Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Xingbao immediately began to consider the design of the outhouse. Safety was his primary concern—after all, it would be used by children. In his previous life, when he worked in technical management at the grassroots level, he had witnessed too many accidents caused by improper facilities. Safety awareness was ingrained in his bones, and he dared not be careless in the slightest. He quickly sketched out the outhouse in his mind: the squatting pit should be dug shallowly, no more than half a foot, otherwise children could easily fall in; a flat stone slab should be laid at the bottom, both to keep it clean and to prevent the pit walls from collapsing; a small hole should be left at the back to connect to the latrine, so that after defecating, a pre-prepared wooden board could be used to push the excrement into the latrine for easy collection; the outside should be reinforced with thick wooden stakes, then surrounded by wooden sticks or vines, and plastered with mud, which would both protect against wind and rain and provide privacy. Although such an outhouse would be undesirable in the city, in the countryside, practicality and safety were enough.

Xingbao thought it over and over and found it increasingly feasible. Excitedly, he grabbed his older brother and beckoned over the group leaders who had come to inspect the vegetable garden. He explained his idea to them in detail, clarifying the purpose of each detail. As for how to actually repair it, he knew he would have to consult experienced adults. He was so engrossed in his explanation that he didn't notice the change in how the people around him were looking at him, a mixture of surprise and curiosity. A few of the little ones even huddled together, pointing at him and whispering among themselves.

In that short time, the older brother was already wiping the bottoms of the two little ones who had just finished pooping—using a split stick. The yellow sticks planted on the back hill were relatively soft and didn't hurt when scraping, making them the best choice. Until the early 1980s, many families in the countryside were still using them.

After the brothers carefully inspected the seedlings at the breeding base and confirmed there were no other problems, Xingbao took out the notebook and feather pen that his eldest brother had cut and made over the past few days and carefully recorded the day's events: "The seedlings sprouted today. A child tried to urinate directly on the seedlings, but was stopped and the reason was explained. The urine was temporarily collected in a swill bucket for dilution. We plan to build a simple outhouse to balance safety and composting needs." After writing it down, he handed the notebook to his eldest and second eldest brothers to make sure nothing was missed before they all headed home.

During the first class in the morning, Xingbao didn't notice anything unusual and listened to the lesson attentively as usual; but during the second class, he felt something was wrong—Guixiang deliberately sat next to Xiaohua, leaving a large empty space between her and Xingbao, as if she was deliberately avoiding him and wouldn't even look at him.

At lunchtime, when school was over, Gui Xiang rushed into the kitchen, hugged her mother's leg, and shouted, "Mom, Mom! I never want to sleep with Xing Bao again!" Xing Bao stood blankly at the kitchen door, looking completely bewildered, having no idea what he had done wrong to elicit such a strong reaction from Gui Xiang.

The mother put down her work, squatted down, and asked softly, "Guixiang, tell me, what did Xingbao do to upset you this time?"

"Mom, Xingbao drank urine!" Guixiang frowned, pointing disgustedly at Xingbao by the door. "I never want to sleep with someone who drinks urine again!"

These words struck Xingbao like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned for a long time. "Me? Drink urine? When did I drink urine? I don't know anything about it!" He was so angry that his face turned red, and he clenched his little fists, shouting, "Sister, explain yourself! Who said I drank urine? I'm going to find them!"

"All the kids in the village are talking about it!" Gui Xiang said, sticking out her neck. "They say you know urine is salty, so you must have tasted it! My older brothers know about it too!" As she spoke, her disgusted look deepened.

"I..." Xingbao was so angry he could barely speak. In a moment of anger, he blurted out, "If I say that feces are salty, does that mean I also eat feces?"

As soon as he said that, he knew he had made a mistake again. Sure enough, Gui Xiang's eyes widened in terror as she cried out, "Mother! Look! Xing Bao is eating excrement!"

Seeing the two children's expressions, the mother immediately realized it was a misunderstanding. Suppressing her laughter, she gently said to Xingbao, "Xingbao, come here to Mother and tell me, how did you know urine was salty?"

Xingbao finally calmed down completely. He patted his cheeks, thinking to himself: "I'm almost fifty years old across two lifetimes, and I'm still getting angry with a child. It's really unnecessary." Besides, this wasn't Guixiang's fault; she had only heard rumors. He had to explain in a way they could understand, not with overly complicated reasoning. He thought for a moment, then changed to a gentler tone and asked, "Mother, Sister, think about it, what do tears taste like?"

"Salty!" Mother and Guixiang answered in unison.

"And the blood? What does it taste like?" Xingbao asked again.

"It's salty, and it tastes a bit fishy." This time only her mother answered. Gui Xiang was still young and hadn't tasted blood much, but she listened obediently.

Xingbao shrugged and explained, "Mom, you see, we eat salt every day, and the salt dissolves into our bodies. Tears are salty, blood is salty, so naturally, our urine is salty too; our feces also contain salt from our bodies, so they must be salty as well. These are all just my guesses; there's no need to taste them at all!"

Mother patted Xingbao's head and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. Our Xingbao is so clever to think of this. Guixiang misunderstood you this time."

Gui Xiang's face flushed instantly. She tugged at Xing Bao's sleeve and asked in a low, uncertain voice, "Xing Bao, you really didn't drink urine?"

"Sis, I really didn't," Xingbao said helplessly. "You're with me every day, don't you know whether I've done such a thing or not?"

"Then I'll go find Xiaohua and the others right now and explain things clearly. It was my fault, and you were the clever one who came up with it yourself!" Guixiang said, and then hurriedly ran out the door.

Xingbao had just stepped out of the kitchen when he saw his two older brothers hiding behind a pillar outside the door, eavesdropping. They were huddled together, whispering something, and he caught them red-handed. The two brothers laughed awkwardly and scratched their heads. The eldest brother spoke first, his tone a little embarrassed: "Xingbao, we were just curious how you knew urine was salty, but we were afraid you'd be upset if we asked you directly. Tomorrow in class, I'll explain it to the classmates again, and repeat what you said, so that no one will misunderstand you again." After saying that, he grabbed his second brother and ran off quickly, afraid that Xingbao would pursue the matter.

Xingbao watched the two figures disappear into the distance, shaking his head helplessly. He couldn't help but reflect seriously: what was common sense in his past life had become something "heretical" in this era. Things had been going smoothly lately, from cultivating potatoes to establishing a breeding base. Everyone fawned over him and trusted him, making him a little arrogant, forgetting that he was just a four-year-old child. His words and actions were too outrageous, and he knew too much, inevitably arousing suspicion and even misunderstandings. It seemed he had to leave the composting and latrine matters entirely to his older brother. In front of outsiders, he needed to restrain himself, do more, listen more, and speak less, keeping a low profile for a while to avoid causing further trouble. He sighed softly, turned, and walked towards his room, intending to organize the details about the latrine and the composting methods he had just thought of, and then hand them all over to his older brother.