Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Jia Zhangshi deliberately dragged out her words and lowered her voice, but it was enough for the surrounding houses to faintly hear, "She was showing movies in the countryside, messing around with those shady young widows, and ruined her health! That's why she's no good! Humph, serves her right!"

These words spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the backyard and the middle courtyard, becoming increasingly detailed and credible. Xu Damao, who was inside the house, heard everything clearly and was so angry that he almost smashed the bowl of medicine he had just brewed.

He rushed to the window, his fingers touching the cold latch, wanting to open it and unleash a torrent of curses. But the anger that surged to his throat deflated like a punctured balloon.

Insult him? If he wins the argument, will his problem be cured? That foul mouth of Jia Zhangshi gets more and more excited the more she talks, and the more outrageous the rumors become! In the end, the words "childless" will probably be nailed to his forehead!

Strangely, when Xu Damao pushed his bicycle out of the hospital the next day, ready to go to work, he ran into several acquaintances from the steel mill's logistics department at the alley entrance. They looked him up and down with a knowing look that all men understood, and said, half-jokingly and half-probingly, "Hey, Damao! You're doing well! I heard you're showing movies in the surrounding villages, and you've even warmed up that young widow's bed? We've all heard about it! Take it easy, look at all that medicine you've brewed, your health is the foundation of everything!"

Xu Damao was initially filled with intense humiliation and anger, his face flushing red. But then, an extremely dark, poisonous thought suddenly sprouted and quickly overwhelmed his anger.

Instead of his usual furious rebuttal, he deliberately puffed out his not-so-firm chest, forced a smile that was a mixture of smugness, exhaustion, and ambiguity, waved his hand, and said in a knowing tone, "Go away! What nonsense are you talking about! It's not true! Don't believe everything you hear!" His expression, his tone, and his slightly flickering eyes clearly confirmed the rumors, making it seem like he was trying to cover something up!

Seeing the knowing look of "I knew it" and a hint of barely perceptible envy in the other person's eyes, Xu Damao's sense of humiliation strangely faded, and even a twisted, morbid satisfaction arose within him.

Yes! That's it! Let them talk! It's better to talk about me, Xu Damao, being a womanizer and having sex with widows until I'm impotent than to talk about me, Xu Damao, being born childless!

Being a womanizer is a skill, but having no offspring is a disgrace!

He even thought viciously to himself: Once I've drunk enough of this bitter soup, next time I go to the village to show a movie, I'll not only find people, but I'll also "inadvertently" let them see something! That way, I'll solidify my reputation as a "playboy projectionist"! That way, no one will ever doubt that I'm "infertile"!

No, rumors are fine, but we can't use them against me. I may not be able to have children, but that doesn't mean I can't have sex. I can play around with widows without worry in the future. The doctor just said that my chances of having children are extremely low, not that I can't at all. I can play around freely in the future. If one of them gets pregnant, I can just marry her! Xu Damao comforted himself.

The more Xu Damao thought about it, the more he felt that this "accidental" bad reputation seemed to be a protective umbrella for him to cover up his greatest shame and even bring unexpected "gains"!

The west wing of the backyard is Yi Zhonghai's house.

Under the dim light, Yi Zhonghai smoked his pipe, the pungent smoke from the cheap tobacco making his wrinkled face appear even more somber. An old woman sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), sewing a patch on an old cotton-padded jacket. The needle and thread made a soft "plop plop" sound as they pierced the thick cotton fabric, accompanied by her occasional sighs.

"Old Yi, this can't go on," an older woman finally put down her needlework, speaking with a worried tone in a low voice. "The way people look at us in the courtyard isn't the same as before. Even their greetings are distant. As for the neighborhood committee, Director Wang hasn't explicitly said he'd remove us from our 'mediator' positions, but it's been like this for so long! They don't invite us to residents' meetings, and they go straight to the neighborhood committee for any minor disputes. If we keep keeping quiet like this, we'll really become just decorations that nobody cares about in this courtyard."

Yi Zhonghai took a few deep drags on his cigarette, his eyes flickering behind the smoke, filled with resentment and frustration. After a long while, he slammed the pipe heavily on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), making a dull thud, and ash fell in a flurry.

He raised his eyes, his voice carrying a fierce intensity born of pent-up frustration: "It can't end like this! My reputation is ruined; I have to earn it back bit by bit! Hiding like a coward won't do!"

He looked at his wife, a calculating glint in his cloudy eyes: "You need to be more diligent with the old lady (referring to the deaf old lady in the backyard). Make two more trips a day, bring her some hot water, help tidy up the house, wipe her body, and keep her company."

Although the old lady is hard of hearing, she's very perceptive and has the highest seniority in the courtyard. If we take good care of her, others will see it and, even if they don't say anything, will silently praise us. That's the foundation!

The older woman nodded: "I know that. The old lady is a good person. In the past, we... sigh, we weren't thoughtful enough." She felt a little embarrassed as she recalled her past neglect of the old lady.

