Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen wore a humble smile, as if he had only done something insignificant. He took out a brand-new, unopened pack of "Da Qianmen" cigarettes from his pocket, deftly tore open the seal, and first handed one to Liu Yuan, who was still in shock and hadn't fully recovered. He then distributed them to Wang Aiguo, Liu Guoqing, and Wu Xiaojun one by one. The orange-red cigarette pack stood out conspicuously against the slightly gloomy background of the barren slope.

"Team Leader Liu, you flatter me. It's just luck, mostly good luck." Wei Chen lit a match for Liu Yuan first, then for Wang Aiguo, saying these polite words.

"We happened to stumble upon their lair. The terrain was advantageous to us, so we gained a bit of an edge. I estimate the gross weight is a little over two thousand." He exhaled a puff of pale blue smoke, which appeared somewhat thin amidst the strong smell of blood.

Wang Aiguo took a deep drag on his cigarette; the pungent tobacco smell seemed to suppress some of the fishy odor in his nasal cavity.

He squinted, scrutinizing Wei Chen, then glanced at the two large trees leaning against the broken wall—a jujube tree and a peach tree. The huge mounds of earth were bound with hemp rope, making them look like two bloated giants, and the pruned branches pointed towards the sky.

He exhaled smoke rings, his voice carrying the calm and knowing tone typical of a driver: "Brother Wei, this is your skill!" He held up his rough thumb and gestured, "The factory really made the right choice in putting you in purchasing! This wild boar... tsk tsk." He shook his head and didn't continue, but the meaning was clear.

Following his gaze, Wei Chen looked at the two trees, and at the right moment showed a "sorry to bother you" expression on his face. He said to Liu Yuan and Wang Aiguo, "Team Leader Liu, Master Wang, there is a small matter... I would like to trouble you two."

"Look, my new yard in the city is all set up. It's quite empty, so I was thinking of planting a couple of trees to add some life to it, and maybe we can have some fruit to eat later. I just bought these two from the village, a jujube tree and a peach tree. I was thinking... I was wondering if I could trouble you, Mr. Wang, to take them back to the city? Just leave them at the entrance of my little yard." He pointed to the two large trees.

"Hey! What's the big deal!" Wang Aiguo laughed heartily upon hearing this, waving his hand as cigarette ash fell in a flurry. "Just these two trees? No problem! Leave it to me!"

"Brother Wei, just look at your meat-handling skills! If you ever need anything, just let me know! I, Old Wang, run this route a lot. As long as the timing works out, if you need to catch a ride, just say the word!" He patted his chest, his tone sincere.

Wei Chen's face immediately lit up with a grateful smile, and he thanked him repeatedly, "Oh, thank you so much, Master Wang! You've really helped me a lot! I'm new to the city and don't know anyone here, so your words make me feel much more at ease!"

As he spoke, he casually stuffed the pack of "Daqianmen" cigarettes, which he had just opened and only had a few cigarettes left, along with the matches, into the pocket of Wang Aiguo's work clothes.

Wang Aiguo was visibly taken aback for a moment, then his smile widened, carrying a sense of satisfaction that "you know the rules." He patted his pocket and didn't refuse again, simply saying with a smile, "Brother Wei, you're too kind! Our transportation department and your purchasing department are like brothers, working together in the same pot in the factory. We've cooperated a lot! We'll see each other in the future!" His words were both sincere and had a touch of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry).

"Yes, yes, Master Wang is right!" Liu Yuan had completely recovered from the shock of the wild boar and was in high spirits, his face glowing. "Wei Chen, you've really given our team three and our purchasing manager a huge boost! Factory Director Li is probably thrilled! Hurry up, you two, don't just stand there, load it up! Get this 'mountain of meat' on the truck first! And bring Wei Chen's two precious trees too!"

The highlight of the loading was, of course, the ten wild boars.

Even with the spacious cargo bed of the Jiefang truck, the space felt cramped when faced with such a large number and size of prey. Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun, being young and strong, volunteered to take on the heaviest tasks.

The two men strained with all their might, each grabbing the hind legs of a boar weighing over 300 pounds, trying to drag it. The heavy carcass remained motionless, as if welded to the ground. Their faces turned red, veins bulging, and they barely managed to pull it a little, plowing deep furrows into the ground.

"My goodness! This is incredibly heavy!" Liu Guoqing gasped for breath, wiping away sweat. "Come on, give me a hand!" Liu Yuan and Wang Aiguo, seeing this, quickly stepped forward to help. The four of them worked together, shouting, "One, two, three! Lift!" They finally managed to lift the giant pig, huffing and puffing as they moved it to the side of the truck bed, and then pushed it onto the bed with all their might. The heavy pig's body slammed onto the floor of the truck bed with a dull thud, and the entire truck shook.

Just moving the two largest boars and three sows took four people a tremendous amount of effort, leaving them drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

The remaining five half-grown piglets were relatively lighter, but it was still no easy task. Wei Chen watched from the sidelines, seizing the opportunity to lend a hand. His movements seemed ordinary, simply helping to lift and push, but whenever there was a critical point of support or when others were struggling, his helping hand always provided just the right amount of stable and crucial support, making it easier to lift or turn the heavy pigs.

