Chapter 236 Uninvited
Sui Liang stared at his brother-in-law suspiciously for a few times. When he was glared at, he immediately complained, "Little guy, did you see that? Your father glared at me, so you can't accuse me of lying anymore."
The kid hesitated for a moment, picked up the fallen wheat ears, and blushed as he whispered, "I didn't see it."
Sui Liang was so angry that he raised his hand to hit him. It was really hurtful. No matter how good his uncle was, he could not compare to his biological father.
Zhao Xiping felt relieved, but he didn't show it on his face. He picked up a straw hat from the edge of the field and put it on, then strode into the wheat field. He put small bundles of wheat together, tied them into bundles, and placed them on the ridges with a wooden fork.
It was already late when he got off duty, and he worked in the fields for another half an hour. The weather was getting hotter, and the sun made people dizzy. Sui Yu and Sui Liang bent over to cut wheat, and they were so hot that sweat was pouring down their faces.
Sui Yu stood up straight, covering her forehead with her hand to look at the direction of the sun. Although it was still early for noon, she didn't want to be exposed to the sun in the field any longer. It wasn't the real busy farming season anyway, the wheat in the field was not in a hurry to be harvested, and she didn't have to rely on these two acres of land for a living. It wouldn't hurt to spend a few more days in the field.
"It's time to go back." Sui Yu walked up the ridge with his sickle and said, "Brother Liang, we won't cut any more crops. Let's go back."
The cub, who was sitting in the half-foot shade behind the sheaves, jumped up at the sound of the words and cried out, "Mother, it's so hot in the fields."
"Yeah, it's so hot." Sui Yu touched his head and said, "Let's go back now and go to the fields in the afternoon when it's not so hot anymore."
"Come again?" The kid asked reluctantly.
"Come on, if we don't harvest the wheat, what will we eat?" Seeing Zhao Xiping and Sui Liang coming over, Sui Yu pulled the kid and walked along the ridges to the ridge.
When the wheat bundles were placed in the field, male servants would bring them back on camels. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping no longer had to worry about the aftermath. They would come in two waves and go back together.
Camels were grazing by the river, and a shepherd boy was washing his hands by the river. Next to him was a small bundle of firewood with a dung basket on top. Sui Liang was very familiar with this scene, and he told the boy that he had also herded sheep and picked up firewood.
Zhao Xiping lifted the cub onto the camel's back and walked away. He looked back at the child who was picking up camel dung.
The camel did not enter the city, but went around the west gate and turned onto a small path heading north. Outside the city was a field of crops. There were children sitting under the trees by the road. The younger child was sitting in a basket, and the older child was sitting beside the basket, shelling soybeans. When they saw the camel coming, the brother and sister both looked up.
The peasant woman who was harvesting soybeans in the field stood up, took a look, wiped her sweat, and said, "Big girl, is there any water left?"
"Yes, mother, I'll send it to you."
The kid turned his head and stared. Zhao Xiping held his head and turned it, saying, "Look ahead."
The kid smacked his lips and muttered a few words.
Back at the guesthouse, Sui Yu jumped off the camel and said with a sigh, "Fortunately, we have a foreign family business, so our children don't have to endure the hardships of farming."
Zhao Xiping nodded. Fortunately, he had earned military merit to cancel her slavery, otherwise her hard life would have been endless.
Sit in the shade and rest for a while, the sweat will dry off and lunch will be ready.
Just as she put down her job, a caravan arrived. Sui Yu went to settle the merchants and collected their money, then went back to her room to take a nap.
When I woke up, the sun was already setting, but not as scorching as it was at noon, so I could go out to work.
"Little boy, wake up." Sui Yu shook the child in her arms awake and asked, "Are you still going to the fields to harvest wheat?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaozai closed his eyes again, pretending to be asleep.
Sui Yu laughed, put on her shoes and went downstairs, saying, "Forget it. You can come with me tomorrow morning. You can get up by yourself later. I'm leaving with your father and your uncle."
The cub whimpered and opened his eyes. He lay on the pillow and took a deep breath. When he heard footsteps leaving, he shouted again, "Mom, wait for me."
Zhao Xiping and Sui Liang had woken up long ago. They sat in the shade listening to the merchants talking. When they saw Sui Yu and the little boy coming out, Zhao Xiping kicked his brother-in-law and signaled him to go to the river to lead the camel.
"Is the kid still going to the fields?" asked Uncle Niu.
