Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

The hospital corridor was shrouded in a stark white light late at night, filled with the distinctive, cold, and pungent smell of disinfectant. The red light above the emergency room entrance gleamed like an ominous eye. Qin Huairu had been inside for almost an hour. Several people sat on the benches outside, the atmosphere heavy and anxious.

Jia Dongxu slumped onto the bench, his hands covering his head, his body trembling slightly, whether from the cold or fear, it was hard to tell. Yi Zhonghai paced back and forth in the narrow corridor, his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, glancing occasionally at the tightly closed delivery room door.

Sha Zhu was like an ant on a hot pan, unable to sit still. He paced back and forth in the small open space outside the delivery room, rubbing his hands and craning his neck to try and peek through the crack in the door. He muttered unconsciously, "Why isn't she out yet... God bless her... Sister Qin must not be hurt..."

Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiecheng delivered the person and watched as they entered the emergency room, exchanging a glance. Liu Guangtian leaned closer to Yi Zhonghai: "Uncle, the person has been delivered and the doctor has taken over. There's nothing more for us to do, right? It's almost midnight. If we don't go home soon, our families will be worried. We have to get up early tomorrow."

Yan Jiecheng quickly nodded in agreement: "Yes, sir, with you, Brother Zhu, and Brother Dongxu here to keep watch, that's enough. We're just two young boys, we can't really help much."

Yi Zhonghai glanced at them, then at the closed door of the delivery room, knowing that keeping them there was pointless and might even cause trouble. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, you two go back first. Be careful on the road. You've had a hard day." He was also thinking about his wife and son back home.

Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiecheng were overjoyed and quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir," before disappearing in a flash, leaving the cart parked alone at the hospital entrance.

The corridor was empty and oppressive, with only Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, Jia Dongxu, and Jia Zhangshi muttering to herself.

Time ticked by, each second feeling like a dull knife cutting into flesh. Finally, the delivery room door creaked open. A nurse wearing a mask and a white coat, her face showing exhaustion, walked out carrying a swaddled baby.

Her gaze swept around the corridor and naturally landed on Sha Zhu, who was closest to the door, looking anxious and craning his neck. Sha Zhu's longing expression really resembled that of a husband waiting for his wife to give birth.

"Congratulations, mother and daughter are safe and sound." The nurse's voice was professionally calm as she walked straight to Sha Zhu and naturally placed the small, tightly wrapped baby in his arms. "Six pounds two ounces, very healthy. The mother is a little weak and needs rest and observation. You're the father, right? Come, hold your daughter."

The air froze instantly!

Sha Zhu instinctively reached out his hands, clumsily and cautiously catching the soft little life, his whole body stiffening! A strange feeling, a mixture of excitement, bewilderment, helplessness, and an indescribable bittersweetness, suddenly rushed to his head, leaving his mind blank.

He looked down at the wrinkled, rosy little face in the swaddling clothes, and his heart skipped a beat. This was Sister Qin's child… Sister Qin's baby…

"Pfft!" Jia Dongxu next to him jumped up from his chair like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His face turned from white to green and then to black, as if a palette of colors had been overturned.

He watched as his daughter was shoved into Sha Zhu's arms, and saw Sha Zhu's blank, "benevolent father" expression. A surge of anger mixed with immense humiliation rushed to his head, his eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and he glared fiercely at Sha Zhu, his eyes looking like he wanted to devour him!

The nurse was startled by Jia Dongxu's reaction, then noticed the man beside her with a livid face and an aura of hostility, and Sha Zhu's dazed expression, which was clearly unlike his father's. She coughed awkwardly, "Uh… who is this comrade…?"

"I! I'm the child's father! Jia Dongxu!" Jia Dongxu practically roared, his voice hoarse and filled with barely suppressed rage. He lunged forward and roughly snatched the swaddled baby from Sha Zhu's arms.

Sha Zhu hadn't even reacted when he felt his arms suddenly empty. The strange warmth vanished instantly, leaving only a cold sense of loss. He opened his mouth, looked into Jia Dongxu's fiery eyes, and awkwardly withdrew his hand. His heart felt like a jumbled mess of emotions, extremely unpleasant.

Madam Jia Zhang had wandered over at some point and happened to hear the nurse say "Mother and daughter are safe" and Jia Dongxu's angry roar. The "worry" on her face vanished instantly, replaced by extreme disappointment and bitter resentment.

She didn't go to see her granddaughter or her weakened daughter-in-law. Instead, she rushed to the nurse and demanded in a shrill voice, "What? A little girl? Nurse! You must have made a mistake! My daughter-in-law is clearly carrying a boy! A precious grandson! How could it be a money-losing child?! Take another look! You must have given her the wrong baby!"

The nurse's face instantly darkened, her eyes turning cold and stern. She sized up the mean-spirited old woman, her tone filled with undisguised disgust: "Ma'am! Watch your mouth! This is a hospital, not a market! We've delivered thousands of babies; would we make a mistake?"

"The mother risked her life to give birth inside, and you, as a family member, don't care about the mother's health, don't even look at the child, and keep calling her a 'money-losing burden'? Your preference for sons over daughters is unacceptable! If you continue to act so unreasonably, I'll call security!" The nurse's voice wasn't loud, but every word was firm and carried an unquestionable authority.

