Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

When Da Liu came over to freeload, Jiang Sen remembered the Moutai he had left over there, and he quickly urged Sui Zhongliang to go and get it back.

"I promised the captain I'd treat him to a drink when he has time to come up the mountain!"

"Hurry up and let's go! If we're late, the second squad leader will sneak a drink by himself!"

Da Liu's face darkened. "Am I really that irresistible?" he said, picking up Sui Zhongliang's teacup and taking a sip of strong liquor. "To be honest, strong liquor is the most satisfying!"

Sui Zhongliang laughed heartily, "It's alright, it's alright, he wouldn't dare! Go get it tomorrow when you have time! Old cripple, it's yours now."

The old cripple took a sip of strong liquor, and his eyes narrowed with delight.

He nodded. "Sure, if they won't give it to me, I'll just snatch it back!"

Everyone burst into laughter again.

That night, Da Liu didn't leave until midnight.

Jiang Sen also drank quite a bit; he finished off a whole wine flask.

When he woke up the next day, he still felt a little lightheaded.

After breakfast, I checked the temperature and it had risen a bit.

Sui Zhongliang said, "Bring your raincoat and boots; it looks like it's going to rain."

Jiang Sen changed his clothes, feeling like he was about to stink.

None of them had taken a bath after arriving here, and several of them were looking for lice on their clothes while resting.

He squeezed his two thumb nails together, and with a "pop," a drop of blood appeared.

Jiang Sen only wiped himself down with a towel when he had time and changed his clothes frequently.

So, although he looked cleaner than others, he wasn't much better off.

Moreover, he started growing a beard.

It used to be malnourished, with only fine hairs around its mouth, but now they've turned black.

When he got up this morning, he lathered up with soap and used a sickle to shave his face against the half-broken mirror.

I learned this from other people.

He thought that when he had time to go to the farm headquarters again, he must buy a razor. It's not that he can't afford it, he just forgets, he always forgets.

The mountain patrol has begun again.

The group walked along the path towards the back of the mountain.

They had gone that way before, circled around two hills, and returned after three days.

This time, Sui Zhongliang planned to move to the side.

Jiang Sen learned from Li Chaoyang that the purpose of patrolling the mountains was not only to protect the forest from wild animals.

The real purpose is to find the hiding place that Xiao Ma didn't reveal.

He has been missing for three days, so the search area is limited to the surrounding area within a two- or three-day journey.

However, they couldn't search so openly; they had to use the guise of patrolling the mountain to cover it up.

Jiang Sen guessed that only Sui Zhongliang probably knew the purpose behind this.

"I know that too," Jiang Sen thought to himself.

But we can't just pretend we don't know.

That evening, after arriving at the place where Fu Chunsheng and the others had fallen, Fu Chunsheng pointed out the trampled area to Jiang Sen.

"See that? Right here! That's where it fell!"

Sui Zhongliang laughed and said, "Stop talking nonsense, let's go down and spend the night in the cave!"

It seems they not only found bracken, but also discovered a good place to spend the night.

Jiang Sen followed them around from the side and finally understood how big Fu Chunsheng meant when he said "the big one".

The entire hillside in front of the cave looked like a fern plantation, with ferns everywhere you looked.

Each small pole has a head that looks like a chicken claw or fist sticking out of it.

In some parts of Northeast China, bracken fern is called "chicken claw vegetable".

The tender green with a hint of red is quite spectacular.

The cave was spacious but not deep, and there were ashes left by them in the middle.

After putting their things down, everyone divided up the tasks: some cooked, and others picked vegetables.

For dinner, they ate raw bracken salad, mushroom soup, steamed buns, and dried meat made by the old cripple.

Since Class Six was established, they seem to be able to eat meat at every meal.

The old cripple was indeed very capable. He would make the meat he couldn't finish into jerky, which they would then take as provisions.

Jiang Sen felt that this was the worst life he could ever live; he wouldn't trade it for a hundred dollars.

I might consider it for 1,000 yuan.

If it's 10,000 yuan...

Give him all the luggage!

During the rest period, we lit a campfire in the cave to keep out wild animals and keep warm.

The next day, they walked down the hillside.

Soon, they arrived at the bank of a stream below.

The group stopped to have lunch and wash their faces.

The sun was warm, but the temperature was still very low, and the stream water was made from melted snow, making it icy cold.

Sui Zhongliang washed his face, stood up, and while shaking the water off his hands, observed the situation in the mountains on both sides.

Suddenly, he pointed to the hillside opposite and said, "Look, isn't that the hunter's hut?"

Everyone stood up and looked in that direction.

In the dense forest, a protruding piece of wood can be vaguely seen.

Because the wood is horizontal and dark in color, it stands out from the surrounding trees and is very likely a roof beam.

Jiang Sen said, "Squad leader, I'll go take a look!"

Sui Zhongliang thought for a moment, "Let's eat first!"

"quickly!"

"Grab your gun! I'm going with you! The rest of you stay put!"

Those who stayed behind continued cooking, but would occasionally glance across the street.

In fact, there are many hunter cabins in the mountains, but not everyone living there is a hunter.

Deep in the mountains, unlike the hunter's huts along the way to the farm headquarters, it's not very safe.

There's a risk of encountering poachers crossing the border or spies if there are people here, so everyone is still very cautious.

Jiang Sen guessed that, based on the two or three days that Xiao Ma had been missing, this hut was indeed within his reach.

He and Sui Zhongliang crossed the stream by stepping on the stones and climbed up the mountain.

The path up the mountain is not difficult to walk, and you can see traces of a path that has been carved out by human hands.

Soon, the two arrived outside the hut. Sui Zhongliang raised his hand, and the two stopped and carefully observed what lay ahead.

In front of the hut, there was a small, leveled open space with a few stones on it.

There were also a few pieces of wood piled up next to it.

The cottage was ordinary, no different from any other they had ever seen.

The door was half-closed, and wooden boards were nailed to the windows.

I could faintly smell the scent of burning wood.

This indicates that someone had been here not long ago.

Sui Zhongliang picked up a stone and threw it.

The stone hit the door with a "thud".

After waiting for a while and seeing no movement from the wooden house, Sui Zhongliang said, "Nobody's here. Let's go check it out!"

Jiang Sen followed Sui Zhongliang to the front of the wooden house, holding the gun in his hand with the muzzle pointing downwards.

Sui Zhongliang glanced back at him, a smile in his eyes, and opened the door.

Once inside, there was a quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed), folded but not neatly arranged.

There was burnt wood in the stove pit next to it.

Sui Zhongliang took it out, glanced at it, and rubbed it with his hands. "It hasn't been more than a week."

He then glanced at the bags on the shelf next to him; the grains, wild vegetables, and mushrooms inside were all of good quality.

"This is new grain!"

There was also a large piece of dried meat, with obvious signs of being cut on the lower half.

The cut was very fresh, revealing the pink flesh inside.

“Less than a week!” Sui Zhongliang said again.

Jiang Sen admired Sui Zhongliang for being able to deduce so much with just a glance, and diligently followed behind him to learn.

Finally, Sui Zhongliang got onto the kang (a heated brick bed), pulled the quilt open, and shook it.

He paused, then said, "Someone came, but it hasn't been more than three days. There's not a speck of dust on the blanket."

Jiang Sen wanted to ask if this was a place Xiao Ma had been, but he swallowed his question.

Sui Zhongliang jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and carefully observed the situation inside the room.

He was about to say he was going back when he suddenly turned around and stared at the mat on the kang (a heated brick bed).