Chapter 375 Extra 12
"Dad, pick me a bunch of grapes to take with me."
Zhao Xiping responded from inside the house, and walked out with a cloth bag slung over his shoulder, looking back as he walked, afraid that he had forgotten anything.
"Xiaohua, do you still want to bring your bamboo dragonfly?" he asked loudly.
"No." Xiaohua picked up the bamboo tube and urged, "Dad, hurry up. I'm going out first. Don't forget to pick grapes for me."
"Okay, okay, you go first."
Xiaohua ran out the door and saw chickens pecking at vegetables in the small vegetable garden on the other side of the river. She quickly shouted at them, scolding them fiercely: "Why don't you eat the grass instead of destroying the vegetable garden? I'll have Mengma kill you and stew you for meat."
As she spoke, she quickly ran across the river, picked up a stick and drove away the chickens, who clucked and flapped their wings.
Zhao Xiaomi drove the camels over to drink water. She teased, "Xiaohua, stop chatting with the old ladies in the fields. The way you scold the chickens is quite similar to the way they scold chickens and drive ducks away. It's 70% like your grandmother whom you've never met."
"I look like my mother and my father said so." Xiaohua subconsciously refuted the last sentence.
"I mean the way you scold the chicken."
Xiaohua was vaguely dissatisfied, feeling that this was not a good thing. She rolled her eyes and said cleverly, "I have never seen my grandmother. I definitely don't look like her. I look like my aunt."
Zhao Xiaomi said, "Hey," "Are you scolding me?"
"She's scolding me," Xiaohua mimicked. Seeing someone coming from the other side of the river, she immediately complained, "Dad, Auntie scolded me."
"I won't bother with you, little girl. I can't explain it to you clearly." Zhao Xiaomi stopped teasing her. This little niece was clever, quick-witted, and talkative. She never suffered any loss.
Zhao Xiping crossed the river and handed over two bunches of grapes, saying, "Give them to Jinhua to take back."
"We have some grown at home too." Zhao Xiaomi took it and muttered, "You're always thinking about her. No wonder she says she likes Third Uncle every day."
"You have many children and people in your family, so she won't get much." Zhao Xiping heard Xiaomi's voice in the yard and cut two more bunches of grapes and took them out. These grapes are sour when ripe, and children like to eat them. Two grape vines were transplanted in the house, and only children and birds often visited when the grapes were ripe.
Xiaohua picked up a mulberry leaf from the ground and blew into it. Zhao Xiping glanced at her and said, "Is it dirty?"
Xiaohua smiled and shook her head.
"Okay, I won't chat with you anymore. Let's take the little girl to eat." Zhao Xiaomi ate a grape and said, "The camel has had enough water, so I should leave. There's still a lot of grass piled in the field waiting to be transported."
This year, Zhao Xiaomi bought five acres of land in the north of the city and built a warehouse to store grain and fodder, so that the grain wouldn't have to be piled up in the wild and he would have to go over to guard it from time to time. During the busy season, in order to transport grain and fodder to merchants, the whole family worked from dawn to dusk and had no time to rest all year round.
"Have you eaten?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"I have eaten. By the way, will you go back to Jiuquan in the autumn? If you don't go back, I will take Aning back with me after I am done with this busy period. He has never left Dunhuang City. I will take him out and bring his parents over." Zhao Xiaomi asked.
Zhao Xiping took Xiaohua's hand and said, "Your third sister-in-law is not at home, and I can't leave. You can go and get her and bring her to live with me."
Xiaohua skipped after her father. She spit out the mulberry leaves and asked, "Dad, when will my mother come back?"
"Did you forget when it snowed?"
"No, I can't remember what my mother looks like."
"You look exactly like her and your brother. When you see your mother and your brother, you will recognize them at a glance." Zhao Xiping coaxed.
"When can we see it?"
Zhao Xiping paused, lowered his head and asked, "Do you miss your mother?"
Xiaohua nodded and said humbly, "There's no smell on the pillow anymore."
"You sleep with my pillow in your arms at night. Don't you mind?" Zhao Xiping interrupted.
Xiaohua's face fell.
