Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Before everyone could catch their breath, Uncle arrived with Brother Dashan, and Carpenter Liu also arrived at the shop on time with his son, Liu Yingbin. Everyone sat together and ate a simple breakfast. After waiting at the door for a while, Chief Zhao finally arrived late in a sedan chair with two attendants.

The news had already spread, and many villagers came to join the fun, gathering by the roadside to watch. Uncle Bu and his brothers were also among the crowd, each carrying buckets of water, presumably hoping to use the water-carrying as an excuse to cause some trouble. But seeing that there was only one cart, and that Dad and Uncle were guarding it tightly, they had no chance to get involved and could only turn around and leave disappointed.

Without the interference of irrelevant people, the rest of the journey went exceptionally smoothly. Dad, along with his eldest uncle, eldest brother, second brother, and brother Dashan, as well as Liu the carpenter and his son, set off together, driving a handcart to the township office. Before noon, the group had successfully completed the handover and returned beaming with joy, each with a smile on their face.

Father was in a great mood and had originally planned to have Liu the carpenter and his son have lunch at the shop before letting them go home. Unexpectedly, Liu the carpenter waved his hand and declined with a smile, saying, "Manager Song, I won't eat. Today, I went with you to deliver goods and not only made a name for myself in front of the township head, but I also received so much reward money. I've already gotten a huge advantage, so I need to go home early to put the money away safely before I feel at ease. In the future, if you need any help with work, just let us know, and my son and I will be there whenever you call."

Seeing that his mind was made up, his father didn't press the matter further. He smiled and gave him a few words of advice before watching Liu the carpenter and his son leave happily with their reward money. With that, the job of the ten rice transplanters was finally settled, and the whole family, who had been on edge for so long, could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The cart was carried back into the yard. The eldest and second eldest brothers, without even taking a break, grabbed buckets and pulled Blackie along, intending to take it to the well in the corner of the yard to wash it and reward it for its journey. Before they even reached the well, their father called out, "Yanbang, Yanguo, hold on! It's so hot today, and it's midday. The sun is blazing. Blackie just got back from its journey and is already taking a cold shower; it'll easily catch a cold. Just wipe the dust off its body with a cloth first, and wash it in the afternoon when the sun is lower and it's cooler. You all should also go inside and rest for a while, cool off, and drink some refreshing mung bean soup. Don't work under the scorching sun, or you'll get heatstroke."

Upon hearing this, the eldest and second eldest brothers had no choice but to obediently agree. They put down the buckets of water they were carrying, found clean rags, and carefully wiped the dust and sweat off Blackie's body. Then they led it into the livestock pen and settled it in. Xingbao and Guixiang had already prepared fresh, tender vegetable leaves and brought over a bowl of water mixed with spiritual spring water, carefully placing it in the pen to reward Blackie. Snowball, who was nearby, also came over and circled the water basin, wanting to share Blackie's water, which made the siblings laugh.

The eldest and second eldest brothers stood by the livestock pen, watching Xingbao and Guixiang feed the animals. They smiled and told the two about the day's delivery: "The journey was relatively smooth. Except for the uphill section leaving the village and a short stretch of flat road near the township where we had to push the cart, most of the road was downhill. Heitan pulled the cart effortlessly, making sure it went smoothly. The most interesting thing was the township head. When he learned that we were delivering rice transplanters, his face was full of disbelief. You know, those four old carpenters in the township worked for ten days and only managed to make ten barely usable rice transplanters. Although we invented this rice transplanter, saving us the trouble of figuring it out, the processes of sanding the burrs and drying the tung oil still take real time. We only took ten days at most to make and deliver ten qualified machines. The township head just couldn't believe it; he estimated it would take at least twenty days."

The second brother paused, patted his chest, and spoke softly, still shaken by lingering fear: "Xingbao, Guixiang, you didn't see what happened. The township head immediately ordered Dad to open the boxes for inspection. My older brother and I were terrified, our hearts were in our throats. We didn't dare breathe, afraid the township head would see that we'd skimped on the fabric and taken advantage of public funds. We quickly squeezed forward, pretending to help open the boxes, and quietly stood in front of the township head and the village head, blocking their view. Luckily, the village head was so eager to please the township head, he was very sweet-talking, and kept flattering him. The township head's attention was completely drawn to the workmanship and appearance of the rice transplanter, and he didn't notice the fabric at all. That's how we got away with it without any real danger. I still feel a lingering fear when I think about it!"

"Later, the township head carefully inspected all ten machines and found that each one met the standards and was even more finely made than the old carpenters in the township. He was overjoyed! He not only rewarded Dad and the village head with ten silver dollars each, but we deliverymen who accompanied them also received a silver dollar as a reward!" The second brother said, his eyes shining. He quickly took out the brand-new silver dollar from his pocket and waved it back and forth in front of Xingbao and Guixiang. His eyes were full of undisguised joy and his tone was full of pride.

Xingbao and Guixiang stared at the gleaming silver dollar, their eyes lighting up as they leaned closer for a closer look, overjoyed. The four siblings huddled around the livestock pen, chatting about the amusing stories from their delivery journey. The fatigue and tension of the past few days of rushing to finish work were completely washed away by this genuine joy.

After chatting around the livestock pen for a while, the group went into the shop's passageway. Father and eldest uncle sat on a bench, meticulously recounting the day's delivery to Mother, Grandpa, and Grandma, in far more detail than their older brothers. From the preparations before departure to the journey and every detail of the handover in the township, everything was explained clearly. Especially when the township head asked Father how he had finished so quickly, Father explained with a smile that he had enlisted the help of the Liu family, carpenters in the village, and both families had pitched in, working day and night to complete the task in ten days. He made no mention of Xingbao's contributions in simplifying procedures and optimizing details, attributing all the success to the collective effort. Xingbao listened, understanding that his older brothers had likely been too nervous and timid, forgetting these crucial details.

After completing their official duties in the village, the Song family's rice transplanter skills spread throughout the surrounding area, and they received several orders to help make rice transplanters. However, Xingbao didn't get involved anymore; he returned to his old life of inspecting the fields and memorizing texts. In fact, Xingbao had long been tired of the daily tedium of memorizing texts and regretted it deeply—he had greedily memorized so many books, and now he was hunched over his desk copying them every day, his arms aching from exhaustion. He often thought how much better it would be to spend his days reading with Guixiang, playing with Xiao Weibao, and living a leisurely life. But when he thought about the usefulness of these books, he felt he couldn't give up halfway. His older brother wouldn't have the chance to attend Sanmin Middle School. By the time his brother graduated from Shuangfeng Academy, the war had already reached Changsha, and school places would only become more scarce. With their family's resources, they had no way to send their brother to high school. Only by memorizing all these books could his brother study at home, and if he encountered anything he didn't understand, he could go to the academy or Sanmin Middle School for help. As for university, he had given up on that hope for now. As for himself, he and Guixiang will be formally studying medicine under their master next year. If he doesn't hurry up, he really won't be able to finish memorizing all these books.