Chapter 40 Crossing the Desert to Get Reed Flowers
The chilblains from the scratches had swollen and festering overnight. When Sui Yu woke up in the morning, she noticed something was wrong with the back of her foot. She sat on the bed and called out, "Captain Zhao, bring some fire and light the oil lamp."
Zhao Xiping pushed the firewood in the stove back in, then took out a burning branch to protect the fire. He pushed the door open and asked, "Why are you still lighting an oil lamp when it's daybreak?"
"Let me check my feet. It's too dark in the room." Sui Yu put on four pairs of pants and moved to sit on the outside of the bed. The oil lamp lit up and she stretched out her feet to check. The sole of her right foot was swollen. The frostbite from being rubbed had not scabbed over and sticky pus was flowing down from it.
Sui Yu grumbled, put on her socks, kicked the man holding the oil lamp, and said, "Help me get my shoes, they're over there."
Zhao Xiping glanced at her, then raised his foot to get her shoes. He then said to Sui Liang, "Get up! The buns are almost hot."
Sui Yu took the shoes and put them on. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she paused. The straw sandals were hard and rough, rubbing against the back of her foot like a grindstone. She took another step and limped out.
Zhao Xiping had already strode into the kitchen to check the fire. When he heard the noise, he turned his head and frowned and asked, "Does your foot hurt?"
"My feet are swollen and the shoes are tight. My insteps are hurting from rubbing against my straw sandals. I'm afraid I'll get frostbite." Sui Yu urged him to get up and sat down herself. At this moment, she sighed with relief: "This is a blessing in disguise. If I had still been selling buns today, I would have suffered."
Zhao Xiping was silent. She always took good care of the frostbite on her body. If she hadn't been upset by what happened yesterday, she wouldn't have been so anxious in the middle of the night.
He poured the warm water from the stove into the wash basin and brought it to her, saying, "Wash, and call me for more water when you're done."
He lowered his head and left the kitchen, diving into his bedroom and rummaging around. When Sui Yu called for dinner, he dug out a pair of dusty old straw sandals. They were woven from straw and reed fluff, and they kept his feet warm even during the heavy snow. He cherished them so much that he only wore them once a year, during the coldest days of winter.
"Here, wear my shoes. They're soft and don't prick your feet." He dusted off the shoes and handed them to Sui Yu.
Sui Yu took the shoes, looked at them again and again, and said, "These shoes are definitely warm. Did you knit them yourself?"
"No, it was made up for me by an old uncle who fought in the war with me." Zhao Xiping scooped up water to wash his hands. He opened the lid of the pot, picked up the buns, and asked Sui Yu and Sui Liang what kind of fillings they wanted.
"Can you ask him to make a pair for me and Liang Ge'er? We'll pay." Sui Yu put on the shoes. They were too big, and even with the reed catkins holding them up, the wind still blew in. "There are reed marshes in Dunhuang too. Why don't you pick some reed catkins? Reed catkins are better than hay to keep out the wind and keep warm. Oh, give me a bean sprout bun."
Zhao Xiping poked it with his chopsticks and handed it to her, saying, "There are too many people and too few reeds. Winter is coming and I've been busy with things at home and outside. When I remembered, the reeds were already bare." He glanced at the straw sandals on her feet and said, "Uncle Niu lost one hand in the war, so he can't weave anymore."
"So you've had these shoes for several years? They're quite durable."
"Three years." Zhao Xiping swallowed a mouthful of food, stared at Sui Yu and Sui Liang, and said, "After dinner, just sit on the bed and cover yourself. I'm going out for a while. I'll be back at noon to steam buns and cook porridge."
Sui Yu moved her feet and said happily, "Then I'll trouble you, Captain Zhao. I'll wait for you to serve me three meals a day."
Serve? Zhao Xiping glanced at her.
After filling her stomach, Sui Yu sat in front of the stove, lighting the fire and chatting with the man. He cleaned up the stove and prepared to go out. She also stood up and planned to go back to bed. However, after taking two steps, she cried out that her feet hurt, "Captain Zhao, come and help me."
Zhao Xiping didn't think much about it. He walked over to support her and asked curiously, "Does it still hurt?"
"It hurts." Sui Yu nodded decisively. "Last year, the chilblains on both feet were worn out. I could walk in the snow for a whole day in a pair of worn straw sandals without any problem. Now that someone is hurting, my feet have learned to be delicate."
Zhao Xiping gritted his teeth and stopped walking.
Sui Yu was being carried by him, with one foot inside the door and the other stuck outside. She turned around with a smile and asked, "Am I wrong?"
Zhao Xiping stared at her, wondering if he had underestimated her or if she had a short memory. She was full of complaints and felt as depressed as a fish out of water last night, but after waking up from a sleep, she started to find new ways to provoke him.
Sui Yu struggled with his hand and walked into the house, saying, "My foot is stuck and it hurts. Let's talk inside."
The man followed her into the house, helped her to the bed, and turned away.
