Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

When Wei Chen finally pushed open the moon door, which he had loosely closed with a wooden board, and returned to the front yard, he immediately felt countless gazes directed at him. The women washing clothes, picking vegetables, and comforting children all slowed down, their eyes filled with a desire to investigate and discuss.

Aunt Yang Ruihua was the first to greet him, her warm smile melting even the coldest heart: "Comrade Wei Chen, you've finished looking? Oh dear, that place is quite dilapidated; cleaning it up won't be easy! If you need any help, just let us know! We have plenty of family members!"

"Thank you, Aunt Yang!" Wei Chen replied with a smile, his attitude humble but maintaining a distance. "I just finished looking at it, and it definitely needs a good tidying up. Once we find a contractor and set up a plan, we'll definitely need to trouble you and the neighbors in the courtyard."

"Oh dear! My husband is the third uncle in the courtyard, so everyone calls me Third Aunt. You can call me that too. It feels strange to call me Aunt Yang!" Third Aunt said.

"Okay, Auntie!" Wei Chen said and then took his leave.

He didn't linger, pushing his cart straight towards the courtyard gate. Behind him, hushed whispers spread rapidly like ripples on water.

"See that bicycle? It's a 'Forever' brand! I heard it's provided by the factory."

"You really bought that run-down place in the east wing? And built it yourself? That'll cost a fortune! Even if you have money, you can't spend it like that. It's not like the government isn't going to allocate land!"

"I heard he's a purchasing agent from a steel rolling mill? And that wild boar yesterday..."

"Tsk tsk, so promising for his age..." "I wonder if he's married yet? He looks like a very energetic young man..."

Wei Chen ignored these comments. He mounted his bicycle, the wheels turned, and he rode out of the slightly mottled, bright gate of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

To our next destination today, the east entrance of Mao'er Hutong, to find Wu Degui, Master Wu. The blueprint for building the house will begin to be drawn from there. And his "Golden House" plan will officially begin on this ruin.

Wei Chen rode his "Forever" 28-inch bicycle through the hutongs of Beijing. Sunlight slanted across the mottled blue brick walls, lengthening the shadows of pedestrians. The air was filled with the smells of coal smoke, the lingering aroma of oil from breakfast stalls, and the faint scent of daily life emanating from the depths of the hutongs. Following the address given by Officer Liu, he made his way through a maze of turns and finally found the east entrance of Mao'er Hutong.

This is a relatively well-organized cluster of courtyard houses, slightly newer than No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, but still crammed with small kitchens and coal sheds built later. Several elderly women sat in the sun at the entrance, sewing shoe soles, their eyes filled with the scrutinizing gaze typical of alleyway residents.

Wei Chen parked his car, a gentle smile on his face, and walked up to a kind-looking middle-aged woman: "Ma'am, could you tell me about someone? Does Master Wu Degui live in this compound?"

The middle-aged woman raised her eyelids, sized Wei Chen up and down, then glanced at his gleaming new car, a slight smile appearing on her face: "Looking for Old Wu? Are you his relative?"

"No, it was Officer Liu from the neighborhood office who introduced me. I have some work to do and would like to ask Master Wu to take a look," Wei Chen explained.

"Oh! Officer Liu recommended you!" The woman's attitude immediately became much warmer. She stood up, pointed into the courtyard, and said, "Go in, it's the third house on the right, the one with the old jujube tree in front! Old Wu should be home right now!"

"Thank you so much, ma'am!" Wei Chen said, pushing his cart into the yard.

After navigating several piles of clutter and clothes drying in the sun, I found the old jujube tree with its gnarled branches. The small courtyard gate beneath the tree was open, and an elderly man with graying hair but a sprightly spirit, wearing faded blue overalls, was squatting on the ground, carefully sanding a piece of wood with sandpaper, his movements steady and focused. His fingers were thick, with prominent knuckles, covered with calluses and tiny scratches—clearly the hands of someone who had spent years working with bricks, tiles, wood, and stone.

"Master Wu Degui?" Wei Chen stopped at the door and called out.

The old man looked up at the sound, revealing a weathered yet shrewd face, his eyes sharp, as if they could see through the wood to the very grain. He put down the sandpaper and the wood, dusted his hands, and stood up: "It's me. And you are?"

"Hello, Master Wu!" Wei Chen stepped forward, took out the pack of economy cigarettes, and offered one to me. "My name is Wei Chen. I was introduced by Officer Liu from the Housing Management Section of the Subdistrict Office. I bought the land in the east wing of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang and want to rebuild the house. Officer Liu said you are skilled and told me to come to you."

Wu Degui took the cigarette, lit it with Wei Chen's famous match, took a deep drag, and through the swirling smoke, his gaze swept over Wei Chen's young face and the new car with scrutiny: "95 Nanluoguxiang? The east wing?" He clearly knew the place, his brow furrowing slightly. "That place... it's quite dilapidated, abandoned for years. Young man, are you really going to build it yourself?"

"Yes, all the formalities are complete." Wei Chen took out the house registration receipt issued by the subdistrict office and the certificate from the steel rolling mill. "The place is a bit run-down, but the location is alright, close to the factory. Could you please come with me to take a look at it in person and see how it's best to proceed?"

Wu Degui took the document, squinted and carefully examined the official seal and signature, especially the names of the Housing Management Section of the Subdistrict Office and Officer Liu. After confirming that everything was correct, he nodded: "Okay, the person introduced by Officer Liu can't be wrong. Wait a moment, I'll get some tools."

