Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Uncle Wei Dashan squatted on a small stool by the door, silently smoking his pipe. The smoke made his sorrowful face appear even older. "The village…sigh, you've seen it. The harvest from the fields isn't even enough to pay the grain tax. The trees on the mountain are almost bare, and there isn't even a grasshopper in the ditches. The team's grain is almost gone too; every household is starving…Your brother Wei Yan is so hungry he can barely walk. Yesterday he told your aunt he wanted to gnaw on the mud walls he saw…" He couldn't continue, taking a deep drag on his pipe and coughing.

Aunt Zhao Jinhua secretly wiped away her tears and whispered, "Husband, don't say anymore... Xiao Chen just got back, why bring this up..."

Grandma wiped her eyes with the corner of her clothes and forced a smile, saying, "Let's not talk about these things, let's not talk about these things. It's good news that Chenwa is back! Eldest son, quickly go and boil some water so Chenwa can have a hot drink."

"Yes!" the eldest uncle replied, getting up to go to the stove in the outer room.

Wei Chen quickly stopped him: "Uncle, don't bother, I'm not thirsty." He stood up, walked to the door, and took out the things covered with burlap sacks and hay from the bicycle basket one by one.

When the heavy bag of cornmeal, the package of wheat-scented flour, the glistening piece of cured meat, and the several dried wild rabbits and pheasants appeared in the dimly lit room, everyone was stunned. The room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Grandma covered her mouth with her hand, tears welling up again, this time with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. Grandpa, supporting himself on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), stood up, his hunched body trembling slightly, his eyes fixed on the grain and meat, his Adam's apple bobbing. Uncle dropped the firewood in his hand, his mouth agape, unable to close for a long time. Aunt let out a soft "Ah!" and then bit her lip tightly, afraid that she would cry out loud.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt," Wei Chen placed the items on the table one by one, his voice low and clear, "These are what I brought from the city. It's not much; it's a small amount of my ration that I saved up, plus some mountain produce that I asked a friend to get for me. Please make do with these for now, but don't skimp on them; your health is the most important thing."

"This...this..." Grandpa's hand trembled as he reached out and touched the bag of cornmeal. His rough fingers felt the texture of the grains, and he touched the hard, cured meat. Tears streamed down his face. "Chenwa...you...you child...it's not easy in the city either...you brought so much back...how are you going to live...?"

"Grandpa, don't worry, Mom, Xiaoran, and I are doing alright in the city. We have rations, and we can occasionally get some other things." Wei Chen quickly helped his grandfather up. "You two and your uncle's family must accept these, especially Grandma and Grandpa. They're getting old and can't stand being hungry. This white flour is perfect for making porridge for Grandma; it's very good for their stomachs. The cured meat and game can be used in soups or a little bit can be added to dishes to add some flavor."

He pushed the things in front of his grandmother: "Grandma, please keep them safe and hide them well. In the village now... please don't let any outsiders know that we have these."

Grandma nodded vigorously, her withered hands gripping her grandson's arm tightly, tears streaming down her face: "My good grandson... Grandma... Grandma doesn't know what to say... If your father knew how successful and filial you are..." She thought of her son who had died young, and grief overwhelmed her.

Uncle Wei Changsheng's eyes also reddened: "Xiao Chen! Uncle... Uncle thanks you on behalf of the whole family! You saved our family's life!"

Wei Chen waved his hand: "Uncle! What are you saying! We're family. My mom always says that without you and Third Uncle, our family wouldn't have grown up! We're family, blood is thicker than water! As long as I'm here, I can't watch Grandpa and Grandma and you go hungry!"

The old woman was also sobbing uncontrollably, holding Wei Chen's hand and repeatedly saying, "We're family, we're family! Good child, good child..."

After finally calming his agitated family, Wei Chen inquired about the family's situation in detail. His grandparents, in order to save food for his uncle's family and their younger grandchildren, were only eating a little bit of gruel mixed with wild vegetables each day, and were already swollen from hunger.

The eldest uncle's family was in even worse shape; their son, Weidong, was skin and bones from hunger, and their younger sister was also pale and thin. Situations like theirs were common in the village, some even worse. Just a few days ago, Old Liu from the west end of the village starved to death…

Hearing this, Wei Chen felt as if his heart was being immersed in ice water, both cold and aching. He knew there had been food shortages for the past three years, but he hadn't imagined it was this severe. Many things were unimaginable without seeing them firsthand!

He solemnly instructed her again that the grain must be hidden well, and that she should secretly eat a little bit every day mixed with wild vegetables, and never make a fuss. He also secretly slipped his grandmother a small roll of national grain coupons and ten yuan, telling her to go to the commune to see if she could exchange them for something to save her life in the most urgent situation.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, I'm going on a business trip this time, and it might be quite long. You must take care of yourselves and get through this period. I'll think of something when I get back." Wei Chen looked at his family members, who were thin as a rake but whose eyes had brightened again with hope, and made a silent vow in his heart. He couldn't change the fate of the entire village, but at least he had to ensure that his loved ones could live, and live a little better.

