Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

The vegetable garden wasn't large, but its yield was astonishing.

In less than two hours, all the vegetables were harvested. A small mountain of vegetables piled up on the ground: 228 jin of white radishes, each one plump and round; and 52 jin of red radishes, bright in color.

Forty-two large Chinese cabbages, each one as firm as a white jade ball, piled together like a small snow mountain, weighing no less than three hundred pounds! This yield far exceeds that of an ordinary family vegetable garden, and can be considered a bumper harvest even in a year with favorable weather.

Looking at the abundant harvest, Aunt Liu and Grandma Li were both somewhat dazed, as if they were dreaming.

Wei Chen patted the dirt off his hands, pointed to the small mountain of vegetables, and said to the two women, "Aunt Liu, Grandma Li, we are so grateful for your help this time. Otherwise, I would have been busy until dark by myself. Please take these vegetables back and add them to your meals."

Without saying a word, he picked up the small baskets that had been prepared next to him and filled two large baskets to the brim: each basket contained twenty catties of white radishes, five catties of red radishes, and two heavy Chinese cabbages.

"This...this is too much! No, this is too much, Xiao Wei!" Aunt Liu looked at the huge basket of fresh, green vegetables in front of her, waving her hands repeatedly, her voice trembling slightly. This much food would last her family for almost half a month! They usually wouldn't even throw away the vegetable scraps!

Grandma Li was so anxious she stamped her feet: "Child! This is too much! We're just helping out, how can we take so much! Keep it and eat it slowly! It's the dead of winter..."

"Please accept this!" Wei Chen's tone was gentle but firm. "I can't possibly eat all of this by myself. It'll just go to waste if it's left out for too long. You two have many children at home, and Grandma Li and your grandson need some fresh food too. Take it, don't refuse, otherwise I'll be too embarrassed to ask you for help next time."

Wei Chen's words, spoken with such conviction and genuine concern, were perfectly reasonable. Looking at the basket of bright green vegetables, and then at her two children's perpetually pale faces, Aunt Liu's eyes welled up with tears. Her lips trembled, and a thousand words stuck in her throat, finally culminating in a choked sob: "Little Wei... thank you... thank you! Auntie... Auntie will remember your kindness!" She bowed deeply.

Grandma Li was also in tears, holding Wei Chen's hand, her rough palms trembling slightly: "Good child... good child... may the Bodhisattva bless you! This old woman... thank you on behalf of my little grandson!" She was about to bow as she spoke.

Wei Chen quickly helped the two elderly people up: "Please don't do this. We're neighbors, it's only right to help each other. Take it back while it's still fresh."

At Wei Chen's repeated urging, Aunt Liu and Grandma Li finally left the east courtyard, turning back again and again to express their gratitude, carrying their heavy vegetable baskets. The two baskets of bright green vegetables stood out starkly against their worn-out clothes, and seemed both dazzling and heartwarming.

The moment their figures disappeared through the moon gate, the middle and front courtyards erupted in commotion. Many neighbors who were sunbathing or doing chores in front of their homes witnessed the scene.

"Wow! What are Aunt Liu and Grandma Li carrying? So many radishes and cabbages! They look so fresh!" someone exclaimed.

"What else could it be? It's from Wei Chen's garden! I just saw Aunt Liu and Grandma Li coming out of his yard!"

"My God! So many?! His little garden can produce so many vegetables?"

"Yeah! It looks even better than what's sold at the vegetable market! Wei Chen... he's quite the farmer, isn't he?"

"Hey, did you see that? Wei Chen gave Aunt Liu and Grandma Li each a huge basket! That's at least thirty or forty pounds! He's really generous!"

"It is quite generous... Aunt Liu and Grandma Li are having a hard time, but this... isn't this too much? A little something would have sufficed, wouldn't it?"

"Who says otherwise! So much good food, wouldn't it be better to keep it for ourselves, or exchange it for something else? Giving it away for nothing... Sigh, young people, they still don't know how to manage money!"

"I think they're stupid! They're just wasting money! That food looks so good, it's mouthwatering..."

"Shh...keep your voice down! They can give it to whomever they want! But then again, Wei Chen is a really kind-hearted kid; he knows how to take care of those in need..."

A buzz of discussion filled the air, a mixture of envy, surprise, bewilderment, and even a hint of jealousy. Some genuinely praised Wei Chen for his kindness and compassion in caring for the elderly and impoverished. Aunt Liu and Grandma Li were truly the two poorest families in the courtyard.

But many of the comments carried a sour, "spendthrift" tone, feeling that Wei Chen was not good at budgeting and was wasting good things.

Many people started to have ideas: Wei Chen's family's food is so good and there's so much of it, he definitely can't finish it all by himself! Next time there's work to be done, we'll have to rush to do it! Maybe we can get some too? Or... find some excuse to "borrow" some?

The Jia family of the Intermediate People's Court.

Jia Zhangshi peeked through the window crack and saw clearly what Aunt Liu and Grandma Li were doing as they carried their vegetable baskets. Her long, mean face darkened, her triangular eyes practically spitting fire as she cursed, "Bah! You little beast! You ingrates! You have so much good food, and instead of showing some respect to the elderly? Don't you know how to help us widows and orphans? How long has it been since Banggeng and the others have had fresh radishes and cabbages? And he, on the other hand, is throwing it away so lavishly! To those two old widows? What are they! Do they deserve to eat such good food?"

