Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

After everyone had settled their cabbages, they gradually gathered under the large banyan tree next to the breeding base—it was time to select the winners. The eldest brother first had the thirty cabbages intended as prizes brought over, weighing them one by one on the scale, announcing to everyone as he counted: "This one weighs eleven and a half pounds! This one weighs twelve pounds, and this is the biggest one!" "This one isn't small either, ten pounds and two ounces!" The children watching craned their necks, their eyes fixed on the cabbages on the scale, their eyes filled with longing. Even Guixiang clenched her little fists, her face full of anticipation. After the thirty cabbages were weighed, the largest weighed a full twelve pounds, and the smallest was over ten pounds, each one plump and lovely.

After the weighing was finished, the selection process officially began. As soon as the eldest brother finished speaking, "Whoever you think is the most diligent and willing to help, we'll choose," everyone immediately started calling out the names of Xingbao and his three siblings. Guixiang's eyes lit up instantly. Before her brother could speak, she skipped over and hugged the largest cabbage, weighing twelve pounds, tightly to her chest. Seeing this, the eldest brother was both amused and exasperated. He quickly went over and said, "Thank you all for your kindness, but our family has already received 30% of the cabbages, over four hundred in total, so we won't participate in this selection. Let's leave the prizes for those who need them more." Then he turned to Guixiang, who was still struggling with the cabbage, and called out, "Guixiang, come here! We're not participating in the selection, let's put the cabbage back!"

"No!" Gui Xiang hugged the cabbage even tighter, puffing out her cheeks and saying stubbornly, "Everyone chose me, this cabbage is mine, I won't let go!"

The eldest brother shook his head helplessly and said to the second brother and Xingbao, "Yanguo, Xingbao, go and pull Guixiang over here and have a good talk with her."

Xingbao and his second brother quickly went over and squatted down beside Guixiang, gently persuading her, "Guixiang, we have a lot of cabbages at home, some even bigger than this one. How about we leave this reward for Anping and the others?" "That's right, Guixiang is the most sensible. We can grow even bigger cabbages in the future." The siblings persuaded her for a while before Guixiang reluctantly let go of their hand and followed them back, looking back every few steps. Her little face was full of grievances, and her eyes were red.

Once Gui Xiang calmed down, the selection process resumed. This time, the largest cabbage, weighing twelve pounds, landed squarely on fourteen-year-old Liu Anping. Everyone was convinced of his worth—Liu Anping's father had died in a mining accident two years prior, leaving only him, his mother, and his eight-year-old brother, Xiping. He also had two younger brothers, but unfortunately, they hadn't survived as children, making life extremely difficult for the family. They owned only a small plot of land, and their mother relied on washing clothes and cooking for other families. He and his brother herded cattle, gathered firewood, and did odd jobs to barely make ends meet. Aside from the compensation money from the mine and some holiday gifts, they lived a very frugal life. Since the breeding base opened, Liu Anping and his brother Xiping had come almost every day. Whether it was tilling the soil, watering, weeding, catching insects, or harvesting vegetables, they were always the most diligent and hardworking, never slacking off. Therefore, everyone unanimously chose him.

The other twenty-nine selected children, like Liu Anping, mostly came from poor families, but they were all diligent, capable, and responsible. Watching the chosen children, some carrying cabbages, some carrying cabbages on their backs, and some even brothers carrying a cabbage together, all happily heading home, Xiao Hu and Xiao Hua also carried a cabbage. Their friends following behind all looked on with envy, whispering, "I wish I could be chosen too."

Back home, Guixiang was still indignant. Clutching her mother's clothes, she grumbled about her older brother, speaking ill of him and complaining that he wouldn't let her take the biggest cabbage. Her mother chuckled, took her hand, and led her to the wall of the main room. Pointing to the more than four hundred cabbages neatly stacked against the wall, she said, "Guixiang, look, we have so many cabbages, much more than that biggest one. We couldn't finish them all winter." Looking at the mountain of cabbages, Guixiang felt a little less aggrieved, but still a little sad—after all, that twelve-pound cabbage was what she wanted most.

On the other side, after helping their father deal with Chief Wang and tidying up the kitchen, the eldest brother felt drowsy all over. Like Xingbao and his second brother, he fell asleep immediately, without even taking off his coat, and slept until dinner time.

The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen. Gui Xiang, no longer upset, skipped and hopped to wake her eldest brother, Xing Bao, and second brother. "Big brother, get up and eat!" "Xing Bao, get up quickly, there's something delicious!" She knocked on the door and shouted loudly until the three of them rubbed their sleepy eyes and slowly came out. Only then did she pull them to the kitchen with satisfaction.

The family sat around the table, sipping warm porridge and eating their dinner with pickled vegetables and simple greens. After only a couple of bites, Guixiang couldn't help but speak up, vividly recounting what had happened after they left that afternoon. Her little face was full of curiosity: "Big brother, Xingbao, second brother, you don't know, but something big happened while you were napping this afternoon! When Wang Jiazhang delivered cabbages to the village head's house, he casually mentioned that we had chosen a cabbage that weighed twelve jin (approximately 6 catties). The village head, fearing someone would eat it, rushed over and ended up exchanging thirty jin (approximately 15 kg) of grain from Liu Anping's house for the biggest cabbage!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the three brothers at the table froze, their chopsticks hanging in mid-air, their faces filled with disbelief. It took them a while to recover, and they all sighed in astonishment. The eldest brother frowned and said, "Thirty catties of grain? Just for one cabbage? That's unbelievable." The second brother nodded repeatedly, looking astonished. "Yes, even if that cabbage was good, it wouldn't be worth thirty catties of grain. Liu Anping's family hit the jackpot!" Xingbao also frowned in thought, secretly marveling at how, in this era, a special cabbage could be exchanged for so much life-saving grain.

Just as the three brothers were sighing and discussing, their father put down his chopsticks and slowly said, "This is indeed a good thing. For Liu Anping's family, with these thirty catties of grain, if they are frugal, it will be enough for the three of them to eat for a month, and it will ease their financial difficulties. Wang Baozhang won't lose out either. If he takes this twelve-catty cabbage, along with some cabbages that his village received, and sends them to the township, our breeding base's public land use permit should be approved smoothly. I just wonder if the township will also want to share some cabbages and join in the fun."