Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Seeing that he didn't need to accompany his elder brother to class today, Ding decided to go back to the old house to see his family. Because the Xiangqian Road was under construction, there were many workers and villagers traveling along the way, making the road lively and safe. He didn't need any family escort; he could walk back safely. Upon learning this, Xingbao hurried back to his room and quietly took out twenty plump, orange-yellow tangerines from his spiritual spring space—the peels were bright and fresh, carrying a pleasant aroma. He also found a packet of tea he had specially saved, intending to give it to his second and third uncles to try, and now he entrusted Ding to take it back.

He had his second brother stack the oranges in the basket, and wrapped the tea leaves in oiled paper at the bottom. As he handed it to Ding, he explained with a smile, "Ding, these oranges are from Yongfeng City, brought back by my father. They're sweeter than the ones in our village. Take them back for your second and third uncles to try. You know this tea is good stuff, so take it with you too, so they can brew it and drink it when they have time. Don't give it to anyone else." Ding took the basket, weighed its contents in his hand, and a simple smile appeared on his face. He didn't refuse, only saying, "Second brother, Xingbao, thank you." His mother came over at this moment and instructed, "Walk slowly on the road, go early and come back early. If it gets late, stay at the old house for the night. Don't travel at night." Ding replied, "I know, Auntie," and then, carrying the basket of oranges and tea leaves, walked briskly towards the old house.

Standing at the courtyard gate, watching Ding Ge's departing figure, Xingbao suddenly felt a surge of anticipation. His older brother now had the opportunity to enter the middle school program at Shuangfeng Academy. If he passed the test smoothly, he could share all the new academic knowledge and mathematical principles he learned with him. He silently calculated: once his brother finished junior high school, his own knowledge would be updated accordingly. If he had any principles related to a threshing machine, Xingbao could legitimately build one, even if it was just a hand-operated rocker!

While Xingbao was engrossed in planning for the future, the yard was already bustling with activity. Guixiang was playing happily with Xueqiu. Since Xueqiu came to their home, Guixiang's attention had been almost entirely devoted to this little dog: every morning she would brush Xueqiu's fur, gently combing its snow-white down with a fine wooden comb; at lunchtime, she would always remember to save half a bowl of warm rice porridge and carefully feed it to Xueqiu; her favorite thing to do was to tease Xueqiu to climb the threshold at the gate of the yard—the threshold was half a head higher than Xueqiu's body, and every time the little guy tried to climb up, he would kick his short little legs, his paws gripping the edge of the threshold tightly, using all his strength to inch his way up, often falling to the ground with a "thump" halfway up, his round body rolling around on the ground, but he wouldn't give up, immediately getting up and wagging his tail to try again. His adorable appearance made Guixiang laugh so hard she almost cried.

As Mother came out of the kitchen and passed by the yard, she couldn't help but stop at the sight, her gaze falling on Snowball, a slight smile playing on her lips. However, she frowned slightly at Guixiang's behavior, saying with some displeasure, "You little rascal, stop teasing Snowball to climb the threshold. It's so young, its bones are still soft. What if it falls and hurts itself?" Guixiang stuck out her tongue, quickly picked up Snowball, and gently rubbed its little head, coaxing it softly, "Snowball, it's not hurt. I won't tease you anymore. Let's go play something else." But as soon as Mother turned and went back inside, she quietly put Snowball down and pointed to the threshold. Snowball seemed to understand, immediately wagging its tail and running towards it, beginning a new round of "challenge."

The bridge arch outside the courtyard, after being coated with tung oil twice, is now completely dry. The originally light yellow wood has turned dark brown, with a glossy sheen. Today, since everyone in the family was free, Father, along with his eldest and second eldest brothers, worked on building stone embankments and filling them with mud on both sides of the arch. Father squatted on the ground, holding a trowel, carefully stacking the stones one by one, then filling the gaps with smaller stones, his movements practiced and meticulous. The eldest brother was responsible for carrying the stones, selecting each one to be the right size for Father's work. The second brother, holding a hoe, carefully broke up the mud and filled it into the gaps in the stone embankments to ensure their stability. Sweat streamed down their faces, soaking their clothes, but no one complained of being tired. They were only thinking about finishing the stone embankments as soon as possible so that the corridor would be fully formed, making it easier to apply the tung oil, and eliminating worries about leaks on rainy days.

