Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Early in the morning, Xingbao woke up to find himself feeling much stronger, more agile, and more energetic. He gently nudged Guixiang beside him, and the little girl stretched out her two tiny hands, yanked off the covers, and said, "I slept so well last night, I dreamt of delicious food. Xingbao, do you have any?"

"I didn't." After saying that, she turned over and climbed out of bed.

"Xingbao, why did you get out of bed so quickly? Wait a minute." Guixiang hurriedly got up and hopped off the bed with her short legs. "I'm almost there too! I have strength now! Mom, Mom, I have strength now! I can help you with the chores!" Guixiang shouted as she ran towards the kitchen.

"Good, good, our Guixiang has grown up and can help her mother with chores now." The mother, who was busy by the stove, replied with a smile, "Go and see if your father and brother have finished their work." The mother didn't pay much attention and casually sent the little girl away.

"Yes, Mother."

Watching Gui Xiang's boisterous figure, Xing Bao was speechless. If this kind of change happened every day, even a fool would know there was a problem! He decided to put a drop in their small teapot every day so the whole family could drink it daily and there wouldn't be any noticeable changes.

Gui Xiang ran out of the kitchen and pulled Xing Bao towards the backyard. Just as they reached the gate, they saw their father and two older brothers tidying up the empty house in the backyard. The table inside was made of three long benches with two long planks placed on top, seating four people. Only two tables were set up; there was enough space to build two more, but unfortunately, they didn't have enough materials! The blackboard was also unavailable, so the eldest brother asked their father to find a slate instead—slates were convenient; they could write with charcoal, a brush, or even chalk, but they were too expensive and there was nowhere to buy them. Their father pulled out several wooden boxes, each about twenty centimeters long, and seeing Xing Bao and Gui Xiang, he happily pointed to a clearly used box, saying, "This is the box your eldest brother used when he started his formal education. I made several extra; your second brother and cousin are still using them. You can each take one!"

"Does Father want us to play in the sand too? Mother will be angry." Gui Xiang said, but her hand had already touched the wooden box that her eldest brother had used.

"That was my eldest brother teaching my cousin and me to write. It was clearly you who came over and started messing around, that's why Mom hit you!" the second brother retorted, frowning, his face full of helplessness.

"Dad, could you make me another long table? The eight-immortal table at home is too wide, and it's inconvenient to write on the stone slab."

"Okay, I'll be home these few days and make it for you whenever I have time. It won't take long. I've also talked to some of the elders in the village about the stone slab. They were all willing to help inquire when they heard you were going to teach at home. They also asked about the teaching methods and wanted to send their younger relatives over to learn for a few days. I told them there was no tuition fee, but they insisted on paying. We're all neighbors, so I'll just charge a little less."

"Then let's settle on one liter of grain per month. That's how it's done in the neighboring villages. Those who are really struggling can be exempted from paying. It's just that the place is small. Even with the two tables set up at the back, it can only accommodate sixteen students. My family has five, and if we include Fugui, we can take in ten more."

Just then, Mother came over and said it was time to eat. Hearing this, she chimed in, "Why are you only teaching sixteen? So many children in the village are waiting. Besides, there aren't any schools in the surrounding villages, and the nearest one is over ten miles away. If we open a school, wouldn't people from all around come? We don't want to offend anyone and turn a good thing into a bad one!"

"Mom, you don't know this. In the countryside, the requirements are not high. Most students only need to study for a month or two, be able to write their own names, recognize a few commonly used characters, and be able to do some basic accounting. It's only families like Fugui's that, even though they have connections, they think the town is too far away, so they study here for a few years so they can go directly to higher primary school in the future."

"It's good that you know what's going on. Let's eat first. You all got up before dawn to entertain the guests, see them off, and clean the house. You must be starving!" After saying that, Mother pulled Xingbao and Guixiang by the hands and turned around. "Come wash your face and hands with me."

As Xingbao walked, he pondered that placing the stone slab on the table was not safe, and designing it as a mechanical push-pull mechanism was even more inappropriate—children are very curious and would break it in less than two days, and there would be no way to explain its origin. Hanging it up would be the safest option.

"Xingbao, what are you thinking about?" Mother asked when she saw Xingbao staring blankly while washing Guixiang's face.

