Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

"Good, good...you've saved quite a lot...enough to eat, enough to eat..." the mother murmured, her voice trembling with a barely perceptible sob.

Coming up from the cellar, Wang Xiulan felt her feet were lighter. Back in the warm house, Wei Chen pointed to the two rooms in the east wing: "Mom, as we agreed before, you'll stay in the bigger one, which is sunny and warm. Ranran will stay in the smaller one next to it." He pushed open the door to his mother's room.

The room wasn't large, but it was spotless and tidy. By the window was a brand-new, large wooden bed, covered with a thick, soft, and warm cotton mattress. On top of the mattress was an equally new quilt, printed with bright red peonies, neatly folded. Beside the bed was a slightly worn chest of drawers and a washbasin stand. The window had clear, transparent glass, letting in the hazy twilight outside.

"The beds were made before we moved, and the bedding was all new, made by you before, and we've been keeping it unused," Wei Chen said.

Wang Xiulan walked to the bedside, reached out and touched the thick cotton quilt, then patted the soft mattress. The familiar touch of cotton, carrying the scent of sunshine, brought tears to her eyes again. This was all cotton and cloth she had painstakingly saved up at home, stitch by stitch, for her son. Unexpectedly, it had become her warmest comfort in this unfamiliar city.

Wei Ran couldn't contain herself any longer. With a cheer, she ran into her little room, curiously touching and looking at everything, before starting to put her little bundle on the bed.

"Mom, take a look at your room too. If you need anything, we can get it tomorrow." Wei Chen said, gently closing the door to his mother's room and leading her to his own landlord's room.

Wei Chen's room was simply and rusticly furnished, reminiscent of the early 1990s, but by today's standards, it was enviable. There was a large double bed, a desk, a chair, and a wardrobe. He walked to the wardrobe, opened the door, and rummaged through the bottom layer to pull out a heavy, old, slightly worn iron box. The box was locked; he took the smallest brass key from his keychain and clicked it open.

Wang Xiulan looked at her son with suspicion. Wei Chen carefully took out several folded sheets of paper with blue patterns from the tin box, along with a stack of colorful tickets tied with rubber bands, and finally a small roll of cash bound with rubber bands. He stuffed all of these things into his mother's hands.

"Mom, please take this."

Wang Xiulan instinctively caught the papers. She first unfolded them and carefully examined them in the light coming from the main room. When she saw the words and amounts on the papers, her eyes widened suddenly, her breathing became rapid, and her hand holding the papers trembled uncontrollably!

There were four bank savings deposit slips! One clearly stated: Five Hundred Yuan. Two stated: Two Hundred Yuan. And one stated: One Hundred Yuan. In black and white, they totaled a full one thousand yuan!

In an era when an ordinary worker's monthly salary was only twenty or thirty yuan, a thousand yuan was an enormous sum that would make anyone dizzy! What shocked her even more was that the account holder's name on the deposit slip was neatly written as her own, Wang Xiulan's!

"Chen...Chenzi!" Wang Xiulan's voice trembled, filled with extreme terror and disbelief. Her face turned deathly pale, like a crumpled piece of paper. "This...so much money?! Where...where did it come from?! You...you can't do...do something illegal!"

A tremendous fear gripped her; she even felt the deposit slip in her hand was as hot as a red-hot iron, and she almost dropped it! Her son had only been working in the city for half a year! Even if he didn't eat or drink, he couldn't save that much money! All sorts of terrible thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, and her heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by an icy hand, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Wei Chen had anticipated his mother's reaction. He quickly supported her swaying body, pressing her to sit on the edge of his bed. His voice was steady and clear: "Mom! Mom! Don't panic! Listen to me! This money is clean and honest; every penny was earned by your son through his own hard work!"

As he spoke, he quickly pulled out another neatly folded piece of paper from the bottom of the tin box, unfolded it, and handed it to his mother. It was a purchase certificate stamped with the bright red official seal of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

The date, product name, quantity, and amount are clearly listed above: "Two wild boars, net weight 460 jin, unit price X yuan, total XX yuan."

These are several purchase receipts, all left over from when Wei Chen sold wild boars to the steel mill. Finally, there's the total amount—a staggering figure—followed by the signatures and stamps of the purchasing department head and the finance department.

"Mom, look," Wei Chen pointed to the receipt and patiently explained, "Over the past six months, I've used my free time to make several trips to the mountain valleys to the north. I got lucky and managed to get some big stuff. The factory canteen was short of meat, so I sold it directly to them. The price was slightly higher than what the supply and marketing cooperatives charged, and the factory gave me all the proper paperwork—it was all legal and legitimate! That's how I saved up this money. Your son didn't steal, didn't rob, and didn't do anything against his conscience!"

Wang Xiulan's trembling fingers caressed the certificate stamped with a red seal, carefully examining each word as if to confirm the authenticity of every stroke. The bright red seal, the clearly defined product name and amount, acted like a shot of adrenaline, slowly calming her wildly beating heart.

