Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

"Xingbao, are you daydreaming, little one? Aren't you getting up?" The door was pushed open, and Guixiang's little head peeked in, her cheeks rosy, carrying the unique vitality of a country girl and a hint of controlling manner towards her little brother. Behind her, the faint scent of hay and firewood wafted from the outhouse.

Xingbao responded in his childish voice, "I'll get up." He clumsily got up, his small body moving slowly, but his mind was racing. He had dripped spiritual spring water on the loofah vine yesterday, and he had to check on its growth today, so that his second brother wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Just as Xingbao reached the doorway, he saw his second brother, Yan Guo, carrying a bucket of water towards the vegetable garden. His steps were light, and he was humming an off-key folk song. Xingbao quickly followed with his short legs, his eyes darting around. He had already mentally reviewed how to use the spiritual spring water: this time he couldn't just water one plant; he had to mix it into the bucket and do it little by little so it wouldn't be noticeable.

"Xingbao, Xingbao, wait a minute!" Guixiang ran over and grabbed Xingbao's hand. "Mom told you not to run around."

"I'll help my second brother water the vegetables."

The three of them walked out of the backyard. Xingbao first carefully examined the loofah vine that had been dripped with spring water yesterday. Today, the leaves on the vine were lush and green, and two new tendrils had sprouted, climbing up the bamboo trellis. The loofahs on the vine had also grown considerably larger. The effect of using just one plant was too obvious; luckily, his second brother hadn't noticed! Pretending to play with water, he put his hand into the bucket, added three drops of spring water, and stirred it. Guixiang also came over to join in the fun, having a great time. "Alright, don't get wet," his second brother said, turning around with the bucket and blocking Guixiang behind him, playing a game of tag with her while watering the vegetables. The small vegetable garden echoed with his clear, childlike voice. Xingbao squatted in the garden, carefully examining the watered vegetables. Hmm, there was no obvious change. He'd check again tomorrow.

"Xingbao, are you playing with ants?" Xingbao had picked up a small stick and was waving it around unconsciously (perhaps a habit left over from the original owner). He quickly looked down and started playing with one. "Yes, there's one here that's bitten something." Guixiang hurriedly picked up a stick and squatted down to play with him.

"Let's go back, Gui Xiang. Look at you, all covered up. Mom will scold you again later." Second Brother finished watering the vegetables and came over to pull Gui Xiang up. Xing Bao also stood up and followed behind. As they passed the chicken coop, they thought they would take a chicken to experiment with later.

After his afternoon nap, he played for a while. When no one else was in the backyard, Xingbao coaxed Guixiang, "Sister, let's go see the hen lay eggs." He knew that Guixiang was afraid of the majestic rooster, but she couldn't resist the novelty of watching the hen lay eggs.

Gui Xiang hesitated, her eyes flashing with expectation yet also wariness: "Xing Bao, don't go over there! That rooster is the fiercest; it pecks hard!"

"If you feed it water, it will stop pecking!" Xingbao said with a determined look in his eyes.

Gui Xiang was skeptical but couldn't suppress her curiosity, so she nodded: "Okay, then hurry up and feed it water."

Xingbao ran to the eaves and found the broken bowl that had held the chicken water; there was still some water left in it. He squatted down, pretending to tidy his shoes and socks, and secretly stirred the water in the bowl with his finger. A drop of almost invisible, crystalline liquid instantly dissolved into the water in the old bowl. He laboriously lifted the bowl with both hands and carefully walked towards the rooster that was patrolling its territory.

"Cluck...cluck...cluck..." he mimicked the sound his mother made when feeding the chickens.

"Xingbao, the bowl is too far away! The chicken can't get through!" Guixiang anxiously directed from behind, not daring to approach.

Helpless, Xingbao could only move forward little by little. The moment he put down the bowl, the rooster was clearly enraged by the little guy who had intruded into its territory. Its neck feathers bristled, and it charged over, crowing loudly! It was too fast. Xingbao was still squatting and didn't have time to run. He stumbled and fell to the ground, only able to watch helplessly as the sharp beak got closer and closer to him. He wondered how loudly he should cry so that his parents wouldn't scold him for angering the chicken.

