Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

As soon as Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu entered the house, they tearfully recounted the whole story, emphasizing how the people from Jiajia Village and Qinjia Village had "bullied" them, how Jia Zhangshi had been "beaten," and how their family was now in dire straits, "unable to afford food" and "about to starve to death."

Yi Zhonghai listened expressionlessly, his fingers tapping irritably on his knees. After the two finished speaking, only Qin Huairu's suppressed sobs remained in the room.

He let out a long sigh, his tone filled with suppressed anger and deep helplessness: "Dongxu! Huairu! What am I supposed to say?! Huh?! Whose fault is this?! Last year! Right last year! Didn't Director Wang from the neighborhood committee come to our door in person?! Didn't he earnestly advise you to take advantage of the policy's still-relaxed stance and quickly transfer your mother and Huairu's household registration to the city?! Get a ration, even if it's small, it's stable! Guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood!"

He grew angrier as he spoke, his voice rising involuntarily: "But what about you? What about your mother?! What did she say back then?! 'No way! If the household registration is moved, the land in the village will be gone! We'll lose hundreds of kilograms of grain a year! What a huge loss!' 'The rations in the city aren't even enough to fill a tooth gap!' 'We have roots in the village!' Didn't you say those things?! Now look what's happened! The land is gone! The grain is gone! We're at our wits' end! Now you remember me, your mentor? Now you remember the neighborhood committee?!"

Jia Dongxu, humiliated by the scolding, stammered, "Master...we...we didn't expect...this cooperative..."

"Didn't expect that?! Hmph!" Yi Zhonghai snorted coldly, interrupting him, "It's greed! It's clinging to that little bit of advantage and unwilling to let go! The policy is now firmly in place, is the law a joke? It's the law! Rural residents have to stay in the village and eat based on work points! Urban residents get rations! These are ironclad rules! And you two, trying to have your cake and eat it too, wanting to have the benefits of both! There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

Qin Huairu cried even harder, clutching Banggeng and kneeling down with a thud: "Uncle... Uncle, you're right... We were foolish... We were greedy... But... But it's too late to say all this now... Banggeng is still so small... And I'm about to give birth... Dongxu's ration... It's really... really not enough..."

"Please...please, for the sake of Dongxu being your apprentice...for the sake of...for the sake of our family being starving to death...please help us...please go and talk to Director Wang of the neighborhood office...please...see if...if you can...transfer my and my mother's household registration here? Even...even just one of us?" She raised her tear-filled face, looking at Yi Zhonghai with pleading eyes.

Looking at Qin Huairu kneeling on the ground, heavily pregnant, and then at Jia Dongxu's bewildered and pathetic state, Yi Zhonghai felt his temples throbbing, and a deep sense of exhaustion and powerlessness swept over his entire body.

Ignore it? If the Jia family really starves to death, Yi Zhonghai, as their mentor and the eldest elder in the courtyard, will lose face. More importantly, his carefully chosen caretaker, Jia Dongxu, might truly collapse. Take action? That's clearly jumping into a bottomless pit of mud!

He waved his hand irritably: "Get up! What kind of behavior is it to kneel like that!" An older woman quickly stepped forward and helped Qin Huairu up.

Yi Zhonghai remained silent for a long time, so long that Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's hearts were in their throats. Only then did he seem to have made up his mind, letting out a heavy sigh, his voice filled with exhaustion and resignation: "Alas! You wretched child! Tomorrow... tomorrow I'll go to the factory and ask for half a day off. Dongxu, you should ask for a day off too!"

I'll risk all my pride and take you to the neighborhood office to ask Director Wang! But let me be clear, I have absolutely no chance of it working out! You'd better not get your hopes up too high! The policies are what they are, and Director Wang isn't a miracle worker!

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!" Jia Dongxu was overjoyed, almost kneeling down again. "Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Uncle!" Qin Huairu also thanked him repeatedly, a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes.

The next morning, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu arrived at the somewhat old gray building housing the street office. They stood at the door, stamping their feet in the cold, their hearts pounding, unsure how to begin.

As luck would have it, just as Yi Zhonghai was bracing himself to go inside, the door to the subdistrict office opened. Director Wang, dressed in a faded blue Lenin suit and a gray woolen scarf, carrying a folder, rushed out, seemingly about to go out on business.

"Director Wang!" Yi Zhonghai's eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward to stop him.

Director Wang stopped and, recognizing Yi Zhonghai and the timid Jia Dongxu behind him, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he maintained a businesslike expression: "Oh, it's Master Yi, and Comrade Jia Dongxu. What's the matter?"

Yi Zhonghai forced a smile, trying to make his tone sound earnest yet helpless: "Director Wang, I'm sorry to bother you. I have a really big problem, and I have no choice but to trouble you..."

He pointed at Jia Dongxu, "Well, it's because of their household registration... Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, and their child Banggeng have always had their household registration in the countryside, but this year... well, you've probably heard about the situation, the village isn't distributing grain anymore..."

