Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen looked around the simple but well-organized home, his gaze falling on the small coal stove in the corner, where a pot of water was bubbling and steaming.

He turned to his mother and began the conversation naturally: "Mom, Xiaoran will be on holiday after her exams. You should pack your things and come with me to Beijing. The household registration has already been transferred, so we'll have to go there sooner or later. The courtyard there isn't big, but it's very well-maintained. It has a heated kang bed, and the windows are sealed tight. It's warmer than here in winter. Besides, we'll be spending the Spring Festival in Beijing this year; it'll be more lively there."

Wang Xiulan was pouring hot water for Wei Chen into an enamel mug when she heard this and paused. She looked up at her son, then at her daughter nestled beside her brother with expectant eyes, a complex expression flashing across her face.

A mix of emotions—a longing for her homeland, apprehension about life in the unknown city, and relief that her son had settled down in the city—was present.

She paused for a few seconds before slowly handing the hot water to Wei Chen, her voice gentle yet tinged with a barely perceptible sigh: "Chenzi, you're right. The household registration is already transferred, so we'll have to leave eventually. Xiao Ran's education is important; conditions are better in the city. It's just..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the furnishings in the room. "I've lived here most of my life, and suddenly I have to leave. I feel a little empty inside. But for you all, for Xiaoran's future, Mom will listen to you. After Xiaoran finishes her exams and goes on vacation, we'll go to Beijing with you. This year, we'll spend the New Year in the city."

"Great!" Wei Ran clapped her hands excitedly, her little face full of excitement. She was already looking forward to life in the city. "Brother, are there lots of big stores in the city? And parks? Do they have candied hawthorns?"

"Yes, everything!" Wei Chen felt a weight lifted from his heart as he watched his sister's excited expression. It was best that his mother understood. He smiled and agreed with his sister, "When you go, I'll take you shopping."

At noon, Wei Chen took his family's food coupons and money and went to the village canteen for lunch as usual. The canteen was still the same big courtyard, with several large pots steaming on the open-air stove, but the atmosphere was completely different from the bustling scene and fragrant food a few months ago.

The line for food was sparse, with few smiles on their faces, mostly silent and tinged with an indescribable weariness. A faint, unappealing aroma of coarse grains and wild vegetables filled the air, replacing the rich, flavorful smell of the meals I remembered.

When it was Wei Chen's turn, the person in charge of the ladle was a man from the village named Shuanzhu. He used to be able to scoop rice without his head shaking, but now he was scooping it with extra care.

Wei Chen's coarse porcelain bowl was only half full of a grayish-brown paste with almost no oil, with a few wilted yellow vegetable leaves floating on top. Next to it were two small steamed buns made from mixed flour, which felt light and weightless in his hand.

He found a corner to sit down, took his bowl, stirred the porridge in the bowl with his chopsticks, and took a sip. The taste was bland, with a slightly astringent aftertaste, and the texture was rough, far less thick and filling than before. The cornbread was also dry, hard, and crumbly, lacking the characteristic aroma of grains.

The meal was rather unappetizing. In the afternoon, Wei Chen found an excuse to slip away to his uncle Wei Changsheng's house. His uncle's courtyard was fairly tidy, but the firewood piled in the corner seemed to have decreased considerably.

Wei Changsheng was sitting on a small stool in the main room, puffing on his pipe in the sunlight streaming through the window. His brows were furrowed, and the wrinkles on his forehead were as deep as if carved by a knife. The room was filled with the pungent smell of cheap tobacco.

"Uncle." Wei Chen walked in and pulled over a small stool to sit down.

"Chenzi is here." Wei Changsheng looked up, his cloudy eyes filled with deep worry. He tapped his pipe bowl, knocking off some ash. "Have you eaten yet? The food at the village canteen... sigh."

He sighed heavily, and before Wei Chen could answer, he shook his head, his voice lowered, carrying the heaviness and helplessness of someone who had been through it all, "Now all the villages are pretty much the same, the same situation everywhere. Who would dare to eat and drink like they did a few days ago, spending money recklessly?"

He leaned closer, his pipe almost touching Wei Chen's knee, his voice low, almost a whisper: "Firstly, we really don't have much food left. You didn't see how bad things were a while ago... A lot of stuff was wasted; even feeding it to the pigs was considered a waste! Thinking about it now, it hurts my heart!"

He pounded his chest, his face full of regret. "Secondly, everyone knows perfectly well what's going on. This year, the heavens have been unkind; the drought is terribly severe! The ground has cracked open with fissures the width of a hand, and the wheat seedlings are yellowish and drooping. With spring fast approaching, will things recover? How much summer grain will we be able to harvest next year? Who has any idea? Nobody has any idea! Everyone's afraid! Afraid of going hungry!"

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, the acrid smoke making him cough twice. After a moment, his voice carried a hint of lingering fear and barely perceptible relief: "Chenzi, it's all thanks to you, kid, for being so clear-headed and reminding your uncle early on. I had my own reservations and didn't dare let them do whatever they wanted."

