Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui was having breakfast when Gu Shaofeng rushed in.

"Senior brother, what's wrong? Why are you in our village so early?" Zhou Rui said, while telling Zhou Ping to get bowls and chopsticks for Gu Shaofeng. Arriving so early, they must have left before dawn.

Gu Shaofeng didn't stand on ceremony, took the bowl, ladled out some porridge, and took a big gulp. "I'm hiding at your place for a couple of days. It was terrifying. Five people were arrested that day, and a woman fell into the river and was pulled out. My friend threw all his tapes into the river and forgot his tape recorder; he lost a lot of money. I'm afraid the security team will come knocking, so I'm hiding here for a few days until things calm down before going back."

"It should be fine now. As long as you weren't caught red-handed, there's no evidence afterward. If they do contact you, just say you're talking to a friend. It's okay."

"Forget it, I'll just stay out here for a few more days. I've already told my wife that she'll come to your village to let me know when everything's alright." Gu Shaofeng shook his head, clearly terrified.

"Hey, do you know how those two from your village got arrested?" Gu Shaofeng blinked at Zhou Rui, looking like he had inside information.

"How were you arrested?"

"One is too fat to run. The other is even more unlucky; he stepped into a mud pit with both feet and got stuck, unable to pull himself out," Gu Shaofeng said gloatingly.

Based on Gu Shaofeng's words, Zhou Rui could vividly picture Chen Dabiao's obese body being grabbed, and Zhou Chen's pathetic state trapped in the mud. Tch, serves him right.

Zhou Rui and Gu Shaofeng walked side by side up the mountain path, carrying two backpacks, two rifles, and four dogs. Of course, Zhou Rui also carried a handgun that Gu Shaofeng was unaware of.

"It's agreed that we'll only stay in the mountains for one day." Zhou Rui was still worried about the young children at home. If something happened at home, there would be no one to make decisions for them.

"I know, I know. I told you last time to find a wife quickly, so that someone will take care of the family and you can roam freely in the mountains for many days."

"Get lost, I already told you I'm still young, in a few more years." Although Zhou Rui refused verbally, Lin Qiuyue's shy face involuntarily appeared in his mind.

"You're not young anymore. In our village, some people get married at fifteen. Besides, isn't your situation unusual?"

Unable to stand Gu Shaofeng's nagging, Zhou Rui quickened his pace to catch up with the dog ahead. Gu Shaofeng had no choice but to shut up and follow Zhou Rui closely. He knew Zhou Rui's freakish stamina; if he continued talking, he definitely wouldn't be able to keep up.

As Zhou Rui put down his slingshot, a pheasant fell from mid-air.

"It has to be this mountain area around your village; there are so many pheasants here." Gu Shaofeng reached out and took the pheasant that Gouzi had brought back.

"Yes, that's true. When we ran out of food, these mountains provided a lot of sustenance for the villagers. But we don't have any flying dragons here. I heard that the soup made from them is the most delicious." Zhou Rui longed for it, because he had never eaten it in either of his lives.

"You should have said so earlier! I know where to find flying dragons. Hmm... I'll take you to hunt them after the crops are harvested and it snows." Gu Shaofeng put his arm around Zhou Rui's shoulder. This was the first time his junior brother had something he wanted to eat, so he had to satisfy him.

"Okay," Zhou Rui replied happily. Little Rice Cake and An'an could taste this delicious food when they were very young. After the reform and opening up, when hunting was no longer allowed, they could have a wonderful memory.

"Let's go pick some mushrooms and stew some pheasant for lunch."

"Let's go." Gu Shaofeng didn't care. He was just here to escape trouble and didn't expect to fight anything.

"Oh...there are chestnuts."

"It's not ripe yet."

"There's a clump of mushrooms there."

"It's poisonous."

Zhou Rui noticed that since entering the mountains, Gu Shaofeng had been acting like a reckless teenager, running around everywhere. He decided to avoid going out with him alone next time and instead bring Uncle Wang, who could keep an eye on him.

At noon, the two men and four dogs were eating when Gu Shaofeng nudged Zhou Rui with his elbow again.

"What's wrong?"

Gu Shaofeng pointed ahead with his chopsticks, "Look at those bees?"

