Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

July 11th, which happened to be the fourth day of the sixth lunar month. The sky was terribly overcast today, and the air was thick with muggy humidity, making it hard to breathe. My elder brother adjusted the focus of his lessons slightly today, emphasizing character recognition as the main focus, supplemented by explanations of calligraphy techniques; usually, character recognition, explanations, and calligraphy practice are given equal importance.

Around noon, dark clouds suddenly gathered, thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a fierce wind arose, followed by a torrential downpour without warning. The rain lasted for over an hour, and the villagers were filled with anxiety—if it continued like this, this year's harvest would likely be affected! Only when the rain gradually subsided did the eldest brother dismiss everyone from school. After school, the uncles and elders, without even taking a break, grabbed their tools and rushed to the fields, busily digging up the dikes to drain the water. It was almost time for the rice harvest, and if the paddy fields were soaked for too long, it could easily cause large areas of rice to lodging, ultimately leading to a reduced grain yield.

The weather after the rain was exceptionally refreshing, the air filled with the fresh scent of earth and rice. After lunch, Gui Xiang took Xing Bao to find the friends who had helped lay the water pipes the day before, and distributed the red dates they had bought to everyone. After distributing the dates, the children gathered together to play a writing game. But they hadn't played for long when Xing Bao noticed the postman Wang Qianjin walking towards them with six burly men. He vaguely recognized one of them—it was the attendant who often accompanied Township Chief Liu.

"Xingbao, is Uncle Song home?" Wang Qianjin called out from a distance.

"Brother Qianjin, my dad's here! I'll go call him for you right away!" With that, Xingbao took off running into the yard.

Before even rushing into the backyard, Xingbao shouted, "Dad, Dad! Brother Qianjin has brought people to see you!"

At that moment, Dad was building a wooden bridge in the backyard with his two older brothers. Hearing Xingbao's shout, he put down his tools and said to his eldest brother, "Yanbang, you guys just cut the timber according to these dimensions. I'll be right back." Then he turned to Xingbao and instructed, "Xingbao, you take Qianjin and the others to the main room to sit down and rest. I'll wipe my sweat and come over."

"Okay!" Xingbao replied, then turned and ran quickly to the door to greet the guests.

Just then, Qianjin and his group entered and greeted Xingbao's mother, who was teaching Ding Ge how to do accounts behind the counter, with a bow. Xingbao quickly ran over and said with a smile, "Qianjin, please take our guests inside. My dad will be here after he changes his clothes."

"Hey, Xingbao, you're so young and you've already learned how to entertain guests!" Qianjin couldn't help but tease. "Quickly pour me a cup of tea, I've always remembered the taste of your tea!"

"Then, Brother Qianjin, please greet these guests for me while I go make tea for everyone!" Xingbao replied and turned to run towards the kitchen.

Ding Ge, who was standing nearby, quickly put down his account book and went over to invite the group to sit down. He then hurried to the kitchen to help Xingbao serve tea and water.

A short while later, Father changed into clean clothes and entered the main room. Seeing several people sitting and waiting, he smiled and asked, "Qianjin, what brings you here today?"

When Qianjin and the other burly men who accompanied him saw their father enter, they all stood up immediately. Qianjin spoke first, saying, "Uncle Song, there's some work from the district. They know I'm familiar with you, so they sent me on this trip." As he spoke, he stepped aside to stand next to a tall man in his twenties and introduced him, "Uncle Song, this is Li Liangjie, the captain of the newly established wolf-hunting team in the district."

Just as Qianjin was about to turn around and introduce his father to Li Liangjie, Li Liangjie stopped him with a raised hand. Li Liangjie stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said in a humble tone, "Coach Song, I've long admired your name! Xiaojin has mentioned your skills to me quite a bit lately! We're here today to trouble you to guide us for a few days."

Perhaps because of their familiarity with Brother Qianjin, the group quickly struck up a lively conversation. When it came to the next steps, Father spoke first: "We can start training early tomorrow morning. Today, the priority is to settle your lodgings. After that, we'll let you meet the young men in the village who want to join the wolf-hunting team, as well as some lads who want to learn the skills."

Upon hearing this, Li Liangjie nodded quickly and suggested with a smile, "Coach Song, you've gone to so much trouble! Your place seems very convenient; I can stay here and avoid troubling others. As for the other five brothers, if there are any families in the village who are willing to stay, please arrange for them to stay for a few days."

