Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

That afternoon, Xingbao was cleaning up wood ash with his older brothers at the breeding base when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure riding a gray donkey hurrying towards the road in the distance. It was none other than Qianjin, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Qianjin rode very fast, the donkey's hooves pounding rapidly on the road. As he passed the shop, he only had time to rein in the donkey and slow down. He didn't go in to rest or drink water, but instead bent down and whispered to his father, who was tidying up at the door, "Uncle Dawei, the battle at the front has been lost! The security teams in each village need to be expanded!" As soon as he finished speaking, he sat up straight, tightened the reins, adjusted the donkey's head, and, ignoring the donkey's rapid breathing, hurried towards the village. He only waved to Xingbao and his brother as he passed by, leaving only a fleeting silhouette that disappeared at the end of the road.

After Qianjin left, the brothers felt heavy-hearted and quickly urged the children who were collecting the ashes to hurry up. They also told Guixiang to quickly fetch Heitan, load the collected ashes onto Heitan's back, and carry it home to put in the woodshed. After settling the ashes, the three of them, along with Guixiang, hurriedly headed to the bamboo house ahead to find their father.

As soon as he entered the door, the second brother, who was the most impatient, couldn't help but shout, "Dad, what did Qianjin say to you?"

Upon hearing this, Father first looked around warily to make sure there were no outsiders before managing to squeeze out a few words: "The battle at the front has been lost!"

These three words struck everyone like a boulder, leaving the brothers stunned and frozen in place. Even the youngest, Gui Xiang, vaguely understood what "losing" meant, her usual liveliness vanishing from her face. Although Xing Bao already knew the outcome from his memories, hearing it from his father's own ears still filled him with an indescribable heaviness and bitterness, making it difficult for him to accept.

"Then..." The second brother was sweating profusely, and was about to ask for more details when his father raised his hand to interrupt him. Just then, everyone caught sight of their mother, who was heavily pregnant, slowly walking towards them from the direction of the vegetable garden.

Father hurriedly ran over to help her up, his voice full of worry: "Third Sister, why are you coming all by yourself? What if you fall and hurt yourself! If you want to come over, just call out at the gate and I'll hear you. You don't need to run here yourself." After saying that, he couldn't help but glare at the four siblings, blaming them for making too much noise when they came over and disturbing Mother.

With one hand supporting her waist and the other gently resting on her father's hand, Mother slowly regained her balance and said softly, "I was worried when I saw them rushing over in such a hurry, so I came to check on them."

Seeing this, Father quickly composed himself, feigning nonchalance, and said, "It's nothing serious. Qianjin just passed by the gate without going in, rushing off to the village. The others came running back to ask me." He then looked up at the sky and added with concern, "Third Aunt, would you like to sit down and rest, or should I help you walk for a while?"

"Let's walk around for a bit now that we're out. There are no customers in the shop right now, so let the siblings watch over it," Mother gently patted Father's hand and responded softly. With that, the two of them supported each other and slowly walked out of the bamboo house.

Watching his parents leave hand in hand, Xingbao couldn't help but feel speechless: such a big loss at the front lines couldn't be kept secret for long. A sense of worry gradually rose in his heart, and he thought: maybe he should go to the mountains to find his master and give him a heads-up in advance, so that if his mother was really shocked by this, he would be prepared to deal with it.

Seeing Gui Xiang carrying Xueqiu and following her out the door, Xing Bao couldn't help but say to his older brothers, "Big brother, second brother, I want to go to Master's house. Such a big defeat at the front can't be kept secret at all. Even the fact that my uncle is in Shanghai will be exposed. I'm worried about Mother and Grandma's health. I want to ask Master if we can make some preparations in advance."

After explaining things to his older brothers, Xingbao had his eldest brother carry him onto the donkey, and he rode on Black Charcoal towards his master's house in the mountains. He chose the stone path over the main road—afraid of being seen by his parents and Guixiang, which would be difficult to answer and would delay things. Xingbao was worried about his mother and grandmother's health. When acquaintances greeted him along the way, he only waved in response, not daring to stop for a moment. He gently spurred the donkey's belly, urging Black Charcoal to quicken its pace. Before long, his master's house came into view.

Xingbao nimbly jumped off the donkey's back, led Heitan to the osmanthus tree in front of the door and tied it up. Just as he turned around, he saw his master's wife had already lifted the bamboo curtain and was standing at the door, smiling at him.

"It's Xingbao! Come in quickly!" His master's wife smiled and waved to him, her tone as warm as if she were talking to her own child. "Coming over at this hour, do you have more homework to ask your master?"

Xingbao quickly followed his master's wife into the main room and immediately saw his master sitting at the eight-immortal table, chatting with two elderly villagers with gray hair. He quickly slowed his pace, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Master; greetings, Master's wife; greetings, Grandfathers." As he straightened up, the childishness on his face faded somewhat, and he added with a solemn expression, "Master, I didn't come here for homework; I have something important to tell you."

Seeing that Xingbao looked serious, unlike the usual playful children, the two old men knew that he had something important to say. They immediately stood up and said goodbye with smiles: "Doctor Yang, since your precious apprentice has something important to discuss with you, we won't disturb you any longer. We'll come back another day to chat with you."

The master got up and saw the two elders to the door. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he returned to the main room and invited Xingbao to sit down on a small stool. Then he said in a deep voice, "Now that there are no outsiders, if there is anything important, please speak slowly."

Xingbao sat down as instructed. His master's wife brought him a cup of warm coarse tea and handed it to him. He took it with both hands, took a small sip to warm his heart and calm his mind, and then looked up at his master. He said in a heavy tone, "Master, this afternoon, Brother Qianjin passed by our house and brought bad news—the front line has lost the battle, and the security teams in each village are going to be expanded."

Upon hearing this, the master frowned slightly, tapped his fingertips lightly on the stone table, and said in a deep voice, "The frontline has suffered a defeat... I had a premonition, but I didn't expect it to come so quickly."

"Yes, my dad was afraid my mom would worry, so he deliberately kept it from her," Xingbao sighed and continued, "But I know in my heart that such a big thing can't be kept secret for long, and it will reach my mom's ears sooner or later. More importantly, my uncle is still fighting on the front lines in Shanghai. He sent us a letter saying that his troops suffered heavy casualties, and he and Uncle Youde also suffered internal injuries. If news of the major defeat at the front spreads, my uncle's fighting in Shanghai might also be exposed."