Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

That noon, a large iron pot was set up at the village entrance, and the old sow and piglets were stewed. The villagers were particularly enthusiastic and energetic that day, having finished their work in the fields early, and each of them took a bowl to the village entrance to get their food.

The village's communal meals finally included meat, with several pieces in everyone's bowl. After the meal, the brigade headquarters collectively decided to divide the large egg-shaped pig, with each person receiving over a pound of pork, even the educated youth.

Zhou Rui's family of four also received about six jin (approximately 3 catties) of meat. The village chief even offered him the chance to choose first, but Zhou Rui declined. Since it was the village distributing meat, he decided to follow the rules: draw lots, and whatever he drew would be his.

If it weren't for what happened in the valley, Zhou Rui had planned to divide the piglet among himself and Zhao Changshan's group privately. But when that bullet flew towards him, he completely abandoned that idea. Who knew if dividing the prey privately would lead to being stabbed in the back?

As each household brought back the pork, Zhou Rui's reputation spread. Everyone knew that it was Zhou Rui who led the team up the mountain to hunt such a large wild boar, allowing everyone to enjoy meat.

"Ruiwa's family has really risen again. We thought the Zhou family would collapse after Zhou Dashan and Zhou Feng passed away, but we never expected that such a young child like Zhou Rui could hold the family together."

"Yes. At first, people said Zhou Rui was stupid for selling his secure job at the forest farm and that he would never be able to get back up. But who knew he had a plan in mind? He bought a hunting rifle and can now hunt for meat in the mountains. I'm afraid his life will only get better and better from now on."

"I heard that the village chief gave Zhou Rui and the Chen and Gu families the same treatment: 5 work points for every pound of game. This time, they hunted over a thousand pounds of wild boar in two days, which is equivalent to several months of my work points."

"Didn't they go as a group of four? There probably wouldn't be much per person, maybe just a little over 1000 work points each."

"Isn't 1000 or so a lot? But Zhou Rui is the leader, so he gets half of it. That's pretty good. He earned more than half a year's worth of work points in just two days. And I heard that he also earned several hundred work points when he was building the educated youth settlement a while ago. For more than ten days after the start of the busy farming season, he also brought his child to work every day, earning eight work points a day, which is more than a hundred. His family won't lack food this year."

The villagers had just eaten wild boar meat, so their conversation naturally revolved around the group that had returned from the hunt. Zhou Rui, in particular, being the youngest hunter and the leader, was the focus of everyone's discussion.

Of course, not everyone is well-intentioned; there are plenty of envious people.

"Dad, how can Zhou Rui be the leader? That kid hasn't even grown his hair yet, what makes him qualified to lead the team up the mountain to hunt? If the village chief had assigned us a few militiamen, we could have hunted down a few wild boars too. Why let him steal the spotlight?" Chen Feiyue said indignantly.

"Impossible, the village chief won't assign us militia. Our family has always been scouting and setting traps. We're different from those hunting gangs; we don't need that many people." Chen Ye was also a little resentful, but being older and more thoughtful, he didn't show it.

"Besides, hunting depends on luck. Sometimes you can't spot the prey, so the gun is just a stick, completely useless. Look at that old guy Gu Dayong, he brought three or four people up the mountain, and he hasn't had much of a catch these past few days."

"Dad, I think the main problem with our family is that we don't have a dog. Look at Gu Dayong, he used to hunt a lot of game a few years ago, all thanks to his slutty dog. But ever since that slutty dog ​​died in the mountains, he hasn't had much of a harvest."

Chen Feiyue paused, thinking about how to persuade his father to buy him a slutty dog ​​as well. "My marksmanship is pretty good now, not too far off from Gu Dayong's. If I can find a top-notch slutty dog, I can surpass Gu Dayong. Then our family will be the number one hunter in Jiaolongxia Village."

Chen Ye was somewhat tempted. His son was a better shot than him, and if he could find a good dog, it would be a tremendous help. However, good dogs were hard to find, and he would have to go to other villages to inquire after the busy farming season.

