Chapter 370 Extra Seven

After finishing a cup of tea, Zheng Duhu stood up to say goodbye, and Ma Nongjian left with him. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping followed him out to see him off.

After watching Protector Zheng and his guards leave, Sui Yu looked at Zhao Xiping and said, "Is this the imperial court's intention?"

"I think so. The court couldn't possibly be so generous as to give you 8.4 million coins. Maybe they don't have that much money, or maybe they're reluctant to part with it. So, you might as well use cotton to pay off the debt." Zhao Xiping took her hand and said, "Just turn a blind eye. At least you've got nearly 2 million coins. With the remaining 320,000 kilograms of cotton, even if the price drops to 5 coins per kilogram, you'll still have over 1 million coins in your pocket."

Sui Yu nodded, "I'm satisfied to be able to get back so much money."

When Sui Yu reached the river, she saw Hongzao standing on the stones, tiptoeing and stuffing green mulberries into his mouth. She stopped and asked, "Isn't it sour? Didn't you eat enough this morning?"

Hongzao looked back and realized that she had been living in the guest house for a year. She had grown taller and gained a lot of weight, but her personality was still a little dull and reserved. She would hide when she saw people and would stay under the stove all day long to make fire. She rarely saw anyone.

"Why are you eating this? Be careful not to get a stomachache." Sui Yu said again, "You didn't eat breakfast? No one bullied you, did they?"

Hongzao shook her head and whispered, "I'm just trying it."

"Wait until the mulberries turn red before eating them. Go play, but not by the river." Sui Yu chased them away. Seeing the little girl hopping off rocks, she warned her, "Don't come to the river again. If you fall into the water, you'll be dead."

Hongzao ran away in shame.

Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping crossed the river. The money and cloth sent by Zheng Duhu were still piled in the yard.

The eight hundred thousand coins were packed into one hundred large wooden boxes. It was impossible for Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping to count them one copper coin at a time, so they opened the boxes, made sure they were filled with copper coins, and had servants carry the boxes into the storeroom. As for the five hundred rolls of silk, they were from the palace, of superior quality and bright color. The silk bought by the caravan was like the difference between reed fluff and cotton.

"We won't sell these silks in the warehouse. We'll keep some for ourselves, and I'll take the rest out of the country and sell them next year," said Sui Yu.

After saying that, she looked at him, and when she saw him looking at her, she immediately smiled flatteringly.

Zhao Xiping snorted, "Are you willing to tell me? I was wondering if you would wait until the day before you leave the customs to tell me."

He had long heard from Sui Liang that Sui Yu would lead a caravan out of the country in the early spring of next year, but she had never told him about it, so he kept it to himself and didn't ask.

"I want to take your son out to see the world."

"Thank you?"

"No thanks, just help me take care of my little girl at home." Sui Yushun climbed up the pole.

Zhao Xiping didn't say anything else, and Sui Yu knew he had no objection.

"Master, is the master at home?" Hua Niu shouted loudly outside the door.

"Yes, come in." Sui Yu responded.

Zhao Xiping stood up straight and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Hu Xiaoli is here. He has something urgent to discuss with you." Hua Niu replied.

Zhao Xiping walked out, but Sui Yu did not go out. She stayed in the yard to supervise the servants moving the cash boxes and silk.

Zhao Xiping went out and didn't come back until it was getting dark in the evening. He didn't even come back for lunch.

"What happened?" Sui Yu asked.

"The cotton growers may need your help.

"I tried to persuade them, but a cotton farmer named Chen Jiao was pregnant. The father of the child seemed to be the widower next door. The widower came to her house and wanted to marry her, but she refused and refused to acknowledge that he was the father of the child. The cotton farmers she lived with were fed up with the widower's frequent visits and Chen Jiao's embarrassing appearance in public with her pregnancy. In a rage, they wanted to kick Chen Jiao out. The matter got out of hand, and the village chief asked An Ge'er to come to me for a solution. After all, it was me who arranged for the cotton farmer to be settled there." Zhao Xiping recounted the whole story. "I went there and found Chen Jiao. She insisted that she didn't know who the father of the child was and had no intention of finding out. She wanted to give birth to the child and raise it herself."

Sui Yu realized, "She is borrowing sperm to have a child. She only wants a child, not a man."

"I thought so too," Zhao Xiping sighed. "That's the problem. She said the same thing in front of everyone else this afternoon, and I think the other cotton farmers are also tempted. If these cotton farmers come up with this idea and plan to carry it out, I don't think the people in the military settlement will tolerate them, and they will be driven away by their neighbors."

Sui Yu pondered. This was indeed a problem. Ninety percent of prostitutes who had turned good would never marry again. Right now, they could farm and earn money, but what about when they got older? It was understandable that Chen Jiao wanted to borrow sperm to have a child. Now that she had escaped the quagmire, her life was stable, and she had hope for the future. She must be making plans for the future.

"I have a way." Sui Yu said, "Leave it to me."

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Xiping asked curiously, "Talk to them one by one?"

Sui Yu shook his head. "I was just worried about having a mountain of copper coins at home with nowhere to spend them, and here's the chance to spend them. I'm planning to build a Keats Home to take in abandoned children or those whose parents have both died, and later to take in elderly women. Cotton farmers want to borrow their seeds to have children simply because they're worried about being left alone in their old age. We've solved the problem at its root, so they won't have to worry about borrowing their seeds to have children anymore."

This move can indeed solve the problem from the root. Zhao Xiping admires Sui Yu's ingenuity. This method only costs one family money and can benefit countless people, young and old.

"Are you willing to give it up? You earned your money through hard work." Zhao Xiping was a little reluctant.

