Chapter 355 My Sister is Here
"Aunt Li, the merchant living in the fifth courtyard has left. Please take someone to clean up." A Shui came over with a bunch of keys.
The woman who was drying sheepskins by the river said, "I see. I'll go later. Let's finish the work at hand first."
Ah Shui said "hmm", went to the kitchen to pick up a basket of eggs, and then went into the guest house to collect the copper lock.
"It stinks, and everyone is so dirty." The smell of foot odor, sweat, and feces mixed together, making Ah Shui feel nauseous. She quickly took off the copper locks hanging on the door knockers of the warehouse and guest room and ran away.
In the empty room at the end of the room on the east side, the pile of bedding on the messy bed moved.
Half an hour later, the female helpers who were responsible for washing the bedding came in carrying large baskets, but they went to clean out the warehouse where the stock was stored before entering.
"Why do I hear some noise in the guest room?" Aunt Li noticed something was wrong. She looked at the others, pricked up her ears and listened again and again, then she quickly walked out of the warehouse.
"What's going on? Hua Niu? Da Zhuang?" Wang's wife called out twice. Seeing no one answered, she turned and went to the next warehouse. "Maybe a cat or a dog came in."
Aunt Li also felt that she was making a fuss out of nothing. She was about to turn around, but when she looked down, she saw a dark head popping out from the crack of the door of the last room.
"Damn it! This caravan has abandoned the child!" Aunt Li screamed. "Go tell the master!"
Sui Yu watched the servants work in the open space north of the guesthouse. Erhei and his twenty hired helpers were shoveling the wasteland, preparing for this year's cotton seedlings. Five servants were fattening cotton on their own pasture, preparing the goldenrod for germination.
"Master, look." Aunt Li came running over, holding the child. "Hurry up and have Erhei ride on his camel and go after them. This caravan has left the child behind."
Sui Yu turned around and saw the child curled up in Aunt Li's arms. She was quiet, neither panicked nor afraid, as if she knew nothing, and yet seemed to know everything.
"Erhei... No, go call Liang Ge'er and have him chase them on horseback." Sui Yu ordered immediately, "The Li caravan is heading inland. They left not long ago, and we can catch up on horseback."
Aunt Li put the child down and hurried back to look for the second manager.
Sui Yu walked up to the child and asked, "What's your name?"
The child doesn't speak.
"Are you hungry?"
The child nodded.
Sui Yu took her to the kitchen, and Cui Sao quickly steamed a bowl of egg custard and brought it out. The little girl looked like she hadn't eaten for three days, and she was not afraid of the heat and gobbled it up ravenously.
"How old are you?" Sui Yu asked again, "Can you speak?"
The little girl nodded, but still said nothing.
"What's your name?" Cui Sao asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you another fool?"
"Big Donkey, my name is Big Donkey." The little girl spoke.
"How old are you?" Cuisao asked again, "You look about two years old. Did you hear your mother when she left? What did she say to you?"
No response again.
Sui Yu stopped asking and said to Cui Sao, "Take her into the kitchen to warm herself by the fire. Liang Ge'er should be back around noon. We'll see what he says then."
"When the second shopkeeper left, he should have taken this girl with him and stuffed her into the caravan." Sister Cui held the little girl's arm as she walked towards the kitchen. She muttered, "This isn't a beggar's home. What's the big deal about leaving a child here? If you accept this one, you'll end up throwing all the children here tomorrow."
Sui Yu said nothing. It was such a cold day, and taking the child on a fast horse to chase the caravan would cost her half her life.
After noon, Sui Liangcai came back. The people from the caravan did not come back with him to pick up the child. Instead, they gave him some money and abandoned the child.
"When I caught up with the Li caravan, they were already 10 to 20 miles away from Dunhuang, and most of the people in the caravan didn't notice that a child was missing. I explained the situation, and the merchants were unwilling to take the child back. The child's mother initially begged me to take her in, but when she saw that I didn't agree, she changed her face and told me to throw the child outside to freeze to death." Sui Liang sat in the quilt holding a cup of boiling scallion and ginger water. He was almost frozen after running back and forth twice.
"What does Boss Li say?" Sui Yu asked.
"He kept silent and let that woman cheat. No one in the caravan was willing to acknowledge the child. I was so angry that I asked for money from Mr. Li." Sui Liang sneered, "I asked for 500 coins, but he only gave me 200."
"Let's keep this child with us. After another three to five years, she'll be able to work," Sui Yu said. "Having one more mouth to feed won't be a burden to us."
"I'm afraid that the caravans coming and going will abandon their children here in the future," said A Shui.
"If they dare to abandon it, we dare to support it. I'm just worried that I don't have any useful men." Sui Yu sighed, "If I had reliable men under my command, I could build ten guesthouses along the way from Dunhuang to Wuwei in a year."