Zhao Xiping picked some grapes to feed her and took her into the kitchen to eat.
"Why do you look so gloomy so early in the morning, Xiaohua? Did your father scold you?" The merchant who was carrying a bowl out asked with a smile.
Xiaohua was unhappy and ignored everyone.
"Take it out to eat?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"Well, I'm going to go out and buy two salted duck eggs to go with the porridge. I got a sore throat from eating mutton the past two days, so I can only eat light food for the next few days."
Zhao Xiping took a look at his bowl and saw that it was indeed mung bean and rice porridge.
"By the way, will your storekeeper Yu come back this year? She is not at home and the warehouse is closed. I can't sell any goods in bulk." The merchant complained.
When Sui Yu left, she considered leaving the warehouse business to Er Hei, but he didn't dare take it over. First, he didn't have the confidence to bargain with the merchants, and second, he didn't know the goods. The cloth, furs, wine, medicinal herbs, tea, jewelry, and jade all had good and bad quality. He couldn't tell the difference and worried about buying inferior goods and not being able to sell them, which would cause him to lose money. Sui Yu thought so too. When she left, he closed the warehouse and planned to reopen it when she returned.
"She should be back. When she left, she said she would be back before winter," Zhao Xiping replied. "If you're not in a hurry to leave, you can do business with her when she comes back."
"Then I'll think about it."
"Okay. You go eat. I'm going to eat too. I have to go on duty later." Zhao Xiping took Xiaohua away.
The father and daughter ate in the warehouse next to the kitchen. Breakfast consisted of dumplings, soup noodles and mung bean soup, which were already on the table.
Zhao Xiping took off his cloth bag and hung it on the door bolt. Turning around, he saw Xiaohua lying on a chair, wiping her tears. He was not surprised, he was used to it. He skillfully picked up his daughter and placed her on his lap. He first fed her a dumpling and asked if she wanted to eat.
Xiaohua covered her mouth angrily and said vaguely, "I'm sad."
"If you don't eat enough, you won't have the energy to cry." Zhao Xiping ate his own flatbread. When one wasn't enough, he stuffed two more into his mouth. As he ate, he said, "If you don't eat, I'll eat. Only when I'm full can I have the energy to hug you."
Xiaohua sobbed and tears flowed into her mouth. She took out a handkerchief to wipe them away, and then continued crying.
Zhao Xiping brought another egg to her, but she shook her head and said seriously, "Dad, I have no appetite."
"Then I'll eat it for you." Zhao Xiping held her little head against his chest, patting her gently with his hands to coax her, while he didn't slow down his eating speed at all.
Xiaohua's crying gradually subsided. She was fascinated by the chewing and slurping sounds above her head, and gradually she felt hungry.
"The dumplings are getting cold. Would you like to try one? This morning's dumplings were stuffed with shrimp, eggs and chives, and they were delicious." Zhao Xiping gave her a way out.
Xiaohua wiped her tears with her handkerchief again, then folded it neatly and stuffed it into her pocket. She said in a tearful voice, "Then I want to eat five."
"Okay." Zhao Xiping didn't let her get off the ground, but let her sit on his lap and eat the dumplings.
After eating dumplings and drinking mung bean soup, the sun had already risen. Zhao Xiping did not delay any longer. He held the child in one hand and carried a cloth bag in the other and strode out.
Ding Quan was already waiting outside the door with a camel. He took the shoulder bag, and Zhao Xiping, holding Xiaohua, pulled the reins and climbed onto the camel.
"Gee--" Xiaohua shouted.
The camel galloped towards the city.
"Ding Quan, go into the house and get a plate of dumplings to take away." Zhao Xiping ordered. Xiaohua only ate this in the morning and would be hungry again before noon.
The cotton planted in the roadside fields has reached the end of its season. Most of the cotton leaves have fallen off, and there are only a few cotton bolls left on the cotton plants. Chickens are digging in the soil and pecking at insects, and their claws are crushing the dead leaves, making a rustling sound.