Sui Yu looked at the boy, who nodded and said, "I'll go harvest some wheat and make some big steamed buns for you guys."
"Okay, okay, then we'll wait." Uncle Niu smiled.
The wheat harvested in the morning had been brought back and dried in the open space outside the guesthouse. Hua Niu sat aside with a stick, driving away the chickens and watching the four members of the host family leave. She lowered her head and sighed, really envying the little guy. He only sowed a few handfuls of wheat seeds in the spring, and the whole family treated it as a big event. When the wheat was ripe, the whole family was willing to coax him to go to the fields to harvest the wheat. His every word and every action was remembered by someone.
Four people worked for six days to harvest two acres of wheat. The first wheat they brought back had already dried up. Zhao Xiping borrowed a stone mill from someone, and when he was not on duty, he used a camel to pull the stone mill to grind the wheat. He first ground it, then shook it, and then winnowed it. He did every step himself.
The wheat straw was piled up and the wheat grains were bagged. The little boy stood next to the four bags of wheat grains, and the sense of accomplishment in his heart was about to overflow.
Zhao Xiping brought the camel over and said, "Go call your mother and have your uncle bring two jars. We'll go grind two jars of flour and make steamed buns."
The kid didn't understand the process of turning wheat into flour, nor did he understand what his father said, but that didn't stop him from showing off. On the way to find his uncle, he talked about it to everyone he met.
Ah Shui didn't know how wheat turned into flour. Upon hearing the news, she ran over, took Sui Yu's hand and said, "Sister-in-law, can I go with you to take a look?"
"Then you go and lead the camel." Sui Liang said.
Ah Shui let out an "Ah" and ran away.
Sui Yu opened her mouth, wanting to say something to stop him but unable to. Zhao Xiping was planning to go to the military settlement to borrow the millstone, and it would not be convenient for A Shui to go there. If the little girl heard any gossip and something happened, she would not be able to take the responsibility.
She went to see Uncle Niu. When Uncle Niu heard that Ah Shui wanted to go to Juntun with her, he immediately waved his hand and said, "I'll ask her to come back and wash my hair. We can't go to Juntun. I'm afraid of running into acquaintances."
"That's what I think too," Sui Yu said.
Uncle Niu went out from the east door and stopped Ah Shui, who was about to leave with his camel, and said, "Where are you going? Come back and wash my hair."
"You just washed it the day before yesterday. Why don't you wash it today? I want to go out and play with my sister-in-law." Ah Shui didn't listen. She rode on the camel and ran away.
"Hey!" Uncle Niu chased for two steps, turned back to look for Sui Yu, and found that she had already gone out from the west door.
Zhao Xiping had already seen A Shui. He said to Sui Yu, "It's okay. We won't go back to the military village. Let's go to the village where Xiaomi lives to grind flour."
Sui Liang listened silently on the side. He understood the unspoken words between the few people. If he hadn't mentioned it, he would have forgotten that A Shui was not Uncle Niu's biological son.
"Sister, Uncle Lao Niu won't be returning to Juntun anymore, right?" he asked cautiously. "If Ah Shui knew... she would definitely be very sad."
"Then don't let her know." Sui Yu said.
Two years ago, Uncle Niu had intended to leave the military settlement house to Ah Shui. Now that Ah Shui was older, he changed his mind and no longer wanted the house, fearing that Ah Shui would not be able to bear the gossip. He decided to keep it a secret from her, not letting her know about her mother's situation. A while ago, the old man had told Zhao Xiping that he wanted to return the military settlement house to the government, and that he would take Ah Shui to live in the guesthouse and not return.
A Shui came over, and Sui Yu and Sui Liang shut up at the same time.
"Sister-in-law, where are we going? Back to Juntun?" Ah Shui asked. "I remember my father had a house in Juntun, but I don't even know where it is anymore."
"It's okay if you don't remember. You and your daughter won't be going back to live there anyway." Sui Yu said, "Let's go to the settlement near the west city gate. Aunt Xiaozai lives there."
A few people went to find Zhao Xiaomi first. Zhao Xiaomi led them to find a millstone to grind wheat. She sent Aning to play with the kid, and she and Sui Yu stood aside and chatted.
Zhao Xiping was grinding flour by himself with four children. One wanted to help, and the other wanted to push the mill. To sweep away the wheat husks, the two younger ones had to do everything. He pushed the mill and held the children at the same time. It took him a long time to grind a bag of wheat and he was very tired.
