Chapter (3) "The Great Hunter and Two Wild Boars" (part-1)
The Village Elder and his family couldn't speak. They just waited for Bai Li to get closer, their faces full of confusion.
Is that really Bai Li they were seeing?
He had borrowed a bow to go to the mountains just at noon, and now he was back with a whole flock of pheasants?
Is this a dream or reality?
Bai Li had grown up right in front of them, yet he was such trash that he had never worked a day in his life. He definitely just went up the mountain for the first time today, but he actually brought back with a catch?
It was as if the Heaven was playing a joke on them, making those who often went hunting and came back empty-handed feel like dying.
While they were lost in thought, Bai Li walked up to them, gave a dazzling smile, and handed a pheasant to Tu Xi.
"Auntie Jiang, this is for you."
Tu Xi stared at the pheasant with disbelief, her hands trembling slightly.
That piece of trash was giving her a pheasant! She couldn't believe it! Not at all!
Seeing that Tu Xi didn't take it, Bai Li said again: "Auntie Jiang, don't feel awkward about it. This is just for borrowing the bow. Actually, I'll need to borrow it again early tomorrow morning. Since I realized today that I have a talent for hunting, I plan to become a hunter from now on. So, please keep lending it to me until I can buy my own bow."
Tu Xi looked up at Bai Li at those words, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something. But what could she say?
The Elder's sons and daughters-in-law were also stunned, gazing at Bai Li. They faintly felt as if something had just slapped them in the face. Their family was the only one in the village with a good bow, and though they went hunting in their free time, they often came back empty-handed. On a lucky day, they'd get one pheasant or one wild hare. Yet, the young man in front of them, who had gone up the mountain for the first time in his life, came back with five pheasants!
Were they supposed to believe this? They couldn't! They absolutely couldn't!
In this comical yet sad situation, the first person to regain his senses was the Village Elder.
He was pleased that Bai Li had actually gone hunting and gotten a lot of pheasants, and that he was willing to give them one. He happily said: "Why are you giving it away? Take it back and feed your little ge'er at home. Didn't you say Xiao Han was sick? Feed him some meat. Take it back, take it back. If you want to go to the mountain tomorrow, you can keep the bow. We can't go hunting anyway since it's harvest season."
The Village Elder was satisfied that Bai Li was willing to share. However, he was still worried that although Bai Li had gone hunting, he still had his old habits. Bai Li had never given food to his family, and the Elder worried that he wouldn't feed these pheasants to the ge'er in his family.
Tu Xi and the others only snapped back to reality when they heard their family's head speak, and a flash of regret passed through their eyes. They didn't believe Bai Li could hunt, but that didn't mean they didn't want the pheasant.
Meat was extremely rare. Chicken and pork were expensive, and wild game could only be acquired by risking life and limb. They only ate meat a few times a year. So when their own family head sent away meat that had arrived right at their doorstep, they couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
Bai Li knew the importance of meat from his memories, so he could read the expressions of Tu Xi and the others. He prepared to put the pheasant in Tu Xi's hand, but then he remembered the strict separation between men and women. So, he turned to the Elder's eldest son, Jiang Ting, and placed the pheasant in his hand.
"Brother Ting, just take it. I managed to get five today, so I can afford to give it. It's not like I can give it every time, and since I need to keep borrowing the bow until tomorrow, I should even be giving more."
Then, Bai Li left.
Jiang Ting stared at the pheasant in his hand for a long time before he asked: "Mother... is it possible that this piece of trash has really changed?"
No one answered his question.
When Bai Li got back home, he took a look around his compound. The compound was large, but the shack was very small. There was no well on the property either.
Xiao Han had to carry water from the neighbor's house every day for cooking and for bathing the kids and the original Bai Li.
If he had to tell the story of the well, the Bai parents, after building the shack, wanted to dig a well and had already hired people. But the original owner claimed they didn't need a well, stole the money, and gambled it away. The Bai parents were so angry that they refused to dig the well again.
Bai Li could only sigh again. The original owner was truly vile and truly poor.
Luckily, there was still some water at home, so he first washed the wild fruits he had picked from the mountain.
Then, he called the little kids out of the house.
"Bai Xiaofu and Bai Xiaowu, come here."
Bai Li assessed the situation and noticed that if he spoke too softly, the little ones would find his behavior unfamiliar and be even more scared. So he kept his voice slightly firm.
As expected, the little kids rushed out of the house in alarm and stood in front of him with their heads bowed.