"My aunt is in front." Xiaohua muttered. She shouted loudly without any grudge: "Aunt - I am Xiaohua -"
Zhao Xiaomi turned around when she heard the sound. She drove her camel to the side and waved, saying, "Third brother, you go first."
Xiaohua waved enthusiastically, "Auntie, did you see me?"
Zhao Xiaomi: "...niece, you and your father go first."
"Thank you, auntie, for giving way." Xiaohua smiled sweetly.
Zhao Xiping smiled, rubbed his daughter's head, and drove the camel quickly through the narrow road.
As they were about to enter the city, a group of Hu merchants were marching towards the north. Zhao Xiping pulled the reins to slow down and waited by the side of the road.
As the caravan approached, Xiaohua watched eagerly. She found a friendly-looking Hu merchant and asked, "Uncle, have you met my mother? Her name is Shopkeeper Yu."
"Everyone, have you encountered Manager Yu's caravan outside the pass?" Zhao Xiping also asked.
The leading Hu merchants whispered to each other for a while, and a thin Hu merchant drove a camel to the back of the caravan. After a while, he came back holding a wooden box.
"Shopkeeper Yu's husband, right? We haven't been here for three or four years, so I don't remember what you look like." Hu Shang confirmed. Seeing him nod, he handed over the wooden box and said, "Shopkeeper Yu promised to introduce us to the owner of the weaving workshop. I'd like you to help make the introduction."
"No problem." Zhao Xiping nodded. He inquired, "Where did you meet her? When did you meet her?"
"May, maybe? We met her on the mountain path of the Tianshan Mountains. She was going to Wusun. If everything went well, she should be on her way back now," Hu Shang said. "We wasted quite a bit of time in Qiuci and Loulan, otherwise we would have entered the border long ago."
Zhao Xiping thanked him and said, "There are people waiting for you in the guest house. Please go ahead. I have to go to the government office to take up my post."
Ding Quan caught up with him, and Zhao Xiping handed the wooden box to him. He drove the camel and continued towards the agricultural department.
It was mid-September, the cotton crop was nearing its end of harvest, and wheat, soybeans, millet, and sorghum were also in season. It was a busy time for the agricultural officials at the Department of Agriculture. When Zhao Xiping arrived with Xiaohua, the Department of Agriculture was already busy.
"Good morning, sir." The clerk who hurried out with an abacus and a parchment scroll greeted.
Zhao Xiping nodded.
"Sir, the cotton tax ledgers for the three counties of Jiuquan Commandery have arrived. I've placed them on your desk."
"Okay, I'll take a look later." Zhao Xiping walked in, and Xiaohua and Ding Quan followed closely.
A room is divided into two halves by a screen. In front of the screen is the desk for work, and behind the screen is the place where Xiaohua plays. The floor is covered with carpets and bamboo mats.
There is also a long table against the wall, on which are placed her dolls, water cup, small pillow and quilt. When she is tired or sleepy, she can lie down and sleep.
"Open the wooden box for her and give her everything except the letter." Zhao Xiping ordered, "Xiaohua, Daddy is busy now, please don't make any noise."
Xiaohua hummed, waiting for Ding Quan to open the box.
Ding Quan opened the box, took away the cloth bag containing the letter, and moved the rest behind the screen for Xiaohua to play with by herself.
There was a bag of letters hanging in his hand, and Zhao Xiping couldn't calm down. He made mistakes in the calculation twice. He breathed a sigh of relief and thought that he would not embarrass himself. He would read the letters first. He would take the unfinished accounts home at night and read them by lamplight.
Before reading the letter, Zhao Xiping glanced over the screen. Xiaohua had dressed herself to the nines, the heat still scorching in September, but she wasn't afraid of the heat. She wore an orange cashmere coat. The undyed area on the back featured a white pony, and her collar was adorned with a fluffy flower pompadour, clearly her uncle's work. Not only that, she'd also put on her winter leather boots and hung a glass ball the size of an egg around her neck, adorned with red agate on either side.
Xiaohua realized something was wrong. She turned around and said in a delicate voice, "Dad, don't peek at me."
Zhao Xiping snorted, "Are you satisfied now? You won't cry anymore, right?"
Xiaohua chuckled.