After a moment's thought, Father had an idea: "Then let's do as you say! You stay at the kitchen, and the other five brothers will be assigned to your maternal grandfather's house, Uncle Deng's house, and the Long family's house. They are all families we know well in the village, and they live close by, so it will be convenient for them to look after each other." Li Liangjie and his companions quickly thanked him, saying they had troubled him.

After the discussion, Dad led Captain Li and his group to Wang Jiazhang's house. Firstly, to inform Jiazhang about the arrival of the wolf-fighting team, and secondly, to show the group the village's routes for future arrangements.

After Dad led Captain Li and his group away, Qianjin turned around, took out a bag of candy from his bag, gently placed it on the counter, and said to Xingbao's mother with a smile, "Auntie, this bag of candy was given to me by the director from the district office before we left. Please keep it and have a taste for the children."

Xingbao's mother quickly put down her pen, stood up, picked up the bag of candy, and tried to stuff it into Qianjin's bag, saying, "Qianjin, this stuff is so valuable. You should take it back and keep it to give as gifts or for your family! We don't need any of this here."

But Qianjin smiled and took two steps back, then turned and walked towards the backyard: "Auntie, don't be so polite with me! I'm not going back tonight, just make me something nice to eat, I'll go chat with Yanbang and the others for a while."

Xingbao was already curious about what they were going to talk about, so he quickly followed them. Guixiang, who had been playing in the yard, had very sharp ears. As soon as she heard the word "candy," she immediately abandoned her friends and ran back, clinging to her mother and refusing to let go, her eyes full of anticipation.

Upon arriving in the backyard, Qianjin greeted his two older brothers, who were busy at work, and sat down on a small stool. The three quickly began chatting. As they talked, the eldest brother suddenly remembered the "New Learning" and asked, "Qianjin, you work in the district, have you heard of 'New Learning'?"

Upon hearing his elder brother's question, Qianjin's face was full of surprise: "Yanbang, I remember you were going to the county to take the middle school entrance exam, weren't you? How come you don't even know about 'new learning'? This is an important course in schools nowadays."

Faced with Qianjin's question, the eldest brother said somewhat dejectedly, "If Dad and Xingbao hadn't gone to Yongfeng to buy grain yesterday and happened to visit Shuangfeng Academy, we wouldn't know anything about 'new schools' yet. Apart from a few cadres in the township government, probably very few people in our village know about it, not even my former teacher!"

"What about Township Head Liu...?" Qianjin was even more shocked, but swallowed the words back and instead asked, "Yanbang, what are you planning to do now? Are you still going to the county high school?"

As the topic of plans came up, the disappointment in the elder brother's eyes faded, replaced by a longing look: "Father plans for me to study 'new learning' at Shuangfeng Academy. My uncle went to Yongfeng today to inquire about the details, and we'll have a final decision when he returns." He paused, then added eagerly, "Brother Qianjin, since you know about 'new learning,' could you tell me what we learn there?"

"Of course!" Brother Qian readily agreed, and slowly explained while recalling, "In the district, only the higher primary school starts teaching 'new learning,' and there are quite a few courses, including Chinese, arithmetic, general knowledge, as well as music, physical education, drawing, and crafts. For handwriting, there are large characters and small characters. In addition, there are composition, abacus, children's education, history, geography, and civics. However, these courses are not the same for every grade; the content is arranged differently according to the grade level."

Listening to Qianjin's detailed explanation, the eldest and second eldest brothers stopped what they were doing, brought stools, and sat under the eaves to listen attentively. Xingbao also joined them, completely absorbed. The entire afternoon, the brothers surrounded Qianjin, listening to him describe the characteristics and specific content of the "new learning." During this time, Xingbao's mother came over, specifically asking Ding to bring a small table with tea and freshly cut fruit. Guixiang, with candy from her mother in her mouth and clutching her doll, obediently sat next to Xingbao, listening intently to Qianjin's "new learning stories," afraid of missing anything.

Just as everyone was engrossed in listening, Brother Qianjin suddenly looked around, then leaned forward and dropped a bombshell in a low voice: "Did you know? Just a few days ago, on the night of July 7th, our army and the Japanese started fighting in Beiping!" After saying that, he deliberately put on a serious face and pretended to be inscrutable, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes, as if to say, "Ask me, ask me what happened next."

Xingbao, being the quick-wittedest, immediately followed up with a "helping hand": "Brother Qianjin, did we win or not?"

Qianjin gave Xingbao a "good thing you're sensible" look, then said with a hint of pride, "Of course we won! The day before yesterday, our 29th Army utterly thrashed the Japanese!"

"And then? Is there any other news?" The second brother was impatient and asked before the first brother could finish speaking.

