Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen thanked the third aunt for "tipping him off," pushed his cart through the central courtyard, and headed towards his east wing. Just as he reached the moon gate leading to the east wing, the scene before him made him pause, a genuine look of surprise flashing across his eyes.

New look!

The isolated courtyard in my memory, overgrown with weeds, with broken walls and a sense of decay, has completely disappeared!

A newly built blue brick wall replaced the original crooked mud-brick partition wall, its top covered with neat gray tiles. The newly opened gate was made of heavy elm wood, coated with dark chestnut tung oil, its lintel simple yet exuding the fresh fragrance and weight of new wood. The door was ajar, and Wei Chen pushed it open.

The first thing that catches the eye is the ground beneath one's feet. A blue brick path, about one meter wide, is paved with large square bricks using the "paving" technique, with fine and straight brick joints, leading directly from the courtyard gate to the steps of the main house and the east wing.

The passageway naturally divides the courtyard into east and west sections. To the west, near where the original west wall was, a patch of earthen ground of about twenty square meters has been reserved, clearly an open space. East of the passageway, extending to the east wing, and the entire northern half of the courtyard, including the main house and the area in front of the east wing, is paved with the same smooth and clean blue bricks, gleaming with a warm luster in the setting sun.

The main building of the courtyard is a large main house facing south. It is made of blue bricks to the top, the walls are painted snow-white, and the roof is covered with brand-new fish-scale gray tiles, with straight and smooth lines on the ridge. On the east and west sides, there are two small side rooms attached to the gable walls of the main house, spreading out like bird wings.

To the east of the main house is an equally new, square-shaped east wing with white walls and gray tiles. All the doors and windows are installed, with uniform dark chestnut-colored wooden-framed glass windows and solid wood doors. The window frames have a simple checkered pattern, allowing light to filter through.

(By the way, there's one main house, two side rooms, and one east wing room—that's four rooms in total. Some comments mentioned ten rooms, but that doesn't make sense in this day and age.)

The entire courtyard is neatly laid out and uniformly colored. Blue bricks, white walls, gray tiles, and chestnut wood, without any superfluous decoration, exude a clean, neat, sturdy, and practical atmosphere, which contrasts sharply with the crowded and messy front, middle, and back courtyards of traditional courtyard houses.

"Comrade Wei Chen! You're back just in time!" A loud, cheerful voice rang out. Foreman Wu came out from the east wing.

He was wearing faded work clothes, sleeves rolled up, and trousers smudged with mud, but he looked energetic, his face beaming with the relief and pride of finishing a job. "I was just telling the guys I'd come find you at the factory tomorrow! See, this job, does it meet your standards?"

Master Wu was a stocky man with dark skin. His hands were large and calloused, covered with tiny cracks—marks of years of working with bricks, stones, and wood. He had sharp eyes, walked with a brisk pace, and exuded the composure and confidence unique to an old craftsman.

Wei Chen exclaimed sincerely, "Master Wu, this...this is simply wonderful! It exceeds my expectations! Your skills are truly exceptional!" He looked around the newly renovated courtyard, his tone full of surprise.

"Haha, this is what we do. We have to do our work beautifully, to be worthy of the client and to do justice to our own hands!" Master Wu laughed heartily, clearly pleased. "Come on, let me show you around inside and out. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, we'll fix it for you right away before the guys leave!"

The two walked along the blue brick path and headed towards the main house.

Pushing open the heavy solid wood door to the main hall of the house, a fresh, slightly damp smell of new wood mixed with lime water wafted out. The hall was spacious, with a floor also paved with smooth, polished blue bricks.

Master Wu tapped the ground with his foot: "See that? This brick floor has a base of rammed earth, sand, and lime, then a layer of fine sand to level it, and then the bricks are laid. The grout lines are filled with lime plaster, so it's guaranteed not to get damp, won't bulge, and feels solid underfoot!"

The east and west bedrooms are symmetrically laid out, and the flooring is equally meticulously finished. The walls are painted snow-white and smooth. "The walls are made with a base of wheat straw mud, mixed with hemp fiber to increase tensile strength, and then covered with a layer of white lime plaster that's scraped off perfectly! It's warm in winter and cool in summer, and it doesn't peel!" Master Wu explained, his tone carrying the pride of a professional craftsman.

Next are the east and west side rooms.

Master Wu first pushed open the door of the west wing room: "Look, as you said, this room will be used as a kitchen." This wing room was about fourteen or fifteen square meters, which was considered "luxury" to use as a kitchen in those days.

Upon entering, Wei Chen's gaze was immediately drawn to a stove meticulously constructed from blue bricks and refractory mortar in the corner on the left.

The stove is a standard "double-burner stove" with two round burner openings, a smooth inner cavity, a well-designed flue, and a smooth, flat surface made of cement.

Next to the stove, a square recess was reserved, just the right size to hold a honeycomb briquette stove. Beside that, a platform about half a person's height and the size of a table was built with bricks.

"Here's your cutting board, for kneading dough, rolling out noodles, and chopping fillings. We've given you plenty of space!" Chef Wu patted the brick counter. "This whole area opposite the stove is empty. Once your dining table and chairs are ready, you'll have a spacious place to eat!"

Wei Chen carefully examined the depth of the stove chamber and the direction of the flue, then tested the reserved location for the coal stove. He was very satisfied: "Master Wu, you've thought of everything! This stove looks like it will burn brightly!"

"That's right! We've been building stoves our whole lives, we know where the fire goes even with our eyes closed!" Master Wu laughed, then led Wei Chen to the door of the east wing, looking slightly smug. "This one took some thought."

