Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

For the next few days, Song Yanxing obediently followed behind Guixiang, like a truly clueless little kid, slowly exploring this "new home" with his older sister, Song Guixiang. Guixiang was especially patient with her younger brother, who "seemed even more foolish after recovering from his illness," always holding his little hand and leading him around the house and the house.

The layout of this house, or rather this "shop," gradually became clear to him. The main building faced south and was constructed gradually in several phases: to the left was a spacious main hall with a dark shrine housing the tablets of "Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher"; to the right were four side rooms, specifically for traveling merchants. The eaves of the house stretched out like outstretched arms, covering the stone path in front of the door and extending all the way to the murky ditch beside it. Passing through a small doorway to the right of the main hall was a passageway leading to the backyard. To the left of the passageway were his parents' master bedroom and the children's secondary bedrooms; to the right was the kitchen, filled with the smells of burning firewood and leftover food, and a storage room piled high with jars and pots. Pushing open the creaking wooden door to the backyard revealed a completely different world: two simple outhouses separated by thatch, a livestock shed for guests, a storage room piled high with odds and ends (including a wheelbarrow), a neatly stacked woodshed, a chicken coop surrounded by a fence, and a small, meticulously tended vegetable garden, a lush green expanse that was an important source of vegetables for the family. The backyard had two small doors: a side door for vehicles and goods to enter and exit, and the other leading to the tiny vegetable garden behind the house.

"Come on, let me take you outside to have a look." Gui Xiang became interested and pulled her younger brother out the side door.

Outside the door, a dirt road winds its way towards the mountain shrouded in a thin mist behind them. "Look, Jinxianling!" Guixiang stood on tiptoe, pointing her little finger to the top of the mountain. "Mother said there used to be a temple up there, and at night you could see the lights of Yongfeng County! But a few years ago, there were always fires in the city. The Taoist priest said it was caused by the lights in the temple. A lot of people came and demolished the temple. Next time, let Dad take us up there to see it!" The little girl's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible childlike curiosity about such a big commotion as "demolishing a temple," rather than the awe or regret that adults have for the gods.

Across the path, directly opposite the side gate of the shop, is the earthen-walled courtyard of the Lü family. At the entrance is a small pond, with grapevines growing along its banks, and a few withered leaves and duckweed floating on the surface. A few dozen steps ahead of the pond is the ancient Xiangqian Road, paved with stone slabs. Beside the road is a stone well, its rim worn smooth and shiny. Several women are squatting by the well, vigorously washing clothes with washing mallets, water splashing everywhere.

Gui Xiang immediately leaned close to her younger brother's ear and, like a little adult, instructed him, "Xingbao, remember, this well water is bad. It's for washing clothes, not for drinking!" Song Yanxing looked and saw that the well water was indeed somewhat murky.

A woman looked up and said, "Xingbao, you're out with your sister again now that you're feeling better. Don't go out these next few days while you're digging up trees!" This was Aunt Wang, whose family worked as long-term laborers for the landlord.

Gui Xiang nervously replied, "I'll just take a look, but I won't go over."

"Let's take a look," Xingbao immediately replied.

Gui Xiang's gaze shifted to the other side of the road, where several migrant workers were digging up a huge old tree stump, sending soil flying. The little girl's face immediately fell, her expression clearly sad: "Are they even going to dig up the roots of the old banyan tree...?" Her heartbroken look made it seem as if her own precious treasure was being taken away. Xing Bao nodded in agreement.

Clearly, Guixiang was also frightened by the scene of the tree-cutting that day and didn't move any closer. She pointed south, where a small river flowed quietly along the foot of the mountain, its water much clearer than the ditch in front of the house. There was also a well neatly enclosed by stone slabs beside the river. "Look, this is the well," Guixiang pointed, "Dad comes here to fetch water every day." She then pointed to several narrow fields by the river, "Some of these fields by the river belong to Grandpa's house, only a little over two mu. Those over there belong to the landlords, and the Long family is next door!" When she said the last sentence—"My family doesn't have any fields!"—the little girl's voice lowered, and her little hand unconsciously tightened its grip on her brother's hand, a clear trace of disappointment creeping onto her tender face. Song Yanxing could feel the slight strength from his sister's little hand, and a pang of sadness rose in his heart. In this mountain village where people depend on the weather for their livelihood, not having farmland means an unstable foundation, and this shop is the family's only source of income.

An ancient stone-paved road winds through the village, and the distance from the shop to Grandpa's house is only a few dozen meters. Guixiang is leading her younger brother towards Grandpa's house. Two children are playing with pebbles by the roadside. The older one is Deng Xuewen, who is six years old; the younger one is Deng Xiwu, the same age as Xingbao. When Deng Xuewen sees them, he calls out, "Guixiang, you're taking Xingbao to Grandma's house again? I just saw them go to your shop." There's a hint of envy in his eyes—Deng Xuewen's mother was a refugee from another county who met Uncle Deng, who was collecting herbs, and was brought back. Aunt Deng is a very kind person, and she gets along well with Guixiang's mother. However, whenever they play together and talk about going to Grandma's house, the two brothers can't help but feel envious and longing.