Chapter (3): The Great Hunter and the Two Wild Boars (Part 1)
The Village Head and his family stood frozen, words failing them. They simply waited for Bai Li to draw near, their faces etched with a mosaic of bewilderment.
Was the person they were looking at truly Bai Li?
He had borrowed a bow at noon claiming he would hunt, and now he had returned with a cluster of pheasants?
Was it a dream? Or was this reality?
Bai Li had grown up right before their eyes; he was a piece of "trash" so profound that he had never lifted a finger to work. They were certain this was his first time ever stepping foot into the forest, yet he had actually secured prey.
Heaven truly had a sense of humor. Was it trying to drive the experienced hunters—those who struggled to bring home even a single bird—to the brink of despair?
While they were lost in thought, Bai Li reached them, his face bright with an exuberant smile as he offered a pheasant to Du Shi.
"Auntie Jiang, this is for you."
Du Shi stared at the bird with eyes full of disbelief, her hands trembling slightly.
The trash was giving her a pheasant! She didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it!
Seeing her hesitation, Bai Li spoke again.
"Auntie Jiang, there's no need to be formal. This is just for the bow rental. I'll need to come by early tomorrow to borrow it again. Now that I know I have a knack for hunting, I plan to make a living as a hunter from now on. So, until I can afford to buy my own bow, please keep lending me yours."
Du Shi looked up at him, her mouth opening and closing as if searching for words. But what was there to say?
The Village Head's sons and daughters-in-law remained in a daze, staring at Bai Li while feeling a faint, stinging sensation—as if their faces had been slapped.
Their family was the only one in the village that owned a decent bow. During the agricultural off-season, they often ascended the mountain to hunt. Yet, more often than not, they returned empty-handed. On a lucky day, they might bring back a single pheasant or a hare.
And yet, the youth before them had entered the forest for the first time in his life and returned with five pheasants.
Were they expected to believe this? They absolutely did not believe it!
In this awkward atmosphere where one didn't know whether to laugh or cry, the Village Head was the first to regain his senses.
He was genuinely pleased that Bai Li had actually gone to the mountain, hunted successfully, and even had the heart to offer them a share. He said happily:
"Why are you giving it away? Take it back and feed those little ones at your house. You said Xiao Han isn't feeling well, so let him have some meat too. Take it back, take it back! If you're going into the woods again tomorrow, just take the bow with you. It's harvest season, so we won't be heading to the forest anytime soon anyway."
The Village Head was satisfied just by the gesture. Moreover, he feared that even though Bai Li had hunted successfully, his old habits might persist. He worried that Bai Li, who had never provided for his family, wouldn't share these pheasants with the ge and the children at home.
The sound of their patriarch's voice snapped Du Shi and the others out of their trance, and a flicker of regret passed through their eyes. They might not believe Bai Li could hunt, but that didn't mean they didn't want to eat the pheasant.
Meat was a rarity. Store-bought chicken and pork were exorbitantly expensive. Wild game could only be obtained by risking one's life among dangers, meaning they only tasted meat a few times a year. Seeing their patriarch push away the meat that had literally arrived at their doorstep made them ache with longing.
Having inherited the memories, Bai Li understood the immense value of meat and could read the expressions of Du Shi and the others. He prepared to press the bird into Du Shi's hands but suddenly remembered the strict social boundaries between men and women. Instead, he walked over to the eldest son, Jiang Ting, and shoved the pheasant into his hands.
"Brother Ting, just accept it. I got five birds today, so I can afford to give one away. I won't be able to do this every time, of course. And since I'll be borrowing the bow until tomorrow, it's only right that I give you this."
With that, Bai Li turned and walked away.
Jiang Ting stared at the pheasant in his hands for a long time before finally asking, "Mother... is it possible that this piece of trash has actually changed?"
There was no one to answer his question.
When Bai Li returned home, he took a look around his compound. The yard was quite spacious, but the hut was tiny. There was no well on the property.
Xiao Han had to carry water from the neighbor's house every single day—for domestic use, for the children, and so the original Bai Li could bathe.
Regarding the well, there was a story: the Bai parents had intended to dig a well when they built the hut and had even hired workers. However, the original Bai Li had claimed they didn't need a well, snatched the money, and ran off to gamble it all away. Furious, the parents refused to dig the well after that.
Bai Li sighed once more. The original Bai Li was not just wicked; he was catastrophically impoverished.
Luckily, there was still some water left in the house. He first washed the fruit he had gathered from the forest. Then, he called out to the children.
"Bai Xiaofu, Bai Xiaowu, come here."
Bai Li sensed that if he spoke too gently, the little ones would find his behavior unfamiliar and become even more terrified. Thus, he kept his tone slightly stern.