Brother Qianjin shrugged and simply said, "That's all!"

"How could it be gone? Such a big thing, and that's all?" The older brother couldn't help but frown and ask, clearly not wanting to hear more.

Seeing everyone's anxiety, Qianjin slowly explained, "This is the latest news! When I came here this morning, my colleague asked me to take a telegram to the district office. I saw the contents of that telegram with my own eyes—it said, 'The 29th Army of our National Revolutionary Army annihilated an entire Japanese company,' there's no mistake!"

As soon as Qianjin finished speaking, the backyard erupted in excitement. Second Brother slapped his thigh and stood up, yelling, "Well done! Those little devils should know how powerful we Chinese are! If they dare invade our territory, I'll pick up a hoe and fight them to the death!" Eldest Brother clenched his fist, his eyes resolute, "Once I've mastered my skills, I'll either join the army to defend our country or teach more people to read and understand right from wrong. We can't let them occupy our land for nothing!" Even Xingbao, who had been sitting quietly, nodded in agreement, "Yes! I can help deliver messages and keep watch then!"

Gui Xiang was the most boisterous of them all. She stood up, holding her rag doll, and waved it around, shouting, "I want to fight too! I'll smash their heads with this doll!" With that, she slammed the rag doll to the ground with a "thud," making everyone laugh. The somber mood that had been lifted by the news of the war was lightened considerably by this youthful spirit.

Just as the lively atmosphere was starting to rise, the setting sun had already quietly painted the eaves red. Xingbao saw his uncle hurrying towards the backyard with his mother, his clothes still covered in dust, clearly having just returned from Yongfeng. "What are you all talking about? I could hear you from far away!" his uncle asked with a smile as soon as he entered, his gaze sweeping over the excited faces of the people in the yard.

"Uncle! We're talking about fighting the Japanese!" Gui Xiang's face turned bright red as she broke free from her mother's hand and ran to her uncle, speaking in a serious tone.

Her uncle bent down, picked her up, and sat her down on a small stool, teasing her deliberately, "Oh, Guixiang, you're so young, and you're already learning to hit people?"

"I'm not hitting anyone!" Gui Xiang waved her little hand anxiously. "Brother Qianjin said they're trying to take our land, so I'm going to chase them away!" She was so excited that even the beads of sweat on her nose were swaying.

Seeing this, the eldest brother quickly changed the subject, afraid that the little girl would pester him endlessly. His eyes were full of expectation: "Uncle, how did it go with what you asked at Shuangfeng Academy today?"

Dad put down his plane and came over, patting Uncle on the shoulder: "Youchu, thank you for making this trip today."

The eldest uncle waved his hand, took a sip of the tea Ding Ge handed him, and then spoke: "Don't mention it, it's all for the children. When I got to Yongfeng, I went to the general store to ask my in-laws. Shuangfeng Academy does indeed teach 'new learning,' but you have to take an exam to get in. A few years ago, that kid Jiande tried too, but he didn't pass—his heart wasn't in studying at all; he was focused on dealing with people and figuring out how to do business!" He paused, then continued, "I also asked the old farmers near the academy, and they said that quite a few students have indeed gone on to study in Changsha over the years. I specifically mentioned Cai Hesen, and I didn't expect that those old people would remember him. They said he was the most talented student in the academy. More than twenty years have passed, and they can still remember him debating with a group of students on the grass. They still remember his spirited demeanor. It's just that we haven't heard from him since."

As my uncle spoke, a hint of longing flickered in his eyes, as if he were witnessing the scene from years ago. After a moment, he returned to the main point: "Finally, I went to the academy to inquire about the admission rules. As long as you have a letter of recommendation and all the necessary household registration documents, you can enroll in the second month of the lunar calendar after passing the exam. The tuition is five silver dollars per semester, which isn't expensive—I heard that the academy owns its own land and collects rent, which is why the tuition is so low."

"Uncle, then... can I take the exam anytime?" The older brother's voice trembled slightly as he cautiously asked, his hands unconsciously clenching the hem of his clothes.

"You can take the exam anytime. If you pass, you'll be a student at the academy, but you'll have to wait until the start of the new semester next February." Uncle nodded with a smile.

The eldest brother immediately turned to look at Qianjin, his eyes earnest: "Qianjin, I'd like to ask you more about the 'new learning' tonight!"

Qianjin was amused by his brother's eagerness: "Don't rush, I don't remember everything either. My elementary school textbooks are still at home, my brother doesn't need them now—this year's new textbooks are different from mine." Seeing that his second brother was about to ask, he explained, "'New Learning' is still in the planning stage. Naturally, parts of the content that are not suitable will be changed, but the core educational philosophy remains the same. It's perfectly sufficient for reference. I'll bring it to you next time I deliver a letter. You can look at it yourself first, and I'll explain anything you don't understand."