Since Xiao Han was bedridden, there was no one to clean them, so it was no surprise they were dirty. Bai Li examined them closely. They had round faces and big eyes, and though they were thin and looked bad, their cute features couldn't be hidden. They didn't look like the original owner but like Xiao Han, which was a relief to Bai Li.
He didn't want a son who looked like the original owner.
Furthermore, since the little kids were ge'er, they had tiny red birthmarks just below the outer corner of their left eyes. Xiao Han also had a birthmark below the outer corner of his left eye, but his was faint, small, and reddish-orange. The birthmarks on the little kids, however, were bright red, like tiny drops of blood.
People in this world judged a ge'er's pregnancy potential by the color and size of their mark. People used to speculate that Xiao Han wouldn't be able to get pregnant, but they quieted down when he successfully gave birth to twins.
Bai Li looked closely at the little kids in front of him, then showed them the washed fruits from the basket.
"Do you want to eat these?"
The little kids looked up, but quickly looked down again and shook their heads.
Bai Li: "...."
"Hey, that's not how the script is supposed to go!" Bai Li thought inwardly.
However, he remembered that the original owner never fed them anything and even used to beat them if he thought they had stolen his food, so Bai Li felt a pang of sadness.
Bai Li's expression wasn't angry, but it was stern. He said: "Speak up. Do you want to eat them or not?"
The little kids immediately thought their father was getting angry again and became scared. Xiaofu was the first to speak: "We... We don't want to eat them."
Xiaowu also said: "I... I don't want to eat them either."
Xiaofu was the older one and Xiaowu was the younger one. Although they were twins, they looked slightly different, making them easy to tell apart.
Bai Li didn't accept their answer.
"No, you have to say you want to eat them. Say it again."
Now, the twins were sure their father was looking for trouble. They were still terrified from the meal their father gave them this morning. Of course, they knew their father wasn't that nice.
Xiaofu and Xiaowu were extremely scared of their father, so they didn't dare refuse. They just said what their father wanted:
"We want to eat them."
"We want to eat them."
When the two tiny voices spoke at the same time, Bai Li was satisfied.
"Good. If you want to eat them, you have to do something for me. Take these two pheasants, one each, and bring them to your grandma's house. Xiaowu has to say that this pheasant is for the rice this morning. Xiaofu has to say that he wants to exchange this pheasant for rice. Do you understand?"
The two kids stared blankly at the dead birds suddenly in their hands and couldn't help but look up at their father.
It was only then that Bai Li realized that two-year-old children might be scared of dead birds. He knew the Bai family wouldn't open the door for him, but they loved their grandsons, so he intended to send the little kids. However, if they were scared, he would have to go himself.
So, Bai Li scratched his head and asked the little kids: "Are you scared of these birds?"
Xiaofu shook his head, and soon Xiaowu also shook his head.
Bai Li was relieved by their answer.
"Then go to your grandma's house. When you come back, I'll give you the fruits, and tonight you'll eat meat and rice. Got it? Do you remember what you have to say?"
The kids were surprised that their father was going to give them food, but since they were only kids, they couldn't think too deeply about it. They were happy, although they worried their father wouldn't keep his promise. Xiaofu said: "We remember."
Then, he grabbed Xiaowu's hand and ran off.
After solving the Bai family issue, Bai Li started cleaning the remaining two pheasants for cooking. However, he might have expected too much. Though the little ones reached the Bai family's house, since they were only two years old, they couldn't clearly say what Bai Li instructed them to. They just kept repeating that the pheasants were "for the rice." As a result, Bai Mother, needing to know exactly what was going on, grabbed her grandsons' hands and came over to Bai Li's place.
Based on the memories, Bai Li knew this woman was the mother of the body, so he greeted her with a smile.
"Mother, why did you come yourself?"
Bai Mother was extremely angry with her delinquent son and didn't want to look at him, but two pheasants were too good to ignore, so she had to follow the kids. She ignored Bai Li's superficial sweetness and said in an impatient tone: "Xiaofu and Xiaowu showed up with pheasants and said you gave them. But I can't ask them why—they just keep saying it's for the rice. What do you mean by that?"
Bai Mother was annoyed. This stupid son didn't want to come himself and sent the kids instead. How frustrating!
At her words, Bai Li stopped cleaning the chopped pheasant meat, shook the water off his hands, and smiled.
"I went to the Village Elder's house this afternoon and borrowed a bow. Then I went hunting in the mountains and caught some pheasants. So, I sent one back for the rice Xiao Mei gave us this morning. As for the other one, I was wondering if you could exchange it for some more rice. You know, I don't have time to go sell the pheasants in the town right now."