Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

"Team Leader Liu." Wei Chen stopped and nodded slightly.

Liu Yuan rushed over in a few steps, and with a loud "smack," slapped Wei Chen's shoulder with his large, fan-like hand. The force was solid, carrying the enthusiasm of an old worker: "Good lad! I told you to go home and get ready so you could officially start work today! And what did you do!"

He pointed to the basket on his back, his voice so loud it could shake dust off the trees, "They brought back such a big surprise for our group! Great! Really great! Now we're confident we can meet our meat quota for this month! No more worries about not completing it!"

He circled the bicycle, clicking his tongue as he sized up the plump little wild boar and the brightly colored roe deer. His satisfaction was almost overflowing. "Come on, come on! Don't just stand there! Hurry up and come with me to the warehouse! It's your first day on the job, so learn the procedures properly. You'll be doing this a lot in the future!"

Without saying a word, Liu Yuan snatched Wei Chen's bicycle handlebars, pushed the bike himself, and led him toward the row of tall bungalows in the logistics warehouse. He kept shouting the whole way, attracting the attention of the passing workers.

At the entrance of the logistics warehouse, a unique aroma mingled with the scents of engine oil, hay, and a hint of food wafted through the air. An elderly warehouse keeper, with gray hair, reading glasses, and faded blue overalls, sat behind a peeling wooden table, slowly flipping through a thick kraft paper ledger.

Seeing Liu Yuan pushing the cart over, followed by an unfamiliar young man and the conspicuous "goods" on the cart, the old storekeeper adjusted his glasses and stood up.

"Old Zhang!" Liu Yuan called out in a booming voice, "Hurry up and get our group's new hero, Comrade Wei Chen, into the inventory! Good stuff, a wild boar and a roe deer! Fresh as can be!"

The old storekeeper, surnamed Zhang, clearly recognized Liu Yuan. He nodded, said nothing more, but his movements became swift. He directed two strong young porters in the warehouse to carefully lift the still slightly struggling wild boar and roe deer from their baskets. Two large, gleaming scales, each with a maximum capacity of 300 jin (150 kg), were already prepared nearby.

The two workers worked in perfect harmony, skillfully tying the wild boar's four hooves with thick hemp rope and attaching the scale hook. The scale beam lurched under the weight of the boar, and the weight slid rapidly along the beam.

Old Zhang squinted, carefully adjusting the weight on the scale until it came to a steady level. "Wild boar, exactly 133 jin!" he announced in a calm voice.

Next up was the silly roe deer, which was tied up and hung on the scale. "Roe deer, full weight seventy jin!" Old Zhang announced again.

A young recorder next to him immediately began to fill in the three-part warehouse receipt with a dip pen: product name, gross weight, date, person in charge (Wei Chen signed), and receiving unit (Purchasing Group 3).

After filling out the form, Old Zhang took it, signed his name in a flamboyant manner in the "custodian" column, then picked up a wooden stamp with complicated numbers engraved on it, dipped it in red ink, and stamped it on the form and a separate small piece of paper with the weight and amount written on it.

"Comrade Wei Chen, right?" Old Zhang tore off a small slip of paper stamped with a red seal and one copy of the warehouse receipt, handing it to Wei Chen. A rare hint of gentleness appeared on his face. "Take this and go to the finance department to collect your money. The purchase price at the wild boar farm is 60 cents a pound, and roe deer is 80 cents a pound. Let's calculate: 133 pounds of wild boar, 79.8 yuan; 70 pounds of roe deer, 56 yuan. That's a total of 135.8 yuan. Don't lose the slip."

"Thank you, Master Zhang." Wei Chen took the receipt, still slightly damp with ink and inkpad, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket. The process was indeed as Liu Yuan had said—simple and direct; the key was to obtain this receipt stamped with the red seal.

"Alright, Xiao Wei, go to the finance department and collect the money." Liu Yuan patted Wei Chen on the back, his smile unchanged. "After you collect the money, go straight back to our Group 3 office, it's the second room on the east side of the second floor of the administration building. Today is Monday, our group needs to have a short meeting to assign tasks for this week. Hurry up and be back!"

Wei Chen nodded, turned and walked towards the office building where the finance department was located. Liu Yuan watched his back, then glanced back at the wild game being carried into the cold storage by the movers, and couldn't help but grin again. Then, carrying his briefcase, he hummed a little tune and walked towards his office.

The finance department's procedures went smoothly as well. Wei Chen handed over the documents, and a middle-aged female accountant with a serious expression and wearing arm sleeves carefully checked the stamps and numbers. Then, after a series of crisp clicks on her abacus to confirm everything was correct, she counted out a thick stack of banknotes and several coins from a large, locked drawer: ten-yuan notes, five-yuan notes, two-yuan notes, one-yuan notes, and a few cents in change. After counting them, she pushed them to Wei Chen. One hundred and thirty-five yuan and eighty cents, heavy as he was, was tucked into his pocket and placed in his spatial backpack.

When Wei Chen pushed open the green-painted wooden door of the Purchasing Group 3 office, a smell mixed with cheap tobacco, old newspapers, and old wooden furniture hit him.

It was a small room with several old, peeling desks against the wall, piled with documents, abacuses, and enamel mugs. Five people were already there.

