Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Next, Mother prepared to cook dinner. Grandma sat on a small stool picking green beans, and Guixiang pulled her younger brother over. Grandma's hands were rough but warm. She touched Song Yanxing's little face and said, "Xingbao really suffered this time. It's good that you're better now. Don't run around like that in the future." Song Yanxing nodded as if he understood, his little hand clutching the hem of Grandma's clothes. Grandma lowered her head again to pick green beans, but her words drifted back to the past: "That year, your mother was pregnant with your second brother. Her belly was already showing, but she still had to hold your eldest brother and stand guard at the door, afraid that someone would come to cause trouble. Your father, along with your two uncles, would carry thick logs from the ancestral home ten miles away before dawn, rushing here. The sun was so strong that their clothes could be wrung out, and the hemp rope on their shoulders left red marks, but they couldn't bear to rest."

She paused, her fingertips moving more slowly, as if she were seeing the scene from years ago again: "During the day, we had to level the soil in the yard, our hands covered in blisters from digging with the shovel. At night, we had to mix mud to make bricks, stacking them neatly by the moonlight. Some people in the village couldn't stand it, so they deliberately hid their shovels and gossiped behind their backs, saying that outsiders had taken their land."

Guixiang listened attentively, her little hand unconsciously tightening its grip on her younger brother's. "The Li, Liu, Zhao, Peng, and Yang families are all prominent ones nearby," Grandma continued. "Your Aunt Zhao married the son of the Peng family, and your Aunt Yang's daughter was betrothed to the Lü family. The families are so intertwined that it's difficult for outsiders to settle down! Your Grandpa, along with your father, carried their homemade rice wine and went door to door to plead for them. Their knees were almost worn out before they finally settled the matter of building the cooperative. Even when buying grain, they could get it at the market price and avoid wasting money."

"What about the landlord, Li Youcai?" Guixiang couldn't help but ask. Grandma smiled and said, "He's also a member of the Li family. Although he's mean, he's afraid of angering everyone. Last year, when he wanted to raise the rent, several prominent families in the village went to argue with him, and he had no choice but to give up. Over the years, the village has been relatively peaceful thanks to everyone helping each other."

Song Yanxing suddenly looked up and whispered, "Grandma, I won't run around anymore, and I'll help pick the green beans." Grandma smiled, her eyes crinkling with wrinkles, and patted his head. Guixiang looked at her grandma's cracked hands and remembered the hardships she had just heard about. Her nose tingled, and she whispered, "Grandpa and Grandma, you are so kind."

Next, Grandma talked about the mischievousness of the two boys who married into the family of her eldest aunt in Shaodong County, the hardships and difficulties that Grandpa and her second uncle Liu Youchu faced in farming, how the eldest brother started his studies with his 13-year-old cousin Liu Dashan and his second brother, and how Dashan was diligent and would come to the shop to help whenever he had free time, serving tea and water, moving things around, and how your parents said he was as good as half a shop assistant!

Speaking of his maternal uncle, Liu Youming, his grandmother's face was streaked with tears. "Your uncle is heartless! It's been almost three years without a single letter. We don't even know if he's alive or dead!" A few years ago, he and Li Youde, the younger brother of the landlord Li Youcai across the street, wanted to go out and see the world, so they joined the army together. At the time, several families and clan elders took turns trying to dissuade them, saying there were many other things they could do, and it didn't have to be military service. No matter how much they were persuaded, they wouldn't listen. They were determined, and in the end, they had no choice but to go! It's said that they joined the Central Army and were given ten silver dollars as a resettlement allowance. "Central Army," "joining the army," "resettlement allowance"... these words were like cold steel needles, piercing Song Yanxing's mind! His small body stiffened abruptly, and his blood seemed to freeze instantly. 1937! Hunan! Joining the army! These words collided wildly in his mind, exploding into a blinding white light—Marco Polo Bridge! The July 7th Incident! The full-scale War of Resistance against Japan! The flames of war are about to engulf this seemingly peaceful mountain region! My uncle and his family... It is now May of the 26th year of the Republic of China...

