Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Hmm, a nest of wild eggs, five, six, seven, eight, eight in total. That's good, we can eat them ourselves, or we can sell them at the supply and marketing cooperative. How much each one cost? I can't quite remember, let's pack them up first." Zhou Rui grabbed a handful of weeds and laid them at the bottom of the basket, then carefully put the eggs in one by one, making sure they weren't broken.

The pheasants have gone out to forage. Let's see where they went. Zhou Rui closed his eyes and sensed the atmosphere of the forest. After searching for about ten minutes, he finally spotted them. There were even more pheasants than yesterday, about seven or eight. Zhou Rui observed the surrounding environment and realized that the pheasants were still some distance from the woods. If a fight broke out, they wouldn't have fled into the forest as quickly as they had yesterday.

Zhou Rui put down his basket, tore off the cloth bag containing mud pellets, spread it on the ground, and went all out to try and catch as many as possible. Zhou Rui calmed himself down and aimed at the one closest to the woods.

Clap, clap, clap.

Just like yesterday, from the moment the first pheasant fell, the remaining pheasants began to scatter into the woods, some flying and some running. Zhou Rui threw out five mud pellets in succession, leaving four pheasants behind. One pheasant reached the edge of the woods and was stopped by a branch, thus escaping death.

Pshaw, you're lucky.

Zhou Rui walked over to gather the pheasants together when one of them suddenly jumped up. Seeing this, Zhou Rui quickly pounced on it, grabbing the pheasant's wing tightly with both hands. After lifting the still struggling pheasant up, he saw that one of the pheasants hadn't been hit in a vital spot, only its wing had been injured.

Since it's alive, there's no need to bleed it. We'll take it back, clip its wings, and let An'an keep it as a pet. Zhou Rui casually plucked a few blades of grass and tied the pheasant's feet and wings together.

After cleaning up the pheasants, Zhou Rui didn't plan to hunt any more. Since it was still early, he decided to gather some medicinal herbs and check the prices at the supply and marketing cooperative. Zhou Rui glanced at the woods where the pheasants had fled. This area would do; at least these pheasants' forests didn't have any large predators, so he wouldn't encounter any danger.

A single Codonopsis pilosula plant, but unfortunately it's the wrong time of year. Codonopsis pilosula plants at this time of year don't have enough nutrients, so I doubt the town's supply and marketing cooperative will accept it.

One piece of Acanthopanax senticosus, but unfortunately it's just past its season, so I guess most of the nutrients have been lost. What a pity. I'll remember the location and come back next year.

Zhou Rui wiped the sweat from his brow. After searching for a long time, he found nothing except a few pine mushrooms. "Oh well, I'll try again next time." Zhou Rui turned and headed down the mountain in another direction.

Entering a relatively dense forest, Zhou Rui suddenly spotted several lingzhi mushrooms on the roots of a tree ahead. "Great, finally some harvest!" Zhou Rui tightened his basket and prepared to pick them. But before he could take a step, he saw a pair of pointed ears peek out, followed by a head and then a body. It was a female roe deer, walking towards his lingzhi mushrooms. "Damn it, it's trying to steal my stuff!" Zhou Rui turned sideways, hiding behind a tree.

The mud pellet was loaded, whoosh, thud, right on the forehead. The silly roe deer staggered a couple of steps, but surprisingly didn't fall down, though it seemed to be walking in a crooked line.

"Probably a concussion," Zhou Rui thought, but without hesitation, he pulled back the slingshot. However, the silly roe deer swayed wildly, like a drunkard, its movements erratic, and Zhou Rui's slingshot moved with the deer's head. Finally, when the roe deer suddenly stood still, another mud pellet flew out. *Whoosh!* The roe deer fell to the ground. Zhou Rui rushed over and saw the deer still struggling to stand. He quickly grabbed the deer's head, pulled out his machete, and slashed its throat. As blood slowly flowed out, the roe deer beneath him gradually went still.

Phew... finally solved. It seems the slingshot is still too weak; it can't kill any slightly larger prey. Looks like I need to hurry up and find a way to get a gun.

With this roe deer, today's harvest has been quite fruitful. Looking at the deer, it's a pity it's a female, without antlers; otherwise, even if it's not as expensive as sika deer antlers, it could still fetch several tens of yuan. Judging by its size, it's an adult, probably weighing fifty or sixty jin (approximately 25-30 kg). The pelt isn't the best quality, but it can still be used to make hats, gloves, and things like that. Aunt Changchun is very skilled; I'll bring a few jin of roe deer meat and ask her to cook it for me. I just don't know if she knows how to tan the hide.

Zhou Rui gutted the roe deer, removed its entrails, and hung them on a tree branch as an offering to the mountain god. Although Zhou Rui didn't believe in ghosts or gods, there was a scientific explanation for this offering: leaving food for predators drawn by the scent of the prey to prevent them from attacking the hunter with the smell of blood. Zhou Rui was more inclined to believe the latter explanation.

Zhou Rui turned around and picked a few Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms; he couldn't forget about them. He had come specifically for the Ganoderma lucidum; the roe deer was just an accident. Ganoderma lucidum is considered a relatively valuable medicinal herb in Changbai Mountain, and these few pieces were probably worth twenty or thirty yuan. Of course, it couldn't compare to the Chinese club mushroom, which was a rare find, requiring searching deep in the mountains.

Zhou Rui carefully placed the Ganoderma lucidum before hoisting the roe deer onto his shoulder. After removing the internal organs, it weighed about fifty jin (approximately 25 kg), but with the addition of several pheasants and other items, it totaled around seventy jin (approximately 35 catties). Fortunately, his body had been modified; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to carry it back such a long distance.

Because of a better catch today, Zhou Rui came down the mountain later than yesterday, and it was past noon by the time he reached the place where the fish traps were set.

Zhou Rui put down his harvest, drank some water, washed himself, and then sat down on a rock to rest. He was quite tired after carrying the load for such a long way up the mountain. But more importantly, he was hungry. Afraid of wasting time, and with his younger siblings waiting anxiously at home, he hadn't stopped to roast some meat even though he had it.

After resting for a few minutes, Zhou Rui got up from the ground. It was still too late; he needed to quickly pack up the fish traps and go home. Zhou Rui pulled on a rope; it was quite heavy. When he pulled it up, he saw two fish: a palm-sized crucian carp and a two-pound carp.

Not bad, not bad, all that effort wasn't wasted. Zhou Rui quickly retrieved the fish. He pulled up the second cage; it was empty, but the bait was still inside. Maybe the location wasn't good; he'd change the spot later.

After hauling in several cages, Zhou Rui had caught a total of five crucian carp, two carp, and a five-pound mandarin fish. He didn't want the remaining small fish and shrimp; there weren't many, and they were inconvenient to carry without a bucket, so he threw them back into the river.

Just as Zhou Rui was about to throw the cage back into the river, he realized his mistake—there was no bait. He should have kept some of the roe deer's entrails. With prey on his back and fish in his hand, Zhou Rui didn't want to carry the fish cage back with him. What to do? Zhou Rui's eyes darted around for a moment, then he pulled a pheasant from his basket. Using a machete, he painstakingly cut open the still-unplucked pheasant, removed its entrails, and chopped it haphazardly on a rock before dividing it into five pieces and placing them in the cage.

With a whoosh, watching the fish trap sink back into the water, Zhou Rui put his hands on his hips, somewhat pleased with himself, thinking that he still had some quick wit.

Zhou Rui shouldered his prey again, this time with more fish in his hands, but he still quickened his pace. Had An'an eaten? Was An'an thinking of him? As for Pingwazi, he had no time to think about him.