As night fell, the dilapidated ancestral home was filled with a long-lost, faint but real warmth and hope thanks to the grain Wei Chen brought and the small roll of cured meat that had been cooked into a thin, oily porridge.

Wei Chen lay on the hard earthen bed, listening to his grandparents' suppressed coughs and the occasional sobs of the neighbor's child in his sleep, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Outside the window lay a deep, starless night and a deathly silent village. He knew that what he had brought was merely a drop in the ocean. But on this cold night, at least the people in this courtyard no longer felt that burning hunger in their stomachs, and a tiny spark of hope for survival rekindled in their hearts.

That night, Wei Chen slept very restlessly. What he had seen and heard during the day weighed heavily on his heart like a heavy lead weight. Those sallow and emaciated faces, those swollen eyelids, those empty and numb eyes, his grandparents' withered and thin hands, the heavy thud of his uncle kneeling down... all spun in his mind like a revolving lantern.

The faint aroma of the porridge made with minced cured meat and wild vegetables seemed to linger in the air, a glimmer of hope born from despair, which only served to accentuate the heaviness of the boundless darkness.

Just as dawn was breaking, a few weak rooster crows drifted from afar. Wei Chen quietly got up and dressed. At the other end of the kang (heated brick bed), Grandma seemed to sense the movement and mumbled, "Chenwazi?"

"Grandma, I'm getting up to use the restroom. You should go back to sleep," Wei Chen said in a low voice, trying to comfort her. Grandma turned over and fell back into a deep sleep. Perhaps because she had eaten something last night, she slept more peacefully.

He tiptoed into the yard. The morning light was faint, and the air was crisp and cold. A thin layer of ice had formed on the surface of the water vat in the corner of the yard. He stretched his somewhat stiff limbs, walked to the bicycle, lifted the tattered burlap sack and hay covering the basket, and checked its contents.

Cornmeal, wheat flour, cured meat, and wild game were all still there. The situation at home was far beyond his imagination. Wei Chen then took out a few mixed grain buns wrapped in oil paper from his "backpack" in the game world—this was the dry food his mother, Wang Xiulan, had prepared for him for the journey, which he himself did not want to eat. He casually put them into the basket and covered it again.

After finishing these tasks, he walked to the corner of the yard, picked up a carrying pole and a bucket, and wanted to fetch some water from the well at the village entrance. Just as he reached the door, he saw his uncle, Wei Changsheng, already squatting by the stove, carefully scraping a small piece of dark, unidentifiable plant tuber with a chipped, broken knife. It was probably the last edible thing he had dug up from some corner yesterday.

Upon seeing Wei Chen, his uncle quickly stood up, forcing a smile, but the smile was full of bitterness and exhaustion: "Little Chen, why are you up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

"I can't sleep, Uncle." Wei Chen put down the carrying pole. "I was thinking of going to visit Third Uncle's house later. It's nearby, and it wouldn't be right for me not to go since I've come all this way."

Mentioning his third brother, Wei Laishun, Wei Changsheng's face darkened further. His lips moved a few times before finally letting out a heavy sigh. He squatted back down and continued scraping the pitiful tuber, his voice low and hoarse: "I should go see... your third uncle's family... sigh, it's even harder there."

He paused, his hands stopping their movements. He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly. "I'm useless as the eldest brother... My parents raised me all these years, and now they're starving because of me... I can't help my third brother either... I can only watch helplessly..."

This taciturn farmer, whose back was bent by the weight of life, finally couldn't help but reveal his inner torment and self-blame. He felt that he was incompetent, unable to support his large family, causing his parents to suffer, and unable to take care of his equally struggling younger brother.

Wei Chen walked over, squatted down next to his uncle, patted his rough, deformed hands with prominent veins from years of hard work, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, it's not your fault. In these times, whose family isn't struggling? The fact that you've taken such good care of Grandpa and Grandma, keeping them from freezing or going hungry, is already an immense act of filial piety. Let's go see what Uncle is up to; there's bound to be a way."

Wei Changsheng looked up, his eyes slightly red. Looking at his nephew's young yet unusually composed face, the heavy burden of guilt in his heart seemed to ease slightly. He nodded vigorously, muttering in his throat, "Yes, let's go together."

Breakfast was a porridge made by Grandma using wheat flour that Weichen brought, mixed with a lot of wild vegetables and a little cornmeal. Although it was still thin, the addition of wheat flour made it much smoother and gave it a nice grain aroma.

Everyone received a large bowl, along with the pickled mustard greens that Wei Chen had secretly taken out and shredded the night before. This breakfast was a long-awaited "sumptuous" meal for this family.

The younger sister, Wei Min, ate without looking up, her face almost buried in the bowl. The grandparents' hands, holding the bowls, trembled slightly as they ate very slowly, as if savoring some exquisite delicacy.

After breakfast, Wei Changsheng instructed his wife, Zhao Jinhua, to carefully hide the remaining grain and meat, specifically telling her to hide it in the deepest part of the cellar and cover it with miscellaneous items, making sure no outsiders knew about it. Then, he took Wei Chen out of the courtyard and pushed their bicycles towards the village entrance.