At the critical moment, the rooster suddenly stopped. It warily tilted its head, staring at the bowl of water, as if drawn by some irresistible attraction. After a few seconds of hesitation, it lowered its head and drank quickly and greedily! Having finished, it forgot to attack, and contentedly crowed loudly, calling to the hens.

Seeing this, Gui Xiang suddenly became bolder and cheered as she tried to go into the henhouse to watch the hens lay eggs. The two hens, who were about to lay eggs, were startled by her sudden rush and clucked loudly. They flapped their wings and flew away from the henhouse, kicking up hay, dust, and feathers that fell all over the little girl's head and face.

Xingbao sat on the ground, watching his sister's disheveled yet excited appearance, and then looking at the rooster that had clearly become more energetic after drinking water, its feathers even seeming shinier. He grinned silently. This spiritual spring's power was truly miraculous!

Hearing the chickens squawking and shooing behind her, Mother put down her work and came out. "These two little ones have gone to provoke the chickens again, and they're not even afraid of being pecked!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the little girl burst into tears, and Xingbao slowly got up from the ground.

The mother, still clutching half a shoe sole that wasn't finished sewing, walked over, both amused and annoyed, seeing the chickens running wild in the yard and Gui Xiang crying like a little kitten. She first reached out to brush the dry grass and feathers from Gui Xiang's head, her rough fingertips gently stroking the girl's tear-streaked face, and scolded, "Why are you crying? The chickens didn't peck you, but your rush scared them all away—if the chickens don't lay eggs, let's see if you can still eat dried sweet potatoes tonight."

Gui Xiang, sobbing, hid in her mother's arms and pointed at Xing Bao: "Xing Bao wanted to feed the chickens... and the chickens even tried to peck at him!"

Xingbao had just gotten up from the ground, his trouser legs covered in mud. Hearing this, he quickly came over, his little voice tinged with grievance: "I just wanted to give the chickens water, and they drank it all, they didn't peck me." As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the big rooster—it was now leading several hens pacing around the coop, its neck held even straighter, its feathers gleaming in the setting sun, showing no trace of the fierce look it had just had when it was about to peck someone.

The mother bent down and patted the mud off Xingbao's trousers. Her fingertips touched the child's cold knees, and she frowned. "The ground is cold. If you sit on it again, I'll spank you." As she spoke, she took the two children's hands and led them to the kitchen. "Come on, go wash your hands. The sweet potato porridge on the stove will be ready soon. Your grandma left some red dates; she'll put them in the porridge for you later."

The earthen stove in the kitchen was emitting wisps of smoke, and the porridge in the pot was bubbling away, releasing a sweet aroma of sweet potatoes. Mother scooped warm water from the vat, lathered a piece of soap, and first washed Guixiang's hands, then carefully scrubbed Xingbao's little hands—not even missing a speck of dirt between his fingers, all the while muttering, "Were you playing in the mud in the vegetable garden again? Your second brother said that when he watered the vegetables this morning, the loofah was drooping, but just now I saw that the leaves were shining green, like they had drunk their fill of water."

Xingbao's heart skipped a beat, but he pretended not to understand and just stared at the porridge in the pot: "Mom, when will the porridge be ready? I'm hungry."

"Almost done," Mom wiped her hands, lifted the pot lid, and stirred it with a spoon. "Let it cool for a while, then serve it when your father comes back."

Not long after, the voice of the second brother, Yan Guo, could be heard from the backyard: "Mom! Mom! There are two eggs in the henhouse! They're bigger than usual!"

Upon hearing this, Guixiang immediately forgot her earlier fear, broke free from her mother's hand, and ran towards the backyard: "I want to see! I want to see!"

Xingbao ran out after him and saw his second brother squatting by the chicken coop, holding two warm eggs in his hands. The eggshells had a faint pinkish glow and were indeed a size larger than the eggs they usually collected at home. The rooster that had drunk the spiritual spring water stood next to his second brother and crowed twice, as if it were asking for praise.

"It's really big!" Xingbao leaned over and gently touched the egg with his little hand, secretly delighted—the spiritual spring could not only bring vegetables back to life, but also make chickens lay big eggs. Perhaps the family's future could really be improved thanks to this treasure.