She turned around abruptly and began to berate Qin Huairu, who was sewing shoe soles: "And you! Stubborn! Blockhead! When you saw them going to the backyard to help, why didn't you go and lend a hand? Are your hands and feet crippled? If you had gone, there would have been a lot of vegetables in that basket, wouldn't there have been some for our family?"

Now look what's happened! Outsiders are getting all the benefits! Are you just going to stand by and watch them drool over it? You useless thing! How did I end up with a daughter-in-law like you!" She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, spitting everywhere.

Qin Huairu kept her head down, her hands tightly clutching the needle, thread, and shoe soles, her knuckles turning white. Her mother-in-law's scolding felt like needles piercing her heart. How could she not want to go? Those fresh, vibrant vegetables looked so tempting.

But... unlike Aunt Liu and Grandma Li, who were both destitute and considered poor by everyone in the compound, her husband, Jia Dongxu, was a first-class worker at the steel rolling mill. Although he didn't earn a particularly high salary, he was one of the most successful young people in the compound.

Unlike Sha Zhu, she wasn't shameless enough to fawn over her. Aside from Sha Zhu, that "foolish" guy, who would always offer to help her family, stick close to her, and give her things!

Asking her to "help out" at another young man's house and then asking for things... Qin Huairu felt her face burning with embarrassment. She stammered, her voice barely audible, "Mom... I... I can't possibly go... They didn't invite us..."

"Sorry? You still have the nerve to say sorry?" Jia Zhangshi's voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing. "Can face be eaten as food? Can it be eaten as a dish? You're sorry, so Bang Geng'er and the others deserve to eat pickled vegetables?!"

"You good-for-nothing! I'm telling you, you go right now! Go to the backyard and ask that little brat if there's any work to do! And while you're at it... while you're at it, order some food! Tell him Banggeng wants some! You hear me?!" She practically commanded.

Qin Huairu lowered her head even further, her shoulders trembling slightly, tears welling in her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back, biting her lower lip tightly, remaining silent. She couldn't bear to look at herself like this. This almost begging manner made her feel deeply humiliated.

At this time, Jia Dongxu was still alive, and it was the best time for the Jia family. Jia Dongxu also doted on his beautiful wife. Apart from listening to his mother, Jia Dongxu treated Qin Huairu quite well. Qin Huairu had not yet awakened her "good cop" attribute.

In the front yard, Aunt Yan Bugui's husband was washing clothes in front of their house. Naturally, he saw the two conspicuous baskets of vegetables pass by. She forgot to put down her washing mallet, her eyes fixed on them until Aunt Liu and Grandma Li's figures disappeared behind the hanging flower gate.

"My God!" The third aunt slapped her thigh suddenly, her face filled with undisguised heartache and regret, her voice trembling. "So much! Such good vegetables! All given away for nothing?! What are Aunt Liu and Grandma Li's little bit of work compared to this? If I had known earlier... if I had gone earlier... these vegetables... these vegetables would have been enough for our family to eat for a month!" She seemed to see baskets of white grains slipping away before her eyes, her heart bleeding.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and the more she felt cheated. She couldn't help but shout into the house, "Old Yan! Old Yan! Come out and see! That brat Wei Chen has given away huge baskets of vegetables from the garden to Widow Liu and Old Lady Li! Those vegetables were so fresh and beautiful... it's heartbreaking to see! Isn't he stupid? Isn't he a spendthrift? If I had known this was going to happen, I should have gone with Jie Cheng when he went to deliver the vegetables yesterday! I could have helped out, and then we could have had a share of those vegetables!" She beat her chest and stamped her feet, as if she had lost a fortune.

Inside the house, Uncle Yan Bugui, who was calculating the month's expenses on an abacus, heard this, pushed up his glasses, walked to the door, and looked at his wife's heartbroken appearance, his eyes behind his glasses flickering uncertainly.

He didn't lose his composure like his wife, but his mind was racing with calculations: Wei Chen... he's really generous! It seems he got a hefty kickback for bringing back so much meat for the factory! Otherwise, how could he be so extravagant? But... the fact that he gave so much to Aunt Liu and Grandma Li shows that he's not easily swayed by force, and he values ​​relationships... it seems his private agreement with him yesterday about the "meat" was the right thing to do! He needs to maintain this connection!

He cleared his throat and said to the third aunt in a serious tone, "Alright, alright, what's all the fuss about! It's Wei Chen's business who he wants to give himself to! What are you so envious of? Instead of wasting your time, you should think about how to get along with people! Maybe there will be other opportunities in the future!" He deliberately emphasized the phrase "other opportunities," implying his private agreement with Wei Chen yesterday.

The three women paused for a moment, then understood what their husbands meant. The regret on their faces faded slightly, but looking towards the backyard, they couldn't help but mutter, "That's true... but the vegetables... were really good..." Their eyes looked as if they had lost a gold ingot.

The small courtyard house was once again stirred by the bountiful harvest from Wei Chen's vegetable garden and his unexpected "generosity." Envy, jealousy, scheming, and greed, like an invisible spider web, quietly spread under the winter sun.

Wei Chen's name was once again thrust into the spotlight, but this time, it was accompanied by comments of him being a "spendthrift" and "foolishly generous."

He himself was standing by the small vegetable garden in the east courtyard, looking at the empty land with a calm and unwavering gaze, as if the noisy sounds were nothing more than a breeze passing by his ears.