"Our village...sigh, although we've wasted quite a bit, compared to some places, it's nothing! You haven't heard, some villages are truly terrifying! They waste perfectly good white flour buns! They even feed the pigs better than people! That's not living a proper life, that's squandering money! Now look what's happened, we have nowhere to cry!" Wei Changsheng shook his head, his gray hair particularly glaring in the dim light. He spoke the word "waste" through gritted teeth, filled with heartache and indignation.

He paused, his calloused fingers unconsciously rubbing the cold tobacco pipe handle, his gaze fixed on the bare branches of the jujube tree outside the window, his voice heavy as if filled with lead: "And... when the steel furnace was burning brightly, all the able-bodied men in the village who could work were pulled away to build earthen blast furnaces, smash pots and hoes, search for ore all over the mountains and fields, and cut down trees to make charcoal."

"The crops in the fields? Who has time to care? How many planting seasons have been missed? How much weeding and fertilizing has been neglected? Now the stove is cold, people have returned, but the land is overgrown... This season's harvest is hanging by a thread! Sigh, I can only vent to you here; I wouldn't dare say this outside." He spoke the last few words with great difficulty, carrying a profound sense of bewilderment and powerlessness regarding the future.

Listening to his uncle's heavy words and looking at his face, which was etched with worry and the wrinkles of time, Wei Chen's heart sank little by little.

He remained silent, offering no reply. The wheels of history rolled heavily on, and the power of the individual seemed so insignificant. He could remind his uncle, could secure a future for his own family, but he was powerless to change the impending predicament facing the entire village, or even a wider area.

This feeling of powerlessness, like cold vines, coiled around his heart. He could only clench his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.

Leaving his uncle's house, Wei Chen felt even heavier than when he arrived. Returning home in the evening, watching his mother's slightly frail figure busy in the kitchen, and his younger sister's profile as she diligently did her homework at the kang table, he made up his mind.

"Mom," Wei Chen said as he walked into the kitchen, the flickering flames in the stove illuminating his young yet remarkably composed face, "we won't be eating at the village canteen anymore."

Wang Xiulan was putting noodles into the pot when she heard this and turned around in surprise: "Aren't you going to the canteen? You've already paid for your food coupons this week..."

"It's done, it's done," Wei Chen walked over, took the long chopsticks from his mother's hand, and stirred the noodles boiling in the pot. "But as you can see, the food in the cafeteria is really inedible now. It's all watery and bland, with no oil or even any grain flavor left. Look at you and Xiao Ran, you've both lost a lot of weight."

His tone was full of concern, "Your household registration isn't in the village anymore, so you're helping out in the canteen out of kindness and out of consideration for the villagers. It's only right that we pay for our meals with ration coupons. But since you can't eat well even with the money and coupons, why bother? Let's just cook at home. We don't lack food at home, and we have some cured meat and eggs that I brought back last time. Let's cook for ourselves and have a hot and satisfying meal."

Looking at her son's determined eyes, and recalling the bland meal she had brought home at noon, and the slight furrow in her daughter Wei Ran's brow as she ate, Wang Xiulan hesitated for a moment before finally nodding: "Okay, Chenzi, I'll listen to you. Anyway, there are only ten days left. It'll be easier for the three of us to eat at home. I'll cook for you."

The next day at noon, the kitchen no longer smelled of the mixed, slightly swill-laden odor of the canteen, but rather the long-lost, pure and enticing aroma of food.

Wang Xiulan cracked a few eggs she had saved up at home into a bowl and beat them. The golden egg liquid sizzled in the hot iron pan and quickly expanded into tender yellow and fragrant egg flowers.

She scooped a spoonful of her treasured lard into the wok, sautéed some chopped scallions, then poured in boiling water and added hand-rolled noodles of uniform width. The noodles tumbled in the boiling water, and finally, she added the stir-fried egg and a small handful of chopped tender green leafy vegetables to the wok, along with a few drops of sesame oil.

Instantly, the rich aroma of eggs, noodles, and lard filled the small kitchen and even seeped through the cracks in the door, permeating the entire main room.

Wei Chen and Wei Ran were already irresistibly drawn in by the aroma, eagerly waiting at the kitchen door. When two large bowls of steaming hot egg noodles, garnished with golden egg flowers and vibrant green vegetables, were placed on the heated kang table, Wei Ran couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! It smells so good!"

Wei Chen took a deep breath, and the familiar and warm home-cooked smell instantly dispelled the gloom in his heart and the fatigue in his body that had been lingering for days. He picked up his chopsticks, scooped up a large mouthful of noodles, blew on it, and eagerly put it into his mouth.

The noodles were chewy and smooth, infused with the rich aroma of eggs and the savory flavor of lard. One bite, and warmth spread from the tip of his tongue all the way to his stomach, soothing him and making his whole body feel relaxed. He lowered his head and ate heartily, the slurping sounds filled with satisfaction.