Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

After listening, the eldest brother suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly. Xingbao nodded as well, secretly thinking to himself: In his previous life, the workplace was either filled with overt scheming and backstabbing or straightforward arguments. People like Chief Wang, who could handle things perfectly and satisfy all parties, were all capable and successful. Of course, the elderly people in the village, like his grandfather who had experienced the ways of the world, could also be so insightful. Even he had been fooled by Chief Wang's troubled appearance just now.

Seeing that the two brothers understood the reasoning, their father changed the subject and asked, "By the way, have you thought about how to divide the cabbages tomorrow? Set the rules and assign tasks in advance, so that you won't be in a panic and disorganized situation when harvesting the cabbages tomorrow."

The eldest brother gently shook his head, stood up and said, "Dad, I haven't had time to discuss this with everyone yet. I'll go find the children who are helping to manage the breeding field now, and we can discuss and set rules and divide the work together." After saying that, he got up and walked towards the door.

Father quickly reached out and stopped him, saying with a smile, "Don't rush off. You four siblings discuss it first, and go find them tonight. It's cold and gloomy right now, and they're all busy in the fields composting fertilizer. It's their busiest time, so don't disturb them."

Following his father's words, Xingbao looked up at the window—the sky was growing increasingly gloomy and cold, and the wind howled, making the paper windows rustle slightly. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, thinking that farmers in this era, in order to harvest more grain and earn more food, hardly had a day off. They toiled in the fields all year round, working hard, yet they could barely make ends meet.

Gui Xiang, who had been sitting quietly in the corner the whole time, clutching the hem of her clothes, mostly didn't understand what Wang Jiachang, her father, and her older brother were saying, nor could she get a word in edgewise, so she just stayed quietly. But when her father told her to join her older brother and Xingbao in discussing the distribution of the cabbages, her eyes lit up instantly. She immediately stood up in agreement and said crisply, "Okay, okay, I'll join in too! I promise I won't cause any trouble!"

Seeing the three of them working so hard, their father nodded in satisfaction and instructed them, "Discuss things carefully, and always consider everyone's feelings. Be fair and just, but don't wrong those children who work hard." The three of them agreed in unison, and then got up together and walked towards the bamboo house in front of them—the second brother was still there guarding the house, which was a good time to discuss things, as everything was ready.

Upon entering the bamboo house, the eldest brother greeted the second brother, then found a sheet of white paper and a brush, spread them on the long bench beside the table, cleared his throat, and said, "We roughly counted over 1,400 cabbages at our breeding base. We previously agreed with Old Wang that the village would take 10%, the village committee would take 10%, our family would take 30%, and the remaining 50% would go to the children who helped manage the cabbages. Now let's discuss how to divide these 50% of the cabbages fairly and reasonably."

Xingbao leaned closer to the table, staring intently at the blank paper, and after a moment spoke up: "Big brother, I think it should be divided according to age. The older children have more strength to work, helping with tilling the land, watering, and especially putting in the most effort when the land is first being prepared. They work harder than the younger children and should get more. The younger children, although they also try their best to help, have limited strength, so it's reasonable for them to get less."

Upon hearing this, the second brother nodded in agreement, saying, "Xingbao is right. Dividing by age is the fairest way and it's less likely to cause any objections from the group."

The eldest brother thought for a moment and nodded. "Then let's divide them into three age groups: those over twelve, those between eight and twelve, and those under eight. Let's count the number of people first, and then calculate the plan based on the number of people."

The eldest brother picked up the list and read out the names one by one, the second brother and Xingbao checked the ages, and Guixiang used a small stick to count on the ground. Through calculation, they unanimously decided that the children over twelve years old were all capable of working independently and would each receive twelve seeds; those aged eight to twelve had moderate strength and worked diligently and would each receive eight seeds; and the children under eight years old mostly helped with weeding, catching insects, and passing things around, spending the most time in the field and would each receive six seeds. In this way, children of all ages could be taken into account.

Gui Xiang sat to the side, tilting her little head and listening attentively. Although she didn't quite understand the deeper meaning of "fair and reasonable," she knew that her older brother and Xing Bao were right. She quickly grabbed a small stick and started counting the number of people in each age group on the ground again, based on the count they had just made. After a while, she said, "Big brother, what should we do with the thirty left over after dividing them like this?"

Upon seeing Gui Xiang report the data, the eldest brother said, "Are there thirty left? Then let's go with this distribution plan. We might as well use the rest as rewards—for those children at the breeding base who are conscientious, responsible, hardworking, and willing to help take care of the babies and do the heavy work, let's reward them with a few more seeds. This will also encourage everyone to work harder in the future."

Xingbao, his second brother, and Guixiang all nodded in agreement. Xingbao added, "Big brother, we can have the village children vote together. Everyone's eyes are sharp; they'll know who's the most dedicated and who's most willing to help. That way, everyone will respect the chosen person, and there won't be any gossip."

The eldest brother smiled and nodded, picked up a brush, and carefully wrote down the preliminary distribution plan on a piece of white paper, reading aloud as he wrote: "More than 1,400 cabbages, half will be distributed to the children who helped. The preliminary distribution plan is: twelve cabbages each for those over twelve years old, eight cabbages each for those between eight and twelve years old, and six cabbages each for those under eight years old; the remaining cabbages will be awarded as rewards to the children who are conscientious, responsible, and willing to help." After reading it, he looked at his three younger siblings, "Take another look, is there anything you need to add or revise?"

Xingbao and his second brother looked at it carefully and shook their heads. Guixiang also stepped forward to take a look and said with a smile, "There's nothing to change. This way of dividing it is perfect! I'll help count and distribute the cabbages tomorrow!" The four siblings smiled at each other. In this way, the preliminary plan for distributing more than 1,400 cabbages (half of which were given to the children) was finalized in the bamboo house. They just had to discuss and confirm it with the children who were helping that evening, and then they could wait to harvest and distribute the cabbages the next day.

Evening arrived in the blink of an eye. Winter days are short, and the setting sun cast a soft glow on the bamboo roof, adding a touch of warmth to the chilly winter day. Villagers, having toiled in the fields all day, gradually returned home. The four siblings stood at the bamboo house door, beckoning the children from the seed breeding base to come over and discuss the details of the cabbage distribution, so they could finalize the plan. The eldest brother had just cleared his throat and begun to explain the details of the distribution plan when the second brother, who had been peering in from the doorway, suddenly brightened up and shouted, "Big brother, big brother, another carriage is coming! Judging by their clothes, they're teachers and students from Sanmin Middle School!"