Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

In today's class, the eldest brother started by explaining the requirements for entering upper primary school. Standing at the front of the class, he said calmly, "The threshold for entering upper primary school isn't high these days. As long as you can recite and write the Three Hundred Characters and the Thousand Characters, and can do simple arithmetic, that's enough. Of course, you also need connections. In our vicinity, only Yaodu has an upper primary school. If you're willing, go back and practice your calligraphy, memorize the Three Hundred Characters and the Thousand Characters, and find some connections. Getting into upper primary school won't be a problem at all."

After saying this, the eldest brother began teaching everyone to read and write. In class, besides Xingbao and Guixiang, only Fugui used a calligraphy brush; his family was planning to send him to higher primary school in the future, so they specially prepared a calligraphy brush for him. The other children, ever since seeing Xingbao make chicken feather brushes, had all chosen chicken feather brushes. These brushes were simple to make and easy to use, making them very suitable for the village children learning to write. The children all learned with extra care, heads down, carefully copying strokes on the rough paper, occasionally looking up to ask the eldest brother for help. The only sounds in the classroom were the soft scratching of the brush tips on the paper and the eldest brother's gentle explanations.

Before they knew it, the morning's classes were over. Finally, the eldest brother stood at the podium and softly announced the end of the holiday, his tone tinged with reluctance: "That's all for today. Our classes for this semester have officially ended. If you have any questions in the future, you can always come and ask me. As long as I'm still in the village, I'll definitely help you answer them." Upon hearing this, the children all stood up, bowed respectfully to the eldest brother, their eyes filled with gratitude, and then carefully packed up their books, sandboxes, braziers, benches, and other belongings. They bid a reluctant farewell to the eldest brother and went home one after another.

After the children had all left, the eldest brother didn't leave immediately. Instead, he slowly walked to the center of the classroom, reached out, and stroked each of the wooden tables and the lectern. Finally, he gently wiped the slate used for teaching, his fingertips tracing the rough wood grain, his eyes filled with reluctance—this small classroom held the fruits of his labor over this period and contained countless moments he had shared with the children. After a moment, he turned to his second brother and called out, "Yan Guo, come and give me a hand. Let's put the slate down and carry it to the main room; we'll need it for tomorrow's classes."

Seeing this, Xingbao and Guixiang quickly stepped forward to help. Xingbao held one end of the wooden board, while Guixiang gripped the edge. Together with their older brothers, they carefully carried the things towards the main room.

The main room was too long and deep. Although it was designed with a lion's mouth shape to allow light in, it was still much dimmer than the old classroom, and it felt chilly in winter, far less warm than the old classroom. Xingbao remembered his father saying that the pharmacy sold glass roofing tiles, which could brighten the room considerably if laid on the roof. However, the tiles were expensive, and his father, always frugal, had never been willing to spend the money. Considering the dim light and lack of warmth, his older brother stopped and pondered for a moment before saying, "From now on, we should postpone the start of classes a little longer. When the sun comes out, the light will be better, the room will be warmer, and the students will be more comfortable."

Xingbao stood aside, watching his eldest and second eldest brothers secure the stone slab beneath the shrine. The slab stood firmly, perfectly complementing the couplet beside the ancestral tablet: "Poetry and plum blossoms fragrant for generations, the two scholars revered before the Hall of Excellence." This further emphasized the weight and enduring legacy of the Song family's ancestral precepts of poetry and scholarship, and added a touch of solemnity to the somewhat simple hall, making it seem inviolable.

The four siblings worked together to move the bench and wooden planks to the corner of the main room and arrange them neatly. After tidying up, they sat around the table at their mother's invitation to have lunch. The table was set with the usual sweet potato porridge and cabbage, but now there was a dish of twice-cooked pork and a dish of tofu dregs. The twice-cooked pork was made after the ancestral offerings and was stir-fried again. The farmhouse method was simple, using only fermented black beans, chili peppers, ginger, scallions, and garlic. Compared to Sichuan-style twice-cooked pork, it lacked Sichuan peppercorns, emphasizing pure spiciness, and the flavor of the fermented black beans was also different. Of course, besides the common chili peppers, the ginger, scallions, and garlic were only available in Xingbao's space; other families in the village rarely saw them. As for the tofu dregs, today was the winter solstice, and many people in the village were buying tofu, leaving only tofu dregs at home. Their mother used them to make a simple dish, a common home-cooked meal.

Today, we're going to brew sweet wine. Father had already soaked the glutinous rice this morning, and all the other preparations, including the earthenware vats and yeast, were ready. After lunch, my eldest and second eldest brothers got up and went to the backyard to help Father brew the wine. Gui Xiang and Xing Bao, who always loved glutinous rice, quickly followed. Before leaving, they grabbed a few small sweet potatoes from the kitchen, planning to roast them by the stove later to satisfy their cravings.

Before long, the enticing aroma of glutinous rice was poured out of the steamer. It was plump, white, soft, and sweet, the steam carrying its fragrance throughout the courtyard. Gui Xiang's eyes lit up, and she eagerly rushed forward, picking up a rice scoop and filling her bowl to the brim. She even gently pressed the scoop down, afraid of not filling it enough. Seeing this, her father helplessly reached out to stop Gui Xiang, who was about to run away with her bowl, and gently advised, "Gui Xiang, glutinous rice is hard to digest. Eating so much will give you a stomachache. How about sharing half with Xing Bao? Later, Dad will make glutinous rice cakes and cook more glutinous rice. You can eat more then, okay?" Gui Xiang was always the most doted-on in the family, and only with her would her father speak so gently. If it were her older brothers, second older brothers, or Xing Bao, her father would have snatched the bowl away and given them a scolding.

Gui Xiang held the bowl, frowned and thought for a while before reluctantly handing it to her father and whispering, "Dad, could you please share some with Xing Bao?"

Seeing Guixiang staring intently at the bowl, looking reluctant to part with it, Dad couldn't help but smile. He didn't give her much, only scooping less than half from her bowl and putting it into Xingbao's empty bowl. Just as he was about to scoop another spoonful, Guixiang hurriedly stopped him: "Dad, that's enough, that's enough. Xingbao is too young to eat too much. I want to give some to Mom to try!"

Gui Xiang carefully picked up her bowl, turned to her second brother who was tending the fire by the stove, and instructed him, "Second brother, you have to keep a close eye on the stove and not burn the sweet potatoes inside. I'm going to go play with Xiao Hua later!" Seeing that her second brother responded without looking up, she felt relieved and walked briskly towards the main room with her bowl to find her mother to taste the glutinous rice.

Xingbao took the bowl from his father, looking at the thin layer of glutinous rice inside. He couldn't help but think to himself, "We're the same age, yet she really acts like a little adult, like an older sister!" In his past life, Xingbao also loved glutinous rice. When he worked in Shenzhen, he often bought glutinous rice chicken—a snack made with glutinous rice and chicken, wrapped in fresh lotus leaves and steamed. It was fragrant, sticky, and flavorful, with a burst of lotus leaf aroma in every bite. However, his stomach problems worsened, and he gradually stopped eating it so often.