Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

After only one class in the morning, the eldest brother announced the end of the school day. By this time, the commotion in the neighboring village had already alerted the surrounding villages, and news of the security team's lunch break at the village had spread. Because they were moving the chicken coop to hide the chickens today, the chickens hadn't been let out in the morning. The coop sat quietly next to the woodshed in the backyard, the six hens and the troublesome rooster inside unaware that they were going to be moved. The eldest brother found a thick hemp rope in the woodshed, squatted down, wrapped it around both ends of the coop twice, and tied a tight slipknot. The second brother picked up a carrying pole, inserted it into the rope loop, and tested the balance: "Brother, watch your step, walk slowly." The eldest brother nodded, and the two of them each held onto the ends of the carrying pole, and together they lifted the chicken coop—the coop wasn't light, and the chickens inside were startled, clucking and flapping their wings, making a "bang bang" sound against the coop walls.

Gui Xiang asked her mother to help her hang the bag containing the snowballs, with only the heads sticking out, around Hei Tan's neck. Xing Bao led the way, and Gui Xiang walked in the middle towards the ravine leading to Pig Mountain.

While chatting with their grandmother in the main room, Sister Shanshan and Brother Dashan saw what the siblings were doing and hurriedly asked, "Auntie, what are Yanbang and the others doing? Are they moving their chickens to a different place?"

The mother looked around and, seeing no one on the road, lowered her voice to explain, "It's not about changing locations. The security team is coming over for lunch, so they're hiding the chickens in the ravine. They'll bring them back after they leave to avoid being watched."

"Oh dear! We didn't know that yet!" Sister Shanshan panicked as soon as she heard this. She grabbed Brother Dashan's arm and turned to run home. "Quick! Let's hurry back and catch the chickens, or we'll be too late!" Brother Dashan also panicked and hurried after her. The two figures quickly disappeared around the corner of the alley.

The group walked along the path into the valley, occasionally encountering other villagers along the way. Some were herding sheep, others were carrying cloth bags full of grain, all heading towards the back of the mountain. Everyone understood each other without saying a word, simply nodding to each other. There were only the sounds of footsteps and the calls of livestock.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, we finally reached the mountain pass. This is a winding and narrow passage connecting the inside and outside of Jinxianling Mountain. The mountain pass is full of camphor trees and maple trees on both sides, with layers of branches and leaves. Only a few rays of sunlight shine through the gaps in the leaves, falling on the ground to form dappled light spots, which is quite cool.

Several families had already arrived in the valley. After greeting everyone, the four siblings looked around and finally chose a large, leafy old maple tree—its canopy was large and dense, its branches and leaves able to completely cover the chicken coop, providing both shade and shelter. The eldest and second eldest brothers slowed their pace and carefully placed the chicken coop on the grass under the maple tree. Xingbao and Guixiang helped by pulling up some long grass and covering the top of the coop, leaving only gaps for ventilation to prevent the chickens from suffocating. Xingbao then led Heitan to the side, tied the reins to the tree trunk, and gently touched the cloth bag hanging around Heitan's neck—Snowball was sleeping soundly inside, its little head tilted to the side, occasionally whimpering, which made Guixiang squat beside it and chuckle.

Not long after, they saw Sister Shanshan and Brother Dashan carrying a chicken coop in the distance. The two were panting heavily, their faces flushed, and their arms trembling slightly. The coop swayed back and forth on the carrying pole, and the chickens inside clucked incessantly. "Brother Yanbang! Quick, give us a hand!" Sister Shanshan called out hurriedly when she saw them, her voice slightly weak. The eldest and second eldest brothers quickly ran over, each taking one side of the carrying pole and helping them carry the coop to the open space next to the maple tree. "I'm exhausted!" Brother Dashan said, wiping the sweat from his brow, "This chicken coop doesn't look heavy, but carrying it this far has made my arms ache. Luckily, the chickens weren't let out today, or I don't know when we'd get here!"

The following morning, more than a dozen households, all neighbors, arrived. Fugui's family came too; Uncle Cai and Uncle Kaijie carried a large chicken coop, Xiaohu led a water buffalo, and Fugui followed behind to watch the excitement. After everyone put down their livestock and hid their grain, they squatted down beside the children and gave them a few words of advice: "Watch the chickens, don't let them run around. We'll come back for you." "If you're hungry, eat the dry rations you brought. Don't go playing in the mountains." After giving these instructions, the adults hurried back to the village—the security team was coming, and they needed to make sure they received them properly.

As soon as the adults left, the valley became lively, turning into a temporary paradise for the children. The boys gathered together, taking out the dried sweet potatoes and fried beans they had brought from their pockets, sharing them and chatting as they ate: some said their fathers were good at boxing and could knock down wild boars with one punch; others said their families had enough grain to last all winter; Fugui proudly shook his head, saying that his family's water buffalo was the strongest and plowed the most fields, and could help with farming after the security team left. The girls sat on the rocks nearby, glancing at the livestock every now and then while chatting about everyday things: Guixiang, holding Xueqiu, told everyone the funny story of Xueqiu falling into the vegetable patch while chasing butterflies, making everyone laugh; Zhang's little girl took out a handkerchief embroidered with wildflowers from her pocket, proudly saying it was a new needlework skill she had learned and wanted to give it to her mother. A few mischievous children were shouting "Eagle catches chicks" in the sparsely grassed open space. A tall boy was the "eagle," a little girl with pigtails was the "mother hen," and the rest of the children followed behind as "chicks." They chased and blocked each other, and their laughter and noise carried on the wind throughout the valley.

Riding the wave of excitement, Xingbao stood up, brushed the debris off his hands, cleared his throat, and said, "Brothers and sisters, the old banyan tree at the entrance of our village is gone, right? A while ago, I found a branch where I was digging up the roots. I thought it was a waste, so I planted it in my vegetable garden, and now it's alive again! I'm thinking of transplanting it to that newly filled-in plot of land by the river when we get back. It's spacious there, close to the village, and still in the east of the village. If anyone still misses the old banyan tree, let's go and lend a hand when we're done with our work!"

As soon as the words were spoken, several younger children jumped up excitedly, shouting, "Me! Me! We can weave little baskets from the old banyan tree's leaves!" "Me too! I'll help dig the holes!" The older children hesitated for a moment—some worried about getting scolded for being late home, others afraid of offending people by transplanting the trees, but remembering how the old banyan tree used to provide shade, they all nodded: "Okay, let's go take a look together later." Fugui also shouted, holding up dried sweet potatoes, "Me too! I'll have Xiaohu help carry water!" Xingbao smiled and cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you everyone! With your help, we'll definitely be able to plant them well." After saying that, he returned to sit down next to Heitan and reached out to touch Heitan's ear—if it weren't for watching the livestock, someone would probably have already run into the mountains to raid bird nests and pick wild fruits. The only downside was that with so many livestock, the smell of sheep and chicken manure mixed with the animals' odor was a bit strong, but being rural children, no one cared about that.

After a period of wild play, the sun gradually climbed to its zenith and then slowly began to slant westward. Gui Xiang leaned against Hei Tan and yawned, her eyes almost closed; several younger children sat on the grass, their heads nodding as they dozed off. The valley gradually returned to tranquility, with only occasional hushed conversations, the mooing and bleating of livestock, and the occasional soft humming from Xue Qiu.

It wasn't until the sun was setting that adults appeared at the mouth of the mountain pass. "Yanbang! Time to go home!" It was their father's voice. The children immediately perked up and ran to their parents. The eldest and second eldest brothers carried the chicken coop, Ding helped lead Heitan, and Guixiang carried the awakened Xueqiu. The group followed their father into the village.