Rebirth 1979: Hunting wild boars and saving educated youth

The next morning, Chen Feng drove to Shihezi Village as soon as the sun came out.

This time, he acted alone, and Uncle Aping did not follow him. However, there were some new gadgets in the car - a phonograph, an exquisite Go set, and some pork head meat that he had specially bought from the town's cadres' canteen, the aroma of which was fragrant.

When he arrived at the village entrance, he parked the car with ease and walked to Mr. Qu's door carrying these "treasures".

He had a confident smile on his face as he knocked on the door.

The door creaked open, and Old Man Qu stood at the door with an unhappy look on his face: "Why are you here again? I told you, I won't go to that place of yours, so don't waste your time!" After saying that, the old man made a gesture to close the door.

Chen Feng was quick to move, quickly getting one foot stuck in the crack of the door. He said with a grin, "Don't be so heartless, old man. I came here today because I heard you're a great chess player, so I came to ask for a game. Look, I even brought some pig's head as tuition. You're not afraid of losing, are you?"

When Mr. Qu heard this, his beard curled up and his eyes glared. "Hmph, kid, back when I was in Xizhimen, I was unbeatable in the whole capital! How could I be afraid of you? Come in, come in, today I'll show you how powerful I am!"

Chen Feng followed the old man into the house. He set up the chessboard skillfully and placed the pig's head aside. The air was filled with tempting aroma.

The old man unceremoniously picked up a piece of pig's head and chewed it with a look of satisfaction: "Hmm, this tastes good." After that, he picked up the white piece and said generously: "Boy, I'll let you play black first, don't say I'm bullying you."

Chen Feng smiled and replied, "Wait, wait, there's more good stuff." He turned and ran out, a moment later, holding a gramophone. He carefully placed it on the table and fiddled with it for a while before a Peking Opera melody began to play: a classic excerpt from "Liu Huangshu Visits the Thatched Cottage Three Times."

After hearing this, Mr. Qu raised his lips slightly and said, "Boy, you are well prepared. But don't think that playing some music can distract me. It's not that easy to beat me! Hurry up and play chess!"

Chen Feng laughed, picked up the black piece, and lightly tapped it, landing it on the star position.

The chess game officially began, with the two players fighting back and forth, and the game was difficult to determine.

As the game progressed, Chen Feng had to admit that the old man's chess skills were indeed quite good. Many of his moves showed signs of research, and he even had some of the style of older generation chess players such as Wu Qingyuan.

But he also realized that as long as he took it seriously, the old man might not be his opponent.

After all, in order to get extra points for the college entrance examination, he took a Go class, practiced hard for several years, and participated in many competitions.

However, Chen Feng’s goal today is not to win the game.

What he was thinking about was how to make the old man happy and make him willingly follow him out of retirement to be the chief expert in the factory.

So, he deliberately put himself at a disadvantage and let the old man gain the upper hand.

Seeing this, the old man was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He crossed his legs, chewed the pork head and hummed a few lines of Peking opera along with the gramophone, looking very proud.

Chen Feng looked at the old man's appearance and felt secretly proud in his heart: This is the right first step.

After a game of chess, Chen Feng readily admitted defeat, his face full of admiration.

"Old man, your chess skills are truly superb! You have the style of Grandmaster Wu Qingyuan, and every move is filled with profound meaning. I'm truly impressed!"

He spoke sincerely, and after hearing this, the old man's beard curled up and his face was filled with pride.

"Haha, you are quite knowledgeable! But don't think that flattering me will be useful. I still won't go for your business!" Although the old man said this, he was obviously in a good mood.

Chen Feng was secretly delighted when he saw this. He felt the time was right, so he struck while the iron was hot: "Old man, if you come out of retirement, I promise to play chess with you every day, provide you with plenty of pork heads, and listen to any Peking Opera you want! Life will definitely be comfortable!"

He spoke with full confidence, however, the old man suddenly frowned and ordered him to leave again.

"Alright, alright, stop trying to hit on me. My old bones can't stand your tricks. Go away, go away, don't let me see you again!"

After saying that, he actually pushed Chen Feng out the door.

Chen Feng was kicked out and stood beside the car, looking confused.

He kept wondering, "What's going on? How did this old man take the sugar coating and hit the cannonball back at me? He still has my gramophone and Go board!"

When he thought of the phonograph, he felt even worse, because it was a treasure he had spent a lot of effort to buy.

On the way back, he thought about it over and over again, but still couldn't figure it out.

A wave of stubbornness surged up: "I still don't believe it. I can even handle a tiger, so why can't I handle an old man like you?"

The next morning, Chen Feng simply stopped driving and rode his original cart. He bought a lot of chicken, duck, fish, meat and vegetables and headed towards Shihezi Village in a mighty procession.

I knocked on Mr. Qu's door again. When the old man saw it was him, his brows furrowed. "Why are you here again? Is this going on forever? I'm an old man, not a young woman. Why do you keep coming to me?"

Chen Feng didn't answer, but started unloading the goods from the cart without saying a word, moved all the chickens, ducks, fish and meat into the yard, and then went straight into the kitchen to start working.

Soon, a table full of delicious food was placed in the yard.

Chen Feng called the old man: "Come, try my cooking. Braised pork with chicken mushrooms, braised fish, and some fresh vegetables."

The old man picked up a mouthful of food and savored it carefully: "Well, it's so-so."

Chen Feng smiled and said, "Don't be picky if you have something to eat. Come, let's have a sip."

At the dinner table, the two were silent. After a while, the old man spoke first: "How did you feel there was Chinese medicine in my water that day?"

Chen Feng's heart moved, knowing this was an opportunity, so he said, "Grandpa, you should have added perilla leaves, mulberry leaves, and bamboo leaves to that water. They're good for nourishing the body. It's very light, and you can't really tell if you don't taste it carefully. But the benefits to the body are real."

The old man listened and nodded slightly: "You are not unlearned."

He took the opportunity to take over the conversation and began to talk about his Chinese medicine breeding base and plan to build a pharmaceutical factory.

The old man listened quietly without comment.

After Chen Feng finished speaking, he stopped persuading him and cleared the dishes. Then he sat inside the house and drank tea and listened to the gramophone with the old man.

The old man didn't chase him away, but he didn't say much either. The two of them just listened to each other, and although the scene was strange, it also revealed a certain harmony.

This went on for three days.

Every day, Chen Feng would show up at the old man's house on time, cook for him, listen to music and drink tea with him. Occasionally, the two of them would play a game of chess.

In addition, some villagers would come to see the old man for treatment. Chen Feng watched from the side, and his admiration for the old man's medical skills became more and more.

During these three days, although Chen Feng hadn't mentioned asking the old man to come out of retirement, he knew that the relationship between him and the old man was quietly changing...