Sui Yu giggled. When she heard footsteps heading towards the camel pen, she shouted at the top of her voice, "Lock the door from the outside. I won't go out until you come back."
No one said a word, but she heard the lock snap shut.
Sui Yu took off the dirty pants she was wearing outside and sat on the bed. She also moved the wooden box containing the money to the bed. She only had a rough idea of how much money she had earned in the past two months. Today was a good time to calculate it clearly and teach Sui Liang how to count.
At this time, Zhao Xiping rode a camel straight out of the city. When he went out of the west gate, he met Huang Ancheng on duty. He got off the camel and said hello.
"Where are you going in such a cold day?" Huang Ancheng poured him a bowl of hot water from the stove.
"I'm going out of town for a walk." Zhao Xiping said vaguely.
"You don't sell buns at home anymore, right? No one's out on the street."
Zhao Xiping shook his head. He didn't hide anything and said frankly, "Convicted slaves are not allowed to engage in business. Yesterday, someone reported me to Lord Hu, and I stopped selling buns."
Huang Ancheng's expression was complicated. He asked, "Do you know who it is?"
"How could I know that? I don't dare ask. If the matter gets out of hand, it will be bad for Sui Yu." Zhao Xiping handed him the bowl and said, "You are busy. I'll go out for a while."
He led his camel through the city gates. Outside, all he could see was yellow sand. Snow had fallen on the dunes, pressing the sand into arcs of white. Zhao Xiping rode his camel westward, not knowing how long he had been on the road. Sand and snow had accumulated on him, and the camel's fur was wet and covered in ice. The wind howled in his ears, and there was no sign of human life.
Finally hearing the sound of water, Zhao Xiping drove his camel north along the river. Seeing a rising sand dune, he dismounted and led the camel upward. When his feet sank into the sand and couldn't pull themselves up, the camel pulled him along. It took a while for one man and two camels to reach the summit. In the center of the sand dunes lay a curved lake, its shallows a reed marsh. This place was far from the city, few knew about it, and the reed flowers hadn't been picked.
Zhao Xiping sat on the ground and slid all the way down. When he reached the bottom, his speed slowed down. He used his feet to push off the sand to stop, not bothering to shake off the sand in his clothes and shoes. He walked to the reed marsh and plucked the reed flowers covered with snow.
"I earned fourteen strings of cash in total. I spent five strings on cloth, leaving me with nine strings... Let me calculate. A pound of pork costs five strings of cash. A piglet must weigh ten pounds, right? Live pigs are more expensive than pork. I need to prepare at least seventy strings of cash." Sui Yu put seven strings of cash back into the wooden box and looked at the other two strings of cash. She also put them in the box and said, "Save them all. I'll buy more chickens next year. When the chickens grow up, we'll stew one every month. This year, we'll just have to bear the hardship and hold on."
Sui Liang nodded. He thought whatever Sui Yu said or did was right.
Sui Yu patted the bed, she lifted the quilt and lay down, saying: "Sleep for a while, we will get up when your brother-in-law comes back."
Zhao Xiping was on his way back to the city. He was riding a camel with a bundle of reeds on his back, and another camel had a bundle of reeds half a person's height on its back. With these, the three of them were able to survive the winter.
It was already past noon when he arrived at the west city gate. The city guards saw that he was still able to get two large bundles of reed flowers at this time, and they all asked him where he got them and whether he had any more.
"Yes, you should be able to fold two bundles. Go all the way west, and when you hear the sound of water, go north along the river and climb up a sand hill. There is a big lake in the center of the sand hill." Zhao Xiping told him honestly that he discovered this lake when he went to the desert to herd camels.
"You went out of the city just to pick catkins? I have some at home. Just tell me and I'll bring you a bundle." Huang Ancheng said.
Zhao Xiping was afraid he would say that, so he was vague. "We have a lot of them at home. I can just go out of town and get them back with some effort. It's not a big deal. Have you eaten yet? If not, come to my house."
Huang Ancheng waved his hand, signaling him to go back quickly.
Zhao Xiping first went to the government office and exchanged half a bundle of reed flowers for a bundle of straw. When he returned home and heard no sound in the house, he locked the camel in the pen and went out to Shiqitun to look for Uncle Lao Niu. When he got there, he found that he was not at home, so he went back.
Sui Yu and Sui Liang also woke up. When they heard the noise, she opened the door and saw the reed catkins and straw placed under the eaves at a glance.
"I will invite Uncle Lao Niu to come over tomorrow to teach me how to weave straw sandals. He has been having dinner at our house these days," said Zhao Xiping.
"No problem. We have buns and pancakes. I can cook some soup and stir-fry some vegetables. That will be enough for us. Do we need to buy some meat?" Sui Yu asked.
"No, he has bad teeth, just cook the food until it's soft and tender."
