Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

They arrived in Gujiatun around 7 a.m., and there were already some people on the streets. Some people who knew Gu Shaofeng saw him lying on the oxcart with bandages on his legs and rushed to Gu Shaofeng's house to inform his wife.

Before they even reached the Gu family's gate, a large group of men, women, and children came out to greet them.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, Fourth Brother, Sister-in-law, Wife... Why are you all out here?" It took Gu Shaofeng half a minute just to greet them.

"Oh dear, my Feng'er, what's wrong with you?" An old woman grabbed Gu Shaofeng and exclaimed.

A young woman in her twenties held Gu Shaofeng's other hand, saying nothing but shedding tears.

"Mother, daughter-in-law, don't cry. I'm fine, it's just that my lower leg might be broken. Could you help me inside first, and then call my fourth uncle?"

Zhou Rui was dumbfounded. Gu Shaofeng seemed fine, so why was he crying? And with such a large family, did his senior brother's family all live together without separating?

Finally, the head of the family, Uncle Gu, spoke up, and everyone calmed down. They helped Gu Shaofeng into the house and asked Gu Shaofeng's second brother to call his fourth uncle over.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Zhou Rui didn't care. He first unloaded the bicycle from the oxcart, then carried the injured Da Mao into the courtyard. The house was a two-section courtyard house, and it seemed that Gu Shaofeng's entire family lived in this courtyard.

"Hey, where's my junior brother? Why didn't he come in?" Gu Shaofeng entered the main hall of the second courtyard and finally came to his senses after sitting down.

"Where's your junior brother? Hei Zi didn't come?" Gu Shaoting asked curiously.

"It's not Hei Zi, it's my fourth junior brother, my master's new disciple. The one who just brought me back, quite a handsome young man. Didn't you invite him in?"

"Oh dear, look at what we've done! We've been so focused on you that we've forgotten about our guest outside. This is so rude!" Gu Shaofeng's father, Gu Yunshen, clapped his hands, looking ashamed.

"Ting'er, go quickly and invite Feng'er's junior brother in."

Soon after, Zhou Rui followed Gu Shaoting into the hall. Fortunately, the main hall of the Gu family was large enough, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many people.

"Young man, I'm so sorry. We were in a hurry to check on Shaofeng's injuries and forgot about you. You brought Shaofeng back, and we treated you like this. We've really been impolite. We're so sorry." Gu Yunshen held Zhou Rui's hand with a look of guilt.

Seeing the old man like this, Zhou Rui couldn't bear it any longer. "No, Uncle Gu, please don't be like this. Brother Gu and I are fellow disciples, you can just call me Ruiwa. This time I went up the mountain with my senior brother, and I also bear responsibility for his leg injury. You're making me feel ashamed."

"Alright, Dad, please don't do this. Let my junior brother sit down and have some water, okay? We got up before dawn to make our way, and we haven't eaten yet." Gu Shaofeng couldn't bear to see his father like this; being too polite was too tiring.

"Oh, right, right, sit down first. Eldest and fourth daughters-in-law, hurry up and cook. Fifth daughters-in-law, quickly go and pour your junior brother a glass of water." Gu Yun Shen immediately started directing his three daughters-in-law.

After a long day of work, Zhou Rui finally got to drink the water from the Gu family's house. Then Gu Shaofeng introduced his family members to him, and Zhou Rui addressed them as "Uncle," "Aunt," "Brother," and "Sister-in-law."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, Uncle Gu, the fourth son of the Gu family, arrived. He was over seventy years old, but his robust frame was ramrod straight, and he didn't look old at all.

"Fengzi, what happened? Are you injured again?" The Fourth Master teased as soon as he entered the door, it seemed that Gu Shaofeng had troubled the Fourth Master quite a bit.

"Fourth Uncle, what do you mean 'again'? I was careless this time and didn't dodge, otherwise I wouldn't have lost a single hair. That bear charged at me and knocked my Da Mao flying. If I hadn't been distracted for a moment..."

"Ouch..." Gu Shaofeng cried out in pain, startling everyone.

Suddenly, the Fourth Uncle placed his hand on Gu Shaofeng's injured calf, clearly disapproving of his boastful talk.

Despite his advanced age, the old man's hands are still very fast; he finished the examination in less than ten seconds.