So that's how it is! It was her son who risked his life to hunt in the mountains! She looked up at her son's young yet already composed and resolute face, and a huge sense of lingering fear instantly replaced her previous terror.

"Chenzi!" She grabbed her son's arm with surprising strength, her voice trembling with tears and lingering fear. "Hunting is a job where you risk your life! Those deep forests, wild boars, bears, how dangerous! What if... what if something happens to you... how will I live?"

She couldn't bear to imagine her son facing those ferocious beasts alone, and tears finally streamed down her face. "We have jobs now, we're government employees! We don't want to be rich or powerful, we just want peace and safety! Please... please don't ever go back again! Promise me!"

Seeing the genuine fear and tears in his mother's eyes, Wei Chen felt a pang of sadness. He grasped her rough, cold hand, nodded firmly, and said solemnly, "Mom, don't worry! I promise you! I'll try my best not to go into that old forest again! I'll work hard at the factory! This money is to let you know that your son is capable of supporting the family and giving you and Ranran a good life! Don't worry about money!"

He paused deliberately, then changed the subject, a smile spreading across his face. "Oh, right, Mom, there's some good news I forgot to tell you. I did a good job at the factory recently and got promoted! Now my monthly salary is thirty yuan!"

Sure enough, the news was like a ray of light, instantly dispelling the gloom and tears on Wang Xiulan's face. She suddenly looked up, her eyes bursting with unbelievable joy: "Thirty...thirty yuan?! Really? My son! You're so promising! You've made your mother proud!"

Overwhelming joy overshadowed her earlier shock and lingering fear. Thirty yuan a month was enough to make anyone in the village green with envy! Her son had not only settled down but also received a promotion and a raise! It was truly a double blessing! Her lips trembled with excitement as she gripped her son's hand tightly, as if trying to confirm that this wasn't a dream.

Wei Chen seized the opportunity, picked up the thick stack of tickets and the small roll of cash, about one hundred and twenty yuan, along with the four deposit slips, and stuffed them back into his mother's hands: "Mom, keep all of these safe. The deposit slips are in your name; you can withdraw the money with your household registration book and the deposit slips. Money is safest in the bank."

These grain coupons, oil coupons, food ration books, coal ration books, cloth coupons, industrial coupons, and so on, are all our family's living expenses vouchers. This cash is for pocket money. From now on, you'll be the head of this household! Until our son gets married, you'll be in charge of everything!

Looking at the large pile of "lifeline" items in her hands, which were crucial to the family's livelihood, Wang Xiulan felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. She felt the warmth of her son's unwavering trust, but also a profound sense of responsibility weighing heavily on her back. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her excited emotions, and nodded solemnly, "Okay, okay... Mother will keep them for you, Mother will definitely take good care of them!"

She no longer refused, carefully folded the deposit slip, and, along with the precious receipts and cash, hid it close to her body in a hidden pocket sewn inside her cotton-padded jacket. She pressed it carefully to make sure it was secure. She didn't want the metal box, telling her son to keep it for his own things.

Having hidden away these "family treasures," Wang Xiulan felt as if a huge psychological burden had been lifted, and she also seemed to have gained new strength. She stood up, her face regaining the competence and vitality of a matriarch: "Chenzi, are you hungry? Mother will cook! We're moving to a new house today, we have to have a good meal! Mother will make noodles for you and Ranran, noodles with soybean paste!"

She walked briskly into the kitchen. Wei Chen had already placed five pounds of good quality pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat in a basket under the cutting board.

When Wang Xiulan saw the large, glistening piece of meat, clearly red and white, she was startled again, but this time she felt more heartache: "Oh dear, Chenzi, why did you buy so much meat? It's so precious!" However, thinking that today was a joyous occasion and her son had just been promoted, she felt relieved. Meat keeps well in winter, and her son just wanted them to have a good meal.

"Not much, not much, Mom, cook as much as you want today!" Wei Chen smiled and followed into the kitchen to help light the stove. He deliberately set aside a little extra, to prepare for bringing things home later—he couldn't "buy" this much every meal.

The honeycomb briquette stove quickly ignited with a bright blue flame, dispelling the chill in the kitchen. Wang Xiulan deftly kneaded and rolled out the dough, her movements practiced and skillful, as if she were back at the stove in the countryside. Wei Chen helped peel garlic and wash vegetables. Wei Ran also ran in, watching with curiosity as her mother busied herself on the brand-new stove in the city.

On the cutting board, the fatty meat was diced and dropped into the hot iron wok, making a pleasant sizzling sound, and the rich aroma of meat instantly filled the air. The fat was slowly rendered out, turning into translucent cracklings.

Wang Xiulan poured the finely chopped lean meat into the pot along with sweet bean sauce and yellow soybean paste, and skillfully stir-fried it. The aroma of sauce, meat, and oil mingled together, forcefully bursting out of the kitchen and drifting in the gradually quieting twilight of the courtyard, stimulating the olfactory nerves of the neighbors.

Add the savory aroma of minced scallions, ginger, and garlic at the right time, and finally drizzle with a little sesame oil. A pot of glossy, fragrant fried sauce is ready.