She had originally considered using Zhao Dalang and his five siblings, but they weren't up to the task. Their uncle had to browbeat them into attending classes to learn to read, and they frowned when asked to practice calligraphy. They couldn't even figure out how to use an abacus. It would be fine if they were just dumb, but they were also full of petty thoughts, only seeing immediate benefits.
"How old is this child? Have you asked?" Sui Yu asked Sui Liang.
Sui Liang shook his head, "I don't have time to ask these questions."
"I'll have someone check with the guard at the west city gate and we'll find out," Zhao Xiping said. "What's her name? She'll be left in the care of the cook. When she's older, she'll be put in the kitchen as a fire maid."
"She's called Big Donkey. I don't know what kind of weird name she has. And it's for a girl." Sui Yu cursed.
"Let's change the name." Sui Liang pondered, "Date? Mulberry? Or persimmon? These fruits are astringent at first but sweet later."
"It's called red dates." said the kid.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping had no objection.
Zhao Xiping went to the West City Gate while on duty in the afternoon. When he came back in the evening, he not only brought back news about red dates, but also brought back ten official slaves.
"Hongzao is three years old now. I signed a slave contract for her. It doesn't make sense for her to grow up eating our food and then have to recognize her parents in the future." Zhao Xiping took out the slave contract and threw it into the wooden box. He continued, "These ten official slaves will stay in our family to work. If they suit you, you can send them out to work for you. If they don't suit you, they will stay at home to do farm work and miscellaneous chores."
Sui Yu remembered, "You got a promotion, why didn't you arrange for servants to serve you?"
"Yes, the servants will be assigned to the General of the Central Army's Mansion after it's finished," Zhao Xiping explained. "A minor official came to me today and said that winter is almost over and the snow shouldn't fall anymore, so construction can begin on the General of the Central Army's Mansion in the west. However, I thought you wouldn't be able to rest well after giving birth and hearing the noise of construction, so I told them to start work in April."
Sui Yu nodded. Her belly had been feeling tight lately, and she might be due in ten days or so.
"Bring the midwife over tomorrow," Sui Yu instructed. "I'll leave all the cotton matters to you. When digging river mud to make clay blocks and planting seeds and raising seedlings, call all the cotton growers to help, so we don't run out of manpower."
"Okay, I understand." Zhao Xiping combed her hair. He knew she was concerned about the cotton farming, so he didn't say anything about not worrying about it or asking her to rest. He explained, "The officials from the Agricultural Bureau started working two weeks ago. Most of the wasteland that farmers can't cultivate has been reclaimed and will be rented out to cotton farmers. Each person can rent five or six acres."
"The farmers have no objections? They don't clamor to grow cotton?" Sui Yu was curious.
Zhao Xiping laughed, "Don't forget, the land in the hands of farmers is not their own. The government has the final say on what to plant. How can they have any opinions? If they have any opinions, they should keep them to themselves."
After saying that, he didn't hear Sui Yu's voice. After waiting for a while, Zhao Xiping leaned over and saw that she had closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Zhao Xiping tucked the quilt in for her and continued to comb her hair. After about a cup of tea, when Sui Yu fell asleep, he lay down with his arms around her.
Sui Yu woke up for a moment, and turned over with his movement. She felt a thick pillow behind her and fell asleep again.
Zhao Xiping didn't sleep. He snipped a candle wick, and when the flame waned, he pulled out a chair and sat down, continuing to read the official documents he hadn't finished that day. Ma Nongjian hadn't returned yet, and the imperial decree hadn't arrived yet, but the agricultural officials in Jiuquan and Zhangye had already reclaimed the wasteland used for cotton cultivation in both places, and every five days they would send official documents reporting on their progress.
The cold wind squeezed in through the crack in the door, and the firelight on the table jumped. Zhao Xiping stretched out his hand to block the wind, and read two volumes of documents in the half-light of the fire before blowing out the lamp and going to bed.
The next day, the midwife moved into the vacant guest house. She waited for Sui Yu to wake up, pressed her belly, and said, "She'll probably be born in three to five days."
"I feel like I'm coming soon too." Sui Yu pointed to the two large wooden boxes under the bed and said, "The mattress, scissors, and wooden basin I'll use for delivery, as well as the open-crotch cotton pants and sanitary belt I'll wear after giving birth, are all in there. When I'm about to give birth, take these things out and make the bed."
The midwife unpacked and took inventory. She also brought tools with her, but the host family had prepared everything, so she didn't need to take out the things she brought.
Two days later, Zhao Xiping finished the work at hand and arranged the remaining tasks one by one and handed them over to his subordinates. He no longer went into the city to work, but stayed at home to accompany his wife as she gave birth.
On the morning of the eighth day of the second lunar month, Sui Yuru had breakfast as usual and went for a walk in the open space to digest the food. Before she finished the walk, she felt pain in her stomach and she was about to give birth.
"Mom, do you want some water?" the kid asked as he ran out of the classroom.
"No." Sui Yu walked back, holding her belly. She planned to send him away so that he wouldn't be scared when she gave birth.