Jia Zhangshi was intimidated by the nurse's imposing manner, and upon hearing "Security Department," her arrogance immediately diminished. However, she had nowhere to vent her disappointment and resentment, and dared not lash out at the nurse, so she could only turn her anger towards the air and the unseen "jinx."

She stomped her foot, pointed towards the delivery room, and without caring whether Qin Huairu inside could hear her, started cursing at the top of her lungs. Her voice was particularly jarring in the empty corridor: "Damn it! I knew it! I knew Qin Huairu was a jinx! A cursed wretch! She's wasting all that food we have!"

"Giving birth to a child who's a worthless piece of trash! What a waste of money spent on hospital visits! Twelve dollars and thirty cents! That's enough to buy so many kilograms of cornmeal! I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry such a thing! What bad luck! So incredibly bad luck! Ugh!" She cursed more and more vehemently, spitting as she spoke, as if she wanted to vent all her losses and dissatisfaction through her curses.

After cursing, she didn't even glance at Jia Dongxu, who was holding the child, nor did she care about Qin Huairu, who was still observing inside. She turned around angrily and left, still muttering curses under her breath: "What are you looking at! A little girl like her, does she deserve to be served by an old woman like me? Dongxu! You stay and keep an eye on things! I'll go back and keep an eye on Banggeng! So that he won't be cursed by that jinx!" Her plump figure quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor, leaving behind an even more awkward silence.

The nurse frowned in disgust, too lazy to deal with this ignorant shrew, and said to Jia Dongxu in a businesslike manner, "The mother needs to stay in the hospital for observation overnight, and the baby also needs to have basic examinations. Who can go and pay the fees? We only processed the emergency admission earlier, and the delivery fee and hospital deposit totaled twelve yuan and thirty cents." After saying that, she turned around and went back to the delivery room.

Twelve yuan and thirty cents! This number struck Jia Dongxu's already heavy heart like a boulder. Holding his wailing daughter in his arms, his face grew even more ashen.

He looked at Yi Zhonghai pleadingly, his voice trembling with tears: "Master... you came in such a hurry... I... I didn't bring a single penny with me! My family... my family... they really have no money left..." His eyes flickered, and he dared not look Yi Zhonghai in the eye.

Yi Zhonghai knew exactly what was going on. Over the years, the Jia family had borrowed rice, flour, oil, salt, and spare change from them—when had they ever returned it? It was all like throwing good money after bad. But at this moment, as their master and the eldest son of the family, he couldn't very well refuse directly.

He pretended to search all his pockets, finally pulling out only a few crumpled small bills and a five-yuan note, which he then spread out in his palm with a troubled expression: "Dongxu, look, Master... I was in a hurry to leave, and I only have a little over five yuan on me... This... this isn't enough!" He deliberately showed the money to Jia Dongxu and Shazhu.

Jia Dongxu looked at the five yuan, his eyes dimmed, he held the child tighter, and his lips trembled as he couldn't speak.

Sha Zhu was still immersed in the complex emotions of holding the child and being glared at by Jia Dongxu. Now, seeing Jia Dongxu's embarrassment and Yi Zhonghai's "empty pockets", and thinking of the weak and pitiful Sister Qin inside, a surge of heroic spirit (or perhaps foolishness) rushed up again.

Without hesitation, he pulled out his wallet, which contained his recent salary and some change. Without even looking at it, he counted out seven yuan and thirty cents and stuffed it into Jia Dongxu's hand, his voice carrying a generous tone of "sharing Qin Jie's burdens": "Brother Dongxu! Take it! Pay up first! Qin Jie and the child are the priority! Money is worthless, we can earn it back!"

Jia Dongxu looked at the money in his hand, then at Sha Zhu, his eyes filled with complex emotions. There was gratitude, but more than that, there was an indescribable sense of frustration and a hint of humiliation at being given charity.

He said softly, "Zhuzi...thanks...I'll pay you back when I get paid..." His voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. Yi Zhonghai also breathed a sigh of relief and patted Sha Zhuzi on the shoulder: "Zhuzi, well done! You can be relied on in a critical moment!" But in his heart he was thinking: This silly boy, he's been taken advantage of again.

Holding his child and carrying the money, Jia Dongxu walked heavily to pay the bill.

Watching his retreating figure, Yi Zhonghai said to Sha Zhu, "Zhu Zi, there's nothing else here for now. Dongxu stays to take care of Huai Ru and the child. Tomorrow I'll have your aunt come over early so Dongxu can go back and rest for a while. You've been up most of the night, you must be exhausted, let's go back first."

Sha Zhu shook his head, his gaze drifting towards the payment window, then looking at the closed door of the delivery room, and said in a muffled voice, "Uncle, you can go back now. I... I have something to do, I'll leave later." He didn't say what it was.

Yi Zhonghai gave Sha Zhu a deep look. How could this old fox not see through Sha Zhu's feelings for Qin Huairu? But he chose to play dumb.

He nodded, not asking any further questions, but said earnestly, "Okay, then stay a little longer to help Dongxu out, but don't stay too late. Be mindful of the distance." Then, exhausted and with mixed feelings, he left the hospital.