"Will you come to read the letter?" he asked. "See what your mother, brother, and uncle have said to you."
"You must have missed me." Xiaohua was very confident. "Dad, come and help me put on my shoes."
"That's what you wear in the winter when it snows."
"I want to wear it now."
Zhao Xiping ignored her and left.
Xiaohua chased after him barefoot, carrying her winter boots.
The first scroll was unrolled. Zhao Xiping quickly scanned it. It wasn't the whisper written by Sui Yu to him. He started reading from the beginning: "... In the summer pasture, many yellow and purple flowers bloomed. When I saw the flowers, I missed them..."
"I just said my mother missed me too." Xiaohua said happily.
After reading five letters in a row, Zhao Xiping was still thinking about his official duties. He said, "Read one more letter and I'll get back to my work. You can go and have fun."
He picked up a large roll of cloth and took it out. As soon as he unfolded it, he smiled, "This is a letter your brother wrote on the mountain road in Tianshan Mountains..." Halfway through reading, Zhao Xiping's voice disappeared.
"Dad, keep reading." Xiaohua urged.
"Your brother said that when you grow up, he'll take you back on the path I walked." Zhao Xiping rolled up the cloth and tucked it into his arms. He reached out to wipe the sweat off Xiaohua's face and said lovingly, "Are you silly? You're sweating and you're still reluctant to take off your clothes. Take off your coat first and put it on when it's cooler."
Xiaohua refused to take it off, she turned around and ran away.
Zhao Xiping didn't move. He took out the cloth roll from his arms and read it again. The boy's words were the highest praise for his battles on the battlefield.
"I have a good son." He murmured to himself.
"Sir, Ma Nongjian is here." Ding Quan delivered the message.
Zhao Xiping took the cloth roll and put away the cloth bag containing the letter, saying, "Let him in."
"Sir, what did you want to see me about yesterday?" Ma Nongjian asked when he entered the room.
Zhao Xiping then remembered this matter and ordered, "We've planted a lot of cotton this year, so there's no shortage of firewood. Arrange for some of this year's sorghum stalks, millet stalks, bean stalks, and wheat straw to be spread out among the cotton fields and set on fire. Keep a record of these plots, and check next year to see if the cotton plants in these fields are still infected with rust."
Ma Nongjian thought about it and nodded in agreement.
"What about the other three counties?" he asked. "Send the order down as well?"
"right."
After the decree was passed down, huge fires broke out from time to time in the crop fields where cotton had been pulled out, and thick smoke billowed from the fields. From the end of September to mid-October, the smell of wood smoke in the wind never disappeared.
*
"Why is it raining in this season?" After entering Yumen Pass and approaching Dunhuang, the caravan encountered rainy days. The slaves hurriedly stopped the camels and hurriedly took out oilcloths to cover the camels carrying furs.
Sui Yu saw thick clouds over Dunhuang City in the distance, so she ordered the caravan to turn back and run out of the cloud cover, and the sun returned to the desert.
"Winter is almost here, why is it raining in Dunhuang? Didn't the sky look like it was going to rain before? Is winter coming early this year?" The people from the Agriculture Department were puzzled.
"It should be. I remember the last time it rained in October was seven or eight years ago. Winter came early that year," said the old man from Nongsi.
Zhao Xiping also remembers what happened that year.
However, the rain only lasted for one day, and the sky cleared up again after the rain stopped, with no sign of winter coming.
Zhao Xiping sent people to inquire, and found out that it was raining to the east of Dunhuang, but the caravan coming from the west said that there was no rain in the desert fifty miles away from Dunhuang.
"Could it be related to the fact that we were burning firewood in the fields?" This thought popped up in Ma Nongjian's mind.
Zhao Xiping was also unsure, "Keep it in mind and observe later."
There was a sudden noise outside the door. Zhao Xiping remembered that Xiaohua and Ding Quan were playing outside. He was worried that something might happen, so he immediately got up and walked out.
"Little girl, do you recognize me?" Sui Yu leaned over and asked.
Xiaohua stared at her inquiringly, then looked at the little white horse in her hand.
