Chapter 3: The Great Hunter and the Two Wild Boars (Part 1)
The Village Elder and his family had nothing to say and simply waited for Bai Li to approach, their faces filled with disbelief and confusion.
Is that really Bai Li they're seeing?
He borrowed the bow just after noon to go up the mountain, and now he's back with a whole flock of pheasants?
Is this a dream? Is it real?
Bai Li had grown up right in front of them and was such trash that he had never done any work. It was certain that this was Bai Li's first time going up the mountain, yet he really came back with a catch!
The Heavens truly know how to play jokes. Maybe they're trying to drive the people who frequently go to the mountain and struggle to hunt to suicide.
While they were caught up in their thoughts, Bai Li approached them, smiling brilliantly, and offered a pheasant to Madam Tu (Auntie Jiang).
"Auntie Jiang, this is for you both!"
Madam Tu stared at the pheasant with disbelief in her eyes, her hands trembling slightly.
That piece of trash is giving her a pheasant! She doesn't believe it! She absolutely doesn't believe it!
Seeing that Madam Tu wasn't taking it, Bai Li spoke again:
"Auntie Jiang, you don't need to feel awkward. This is for borrowing the bow, after all! If you take it, I'll still have to borrow it again early tomorrow morning. I realized today that I actually have a talent for hunting, so I'll become a hunter from now on! Please lend it to me until I can buy my own bow."
Because of those words, Madam Tu looked up at Bai Li, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something. But what could she possibly say?
The Village Elder's sons and daughters-in-law were also stunned. They stared blankly at Bai Li, feeling as if something had slapped them across the face.
Their family was the only one in the village with a decent bow, and though they regularly went hunting on the mountain during breaks from farm work, they often returned empty-handed. On a lucky day, they might get one pheasant or one wild rabbit. Yet, the young man standing before them—who had only just gone up the mountain for the first time in his life—had returned with five pheasants!
Are they seriously trying to make us believe this? We don't believe it! We absolutely don't believe it!
In this situation, which was neither funny nor sad, the Village Elder was the first to regain his senses.
He was satisfied that Bai Li had actually gone hunting on the mountain, caught many pheasants, and was willing to share them. Happily, he said:
"Why are you giving it away? Take it back and feed it to the little ones at your house. Didn't you say Xiao Han was sick too? Feed him some of the meat. Take it back, just take it back. If you're going up the mountain again tomorrow, take the bow with you. It's harvest season now, so we won't be able to go to the mountain yet."
The Village Elder was satisfied that Bai Li was willing to follow through on his word. However, he was still worried that Bai Li might retain some of his old habits, despite having genuinely gone hunting. Bai Li had never given his family food before, and the Elder feared he would not feed these pheasants to the little ones at home.
Madam Tu and the others only snapped back to reality when they heard the head of the household speak, and a shadow of regret flashed across their eyes. They didn't believe Bai Li could hunt, but that didn't mean they didn't want to eat the meat!
Meat was incredibly scarce; the chicken and pork they could buy were too expensive. Wild game like this could only be obtained by taking great risks, so they only ate meat a few times a year. When the head of the household turned away the meat that had essentially arrived at their doorstep, they couldn't help but feel a pang of loss.
Bai Li was able to read the expressions of Madam Tu and the others because he knew the importance of meat from the memories. He was about to put the pheasant into Madam Tu's hand, but he suddenly remembered the strict social barriers between men and women. He then walked toward Jiang Ting, the Village Elder's eldest son, and placed the pheasant in his hand.
"Brother Ting, you just take it. I was able to give it because I caught five today, and I won't always be able to give this much. Besides, I should be giving even more since I'll need to borrow the bow until tomorrow."
Afterward, Bai Li turned and left.
Jiang Ting stared at the pheasant in his hand and finally asked after a long while:
"Mom, is it possible that this piece of trash has really changed?"
There was no one to answer his question.
When Bai Li arrived home, he took a look around his compound. The compound was quite large, but the hut was tiny. There was also no well at the house.
Xiao Han had to fetch water daily from the neighbors' house for household use, for the children, and for the original Bai Li to bathe.
To explain the story of the well: Bai Li's parents had wanted to build a well along with the hut and had even hired people to do so. However, the original owner claimed they didn't need a well, forcefully stole the money, ran off, and gambled it away. Because of this, Bai Li's parents were extremely furious and refused to dig the well again.
Bai Li could only sigh once more. The original owner was truly terrible and incredibly poor.
Luckily, there was still some water left in the house. Bai Li first washed the small fruits he had picked from the forest.
Then, he called the little ones inside the house:
"Bai Xiaofu and Bai Xiaowu, come here for a moment."
Bai Li assessed the situation and realized that if he spoke to them using a cooing voice, the little ones would become even more scared because they weren't used to his behavior. He decided to keep his tone slightly stern.
Just as he expected, the little ones came out of the house in alarm and stood before him, their heads bowed.
