Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

As soon as Xingbao stepped into the bamboo house, he saw Guixiang with Xueqiu, gathered around the counter, chattering happily to her mother and Sister Shanshan about the fun they had during the day's grain harvest. Her uncle and Brother Dashan were busy attending to the customers in the shop, moving about efficiently and methodically. There were three tables of guests in the bamboo building, each with its own distinct character: at the table near the door sat Zhang Laowu, a peddler from Suoshi. He traveled between Xiangxiang, Hengyang, and Shaoyang counties year-round, was well-traveled and had the best connections. He was the first to bring news of the 36th Division's participation in the war, and was a regular customer of his shop. At the middle table sat two men, clearly master and servant, also regulars at the shop. They often went to the medicine capital to buy medicine, and judging from the bulging packages they had placed beside them, they had just returned from there. The most conspicuous table was in the corner, where a family of six, spanning three generations, sat. Everyone looked weary from their journeys, their faces full of fatigue, and the youngest child appeared to be eleven or twelve years old. Several large packages were piled in the corner, seemingly filled with clothes. The family also had small travel bags hanging from their backs. Judging from their heavy accents, Xingbao couldn't immediately tell if they were from Jiangsu or Zhejiang or Shanghai. After listening to a few snippets, he learned that they had come to Shaoyang to seek refuge with relatives. Although Shaoyang was located in a remote mountain valley, it had at least been the former capital of Baoqing Prefecture and was relatively peaceful. During this period, quite a few people had come from the east to seek refuge with relatives. Xingbao glanced at them a few times and then paid them no further attention.

Just as he turned around, Xingbao's gaze inadvertently fell on the basket of peddler Zhang Laowu—neatly arranged on it were several thin books with pale yellow covers, which looked somewhat familiar. Xingbao quickly went to the counter, first greeting his mother, uncle, and siblings, then slowed his pace and walked to Zhang Laowu's basket to carefully examine the books. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were this year's yin-yang calendar books. Xingbao remembered that in his previous life, his grandfather would buy such a calendar every year at this time to help the villagers choose auspicious dates and times. He also thought of his eldest brother, who had learned the art of date selection from a tutor. Xingbao had seen his brother copy several books from the tutor that specifically discussed date selection and time selection, but his brother was still young, and the villagers didn't know he possessed this skill, so the family had never specifically bought yin-yang calendar books.

Seeing Xingbao staring intently at his basket, Zhang Laowu smiled and asked, "Xingbao, you usually don't look at my baskets much. Why are you staring at them for so long today? Is there something you like? Tell me, and I'll give you a discount, I'll treat you to the cost price."

Upon hearing this, Xingbao quickly averted his gaze, stepped forward, pointed to the yin-yang calendar book on the basket, and asked earnestly, "Fifth Uncle, I didn't see anything else that caught my eye, I just wanted to ask you, how much is this yin-yang calendar book?"

Following Xingbao's gaze, Zhang Laowu recognized the almanac as a book of yin and yang calendars. A troubled expression crossed his face as he slowly said, "Xingbao, it's not that I don't want to sell it to you, but this almanac is a bit expensive, and I haven't stocked many. These few were reserved for a few regular customers. But if you really want it, next time I come, I'll bring you one, and we'll sell it to you at cost price, one cent. How about that?"

Xingbao took a deep breath, picked up a calendar, and gently flipped through it. The calendar was thin, only a dozen pages long, with two blank pages at the end for recording events. For such a book to cost a penny was quite expensive. Xingbao gently closed the calendar, put it back in the basket, and turned to Zhang Laowu, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Wu. I won't buy it now. I'll go ask my elder brother. He learned how to read dates from a fortune teller, but the villagers don't know it yet. Maybe he'll need this calendar."

"Fifth Brother, don't listen to Xingbao. He's just curious about books." Mother had somehow gotten close by. Hearing that the almanac cost a penny, and thinking that the book wasn't very useful at home right now, she quickly smoothed things over with a smile. Her tone was friendly and polite. "Yanbang is going to Shuangfeng Academy next year. He doesn't have time to tell people auspicious dates. I'll mention it to you when we really need it." After saying that, Mother picked out some needles and thread from Fifth Uncle's basket, paid for them, and then gently took Xingbao's arm and led him back to the counter.

Xingbao was pulled along by his mother, and he muttered to himself: He didn't really want to buy a calendar, he just wanted to flip through it to see when to start breeding next spring so as not to miss the farming season. He didn't expect his mother to label him as "curious because he likes books", which made him both amused and exasperated.

The guests in the bamboo house gradually dispersed. Uncle and Brother Dashan tidied up the tables and chairs, settled the accounts, and then everyone returned to the kitchen to sit around the table for lunch. After lunch, everyone sat on small stools in the courtyard to digest their food and chat. Suddenly, the eldest brother remembered what had happened that day, turned to look at his grandfather, and said with a smile, "Grandpa, I don't know why, but Old Wang and the others all know that I asked you for that piece of low-grade land by the mountain to use as an experimental field. When it's time to harvest the grain, they all come to us to discuss cooperation."

Grandpa, upon hearing this, didn't rush to reply. He simply stroked his beard, chuckling contentedly, his eyes brimming with pride. Grandma, seeing this, couldn't help but tease, "How else could he know? It's just that old man going around showing off, afraid the villagers won't know how capable his grandchildren are!"

Grandpa immediately objected, waving his hand and retorting, "Old woman, you can't wrong me! I wasn't showing off! Yanbang and the others need land to cultivate rice seeds, but our plot is too small; besides, their proposed cooperation method is quite good. It's just that they're young, and even if they went out and said it themselves, the villagers might not easily believe them or cooperate willingly. But when I mentioned it, the villagers naturally rushed to cooperate!"

After a pause, Grandpa added earnestly, "Besides, I've carefully inspected and calculated the yield of the rice my grandsons planted. Although it lodged later in the season, the yield is at least twice as high as the rice I planted. Old Wang and his old buddies are all shrewd and know exactly what's going on; they're just hesitant to approach you directly. Just wait and see at home. In a few days, people will come knocking on your door asking for cooperation. But Yanbang, you and your siblings should also be realistic about your abilities. Refuse any cooperation that isn't right for you. You're still young; you can't overwork yourselves."

The four brothers—eldest brother, second brother, Xingbao, and Guixiang—nodded quickly and said in unison, "Thank you, Grandpa. We understand and will do our best!"