He turned and went into the house, and soon came out carrying a worn canvas tool bag. It was heavy inside, and you could hear the slight clattering of a measuring tape and a level.

The two left the courtyard. Wei Chen pushed the cart, and Wu Degui followed nimbly beside him. They didn't say a word the whole way, only the rumbling sound of the wheels rolling over the stone pavement.

Arriving at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang again, the front yard was as lively as ever. Aunt Yang Ruihua, with her sharp eyes, was the first to spot Wei Chen returning with a man carrying a tool bag who looked like a seasoned craftsman. She immediately understood that this was serious business! Her smile instantly brightened, and she called out from afar, "Oh, Comrade Wei Chen is back? And this is…?"

"Auntie, this is Master Wu Degui. He was introduced by the neighborhood committee. He's here to help me figure out how to build the house," Wei Chen introduced briefly.

"Hello, Master Wu! Thank you for making this trip!" The third aunt immediately turned to Wu Degui, her tone respectful. Old craftsmen were highly respected in these large courtyards.

Wu Degui simply nodded and said, "Hmm." He was clearly not interested in these formalities and his gaze went straight to the moon gate that was partially ajar by a wooden board.

Wei Chen understood and worked with Wu Degui to move the heavy barriers again. When the desolate and dilapidated scene reappeared before their eyes, even the well-traveled Wu Degui couldn't help but click his tongue and furrow his brows even more.

He stepped inside, his footsteps rustling on the knee-high grass. He didn't speak immediately, but instead surveyed the yard like a seasoned hunter, his eyes scanning the entire area like a hawk's.

He walked to the large pit filled with murky sewage in the center of the yard, squatted down, picked up a clod of dirt, crushed it in his hand, brought it to his nose to smell it, and even stuck out his tongue to lick a little to taste it.

"The soil is alright, not too alkaline. This pit... it must be a pit that was blasted back then, and it's filled with water." Wu Degui made his judgment, his voice low. "To fill it in, we'll need a lot of good soil, and we'll have to compact it, which will be labor-intensive and costly."

Next, he walked towards the surrounding courtyard walls. Weeds grew rampant at the base of the walls, and in some places, the blue bricks had weathered and crumbled. He kicked away the loose soil and broken bricks at the base of the walls, carefully examining the foundation stones. He tapped here and there with the small hammer he had brought, and measured the depth and width of the exposed foundation with a measuring tape.

"Hmm...not bad!" Wu Degui straightened up, patted the dirt off his hands, and said with a hint of surprise and delight, "They really put a lot of effort into building this wall back then. The foundation stones are buried deep, and the stone slabs are thick. Although it's been around for a long time and the surface has become brittle in some places from wind and rain, the foundation is still intact! With some reinforcement, it can still be used, saving a lot of trouble! If the foundation were damaged, this whole wall would have to be torn down and rebuilt, which would be a huge project!" This was the only good news in the bad news.

Finally, he walked to the dilapidated house on the west side. He didn't rush in, but walked around it, tapping the leaning walls with his hammer, listening to the hollow echoes inside, and then looked up at the rotten, almost collapsing rafters on the roof.

"This one is no good, it's completely crumbled. A strong wind could knock it down." Wu Degui shook his head, his tone resolute. "It has to be completely demolished. Not a single whole brick can be left; it can only be used as rubble to fill the hole."

After completing the initial survey, Wu Degui walked to the relatively clean center of the courtyard, took out a well-worn old notebook and a pencil stub from his toolbox, and looked at Wei Chen: "Comrade Wei, what are your thoughts? What kind of building do you plan to make? What is your approximate budget?" He asked directly, revealing the pragmatic style of an old craftsman.

Wei Chen had already mentally rehearsed the plan many times. He pointed to the north (the direction of the main house): "Master Wu, I plan to build the main house on the original site of the north-facing main house. It will be a large three-room house, with an entrance hall and a bedroom on the east and west sides. I will also build two small side rooms on either side of the main house."

Then he pointed to the location of the dilapidated house on the west side, "Tear down this one on the west side, and don't build it on the original site for now. We can build it later when we need it and have the money." He paused for a moment, then turned his gaze to the relatively open area on the east side, which was adjacent to the street. "I want to build a large three-room wing room on the east side."

As Wu Degui listened, he quickly sketched out a plan in his notebook, marking the locations. When he heard that Wei Chen was abandoning the west wing and only building the main house, the east wing, and two side rooms next to the main house, he looked up, a hint of doubt in his eyes: "The west wing is empty? According to the old custom, a courtyard house should be symmetrical, and there should be both east and west wing rooms. There's enough space, so why not build them together? It would save us the trouble later."

Wei Chen had already prepared his explanation. He gave a timely, bitter smile, as if he were short of money, and sighed, "Ah, Master Wu, to be honest, I tightened my belt to buy this land. I only made a little money from hunting, and with what I've saved, it's barely enough to build what you're talking about. The west side... I really can't worry about that now. Let's just have a place to live for now, and we'll talk about it when we have more money later."

He was half telling the truth. Money was a small matter to him, but Wei Chen knew that the next three years would be difficult, and eight years later would be another special period. Wei Chen couldn't afford to have too many houses, otherwise the neighborhood committee would have to rent them out for him.