Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

After dinner, Dad said to his children, "You've all seen it these past few days; merchants are now using the newly paved road. I plan to move the signboard to the bamboo awning and hang it there, and also move a few sets of tables and chairs over so customers can rest and eat. I'll move the tables and chairs back in the evening. I'll leave this to you all."

Upon hearing that the tables and chairs had to be moved to the bamboo shed, the second brother quickly said, "Dad, why don't I just stay on the upper floor of the bamboo shed tonight? That way, I won't have to go through the trouble of moving them back and forth every day."

Upon hearing her second brother's words, Mother immediately flew into a rage: "Yan Guo, are you asking for a beating?! I've seen you leading people upstairs countless times lately, your Aunt Bai and Aunt Deng have both told me! That bamboo shed has no walls on any side, what if someone falls? If you dare go up there again without my permission, I'll break your legs!"

The second brother was so frightened that he quickly hid behind the eldest brother, muttering under his breath, "If it weren't so cool upstairs, I wouldn't bother climbing..."

"How dare you say that!" Mother heard her second brother muttering and looked around for something she could grab to teach him a lesson.

Seeing this, Xingbao quickly tried to smooth things over: "Dad, Mom, since we're going to pack up the bamboo shed, shouldn't we harvest the sweet potatoes and potatoes I planted in my experimental field? That way we can make room for them."

Dad thought for a moment and said, "Although the potatoes and sweet potatoes in your experimental field were planted late, they are growing quite well. It's a bit early to dig up the sweet potatoes now. Why don't you dig up the potatoes near the bamboo shed first? Judging by the time, the potatoes will be almost ripe. It'll be a good opportunity to see the fruits of your hard work over the past few months."

The brothers were thrilled to hear they could immediately test the results of their potato planting and were itching to get started. But the second brother had just turned around when he saw Guixiang dragging a broom out the door. His face fell instantly, and he said, "I'll go get the hoe," before turning and running off. The eldest brother and Dashan rushed into the house to get their straw hats—they had been sweating profusely in the fields at noon and couldn't afford to forget sun protection this time.

When the brothers came out carrying hoes and wearing straw hats, Uncle Deng from next door and Uncle Long from across the street also came over to join the fun. The second brother was the first to raise his hoe and dig hard into the ground. With a "whoosh," the hoe flicked upwards, hooking out a potato stalk. This potato stalk had three large potatoes, two halves, and a few small ones hanging from its root. The three whole potatoes were almost twice the size of those grown by everyone else in the village. Seeing the two ruined potatoes, everyone couldn't help but exclaim "Oh dear!" feeling heartbroken. Just as the second brother was about to swing the hoe again, Grandpa snatched it away: "If you keep digging like that, there won't be many whole potatoes left in this field!"

Seeing this, Xingbao quickly grabbed a small hoe and ran over, squatting down to carefully dig. In no time, he unearthed one large potato, several smaller ones, and two halves—six large potatoes from just this one plant! Uncle Deng, envious, excitedly ran home to get a scale. He weighed them—good heavens! The six large potatoes plus the smaller ones weighed a full three jin and eight liang, almost four jin! Seeing this astonishing yield, Uncle Long and Uncle Deng didn't sit idle either, volunteering to dig up the potatoes. While digging, Uncle Long said to his father, "Dawei, to be honest, seeing the land prices along the roadside rising day by day lately, I felt a little resentful, thinking I'd lost money selling the land to you. But seeing the potato yield from your experimental field today, I realize that selling this land to you was the right choice! Now I'm looking forward to the rice and sweet potato harvest in your experimental field. By the way, Dawei, don't forget to save me some seeds!"

Hearing Uncle Long say this, Dad finally felt relieved and waved his hand with a smile: "A few potatoes aren't worth much. You two can each pick a few to take home and have a taste."

Xingbao quickly chimed in, preemptively warning, "Uncle Long, don't have too high expectations. These seeds have been specially cultivated by us, and their potential has been temporarily stimulated, so their traits are not yet stable. If you plant them directly, the yield next season will definitely be lower. They will need to be selected and planted several times before the yield stabilizes, but even then, it will definitely be higher than the potatoes you are currently growing."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Long's enthusiasm instantly waned, his expression stiffened, and he gave an awkward laugh: "I was too greedy. It would be great if I could improve."

There were only thirty potato plants planted in the experimental field. Everyone worked together and dug them all up in no time. When they weighed them again, they weighed over 130 jin (approximately 65 kg)! Keep in mind that this was the first time they had planted them, and the potatoes hadn't had enough time to grow. This yield far exceeded everyone's expectations. In the end, Uncle Long and Uncle Deng each took ten large potatoes home. After discussing for a while, they unanimously decided that the smaller potatoes would be divided between the two families to cook and eat; the larger ones, except for a few that were overcooked and left for the two families to try, would all be kept as seeds.

Before the two families could even begin dividing the potatoes, the news spread like wildfire throughout the village. Villagers flocked over in twos and threes, crowding around the potatoes piled up beside the bamboo shed. Everyone stared longingly at the large, round potatoes, asking for some at once.

"Dawei, look how well these potatoes are growing! Can I save one for seed? Next year, when I grow them, I'll definitely send some to your family to try!"

"Xingbao's dad, we're all from the same village, we see each other all the time, could you spare me a potato seed? Just one, I just want to see if I can grow such good potatoes!"

"Yes, yes, Brother Dawei, your child is smart, growing such good potatoes. Let's benefit from it and ask for some seeds so everyone can harvest more food in the future!"

Flattering words filled the air, and some villagers even offered to help gather the scattered small potatoes together, hoping to find a large one to use as seed. The scene grew increasingly chaotic, with the crowd jostling and pushing. One woman even tried to sneak a potato away in the confusion, but a sharp-eyed villager spotted her and snatched it away. The woman's face flushed red and then paled, and she dared not say another word.

Surrounded by his father and grandfather, who were already in a dilemma, and seeing the situation about to spiral out of control, Dad raised his voice and said, "Uncles, brothers, please calm down and listen to me! Of these potatoes, only about a hundred are suitable for planting, and Xingbao said before that the seeds are not yet stable and need to be selected and planted several times to achieve a stable yield. Our family only has this experimental plot, and we originally planned to plant all these seeds in my father-in-law's field next spring to expand cultivation. Now everyone wants them, and it's not right to give them to anyone or not to anyone. It would damage the harmony among the villagers, and I, Song Dawei, can't bear that! How about this, let's invite the village elders over to discuss it and let them make a decision. What do you all think?"

After saying that, Father turned to his eldest brother and instructed, "Yanbang, take your younger brothers and quickly go and invite the village elders over!"

But as soon as these words were spoken, an uproar broke out in the crowd. Several people, feeling uneasy, thought that if the village elder came, they might not get a turn, and started making a scene: "Why should we invite the village elder? It's just a few potato seeds! Dawei, why don't you just distribute them?" "That's right, I was here first, I should get one!" The noise and commotion caused chaos again.