Chapter 53 Aunt Chun comes to visit
Zhao Xiping had been away from home for ten days. When he returned from catching piglets, the ridges had turned green and weeds had sprouted in the fertile fields. Besides herding sheep, Sui Yu would take Sui Liang to weed the fields, bringing the weeds home to feed the sheep and camels.
When Zhao Xiping got home, he found the door locked. He took out the key and opened the door. The piglets, whose heads were dizzy from being shaken, went into the pen and lay quietly in the sand pit.
"Sister Yu?" Sister Lamei passed by and saw the door was open, so she called out worriedly.
"She's not at home." Zhao Xiping came out of the house.
"It's Captain Zhao who's back. No wonder the door is open. I knew she wasn't at home. She's weeding in the fields every day and doesn't come back until noon." Sister Lamei explained and went home to prepare lunch.
Zhao Xiping thought for a moment, then decided not to go to the fields to look for help. He changed his clothes and went to the river to fetch water. When the water jar was full, it was already noon, so he lit a fire and prepared to cook.
Sui Yu and Sui Liang came back from herding sheep with a camel. When they approached their home, they found smoke coming out of the chimney. They ran home quickly and just as they entered the house, they saw a man coming out of the kitchen with his head down.
"Are you back? Dinner is almost ready."
"When did you come back?"
They both spoke at the same time.
"It's probably been an hour since I got back." Seeing the camel enter the pen, Zhao Xiping followed with half a bucket of water. He pointed to the pigpen at the far end and said, "The piglets are back too."
Sui Yu walked over and saw the piglet sleeping in the sand pit. Its skin was shiny black and thin.
"Boar or sow?" she asked.
"Sow." Zhao Xiping came out with a bucket and asked, "Is there grass growing in the field?"
"It's a lot. We can pull a whole basket a day. The camel and the two lambs can't finish it all from dusk till dawn." Sui Yu went to wash his hands and said, "When you come back, we will prepare to plow the land. Other families have been busy working for two days."
"I'll go borrow the cow after I finish my meal."
There was some shepherd's purse picked from the vegetable garden last night at home, and Zhao Xiping used it to make dumpling soup. He also made this dish to make it more delicious.
"You're back just in time. The weather is getting warmer, and the vegetables in the garden are growing wildly. If we don't eat the shepherd's purse now, it will get old. After I pull out the weeds in the field, I'll make some more dumplings at home, steam them, and store them. When I'm too tired to cook, I'll just cook half a pot." Sui Yu said while eating.
"If you're tired, just rest at home. I've been working on the twenty acres of land by myself in previous years, so I don't need your help." Zhao Xiping's eyes swept across her face. She seemed to have lost some weight.
Sui Yu shook his head. "There are still ten acres of weeds left. You go plow the land and I'll pull the weeds."
After dinner, the family of three went out one after another.
Sui Yu walked in front with two lambs, and Sui Liang followed behind on a camel. When they walked out of the alley, they ran into Sui Ling standing in the next alley. Sui Yu glanced at her and quickly looked away.
Sui Ling was waiting here on purpose. She glanced Sui Yu up and down. Her socks were muddy, her trouser legs were too short, and her upper body was covered in layers of clothing. She was so bloated that you couldn't tell the front from the back. This was the diligent daughter-in-law that the old woman always talked about. She had ruined herself into this state. She was really stupid.
The sheep bleated and Sui Ling covered her nose, fearing that the sheep's stench would overpower her.
Sui Yu glared at her fiercely, thinking it was like a toad crawling on the back of your foot, but it didn't bite you, which was disgusting. She led the sheep away quickly.
"Heh." Sui Ling sneered and turned to walk home.
"Stop." The more Sui Yu thought about it, the more disgusted she felt by her eyes. She turned around and asked directly, "What do you mean? You are a lazy and conscienceless person, yet you look down on me? What are you so proud of? Last year, under the pretext of visiting your brother, you came from me..."
