Chapter 286 Return

After Sui Liang finished the work at hand, he went for a stroll in the livestock pen. There were many people gathered outside the stable to watch the horses. He couldn't squeeze in, so he had to leave again.

When he returned to the master's courtyard, Zhao Xiaomi had already left, leaving Zhao Xiping alone sitting in the yard looking at the wood chips. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and his gaze returned to the wood chips.

"Oh..." Sui Liang sighed deeply.

Zhao Xiping ignored him. He couldn't comfort the younger one and then comfort the older one. No one could comfort the loss in his heart. It would be better for someone to share his unhappiness.

"The boy has grown up and can no longer keep his mother's heart." Sui Liang sighed. He felt that if the boy was only two or three years old, his sister would rather earn less and rush to bring him back.

"He's grown up, and you've grown up too. Your sister is relieved about both of you, so she can give herself more time and stay outside the Great Wall for another year." Zhao Xiping explained. He picked out two pieces of wood and handed them over. "This is a letter for you. Try these leather boots on to see if they fit you well."

Sui Liang read the letter first, and then tried on the shoes. The boots were a little big, and a pair of thick insoles seemed to be just right.

"What else is in the box?" he asked.

"They are all for your nephew."

"How biased." Sui Liang felt sour. He picked up the cloth bag containing the cheese and sniffed it. He turned his head and vomited, muttering, "This is for the kid. I won't fight with him. What are these five flat stones? They are different colors. Are they jade? What are these? White jade? They have such strange shapes, but they are all the same."

The flat stones were picked up from a river in Khotan. Sui Yu suspected they contained jade, so she wrote in the letter: "Give five stones to the children at home to polish. Whoever finds jade will own it." As for the jade-colored lamb knee bones, she bought them from a herder's child. They were a game played by children from other ethnic groups, called "Galaha." She had also played them as a child, called "Ruzi'er," but instead of lamb knee bones, they used stones of similar size.

Sui Liang picked up the small hat and put it on his head. As soon as he put it on, the kid came in from outside the door.

"Where is Aning?" Zhao Xiping asked.

"I went back with my aunt." The kid came running over and said, "Uncle Qin wants to buy some fine fodder from my aunt, and my aunt went back to prepare it."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on his uncle's head. Although he stared at him, he did not ask for it, nor did he act stingily and not let his uncle wear it.

"Does this look good on me?" Sui Liang asked.

The boy hesitated twice. If he told the truth, his uncle would definitely not like it.

"Why don't you let me try it on? I'm sure it will look good on me." He said tactfully.

Sui Liang scoffed. He took off his cap and put it on his nephew. The two pigtails stuck out, making the cap impossible to wear. He said mercilessly, "How ugly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sui Liang was kicked. Zhao Xiping pointed at him and comforted him until he made the man cry.

"I don't want to play with you two anymore. When my sister comes back, I will complain to you. You bullied me." Sui Liang got up and ran away.

Zhao Xiping really wanted to beat him up now, bringing up the whole issue. He glanced at the kid and interrupted by asking, "Are you going to harvest the two acres of wheat we planted in the spring?"

The little boy sighed like an adult, "Come on, if my mother doesn't come back, you won't live like this?"

Zhao Xiping: ...

"Then I will take you to the fields to harvest wheat when I'm off duty next time," he said.

The boy nodded in agreement. He put down his cap, closed the box again, and said, "Dad, help me carry the box in."

"You don't want to read the letter your mother wrote?"

"I'll see one a month, and when I'm done, she'll be back." The kid had already made plans.

"That's fine." But Zhao Xiping took out the bag of sour cheese and said, "Go ask Hu Shang if it's still edible."

The kid ran to ask, if cheese was edible, so Zhao Xiping cut cheese and fried meat according to the method written by Sui Yu on the wood chip. After the meat patties were fried, they were topped with thin slices of cheese. When they were baked until soft, they would become stringy when bitten. This thing was loved by all the children as soon as it came out.

Sui Liang tasted it and didn’t like it very much. He still preferred to eat pure meat patties.

After eating a bag of cheese, the autumn harvest was over. It took half a month to harvest two acres of wheat. After the snow fell, Zhao Xiping led the camel loaded with wheat to the city to grind flour. The kid followed him. He was wearing his cowhide boots and was not afraid of getting his shoes wet when walking in the snow.

The Kingdom of Dayuan was located southwest of Dunhuang, closer to the cold and humid air currents, but thanks to the barrier of the Pamir Mountains, the real cold was not felt until December.

The winter in Dayuan is short, only two months. At the end of January, the pasture welcomes spring rain and spring breeze, and the temperature continues to rise. In less than half a month, Sui Yu took off his sheepskin coat and wore a small coat filled with wool and camel hair. He could still sweat at noon.

The green and yellow season ended on the pasture. After two spring rains, the green grass on the pasture sprouted up like bamboo shoots after the rain, changing every day. The livestock could not gnaw at the speed that the grass grew, so they became picky and only gnawed the tenderest grass heads.

"No wonder fat and strong Pegasus can be raised here." Song Xian sighed as she sat on the hillside. "What fertile soil! It would be so great if we, the Han people, could own this land."

Sui Yu laughed loudly, "Keep your voice down! If the people of Dayuan hear us, we won't be able to escape."