The next morning, Zhao Xiping went to Shiqitun again, and this time he was there. Sui Yu also saw the old uncle Niu he had mentioned. Old Uncle Niu was short, with an old face, dark bags under his eyes, and the patches on his clothes were so thick that mosquitoes could fly in them. When he opened his mouth, only his tongue was visible, not his teeth.
Sui Yu greeted them and she lit the stove. The kitchen was warm and people felt warmer sitting in the kitchen than lying in bed.
"Xiping, you and Uncle Lao Niu can sit in the kitchen and work. It's warm and bright in the kitchen." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Xiping looked at her. When there were no outsiders around, she always called him Mr. Zhao. But when there were outsiders in her house, she pretended to be polite and called him in a friendly manner.
"Is this my niece's wife? Why didn't you invite me to your wedding?" Uncle Niu was a little angry.
"We held the wedding banquet back home, not here." Zhao Xiping carried the reed catkins and straw inside and casually asked, "Where did you go yesterday? I went to look for you this afternoon, but your door was locked from the outside."
Uncle Niu chuckled and watched Sui Yu leave. He whispered, "She went to a brothel. I don't have a wife to warm my bed, so I can only spend money to have fun."
The person who was about to push the door stopped, Sui Yu withdrew her hand, patted her chest and turned back to the bedroom.
Zhao Xiping glanced outside and would not have asked if he had known earlier.
For the next three days, Sui Yu didn't enter the kitchen except to cook and make soup. Zhao Xiping saw that she was unhappy, so he quickly learned how to weave straw sandals, picked up two plates of buns and sent Uncle Niu away.
"There's still a lot of flour left at home. I'll mix half a basin of flour and bake a basket of pancakes tomorrow. I see you like pancakes with egg and leek filling. You can go to the street and buy two bunches of leeks tomorrow." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Xiping had no time to talk. He sat in front of the stove, biting the straw rope with his mouth to tighten it. After tying the knot, he let go of it, made a "pooh" sound, and said, "Okay, I'll knead the dough after dinner."
Sui Yu looked at his hands. He hadn't been exposed to cold water or cold wind in the past few days, and he also applied camel oil on his hands and feet. The red and swollen chilblains had subsided and did not develop any worse.
With a "pop" sound, Zhao Xiping threw the woven straw shoes on the ground and said, "Try the size to see if it fits."
Sui Yu took off his shoes. The new shoes were a bit tight, but the reed catkins held them up, so it didn't hurt when he put his feet in them.
"It's just right." She took a few steps and said, "It's not too big, not too small, just right."
"Then I'll weave a pair for Sui Liang and then I'll weave a pair for you so you can take turns wearing them." Zhao Xiping lowered his eyes and threw the cut straw ropes into the stove hole.
"I'll make you a pair of your own. I'll just use this old pair for your feet."
"We have plenty of reed fluff at home. I'll weave a few more this year so I don't have to bother with it next year. It's such a hassle." Zhao Xiping clapped his hands, stood up, washed his hands, and prepared to eat. His hands suffered too, twisting ropes during the day and rubbing his feet at night, never stopping. He'd weave a few more pairs so she could wear them next year when the weather got cold. He couldn't let his feet get frostbite without freezing, which was such a daily hassle.
After the meal, he kneaded the dough skillfully. Just as he put the basin on the pot, the people who were soaking their feet shouted that they had forgotten to bring the foot cloth. He went out to look for the foot cloth without even washing his hands.
"Where is it?"
"On the wooden box."
After a while, a figure walked out of the darkness into the light, and Zhao Xiping handed over the footcloth.
"I thought you were going to throw it in my face, Captain Zhao. You've been in an abnormally good mood lately." Sui Yu leaned over to examine his expression.
Zhao Xiping ignored her. He squatted down and rubbed his hands with the foot washing water. One foot was placed on his knee, but he remained indifferent.
Sui Yu exclaimed "Wow" in surprise.
Zhao Xiping still ignored her, poured the water, and scooped half a basin of water for himself to soak his feet.
At night, Sui Liang fell asleep, and Sui Yu ran to the end of the bed and lay down beside him to chat. She whispered, "Why are you so nice to me lately? I'm a little scared."
"Scare you to death."
Sui Yu nodded, "That's right."
Zhao Xiping turned over with his back to her, and when she stretched out her feet, he reached out and twisted her flesh in a circle.
“It hurts, it hurts—” Sui Yu patted him.
"Are you feeling comfortable?" Zhao Xiping let go of her legs and said, "Go back to your seat and sleep."
Sui Yu snorted, then stood up and went back to the bed. Before leaving, she quickly pinched the man. Fearing revenge, she lay down with her legs tucked in. She waited until she fell asleep, then her legs, as if familiar, fell back into the man's arms.
Zhao Xiping held her feet to prevent her from moving, and whenever she moved, he'd tickle her. In the middle of the night, he half-remembered her words. Why had his temper improved? It was simply because he saw her trapped at home as a slave, like a moldy bun. He felt bad, but he didn't want to risk his life to free her. He could only treat her better, to put his own mind at ease.
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