortable life than others.

Aside from the days I go up the mountain, I stay home taking care of the kids and haven't even glanced at the calendar at home.

"The granddaughter of Master Liu's family is getting married, so it should be time for the new son-in-law to come to the house," Zeng Ping said after refilling Zhou Rui's bowl with wine.

"Wedding, welcoming the new son-in-law? Is that our custom? Don't we only set off firecrackers when the bride arrives at the door?" Zhou Rui scratched his head, feeling a little itchy.

"You still don't know?" Chen Datou looked at Zhou Rui seriously.

Zhou Rui shook his head, but Chen Datou put down his chopsticks and suddenly became interested.

"You know Liu Cuihua, right? The skinny one, but she's just as hardworking as any man."

"Yeah, I know. She's just a spinster with really high standards, been on blind dates for years without any luck," Zhou Rui replied casually.

"Yeah, I'm already twenty-two, and I've never been on a blind date. And guess what happened?" Chen Datou slapped his thigh and laughed so hard his gums were showing.

The room was quiet except for the clinking of chopsticks and bowls.

Zeng Ping and Lin Qiuyue had already lost interest in the story, while Zhou Rui was just pretending, because Chen Datou had kept him in suspense.

"Hehe... Let me tell you." Chen Datou wasn't embarrassed at all and found a way to back down.

"On the nights when movies were shown in the village, Liu Cuihua somehow fell for a male educated youth from the next village, and they even went into a haystack together."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui immediately recalled the sounds he had heard that night.

It seems that during the time this movie was playing, there was more than one pair of lovers.

"Later, Liu Cuihua's family found out and forced the educated youth to marry Liu Cuihua."

"It's not a normal marriage, it's more like a marriage where the bride moves in with her family."