Siheyuan: From the Start, Armed with a Gun, I Hunt the Birds

My name is Zhou Weidong. When I came home after leaving the army, I found only two little kids left in the family. Every neighbor in the courtyard had greed in their eyes and tried to guilt-trip me every day. What a joke. I hung a gold-lettered sign reading "Honored Family of a Fallen Soldier" right outside my door. Come on, let’s see who dares try to scam me now!

When Yi Zhonghai told me to "think of the bigger picture" and Jia Zhangshi accused me of "keeping all the food to myself," I came back carrying a wild boar. "Sorry, this is all for the state~"

I hunt with one hand to improve our lives, and with the other I lead the militia to victory. While the whole courtyard is still fighting over cabbage leaves, my family can already afford meat whenever we want. The day my anonymous donations were exposed, everyone in the courtyard was stunned. "So he’s been secretly supporting half a veterans’ home?!"

Years later, when I moved into the cadre apartment block with my sister, a Peking University graduate, and my brother, who was attending military academy, I looked back at the courtyard, where people were still scheming over trivial scraps.

Sigh. Some people just don’t have a broader outlook than the sights on my hunting rifle.