Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Dad looked at Xingbao with a questioning look in his eyes. Xingbao immediately understood what his father meant and said loudly, "Let's distribute them tonight! So many red dates need to be weighed and packaged. Our whole family will be busy until tomorrow. In order not to delay everyone's festival tomorrow, members of the breeding base can come over now to help weigh and package them. After that, we can take them home directly, saving us another trip."

"What a coincidence! My wife just gave birth and really needs red dates to help her recover. I didn't expect Dawei's family to be distributing them to everyone. It's so timely!" A middle-aged man in the crowd said with a smile, his voice full of joy. He then turned and walked quickly towards the village, calling out as he went, "I'll go back and get my son to come help, and I'll also give my wife some good news!"

"Xingbao, I'll go get some people too. You absolutely must save some for us, don't let them all go!"

"Don't worry! Everyone at the base, regardless of age, will get a share. There's guaranteed to be enough!" Xingbao replied with a smile.

"It's time to distribute red dates! It's time to distribute red dates!" The children cheered and rushed into the village to call their friends from the base. The threshing ground was filled with laughter and joy, and the gloom brought by the summer tax in recent days was dispelled by this joy.

Xingbao asked his father for help to unload the two large bags of red dates into the bamboo house. Guixiang, who had already learned that the family was going to divide the red dates, was waiting in the bamboo house with Xiaohua, holding a small scale, a stack of kraft paper and several rolls of rope, ready to help sort the red dates.

The shop was bustling with activity; the eldest and second eldest brothers were constantly on the go. These days, the shop was seeing an increasing number of customers, all sorts of people. They heard from passersby that the Japanese were about to attack Wuhan, and the Xiangqian Road had become a vital transportation route, especially Yongfeng Town, which connected Hengyang to the south and Shaoyang to the west, and was poised to become a transit point for supplies. Today, when Xingbao went to Yongfeng Town, he saw trucks of this era for the first time—rows of green trucks loaded with rice, speeding towards the provincial capital, a truly spectacular sight.

Before his friends from the base arrived, Xingbao sat on the threshold of the bamboo house and told Guixiang about his experiences in Yongfeng Town that day. Guixiang was indifferent to everything else, but she was particularly excited about the new trucks, her big, watery eyes sparkling as she kept asking questions.

"Xingbao, what does that truck look like?" Guixiang tilted her head, her face full of curiosity.

"It's like our family's four-wheeled cart, with four wheels, but it's not pulled by a donkey. It has a driver's cab and a large cargo box that can hold a lot of things," Xingbao explained patiently.

"If it's not pulled by a donkey, how will it move?" Gui Xiang asked, her eyes full of doubt.

"It can run by burning oil; it's gasoline, which is different from tung oil."

"Can we make one?" Gui Xiang looked at Xing Bao with hopeful eyes.

"We can't make it without iron. The truck's frame and wheels are all made of iron, and we don't have that much iron material." Xingbao shook his head helplessly.

"If we had iron, could we make it?" Gui Xiang persisted, asking again.

"Even if we had iron, it wouldn't work. Making trucks requires specialized machinery, and we don't even have the materials to make the machinery, so we simply can't make them."

"Can the machine that makes the machine do it?"

"We still can't make anything without iron!" Xingbao was at his wit's end, rubbing his forehead helplessly. Looking at Guixiang's expectant eyes, he could only promise, "Sister, we don't have anything right now, we can't make anything. If you like, I'll make you a clay truck model tomorrow, you can take it and play with it, okay?"

Gui Xiang nodded in satisfaction, no longer asking any questions, and obediently waited for her friends to arrive. Before long, the friends from the base arrived one after another. Gui Xiang and Xiao Hua, the two little megaphones, immediately told everyone that Xing Bao had seen the truck, instantly sparking a new wave of discussion. Everyone chimed in, filled with curiosity about the truck they had never seen before.

Seeing that everyone was getting more and more engrossed in their conversation, and that continuing would interfere with the important task of packaging the red dates, Xingbao quickly raised his voice and said, "Brothers and sisters, stop chatting! The road here has been repaired for a while now, and trucks will be passing through our village in a few days. You'll all see it with your own eyes then. Let's weigh and package the red dates first. Tomorrow is Qixi Festival, and everyone needs to taste the new harvest and set out offerings. We can't let this delay our important task!"

The crowd slowly quieted down, turning their attention to the two sacks of red dates inside the bamboo house. Xingbao had already untied the ropes binding the sacks, revealing the bright red, round dates. Their vibrant color and sweet appearance instantly drew everyone's attention away from the truck. For the children, the dates were the most appealing thing; the little ones who had come with their older siblings to watch the excitement stared at the bright red dates, their mouths watering.

There were quite a few people, but there was only one scale, and they couldn't keep up. Xingbao immediately arranged for about ten of the older children to help with weighing, packing, and tying the scales. For the younger children, Xingbao gave each of them a red date and coaxed them with a smile, "You can go play at the door first. We'll call you over to collect the dates after the older brothers and sisters have packed them. Everyone gets a share, so don't grab them!" The children, clutching their red dates, skipped and hopped outside, and the bamboo house instantly became much quieter.

After the younger children had all gone outside, Xingbao clapped his hands and asked, "Who among you knows how to read and weigh things? Raise your hand if you do, and lend a hand." As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked at each other and shook their heads; no one dared to answer. Xingbao smiled helplessly; he couldn't be lazy—scales were rare these days, and people who knew how to read them and had the skills were even fewer. However, he knew in his heart that Shuangchao certainly did. He was Old Wang's eldest grandson, and the village's official scale was kept at his house. He often helped his family weigh things; who would believe he didn't know how? He figured Shuangchao was afraid of making a mistake and getting blamed, so he didn't want to take the initiative.

After thinking it over, Xingbao called out Shuangchao and Xuewen's names: "Shuangchao and Xuewen, you two come over and help me weigh the dates. One of you put them in the small basket, and the other waits until I've weighed them and then pours them onto the kraft paper. The rest of you are in charge of packing. Wrap the weighed dates in kraft paper and tie them tightly with string. Sister, take the scissors and trim the loose threads for everyone so they don't hurt your hands when tying them." Everyone responded and did their jobs, and the bamboo house instantly became busy.

There's a trick to weighing medicine here, unlike weighing medicine in a pharmacy. Weighing medicine requires precision; even a fraction too much or too little will affect the efficacy. But when distributing red dates to everyone, you have to use a "high scale." People in the village like to get a little something extra, and Xingbao knew that if he weighed the scale a little too evenly, the bag of red dates would be rejected and given to someone who didn't know better. So, by simply applying a little force when lifting the scale, the tail of the scale would rise high, making it look much better.

Weighing them this way makes the portions look substantial, which puts everyone at ease. To ensure every portion weighs exactly the same would take many times longer, and wouldn't necessarily satisfy everyone. This isn't about cheating on the scale; it's just about speed so everyone can go home and rest as soon as possible. The family spent a lot of money on the dates, so this small amount doesn't matter; we just want to distribute them efficiently and not keep everyone waiting.