Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Before we knew it, it was the second day of the second lunar month, the day the dragon raises its head. The morning was bright and clear, with a gentle spring breeze, making it an auspicious day for Qizhi to start school. As soon as dawn broke, the simple and neat classroom was already cleaned up. Five respected elders from the village, along with a group of close relatives and friends, were all present to witness the solemn moment when the school opened.

Witnessed by elders and relatives, the eldest brother led nine neatly dressed students to stand solemnly and respectfully pay homage to the revered Confucius. The ceremony was devoid of elaborate or extravagant rituals, yet it was conducted with utmost care and sincerity, brimming with a deep respect for teachers. After the worship ceremony, the Song Family New School officially commenced classes, and in this chaotic rural landscape, a brand-new place for learning and education was firmly established.

After classes started, the eldest brother's days became full and busy. He would get up before dawn to practice boxing, having his father train him in the skills to survive and kill enemies on the battlefield. During the day, he would focus on teaching and instructing his students. In his spare time, he would take over the management of the breeding base. He had long seen through the hidden dangers of the various groups in the base forming cliques while harboring their own selfish motives. He knew that if things were not regulated in time, the large-scale promotion of breeding the following year would inevitably lead to chaos and demoralization.

To completely break up cliques and restore order at the base, the eldest brother found a fair and reasonable excuse: the age distribution of the members in each group was chaotic, with a mix of young and old, uneven division of labor, and difficulties in unified management and specialized training. He publicly announced that the original groupings would be shuffled and all the teenagers at the base would be reassigned. The previous model of forming groups based on acquaintances and forming teams freely would no longer be used. Instead, teams would be reorganized according to age, physical strength, and learning progress, with assigned roles, responsibilities, and collaborative tasks.

This adjustment, seemingly just a reorganization of personnel assignments, actually precisely dismantled the previously formed cliques, completely eliminating the potential for favoritism and independent action. The entire process was reasoned, fair, and impartial, without targeting anyone, leaving no room for criticism. Even though everyone at the base had their own agendas, no one dared to object or complain. From then on, the previously disorganized breeding base experienced a complete transformation, with a more orderly and disciplined atmosphere, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent comprehensive promotion of superior varieties.

Time flies, and the Awakening of Insects has passed in the blink of an eye. With the earth warming up and rainfall gradually increasing in spring, it is the best time to soak and germinate rice seeds. Farmers throughout the township are beginning to prepare for spring plowing and seedling cultivation.

Xingbao had made thorough preparations well in advance. He took out the carefully prepared first-generation high-yield rice seeds and a germination-promoting formula that he had accidentally mixed up last time and which had yielded excellent results, and handed them to his elder brother. He specifically instructed his elder brother to take advantage of the recent free time and the fact that schoolwork was not too heavy, to take some time to brew the medicine and carry out germination experiments.

His ideas were clear and specific: first, to repeatedly adjust the ratio of pesticide to rice seeds to determine the most reliable method with the highest germination rate; second, to accurately calculate the material costs of the entire germination program. If the overall cost was too high and unsuitable for large-scale implementation, the formula would be simplified, eliminating unnecessary effects and retaining only the core germination-promoting function. The simplified formula used inexpensive ingredients, was easy to operate, and was suitable for the planting conditions of rural farmers, thus enabling its widespread adoption and making it affordable for every household.

After his elder brother took over the teaching at the school and all affairs of the base, Xingbao was completely relieved of his responsibilities and became a hands-off manager. He only needed to give instructions, and his brother would handle everything perfectly, requiring no effort from Xingbao. He spent his days routinely inspecting the fields and recording the rice plants' growth. During the transplanting season, he would only briefly assist Guixiang in the fields. He spent most of his time peacefully and leisurely. But this rare tranquility was merely a fleeting moment of warmth amidst the chaos of war; crisis was already quietly approaching.

The early rice in the fields is gradually filling out and nearing maturity, a bountiful harvest is imminent, but the heavy shadow of war is hanging over the land of Hunan. The flames of war continue to spread westward, and key roads towards the provincial capital are repeatedly bombed by enemy aircraft. The sound of artillery fire grows closer and more intense, and the front line advances westward step by step, almost touching the villages. Squads of assembled troops pass through in turn, and every few days, large numbers of soldiers pass by the village entrance. The sounds of marching footsteps and the roar of carts and horses are incessant, and the entire village is completely enveloped in a tense and oppressive wartime atmosphere.

Fortunately, the passing troops were disciplined and did not harass or loot the villagers. Instead, they bought up all the surplus sweet potatoes and potatoes in the village, helping the villagers clear out their stockpiled grains. However, this stability concealed great helplessness. The military's payment was entirely in the drastically devalued legal tender. In chaotic times, prices soared and the currency collapsed. The paper amount looked considerable, but its purchasing power plummeted, not even matching the value of the grain itself. Every household seemed to have more income, but in reality, it was all for naught, with no real benefit.

Father, however, secretly seized the opportunity presented by the frequent passage of the army. Taking advantage of the crowds and the chaos, he repeatedly made private transactions with passing soldiers, exchanging a considerable amount of bullets for his old, worn-out rifle. This old gun, which had been with Father for over twenty years, had finally been replenished with ammunition and put to use again after years of dormancy. In the future, it would also allow my eldest brother to practice marksmanship and learn a new self-defense skill.

The Hunan-Guizhou road running through the village was a vital lifeline during the war and a strategic route heavily targeted by the Japanese bombers. News of attacks along the road and bombings of villages arrived daily, and terrifying rumors spread far and wide, plunging the entire village into fear and anxiety. No one harbored any illusions; every household worked through the night to dig cellars before the full onslaught of war, hoping for a small haven to protect themselves in the event of artillery fire and air raids. Panic and unease permeated every corner of the village.

More suffocating than the ever-present threat of artillery fire was the conscription order that had been finalized in the village. A new round of conscription had been decided; once the double harvest was over, eligible able-bodied men would immediately enlist and head to the front lines. While ordinary villages typically had only three conscription slots, their village, with its large population, had to shoulder five. Behind these cold numbers lay the separation of five families, the inescapable separation of life and death in a chaotic world, a heavy burden weighing on the hearts of the entire village, a lingering gloom.

For days, the sound of weeping had been incessant at the gate of Old Wang's house. Every household with able-bodied men was filled with grief, gathering at their doors daily to weep and plead. No one wanted to send their child to the battlefield where death was a certainty, but military orders were absolute, and ordinary people were powerless to resist. The heart-wrenching sobs pierced the streets, heard clearly throughout most of the village, each sound a lament, each word a testament to sorrow. This continuous grief shattered the last vestiges of peace in the village, terrifying young Wei Bao, who dared not step outside the house, clinging to his mother and holding her tightly in his arms, fearing even the slightest sound would be a scare before his death.