"I want to eat the fish stewed by your aunt. Go to your aunt's house and ask her to buy two live fish and a bowl of freshly ground tofu, and then come and stew a bowl of fish soup for me." Sui Yu said.
The boy agreed. He ran into the school and asked for leave from the teacher. He immediately called the Golden Wheat Ear and rode away.
Sui Yu walked into the main courtyard. Zhao Xiping was about to go out to look for her, but when he saw that she looked strange, he asked in surprise, "Are you going to give birth?"
"She's about to give birth, but her water hasn't broken yet, so we have to wait." Sui Yu supported him. She took a breath and said, "Don't alarm anyone else. Call the midwife and ask Sister Cui to make me a bowl of dumplings."
Zhao Xiping helped her into the house and immediately turned around to call for help.
Compared to his panic, Sui Yu was much calmer. After enduring a wave of contractions, she held her stomach and continued walking around the house.
The midwife came and found out that the water had not broken yet. She opened the box and took out five cotton mattresses and put one on the bed first.
Zhao Xiping brought a large bowl of dumplings, and the midwife took a wooden basin, scissors and a wooden bucket to the kitchen to boil them in boiling water.
After eating a bowl of dumplings, my water broke.
Sui Yu asked Zhao Xiping to help her take off her skirt and cotton pants. She lay on the bed and said, "Daddy, our second child is about to be born."
Zhao Xiping wiped the sweat off her face with a handkerchief. He breathed heavily and spoke with a wheezing sound: "You are going to suffer again, but I can't do anything."
"I gave birth to you and raised you, and you take care of the baby after I gave birth to him." Sui Yu said.
The midwife came in and said to the man, "Sir, please wait outside. Bring me the boiling water."
"You go out." Sui Yu refused to let him accompany her. "I sent the kid away. Be careful if he suddenly comes back. Avoid him when you pour out the blood. Don't scare him."
"Okay." Zhao Xiping went out, closed the door and stood guard outside.
After an incense stick, hot water was delivered from the kitchen. Seeing no sound from the room, Cui Sao wondered, "Is the master about to give birth?"
Zhao Xiping didn't respond.
The main courtyard was quiet until noon, when there was movement in the house. Zhao Xiping, with a pale face, carried buckets of blood and poured them out of the house.
The school was over, and Sui Liang came out in a restless mood, and happened to meet the little boy riding back on horseback.
The boy dismounted and ran to the main courtyard, "Mom—Mom—Dad, where is my mom? My aunt said my mom is about to give birth."
"Yes, your mother gave birth in the house." Zhao Xiping said.
The strong smell of blood in the yard made people feel uneasy. Through the door, suppressed screams of pain could be heard from the house from time to time. The little boy felt so distressed when he heard the sound that he covered his face and cried.
Sui Liang walked in, and the kid looked at him for help. He pointed at the tightly closed wooden door and choked up, saying, "Uncle...my mother, my mother is feeling unwell."
The door opened, and Zhao Xiping took a bucket of steaming blood. He glanced at his son and said, "Sui Liang, take good care of your nephew. Don't let him in, and don't let him cry or shout, or your sister will be distracted."
Sui Liang nodded and took his nephew to the wall.
Zhao Xiping went out carrying blood.
Three more buckets of hot water were delivered from the kitchen.
As the sun rose higher, the shadow cast on the ground gradually shrank and then lengthened.
After noon, Zhao's father and mother received the news when they came to eat, and they also came to wait.
"When did it start?" asked Zhao's mother.
No one cares.
I don’t know how long it was, but when the earth wall cast a shadow in the yard, a scream of pain came from the house, followed by a loud cry.
"It's a girl." The midwife cut the umbilical cord and said to Sui Yu, "Madam, now we have a boy and a girl."
Sui Yu smiled, "Does it look like me?"
"Like you."
Sui Yu was even happier.
The door opened and Zhao Xiping came in. He picked up Sui Yu and asked the midwife to tidy up the things on the bed.
"Mom?" the kid cried out, scratching the door. He asked in a sobbing voice, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay. Just wait a little longer and you'll be in soon." Sui Yu said, "Is the fish soup ready? I'm hungry."
The kid immediately ran to the kitchen.
After the room was cleaned, Sui Yu changed into clean clothes and lay down. Zhao Xiaomi brought steamed buns with fish soup, and the little guy followed in impatiently.
"Mom..." The kid ran to the bed and cried. He reached out to touch Sui Yu but didn't dare to do it for fear of hurting her.
"I heard you crying outside. Are your tears still there? I don't feel any pain now." Sui Yu held his hand and asked nervously, "Are you scared?"
The little cub couldn't hold it in any longer. He lay on the bed and cried loudly. He couldn't breathe. He asked distressedly: "Mom, was it in this pain when you gave birth to me? I heard it all, wuwuwu - Mom, you are in so much pain, wuwuwu, I am in so much pain too."
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