Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

"Well... Uncle, how about I sell you this rabbit to improve your life?" Wei Chen said with a smile.

The third uncle waved his hands repeatedly, "That's impossible! You don't even have enough to eat at home, how could I take what others love? I was just saying, expressing my envy." As he spoke, he sighed again. He certainly wouldn't pay for it! "These days, your family is practically the only one in the whole courtyard who can afford meat."

Wei Chen didn't say much, and carried the cloth bag into the east courtyard. In the courtyard, Wang Xiulan was busy in the kitchen. Seeing him return with the bag, she asked, "You're back? What did you do today?"

Wei Chen placed the cloth bag on the cutting board: "A wild rabbit."

Wang Xiulan put down the kitchen knife, walked over, opened the cloth bag, and looked inside. A helpless expression appeared on her face: "Wei Chen, you're always hunting for wild rabbits and pheasants. How much money is that going to cost? Although our family has some savings, we can't spend like this. These days, we have to be careful with money. What if there's an emergency and we don't have any money on hand?"

Wei Chen smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry, it won't cost much. These wild animals were all obtained through friends, and they're much cheaper than on the black market. Besides, money is meant to be spent. It's better for the family to eat and drink well than anything else."

Wang Xiulan glared at him, still nagging, "You're so good at talking. This isn't how you live. When your dad was alive, he only earned a few dollars a month, and the whole family was struggling to make ends meet. But you, you're always buying this and that, you don't even know how to save money."

As she spoke, her hands didn't stop. She picked up the rabbit and weighed it in her hand. "This rabbit is plump. Let's marinate it first. It'll keep well in this weather. We can eat it tomorrow. Tonight, let's heat up the leftover pheasant soup from yesterday and make noodles. Nothing will go to waste."

Wei Chen replied, "Okay, you can arrange it."

Wang Xiulan tied on an apron, cleaned the wild rabbit, rubbed it with salt and Sichuan peppercorns, put it in a ceramic jar, covered it, and placed it in a cool place.

As she worked, she muttered to herself, "These days, it's good enough to have food to eat every day, but you're lucky enough to eat meat every meal. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse..."

Wei Chen didn't reply, standing in the courtyard watching Wang Xiulan busy herself. He looked up at the sky; dusk was falling, and in the distance came the sounds of dogs barking and children crying. The aroma of food wafted from the courtyard, mixed with the sweet scent of dates that had been drying all day, creating a particularly comforting atmosphere in the late autumn evening.

Wei Ran ran out of the house, smelled the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, and sniffed, "Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"Make the noodles, and heat up the leftover chicken soup from yesterday," Wang Xiulan replied from the kitchen.

Wei Ran was somewhat disappointed: "You don't eat rabbit meat?"

"We'll eat it tomorrow," Wei Chen replied. "I'll stew that rabbit tomorrow to satisfy your craving."

Wei Ran cheered up and ran back inside to do her homework. Wei Chen stood quietly under the jujube tree for a while. Most of the leaves had fallen, leaving the branches bare and looking somewhat desolate in the twilight.

But the two mats of red dates spread out like a heavy harvest, laid out in the center of the courtyard, gleamed with a dark red light under the dim lamplight. He looked at them for a while, then turned and went inside to wash his hands and prepare to eat.

A few days passed, and autumn deepened. The jujube trees in the yard had almost all lost their leaves, leaving bare branches reaching towards the gray sky. But the two mats of red dates had long been gathered into baskets, dried, packed into cloth bags, and moved into the cellar.

The row of Chinese cabbages at the foot of the courtyard wall is growing vigorously, their leaves layered around their cores, a vibrant green with a hint of white frost, a truly delightful sight. The radishes are not to be outdone, half-exposed above the soil, thick and round, each one weighing over two pounds when pulled up.

Wei Chen's vegetable garden was the most conspicuous feature of the entire courtyard. While other people's vegetable patches were sparse, barely managing to grow a few wilted spinach plants, Wei Chen's garden seemed to be under some kind of spell. Radishes and cabbages grew wildly and vibrantly, several clusters of tender pods hung from the bean trellis, and the chives, harvested again and again, remained evergreen. Even the pumpkin vines around the courtyard walls had spread out like a canopy, their thick leaves densely packed together, hiding large, round pumpkins beneath.

Early that morning, Wei Chen ate breakfast and pushed his bicycle out the door. Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he bumped into Grandma Li, who was carrying a bamboo basket from the backyard. Grandma Li was in her early sixties, with gray hair and a slightly hunched back, but she was still in good spirits. Seeing Wei Chen, she stopped and said, "Wei Chen, going to work?"

"Okay, off to work," Wei Chen replied, then added, "Grandma Li, the radishes in the garden need to be harvested today. My mom asked me to call you and Aunt Liu to help. Take your time, don't tire yourselves out. I'll finish when I get back."

Grandma Li waved her hand: "Don't worry, Aunt Liu and I are here. We're keeping an eye on your mother's health, making sure she doesn't do any heavy work. You just go to your job." As she spoke, she lowered her voice, "Your mother is an honest person, what's a little help from our two families? Your vegetable garden has saved both of our lives."

