Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

At lunchtime, the atmosphere in the main room was exceptionally oppressive, the air so still it was suffocating. Even the innocent and young Wei Bao noticed his parents' frighteningly somber expressions, and dared not laugh or play, sitting obediently. He imitated his older brother and Gui Xiang, secretly glancing at Xing Bao, who hung his head in silence, then timidly glancing at his parents' grave faces, before quickly lowering his head again, pretending to bury himself in his rice, barely daring to breathe. His parents remained silent throughout, without uttering a single word of reproach, but this silent solemnity was more agonizing than any harsh reprimand. Xing Bao felt guilty and uneasy, not daring to look up the entire time. He hurriedly finished his rice and food, put down his chopsticks, and rushed back to the tofu workshop to continue washing the iron pot.

This time, he tried every possible method, digging up clean, fine soil and picking fresh grass, repeatedly boiling and rinsing the pot, going through the process again and again. Finally, when all else failed, he secretly added a little spiritual spring water to soak and wash it, finally completely dispelling the lingering odor and cleaning the iron pot spotlessly. Throughout the entire process, his elder brother, Guixiang, and Weibao didn't come to check on him at all. Xingbao knew in his heart that his parents must have secretly instructed him to bear the consequences alone and suffer a bit. Over the years, he had had many opportunities and things had gone smoothly, rarely making mistakes or stumbling. His parents were using this small incident to teach him the importance of careful consideration and to temper his character.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The tire leather, pressed down by the stones, was now completely flat and smooth, without any of its original curvature or warping. Xingbao took the pressed leather out from between the wooden boards; its texture was just right, neither too soft nor too hard, perfect for cutting into shoe soles. Guixiang also brought the shoe patterns she had collected earlier from her master, along with her mother's leather knife, which she used to repair cloth shoes and cut leather—all the necessary tools were there.

Xingbao laid the flat tire leather on the clean table, carefully aligning and placing the shoe pattern firmly in the center, striving for absolute precision. He then used a charcoal pencil to meticulously trace the outline of the shoe pattern, sketching the complete sole design. The tire leather was of limited size, barely enough to cut out one adult shoe sole, with no room for error; he proceeded with extreme caution and focus.

Then Xingbao, holding a sharp leather cutter, slowly cut along the drawn lines, trimming away the excess scraps little by little. Small pieces of rubber scraps were cut off one after another, forming long and short strips that looked quite novel. Weibao, who had been squatting by the table for a long time, stared at them with bright eyes, immediately becoming interested. He leaned on the edge of the table, tilting his little face up, and excitedly asked, "Brother Xing, Brother Xing, can I have these strips?"

These scraps were useless to keep, so Xingbao readily agreed, saying that as long as the little guy stayed put and didn't cause trouble, it was fine to let him play with them.

Upon hearing that all the scraps were his, Wei Bao immediately became even more demanding, standing on tiptoe and gripping the edge of the table, earnestly instructing, "Brother Xing, then cut slowly and carefully! Don't cut it all the way through, it's more fun to keep it long!"

For the sake of his new toy, the little guy unusually put aside his usual mischievousness, squatting quietly to the side, his round eyes fixed on Xingbao's hand holding the knife. Whenever he cut into a narrow and slender spot, he would hold his breath nervously and whisper a reminder, his little face both serious and adorable, as if afraid that Xingbao might accidentally cut his long toy.

After waiting for Xingbao to finish cutting, Weibao couldn't wait to snatch the scraps and run out of the room. He led Xueqiu, dragging the long rubber strip, running back and forth in the main room, waving his hands in circles every now and then, jumping and skipping with joy. He kept turning his head to look at his mother and Guixiang, excitedly asking them if it looked good, his face full of the simplest and purest joy of a child.

Cutting the soles was only the first step. To ensure they were comfortable, durable, and slip-resistant, they needed careful sanding and finishing. Xingbao used a leather knife to smooth out the rough edges, then made seams on the bottom to make it easier for his master's wife to sew. He also found an old nail and heated it until it was red-hot in the stove. While the nail was still scorching hot, he carefully burned evenly deep and varied patterns onto the sole surface, crisscrossing and spaced appropriately. This way, the soles wouldn't slip on muddy, steep slopes when his master went out to make house calls in rain or snow. After burning the patterns, he carefully sanded down the rough edges, then carefully wrapped the shoes in coarse paper and put them aside, waiting to give them to his master's wife to finish sewing the shoes the next day.

After finishing this task, he still had an important matter on his mind. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the mountain vegetation was in its seasonal cycle. In a few days, the trees would gradually enter dormancy, their leaves losing nutrients and medicinal properties, making harvesting too late. Now was the perfect time to harvest the camphor tree leaves, when their medicinal value was at its peak. Missing this opportunity meant waiting another year.

Last year, Xingbao tried refining borneol for the first time. He could only temporarily borrow the crude brewing equipment from his family's home for the experiment. The equipment was not professional, the extraction efficiency was low, and the purity and quantity of the extracted borneol were greatly reduced. He knew that the equipment was the most important factor in the distillation and purification of borneol. The quality of the equipment directly determined the medicinal properties of the medicinal material and the purity of the finished product, and there was no room for carelessness. During the high-temperature distillation process, ironware was very easy to oxidize and rust, which would breed impurities and corrode the medicinal properties, making it unusable. Resources were scarce in this rural area, and even decent steel could not be found, let alone corrosion-resistant stainless steel, which was probably impossible to find anywhere in the country. Copperware was expensive, and ordinary farmers could not afford it. Therefore, Xingbao specially hand-drew the blueprints for the entire set of equipment and wrote down the requirements. His father then personally went to the kiln to order a set of custom-made ceramic distillation equipment, complete with a distiller, condenser, and filter.

This set of pottery was specially made for processing medicinal materials. The clay is pure and fine, and its properties are stable after high-temperature firing. It does not carry off any off-flavors or damage the original medicinal properties during distillation, making it perfectly suited to the stringent requirements of borneol purification and distillation. The only drawback is that the entire set of utensils is made of thick and dense pottery, with a smooth glaze and polishing. Each part is quite heavy and requires careful handling. Ordinary children simply cannot move it, as it is very cumbersome. Moreover, custom-made pottery is very expensive and difficult to produce, costing far more than ordinary household items. If it weren't for the fact that her master had personally verified the purity and high value of Xingbao's borneol, witnessing its effectiveness firsthand, and knowing that this set of utensils was worth the price, her frugal mother would never have dared to let her father spend so much money on such specialized items.

Taking advantage of a free day, Xingbao brought out the entire set of ceramic utensils that had been stored away for a long time. The glaze was smooth and slippery, so extra care had to be taken when moving them. Seeing this, Guixiang offered to help. The siblings worked together, one holding the body of the vessel steady and the other handing over the parts. They patiently carried the entire set to the yard and rinsed and wiped it carefully with clean water again and again. Ceramic utensils have many crevices, which easily trap dirt and grime, so the two of them did not dare to be careless. They washed and let it drain repeatedly to ensure that the utensils were clean, free of impurities, oil, and odor. After they were completely dry, they could be used to distill camphor.