Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Upon hearing this, the four siblings' eyes lit up instantly, all their worries vanishing, and they happily stood up. The eldest brother reacted the fastest, quickly stepping forward and taking the several sheets of paper stamped with a bright red seal from his father's hand. Just as he was about to lean over the charcoal brazier to examine them closely, Gui Xiang tugged at his sleeve. The little girl pointed to the small stool Xing Bao had just been sitting on and said eagerly, "Big brother, come sit here quickly! Let me see too! I want to see the paper with the red seal!"

Upon hearing this, the eldest brother turned and glanced at Xingbao with amusement, his eyes full of smiles. Seeing this, Xingbao quickly and obediently stood up, offering his small stool. Once the eldest brother was settled, Guixiang immediately moved closer, snuggling tightly against his arm; Xingbao, not to be outdone, squeezed to the other side of the eldest brother, his head almost touching him; the second brother, being tall, couldn't squeeze in, so he could only gently rest his head on the eldest brother's shoulder. The four siblings huddled together, carefully examining the documents in their hands. When they saw that the approval procedures for the public land use were complete, bearing the bright red seals of the village and township governments, they all breathed a long sigh of relief, their anxieties completely lifted. The eldest brother looked up at his father, asking urgently and earnestly, "Dad, has the township mentioned anything about profit sharing?"

Father picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Old Wang didn't mention this when he came. He only said that a few days ago, when the village head took our biggest cabbage to the township head, the township head was entertaining distinguished guests from the provincial capital. When the township head saw that the cabbage was so big, he specially showed it to the distinguished guests, and then used it to entertain them on the spot. The village head took the opportunity to hand over the documents for public land use, and the township head didn't even look at them before signing and stamping them, and even ordered someone to quickly make a copy."

Father paused, then added with a smile, "After the village head found out the reason, he came back saying he'd suffered a huge loss. He said if he'd known the township head was so agreeable today, he should have written down a few more acres of land! It turns out the township head had previously used connections to give our tea tree to a high-ranking official in the provincial capital, and today it was that official who sent people to collect it. In a few days, once the new person arrives, the township head will be transferred to the provincial capital; he wouldn't care about such a small matter as profit sharing!"

After hearing their father's words, the family looked at each other, unable to suppress a smile, yet their hearts were filled with mixed emotions, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Their own tea tree had inexplicably become a stepping stone for others to curry favor with the powerful and seek promotion, yet it was precisely because of this tea tree that their own public land use permit had been approved so smoothly, without the slightest obstacle. Truly, life is unpredictable; every sip and every bite has its destiny. The flames in the charcoal brazier still crackled, the oppressive atmosphere in the room long since dissipated, replaced by a sense of relief and a faint sigh.

Dad continued, "That's good. The township head is in a hurry to hand over the reins, so this document will definitely be sent to the county along with the documents for this year's road construction. By then, the new township head will know the importance of the breeding base, and it won't be easy for him to tamper with it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xingbao seemed to suddenly remember something important. He leaned forward and said urgently and earnestly, "Dad, I heard from the guests at Sanmin Middle School these past few days that grain prices have started to rise again. Why don't we collect the village's share first?" Actually, Xingbao had other considerations in mind. He was secretly worried that after the news of the fall of Nanjing came, grain prices would definitely skyrocket. As more and more places fell, grain prices would only continue to rise and would never fall again. Collecting grain in advance now was also to leave more security for his family and fellow villagers.

Upon hearing this, Father paused, his hand holding the teacup still holding it. After a moment's thought, he nodded in agreement: "Alright, we'll do it your way! We'll still buy it at four silver dollars a dan (a unit of weight), which is much higher than the current market price. Even if grain prices rise again later, the villagers won't lose out. Everyone has seen and remembered how much silver dollars our family has earned and how much grain we've consumed these past few days. If we don't buy it, the villagers will find it strange. You all should go to bed early tonight and get plenty of rest so you can come with me to collect grain first thing tomorrow morning."

The eldest brother, second brother, Xingbao, and Guixiang quickly responded in unison, "Yes, Father!"

After working night shifts for several days in a row, the four siblings were suddenly finding themselves with some free time and had slept well during the day. The eldest and second eldest brothers were the first to get up, take out the books they had copied over the past few days, and slowly sort and categorize them, filling in the articles where only names were remembered and correcting the messy handwriting. Xingbao also found paper and pen and, taking advantage of his good memory, began to recite the math, physics, and chemistry knowledge points he had borrowed from the guests. Guixiang was not idle either; she moved a small stool to sit next to Xingbao, picked up paper and pen, and recited along with him. Although many of her characters were crooked, she was extremely serious.

The family members were all busy with their own tasks, the flames in the charcoal brazier still crackling, making the room warm and cozy. Before they knew it, it was late at night. The eldest brother looked up at the sky, remembering that he had to go with his father to collect grain the next day, so he put down his pen and softly instructed, "Don't write anymore, go to sleep early. We have to get up early to collect grain tomorrow, don't be late." Xingbao, the second brother, and Guixiang all stopped what they were doing, put away their paper and pens, and went back to their rooms to rest.

The next day, just as dawn broke, the family got up early, ate a simple breakfast, and the four siblings followed their father to get busy—carrying sacks they had prepared in advance, pushing wheelbarrows, and Xingbao even went to the backyard to fetch some charcoal. The group headed towards several large households in the village, the main event of the day being to collect the village's grain quota.

The grain harvesting process went even more smoothly than expected. The large households had already carefully packed the dried grain into sacks and piled them full in their granaries. The first place the group went was to Old Wang's house. The reason was simple—the village's public scale was located at his house, and using the public scale to weigh the grain was both fair and convenient.

The origin of this public scale was actually a result of the villagers' collective efforts. In the past, landlords used to measure grain by the bushel, often resorting to tricks like "large bushel in, small bushel out," and would even deliberately kick the bushel during harvest to secretly deduct the weight. Even when slaughtering pigs in the village, they used the butcher's own scale, which the villagers found unreliable and unfair. So, they pooled their money to buy this large scale, specifically for all weighing matters in the village. Unexpectedly, the scale proved worthwhile; even people from surrounding villages would come specifically to have their grain weighed. Over the years, the initial investment in the scale had long been recouped!