Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Xingbao quickly replied "Okay," turned around, picked up the medicine box from the corner of the counter, slung it over his shoulder, and followed his master to the room where the seriously ill students were being housed. After a careful examination, the master confirmed Xingbao's judgment—they were all suffering from a sudden onset of anger, with cold air invading their lungs and damaging their vital energy. However, their constitutions were different, and their conditions varied in severity. They would need to recuperate properly for seven or eight days before they could continue their journey.

With these three students as examples, the other teachers and students who had caught a cold did not dare to be careless and gathered around, begging the master to diagnose them as well. The master agreed to each of them. After carefully taking their pulses, he found that two girls, although not seriously ill, were not suitable to continue their journey. So he let them stay and help take care of the three seriously ill students, so that they could look after each other.

Seeing the master's detailed diagnosis and learning the specific recovery period, the teachers and students' previously grave expressions eased slightly, and they decided to let the five stay to recuperate. The others didn't waste any more time, gently comforting the five who remained, urging them to rest and recover before heading to the medicine capital. They also carefully explained that the medicine capital was only half a day's journey away, and the principal's family's property was nearby; if there was any emergency, they could send someone to deliver a message at any time. After the instructions were given, everyone carried their luggage and busied themselves loading it into the vehicle, making the entrance to the main hall lively and increasingly noisy.

Amidst the commotion of everyone moving luggage and loading the car, Guixiang was also awakened. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, her hair disheveled and plastered to her cheeks, she groggily entered the main room, muttering "Mother..." But as soon as she finished speaking, she caught sight of her master sitting by the brazier. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly ran to her master's side, respectfully bowing, and said in a clear voice, "Oh, Master, what brings you here!"

Master had originally planned to leave after finishing his diagnosis, but Gui Xiang kept him there for breakfast, so he reluctantly stayed. After breakfast, Mother had already dried and warmed Master's and eldest brother's shoes. Master changed into cloth shoes, gave a few more instructions to the students who stayed behind to take care of themselves, and then prepared to leave. Xingbao had originally thought of having Heitan carry Master to save some energy, but his eldest brother stopped him before he could speak. The eldest brother explained with a smile, "I thought of this when I went to invite Master this morning, but Heitan has never seen such heavy snow before. As soon as it was let out of its pen, it excitedly jumped and ran around in the snow and wouldn't listen to commands. There was no other way, so I had to leave it behind."

After seeing their master off, Gui Xiang immediately grabbed Xing Bao and Xue Qiu, and excitedly ran towards the backyard, muttering that she was going to "make trouble for Hei Tan" and scold him for refusing to carry their master that morning. But just as the two reached the backyard gate, they heard a crisp "crunch" coming from the classroom. Gui Xiang quickly covered her mouth with her small hand and gently tugged at Xing Bao's clothes, signaling him to be quiet as well. Then she tiptoed to the classroom door, gently pushed it open a crack, and peeked inside—she saw her second brother sitting against the wall, his hands, red from the cold, clutching half a crystal-clear icicle. The "crunch" sound was coming from his chewing mouth.

"Second brother! What are you eating? I want some too!" Seeing that it was her second brother "stealing food," Gui Xiang couldn't hold back any longer. She shouted happily and pushed open the door, running inside.

The sudden shout startled the second brother, making him tremble and nearly drop the icicle in his hand. His face paled instantly. But when he saw that it was Guixiang and Xingbao who had entered, his tense nerves relaxed slightly, and his expression softened. He quickly lowered his voice and said to Guixiang, "Guixiang, keep your voice down! Don't let Mom and Dad hear us, or we'll both get scolded!" After saying that, he cautiously peeked out the door to make sure his parents weren't coming, before handing the half-eaten icicle to Guixiang and saying proudly, "I'm eating an icicle. It's icy and crunchy, really delicious. Want to try some?"

Gui Xiang stared at the crystal-clear, gleaming icicles, her eyes sparkling, and eagerly asked, "Second Brother, where did these icicles come from? Are there any more? I want some too! I want some too!"

The second brother couldn't help but chuckle, whispering, "The icicles are hanging under the eaves! But the big ones in front of our house, the eldest brother said we kept them for decoration, so we didn't knock them down. We left a few that wouldn't get in the way; the rest, we knocked down." Seeing the disappointment on Gui Xiang's face, the second brother quietly leaned closer to her ear and added in a low voice, "But the eldest brother and I secretly kept the icicles behind the tofu shop, we didn't dare knock them down. Those icicles are the cleanest, and they're not small either, we specifically kept them to eat. I'll go get them for you right now!"

The three of them talked as they walked towards the back door. Passing the livestock pen, they saw Blackie's head peeking out from the low gate, curiously staring at the white snow outside, occasionally twitching its ears. Seeing Xingbao and the others approach, Blackie immediately became excited, making "uh-huh, uh-huh" sounds, its four hooves constantly stomping on the ground inside the pen, its head constantly sticking out, clearly eager to go out and play in the snow. Guixiang walked to the gate, imitating an adult, hands on her hips, and gave a heavy "humph," saying with a stern face, "Disobedient! Yesterday you wouldn't carry Master, and now you want to go out and play? I'll deal with you later!"

Seeing that its little master was angry, Black Charcoal immediately wilted and obediently shrank back, but its eyes still couldn't help but peek through the crack in the door at the movements in the snow. Snowball, who had been following behind the three of them, couldn't contain itself any longer. It broke free from Xingbao's hand and rushed into the snow, running happily and leaving a trail of small footprints on the white snow.

Stepping out the back door, the small vegetable garden was a vast expanse of white, with only a lone fertilizer vat standing in the corner, the outlines of cabbage leaves barely visible. The earthen embankment beside the garden had advanced another ten centimeters—the yellow soil used for the family and coal was dug from here; a pile of stones lay beside the embankment, brought back by his father from the road construction site, intended to be used to build a stone embankment next year, making the garden safer and more organized. Xingbao looked at the several-meter-high, compact layer of yellow soil, and a thought suddenly popped into his head: they had never had a cellar, so if his father dug a hole here and turned it into a cellar, it could be used to store grain and vegetables, and with some reinforcement, it could also be used as shelter in case of air raids—a win-win situation. He paused, momentarily forgetting to keep up with his second brother and Guixiang.