Chapter 374 Extra 11
The night on the grassland is particularly bright. The leaves of the fir trees in the distance are reflected in the white snow, giving off a cold glow. The green grass leaves on the ground are clearly visible under the moonlight. The snow mixed with the moonlight is like a light shield covering the grassland. There is no need for firelight to illuminate it. People can see each other's expressions clearly from a few steps away.
In the place where the bonfire is bright, the herdsmen cook lambs and boil hot milk to entertain the new relatives.
Toya's mother is frying noodles. Nomadic people are not good at farming, so rice and noodles are very precious to herders. This is the only half bag of noodles left in her family. It was exchanged for half a cow when they met a caravan coming from the west while grazing two years ago. If it were not for entertaining guests, this half bag of noodles would be kept until next year's Eid al-Fitr celebration.
The Wusun people's fried dough balls are made by fermenting horse intestine oil and frying it with refined mutton oil. They are thrown into the oil pan and fried until they change color. When they are taken out, they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The dough balls inside are like thick yogurt.
Tuoya brought a plate of freshly cooked noodle nests to Sui Yu and said enthusiastically, "Sister, try our local food. It's delicious."
Sui Yu did not refuse the kindness. She took a bite of the noodle nest. The taste was very unique. The fragrance overwhelmed the smell of oil, and the flavor was rich.
"It's delicious," she said.
"Have another sip of milk. Salty milk is very refreshing," Tuoya said enthusiastically. "I've met Han merchants, especially women. They can't get used to our Wusun food. They think it's too oily and greasy, but they can eat a lot with milk."
In the last few sentences, Toya unconsciously switched to Wusun dialect. She couldn't speak the overly complicated Chinese.
Sui Yu could guess what she meant. She picked up the salty milk tea and took a sip, then took a bite of the steamed bun. Seeing Toya's expectant look, she nodded and said she liked it. The girl was immediately happy, and her eyes were particularly bright.
What a simple and straightforward girl, Sui Yu thought.
"You sit down and eat too. I'll ask someone to cook for your mother." Sui Yu said gently.
Toya smiled, pointed at her husband who was drinking with her father and elder brother, and said happily, "I'll go bring him some food."
Sui Liang was already drunk. He tried hard to concentrate and listen to what his father-in-law and uncle were saying. Someone sat down next to him, and it took him a while to react.
"Father, he's drunk," Toya said. "He can't drink anymore."
"Toya, go help Am cook." Toya's elder brother was dissatisfied. They, the herdsmen, would compete in drinking capacity when marrying a wife. If it weren't for the fact that they were migrating and had no time to spare, he would have tried the horsemanship of his Han brother-in-law.
Tuoya was also aware of this custom. She handed Sui Liang two pieces of steamed buns and said, "Eat something to fill your stomach."
"Toya." Gao Wa came over and called, "Your mother is looking for you."
"I'm here." Toya glanced at Sui Liang, then got up and left.
After she left, the boy moved over to sit next to his uncle. He took a bite of a noodle nest and said in surprise, "It's delicious."
"Boy, drink a bowl of kumis for your uncle?" Toya's father said in broken Chinese, "Do you speak Wusun?"
The kid shook his head and refused the offered wine bowl, saying, "I'm still young, and drinking too much is bad for my health. Why don't you and your uncle come with us to Dunhuang? My dad can hold his liquor well, and he's my uncle's brother-in-law, so he can drink with you."
Toya's father and brother didn't understand, and the half-drunk Sui Liang subconsciously helped translate.
"We will not leave the grassland. We are born to be children of the grassland. As long as there is grass, water and livestock, we can survive." Toya's brother's face was full of resistance, and it was not difficult to see from his words that he did not agree with his sister choosing a Han man to marry.
"I will take Toya back to Wusun in the future." Sui Liang promised bravely.
"What did you say?" the kid asked.
Sui Liang translated for him.
The boy felt that this reassurance was not enough to reassure the others. He devoured the remaining fried dough balls in one gulp and actively interrupted, "In a few years, when my father retires, we will bring him back to Wusun. It was he and the Han army who opened up the road from Dunhuang to Wusun. I want to retrace our steps, and then our whole family will come to visit you. Uncle, please repeat it in Wusun dialect."
Sui Liang did as he was told.
Toya's father and brother sat up straight, and the other relatives beside them also perked up. They whispered among themselves, and then someone asked, "Is this little brother's father a warrior?"
