A cool breeze rustled through Daqing Mountain at night. Walking along the path into the mountains, Li Xiu gazed at the dense, verdant forest ahead and quickened his pace, tools in hand. He had learned his hunting skills at the age of six, back when he herded cattle for the production team under the tutelage of Uncle Ge, the man in charge of the oxen. Uncle Ge was one of the village's "Five-Guarantee" households, a stubborn and solitary old man. For some reason, he had taken a shine to Li Xiu and passed on everything he knew about hunting.
However, he had also made Li Xiu promise never to tell anyone and never to enter Daqing Mountain. The reason was simple: there were wolves in Daqing Mountain. The old man had lost a leg to them, and he was afraid that if Li Xiu went in, he would never come out. In his previous life, Li Xiu had kept that promise. He never told a soul and never once set foot in Daqing Mountain.
This life, however, Li Xiu had no intention of obeying Uncle Ge. He understood the old man's concerns, but he understood something else even more clearly: without money, his wife would have to suffer alongside him. Having been reborn, he refused to let her endure the slightest grievance. She had suffered more than enough in their last life—from her family, and from him. 'This time, it's up to me to dote on my wife!'
Hearing the howls of wolves deep in the mountains, Li Xiu decided not to go any further. He put down his tools, found a good spot, and dug a pit trap. After tossing in a bundle of rags soaked in sow urine, he hid himself away. While waiting, he took the opportunity to look for mushrooms, wild fruits, and other things he could sell for a good price in the city.
By midnight, he had gathered half a sack of chestnuts and a full bag of mushrooms. Carrying his haul, he returned to the trap. By the light of the moon, he saw two large wild boars inside and broke into a grin. Pork currently sold for seventy cents a pound, and you needed meat ration tickets to buy it. But on the county's black market, it could fetch nearly a yuan per pound. These two boars, once gutted and cleaned, would yield at least three hundred pounds of meat. Including the heads, trotters, and other parts, he could make around 350 yuan. Li Xiu smiled at the calculation. He needed to pack up and get to the city right away.
Carrying over four hundred pounds of goods on a shoulder pole, Li Xiu rushed to the county town under the cover of darkness. The black market was already crowded, but everyone was quiet, moving without a sound. He set his things down against a wall. The gamey smell of pork quickly drew a crowd. People's eyes lit up as they saw the pile of pork before him, along with pig heads, trotters, hearts, livers, lungs, and intestines. Two heads meant two whole pigs!
"Brother, how are you selling this meat?" someone in the crowd quickly asked.
"The meat is one yuan a pound. For the other parts, I want tickets, not cash."
"Brother, sell all the meat to me. I'll give you one yuan a pound, plus a bicycle ticket. How about it?" a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a Zhongshan suit spoke up from the crowd.
Li Xiu looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'He looks familiar.' He nodded. "I didn't bring a scale, but this pile of meat is at least 300 pounds. I'll take 300 yuan, plus one bicycle ticket and one sewing machine ticket. If you agree, it's all yours."
The spectacled man grinned. The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day were just around the corner, and the factory leadership had been worrying about what to give the workers as a bonus. With over 300 pounds of pork, the biggest part of the problem was solved.
"Deal. But I don't have a sewing machine ticket on me. Wait here, I'll have someone go back and get it." With that, he nodded to someone in the crowd, and a young man immediately slipped away.
"I'll take one pig's head, two trotters, and a set of intestines. What tickets do you want?" a neatly dressed man in his thirties asked.
"Tickets for two pounds of sugar and five bars of soap. No cash needed," Li Xiu said, looking at the man. "I have sugar tickets and soap tickets! I'll take a pig's head and two trotters too, but I want a set of liver."
"I have some too..."
In no time, everything except the large pile of meat was sold. By the time Li Xiu collected the money and tickets for the meat and started heading back, the sky was already growing light. He took a shortcut, and by the time he reached the village entrance, the sun was up. Li Xiu secured the money and tickets, picked up his carrying pole and pickaxe, and hurried home.
"Oldest son, where have you been?" Ge Er Ya asked as she saw her eldest son walk in. Li Xiu put his tools away and went to the well to wash up without even looking up. "Nowhere." Ge Er Ya opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She turned and went back to the stove to cook.
"In a couple of days, have your mother give you some money to get a new set of clothes. In about ten days, you're going to meet a potential match. You should clean yourself up," Second Brother Li said, watching Li Xiu eat.
Li Xiu nodded without a word. After finishing his meal, he put down his chopsticks, grabbed his tools, and headed out to the fields. Second Brother Li watched his retreating back and sighed. His eldest son was getting quieter and quieter. He never smiled anymore, ignored his younger siblings, and wouldn't say a single word all day unless someone spoke to him first. He didn't even come home last night, and who knows where he went.
Li Xiu walked briskly to the village entrance. Few villagers were out; most were still eating breakfast. He changed direction and ducked into the cowshed. Uncle Ge had passed away last year, so the shed was now empty. The production team's few oxen had been taken home by the various team leaders to be cared for.
Li Xiu sat on the ground and pulled the money and tickets from his waistband, laying them out in a small pile. The largest denomination bill at the time was ten yuan. He counted it all carefully. The two pigs, half a sack of chestnuts, and bag of mushrooms had sold for a total of 308 yuan. On top of that, he had one bicycle ticket, one sewing machine ticket, tickets for four pounds of sugar, eight bars of soap, tickets for one zhang and seven chi of cloth, one thermos ticket, two perfumed soap tickets, one booklet of match tickets, and thirteen industrial coupons.
Smiling, Li Xiu gathered everything up again. This stuff couldn't see the light of day. 'I'll make two more trips to Daqing Mountain before winter sets in. After we get married in the spring, I'll give it all to my wife.' He hadn't expected a single trip to Daqing Mountain to yield so much money and so many tickets.
At that moment, he wasn't thinking about the dangers of Daqing Mountain. But he also understood that if something went wrong, the loss would far outweigh the gain. His son had taught him that lesson. After letting his mind wander, he heard the hubbub of voices in the distance. He got up and walked toward the village entrance. It was time to start work. He couldn't let anyone notice anything different about him. His daughter had once said that most of the time, going with the flow was the safest bet.
Unlike Li Xiu's proactive mindset, Zhou Lian was living just as she had in her past life, obediently following her parents' arrangements. She had never considered changing anything. Her daughter had once told her about the "butterfly effect," and she was terrified that any change might cause her to lose her children. All she wanted in this life was to give birth to her son and daughter and raise them well, so they wouldn't have to struggle as they did in the last life.
Starting life over, she never thought about finding a different man or living a different kind of life. It wasn't that she had any particular expectations for that man; she simply couldn't bear the thought of losing her two children. With a second chance at family life, she would be more filial to her parents and interact more with her siblings. Beyond that, she didn't want to change a thing.
But when it came to her children, she hoped they wouldn't have to be so sensible and mature at such a young age, working so hard and scheming just to protect her, their mother. She wanted to be the one to protect them, to let them live happy, carefree lives. She was uneducated and didn't know how to raise children, but those two had seemed naturally sensible and clever. 'Just have to endure a little longer,' she thought. 'Then I'll get to see my daughter.'