Niu Hong was surprised to look at Niu Dongsheng.
At this moment, there was a hint of pleading in Niu Dongsheng's eyes, a sick man's yearning for life.
Turning his head to look at Dongsheng's wife, a flush appeared on her sallow face, her eyes darted around before meeting his gaze, like a magnet pulling him in, with a hint of youthful shyness and a woman's firm determination.
Niu Hong suddenly understood that this was clearly a decision made by both husband and wife.
He understood the meaning of "pulling a team" - simply put, it was one wife with two husbands, with the original husband being the main one and the team member being the secondary one.
Before liberation, this marriage custom existed in Northeast China and even across the country, but now it was a new era. How could Brother Dongsheng still have such thoughts?
Niu Hong withdrew his gaze and looked again at Niu Dongsheng lying on the bed.
"Brother Dongsheng, why would you take this path?"
Niu Dongsheng's expression darkened, he took several deep breaths, and when his breathing steadied, he said,
"Ah! My nephew is three years old, my niece is two, and brother's body... Your sister-in-law is only twenty-one this year, she's too young. Without this path, how will my family survive!"
When his words fell, everyone in the room fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
Niu Hong racked his brains but couldn't imagine that after being reborn, he would encounter Brother Dongsheng asking him to pull a team for him. This was different from his previous experiences before rebirth!
This showed that even with rebirth, the trajectory of life after restarting would change in unpredictable ways.
This was perhaps the value and charm of rebirth.
After a moment, Zhang Qiaoying spoke up,
"Brother Hong, according to the rules of pulling a team, this should have been my words. Your brother was worried you wouldn't agree, so he insisted on saying it himself."
Zhang Qiaoying's mood had calmed down. Since the head of the family had already spoken clearly, she might as well put her attitude on the table.
After they finished speaking, both looked at Niu Hong sitting on the edge of the bed, hoping to hear the word "agree" from his mouth.
Facing the earnest invitation of Niu Dongsheng and Zhang Qiaoying,
A beautiful figure appeared in Niu Hong's mind - his childhood sweetheart, his former lover whom he had once missed.
Calculating the time, she wasn't married yet.
Now that he had returned from rebirth, should he not seek out his long-lost love and instead become a team member for someone else?
Niu Hong made up his mind and said,
"Brother, Sister-in-law, I remember all the kindness you've shown me. In the future, whenever you need me, I'll do my utmost to help you.
Help me take care of my little sister. I'll go out to find some food and be back soon."
Whether pulling a team or doing anything else, the first priority must be to survive.
In Niu Hong's view,
That half bird's egg was already the last remaining food in Brother Dongsheng's family. If he couldn't find food quickly, not only would his little sister continue to starve, but Brother Dongsheng's family would also fall into hunger.
"Brother Hong, where will you look for food? It's almost dark, it's too dangerous outside," Zhang Qiaoying's eyes showed a hint of tenderness as she looked at the honest Niu Hong with concern.
"Don't worry, Sister-in-law, I'll be back soon."
Niu Hong forced himself to smile at Zhang Qiaoying, then looked at his little sister Niu Flower, giving her a reassuring look, and turned to open the door and walk out.
At this moment,
The wind and snow had stopped, and night had fallen.
The snow glittered under the starlight, shining with a crystalline glow.
The temperature outside had dropped even further, and Niu Hong felt increasingly cold, a bone-chilling cold.
He couldn't help but shiver twice, quickly wrapping his thin clothes tighter around him, hugging his arms in front of his chest, and looking down as he walked quickly forward.
"Brother Hong, if you can't do it, come back quickly, don't be stubborn!" came Zhang Qiaoying's concerned voice from far behind.
Niu Hong waved his hand without turning back. He knew he was very weak and tired.
But,
He must find food tonight, otherwise tomorrow would repeat today's hunger, and people might even starve to death.
Just as he left the village and looked around, he found no one.
Niu Hong quickly found a brand new snow camouflage combat uniform and combat boots from the warehouse. With a thought, they automatically appeared on his body and feet.