He deliberately controlled his strength, his arm muscles tensing slightly and then quickly relaxing, his breathing steady, and his face displaying only a perfectly measured expression of "exertion," never revealing his true power. Even so, the strength he displayed was enough to leave Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun secretly astonished.

"Brother Wei, you're really strong! You don't look that big, but you're surprisingly strong!" Wu Xiaojun praised sincerely. Wei Chen just smiled and said, "I'm used to running around in the mountains, so I have a bit of brute strength."

Finally, the ten wild boars were crammed into the back of the truck, dragged, pushed, and lifted, filling it to almost three-quarters full. A strong stench of blood filled the truck bed, mixed with the smell of dust. It felt as if grease could drip from the air.

Next were the two trees. Although the jujube and peach trees were heavy, their size was more regular compared to the wild boar, and they had bundles of earth to hold them in place. Wang Aiguo, experienced as he was, directed, "Come on, lift the jujube tree up first! Place it upright, against the back of the driver's cab! Put the peach tree to the side, it'll be right there!"

Wei Chen took the initiative to stand at one end of the jujube tree mound, while Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun stood at the other end. The hemp rope that Wei Feng and Wei Yan had tied was very strong, and the wooden bar was threaded through the rope. "One, two, three! Lift!" The three of them exerted their strength at the same time.

This time, Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun clearly felt much more relaxed; the heavy mound of earth and tree trunk didn't seem as unshakeable as they had expected. They naturally attributed their success to the combined efforts of the three of them and the good binding of the hemp rope.

Wei Chen still held back most of his strength, steadily supporting his own end as he moved the jujube tree to the side of the truck bed.

With the assistance of Wang Aiguo and Liu Yuan, the huge jujube tree was carefully erected and leaned against the rear window of the driver's cab, with the huge mound of soil from its roots resting steadily on the floor of the truck bed.

The peach trees were planted in the same way. When the two large trees stood firmly in the truck bed, right next to the small mountain of wild boars, the entire truck bed was packed with almost no space left. The sparse branches of the pruned jujube tree and the low crown of the peach tree unexpectedly added a touch of earthy vitality to the backdrop of steel and flesh.

Wei Chen finally lifted his old bicycle, easily raised the side panel, and stuffed it into the last remaining gap in the corner, cleverly wedging the handlebars and wheels between the tree trunk and the wild boar carcass.

"It's done!" Wang Aiguo clapped his hands, looking at his "masterpiece" with satisfaction—a peculiar truck loaded with amazing wild game and two thriving fruit trees.

"Wei Chen, Liu Guoqing, Wu Xiaojun, you three can sit in the back!" Liu Yuan instructed, then opened the passenger door for himself. "Master Wang, let's squeeze in from the front!"

Wei Chen responded, and with a nimble movement, he braced himself against the sideboard of the truck bed with one hand, flipped over, and jumped onto it, landing steadily in the narrow gap between two large trees.

Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun climbed up one after the other. Inside the cab, Wang Aiguo started the engine, and the huge diesel engine roared again, causing the vehicle to shudder.

"Hold on tight! The road's rough!" Wang Aiguo shouted from the driver's window, then shifted gears. The Jiefang truck roared, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust, carrying its heavy harvest and hopes, bumping and jolting towards Beijing.

As the truck drove into Beijing in the afterglow of the setting sun, the loud engine noise and the conspicuous combination of "mountains of meat" and "green trees" in the truck bed attracted the attention of passersby.

When the car finally turned into Nanluoguxiang and stopped at the gate of that familiar courtyard house, it was during the leisure time before dinner.

As usual, several women sat on the bluestone steps and beside the door piers at the entrance of the courtyard, enjoying the cool air, picking vegetables, and chatting idly. Among them were Aunt Yan Bugui's third wife, Aunt Er's second wife, and the daughter-in-law of the Li family in the backyard.

The massive green body and deafening roar of the Jiefang truck shattered the tranquility of the alleyway like a boulder thrown into a calm pond.

"Hey! Big truck! What's that for?"

"Wow! Good heavens! What is that poop? It's a huge, black mess..."

"Oh my god! Those...those are wild boars, right? There are so many of them?!"

"Look, look! There are two more big trees! What a sight!"

The women stood up one after another, discussing in surprise, and curiously gathered around, chattering all at once.

The driver's cab door opened, and Liu Yuan and Wang Aiguo got out first. Immediately afterwards, the cargo bed side panel was lowered, and Wei Chen was the first to nimbly jump down, followed closely by Liu Guoqing and Wu Xiaojun.

The three women, with their sharp eyes, recognized Wei Chen at a glance. They immediately squeezed to the front, their faces beaming with an eager yet inquisitive smile. Their voices were loud and clear: "Oh my! Wei Chen! It's you! I was wondering why such a big commotion! This... this is all what you brought back? My goodness! So many wild boars?! And these two big trees?" Her gaze darted back and forth between the terrifying pile of wild boars and the huge jujube and peach trees in the truck bed, filled with shock and disbelief.