"I'm willing to spend it. I earn money so I can spend it without constraints." Sui Yu was very generous. "This is a good deed. The prostitutes in the camp have become good because of me, and I will protect them. It is a great merit for me that the last batch of prostitutes in this dynasty can have a good end."

Zhao Xiping tsk-tsk'd twice and said mischievously, "Mrs. Jinghua, you are the one who has inherited the true teachings of Master Jing."

Sui Yu took off her shoes and threw them at him, "Speak properly."

"Shopkeeper Yu is a good person." Zhao Xiping picked up her shoes and walked over, saying, "That's fine, as long as you don't mind the money."

"Actually, it doesn't cost much money. Cotton farmers are old and have saved a lot of money. They have the courage to borrow seeds to have children because they have money to rely on. They want to have children because they are old and have no one to rely on. I provide them with shelter and serve as a support. I probably don't have to pay for their food and drink. It does cost some money to raise children, but when they grow up, these children can join the caravan and work for me, so my efforts are not in vain." Sui Yu said.

"Okay, if you want to do it, then do it. When will the house be built? I'll have Ding Quan find a craftsman," Zhao Xiping said. "Tomorrow I'll go find the cotton farmers and tell them this news. Next month, I'll go to Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Wuwei counties to inspect the growth of the cotton plants, and then bring this news to the cotton farmers in the other three counties. If they still insist on borrowing the cotton seeds to have children after hearing this, we won't be responsible for any trouble that comes."

"Okay." Sui Yu had no objection. "We'll start building the house after we finish the spring planting in half a month. The Keats House will be built according to the layout of a guesthouse. There will be no storehouses, all of which will be made into bedrooms. We'll start with six courtyards, which can accommodate at least 300 people. When there are fewer people, each person can have a room. When there are more people, three people can share a room."

"I'll do exactly as you say," Zhao Xiping said. "You don't have to worry about this. I'll go register with the government someday. I'll dig the foundation and build the house in two weeks. I'll try to finish it in two months. I'll announce it once it's finished."

Sui Yu nodded.

A few days later, the cotton growers in Dunhuang learned the news and came to the north of the city to ask Sui Yu whether the news was true or not. After seeing Sui Yu nod, they breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her with tears of gratitude.

Sui Yu couldn't stop them and could only watch them kneel down on the ground, some nearer and some far away, and kowtow loudly.

After accepting the gift, Sui Yu set about arranging the construction of the house. She further refined her previous idea. In order to make people live comfortably, she only set up twelve rooms in each courtyard, with six rooms against the north and south walls respectively. This was equivalent to combining two guest houses into one to expand the living area.

She estimated that building the house would cost at least 30,000 yuan.

Meanwhile, word spread of Sui Yu's adoption of orphans and abandoned children. Within two weeks, the caravans brought her five children: three girls and two boys, aged between two and five. The fathers of these children were mostly traveling merchants and escorts, who not only kept women with them during their caravan journeys but also kept women locally when they stopped in Dunhuang. For example, Ah Qiang, whose mother was from Dunhuang, was a Qiang man who passed through.

Sui Yu accepted the five children, but she didn't want them just because they were given to her. Anyone who gave the children to her had to go with her to the government office to write a document: he/she voluntarily abandoned a certain child, and this child would have no relationship with him/her in the future. If anyone came to disturb him/her, he/she would be sentenced to three years in prison.

The three girls who came after were named Green Date, Green Persimmon, and Yellow Persimmon. Green Date was the oldest, five years old, and the other two girls were three. The two boys were four and two years old, the older one was named Mulberry Leaf, and the younger one was named Mulberry Fruit.

Construction began on the house, and the cotton farmers living in Dunhuang came to help with the work whenever they had time. Those who were strong dug the soil, while those who were not helped with the cooking in the kitchen. The rest of the group took care of the six children, including Hongzao, teaching them to wash their own faces and feet, to help each other with their hair, and to dig insects and feed the chickens...

*

Time passed quickly and it was August. The newly built house was completed and the cotton harvest was good. The caravans that had left the country before the New Year returned without stopping. The caravans of the Sui and Song dynasties also returned to Dunhuang City from Chang'an.

Amidst the bustling crowd, Uncle Niu said to Ah Shui, "Next spring, your sister-in-law will lead the caravan out of the country. You should go with her then."

Ah Shui said nothing, her face showing resistance.

"If I could live another twenty years, would you have stayed with me in Dunhuang from the age of sixteen to thirty-six?" Uncle Niu asked. "By the time you're thirty-six, you'll be a grandmother. By then, you'll have nothing to lose if you want to go out and gain experience. No one will be willing to support you."

A Shui looked conflicted.

"Go ahead. You don't have to stay with me. I can wait for you to come back." Uncle Niu said again, "Do you want to know about your mother? I'll tell you."

Ah Shui was stunned, and she nodded: "I will go out with my sister-in-law."

"Your mother should be outside the Great Wall. You may meet her outside the Great Wall, but if you meet, you will not recognize her, and she will not recognize you. You look nothing like her. Her name is Tong Huaer, and she knows your name is A Shui." Uncle Lao Niu said.

He was willing to tell her because only he, Sui Yu, Sui Liang, and Zhao Xiping knew about Tong Huaer. If he died after Ah Shui left home, Ah Shui would have to learn about her mother from Sui Yu, Sui Liang, and Zhao Xiping. He didn't know if Ah Shui and Tong Huaer would have any contact in the future, and he was even less sure if Ah Shui's personality had changed. He was worried that if something happened, Ah Shui would blame Sui Yu and Sui Liang for hiding the news about Tong Huaer.

So in this matter, he said that if Ah Shui and Tong Huaer's fate had not been broken, this bad fate would not have affected unrelated people.

"I know her name is Tong Huaer," Ah Shui said. "Someone told me about it when I went to the military settlement."