Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen changed the subject, pointing to two burlap sacks on the ground against the wall, drawing everyone's attention back: "Well, when I came back, my friends in Inner Mongolia were so hospitable that they insisted I bring back some local specialties. I traded a few packs of cigarettes and some soap I brought with me for some things to bring back home for my family to try and help them through the famine."

Everyone's eyes immediately focused again on the two seemingly ordinary burlap sacks. Uncle Wei Changsheng, who had long been unable to contain his curiosity, immediately slid down from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and walked over in his slippers: "Let me see what rare things Chenzi brought back." As he spoke, he squatted down and carefully untied the knot of one of the burlap sacks.

When he brushed aside the top few dry sweet potatoes and potatoes used as a cover, and saw the snow-white powder underneath, his hand trembled violently, and his breathing became rapid.

With trembling hands, he gently scooped up a small handful of flour. The exquisitely delicate texture and the pure, flawless white color seemed to glow softly even in the dim room, a world apart from the rough, dark, bran-mixed flour he was used to!

"This...this is...white flour? Refined white flour?" Wei Changsheng's voice was dry and tight, filled with incredulous excitement. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen flour so white and so fine. The best flour ground by the village mill with a stone mill was only grayish-white; how could it compare to this?

Next, he saw golden corn grits and plump, round millet grains. Opening another burlap sack, a unique aroma, a blend of muttony and milky scents, wafted out. There were two hard, dark red, well-defined, dried lamb legs; several large pieces of dark brown, chewy-looking beef jerky; and neatly shaped, square-shaped items wrapped in oiled paper, exuding a rich milky and oily aroma (milk tofu and butter)...

A near-frozen silence fell over the main room. Only heavy, suppressed breathing and the occasional crackling of the kerosene lamp wick could be heard. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the contents of the sack, a mixture of shock, elation, disbelief, and a primal, almost overwhelming craving for food etched on their faces, worn by hunger and toil.

Grandma Wang covered her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face—tears of heartache, excitement, and immense comfort. Grandpa Wei Laoshuan's hand holding the pipe trembled violently, his lips quivering as he tried to say something, but only a hoarse sound came from his throat, and tears welled up in his cloudy old eyes.

Aunt Zhao Jinhua and Third Aunt Li Xiuzhi also gathered around, their eyes wide as they stared at the white flour and glistening dried meat, unconsciously swallowing hard. Wei Feng and Wei Yan were even more stunned, their Adam's apples bobbing up and down. Even the younger children, Wei Min, Wei Guo, and Wei Min, though not fully understanding what those things meant, were drawn in by the adults' expressions and the faint aroma of food in the air, stopping their playful antics and staring blankly.

"Chen...Chenzi, how much...how many tickets will this cost?" Uncle Wei Laishun finally found his voice and asked with a trembling voice. He was from the village security team and had some experience. He knew that these things were extremely precious in the city. Even with money and tickets, it was not guaranteed that you could buy so many of them, let alone in this remote rural area where money couldn't buy them anywhere.

Wei Chen had already prepared his explanation, his tone calm, with a perfectly timed sigh of "good luck": "Third Uncle, it really didn't cost much. Inner Mongolia is vast and sparsely populated; they don't lack these things, they just lack our local industrial products. I traded a few packs of good cigarettes, a few bars of soap, and a few yards of work cloth from the factory with them. They were very generous." He had to justify the source; the secret of the spatial backpack was a bottom line that absolutely could not be known to anyone.

"Good, good...good!" Grandpa Wei Laoshuan finally spoke, tears streaming down his deep wrinkles. "Chenwa has made something of himself! He's really made something of himself! He still...he still cares about home...if your father...if your father could see this..." The old man choked up, unable to continue, and just stroked Wei Chen's strong arm again and again with his withered hand.

Wang Xiulan was already in tears. Holding her mother-in-law's hand, her voice choked with sobs, she said, "Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, all these years... if it weren't for you occasionally saving your own food to help us, the three of us would have... Chen'er is starting to have some means now, so he wanted to come back and visit as soon as possible. This little bit of stuff... it's really nothing..." She knew in her heart what these "little bits of stuff" meant in these times. It was the hope that could help the family get through the cold winter and bring some color back to their faces.

"Quick, put it away! Put it away carefully!" It was Uncle Wei Changsheng who was the first to recover from the huge shock. He took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and his face was more solemn and vigilant than ever before. He quickly tied the sack tightly again, his movements were very careful, as if he were handling a fragile treasure.

"These are all precious, life-saving items! Not a word of this can be leaked!" He knew all too well the complexities of human nature and the treacherousness of the environment. If outsiders knew about all this fine grains and meat, who knows how much envy, trouble, or even disaster it would cause.

"Yes, yes! Put them away! Hide them well!" Uncle Wei Laishun also realized what was happening and quickly helped Wei Feng lift the two sacks. Their heavy weight made his heart tremble again. The two of them worked together to carry the sacks into the inner room and stuffed them into the most hidden corner behind the kang cabinet. They carefully covered them with some old bedding and other miscellaneous items.

This incident completely changed the atmosphere in the room. The initial excitement and感慨 transformed into a deeper, warm current filled with immense joy and hope. Grandma held Wei Chen's hand, stroking the thin calluses on his palms from martial arts training, feeling both heartache and pride, repeatedly murmuring, "My grandson has suffered, suffered... He's made something of himself, truly made something of himself..."