"My brother-in-law was once a captain in the army. Fourteen years ago, he came to Wusun and fought against the Huns together with the Wusun army." Sui Liang said proudly.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present changed their expressions. With the spirit of fighting the Huns together, they no longer made things difficult for the new son-in-law and changed their previous picky attitude. They liked Sui Liang and Xiaozai more and more.
The wine bowl in front of Sui Liang was replaced by a milk bowl, and horse intestines and roasted lamb were placed in front of the kid. Toya's father kindly allowed the uncle and nephew to eat and drink as they pleased.
The scene that followed was that everyone angrily cursed the Huns together, drinking and eating meat while cursing.
After Toya finished her work, influenced by the atmosphere, she took out the horse-head fiddle from the wooden cart and sat under the moonlight to play it impromptu.
The moonlight is vast, the night sky is high and broad, and the melodious horse-head fiddle carries laughter and joy to the vast world. In the distance, the cattle and sheep grazing at night call from time to time, mixed with the calls of birds and the chirping of insects, gradually drowning out the sound of people talking.
Sui Liang's mind was racing, and his eyes were drawn to the girl playing the horse-head fiddle beside the campfire. The dancing flames, the beautiful sound of the fiddle, the towering green mountains, and the brilliant starry sky made it a truly beautiful painting.
"He's staring blankly." Lu Yaer said to Yang Erlang.
Sui Yu also heard it. She held her cheek and smiled. It was great that Sui Liang had found a good match.
The herdsmen drank too much and were intoxicated. They shouted loudly and called for wrestling. The melodious sound of the piano was disrupted and became passionate and lively.
Sui Yu waved at the kid and said, "Give the gong to your uncle and tell him to think of a way to respond to the music with the zither. Don't let him get dragged off the stage and fall. He's not strong enough to take two shoulder throws."
"I have a small drum." Ah Shui said excitedly, "Bring the drum over here, your uncle can play the drum."
When the drum sounded, Toya's eyes lit up. She walked to Sui Liang with the horse-head fiddle in her arms. The two sat face to face. The sound of the fiddle and the drum connected and were swept into the boundless night by the wind.
The excitement continued until late at night.
The next day, Sui Yu was awakened by the bleating of cattle and sheep. It was already daylight, and the blanket beneath her had warmed from the sun. She looked around and saw the herders were already awake, having cleared the ground of leftovers. Tuoya and her female tribesmen were milking the cattle and sheep.
"Master, wake everyone up?" Zhang Shun asked.
Sui Yu waved his hand, "There's nothing to do today, let them sleep."
"There were so many of us that we didn't ask Toya to prepare breakfast for us this morning," Xiao Chunhong said. "But she sent us a slaughtered sheep this morning, and I stewed it."
Sui Yu was distressed, "Where is Liang Ge'er? What did he say?"
"He went to help Toya milk the goats." Xiao Chunhong winked. "He got up before dawn and went to help his father-in-law find the sheep. After they found the sheep, he went to help Toya milk the goats. Look, he's the one who pounded the butter. He's very hardworking."
"He should do it." Sui Yu smiled, "Let's have breakfast first."
While having breakfast, Sui Yu checked the accounts with the awake servants. Yesterday, he had exchanged eight horses and seventy-three wolf skins, as well as nearly three hundred horse and cow skins. He had only exchanged more than sixty sheepskins of good quality. With the emergence of cotton in the interior, sheepskin was not as popular as before.
"Regarding the next business..." Zhang Shun hesitated, "Should we take a step back for the sake of our in-laws?"
"I can't compromise on the price, but if the deal is done, I can give you a few feet of cloth as a gift, or a ten-month labor belt." Sui Yu didn't intend to confuse business with personal relationships. This was not just her business. There were a dozen people waiting for money to redeem her.
The sun rose to mid-sky, the herdsmen had finished their work, and those who were sleeping soundly on the grass woke up. The little cub had not slept well. He had no appetite and barely ate half a bowl of meat. He dozed off on his mother's back.
"Sister." Sui Liang came back with sweat all over his forehead.
Sui Yu took out a handkerchief and handed it to him, asking, "When are we leaving?"
"Toya said that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, there will be herders from the other side of the mountain coming to do business with us. She told me that yesterday morning, and I forgot to tell you." Sui Liang blushed. "We'll leave after this deal is done. They won't stay long either. They're in a hurry to move to the summer pasture."
Sui Yu nodded and said something else: "Toya sent us a sheep this morning. This is a matter of money and hurts our relationship. Keep an eye on it and see if your father-in-law and his family need anything. Send more."
"They were short of rice and flour. Toya loved eating fried noodle nests, but her family only made them twice a year because rice and flour were scarce and hard to buy."