Zhou Rui glanced at it. "I saw it. What's so strange about it?"

"There are beehives around here."

Zhou Rui stared at him strangely. He knew all this, and he clearly remembered several beehive locations nearby. But what did this have to do with them? It wasn't like they didn't have candy at home. Zhou Rui had stocked up on lots of fruit candy, white sugar, and White Rabbit candy for An'an.

Although everyone knows that wild honey is a good thing and commands a high price, Zhou Rui still has a strong aversion to these small creatures. Having fought large wild animals before, he is helpless against these tiny things and also suffers from a bit of trypophobia.

"After you finish eating the pheasant, go raid the beehives. The wild honey here is incredibly sweet, and the supply and marketing cooperative buys it for one yuan per kilogram."

"How many pounds of honey can one beehive produce? No way. I'd rather hunt a roe deer or a wild boar or something." The cost-effectiveness wasn't high, so Zhou Rui wasn't interested. His main concern was getting stung by bees; he'd have nowhere to hide if that happened.

"If you don't want to buy it, you can give it to An'an. An'an likes sweets, right? You can also soak the rice cakes in water to drink, which is much tastier than store-bought candy." Gu Shaofeng knew Zhou Rui's weakness; as long as those two little ones were mentioned, Zhou Rui would definitely not be able to refuse.

Zhou Rui hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

"Okay. But let's make this clear first. When you go to harvest the honey, I'll keep watch for you."

"Okay. Eat quickly, we'll go after we finish." Gu Shaofeng sped up his eating, very happy that Zhou Rui had agreed to go honey gathering together.

With his gear on his back, Zhou Rui carefully inspected the extinguished fire to make sure there were no more embers. After checking, Zhou Rui surveyed his surroundings and then chose a direction to proceed.

"Junior brother, wait a minute. We need to observe where the bees fly after collecting nectar. Um..."

Zhou Rui interrupted Gu Shaofeng before he could finish speaking: "No need, I know where there are beehives nearby."

"Really? Let's hurry up!" Gu Shaofeng urged excitedly.

They arrived at their destination quickly, as Zhou Rui knew the beehive was less than a kilometer from where they had been. Once there, they didn't even need Zhou Rui's directions; the large number of bees moving in and out of the crevices in the rocks was enough to tell them they were there.

"Hehehe... Finally found it. A stone slab beehive, that's easy to handle. Junior brother, wait a moment, I'll go find some herbs and firewood."

"I'll go find some firewood." Zhou Rui didn't know what Gu Shaofeng wanted to do with the herbs, so he just did what he could.

After gathering some dry firewood, Zhou Rui watched as Gu Shaofeng squeezed the juice from an unknown herb and applied it to the exposed parts of his skin. Then, he took a piece of clothing from his bag and covered his entire head. Next, he added a large handful of the herb to the burning fire, and a thick plume of smoke immediately rose.

Zhou Rui stood ten meters away, silently watching what Gu Shaofeng was doing, and unknowingly learned a lot of useless knowledge.

As Gu Shaofeng fanned the smoke towards the hive, a large number of bees fled, and many more were so smoky that they fell directly from the sky like rain, making Zhou Rui's scalp tingle.

With the bees gone from the hive, Gu Shaofeng took out his scalpel and carefully cut off a whole piece of honey, gently placing it aside. Some of the honey overflowed and dripped onto the ground.

The chill returned, pulling Zhou Rui from his focus on Gu Shaofeng collecting honey. Zhou Rui quickly took the gun down and looked around.

They were getting closer, towards the northwest. Zhou Rui felt uneasy, and the dog beside him began to stir.

"Senior brother, come here!" Zhou Rui shouted to Gu Shaofeng.

"What?" Gu Shaofeng's head was covered by his clothes, so he couldn't hear clearly.

"Come back, something's up." Zhou Rui raised his voice and immediately pointed his gun at the woods.

Just then, a commotion arose from the woods, and the dogs began to bark.

Gu Shaofeng finally noticed something was wrong. He turned around and saw Zhou Rui raise his gun, assuming a firing stance. Gu Shaofeng quickly ripped the clothes off his head and ran for his life.