Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

"Wow...that's some strength!" Tiger's voice was a little hoarse. He cleared his throat forcefully before finding his voice, and with genuine amazement, he said, "Brother! You're truly a god!"

He no longer hesitated or showed any disrespect, turning to the still-stunned Pockmarked Brother and shouting sternly, "What are you all standing there for! Hurry up! Get the big scale! Call Old Abacus over here!"

"Hey! Hey! Tiger!" Pockmarked Brother jumped in fright and scrambled out the door, his voice trembling, "Monkey! Quick! Go to the storeroom and get the big scale! Call Uncle Abacus! Hurry!"

The monkey scrambled away.

Soon, a series of hurried footsteps approached. The monkey carried a large hardwood scale, as thick as a bowl and over ten feet long, followed by a thin old man with gray hair, wearing reading glasses and a similarly faded blue cloth jacket. The old man carried a heavy cast-iron weight and a large iron hook; he was none other than the accountant, "Old Abacus."

Seeing the two huge black pigs, each the size of a small mountain, on the ground by the door, Old Abacus nearly dropped his reading glasses, his hand trembled, and the weight almost hit his foot. Pockmarked Brother and another man quickly rushed to help.

A huge iron hook caught on the tendon of a pig's hind leg, and the scale rod passed through the hook. Brother Ma and another man struggled to lift the scale rod, and Old Abacus shakily hung the weight on the scale, squinting as he carefully moved it in front of the scale.

"Three hundred...three hundred and fifty catties exactly!" Old Abacus announced the number, his voice filled with surprise. This pig looked big, but he didn't expect it to be so heavy!

Use the same method to weigh the other end.

"Three hundred and fifty-six catties!" Old Abacus's voice rose a little higher.

Two pigs, weighing a total of 706 jin!

Tiger looked at the clear markings on the scale and gave Wei Chen another deep look. This burly man had said "around 350 or 360 jin," and he was absolutely right! This strength... was extraordinary!

Wei Chen was not surprised by this number at all. The weight of things in the game space seemed to be subject to some kind of rule, and it was very close.

After weighing the item, Wei Chen didn't immediately take out the money. Instead, he looked at Brother Hu and asked, "Brother Hu, do you have any cloth here? Cotton cloth, and cotton?"

Tiger paused for a moment, then reacted: "Cloth? Cotton? Yes! Of course!" The black market hoarded all sorts of scarce goods. He immediately ordered Pockmarked Brother: "Go to the warehouse! Get two bolts of sturdy blue cloth! And two bales of high-quality cotton! New ones!"

Brother Ma responded and went off. A short while later, he returned carrying two bolts of blue cotton cloth, tightly wrapped in kraft paper and bound with hemp rope. Two men followed behind, carrying two bulging sacks, also tightly bound with hemp rope, clearly filled with cotton.

The item was placed in front of Wei Chen. Old Suanpan immediately stepped forward and carefully unwrapped a corner of the kraft paper, revealing a brand-new, thick, and sturdy dark blue cotton cloth inside.

He felt the thickness and density of the fabric with his fingers, then inspected the fluffy, pure white cotton in the sack. He nodded and said to Wei Chen, "Sir, please take a look. This cloth is genuine cotton. In state-run stores, a bolt (about 33 meters) would cost around thirty yuan, plus cloth coupons. Here, we don't need coupons. We'll charge you fifty yuan a bolt, according to the market price. Is that alright?"

Wei Chen touched the fabric; it felt thick and substantial, indeed a good material for making clothes and bedding in this era. He nodded and said, "Okay."

Old Abacus pointed to the sack again: "This cotton is good quality lint from Hebei, well-carded, fluffy and clean. Outside, the supply and marketing cooperatives sell it for 80 cents a pound, but you need cotton coupons. Here, we'll give it to you for 1.5 yuan a pound. These two bales, each weighing 50 pounds, total 100 pounds. What do you think?"

"Okay." Wei Chen had no objection. The black market price already included the value of the ticket and the risk premium.

Old Suanpan immediately took out a polished abacus, and his withered fingers moved quickly, the wooden beads colliding to produce a crisp and rapid sound.

"Two pigs, 706 catties, 1.2 yuan per catty, totaling 847.2 yuan." "Two bolts of blue cloth, 50 yuan per bolt, totaling 100 yuan."

"One hundred catties of cotton, at one yuan and fifty cents per catty, totals one hundred and fifty yuan." "One hundred yuan for cloth and cotton plus one hundred and fifty yuan, that's two hundred and fifty yuan."

"The pig money is 847.2 yuan, minus the 250 yuan for cloth and cotton, I should give you..." The old abacus finger flew across the paper, "597.2 yuan exactly! Sir, is that right?"

Wei Chen did the mental calculation and confirmed it was correct: "Yes."

Tiger, who was watching from the side, interjected, "Brother, let's round it down to six hundred! Let's be friends!" He pointed to the two bolts of cloth and two bundles of cotton. "Take the stuff. As for the money, Old Abacus, give this brother six hundred! New stuff!"

Wei Chen knew this was Tiger Brother's way of showing goodwill, so he didn't refuse: "Thank you, Tiger Brother."

Old Suanpan immediately pulled a thick oilcloth bag from his pocket, opened it, and inside were stacks of neatly bundled banknotes of varying ages. He skillfully counted out sixty "big black ten" bills (ten bills each, totaling six hundred yuan) and handed them to Wei Chen: "Sir, please count them, six hundred exactly."