The older brother quickly clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you so much, Brother Qianjin!"

"By the way," Brother Qianjin suddenly stopped smiling, his tone becoming serious, "I've heard of Cai Hesen, whom you just mentioned, in the district. He's a very well-known figure among students in Changsha and Beijing. But please, don't mention that name again."

The older brother looked puzzled: "Why?"

Brother Qianjin didn't say anything, but just looked up at the eaves and gently pointed to the little red dress hanging on the bamboo pole—it was Guixiang's favorite new dress, which stood out in the twilight.

Xingbao's heart jolted, as if struck by something: he only remembered that in his previous life, Shuangfeng Academy was renowned because Mr. Cai Hesen had studied there, but he forgot that Mr. Cai was a revolutionary pioneer on par with great men, and even more so, he forgot that Mr. Cai had already died a heroic death due to betrayal. In these turbulent times, mentioning such a name, if overheard by someone with ulterior motives, could bring disaster upon the entire family!

Father and eldest uncle looked in the direction Qianjin pointed, their faces instantly darkening, and they fell silent simultaneously. Although eldest brother didn't fully understand the situation, he sensed something was wrong from the tense atmosphere and pursed his lips, refusing to ask any more questions. Only second brother and Guixiang remained oblivious, but the sudden oppressive atmosphere in the courtyard made them afraid to utter a sound. Guixiang even quietly hugged her rag doll to her chest.

As dusk deepened into darkness, the lanterns on the eaves swayed gently in the evening breeze. Usually at this time, the inn's guests would have been settled by now, but today there was no sign of them—presumably the afternoon downpour had damaged the dirt road, making it muddy and difficult to travel, thus delaying their journey.

Just then, the creaking of a cart axle came from outside, accompanied by a few weary shouts. Father and Second Brother quickly got up to greet them. They saw three merchants carrying loads of goods standing at the door, their trousers covered in mud and their clothes dripping wet. "I'm so sorry, the road was too slippery and we were delayed. Are there any rooms available?" the leader asked, rubbing his hands. Mother quickly came out from behind the counter and replied, "Yes." Xingbao took a lantern to light the way, while Brother Ding hurried to the kitchen to boil water, preparing to warm the guests' faces and bodies.

Everyone busied themselves: moving goods, making beds, fetching hot water, and preparing dinner. The firelight in the kitchen illuminated their busy figures, somewhat easing the previous somber atmosphere. The merchants wolfed down their hot porridge and pickled vegetables, constantly muttering, "Luckily, you have this shop." By the time all the guests were settled, it was already late at night.

There weren't enough guest rooms, so Qianjin was still sharing a room with his two older brothers, and his uncle had gone back to his own home. Mother helped Xingbao and Guixiang cover their bellies, and watching the little girl sleeping soundly with her doll, she sighed softly. Father sat on a bench in the main room, his fingertips tracing the edge of the table, seemingly thinking about his older brother's exams or pondering Qianjin's advice. The light was still on in the older brother's room next door, and faint whispers could be heard coming from within. Qianjin was probably telling his two brothers about the latest happenings in the district, or perhaps quietly discussing the ins and outs of "new learning."

Xingbao lay in the darkness, the soft breathing of Guixiang mingling with the intermittent croaking of frogs outside the window. But the image of the red shirt Qianjin had pointed to kept flashing before his eyes, like a conspicuous fire, making his heart ache. In a daze, scenes from the TV series "The Young Students" he had read in his past life flooded back: in the academy at the foot of Yuelu Mountain, Cai Hesen and a group of young students sat debating, their eyes filled with fervent patriotism; and the words of the great man, "The young students, full of vigor and vitality," those spirited figures gradually overlapped with the image of Cai Hesen described by the old farmer. But these burning memories, in the darkness of the night, could only be suppressed in his heart, even mentioning them a luxury.

As the night deepened, the lights in the main room and the eldest brother's room went out one by one, the last glimmer of light fading into darkness. The village was enveloped in tranquility, with only fireflies flickering along the field ridges, echoing the stars in the sky. The countryside remained as peaceful as ever that night, but everyone carried a burden in their hearts: the eldest brother held onto his hopes for the academy, the father harbored anxieties about the current situation, and Xingbao carried the weight of a past era. Accompanied by the croaking of frogs and the evening breeze, they all gradually drifted off to sleep.