Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Hearing footsteps, Qianjin turned around first, his gaze sweeping over Xingbao. He immediately grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and waved, calling out, "Xingbao, school's out! Come here, I have something to tell you that you'll be jumping for joy!"

Xingbao felt a surge of warmth in his heart and quickened his pace as he walked over. He first respectfully greeted, "Dad, Brother Qianjin," but his eyes couldn't help but dart towards the cloth bag. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother Qianjin, are you going to the village to deliver a letter again? What's in this cloth bag? It looks so precious."

Father smiled and put down the account book, then patted Xingbao's shoulder with a warm touch, his eyes full of satisfaction: "That's right, your brother Qianjin is so thoughtful. Every time he passes by our house, no matter how busy he is, he always stops by to sit for a while and have a bowl of water before leaving. He was just telling me about the Wang family's pharmacy in Yaodu Town. You've come at the right time; listen to what he has to say."

Brother Qianjin didn't beat around the bush. He reached for the cloth bag on the counter and handed it to Xingbao. The bag was heavy and slightly damp. He bent down and leaned closer to Xingbao, his voice carrying a hint of self-satisfaction, like a child waiting to be praised: "I'm going to your village to deliver a letter today. When I passed through Yaodu Town, I made a special detour to Wang's Pharmacy—knowing you're waiting for medicinal herbs, I brought you some fresh Panax notoginseng, as well as Panax notoginseng seeds and ginseng seeds. In addition, I also asked the pharmacy's clerk for more than a dozen kinds of seeds, including Gastrodia elata, saffron, Scrophularia ningpoensis, and Angelica sinensis. They are all specialties from Yunnan and Guizhou, and are very rare here."

He paused, straightened up, looked at his father, and added, "Manager Wang and his group only returned from Yunnan and Guizhou yesterday at noon. They were in a rush, and the fresh produce they brought hadn't been sorted yet. According to the rules of the pharmacy, it needs to be dried and processed before it can be sold. However, I had already spoken to the proprietress and the shop assistants, asking them to select the best-looking plants to keep. This morning, when they saw me, the shop assistant handed them all over to me." Qianjin hesitated for a moment before saying, "By the way, Uncle Song, Manager Wang and his group had previously asked many people to try planting these seeds, but very few survived, and even those that did weren't of good quality. This time, seeing the strict regulations, they brought back some more seeds to try again. However, Manager Wang has a condition: these seeds are free. If they grow successfully, you can only sell them to him. He won't let you lose out; he'll buy them at 10% below market price. What do you think of this?"

Dad stroked the stubble on his chin, pondered for a few seconds, looked at Xingbao, and seeing the expectation in Xingbao's eyes, he smiled and nodded: "Alright! Manager Wang's conditions are reasonable, and we won't lose out. In the future, when Xingbao grows medicinal herbs, he will have a regular buyer, which will save us from running around looking for sales channels."

Xingbao took the cloth bag with both hands. He could clearly feel the outline of the medicinal herbs inside. The fresh Panax notoginseng roots were plump and round, and he could feel the rough texture even through the cloth. There was also a faint earthy fragrance. He quickly looked up at Brother Qianjin, his tone full of gratitude: "Thank you, Brother Qianjin! You even went out of your way to get so many seeds for me and made so many unnecessary trips. You've really gone to so much trouble!" He was looking forward to the fact that with these seeds, the plot of land in his space specifically reserved for planting rare medicinal herbs would no longer be empty. Even if medicinal herbs were regulated in the future, his family would have a reserve. Moreover, Manager Wang would guarantee the purchase, so his family would have a stable source of income and wouldn't have to worry about not being able to sell the medicinal herbs.

Just then, Mother came out of the kitchen carrying a rough porcelain basin filled with freshly roasted sweet potatoes, their skins charred and fragrant, still steaming. Hearing Xingbao's words, she smiled and walked over, placing the basin on the counter. The steam carrying the sweet aroma of the sweet potatoes spread out: "Qianjin, you've really gone to great lengths, making a special trip to the pharmacy for this child. Sit down and eat some sweet potatoes to tide you over. I'll go cook a couple of dishes, and we can go to the village after we eat."

Gui Xiang, drawn by the aroma of sweet potatoes, ran out from the inner room, stood on tiptoe beside the cloth bag, and peered inside. Tilting her head, she asked curiously, "Brother Qianjin, are there seeds in here that can grow into candied hawthorns? I want to eat candied hawthorns!" Her words made everyone laugh. Brother Qianjin reached out and ruffled her hair, tucking a stray strand behind her ear. "Candied hawthorns are made from hawthorns. Next time I go to the city to deliver a letter, I'll bring you hawthorn seeds. Your mother can plant them in the yard, and when they bear fruit, they can be used to make candied hawthorns."

But as he was laughing, Qianjin's expression suddenly turned serious. He waved his hand and said to his mother, "Auntie, don't bother. I have urgent business in the township and can't be delayed. I'll just take a few sweet potatoes to eat on the way." He reached into the basin, picked up three of the largest sweet potatoes, and stuffed them into his cloth bag. Then, lowering his voice, he leaned closer to his parents, his tone somewhat grave: "I have something to tell you—the county's security regiment arrived in the district the day before yesterday and notified the security teams in each township to assemble. I'm going there to inform your township's security team to be on standby. The security regiment will be coming to take over tomorrow."

He paused, his gaze sweeping through the passageway to the livestock pen in the backyard, and added, "You should quickly hide your good stuff, as well as the chickens, ducks, and charcoal, and keep them out of sight to avoid trouble. I won't say any more, I have to go now!" With that, he quickly said goodbye to his father and mother, waved to Xingbao and Guixiang, turned and strode towards the door, his steps much faster than when he came, and soon disappeared around the corner of the path.

The atmosphere in the main room instantly fell silent, the previous ease vanishing completely. Father frowned, stroking his chin: "The sudden mobilization of the security forces suggests heavy losses at the front."

Upon hearing the words "front line," the smile on Mother's face vanished instantly, her lips drooped slightly, and her voice trembled with worry: "Then... will Ayumi be alright?"

Father walked over and gently patted Mother's arm, his voice gentle, "Third Sister, don't think too much. No news is good news."

Mother was silent for a few seconds, her eyes slightly reddening. She quickly wiped them with her sleeve, sniffed, and said with a hint of dejection, "Alright, I hope I'm overthinking it. We need to quickly hide our grain and medicinal herb seeds, and the chicken coop too. We need to move it to the backyard next to the woodshed and cover it with firewood so no one can see it at a glance. If the security team comes to our village and sees these things, they might cause trouble again."

"There's no shortage of grain and medicinal herbs," Dad thought for a moment and shook his head. "This is official business, so the grain will be rationed in full. Even if they want to requisition it, they won't dare take it all, and they can't carry too much anyway. We should hide the cured meat at home well; just keep one or two pieces hanging in the kitchen for show, and have Xingbao hide the rest. According to Qianjin's itinerary, they'll arrive in our area tomorrow at noon. I just don't know if they'll stop at the village head's village or rest in our village!"