The clothes were light, fitted, and warm,
The combat boots were both warm and comfortable.
"Tsk tsk, so warm, so comfortable!"
Niu Hong couldn't help but praise modern technology in his heart.
For some reason,
Niu Hong suddenly thought of the coming terrifying decade, realized something, and couldn't help but feel a chill.
He immediately decided that no information about the contents of the warehouse could be leaked to the outside world, not even a hint. No one else must know, not even his own sister Niu Flower.
Otherwise, it would bring him deadly danger.
With this decision made, he observed his surroundings again and confirmed there was no one.
Niu Hong quickly found a snow ghillie suit from the warehouse and put it on, better camouflaging himself into the vast wilderness.
Niu Hong then took out a military helmet with thermal imaging night vision and put it on, making everything around him instantly clear.
Putting on snow skis, he followed his memory and quickly slid towards the mountains behind Niu Village.
The snow covered everything, hiding the tracks left by animals.
However, for Niu Hong wearing a thermal imaging night vision helmet, any heat source in his field of vision would be exposed.
Sliding through the forest, Niu Hong focused his gaze on the leeward slopes and the snow under the trees, these were places where Hazel Grouses liked to dig holes to hide and sleep.
The Hazel Grouse, also known as the Flower-tailed Phasianus or Kill-a-Pound, had extremely tender meat and delicious flavor. Especially the chicken soup made from clear water cooking, its unique flavor lingered in the mouth.
For his little sister's weak body, it was a rare nourishing ingredient.
Hard work pays off,
After careful searching, a red heat source appeared in Niu Hong's field of vision five meters ahead, under the roots of a birch tree. Judging by the size of the outline, it was indeed a Hazel Grouse.
"Good, you'll do."
Niu Hong thought, and a high-precision sniper rifle with night vision appeared in his hand.
To avoid alarming other animals, Niu Hong carefully attached a silencer.
Just as he was about to shoot, Niu Hong thought, and a bow and arrow specially designed for special forces appeared in his hand, along with three arrows.
At this close distance, a bow and arrow was enough to take down a Hazel Grouse!
Loading the arrow, carefully aiming,
"Whoosh,"
The arrow flew through the air in a straight line, its powerful force piercing through the snow layer and accurately piercing the Hazel Grouse's neck.
Hmm, a good start!
Niu Hong was very happy, sliding his ski to the prey, bending over to pull the lifeless Hazel Grouse out of the snow hole. Holding it in his hand, he felt it was heavy, roughly estimating it to be at least eight ounces if not a pound.
Pulling out the arrow, wiping it clean on the snow, he placed it aside.
Using a dagger, he made a deep cut on the Hazel Grouse's neck, and its blood instantly flowed out.
The hot blood melted a hole in the snow, which then froze into a blood-colored ice block in an instant.
When the chicken blood was almost drained, Niu Hong found another place to remove the Hazel Grouse's intestines and threw them away.
After finishing all this, Niu Hong felt his strength was almost drained. Looking at the blood ice block on the snow, he carefully picked it up and used the dagger to gently chip off a piece and put it in his mouth.
Although it was icy cold when it entered his mouth and didn't taste fresh,
But as the blood block entered his stomach, Niu Hong felt his strength gradually returning, and his energy was more vigorous than before.
After a brief rest,
Niu Hong thought, and put both the blood block and the Hazel Grouse into the military warehouse.
Putting away the bow and arrow, he continued to search forward slowly on his skis.
In the following hour, three more Hazel Grouses were put into the warehouse by Niu Hong.
With four Hazel Grouses in hand, Niu Hong was no longer interested in small game like wild chickens and rabbits, unwilling to waste time.
His current goal was to catch a few large wild boars or stupid deer, or even better, a moose.
Such large prey, catching one would be enough to eat for many days, achieving twice the result with half the effort!
Niu Hong's eyes searched up and down, left and right, muttering to himself:
"All because of the three-year drought, why is it so hard to catch a wild boar?"
Suddenly,
Niu Hong felt a chill run down his spine and turned his head sharply, only to be greatly startled!