"It's alright, the bone isn't broken, just cracked. Put a cast on him, make sure he drinks less alcohol, eats more meat, and takes good care of himself. He'll recover in a month or two." The fourth uncle of the Gu family quickly gave his diagnosis. Fortunately, it was just a fracture. The bear had already lost its balance when it struck, so its force was less than a tenth of what it should have been; otherwise, Gu Shaofeng wouldn't have been injured so lightly.

"How about some medicinal wine?" Gu Shaofeng's eyes lit up with an idea. He had just said he wanted to drink less alcohol, and he immediately came up with a plan.

"What kind of medicinal wine? Not all medicinal wines are suitable for fractures and bone cracks." The Fourth Uncle looked at him with a half-smile.

Looking at the Fourth Master's expression, Gu Shaofeng felt a little uneasy: "Leopard bone wine, is it alright?"

"Leopard bone wine? When did you get this? Old Sixteen, you're not being fair. I've been to your house so many times and you've never offered me any. You've been hiding it away." Fourth Uncle turned to look at Gu Yun Shen.

"No, Fourth Brother, don't wrong me. This leopard bone wine was made with leopard bones that Feng'er brought back last week. We didn't have it before." Gu Yun Shen waved his hands repeatedly.

"I see. Well, it won't work yet; it needs to soak for at least three months. While leopard bone wine isn't as good as tiger bone wine, it's still quite good for fractures and similar injuries, at least reducing the recovery time by half. Looks like Shaofeng is still unlucky; he should stay away from alcohol, haha..."

Uncle Si treated the situation quickly, and soon put a cast on Gu Shaofeng's calf. He also went to the yard to check on Da Mao's injury. Da Mao was lucky; he was only grazed by the bear, and one side of his front leg was dislocated—basically, dislocated. Uncle Si fixed it with a little manipulation. His internal organs were compressed, so he needed a few days to recover, but he should heal faster than Gu Shaofeng.

After his doctor's visit, Fourth Uncle didn't leave but stayed at Gu Shaofeng's house for breakfast. Gu's eldest and second sisters-in-law were excellent cooks; they had fresh bear meat that Zhou Rui and his companion had brought back, along with some cured meat, making for a table full of appetizers.

Several grown men sat at one table, while women and children sat at another.

"Brother Rui, so you're saying that you killed the bear, not my fifth uncle?" Gu Shaoting's eldest son looked at Zhou Rui with admiration in his eyes.

"Why call him Brother Rui? Call him Uncle Rui. He's my junior brother, your uncle." Gu Shaofeng patted Gu Yubao on the head.

The Gu family has five siblings. Gu Shaoting is the eldest, eight years older than Gu Shaofeng and nineteen years older than Zhou Rui. Gu Yubao is only one year younger than Zhou Rui, which is why she is qualified to sit at the men's table.

"No, I'm only a year older than Yu Bao, it's not appropriate to call me uncle, let's address each other separately." Zhou Rui quickly waved his hand, feeling embarrassed by the term "uncle." He also had a six-year-old sister at home, did he expect Gu Yu Bao to call him aunt next time they met?

"No way. My junior brother and I came from the same master, and we've been through thick and thin together. We can't mess up the seniority." Gu Shaofeng may seem unreliable at times, but he's very particular about old traditions.

"Listen to Brother Feng, let's discuss it however we see fit," Elder Gu echoed.

Zhou Rui finally understood. Although they lived in the countryside, the Gu family seemed to have their own adherence to traditional etiquette, suggesting they were at least a scholarly family in the past. And this was what a family should feel like, a warm and welcoming home.

"Okay. Uncle Rui, did you fight the bear by yourself?" Gu Yubao understood. At home, he was just a child with no authority and could only obey orders.

"How could I possibly fight them all by myself? Your fifth uncle fired the first few shots; I only fired the last one. Besides, if your fifth uncle hadn't drawn the bear away with his gun, I wouldn't have had a chance to fire."

"But in the end, you still hit the bear's head. And a few days ago, Uncle Wu told me that last time you shot the leopard dead with one shot." Gu Yubao looked at him with admiration, clearly Gu Shaofeng had been boasting to him a lot.

"Fifth Uncle, that bear really weighs over a thousand catties."

"Didn't you see the bear skin we brought back? It's so big, imagine how tall it would be if it stood up! It's a pity that Da Mao and I were both injured, otherwise I would have dragged it back for you to see, no matter how tired I was." Gu Shaofeng looked regretful.