Since Xiao Han was bedridden, it was no surprise that there was no one to clean these little things, making them quite grubby. When Bai Li carefully examined them, he saw that they had round faces and big, bright eyes. Although they were thin and unattractive, their underlying lovable features could not be hidden. They didn't resemble the original owner but looked like Xiao Han, which made Bai Li feel relieved.
He definitely didn't want a son who looked like the original owner.
Furthermore, since the little ones were Ge'er (male individuals who can conceive), they each had a small red mole just below the outer corner of their left eye. Xiao Han also had a mole below the outer corner of his left eye, but his was small, indistinct, and orange-red. The moles on the little ones, however, were a very vibrant red, looking like tiny drops of fresh blood.
People in this world judged a Ge'er's ability to conceive based on the color and size of their mole. Thus, many people assumed Xiao Han would not be able to bear children, but when he successfully gave birth to twins, they were all silenced.
Bai Li carefully observed the little ones in front of him, then showed them the washed fruits from his basket:
"Do you want to eat these?"
The little ones looked up, but quickly looked down again, shaking their heads.
Bai Li: "........"
"Hey, the script isn't supposed to go like this!" Bai Li thought inwardly.
However, he remembered that the original owner not only never fed the little ones anything but also used to beat them if he thought they had stolen his food. This realization made him feel distressed.
Bai Li wasn't stern, but he maintained an extremely composed demeanor and spoke:
"Speak up. Do you want to eat them or not?"
At that moment, the little ones thought their father was starting trouble again, and they became more scared. Bai Xiaofu spoke first:
"We... we don't want to eat them."
Bai Xiaowu quickly followed:
"I... I don't want to eat them either."
Bai Xiaofu was the older brother, and Bai Xiaowu was the younger one. Although the two were twins, they were easily distinguishable because their appearances differed slightly.
Hearing those little voices, Bai Li didn't back down.
"No. You have to say you want to eat them. Say it again."
Now the twins were certain that their father was starting trouble again. They were still shaken from the food their father had given them this morning. Of course, they knew their father wasn't that kind.
Xiaofu and Xiaowu were so afraid of their father that they didn't dare defy his words. Therefore, they could only speak according to his wishes:
"We want to eat them."
"We want to eat them."
When the two little voices spoke out simultaneously, Bai Li was satisfied.
"Good. Since you want to eat them, you must do one thing for me. Each of you must take one of these two pheasants and bring them to your grandmother's house. Xiaowu must say, 'This pheasant is for the rice you gave us this morning.' Xiaofu must say, 'Please exchange this pheasant for some rice.' Do you understand?"
The two children stared blankly at the dead birds suddenly placed in their hands and couldn't help but look up at their father.
Only then did Bai Li realize that two-year-old children might be afraid of dead birds. He knew that Bai's parents wouldn't open the door for him, but they definitely loved their grandchildren, so he had originally planned to send the little ones. However, if they were scared, he would have to go himself.
So, Bai Li scratched his head and asked the little ones:
"Are you afraid of these birds?"
Xiaofu shook his head, and soon after, Xiaowu also shook his head.
Bai Li was relieved by the little ones' answers.
"Then go to your grandmother's house. When you get back, I'll give you fruits, and tonight you'll get to eat rice and meat. Alright? Do you remember the words you have to say?"
The children were surprised that their father would give them food, but as they were only children, they couldn't think too deeply. They worried their father might not keep his promise but were happy nonetheless. Xiaofu spoke up:
"We remember!"
Then, he grabbed Xiaowu's hand and ran out.
After settling the matter with the Bai family's compound, Bai Li started cleaning the remaining two pheasants for cooking. However, it seemed he had expected too much. Although the little ones had arrived at the Bai parents' house, they were only two years old and couldn't convey the message exactly as Bai Li had instructed, only repeatedly saying, "It's for the rice." Madam Bai, to find out for certain, grabbed her grandchildren's hands and came to Bai Li's house herself.
From the memories, Bai Li knew this woman was the body's mother. He smiled slightly and called out:
"Mother, why did you come yourself?"
Madam Bai was extremely furious with her prodigal son and didn't want to see him, but the two pheasants were too valuable to ignore, so she came along with the children.
She disregarded Bai Li's superficially sweet words and, in an impatient tone, spoke:
"Xiaofu and Xiaowu came back with pheasants and said you sent them. But when I asked them why, they only kept saying it was 'for the rice'. What do you mean by this?"
Madam Bai was clearly annoyed. This foolish son didn't want to come himself and sent the children instead! So irritating!
Hearing those words, Bai Li stopped rinsing the chopped pheasant meat and shook the water from his hands. Then, with a slight smile, he said:
"I went to the Village Elder's house this afternoon and borrowed a bow. Then I went up the mountain and hunted pheasants. That's why I had them give one back—it's for the rice Xiao Mei gave us this morning. The other one... I was hoping you could exchange it for some more rice for us, since it's too late now to go to town to sell the pheasants."