A tremendous fear and an overwhelming sense of cold helplessness pressed down on the tender heart of the three-year-old child like a heavy millstone, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. He wanted to scream, to tell his grandmother to find his uncle quickly! But only a few muffled sobs escaped his throat, his little hands futilely clutching the hem of his sister Guixiang's clothes. The stark contrast between his immense knowledge and his small body made him feel like a moth trapped in a glass bottle, able to see the destructive storm about to engulf everything outside, yet unable to utter a proper warning. Three-year-old Song Yanxing lowered his head, looking at his pitifully short legs that couldn't even reach the stove, his nails digging deeply into his tender palms. Time… cruelly suffocating time! Only one desperate thought roared in his mind: It's too late! The battle is about to begin!

Just then, Gui Xiang, with her sharp eyes, saw her cousin walking over carrying a bundle of red cloth. She hurriedly ran over and reached out to touch it, saying, "Sister Shan Shan, is this the wedding dress you made? It's so beautiful."

It instantly broke the heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Mother slapped away the hand holding the incense stick, saying, "If you touched your sister with just a chicken claw, she'd cry her eyes out."

"Auntie, could you help me figure out what to do here?" Sister Shanshan lifted the corner of her red cloth to show her mother.

"Shanshan, go to my room first. Don't let this fabric get dirty. I'll wash my hands and come right back." She turned around and went to fetch water.

"Fine, I won't let you touch it then. I'll make an even prettier wedding dress for you in the future, but I still won't let you touch it," Gui Xiang said, looking unhappy.

Grandma pulled Guixiang aside and said, "Your cousin has found a good husband and is very happy. Don't spoil her mood!"

Second Brother and Dashan, having finished their work, joined in. "Grandma, you didn't see how impatient the Zhang family father and son were! That day, Dad and I had just finished buying goods from their house and were chatting when Dad mentioned that Sister Shanshan was very talented and beautiful, and matchmakers came to their door every day. Even Uncle kept saying he'd inquire about the potential suitors before making a decision. Knowing that Cousin Shanshan wasn't engaged yet, he told Aunt Zhang, took out the gift boxes and snacks he had prepared beforehand, put them in our car, and shamelessly insisted on helping with the delivery! The way they were doing it, Dad and I didn't even have time to react before they were already pulling the cart!" Second Brother spoke with great enthusiasm and pride.

Grandma slowly said, "Their place is different from ours. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only a few dozen miles away. Their land is a plain, with fields everywhere! Their fields are only slightly better than those of ordinary families. Fortunately, there's a general store. If Shanshan learns from your mother this year, she can get started when she marries there and won't have to live a life of toiling in the fields."

Da Shan muttered to himself, "It's because I don't know these things. With my sister's qualifications, she could find someone even better."

Grandma patted her cousin's head. "You brat, what do you know? Favored families are either landlords or powerful. If you marry into a family that's not your match, you won't have to do any work, but you'll suffer from your mother-in-law's mistreatment and other people's cold looks. If you give birth to a boy in the first year, it'll be alright, but if you give birth to a girl, or if you don't conceive at all, you'll have a lot to suffer. The Zhang family is doing just right now. Your mother-in-law doesn't manage the shop, she only does some housework. Your sister can help out at the shop. And look how much the Zhang boy dotes on your sister, she won't suffer. Once she has a son or daughter, life will be much more stable!"

Mother also came over to get the vegetables to wash and prepare to cook. "What are you talking about? Dashan, go and call your father and grandfather over for dinner." At dinner, Mother cooked porridge with the red dates that Grandma brought, and also steamed a piece of sweet potato candy - the one Aunt Bai gave her at noon. Mother couldn't bear to eat it, so she cut it into small pieces and gave it to the children.

Lying on the hard bed at night, I thought about how the "July 7th Incident" was only a month away. Once the war started, prices would skyrocket, and I'd have to get my father to stock up on more goods. I also needed to make use of the space. Looking at the spring water in the space, I felt a strong urge. Should I take a sip? But what if I grew up after eating it? What if it was like in novels, washing away toxins and cleansing my marrow...? Thinking about all this, I fell asleep.