Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

Zhou Rui rested for two days before going back to work. After all, he wasn't a hunter and didn't have any special privileges. But Zhou Rui didn't care. Hunting for the village only earned him a few work points, which was less than what he could earn by selling his game for money.

When the weather was nice, Zhou Rui would carry Xiao Niangao to work. If the wind was a little strong, Zhou Rui would tell Zhou Ping and Zhou An not to go cut pig feed and to stay home and take care of the child. Anyway, the work points they earned this year would be enough to distribute grain at the end of the year.

"Brother Qingguo, is your hand alright? Why don't you rest for a few more days? Aren't you afraid of leaving any aftereffects?" Zhou Rui ran into Liu Qingguo, who was also there to collect soybeans, after only two days of work.

"Hehe... It's alright now, look." He showed his wrist and twirled it. "Uncle Changhai said I just sprained my wrist, gave me a bottle of liniment, and it healed after a few days of applying it."

"Ruiwa, the village chief said you won't be the leader anymore and won't take us hunting in the mountains." Liu Qingguo stared with his innocent little eyes, hoping to hear a different answer from Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui grabbed a handful of soybeans, swiftly wielding a sickle, then trimmed the excess leaves from the soybean stalks and stacked them aside.

"Hmm."

Zhou Rui stopped, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed one to Liu Qingguo.

"Why?" Liu Qingguo asked anxiously. Hunting was tiring, but not as tiring as harvesting crops. Going hunting with Zhou Rui meant good food; they ate meat every day. And in the end, they earned nearly a hundred work points in two days—what a great job!

"I don't have that ability. I can't lead people. Nobody listens to me. Of course, I'm not talking about you. You saw the result on the last day. If we had both secured the shooting positions, we wouldn't have been in danger, and we wouldn't have only killed three wild boars. We could have at least killed two more small yellow-haired ones."

Zhou Rui spoke slowly, wanting Liu Qingguo to understand the meaning behind his words.

"You saw that bullet afterward, how close it was to us. If it had been just a fraction of a second off, one of us might have been left stranded in the mountains. Even though I pulled you down the slope, you still twisted your wrist. If I died, my younger siblings would be finished. If you died, what would happen to your family? I couldn't bear that outcome, so I decided to forget about the head."

The more Liu Qingguo listened, the dimmer his eyes became. He genuinely wanted to go hunting in the mountains with Zhou Rui. Although he always called him "Ruiwa," he truly regarded Zhou Rui as his leader and would listen to whatever Zhou Rui said.

"That's not your fault, it's Chen Xueqin who's disobedient," Liu Qingguo muttered. "It's because Zhao Changshan is too good to him and can't keep him in check. What does it have to do with you?"

Zhou Rui's eyes lit up; it seemed that Zhao Changshan really had something going on.

"What's going on? Has Captain Zhao always been very nice to Chen Xueqin?"

"Yeah. When I joined the militia, I found that Zhao Changshan was especially good to Chen Xueqin. He always thought of him when there was something good, and he took him with him no matter what he did. Even when Chen Xueqin made a mistake, Zhao Changshan would protect him."

Zhou Rui immediately understood from Liu Qingguo's sarcastic words that Zhao Changshan treated Chen Xueqin exceptionally well.

"Later I inquired and the old people in the militia told me that Chen Xueqin's mother had dated Zhao Changshan when she was young, but it didn't work out in the end. When Chen Xueqin first joined the militia, his mother came to see him in person and asked Captain Zhao to take good care of him."

Zhou Rui nodded, understanding. It was because Chen Xueqin was the son of Zhao Changshan's former lover that he was being given special treatment.

However, Zhou Rui also had his own malicious speculations: perhaps Zhao Changshan, in his youth, had reneged on his promises to Chen Xueqin's mother, and was now making amends to Chen Xueqin. Or perhaps Chen Xueqin's mother was still having an affair with Zhao Changshan.

Zhou Rui shook his head. No, he couldn't think about it anymore. If he thought about it any further, it would turn into a melodramatic soap opera about Jiaolongxia Village.

"We definitely won't be taking anyone on the village missions anymore. We'll wait until after the autumn harvest. If you still want to hunt during the winter, come find me and I'll take you up the mountain." Zhou Rui had a good impression of Liu Qingguo; he was simple-minded, obedient, and hardworking.

Zhou Rui was confident in his abilities; he could still ensure his safety with an obedient tool. At the very least, it would bring back more prey for him.

"Really, really. You're willing to take me with you." The surprise was so unexpected that Liu Qingguo couldn't help but stammer.

Zhou Rui threw away his cigarette and stubbed it out with his foot: "Keep this to yourself, don't go around telling everyone. I can't bring a lot of people. Wait for my notification when we go up the mountain after the harvest season."

After saying that, Zhou Rui picked up the sickle from the ground and continued harvesting soybeans; he hadn't finished his eight work points for the day yet. Liu Qingguo, on the other hand, had been in a daze ever since Zhou Rui promised to take him hunting in the mountains, and he was somewhat distracted while working.

In the afternoon, the scorekeeper tallied the work points and announced the end of the workday.

Zhou Rui tied the awakened little rice cake to his chest and reached for the small bed with his right hand. Liu Qingguo, like a lackey, ran over and insisted on helping Zhou Rui carry it. Zhou Rui had no choice but to let him go, thinking he couldn't dampen Liu Qingguo's enthusiasm too much, and since the rattan bed wasn't heavy anyway.

"Ruiwa, Ruiwa. Zhou Rui, over here." Aunt Changchun kept calling Zhou Rui's name from the crowd.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui pushed through the crowd with a smile on his face: "What's up, Aunt Changchun?"

"Something happened to your aunt's family. She just came back to the village, crying and sobbing. She might come looking for you later. If you can help her, please do so. Your aunt is a really good person, just a little timid."

"Auntie," Zhou Rui hadn't heard that title in a long time. It was the same in his past life; he hadn't seen her since his father's burial, and the images in his mind were very faint.

All I remember is that when my father passed away, my aunt brought over a basket of eggs and gave me five yuan, but in the end, none of them reached Zhou Rui.

"Hmm. But Auntie, what exactly happened to my aunt's family?" Zhou Rui was usually willing to listen to Aunt Changchun's questions, but it depended on the matter. He would agree to help with anything within his power.

"I overheard a bit of the story, and it's said that there are wild boars in their village. Your uncle was guarding the rice paddies with someone at night when he was attacked by a wild boar. He's in the hospital now waiting for money to save his life."

Zhou Rui frowned upon hearing this: "What? He was working for the village and got injured by a wild boar, and the village won't pay for his medical treatment?"

"No. Your aunt told me it's because the village ran out of money, so they had to pay for it themselves first. They'll be reimbursed after the village pays its grain tax and sells the state-purchased grain."

"As you know, their village is similar to ours; both are poor, and they barely have any money in their accounts. Our village has a big pond where we raise fish, which brings in some income every year. Their village doesn't even have a fishpond."

"Besides your uncle, several others were injured this time, so there aren't enough people to go around. If you can help, please do so. Your father and your aunt had a very good relationship when they were young."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for reminding me, Auntie. I'll head back now; I still need to cook for An'an and Pingwa."

Zhou Rui remained calm, only saying that he knew, without making any promises. His aunt had definitely gone back to her parents' home to borrow money from his grandfather and uncle. It was hard to say how much she could borrow, depending on how much influence she had with his grandfather.

But Zhou Rui definitely couldn't rush to his aunt's side and offer to pay for her medical treatment. That would be a slap in the face to his grandfather and would also reveal that he was rich. He definitely couldn't do that.