Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

The two walked out of the Zhao family's courtyard, the sunlight on the stone path warmer than before. Gui Xiang wiped the drool from her mouth and mumbled, "Xing Bao, do you think Mother will agree? If my older brother becomes a teacher, can I also go and learn to write?"

Xingbao clutched the candy in his hand, glancing at the migrant workers still digging tree stumps not far away—the roots of the old banyan tree were still exposed, like withered arms. He nodded gently: "I'll agree. Big brother also wants to teach you to write."

As they were talking, they saw their mother standing at the entrance of the shop, looking around, with their grandmother beside her, carrying a cloth bag. Guixiang immediately ran over: "Mom! Aunt Bai gave my daughter candy! And she even let my older brother teach in the village!"

When her mother saw them, the anxiety on her face lessened a bit. She reached out and patted Xingbao's head: "Slow down, don't fall. If you have something to say, come inside and talk to your grandmother."

Mother led Xingbao towards the kitchen, with Grandma following behind. The soft rustling of dried dates came from the cloth bag. The kitchen still held the warmth of the sweet potatoes steamed that morning, and beside the earthen stove lay half a basket of freshly picked vegetables from the backyard garden, the mud still clinging to the leaves. "Guixiang, go and call your older brothers back," Mother said to the skipping Guixiang as she wiped the porcelain bowls on the stove. "Grandma brought some dates; tell them to come back and have a taste."

Xingbao seized the opportunity to slip to the backyard, making an excuse to use the outhouse. The vegetable patch behind the outhouse wasn't large, only growing loofah, green beans, and pumpkins, the leaves somewhat yellowed—there had been a drought recently, and even his father's daily watering couldn't keep up with the evaporation. He squatted by the vegetable patch, pretending to fiddle with the grass, his fingertips secretly touching his palm—the misty, spiritual spring space was still there, the clear spring water seemingly hidden beneath his skin.

"Just a drop of spring water, let's see if it works on the vegetables," Xingbao muttered to himself. With a thought, a drop of clear water oozed from his fingertip and landed on the most wilted loofah vine root. The droplet disappeared as soon as it touched the soil. Just as he was about to try again, he heard Guixiang's voice: "Xingbao, what are you doing squatting there? Big Brother and Second Brother are back!"

Xingbao quickly got up, patted his pants, and ran back to the front yard. His eldest brother, Yanbang, was standing in front of the shrine in the main room, organizing books. His second brother, Yanguo, carried half a bundle of firewood in and grinned when he saw his grandmother: "Grandma, why are you so late? I still remember the fried peanuts you mentioned last time!"

Grandma smiled and took out a cloth bag, grabbing a handful of red dates and distributing them to the children: "What's the rush? When your father goes to Yongfeng to buy goods next time, I'll have him bring you two jin." She turned to Yanbang, her eyes filled with expectation, "I heard on the way here that Aunt Bai wants to hire you to teach in the village?"

Yanbang paused in his book and looked at his mother: "Mother, you know too? Just now, on my way back from the old gentleman's house, I ran into Aunt Bai, and she mentioned that she was willing to offer two empty rooms as a school, charging each student one liter of grain per month."

Father returned from outside, carrying an empty water bucket on his shoulder—he had gone to fetch water from the well and happened to run into some laborers resting, and they had chatted for a few minutes. "Aunt Bai's intentions go beyond simply asking you to teach." Father put the bucket down in the corner, scooped up a ladle of cold water and drank it. "I heard from the laborers that the county is going to set up a 'school for the villagers' in the village, managed by the village head. Aunt Bai wants you to have that title so she can build a relationship with the village head later."

Mother frowned. "That won't do. The village head is a slippery fellow. Getting involved with him will only bring trouble later." She looked at Yanbang, her tone softening. "What did your father say? Didn't you want to go to Yaodu Town next year to take the school entrance exam?"

Yanbang was silent for a moment, his fingertips tracing the words on the scroll: "The old gentleman said that if I could teach in the village and let the children learn some characters, it would be a good deed. However, he told me to think carefully about the matter of the school and not to get involved in official matters."

"How about I take some time to go to Baoqing Prefecture and try to find some connections so you can go to school there? I know you've loved listening to stories about General Cai E since you were little, and you've taken him as your role model..." (Most of the general's fellow townsmen and former subordinates were from the prefectural city and Dongkou County.)

"No need, Father. I've inquired. The tuition for middle school in Baoqing Prefecture is thirty silver dollars per term. My family can't afford it. The tuition alone will bankrupt my family. I've decided that if I don't pass the exam, I'll teach. In the village, once the teachers retire, I'll be too young and will definitely be ostracized. Going to a landlord's house won't give me a good reputation. I'll teach at my own home!" The eldest brother's eyes were full of determination.

Father patted his eldest brother's shoulder. "There's still a year left, so I'll prepare for you. With your education, I'm not worried at all. It's just that there are only a few spots in middle school, and I'm useless; I can't find anyone I can talk to!" Father looked dejected and guilty. He had suffered enough from being illiterate and uneducated. Anyone who could read could learn advanced skills in the army. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, Father would sell everything he owned to send his eldest brother to school.

Xingbao, munching on a red date, suddenly spoke up: "Big brother, if we were to teach, could Guixiang also go and learn? And Deng Xuewen and the others, they want to learn to read too!"

The room fell silent at these words. Gui Xiang's eyes lit up, and she tugged at Yan Bang's sleeve, saying, "Big brother, Xing Bao is right! I want to learn to read too, so I can help Mother with the accounts!"

Yanbang looked at his younger sister's expectant eyes, then at Xingbao—his younger brother, after recovering from his illness, always seemed more mature than his age. He couldn't help but smile: "Alright, if the school really opens, you two will be my first batch of students."

Father stroked his chin and suddenly said, "If it doesn't involve the name of the school, let's use that empty room in our backyard as a school. It doesn't matter whether we harvest grain or not. Let the children in the village who want to study come and learn." He looked at Yanbang, "Didn't your old master say that studying is for understanding the world? We don't want anything in return, we just want the children to not end up like us, unable to even understand government notices."

Mother nodded: "That makes sense. Although we don't have land, we can make a living with our food, so we're not short of grain. But how should we explain this to White Fox?"

"I'll go and tell her." Yanbang stood up, put the scroll into his cloth bag, and said, "I'll tell her that I appreciate her kindness, but the old gentleman told me to focus on preparing for the exam first, and not to get involved in some things. We'll talk about it after the exam next year. If she really wants Fugui to study, she can let him come to our house to study, and we won't charge him any grain."