Pushing open the wooden door of the east wing, one finds it divided into two small rooms by a newly built thin wall. The outer room is slightly larger, about seven or eight square meters, with a shallow pool in the center of the floor, smoothed with cement and sloping slightly towards a small hole in the corner. "This is the shower room," Master Wu says, pointing to the small hole in the corner. "There are pipes buried underneath, leading to the newly dug seepage well at the base of your yard wall. There are pipe connections and a niche for soap in the wall next to it."

He pushed open the inner door, revealing an even smaller cubicle, only three or four square meters in size. A deep pit had been dug in the middle of the floor, and a brand-new wooden toilet, coated with tung oil, sat on top of it. Below, a ceramic pipe connected to a drainage well. "This is the outhouse! As you said, it's separate from the bathing area. We didn't use the old-fashioned latrines; they smelled terrible and attracted flies. This way, it's cleaner! It connects to the outside sewer system, so the smell is much less! I even left a shelf on the wall for you to put toilet paper."

Looking at the simple yet incredibly sophisticated bathroom design, which was remarkably advanced for its time, Wei Chen was filled with admiration. The concept of separating wet and dry areas was groundbreaking in a traditional courtyard house of that era. "Master Wu, this...this is so thoughtful! It's even better than I expected!" Wei Chen said sincerely.

"Hehe, a living person can't be held back by their pee, life has to get better, right?" Master Wu rubbed his rough hands, clearly quite satisfied with his "innovation".

Finally, they returned to the courtyard. Mr. Wu pointed to the brick-paved northern half of the courtyard and the reserved dirt ground to the south: "Brick ground is easy to maintain; a quick sweep and it's clean. The south side is for you; you can plant some scallions, garlic, flowers, or build a grape trellis, it's up to you. Along the base of the courtyard wall, we've built a shallow drainage ditch with broken bricks; when it rains, the water flows directly into the ditch in the alley outside, so the courtyard won't flood."

The golden rays of the setting sun bathed the entire new, tidy, and functionally distinct courtyard, the blue brick floor gleaming with a warm light, and the white walls appearing exceptionally bright. Sparrows hopped and chirped on the brand-new roof ridge. The air was filled with the vibrant scents of earth, new wood, and lime water.

Standing in the center of the courtyard, Wei Chen felt an unprecedented sense of security and belonging welling up inside him. This was no longer a dilapidated corner where he could temporarily stay; this was his, Wei Chen's, true "home" in this strange yet familiar era.

The hunter's cabin is a secluded sanctuary, and here will be his foundation, both in the sunlight and among the people. Those cold treasures buried deep underground seem to have finally found their true meaning at this moment—providing a solid foundation for this newborn, vibrant "nest."

"Master Wu, no complaints! You and all the other masters have really worked hard!" Wei Chen turned around, his tone sincere and cheerful. "I've prepared the final payment for the wages, and I'll settle it for you right away!" He took out eighty brand-new ten-yuan bills, a total of eight hundred yuan, from his military satchel and handed them over.

The thick wad of banknotes felt heavy in his hand, and Master Wu's smile widened. He carefully took it, counted it thoroughly to make sure it was correct, and then tucked it into the innermost pocket of his coat, giving it a firm press. "Alright! Comrade Wei Chen is so generous! It's so nice working for such a straightforward and honest employer! This money is for you on behalf of the workers! All of us have worked hard these past few days! I'll bring you the receipt in a bit."

"Of course, your skills are worth the price," Wei Chen said with a smile.

"Oh, right," Master Wu said, putting away the money, then remembered something else. "Tomorrow morning, carpenter Liu Changming will be coming over. The doors and windows in your room are all installed, but the furniture is still empty, right? Tables, chairs, beds, cabinets—Old Liu is an expert in these fine woodwork tasks! If you have any ideas, what style or size you want, just discuss it with him tomorrow! His craftsmanship is top-notch; he'll make sure everything is perfect for you!" Master Wu enthusiastically recommended.

"That's great! That's exactly what I was worried about!" Wei Chen quickly agreed. "I'll definitely be waiting for Master Liu at home tomorrow."

"Alright! That's settled for today. I'll tell the guys to pack up their gear and we're done!" Master Wu waved his hand deftly. "Here are the keys. From today onwards, this yard is entirely yours! If you need any repairs or maintenance, just let me know!"

After seeing off Master Wu and his coworkers, the courtyard fell completely quiet. The last rays of the setting sun sank into the western rooftops.

Wei Chen stood alone in the center of the courtyard, taking a deep breath of the air, which carried the fresh scent of new mud and wood. He slowly walked across every inch of the newly paved blue brick floor, his fingers brushing against the cool, smooth stove, pushing open each of the newly installed, smoothly opening and closing wooden doors, finally stopping at the door of the small "toilet" with a commode. An unprecedented sense of satisfaction and anticipation for the future, like the twilight quietly spreading through the courtyard, gently enveloped him.

He closed the brand-new courtyard gate and turned to walk towards his still empty main room. His footsteps echoed clearly and firmly on the blue brick path.

This brand-new courtyard, like a small boat newly built amidst the torrent of time, is simple yet sturdy enough. And Wei Chen, the transmigrator with two secrets, finally has a harbor of his own where he can truly dock.

The hunter's cabin was a ballast stone hidden deep underwater, but this place before him was the deck where he would raise his sails and truly begin his life. He took out his key, inserted it into the lock of the main room, and gently turned it.

"Click".

A soft sound ushered in a new chapter in his life.