"Shut up!" Sui Ling's face changed instantly, and her face turned as red as pig blood. She didn't expect Sui Yu to know about this. What about her elder brother... She didn't dare to think about it, nor did she dare to look at Sui Yu again, and ran home.
Sui Yu laughed sarcastically, feeling relieved. She led the sheep and continued walking towards the field.
The sheep and camels were led to the edge of the field. There were no crops there at the time, so they were free to walk around and trample on the grass. Sui Yu and Sui Liang went to the field to pull weeds. Whenever she had enough grass, she would bleat, and the sheep and camels would run towards her.
Zhao Xiping was driving the oxen to plow the field on the other side. He arrived late, and all the docile oxen had been taken away. The ox he was driving was a stubborn one. It didn't know how to turn when it reached the end of the field. It would turn its head and look around when it heard any movement elsewhere. The other oxen would become obedient after being beaten, but the more it was beaten, the less it would move.
Sui Yu heard him occasionally yelling "da da" and "yuh" at the top of his lungs, and the cows followed suit with "mooing." She gave Sui Liang a few words and walked over to ask, "Captain Zhao, what's going on? Are the cows not obeying you?"
Zhao Xiping was in a bad mood and ignored her teasing.
Sui Yu, mooing like a cow, got off the ground and walked over. From two steps away, she said, "Old man, this is your job. Why are you being lazy?"
"Go away. It has a bad temper and won't butt you." Zhao Xiping suppressed his anger. He took a pinch of salt from his pocket and fed it to the cow. The cow licked the salt, and he shouted at it again. This time it obeyed.
When he plowed to the edge of the field, he let out another "whoosh" and the oxen obediently stopped plowing, turned a corner and continued to pull the plow to turn the soil.
“Whoa—”
“Da Da——”
The wind was filled with the sounds of cattle being driven. Sui Yu stood at the edge of the field and looked around. In every field, the sounds of people and cattle could be heard. The dry, bare soil was turned over, and the smell of moist earth spread everywhere. A flock of chickens from someone's family ran into the field, and the proud rooster led the hens to dig for insects in the soil.
The heavy breathing sound was getting closer and closer. Sui Yu turned around and saw the stubborn bull coming towards her. She clearly saw that it rushed up the ridge in response to one command after another, and the iron plow was also brought up heavily.
Zhao Xiping wanted to whip the cow again, but he couldn't. He sighed and pinched a pinch of salt to feed the cow.
"You get humiliated sometimes too." Sui Yu laughed.
"Haven't I suffered enough?" the man hinted.
"Same here." Sui Yu chuckled. She looked at the oxen eager to try and said, "Teach me how to plough the fields, and I'll try too."
Zhao Xiping rejected it outright, "This is not your job. I'm not dead."
Sui Yu said "Pooh", "You have a stinky mouth, I won't accompany you anymore."
She continued to pull weeds.
It took ten days to pull out the weeds and ten days to plow the land. When all the weeds were pulled out and the land was plowed, it was done.
At the end of March, Zhao Xiping returned the oxen and went to the government to get grain seeds. He planted ten acres of wheat, five acres of millet, and the remaining five acres of soybeans and sorghum.
Camels carried cloth bags filled with seeds as they walked through the fields. People followed on one side, gathering wheat and scattering it. Others followed behind, rakes and burying the seeds. Sowing the seeds wasn't tiring, so Sui Yu helped, and Zhao Xiping followed behind, burying the seeds.
Since both of them were busy, the job of herding sheep fell to Sui Liang, who was also responsible for collecting grass for the piglets.
In April, there were more insects in the grass. Sui Liang was stung by an unknown insect while pulling weeds. He didn't take it seriously. It was not until he returned home in the evening that Sui Yu saw him scratching his hand and asked him what was wrong.
"Let me see if it hurts when I press it." Sui Yu squatted down, pinched his index finger, and raised her eyelids to warn him, "Don't try to be brave and lie."
Sui Liang shook his head and scratched it again, meaning he felt itchy.
