Chapter 5
After rounding two bends, Sui Yu stepped onto the wooden porch, her back bent. The snow beneath was cleared. No one was visible outside, and no sound could be heard from inside. She tiptoed closer, her ear pressed to the door, listening carefully. No sound came from inside, so she quietly left. She didn't dare disturb the clamor in the house, so she tiptoed around, searching for the servant who sat alone.
Sui Hui and Sui Ling stood on tiptoe, anxiously looking out, fearing that someone was coming. Suddenly, they heard the creaking sound of a wooden door opening and closing. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Sui Yu had already half entered the house.
"Let's go over there." Sui Hui pulled Sui Ling and ran over in small steps.
"Not following anymore?" Sui Ling was puzzled.
Sui Hui did not answer. She took the initiative to reveal her figure and stared at the half-open wooden door, thinking about rushing out to snatch the person away if something went wrong.
Inside, Sui Yu had exchanged a ball of hemp rope, a loose, tattered linen shirt, and five palm-sized coarse cakes. Holding all her possessions, she surveyed the inner room. There was no table or stool, only a roll of straw on the floor and two coarse earthenware bowls by the bedside. Nothing else was left. It was incredibly simple, revealing the hardship of the laborers' lives.
"Want to stay?" The old servant said in a hoarse voice. He stared at Sui Yu and leaned closer, saying, "There will be more snow tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and I'll save two hot pancakes for you."
Sui Yu was not stupid, she understood what he meant, and felt very disgusted, but she did not dare to anger him, so she could only fool him and say, "I won't come anymore, I don't have any money."
After saying that, he turned around and walked out.
"No need for money. I pity you. Remember to come again." The old servant chased after him.
Sui Yu had already run into the snow. She didn't even look back, pretending not to hear, and gave Sui Hui a wink before quickly leaving.
"Sister Yu, you're taking too much risk. You shouldn't have come into the house." Sui Hui scolded with a stern face, "Don't come here again. My eldest brother said that we are not allowed to have contact with other men alone."
"I went in to see if he had anything else I could use. Who knew he was so poor." Sui Yu sighed. The stable was full of eyes. She didn't dare to go in with the things directly. She had to divide the things in her hand among the three of them. Each of them put a little in their pockets, hunched their necks and crouched down to give Sui Hu a look, and then went back into the stable with a calm expression.
Most people in the stable were asleep. Those who were still were huddled together, twisting straw ropes to weave shoe soles. It was quiet, with no sound of conversation. Sui Liang, covered in thick straw, had also fallen asleep. His face had a rare tinge of color. Sui Yu sat down and felt his face; fortunately, he wasn't feverish.
Sui Ling stared longingly at the rough bread beneath Sui Yu's clothes, her stomach rumbling uncontrollably. She was accustomed to the rumbling, and felt no shame in it. However, her mouth was stiff, and she couldn't bring herself to ask for food. After waiting for a long time, seeing that Sui Yu had no intention of sharing the bread, she slumped under the straw, snuggled up to Sui Liang's warmth, and closed her eyes to sleep.
Sui Yu took the tattered linen shirt that Sui Hui took out of her arms, first tore off the two sleeves and tried them on her legs, then lay under the straw and took off her frozen pants. Inside was the hay that she had stuffed in last night, but it was damp again from the wet trouser legs.
"Sister Yu, what are you going to do?" Sui Hui asked in a low voice.
Sui Yu didn't have time to answer. She made a "hush" sound, untied the rope around her waist, and took off the leggings that were close to her legs. This was the undergarment of this dynasty, with only two trouser legs and no crotch. Now she was naked from the waist down, and it felt very itchy as she sat on the grass.
Sui Hui sat up suddenly, and cautiously sat behind Sui Yu to shield her. She asked in a shy and annoyed manner, "Sister Yu, what are you doing?"
"I misunderstood you when you were in prison. You are actually quite good." Sui Yu sighed. A young lady raised in a wealthy family should be like Sui Hui, gentle, friendly and intelligent.