The wheat was ground into flour, and Zhao Xiping's task was completed. Sui Yu took over the subsequent tasks. She took the little boy to knead the dough and let it ferment. From flour to steamed buns, the little boy participated in every step.
The hard-earned steamed bun went into his mouth and the cub chewed it carefully. He held the big bun in his hands and exclaimed: "It's so delicious."
Sui Yu fed him a pile of eggs, but he shook his head and refused to eat any vegetables. He only wanted to eat white steamed buns.
"It's so delicious and sweet." he said again.
"Well, the wheat you grow is good." Sui Yu suppressed a smile and praised, "I have never eaten steamed buns so delicious."
The cub was satisfied and smiled happily.
Zhao Xiping glanced at him, then took another steamed bun from the basin, broke it open, stuffed it with sauerkraut, egg and minced meat, and bit off half of it in one bite.
The boy was full after eating half a steamed bun. Then, he held his face and watched his father eat. As he ate one steamed bun after another, he felt satisfied and surprised.
"Dad, the steamed buns are delicious, right?" he asked.
Zhao Xiping nodded, "Yeah, it's delicious."
"I will grow wheat with you next year and steam lots of steamed buns for you, mom, uncle, and aunt," he said loudly.
Zhao Xiping finished the steamed bun in his hand. He drank some porridge, took a break, and took another steamed bun under his son's expectant eyes.
Sui Yu found it funny. She propped up her chin and said, "Don't overeat."
The kid slid off the chair, touched his father's belly, and said, "It's bulging."
"I won't eat anymore after I finish this." Zhao Xiping put his hand on the child's shoulder and said, "This is a steamed bun made from the wheat my son planted himself. I want to eat more."
When these words came out of his mouth, the cub felt a little shy. He covered his face with his hands and grinned, as if he was about to fly with joy.
A bag of wheat was ground into two jars of flour, which lasted Sui Yu's family of four through the entire autumn harvest. The jars of flour were empty, the autumn harvest was over, and the weather was getting cold.
Since October, snow began to fall on the snow-capped mountains, and Hongchiling was no longer suitable for travel. The caravans stopped moving forward, and most of the caravans that entered the pass stayed in Dunhuang.
For some unknown reason, there seemed to be fewer caravans entering the city this year than last year. By the end of October, three rooms of Sui Yu's guesthouse were still vacant. As for the lanes in the city, at least half of the houses were not rented out.
The old bald man went to the north of the city to inquire about the situation with a shameful look on his face. From a long distance away, he heard the cheerful sound of drums. There were few idle people outside the guesthouse, and the merchants all went into the teahouse to have fun.
The old bald man looked around but didn't see Sui Yu. He poked his head into the teahouse and smelled the fragrance of oil tea as soon as he entered. There were oil lamps burning in the room, making it brighter than outside.
"Uncle, do you want to buy some dates?" asked the vendor sitting at the door.
The old bald man waved his hands and asked in a hoarse voice, "Does Shopkeeper Yu still allow you to sell goods in the teahouse?"
"I've paid, twenty copper coins and I can stay in for a day. You haven't paid yet, right?" The vendor waved at Xiaoxi, "A new customer has arrived."
The bald old man cursed the lackey in his heart. He was glad that he had money on him. He counted out twenty copper coins and handed them over, then chose a seat and sat down.
The waist drum performance was coming to an end, and a blind old man was helped up. The old bald man just sneered when he heard the crisp singing of birds in the teahouse, followed by the chirping of crickets. He was shocked, because the noise was caused by the blind old man.
This was the blind old man a merchant had mentioned last year. He was a lonely old man in the village, skilled at mimicking the sounds of birds and insects, and usually made a living by performing ventriloquism. This year, he sent him to Sui Yu, and from then on, Sui Yu had a new father, who would take care of him in his old age and see him to the end of his life.
At this time, outside the East City Gate, Zhao's father and mother followed a merchant caravan into the city. When the city guard checked the household registration, he asked, "Are you coming into the city to look for your relatives?"
"I came to see my son. My son's name is Zhao Xiping. He's one of your captains. Do you know him?" Zhao's father said in a loud and boastful voice. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "We've finished our farm work, so we came to spend the New Year with them. We save them the trouble of traveling back and forth with a child. The weather is getting colder, and my grandson will suffer if we take the child away."
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