Look, this family of five, almost five people, are all relying on Dongxu's meager ration. They're barely surviving! They're on the verge of starving! We...we really have no other choice but to swallow our pride and beg you.

"Let's see if the organization can make an exception and transfer Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu's household registration to the city. At least... at least they'll have a way to survive!" Yi Zhonghai said, his face showing a pained and anxious expression.

Director Wang listened quietly, her face expressionless. After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, her sharp eyes swept over both Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, finally settling on Jia Dongxu's evasive gaze. Her tone was calm, yet penetrating: "Comrade Yi Zhonghai," she addressed him directly, "you're also a long-time resident of our neighborhood, a veteran worker at the steel mill, a level seven fitter! Your awareness should be very high!"

Her voice suddenly turned stern: "What do you mean by 'giving people no way to survive'? What do you mean by 'letting people starve to death'? Huh?! How can you just say such things like that?! Which of the country's policies has forced people to starve to death?!"

Taken aback by the sudden question, Yi Zhonghai felt embarrassed and quickly explained, "Director Wang, please don't misunderstand, that's not what I meant... I meant their family's situation is special..."

"Special?" Director Wang interrupted him without any politeness, his tone carrying a knowing coldness. "Last year, around this time, didn't I personally visit your courtyard house? Didn't I specifically talk to Jia Zhangshi and Comrade Qin Huairu?"

I patiently and meticulously explained the policies and the pros and cons to them! I urged them to take advantage of the remaining opportunity to transfer their household registration here! That way, they could receive rationed food and have a secure livelihood! But what did they say to me back then?

Director Wang's voice suddenly rose, filled with clear recollection and suppressed anger: "Comrade Jia Zhangshi stood with her hands on her hips, her voice louder than anyone else's! She said, 'Director Wang, I appreciate your kindness! But this household registration can't be transferred! If it's transferred, my Jiajia Village's few acres of good land will be gone! That's hundreds of kilograms less grain a year! What can this small ration in the city do? It's barely enough to fill a tooth gap! Our Jia family has roots in Jiajia Village! We have land! We won't go hungry!'"

"Comrade Qin Huairu was standing right next to her at the time, head down, quietly chiming in, saying that she could also get grain from her land in Qin Family Village..."

"What? Only a year has passed! Jiajia Village's land is gone? Qinjia Village's roots are severed too? And now you're thinking about the meager rations in the city that aren't even enough to fill a tooth gap? And you're thinking about the neighborhood committee, and me, the director?!"

Director Wang's words struck Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu like a whip, leaving them both blushing and unable to lift their heads.

Director Wang took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and regained his calm, businesslike tone: "Master Yi, Comrade Jia Dongxu, policy is policy! The 'Household Registration Regulations' promulgated last year clearly stipulates the urban and rural household registration management system in the form of national law!"

Strictly control population movement, especially the migration of rural residents to cities! Comrade Jia Zhangshi's household registration is in Jiajia Village, and Comrade Qin Huairu's is in Qinjia Village; both are rural residents! What they should do now is return to their respective registered residence locations and participate in the production labor of the rural cooperatives! Earn work points through their own labor to exchange for food rations! This is the right path! This is the fundamental solution to their difficulties!

She looked at Yi Zhonghai, her eyes sharp as knives: "Instead of staying in the city like this, shifting all the pressure onto the already strained urban supply system! Shifting it onto Comrade Jia Dongxu alone! And then coming to me crying, 'People are starving to death!' Comrade Yi Zhonghai, tell me, is this reasonable? Is this fair?!"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He knew Director Wang's words were all reasonable and piercing. He could only apologize repeatedly: "Director Wang, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was confused! I didn't know how to speak! I... I was just anxious, seeing how difficult their family was... I spoke without thinking... Please don't be angry, please don't be angry..."

Director Wang saw that his attitude in admitting his mistake was sincere, so his tone softened a little, but his attitude remained firm: "We all have difficulties! This year is a year of great disasters, and the whole country is tightening its belts! Our urban residents' rations have also been reduced by two kilograms per person per month since last month! We are all struggling!"

Rural cooperatives do face more difficult conditions, but they organize production to help themselves, and the government is also allocating grain back to support them! As long as you are willing to work hard and endure hardship, no cooperative will let people starve to death!

The biggest problem is that they don't go back to participate in collective production; they just stay in the city waiting for a windfall! The neighborhood committee absolutely cannot open this door! Opening it would be extremely unfair to other people who abide by the policies! I, Wang Guifen, cannot bear this responsibility!

She glanced at her watch, her tone leaving no room for argument: "Alright, Master Yi, Comrade Jia Dongxu, that's the situation. The policies and regulations are there, there's no room for compromise. I have an urgent meeting to attend in the district."

Please go back and do some serious work with Jia Zhangshi and Comrade Qin Huairu, urging them to return to their respective registered residences to participate in labor as soon as possible. This is the right way to solve their difficulties! Goodbye!