With her shielding her, Sui Yu felt more at ease. She split a skewer from a wooden board and used it to poke holes in both ends of the sleeves and shin guards. Linen, especially coarse linen, had large seams and poor elasticity, so poking holes was effortless, and it took only a few breaths. She aligned the shin guards and sleeves, passed the hemp rope through the small holes, and finally tied a slipknot.
Sui Hu and Sui Wen'an came in after clearing the snow. Before they had even cleaned the snow off their feet, they saw Sui Hui making a gesture. They didn't understand what was going on, but they went out anyway.
Sui Yu quickened her pace, stuffing the scissors and compacted hay between her shin guard and sleeves, trying to pack it as thickly as possible. To block the wind and absorb moisture, she also scooped up dirt from under the hay and sprinkled it in. Finally, she threaded the eyelets through the rope, and the job was done. She lay down again, curled up, and threaded the straw tube through her legs. Her frozen, purple calves suddenly felt solid.
"Put on your pants." Sui Yu said in a light voice.
Sui Hui went out and called Sui Hu and her elder brother in.
"What did you mean before? Why didn't you let us in?" Sui Wen'an asked in a trembling voice. He was almost frozen to death, and his lips had turned purple and black.
"Sister Yu, Sister Yu is sewing pants." Sui Hui couldn't find the right words to describe it.
Sui Hu and Sui Wen'an had no time to ask any more questions. They took off their straw sandals filled with snow, tore off their wet socks, poured out the wet straw, replaced it with dry straw, and then pulled out the wet straw in their trouser legs and replaced it with dry straw. Only after all this busy work could they sit under the straw blanket and beat out the snow from their sandals.
Sui Yu moved a little and started tearing the cloth and drilling holes to make insoles.
"Whose linen shirt is this?" Sui Hu felt nervous as he saw at first glance that it was a man's long shirt.
"I bought it." Sui Yu whispered in a low voice. She looked up at Sui Hu and asked, "Do you have any money? Give it to me and I'll make you two pairs of insoles and two thick leg warmers."
Sui Hu breathed a sigh of relief quietly, scolding her for being so bold and ignoring her requests for money.
"I also exchanged for bread, but you shouldn't eat it tonight." Sui Yu rolled her eyes and continued to work on her things. After a while, she said, "If you can weave a pair of thick soles for me, I'll give you some bread."
Sui Hu had no idea how to weave straw sandals. Before being imprisoned, he had never even worn straw sandals or coarse linen clothes. He stared at the wet sandals that lined the wall. Perhaps after two more days of walking, the soles would fall apart.
"Alas..." He sighed, resigned himself to his fate and climbed up. He stretched out his hand and said, "Tear me a piece of bread. I'll find someone to teach me."
"Will it be okay if people find out?" Sui Yu worried.
Sui Hu shook his head, and Sui Yu believed him and tore off half of the rough bread and handed it to him.
"It's too much." Sui Hu tore off another half, thought about it, and stuffed it into his mouth. The thin porridge he drank in the morning had long been digested under a few shovels of snow.
"I'm going too." Sui Hui also wanted to prepare an extra pair of shoes for her three siblings.
Sui Hu waved his hand to stop her, "You are not welcome. I will come back to teach you after I learn it."
He went to find a woman with a child, quietly handed her the bread, and after stating his request, the woman nodded, and he sat down cross-legged.
"Sister, I'm going to sleep for a while. Call me if you need anything." Sui Wen'an told Sui Hui.
"Okay." Sui Hui looked around. It should be almost noon. The applicants with families were preparing to cook. One family lit a fire, and the others went to borrow fire.
It was warmer in the stable.
"Sister Yu, what else do you want to do? I'll help you." Sui Huiqiang turned his gaze away and looked for something to do to distract himself, otherwise he would appear too greedy.
"Dig a hole. Once I've finished making these insoles, I'll go borrow some fire and boil half a can of snow mixed with some pancakes to make some batter."