Wei Chen took the thick wad of money, didn't count it, and stuffed it directly into the bulging pocket of his body, instantly storing it in his spatial backpack.

Six hundred yuan! In those days, this was an astonishing sum of money! It was equivalent to nearly three years' wages for an ordinary worker who didn't eat or drink! Adding the money he made from selling wild boars at the steel mill, his net worth was now quite considerable.

Tiger watched as Wei Chen casually pocketed the money, then glanced at the two bolts of cloth and two large bundles of cotton on the ground, and laughed, "Brother, if you ever come across any of these 'hard goods' or other rare items in the future, be sure to think of me! The price will definitely satisfy you!"

He paused, then added, "Of course, things like cloth, cotton, grain, oil, sugar, tobacco, alcohol, even industrial coupons, bicycle tickets, sewing machine tickets—as long as you need them, just let me know in advance, and I can find a way to get them!"

Wei Chen nodded, his voice still steady: "We can cooperate. But I can't guarantee when the goods will arrive, nor can I guarantee the quantity. At least two pigs a month should be enough. I can't say more."

"Haha, I understand! I understand!" Tiger laughed heartily, patting Wei Chen on the shoulder, the touch feeling like patting a rock. "These days, no one can guarantee anything! That's enough! I, Tiger, consider you a friend!" He waved his hand, "Pockmarked, help the brothers tie up the stuff!"

Brother Ma and another man quickly found some sturdy hemp ropes and carefully tied the two heavy bolts of blue cloth together, and also tied the two large sacks of cotton securely.

Wei Chen stepped forward, picked up the two bundles of cloth with one hand, and easily lifted the two large sacks of cotton with the other, as if they were two bundles of straw.

Tiger and his men watched as he handled the situation with such ease, and their eyelids twitched wildly again.

"Tiger, let's go." Wei Chen said succinctly.

"Take care, brother! Come again anytime!" Tiger clasped his hands in a fist salute, his smile becoming much more sincere.

Wei Chen nodded, hoisted the cloth and carried the cotton, his tall figure disappearing back into the darkness outside the door, his footsteps fading quickly into the distance.

Watching the direction Wei Chen disappeared in, Tiger's smile gradually faded, and his eyes became deep. He remained silent for a while before whispering to Pockmarked Brother, "This guy... is not simple. If he comes again, treat him with courtesy. Whatever he wants to do, as long as it's not excessive, don't interfere. And don't even think about trying to find out his background or follow him... understand?" His tone was more serious than ever before.

"Yes, Brother Tiger!" Brother Ma hurriedly replied, glancing with lingering fear at the two enormous wild boars on the ground. Someone who could carry over 700 pounds and move with incredible speed—trying to follow him? Wasn't that just courting death?

Tiger's decision was undoubtedly wise. Although the profit from two pigs was considerable, it wasn't worth provoking an unfathomable "human beast" for such a small profit. More importantly, the strength the other party displayed and its mysterious supply channels made it worthwhile to maintain a "friendship" relationship with them.

Wei Chen carried heavy bolts of cloth and cotton, traversing the ruins and alleyways shrouded in night. His super hearing activated again, acting like an invisible radar, avoiding any possible trace of human presence. He deliberately chose the most secluded and darkest corners.

He soon found the end of a dead end, a place piled high with construction debris and discarded furniture, reeking of dust and decay. He confirmed that there was no one within a hundred meters; even the rats seemed to have been scared away by his presence.

The mind locks onto the hunter's hut.

Space shifted. The next second, the heavy cloth, cotton, and his tall figure found themselves in the spacious, bright, and modern living room of the hunter's cabin. The cool, dry air from the air conditioner instantly dispelled the summer night's heat and the dryness from carrying heavy objects.

The temperature inside was generally around 26 degrees Celsius, but since the three-story villa at the Hunter's Lodge was equipped with various appliances that could be used indefinitely, why not? Wei Chen often used them. He preferred things to be cooler in the summer.

He casually tossed the two bolts of blue cloth he was carrying on his shoulder and the two large sacks of cotton he was holding onto the gleaming wooden floor with a dull thud. The brand-new kraft paper packaging and the rough burlap sacks clashed horribly with the high-tech room, so he took them to the warehouse and put them inside.

Wei Chen walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the eternal, illusory, and tranquil forest outside. He took out a thick stack of banknotes from his backpack and his pocket—sixty brand-new, crisp "Great Unity" bills, exuding the unique smell of ink.

Six hundred yuan!

He weighed the heavy stack of wealth in his hand, yet his heart remained unusually calm. This was just the beginning. The Tiger line was progressing even more smoothly than he had anticipated. The cloth and cotton were precisely the resources he urgently needed for his next plan. With these, plus the output from his spatial storage, he could do even more.

With my previous income, I now have over 2,500 in cash, enough to build a house and make furniture.

He is carefully building a bridge between the rules of the real world and the resources of the spatial world, a bridge that belongs only to him. And power, whether it is the power of physical cultivation or the power bestowed by this mysterious space, is his greatest reliance on this path.

He walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of ice-cold beer, opened the cap, and tilted his head back to take a big gulp. The icy liquid slid down his throat, bringing a wave of pleasure.