"And another thing," Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice, leaning forward with a resolute air, "that half-bag of cornmeal in the cupboard, and those few grain coupons I saved up last month—don't just use them for the Jia family. Liu Xiufen in the backyard's connecting room—her husband's gone, and she's raising two teenagers alone, drinking thin porridge every day. The children are as thin as bean sprouts; it's not easy for her!"

Grandma Liu, who lives in the small, dilapidated house at the very back of the yard, lost her son, and her daughter-in-law couldn't bear it and remarried. She was left all alone, an old woman raising her grandson, Shitou. They were truly struggling to make ends meet, much worse off than the Jia family! I saw that child yesterday; he was even chewing on a hard cornbread until it crumbled..." Yi Zhonghai's voice carried a rare, genuine sigh.

"Tomorrow, when there are people around, deliver a small ladle of cornmeal to each of these two families, along with two grain coupons." Yi Zhonghai's tone was firm. "Don't make a big fuss about it, don't let that old woman from the Jia family be too much of a nuisance! Just say... just say that we can't finish it all, so we're sharing it with the children to tide us over."

An older woman looked at Yi Zhonghai with some surprise, her lips moving slightly: "Old Yi, you...you really think so? The Jia family...that mouth of Jia Zhangshi..."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions and a hint of barely perceptible annoyance: "The Jia family? Jia Dongxu's meager pension, plus Qin Huairu's apprentice wages, it's tight enough, but Jia Zhangshi's mouth... Hmph, have you ever seen her lose an ounce of weight? She's got more fat in her bowl than we do! We were wrong before, only thinking about..." He paused, swallowing the rest of his words, and sighed, "This time, we have to do something truly helpful, something for those who are really starving! Only then will they truly remember this kindness! Only then can we slowly wash away our bad reputation!"

The next morning, an older woman carrying an inconspicuous little cloth bag went to the deaf old lady's house in the backyard. The old lady was sitting on a small stool by the door, dozing off in the thin autumn sun. The older woman put down her bag and quickly helped tidy up the house, emptied the chamber pot, fetched warm water, and gently washed the old lady's face and hands. Finally, she picked up a comb and gently combed the old lady's sparse, gray hair.

"The Zhonghai family... is so kind." Although the deaf old lady was hard of hearing, her eyesight was still sharp. Sensing the older woman's gentle movements, a knowing and barely perceptible look of relief flashed in her cloudy old eyes. She raised her withered hand and gently patted the older woman's hand, her voice slow but exceptionally clear, "People... if they go astray, but know to turn back, and are willing to put in the effort to make amends... that's good... take it slow... no rush..."

The older woman's nose tingled, and her eyes welled up with tears. She quickly nodded, "Oh, ma'am, you're right. We were so ignorant before." This apology came from the bottom of her heart.

Then, the older woman looked around and saw several women working. She nodded and quickly walked to the door of Liu Xiufen's house in the main hall.

The door was ajar, and the faint voice of a child could be heard from inside. An older woman gently pushed the door open and entered. Liu Xiufen was eating a little bit of dark, pickled vegetable scraps and drinking a bowl of cornmeal porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it. Two children sat around the table. Niu Dali and Niu Xiaocao were both quite sensible children, never fighting over food. Dali was older and had refused to go even after Wei Chen had called him several times, but Xiaocao, having eaten at the Wei family's house a few times with Wei Ran, looked much better than before!

Seeing the older woman enter, Liu Xiufen stood up awkwardly, her sallow face showing surprise and unease: "Auntie? You...you've come? Please sit down..." She hurriedly tried to tidy up the table, but there was nothing to tidy up.

The older woman felt a pang of sadness. Without sitting down, she quickly took out a small ladle carefully wrapped in a faded coarse cloth from her bag. Inside were plump, golden cornmeal grains and two grain coupons stamped with the red seal of the grain station. Without a word, she stuffed it into Liu Xiufen's hand and whispered, "Xiufen, don't refuse, take it. There are many children in the family, and they are growing. Drinking only thin porridge won't keep them full and will harm their health. This is from my husband, Lao Yi... who asked me to bring it. It's a small token of our appreciation, to help the children. Please don't tell anyone."

Looking at the solid, heavy grain and ration coupons in her hand, Liu Xiufen's eyes instantly reddened, her lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes: "Auntie... this... how can this be... before... before our family..."

"The past is the past. Let's not talk about it anymore." The older woman squeezed Liu Xiufen's cold hand tightly, sighed, and said, "Everyone has their ups and downs. Take this, you'll get through this."

After saying that, without waiting for Liu Xiufen to say anything more, he turned and quickly left. Behind him came Liu Xiufen's suppressed voice: "Dali, Xiaocao...quick...thank the old man and woman..."

Finally, with mixed feelings, the middle-aged woman arrived at the low, dilapidated shack in the far corner of the backyard, its walls badly peeling. The shack was dark and damp, filled with a strong musty smell and a musty, earthy odor.

Grandma Liu was hunched over, trembling as she pasted matchboxes in the dim light streaming through the window, her fingers, thin as withered twigs, covered in paste. Her little grandson, Little Stone, was as thin as a bean sprout, his face filthy, squatting by the door playing with a few broken tiles, his belly sunken.