"Then send her three or five bags of our rations, and some soybeans and mung beans as well. Teach your mother-in-law how to grow bean sprouts so that she can add a vegetarian dish in winter." Sui Yu instructed, "You can prepare the rest."
Sui Liang should be good.
On the other side, Toya was talking to her Am.
"Your father said we'll give you two horses as a dowry, Hari, and you can take them too. If you don't have a good time in Dahan, you can ride back on horseback. Horses and dogs know the way, and they can lead you back." Toya's mother said, "We won't give you the cattle and sheep. The journey is too long, and the cattle and sheep will suffer too much. You can take the cowhide and sheepskin with you. You can exchange them for food on the way."
"I'll be fine. This is my destiny and the instruction given to me by the Eagle God." Toya was full of confidence. "I trust my feelings."
"Am, bless you." The woman stopped talking. She glanced at the caravan in the distance and praised, "That's a good boy. You acted quickly."
Toya smiled secretly. Once she spotted something, she would take action, no matter if it was a man or prey. This was the experience of her herdsmen.
Foreigners didn't care about engagements or weddings. If a man and woman were attracted to each other, they could just inform their parents and start a new family. If their parents disagreed, it wasn't uncommon for the girl to elope with the boy. So, once Tuoya was certain Sui Liang didn't have a wife, she became interested. Then, with a combination of chance and the presence of dark clouds, she became even more convinced that this was her destiny. Once she had her heart made clear, she immediately expressed her feelings, fearing that if she delayed any longer, the caravan would leave.
During lunch, Toya's elder brother
He found Sui Liang and said, "We will be leaving with the cattle and sheep tomorrow morning. If you wait for one more day, someone will probably come to do business with you tomorrow."
"Leaving in such a hurry?" Sui Liang was surprised.
"The grass at the foot of the mountain has grown old. The cattle and sheep don't like it. They will run away on their own. We should follow them." Toya's eldest brother explained, "Toya chose you. You must treat her well."
"Okay, we will come to see you again in the future." Sui Liang agreed.
Toya's eldest brother shook his head. "You may not be able to find us. We won't stay in one place for long."
"Then you can ask the caravan to bring us a letter. You said that all the merchants going east know us at the Changgui Guesthouse in Dunhuang." Sui Liang offered another idea.
"That's fine. I'll make beef jerky for the winter. If we meet a passing caravan, I'll have someone bring two bags to Toya."
Sui Liang took out the rations he had prepared, the fire cocoons he had made himself, and the goods he had prepared, such as thick cotton socks that reached the knees, thick cotton gloves, palm-sized dolls, wooden whistles, and copper arrowheads, and gave some of them to his wife's family.
Toya's father was very grateful and gave her six cows as a gift. When she left, he said, "If you can't take them back, you can sell them or kill them for yourselves."
"Gao Wa, do you want to go to Dahan with me? I will find a good man for you in Dahan." Toya asked.
Gao Wa waved her hands in disdain, "I like men from the grasslands, and I don't plan to risk leaving the grasslands."
"Well, if you regret it, you can follow the caravan to Dunhuang to find me." Toya didn't force her.
"Toya, we're leaving." Toya's mother rode over.
Toya looked at Am with sadness in her eyes, but the lamb had grown up and needed to be weaned, and the goshawk had grown its feathers and needed to leave the nest. She looked back at Sui Liang and made up her mind.
"Am, you guys go away, I will be fine." She waved her hand.
Gao Wa sighed reluctantly and rode her horse to chase the flock of sheep that were running away.
Toya's mother touched her daughter's head, left a blessing, and left.
Sui Liang took Tuoya back to his caravan and said, "This is your home too."
Thus, Toya left her tribe and followed the caravan across the grasslands. She was familiar with the grasslands and the directions of the nomadic herders' migrations. With her help, the Sui and Song caravans sold all their goods in a month and a half, earning 318 horses, countless furs, and 50 jars of ghee.
In mid-August, the caravan turned back and crossed the grassland, intending to bypass Cheshi and head straight to Loulan.
The Black Eagle, which had disappeared for a month and a half, reappeared, soaring over the snow-capped mountains and following the caravan out of the fertile grasslands. The grasslands had an end, but the sky and earth over which it soared had no boundaries.
The sound of camel bells drifted forward, and Toya looked at the road ahead excitedly. Everything was unfamiliar and new to her.
The grassland is vast, but not as vast as the world. She has measured the grassland with her footsteps, and now she wants to measure the world with her eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com