"Do you look like her?" Zhao Xiping strode out and said happily, "Silly girl, your mother is back."
"Dad..." The cub took two big steps at a time and ran. When he got closer, he jumped and hung on his father. He said excitedly: "Dad, I missed you so much. Do you miss me?"
"Think about it." Zhao Xiping reached out and picked him up.
Sui Yu walked towards Xiao Hua and said, "I'm your mother. I wrote you many letters. Don't you remember?"
"I remember." Xiaohua's mouth pursed, and she opened her arms for a hug. The blurry face in her dream met the person in front of her, and she burst into tears, "Mom, Xiaohua misses you."
Sui Yu hugged her and choked up, saying, "Mom misses you too. I came back to hug you before it even snowed."
"This is my niece, and that's my brother-in-law." Sui Liang introduced her to Tuoya. "My brother-in-law and I raised the little girl when she was little."
"My sister is amazing. She left her children to make money. She must be very sad to leave home." Toya is a woman and a wife, she can empathize.
Zhao Xiping came over with the kid in his arms. When he got closer and heard these words, he realized that there was a foreign girl he didn't recognize.
"This is my aunt, Toya," the cub introduced excitedly. "She's from Wusun and Black Hawk's former owner. Oh, and Black Hawk was the matchmaker between her and my uncle."
"You two met because of Black Hawk?" Zhao Xiping understood. He asked in disbelief, "You left home at the end of February, and you brought back a wife in mid-October?"
Sui Liang suppressed his shyness and nodded. He secretly boasted: "There is no other way. It's fate."
"You kid..." Zhao Xiping punched him.
Xiaohua looked over curiously, and Sui Liang covered his shoulder and complained: "Xiaohua, your father beat me."
"This is your aunt." Zhao Xiping said to Xiaohua, "Say it to her."
"Aunt." Xiaohua did as she was told.
"Can I give birth to a daughter who looks like my sister?" Toya was so envious of her little appearance.
Sui Liang blushed at the teasing look. How shameless! He hadn't even consummated the marriage. But he was used to Toya's outspokenness, so he answered with a stiff upper lip: "Perhaps. My niece follows her aunt."
"Let's go home." Standing outside the agricultural company, Zhao Xiping was conspicuous and ready to go back. He said, "Xiaohua, do you want to ride a horse? This is the pony your mother gave you."
Sui Yu put Xiaohua on the horse's back, and she and Xiaozai supported her on both sides, while Zhao Xiping walked in front and led the horse.
Xiaohua looked left and right, her smile wide from ear to ear.
"Do you remember me?" asked the kid.
"My brother." Xiaohua said in a low voice, a little shy.
The cub laughed, "Mom, my sister remembers me."
A family of six walked into the market. There were still many people at the afternoon market. A camel-leading Hu merchant sat together with a vegetable vendor to set up a stall. A group of children whizzed past. A lost lamb bleated anxiously. An old man leading a donkey angrily bought the radish that the donkey had gnawed. The hot steam from the steamer blurred the faces of passers-by. The sounds of hawking and laughter merged into one and burst into people's ears.
"Shopkeeper Yu, long time no see."
"Madam, the price of cotton has dropped a lot this year..."
"Shopkeeper Yu, try this cake. I just figured it out this year."
"Oh, this little white horse is looking good, and the little girl is so handsome."
Sui Yu handed the cake to Sui Liang, who then handed it to Tuoya.
"Second Shopkeeper, who is the girl next to you?" the pork seller's son was curious.
"My wife." Sui Liang took Tuoya's hand and said, "I'll set a good date and invite you to the wedding banquet."
"Which country is this girl from?"
Tuoya swallowed the sweet date paste cake and answered in Chinese: "I am a girl from Wusun, and I will be the daughter-in-law of the Han people in the future."
Someone shouted "Hello", and congratulations rang out one after another in the market.
Walking out of the market and turning out of the narrow alley, the scenery in front of you becomes open, the crops in the fields have been harvested, and the houses in the distance are clearly visible.
"That's our home." Sui Liang pointed to Tuoya, "I'll take you home."
"I'm back--" the cub shouted excitedly.
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