Aunt Zhao Jinhua and Third Aunt Li Xiuzhi exchanged a glance, both seeing a gleam in each other's eyes. Zhao Jinhua rubbed her hands together, her voice trembling with excitement: "Father, Mother, Chenzi brought back so many good things! Today is another joyous day for the whole family to reunite, we... we have to have a good meal at noon to celebrate!"

Third Aunt Li Xiuzhi nodded repeatedly, her face beaming with joy: "Yes! It's rare for Sister-in-law, Chenzi, and Ranran to come back, so they have to have a good meal! Sister Jinhua, you're a good cook, I'll help you! Mother, you and Sister-in-law can stay warm on the kang and talk things out, leave the kitchen work to us!"

Wang Xiulan couldn't sit still and insisted on getting off the kang (heated brick bed) to help: "No way! I can't just sit idly by, I'll lend a hand too!"

"No, no!" Grandma and her two sisters-in-law said in unison, pressing her back down. Grandma scolded, "You've finally come back, and you've traveled so far. Rest! Talk to your mother! The two of them are enough for the kitchen!"

Watching his sisters-in-law roll up their sleeves and rush off to the kitchen to prepare snacks, seeing the children jumping for joy again at the prospect of getting treats, and seeing the long-lost, heartfelt smiles and relaxed brows on his grandfather's, uncle's, and third uncle's faces, Wei Chen felt a warm current finally fill his chest.

This is home, the root of our blood ties. Outside, there is ice and snow, and the sorrow of famine spreading, but in this simple yet warm farmhouse, his return and the supplies he brought temporarily dispelled the cold and despair, igniting the joy of reunion and the anticipation of a long-awaited full meal.

This lunch, for this family and for everyone present, will perhaps be the most sumptuous, warmest, and most memorable meal of this long and difficult winter. What he brought back was not just food, but a heavy sentiment, a strength that allows loved ones to straighten their backs a little and see the dawn of hope after enduring the cold winter.

Cousin Wei Feng sidled up to Wei Chen, his dark face still showing incredulous excitement, and asked in a low voice, "Chenzi, in the city... can you really get such good flour? And so much meat?"

Looking at the mixture of envy, curiosity, and longing for a better life in his cousin's eyes, Wei Chen smiled. He didn't answer directly, but instead patted his cousin's strong shoulder firmly and whispered, "Brother Feng, don't worry, things will get better gradually. Around the New Year, I'll try to see if I can get some more oil and meat. I have a surprise for you later, which I guess will be all for you!"

"What surprise?" Wei Feng asked curiously.

"We'll talk about it over dinner later," Wei Chen said with a grin.

Wei Feng nodded, a trusting smile spreading across his honest face. His cousin, with whom he'd grown up climbing trees to raid bird nests and fishing in the river, had become so capable, which made him genuinely happy and at ease.

The women were already busy in the kitchen. The sounds of chopping wood to start a fire, scrubbing pots and washing vegetables, and their hushed but joyful conversation drifted through the curtain.

Uncle Wei Changsheng fumbled around under the kang mat in the inner room for a while, and pulled out a small package wrapped in several layers of oil paper. He carefully opened it and found half a package of wrinkled and slightly damp tobacco. He handed it to Wei Chen and Wei Laishun: "Here, Chenzi, third brother, try this. We changed it a while ago. It's better than what we usually smoke."

Uncle Wei Laishun waved his hand: "Big brother, you keep it, I'll just smoke this one." He took out his pipe.

Wei Chen smiled and declined, "Uncle, please smoke one yourself. I have some here." He took out two unopened boxes of "Da Qianmen" cigarettes from his satchel and gave one box to each of his uncles, saying, "I brought these from the factory. Please try them."

"Wow! Daqianmen cigarettes!" Wei Changsheng's eyes lit up as he took the beautifully patterned cigarette box, rubbing it in disbelief. "These are good cigarettes! Chenzi, you're...spending too much!"

"Of course, Uncle." Wei Chen smiled and took out about half a pound of tea leaves wrapped in oil paper. "This is jasmine tea. It's for Grandpa, you, and Third Uncle to brew and drink to relieve fatigue."

Old Man Wei took the tea leaves, smelled their delicate aroma, and his face lit up with a smile. He repeatedly said, "Good, good, my grandson is so filial!"

The men sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), smoking and drinking hot water infused with the jasmine fragrance of tea leaves brought by Wei Chen, chatting as they went.

The conversation started with the village's harvest, which family had a new addition, and whose elderly relative had passed away, gradually shifting to observations of the city, work at the steel mill, and the distant grasslands, filled with cattle, sheep, and snow, that Wei Chen had described. The atmosphere was harmonious and warm, and the harshness of the cold outside and the hardships of life were temporarily forgotten.

In the kitchen, the aroma began to waft out, in wisps and strands. It was the long-lost rich aroma of oils and proteins, mixed with the distinctive wheat scent of white flour, forcefully penetrating everyone's nostrils and awakening their long-dormant taste buds and stomachs.

"Dinner's ready!"

With a joyful and satisfied shout from Aunt Zhao Jinhua, lunch was finally ready.