As expected, the little ones scrambled out of the house and stood before him with their heads bowed low.
Since Xiao Han was ill, there was no one to clean these little things, so it was no surprise they looked like little mud-monsters. Bai Li looked at them closely.
They had round faces and round eyes. Though they were thin and currently unkempt, their natural cuteness was undeniable. They didn't resemble the original Bai Li at all; they looked just like Xiao Han, which relieved Bai Li immensely.
He had no desire for a son who looked like the original scoundrel.
Furthermore, as these little ones were ge-er, they both had small red beauty marks beneath the outer corners of their left eyes. Xiao Han had the same mark in the same place.
However, Xiao Han's mark was faint, tiny, and an orangey-red. The marks on the little ones, by contrast, were a deep, vibrant crimson, appearing as though a drop of fresh blood had been placed there.
In this world, people judged a ge-er's fertility by the color and size of their beauty mark. Many had speculated that Xiao Han would be unable to conceive due to the color of his mark, but they were silenced when he successfully gave birth to twins.
After observing the little ones, Bai Li showed them the washed fruit in his small basket.
"Do you want to eat these?"
The little ones peeked up, but quickly lowered their heads again and shook them vigorously.
Bai Li: "..."
Hey, this isn't how the script is supposed to go!
However, he felt a pang of sadness when he remembered that the original Bai Li never fed them and would beat them if he even suspected they had "stolen" his food.
Bai Li didn't soften his expression, but he spoke with a steady firmness.
"Use your words. Do you want to eat them or not?"
Thinking their father was looking for an excuse to cause trouble again, the twins grew frightened. Bai Xiaofu spoke first.
"We... we don't want to eat them."
Bai Xiaowu followed suit: "I... I don't want to eat them either."
Bai Xiaofu was the elder and Bai Xiaowu was the younger. They were twins, but their features differed slightly, making them easy to tell apart.
Bai Li wouldn't accept that answer.
"No. You have to say you want to eat them. Say it again."
Now the twins were certain their father was looking for a fight. They were still shaken from having to eat what he gave them this morning. They knew their father wasn't that kind.
Terrified, they didn't dare refuse. They spoke as their father wished:
"We want to eat them."
"We want to eat them."
Hearing the two tiny voices in unison, Bai Li was satisfied.
"Good. If you want to eat, you have to do one thing. Each of you take one of these pheasants and go to your grandmother's house. Xiaowu, you say: 'This pheasant is for the rice from this morning.' Xiaofu, you say: 'Please exchange this pheasant for more rice.' Do you understand?"
The two children stared blankly at the dead birds suddenly thrust into their hands, unable to help but look up at their father.
Only then did it occur to Bai Li that two-year-olds might be afraid of dead birds. He knew the Bai family wouldn't open the door for him, but they loved their grandchildren, so he intended to send the little ones. However, if they were truly scared, he would have to go himself.
Bai Li scratched his head and asked, "Are you afraid of these birds?"
Xiaofu shook his head, followed shortly by Xiaowu.
Bai Li felt relieved. "Then go to your grandmother's. When you come back, I'll give you the fruit, and tonight, you'll have rice and meat. Understood? Do you remember what you have to say?"
The children were stunned that their father was promising them food, but being so young, they couldn't think too deeply. Though they worried their father wouldn't keep his word, they were happy. Xiaofu said:
"We remember."
Then, he grabbed Xiaowu's hand and they ran off together.
Once the matter of the Bai household was settled, Bai Li began cleaning the remaining two pheasants for cooking. However, it seemed he had expected too much. Though the little ones reached the Bai house, they were only two years old and couldn't quite deliver the message as Bai Li had instructed. They only kept mentioning "for rice," so Mother Bai, wanting to know the truth, took her grandsons by their hands and walked over to Bai Li's place.
Thanks to his memories, Bai Li knew this woman was the mother of this body, so he greeted her with a smile.
"Mother, why did you come yourself?"
Mother Bai was so furious with her wayward son that she didn't even want to look at him, but she couldn't ignore the two pheasants, so she had followed the children back.
Ignoring his pleasantries, she spoke in an impatient tone.
"Xiaofu and Xiaowu showed up with pheasants and said you gave them to them. I couldn't get a clear answer as to why; they just kept saying 'for rice.' What are you trying to say?"
Mother Bai was livid. This foolish son didn't want to come himself so he sent the children? How infuriating!
Bai Li stopped washing the chopped pheasant meat. He shook the water from his hands and smiled.
"I went to the Village Head's house at noon to borrow a bow, then went to the mountain and hunted these. That's why I sent one back to pay for the rice Mei'er gave us this morning. As for the other one... well, I was wondering if you could exchange it for more rice? It's too late to go to the city to sell them now."