Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

His father quickly patted his shoulder and gently comforted him, "Sir, don't think too much about it. Once you're here, it's almost like being at school; everyone here is one of us. It'll be half a day's journey to your school. There's also a coal mine owned by Principal Xiong's family in the mountains across the street. In this area, as long as you mention the Xiong family, the villagers will be willing to lend you a hand and offer assistance. Don't worry."

This comforting reassurance finally broke the silence of the girls, who burst into tears, their shoulders trembling as they sobbed with deep sorrow. Father, Xingbao, and the others felt a pang of sadness—the conversation couldn't continue. It seemed a student had collapsed on the road not far from their destination. They didn't ask further, simply offering clean cloths and remaining silent with them. After the teachers and students had drunk a bowl of warm porridge and regained their strength, the pent-up suffering and grievances of the past few days could no longer be contained. The teacher then pulled Father aside and slowly recounted their arduous journey after leaving Nanjing.

"Shopkeeper, there were originally fifty-six of us who broke out of Nanjing." The man's voice was hoarse and heavy, his eyes filled with painful memories. "We followed the fleeing crowd towards Ma'anshan, but we hadn't gone far when we encountered the Japanese besieging the city. Those at the back were so frightened that they started running first, and our group was immediately scattered. In the chaos, we only had time to shout 'Assemble in Ma'anshan!' before we all ran desperately forward with the crowd. Gunshots could be heard in the distance, and all we could hear were cries and screams."

He paused, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and continued, "We finally made it to Ma'anshan, where we managed to gather about thirty people. But before we could even catch our breath, we heard that the Japanese were catching up again. All the vehicles and boats in the area had been looted or rented out, so we couldn't find any means of transportation and had to keep running. By evening, everyone was exhausted and barely had the strength to walk. Just then, a group of robbers suddenly rushed out and surrounded us. There were two students in the group who were carrying guns. In desperation, they pulled out their guns and fired warning shots into the air. But the robbers were particularly cunning. Taking advantage of the stalemate and negotiation with us to distract us, they suddenly rushed forward and beat the two students to death. Then they punched and kicked us, stole all our valuables, and left."

"Fortunately, some students in the group had relatives near Wuhu, so we went to seek refuge with them. But those relatives weren't wealthy either, and after pooling our resources, we could only scrape together two hundred silver dollars. However, prices near the war zone were skyrocketing, and it was difficult to buy even a bowl of porridge for a single penny. Two hundred silver dollars was simply not enough for the thirty-odd of us to get to Hunan. In the end, some students chose to stay in Wuhu to visit their relatives in order to ease the burden, promising to come to Hunan to find us at a later opportunity."

"But the Japanese troops advanced too quickly, and soon they were approaching Wuhu. We had no time to rest and had to set off again. Most of us were injured, and several had caught colds, coughing incessantly and burning up with fever, making it impossible for us to walk fast. We could only find small mountain villages far from the main road and secretly recuperate for a few days with the help of the villagers. After setting off again, we were like frightened birds, carefully avoiding the Japanese patrols and daring not to take the main roads, choosing only rugged mountain paths. The weather grew colder and colder in those days, and it rained from time to time. The mountain paths were muddy and slippery, and many people suffered new injuries. Along the way, people often caught colds, coughing and burning up so badly they couldn't straighten up." We continued our journey, stopping and starting, until our meager savings quickly ran out. We had to beg for food and dig for wild vegetables along the way to stave off hunger, sometimes going an entire day without a hot meal. A few days ago, a sudden blizzard swept across the mountains and fields. The cold wind lashed our faces like knives, and the snow reached our ankles. We shivered with cold, our feet were frozen stiff, and we could no longer walk. Finally, several students with weaker constitutions couldn't withstand the heavy snow and the days of hunger and cold; they collapsed on the road and never got up again…” At this point, the teacher could no longer continue. His shoulders trembled violently, his hands tightly covered his face, tears silently streaming down his face, his voice choked with sobs, almost inaudible. The students around them could no longer suppress their grief and lowered their heads. Their suppressed sobs gradually grew louder, and some students even trembled all over. Tears soaked their tattered clothes. The entire bamboo building was shrouded in a thick atmosphere of sorrow and despair. Even the cold wind outside the window seemed to be sobbing along with them.

The heart-wrenching cries continued for a long time before gradually subsiding. Silence remained in the bamboo house, broken only by the occasional sobs of the students and the soft crackling of the charcoal fire. Father stood quietly to the side, his face filled with heartache and emotion, not daring to interrupt until the crying had completely ceased. Only then did he slowly step forward, his voice gentle yet heavy, offering simple comfort: "Teacher, children, you've suffered so much. Thankfully, all of this is finally over. You're already incredibly fortunate to have made it this far alive."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over each of the teachers and students present, whose faces looked haggard, before continuing, "After dinner, what are your plans? Although it's still early, there are no vehicles nearby. With your weakened bodies, it will likely take you until late at night to walk all the way to Yaodu. In my opinion, you should rest here for the night, recover your strength, and warm yourselves up. The village has limited resources, and we can't find clean clothes, but I'll find some people to mend and wash your tattered clothes so you won't look too shabby when you arrive at school tomorrow. What do you think of this arrangement?" His words were full of sincerity, without a trace of perfunctoriness. The concern in his eyes was like a warm fire in winter, slightly dispelling the chill in the hearts of the teachers and students.

Upon hearing this, the two gentlemen showed gratitude on their faces. They quickly exchanged a glance, then turned their gaze to the students beside them—most of them looked exhausted, their eyes filled with longing for rest. Seeing that most of the students nodded slightly with expectant expressions, the two gentlemen slowly turned their heads and bowed deeply to the man, their voices full of gratitude: "Manager, thank you so much! We feel so bad for troubling you like this, so we'll gladly accept your help and ask you to make the arrangements."

Father quickly helped the two teachers up, smiling as he said, "It's nothing. You've suffered a long journey; you should rest well." With that, he turned and instructed his elder brother to go to the village and ask Aunt Long and Aunt Deng to come and help. Before long, Aunt Long and Aunt Deng arrived with their sewing baskets. Upon learning that they were mending clothes for the fleeing students, they readily agreed.