Team leader Liu Yuan sat behind a slightly larger table at the back, flipping through a document. By the window sat Zhao Dashan, whom I had seen last week. He was in his forties, stocky, with dark skin, looking like an old farmer, and was slurping water from an enamel mug with red lettering on it.

Next to Zhao Dashan was Liu Guoqing, a young man in his early twenties, wearing slightly worn work clothes, his hair neatly combed, and his face showing a bit of the naivety and restraint of someone who had just been promoted to a full-time position.

Opposite Liu Yuan sat a man in his mid-thirties, wearing black-rimmed glasses and with his hair neatly combed. He exuded a calm and capable demeanor and was none other than Hu Songnian, Wei Chen's mentor.

Next to Hu Songnian sat a young man in his late twenties, Jin Dong. He was lean and wiry, with sharp eyes, and an unlit cigarette between his fingers. He was speaking quietly to a baby-faced young man across from him who looked even younger than Liu Guoqing. That baby-faced man was Wu Xiaojun, a newcomer who had just been promoted last year.

As soon as Wei Chen entered, several pairs of eyes immediately focused on him. Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun's eyes held undisguised envy and curiosity, Jin Dong's were scrutinizing and tinged with a subtle shrewdness, Zhao Dashan's were simply kind, and Hu Songnian gave him a gentle, encouraging smile. Liu Yuan put down his documents and cleared his throat.

"Alright, everyone's here! Let's begin our weekly meeting for Group 3!" Liu Yuan's voice carried a strong weight in the small office. "First, let me formally introduce our newest member, Comrade Wei Chen! We met last week, and he's officially on the job today! Give him a warm welcome!"

Sparse applause broke out, carrying a sense of goodwill. Wei Chen nodded slightly to the crowd.

"Everyone knows a bit about Comrade Wei Chen's situation," Liu Yuan continued, his tone becoming serious. "He's a special talent the factory recruited, an expert hunter! He was the one who delivered those seven wild boars to our factory last week! He solved a major problem! The factory leadership specially approved his promotion to Level 9 clerk!"

His gaze swept over Wu Xiaojun and Liu Guoqing. "Xiaojun, Guoqing, you two shouldn't have any doubts. You've been interning for a year before becoming level nine clerks; that's the factory's rule. In our group three, we earn our living through merit! Whoever is capable and can get things for the factory, especially meat, will be rewarded handsomely! Salary levels, bonuses, and benefits are all linked to contributions! Understand?"

Wu Xiaojun and Liu Guoqing nodded quickly, saying repeatedly, "Understood, Team Leader Liu!" "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare have any ideas!"

"Hmm!" Liu Yuan nodded in satisfaction, then changed the subject, turning the conversation back to Wei Chen. A smile spread across his face. "Old Hu!" He looked at Hu Songnian. "Aren't you going to visit a few villages in the south tomorrow? Perfect, take Xiao Wei with you! Let him come with you and get familiar with the process of our purchasing agents going from village to village! Normally, according to the rules, newcomers don't have specific purchasing tasks in their first week; they're mainly there to get familiar with the environment and find their way around."

He paused, then his voice suddenly rose, tinged with the excitement of "finding a treasure": "And guess what? This kid! He hasn't even officially started working yet, and he's almost finished our three-week task!"

He pointed out the window towards the logistics warehouse, "They came to report for duty today, bringing with them a 133-pound wild boar and a 70-pound roe deer! They just arrived! The factory spent 135.8 yuan on them! This workload is equivalent to someone else working hard for two months!"

A murmur of gasps and whispers filled the office. "My god... a wild boar weighing over 100 pounds plus a roe deer..." "This...this skill is terrifying..." "No wonder they were immediately rated level nine..."

Zhao Dashan chuckled and shook his head, while Jin Dong tapped the table lightly with his fingers, a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes thoughtful. Wu Xiaojun and Liu Guoqing stared wide-eyed at Wei Chen, their gazes filled with near-admiration, whispering amongst themselves, "Brother Chen...you're amazing!" "Comrade Wei Chen, please...please mentor us more often!"

Hu Songnian smiled and nodded, "Okay, team leader, don't worry, I'll take Xiao Wei to familiarize himself with the route tomorrow."

Liu Yuan showered Wei Chen with praise before getting to the point: "Alright, let's get down to business. This week's task is the same as last week's! A purchasing quota of fifty yuan per person! There's no upper limit, the more the better, especially meat! Pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, goose—any meat, live or dead, is fine! If you can't get meat, eggs or duck eggs will do! But meat is the priority! The planned supplies are so limited, barely enough to fill a gap in their stomachs. The workers are working hard and sweating to produce these supplies; how can they function without any meat in their bellies? Our purchasing department, especially our third group, has a heavy burden!"

He glanced at everyone: "Old Zhao, Old Jin, Old Hu, you old folks all have your own established methods, so I won't go into detail. Whoever did well on their tasks last week and had some extra can relax a bit this week, but don't slack off! As for Xiao Jun, Guoqing..."

He looked at the two young men, his tone becoming more serious, "And Xiao Wei, although he exceeded his quota, he still needs to familiarize himself with the procedures with Lao Hu. You two, pay close attention to your fifty-yuan task this week! Think of a way! If you don't complete the task, your end-of-month salary will be deducted, so don't cry!"