"I was thinking that the stone slab is too heavy and might fall on someone. It would be better to hang it up, like an abacus hanging behind a counter."

The older brother walked over and said happily, "Xingbao is so smart. I didn't even think about the safety issues. The village uses blackboards, and other villages even use books to teach. There's no precedent for this, and we almost ruined the good deed. What kind of reward do you want? I'll do anything I can."

"Take us to Jinxianling." Guixiang suddenly stood up, almost knocking over the basin of water at her feet.

"You're always so careless, I don't know who you took after. How will you get married when you grow up?" The mother glanced at the father who was washing his hands with some dissatisfaction, and then pulled Xingbao over to help him wash his face.

"Dad got shot," Xingbao thought to himself, silently lamenting his father's misfortune. "Mom, I'll do it myself." He rolled up his sleeves, put his hands in the warm water, grabbed a coarse cloth, folded it twice, wrung it out, and carefully wiped his face.

"Our Xingbao is so good, he can wash his face by himself now." Then he scolded Guixiang, "Unlike his sister, who only knows how to play in the water! Let's see which family will want her when she grows up." This time Guixiang got a good slap!

"Mother, I won't marry!" Gui Xiang went around behind her mother and hugged her waist, but her eyes were glaring at Xing Bao. "I want to help you with the chores." Although she was young, she knew that getting married meant going to someone else's family.

"If you don't get married, you won't have a new wedding dress to wear!" the second brother teased, coming over to join in.

Gui Xiang froze for a moment, then burst into loud sobs.

Mother pulled Guixiang into her arms and comforted her, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry. If you cry, you won't be pretty anymore. I'll help you beat up your second brother later."

Xingbao wondered why this phrase sounded so familiar; decades later, it would still be used to soothe a little girl who was crying. It turned out that this method of soothing children had been passed down from generation to generation.

"Gui Xiang, it's your second brother's fault," the second brother said, squatting down to coax her. "Then your second brother and eldest brother will take you and Xing Bao to Jin Xian Ling, okay?"

"No," Mother quickly interrupted, "You're all too young; you can't take care of your younger siblings." Before she finished speaking, Guixiang's crying grew louder again!

"Tomorrow, it's a bit late today. After breakfast, we need to prepare food for the guests. They'll be coming to eat soon. Get ready tomorrow. After breakfast, I'll grab the gun and take you guys there. It's too early, there's dew, and it's not good to get your clothes wet." Hearing Guixiang's cries, her father's face was full of heartache. The Song family had been all men for generations, and this generation had only one daughter, whom they cherished dearly.

Hearing her father's assurance, the crying gradually stopped, but the little girl was still sobbing, clearly she had been really heartbroken.

After dinner, the eldest brother went to the village school, while their parents were busy with their own tasks. Guixiang quietly took a washcloth and slipped back to her room, while Xingbao followed his second brother to the vegetable garden. Upon arriving, they saw that, just as their mother had described, the leaves were lush and vibrant, radiating vitality. However, compared to the loofah vine that had received a single drop of the spiritual spring water yesterday, it was still lacking – which was perfect; others would only attribute it to the daily watering. The second brother put down the bucket, and Xingbao quickly took two steps, reached for the ladle, and silently poured three drops of spring water into the bucket. He even deliberately stirred the water with the ladle to avoid arousing his brother's suspicion. "Second brother, I'll water it for you!"

His second brother glanced at him with a smile: "Be careful, don't spill it on yourself." Xingbao imitated his second brother, watering the vegetable roots and carefully observing the changes compared to yesterday. The large pumpkins and loofahs didn't show any difference, but the newly grown gourds were noticeably larger than yesterday. This spiritual spring had a remarkable effect on accelerating crop growth.

After watering the vegetables, the second brother carried the empty bucket to feed the chickens, with Xingbao following behind. While his brother was getting the feed, Xingbao added a drop of the spiritual spring water to the chicken bowl. The rooster, upon seeing him, not only stopped being aggressive but also nuzzled his hand with its head. The hens also gathered around, making the second brother laugh, "Why are these chickens so affectionate with you?" After playing with the increasingly energetic rooster for a while, he noticed it was stronger and a bit smarter than before, even circling around people. What to do? He couldn't bear to kill it. For the next few days, he decided not to give them the spiritual spring water separately; the water from the tank would suffice. He'd see how the family reacted first!