Wei Chen knew what she meant. In times of famine, human kindness is more precious than gold; a single bite of vegetables can save a life. This wasn't an exaggeration in the autumn of 1960; it was the stark reality. Supply was tight in the city; grain rations were being reduced again and again, and meat and eggs were practically unavailable.

The vegetable market only sells a few kinds of vegetables each day, and the supply is limited. If you go late, you can't even get the bare stalks. Many households are already showing signs of edema, which is a sign of protein and vitamin deficiency.

Wei Chen's vegetable garden was like an oasis in the desert; radishes and cabbages grew lush and vibrant, beans hung heavy on the trellises, and chives were harvested again and again. To others, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Because Little Stone and Little Grass got along well with Wei Ran, their families naturally became close to the Wei family as well. At first, the two families were just envious, and occasionally when they met Wei Chen in the yard, they would say a few words of praise: "Wei Chen, your vegetables are growing really well." Wei Chen wouldn't say much, just smile.

But later, Grandma Li and Aunt Liu noticed that when Wei Chen's family harvested vegetables, they would always leave some in their baskets and deliver them to their house every few days. Sometimes it was a bunch of green beans, sometimes a few bok choy, and sometimes a few crisp radishes.

Grandma Li was a sensible woman; she knew the value of a bunch of vegetables these days. She appreciated the kindness, but felt she couldn't just take something for nothing. These days, the biggest fear in social interactions is giving people something to talk about. If you take someone's vegetables, you can just say thank you and that's it, but what will people say behind your back? They'll say you're taking advantage of them. Grandma Li didn't care what others said, but she was afraid of causing trouble for Wei Chen's family. She thought about it for several days and finally came up with a solution—to help them.

She went to Aunt Liu to discuss it: "Aunt Liu, Xiulan can't manage Wei Chen's vegetable garden by herself. We two families are just benefiting from it, so why don't we take turns going over to help? Weeding, watering, harvesting vegetables, it's just a small favor."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu nodded repeatedly: "Auntie, you've hit the nail on the head. That's what I was thinking too. The Wei family has been so good to us, we can't just accept it passively. Helping them out is not only to repay their kindness, but also to let the neighbors see that we are genuine sworn relatives, not people taking advantage of them."

And so, the two women reached an agreement. From then on, every morning, Grandma Li and Aunt Liu would take turns coming to the east courtyard to help Wang Xiulan tend the vegetable garden. They did everything: weeding, watering, building trellises, harvesting vegetables, tidying the yard. Sometimes, Little Stone and Little Grass would come home from school and help out, carrying vegetables, sweeping, and running around.

Wang Xiulan was initially embarrassed and declined several times: "Grandma Li, Aunt Liu, you both have your own chores to do at home, how can you come to help me every day?"

Grandma Li waved her hand: "Xiulan, you're being too polite. We're godparents, so your business is my business. Besides, we both benefit from your vegetable garden. Helping out like this is nothing."

Aunt Liu chimed in, "That's right. Xiulan, don't refuse. Look how well your vegetable garden is growing. How can you manage it all by yourself? We'll help out so you can have an easier time."

Wang Xiulan couldn't persuade them otherwise, so she had to let them do as they pleased. But she knew in her heart that these two families were genuinely kind to her family. She remembered this kindness, and whenever she harvested vegetables from the garden, she would gather the extra, tender, and scrap vegetables, dividing them into two portions, one for Grandma Li's family and the other for Aunt Liu's family. Sometimes it was a few cabbages, sometimes a bunch of green beans, sometimes a bundle of scallions. Although these were all inexpensive vegetables, in a year of famine, they were the most precious tokens of human kindness.

Today was no exception. No sooner had Wei Chen left than Grandma Li and Aunt Liu entered the east courtyard. Wang Xiulan was already wearing an apron and busy in the vegetable garden. She was squatting on the ground, pulling up radishes. Holding the radish tops, she gently pulled, and a white radish sprouted from the soil, carrying the damp scent of earth. She weighed it in her hand and placed it contentedly into the basket beside her.

Grandma Li came over, squatted down, and helped pull the radishes out: "Xiulan, these radishes are growing so well. Look at this one, it must weigh over two pounds, right?"

Wang Xiulan smiled and said, "These aren't even the biggest ones. The ones on the east side are even bigger; I estimate they weigh about three pounds each."

Aunt Liu brought out a basin of water from the house, placed it on the ground, washed the radishes she had pulled out one by one, and stacked them in a basket: "This year's vegetable garden has really yielded a bumper harvest. Xiulan, how did you take care of your land? My cabbages look like wilted chickens, but your cabbages have leaves that are bright green."

Wang Xiulan didn't say much, just smiled and said, "Maybe it's because the land is good and there's running water in the yard, so the plants get plenty of water."

"The vegetables in this yard should be harvested soon. If we wait too long, they'll get damaged by the frost and won't keep!" Aunt Liu said.

Wang Xiulan nodded: "It's time to harvest. Wei Chen said that if the pumpkins are fully ripe, they can be stored all winter without spoiling." She paused, then added, "Grandma Li, Aunt Liu, there are too many pumpkins. We can't eat them all. After the harvest, each of you can take a few. They're very filling; you can steam or boil them. They're even more filling than grain."