Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

The deathly silence was like an impenetrable ink stain, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts, and no one spoke for a long time. Finally, Xingbao broke the silence first. He raised his head, wiped away the tears that had not yet dried from the corners of his eyes, and his voice was hoarse from crying, but it revealed a hint of determination: "Dad, how about I get some more medicine and send it to Uncle? Uncle and Uncle Youcai still have internal injuries, so having more medicine on hand will always be better."

Hearing Xingbao's voice, Dad slowly raised his head, the grief in his eyes easing slightly. He sniffed, blinked hard to force back the remaining tears, and nodded slowly to Xingbao, saying in a heavy tone, "Let's prepare some first! The more we prepare, the better. Maybe we can find a reliable person to help deliver it to the front lines later." Although he said this, there was little confidence in his voice. Everyone knew that with the war situation chaotic at the front, finding someone who could safely deliver the medicine to Uncle was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Xingbao knew better than anyone that the current situation was far more perilous than it appeared. According to his memories from his previous life, the Japanese were about to land in Hangzhou Bay, followed by a massive rout of the Nationalist army, plunging the entire war into chaos. How incredibly difficult it would be to pinpoint his uncle's unit amidst such chaos and deliver the medicine! A name flashed through his mind—Nanjing! Perhaps he could find traces of his uncle in Nanjing, but he knew even more clearly that Nanjing would soon become a death trap, a catastrophe about to befall him. At that point, forget about finding someone to deliver the medicine; even approaching Nanjing would be a near-certain death. Who would risk their life to go to Nanjing now? "Nanjing! Nanjing!" Xingbao's heart sank deeper with each thought, and he murmured to himself, his voice as soft as a breeze, yet filled with endless despair and helplessness.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, a faint tinge of white appeared on the eastern horizon, and a cool autumn breeze gently blew, invigorating the spirit. After a steaming breakfast, Xingbao pulled Guixiang along and hurried to the kitchen door—his senior brothers were packing their simple belongings, preparing to set off to visit their master in the mountains. Xingbao and Guixiang also hopped onto their senior brothers' donkey cart, and even brought some charcoal from the backyard. It turned out that when their senior brothers went to Shanghai, they were in such a hurry that they hadn't had time to visit their master. It was Guixiang and her brother who relayed the news of his visit to Shanghai. Now that they had returned safely, it would be unreasonable not to pay them a visit.

The donkey cart slowly pulled up to the side of the mountain path and stopped. The senior brothers hadn't brought any valuables with them on their return; they simply told the driver to "wait a moment," and then, together with Xingbao and Guixiang, led Heitan up the mountain. A simple saddle and stirrups had been fitted to Heitan's back; although made of wood, they were quite neat. After this period of careful feeding and training, Heitan had grown increasingly strong and could now steadily carry Xingbao and Guixiang at a trot.

As soon as they arrived at their master's house, the lively Gui Xiang couldn't wait to break free from Xing Bao's hand and skipped into the gate. Her clear voice echoed in the courtyard: "Master, Mistress! I brought my senior brother to see you!" Xing Bao slowed down, first securing Hei Tan to the lush osmanthus tree in front of the gate, patting its neck, and whispering a few words of advice before turning around and following his senior brother and the others into the courtyard.

"Greetings, Master! Greetings, Mistress!" Gui Xiang and Xing Bao called out in unison. The senior brother called out from the side, "Greetings, Master! Greetings, Mistress!" "Good, good, it's good to be back!" Master walked out of the house, leaning on his cane. Seeing everyone return safely, a relieved smile appeared on his face. His gaze swept over everyone, and he said slowly, "Although you are a little less energetic than before, you look more composed. You are all good children, well done!" Master wanted to say something more, but Mistress had already rushed forward, her face full of heartache, and said, "Hurry up and let the children sit down and rest for a while! Judging from their appearance, they must have suffered a lot! Come inside, have some hot tea to warm yourselves up, and eat some fresh oranges to quench your thirst."

When the senior apprentice's classmates heard that he addressed their master and mistress differently than Xingbao and Guixiang, they were all stunned for a moment, unsure how to greet their master, and stood there somewhat at a loss. Fortunately, the senior apprentice reacted quickly, immediately smiling and explaining to everyone that Xingbao and Guixiang's master was his grandfather's senior apprentice, and since he was much older than Xingbao and Guixiang, he didn't address them according to seniority. Everyone then realized and greeted him with "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma!" and followed their master and mistress into the house to sit down. However, after sitting down, everyone looked at Wang Ping'an with a mixture of amusement and resentment—now, for no reason, he was a generation younger than Guixiang and Xingbao!

After entering the room and taking their seats, the senior apprentice took the opportunity of drinking tea to briefly recount his experiences on the trip to Shanghai to the master. From the high spirits at the start, to the horrific scenes on the Shanghai battlefield, and then to the hardships and dangers of the return journey, the senior apprentice spoke clearly and logically, but deliberately downplayed the bloody and cruel details. Even so, the master remained seated quietly to the side, listening intently, without uttering a word, only his lips trembling slightly, his face gradually turning ashen, and his eyes filled with suppressed anger. The master's wife sat beside him, her eyes reddening as she listened, wiping away tears with a handkerchief, repeatedly lamenting, "Such a good child, gone just like that," while gritting her teeth and cursing, "Damn Japanese, what a tragedy!"

Before they knew it, the sun had risen high in the sky, and everyone rose to take their leave. The master personally saw his fellow disciples to the door, noticing a hint of regret and shame on their faces; they were clearly still troubled by not having stayed on the front lines to fight the Japanese. The master stopped and earnestly comforted them, saying, “You don’t need to feel ashamed for not joining the army. Joining on a whim on the battlefield might not have allowed you to play your best role. You still have opportunities to join now, but the most important thing is to hone your skills before going to the front lines to kill the Japanese invaders and protect your country. That’s the wise thing to do. With this experience in Shanghai, no matter what profession you choose in the future, I believe you will all contribute your strength to the country and the nation—that’s also a way of fighting the Japanese!”

After listening to their master's words, the regret and shame on the faces of the senior brothers gradually faded, and their previously hunched backs slowly straightened. Xingbao stood aside watching them slowly descend the mountain, their backs gradually becoming taller and stronger, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: That spirited senior brother has finally returned!