Around noon, familiar footsteps suddenly came from the courtyard gate. Xingbao looked up and saw Qianjin, carrying a cloth bag, walking briskly towards them. It turned out that today was Qianjin's day to deliver mail to the township, and he had stopped by the kitchen in Jinxianpu on his way. When his father saw Qianjin, he quickly put down his trowel and greeted him with a smile, "Qianjin, it's our township's turn to deliver mail again today! Come in and sit down! It's lunchtime, don't leave, stay and have lunch before you go to deliver the mail. Last time, Yanbang was able to pass the Shuangfeng Academy test smoothly thanks to your guidance, and we haven't properly thanked you yet." Qianjin wanted to decline, saying that he had "urgent business to attend to," but he couldn't resist the family's warm invitation—his mother had already turned to go into the kitchen to add more food, and Guixiang also tugged at his sleeve, saying, "Qianjin, stay for lunch," so he could only nod and agree, smiling and saying, "Then I won't be polite."

On the dining table, the food was quickly laid out: stir-fried greens, pickled radishes, steamed eggs, and a bowl of cured meat, which Mother had specially prepared for Qianjin. Qianjin took a sip of tea, then suddenly seemed to remember something, put down his teacup, and said, "By the way, I have some exciting news to tell you—Sanmin Middle School in Nanjing is going to move to our district. The location has been chosen, in a mountain valley near the district government. I even took some time to go and see it. Construction has already started, and many villagers have been hired to work on the construction site. Even many workers from the road construction team have been seconded there. It seems like they're in a hurry. They're asking that temporary school buildings be completed by next month so that teachers and students can move in, and the entire school must be completed by spring at the latest so that it can officially open for classes."

"Sanmin Middle School?" The older brother's chopsticks paused abruptly, his eyes lighting up instantly. "That's a nationally renowned high school! Getting into that school isn't easy; you have to travel all the way to Nanjing, and even then, you might not get in. I never imagined they'd be moving here!"

Qianjin nodded with a smile, "That's right! This school's teaching level is among the best in the country, with a strong faculty and teaching the most cutting-edge knowledge. If we can get in, we won't have to travel all the way to Changsha for high school anymore; we can learn good knowledge right here at home." The whole family was extremely excited to hear this, even the usually quiet Shanshan had an expectant look on her face. Guixiang even put down her chopsticks and asked curiously, "Qianjin, when I grow up, can I go to Sanmin Middle School?" Qianjin smiled and ruffled her hair gently, saying, "As long as you study hard with your older brother now and build a solid foundation, you will definitely be able to go in the future."

Then, Brother Qianjin brought some unexpected news: "There's something else I need to tell you. The safety ropes your family makes are now famous throughout the entire Xiangqian Road! Some busybodies have even added 'Jinxianpu Song Family' to make it 'Jinxianpu Song Family Safety Rope,' just to avoid confusion with other companies. I heard from the road construction team leader that your safety ropes have saved many workers' lives during this road construction period, especially when working on cliff edges. With these safety ropes, everyone feels much more at ease. Whether it's road construction, building houses, or going up the mountain to collect herbs, these safety ropes will be incredibly useful!"

Hearing this, the father smiled with relief, took a sip of his tea, and said, "It's good that it can help everyone. When we made the safety rope, we didn't expect it to be so useful. We just felt it was too dangerous for the road construction workers working on the cliff, and we wanted to give them more protection." The atmosphere at the dinner table grew increasingly lively. On one hand, there was the good news of the relocation of Sanmin Middle School, giving the children better educational opportunities; on the other hand, there was the joyous news of the safety rope's recognition, making the family's efforts worthwhile. Everyone's face was beaming with smiles, full of anticipation for the future. But Xingbao felt a pang of sadness: such a useful safety rope had saved so many workers' lives, yet the government hadn't even offered a verbal commendation. Did they really think that people's lives were just an insignificant number?