"Hey." Sui Hui responded happily and woke Sui Ling up to help.
Sui Yu pursed her lips and smiled.
The two layers of cloth insoles are strung together with a hemp rope. First, lay a layer of straw stalks flat, then support it with fluffy soft grass heads, and finally stuff it with water-absorbing grass clippings. Once the rope is pulled, it's done.
The straw sandals were wet, and Sui Yu was reluctant to use dry insoles. She looked left and right, stuffed the insoles under the grass, and sat down to press them firmly.
The straw mat was stirred, Sui Liang had woken up. It was a rare good sleep for him, and he looked in good spirits.
"Take off your shin guards." Sui Yu picked up the ripped linen and placed it on his legs. Seeing he didn't budge, she said, "Forget it. Wait until your father is done with his work and let him take care of you. Just sit in the haystack and don't get up. If you get too hot and then get caught in a cold wind, you'll be dead."
"Sister Yu, the pit has been dug. Come and see if it works." Sui Hui called softly.
Sui Yu slapped Sui Wen'an awake, pointed in the direction of the pit, and said, "Put up the pots. I'll go see if I can borrow a light."
After saying that, she put on her frozen straw sandals and left. Sui Wen'an and his two siblings all stared at her, begging in their hearts for help, praying that Sui Yu could lend them a fire.
Sui Yu walked along the wall, turned at the door, and exited the stable. She was wearing tight-fitting, half-length straw trousers, which offered much better protection from the cold. She rubbed her hands with the snow, untied her hairband, smoothed her messy hair, and tied it up. Then she slipped back inside and headed towards the gathering of recruits.
"Auntie, can I borrow a fire?" Sui Yu stuffed a finger-long coarse cake that he had prepared in advance to the boy who was warming himself by the fire pit. He took it in his hand and ate it as soon as he opened his mouth, causing his brother beside him to scream.
The woman in the headscarf was distracted by the child. Without giving it much thought, she reached out and pulled out a half-burned stick still sparking from the fire pit, handed it to her, and inquired, "Who did you exchange the cake with?"
"An old servant, my father went to exchange him. If my grandmother hadn't been unable to bear it, she wouldn't have gone to exchange him. He was so mean. He only exchanged half a penny for three palm-sized rough cakes."
When the woman heard this, she immediately gave up the idea.
Sui Yu walked carefully, guarding the smoldering firewood. She wasn't watching the road and bumped into someone. She raised her head, her face taut and familiar, a woman from her own tribe. She couldn't figure out what she was calling out to. She looked dazed and distraught, a bowl of steaming bean and millet porridge about to fall apart.
Sister Zhen recognized Sui Yu and was about to take the opportunity to vent her hatred when she caught a glimpse of a spark in her peripheral vision. She immediately changed her attitude. She pulled the corner of her mouth stiffly and said, "Girl, I want to borrow a light later."
"Okay." Sui Yu nodded. She carefully asked, "Where's the hot porridge?"
Sister Zhen's face turned pale and she turned and left without saying anything.
Sui Yu shrugged. The two of them were heading in the same direction. She followed behind and saw that the woman's hair was disheveled, with grass stuck in her hair. Her top was tied messily into her pants, and the straps of her leggings seemed to be loose and hanging out.
She probably understood and slowed down her pace.
"Sister Yu, hurry up, the firewood is ready." Sui Hui came running over, pulling Sui Yu along as she walked quickly, saying happily, "We can finally warm ourselves by the fire."
However, firewood was limited, and hay had to be used for bedding and sleeping, so they had to make enough to cook. When the snow in the jar melted and the water became hot, the coarse bread was torn into pieces and thrown in to simmer.
When the water boils and white smoke comes out of the pot, turn off the fire.
The two pancakes were cooked into a pot of thick porridge. Six people from two families sat around the fire pit, with their hands covering the clay pot, contentedly enjoying the warmth for a moment.
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