"You think you can suppress Gu Dayong just because you have a slut? You should suppress that kid Zhou Rui first. You can't beat him with a slingshot, and he's hunted more meat in the mountains than you are now. Don't be too ambitious, first become the best among the younger generation."

Chen Feiyue snorted dismissively: "That competition was nothing. I was just there for fun. It was just a kids' game. I didn't take it seriously at all."

"As for going up the mountain, Xueqin told me that Zhou Rui is nothing special. He's just good at putting on airs and making a big show of things. He only caught that group of wild boars by luck. Besides, he didn't even shoot that big boar. Zhao Changshan and Xueqin did it."

"I heard that Zhou Rui was so scared when he saw that big sow that his hand was shaking when he held the gun. Just because he saw Zhou Rui's ugly behavior, Xue Qin was beaten up by Zhou Rui on some pretext. Do you think I need to find a way to suppress someone like that? Based on the experience I've learned from you over the years, I could beat him with my eyes closed."

"That's right, you're someone I trained, so you're definitely different from that self-taught Zhou Rui." Chen Ye stroked his stubble. "But don't underestimate him. The fact that he could find a herd of wild boars shows he's very lucky. Luck is a very important thing when you're in the mountains."

"Also, don't keep calling him 'Xueqin' all the time. Even though he's not very capable, he's still your cousin, and we're still within the five degrees of kinship. It's not good if people hear that." Chen Ye turned and criticized Chen Feiyue. No matter what his reputation is like outside, he still cares about his reputation within the clan. Otherwise, if something happens in the future, he won't have any relatives to help him.

"I know, Dad. What about the dog?" Chen Feiyue was still preoccupied with the hunting dog, believing that as long as he had a good dog, his hunting career could take off.

"Okay, I'll look carefully for you. I'll also try to talk to those old guys and ask them to keep an eye out."

In the village, Zhou Dashan and his group were carrying meat home, and the neighbors couldn't help but feel envious.

"Dashan, your family has so much meat! You must have gotten at least ten pounds, right? That'll last us for days. Unlike my family, there are only three of us, and we only have a few pounds of meat."

"No, no, not ten pounds. My family has plenty of meat, but there are also many people, and they all work very hard. It won't last more than two meals." Zhou Dashan was still very happy to receive so much meat. If he was careful with it, he could eat it for a week.

"I heard this was hunted by your son Ruiwa. He's such a good hunter, why didn't he bring you more meat?" The neighbor clearly couldn't stand his smugness and made sarcastic remarks about him indirectly.

Sure enough, when you heard Zhou Rui's name, the faces of Zhou Dashan's family all darkened.

"Ruiwa, he's ruthless in fights, but I don't believe he's that skilled. Zhao Changshan, the militia captain, went with us this time. He's been a militiaman for so many years, he's quite capable. Maybe all of this is thanks to Changshan."

"That ingrate Zhou Rui has no ability? I think he just got lucky and stepped in dog poop." Zhou Chen was furious. That little beast actually had his dog bite him last time, causing him to be caught by the community security team. He swore he would not rest until he got revenge.

"He didn't even bring back the food to show his respect to his grandparents, but instead fed it to those idiots at the educated youth settlement. I bet someone like him will meet his demise in the mountains one day, and we might never even find his remains."

"Shut up." Zhou Jiutian slammed his pipe on Zhou Chen's head. Some things can be done, but not said, as long as no one knows. Cursing his cousin like Zhou Chen does outside will make people gossip behind his back, that idiot.

"Get back home! You can't keep your mouth shut outside. Do you even want to get married in the future?" Zhou Dashan also scolded.

So, while the neighbors watched with sneers, Zhou Dashan's family hurriedly ran back home, finally shutting out the outside world's view. However, Zhou Chen's words still got out through the neighbors' mouths, and Zhou Dashan's family's reputation suffered another blow.

Anyway, everyone's still eating the wild boar meat Zhou Rui hunted. We can't eat the meat and then complain about it.