Song Xian smiled and said, "We should go."

"Well, we set off at the end of February, and it should be mid-March when we reach the foot of the Pamir Mountains. The snow on the mountain is probably melting." Sui Yu said.

"Shopkeeper Yu, Headmaster Song, you are here." Headmasters Xu and Li came from the west. They went to the ranch to see the foals, all of which were born in the spring of this year. They were all very cute. If the journey was not too far, they would really like to buy a batch of foals to take back.

"Should we go back?" Mr. Xu asked the two girls for their opinions.

"Yes, how about leaving on February 26th?" Sui Yu asked.

"Okay." Boss Xu nodded. "Let's go back soon. If everything goes well, we can still reach Chang'an before winter."

Less than ten days before February 26th, four caravans took advantage of the good weather to spread out the hay they had harvested last year to dry, and then bundled it into bundles and covered it with oilcloth.

After preparing the food for the camels and horses, and enough rations for the people, the group set off.

When they arrived, the caravan consisted of nearly 500 camels. When they left, there were 188 tall horses and a half-grown foal in the caravan.

In order to conceal Wu Zhui's extraordinary nature, before leaving, Sui Yu made a sleeveless short jacket for it, which wrapped it tightly from back to belly, with two loose large pockets on both sides, which were filled with grass seeds and honey that Wu Zhui loved to eat.

After eight days of traveling, Sui Yu and his party encountered a caravan coming from the east. It was a caravan from the Parthian Empire. They approached and wanted to trade with Han merchants.

However, Sui Yu and others had fired the translator as early as the end of October. There was no translator on the other side either. The two sides could not communicate with each other, so they called the horseman, but the horseman didn't understand anything.

The deal was not concluded, so the caravans of the two countries set off together, one in front and one behind, without disturbing each other.

"Sister Yu, I remember you were thinking about Baihua before? Do you want to find another translator to ask the Parthian merchants?" Song Xian still remembered this.

Sui Yu was touched. She had casually mentioned something so trivial, but she hadn't expected Song Xian to still be thinking about it. If she continued to conceal it at this moment, when the cotton was planted next year, Song Xian would find out and she would definitely feel a grudge against her.

"No need to ask." Sui Yu smiled and said vaguely: "I have an idea. As to whether it is true or not, it will take time to verify."

Song Xian was surprised. "When did it happen? That monk?"

Sui Yu nodded.

Seeing this, Song Xian stopped asking.

"What?" Lu Yaer heard this and drove her camel closer and asked, "Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just some old story about your aunt." Song Xian stopped talking and asked in a low voice, "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

Lu Yaer nodded and shook her head, saying, "It's okay. I can bear it. I'm used to it."

When traveling for business, it is very difficult for women to have their menstrual period. Riding astride a camel is too uncomfortable, so they can only sit sideways on the camel's back. In this way, they have to exert a lot of effort to keep their body steady.

"Sister Song, when we get back, take Lu Yaer to the clinic to see a doctor, and make up for any losses. Also, let her come to my house to train with Liang Ge'er and A Shui in the future, run and practice martial arts, and read poems and essays with Mr. Chen. If she wants to go into business, she can't fall behind in martial arts and studying." Sui Yu said.

Song Xian didn't say anything. She looked at Lu Yaer. Lu Yaer was silent for a long time and nodded in agreement.

Song Xian smiled and said with satisfaction, "In the future, when we expand our caravan, I will buy you a BMW like Dari."

"I'll buy it myself." Lu Yaer looked at Song Xian seriously and said, "Mom, I'll endure the hardships with you. You can't leave this caravan to your brother. When the time comes, I'll take over the caravan and I'll earn money to buy it myself."

The innocent girl matured a lot after a year of hardship. She suffered hardships, was frightened, saw the poverty and wealth outside the Great Wall, and learned about the wealth brought by trade, and she was tempted.

Song Xian nodded and said, "In front of your aunt, I promise you that as long as you work hard, I will leave the caravan to you. Of course, there is one condition: you have to stay at home and find a son-in-law like me."

When talking about marriage, Lu Yaer was still a little shy. She lowered her head and said nothing, which was considered as her agreement.

After another six days of travel, the caravan arrived at the foot of the Pamir Mountains. The Parthian merchants wandered around the area but could not find any trace of the translator. They could only watch with regret as the large group of Han merchants went up the mountain along the road.

The Parthian merchants traveled with the Han merchants for half a month. When they came out of the valley, they turned west and went down the mountain.

"Finally they're gone." The Li caravan at the end breathed a sigh of relief. They were afraid that the Parthian merchants would rob the goods and then kill people. This deep valley and high mountains were perfect for burying bodies.

In early spring, the valleys were serene, the mountains desolate, and every inch of desolation was a sight to behold. The cyan of the stones, the white of the lingering snow, the yellow of the withered grass—a cold, desolate hue intertwined with the oppressive weight of the mountains. Leading the caravan through these serene landscapes, Sui Yu felt a constant sense of unease. The ethereal chirp of a bird, the falling of a stone, the uncanny sound of horses' hooves—all would cause his heart to suddenly tighten.

After enduring day and night and climbing in the mountains for more than a month, a group of black dots like ants emerged from the mountains. People, horses, and camels stepped into the yellow sand, and their figures became taller again.