Sui Yu examined it carefully for a moment. It was only red, no swelling, so it couldn't be a poisonous insect. She went back home and boiled a bowl of salt water for him to wash. She checked again before bed that night. It was still painless and swollen, so she felt relieved.
"Stop cutting grass for the pigs. Take the piglet out tomorrow and let it follow the sheep to find grass to eat." Sui Yu made the decision.
Afraid that the pig would run away, Sui Yu made a rope for the pig, drilled three holes in the rope, and put it around the piglet's front legs and neck so that it would not fall off no matter how hard he pulled it.
Now Sui Liang was herding both pigs and sheep. When he was leading the pigs out, everyone he met would point at him and laugh. Even the old man who was herding sheep with him found it funny.
Sui Liang was very happy. He felt that he was unique and he walked with his head held high.
"Brother Liang, where is your sister?"
Sui Liang turned around and saw Sui Ling. He didn't intend to pay attention to her, but he recognized the person standing next to her. It was Aunt Chun.
"Auntie Chun is looking for your sister, take her over." Sui Ling said and turned to leave.
Aunt Chun stared at Sui Liang, trying to find the shadow of her grandson in him. She said lovingly, "Brother Liang, you have gained weight. That's great."
Sui Liang smiled, and walked towards the field not far away, leading the sheep and pulling the piglet, while looking back at Aunt Chun.
"Are you still unwilling to speak?" asked Aunt Chun.
Sui Liang shrank his neck and quickened his pace.
Zhao Xiping heard the noise and came over to see. He didn't recognize Aunt Chun, but seeing her ragged clothes, disheveled hair, and thin face, just like Sui Yu six months ago, he had a guess in his mind and shouted directly, "Sui Yu, someone is looking for you."
"Who?" Sui Yu stopped her camel, dropped the wheat seeds in her hand, and strode over. When she recognized the person, her eyes were filled with shock. She asked in disbelief, "Auntie Chun? Why are you here?"
"I came to look for you. I met Sui Ling in the city, and she brought me here." Aunt Chun looked at Zhao Xiping uneasily. She rubbed her hands and moved her mouth. Seeing that he didn't leave, she could only smile apologetically at Sui Yu and said, "Sui Yu, I shouldn't have come to look for you, but I can't find Sui Hui, and Sui Ling is a cold-hearted person. Now I can only count on you. Can you help me buy some abortion medicine? Tong Huaer is pregnant."
Sui Yu's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Zhao Xiping and saw that his expression had not changed. She pulled Aunt Chun to sit down and talk.
"Liang'er, go herd the sheep." She drove the child away.
Sui Liang obediently left and took the sheep and pigs with him.
"The housekeeper won't buy medicine for me? What do they say over there?" Sui Yu asked carefully.
"They let her give birth over there, but how can this child be born? We don't know who the father is. If it's a boy, it's fine. He can be raised and put to work. But if it's a girl, she will grow up in a brothel and be a slave. She will have to live this filthy life when she grows up." Aunt Chun was filled with grief. She wiped her tears and begged, "Yu girl, I know you are soft-hearted. Please help Tong Huaer this time. She offended you before, and you can curse her every day, but help her this time. This child is an evil omen. No matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of him."
Sui Yu nodded. Just as she was about to agree, she suddenly thought of something important and asked, "How many months has your belly been like this? How did you find out you were pregnant?"
"It's been at least four months. A few days ago, she noticed something moving in her belly. You wouldn't know if you've never given birth, but someone who has can tell right away if they feel the baby." Aunt Chun sighed. "I've been trying to get the baby out for a few days, but I couldn't delay any longer. The longer the pregnancy gets, the more life-threatening it becomes. So, I took advantage of the manager's absence to come into the city and look for you."
Sui Yu clenched her hands and shook her head, saying, "Auntie Chun, I can't help you with this. Her belly is four or five months old, and the baby is already formed. If she drinks an abortion drug and the baby doesn't come out, and she dies too, her husband and the child will blame me for the rest of their lives. I won't be able to explain myself even if I have all my mouths full."
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