Chapter 22 Warming up the Stone Heart
As the sun set, the warmth in the wind faded. Sui Yu felt cold in her half-wet pants. She shook the grass net and called out, "Brother Liang, let's go back."
Sui Liang ran over from not far away, holding two handfuls of leeks in his hand.
After catching five fish, two large and three small, Sui Yu picked up the bucket and the grass net and headed back. She met someone on the way and asked, "Want to buy some fish? They're fresh out of the water."
"How many did you catch?" asked the old man herding sheep.
“As long as two chopsticks.”
"That's quite a feat. The fish in the Shizhi River aren't very big."
"Want to buy it? Only one cent each." Sui Yu asked.
The old man waved his hand. He didn't like fish because it was fishy, greasy, had little meat and many bones.
Sui Yu didn't argue much. She carried the bucket and went straight home, taking the four palm-sized fish from her home, and took Sui Liang to the market. She was still wearing her wet pants, and this was all she had on.
Sui Yu wasn't sure if anyone at the market collected stall fees. She was broke and worried about upsetting others by occupying their stall, so she chose a less crowded spot to set down her bucket and avoid crowding in. Whenever someone approached, she'd crane her neck and call out, "Want to buy some fish? They're all alive and fresh."
"How much are you selling fish?" A woman came over after hearing the hawking. At this hour, all the meat and vegetables on the street were leftover. She glanced at the fish, locked onto the two largest ones, and pointed at them, saying, "Give me these two."
Sui Yu fished out the fish, passed a straw rope through its mouth, and handed it over, saying, "Two cents for two fish is enough. If you want the remaining small fish, I can give you a discount."
The woman waved her hand, handed over two strings of copper coins, pointed to where the crowds were, and said, "There are few fishmongers on the street. Move in."
Sui Yu let out a sigh. Now that she had money in her hand, she was no longer worried about anyone coming to collect the stall fee. She called Sui Liang and walked towards the crowded place with the bucket in her hand.
"Would you like to buy some fish? They're still alive and just out of the water today." She shouted as she walked.
"The fishmonger..." An old woman with a thin face stopped Sui Yu and asked, "How much are the fish? How many are left?"
"There are seven left..." Sui Yu glanced at Sui Liang and said, "If you buy them all, I'll give you three cents."
"No, the fish is too small. It's only worth two cents."
Sui Yu looked at her twice more and felt that she looked familiar. Before she could say anything, she heard her say, "It's getting dark soon and everyone is cooking. Who would come out to buy fish? It must be because we have a wedding at home and the cat took the fish away, so we don't have enough vegetables. Sell it to me at a lower price so you can share in the good fortune."
Sui Yu remembered that Qian Wei had a skinny face, so this person must be his mother. She fished out two fish and said, "For two cents, I can only sell you five fish at most. Don't say it's expensive. The fish I bought the day before yesterday was no bigger than mine, and I could only buy four for two cents."
Qian's mother angrily threw two strings of copper coins to Sui Yu, picked up the fish and threw it into the basket, then turned around and left.
"What kind of person is this?" Sui Yu muttered. She put the two fish in her hand back into the bucket and said, "Brother Liang, let's go. Let's go back and cook."
As soon as he entered the door, Sui Liang rushed to the chicken coop to pick up eggs. The hens had fish scales and gills to eat these two days, and they could lay two eggs a day. He ran excitedly into the kitchen with the eggs and put them in a jar.
"Damn it, I'm not pitiful enough, and I still don't pay enough for a fish." Sui Yu was so angry that she counted the copper coins again, but there were still eight copper coins missing. No wonder that old woman ran away with a twist of her butt.
Sui Yu took a deep breath, collected the money, and took the fish out to scrape the scales. The two chickens heard the sound and came out quickly.
Sui Liang squatted aside and watched.
"It's a good thing we didn't enter the Qian family. Your brother-in-law may have a bad temper, but at least he's a decent person." Sui Yu muttered to Sui Liang, "The woman who bought our five fish was Qian Wei's mother. With a mother like that, her son probably won't be a good person either."
Sui Liang nodded angrily.
"I don't know what kind of personality Zhao Xiping's mother has." Sui Yu sighed.
After cleaning the fish, Sui Yu went into the kitchen to cook. She fried the two fish in lard. The fish fried in lard smelled delicious, and the stewed soup was also thick white.
The water in Shizhi River is meltwater from the snow mountains, and the fish in the river are cold-water fish, with tender meat and a light fishy smell. The only drawback is that the fish are small; the meat from two fish only makes up half a bowl.
Sui Yu poured the softened millet into the fish soup. Millet was sticky, and after boiling, the fish soup became thick. When pouring the fish meat in, she stirred it with a spoon, and when she lifted the spoon, the soup adhered to the spoon.
Sui Liang brought the bowl and placed it on the stove, picked up the chopsticks, and stared at the lid of the pot. He glanced at Sui Yu from time to time, urging her with his eyes: Can you eat now?
When the last flame in the stove disappeared, Sui Yu opened the lid of the pot and served the rice. It was warm in the kitchen, and she and Sui Liang squatted by the stove with their bowls in their hands to eat.
The millet porridge they had during the exile was always watery. Sui Yu remembered the millet that was so hard on his teeth, and he cherished the thick millet and fish porridge in the bowl even more.
"Open the door." Zhao Xiping came back.
Sui Yu put down the bowl and ran to open the door, surprised: "You're back so early?"
"Are you still eating?" Zhao Xiping smelled the fragrance and ran straight to the kitchen.
"You haven't eaten enough?" Sui Yu followed him in and said, "There's still a bowl of porridge left in the pot. Would you like to fill up your stomach?"
Zhao Xiping had already served himself a bowl. He leaned against the stove and took a sip. His stomach felt much better after drinking the cold wine.
"Neither your cousin nor your cousin went," he said. "I inquired and found out that your cousin went to work on the Great Wall. It seems your family's relationship with Commander Li isn't very good."
Since there was no need to worry about offending Captain Li, Zhao Xiping came back shortly after the banquet began.
"You're not going to chase me away just because I have no one to rely on, are you?" Sui Yu asked. "I regretted telling you yesterday. I was so worried I didn't sleep much last night."
Zhao Xiping stared at her coldly. He was annoyed and felt that he was looked down upon. He was not Qian Wei.
"You reminded me. I didn't have this idea originally." He drank the porridge in the bowl in one gulp, put down the bowl, picked up the shoulder pole and prepared to fetch water.
Sui Liang looked out with a worried look in his eyes; the porridge in his mouth no longer tasted good.
Sui Yu smiled and said, "Eat your food. Didn't you hear him say he didn't have such an idea?"
Sui Liang stared at her hesitantly. Is this what you mean?
Zhao Xiping went to the river to fetch water and was gone for a long time. Sui Yu finished her bath and sat in the yard waiting, combing her hair again and again. When she heard footsteps outside, she hurried over to open the door.
"I can hear your footsteps." Sui Yu smiled at him, "Caught another fish?"
Zhao Xiping ignored her again, walked around her and went straight into the yard.
There weren't many fish in the Shizhi River, and he had spent quite a while catching only one tonight. He threw the fish into the bucket, but there was no sound. He looked inside and saw that the four fish he had caught were gone. He didn't think much of it, assuming they were all in tonight's porridge.
"Let me show you something." Sui Yu came up to the man with four strings of jingling money and said, "Look, I made money selling fish."
Zhao Xiping looked at her in surprise and asked, "Did you go fishing this afternoon?"
"Yes, I caught five in the water grass nest." Sui Yu handed him the money and said, "Here you go. I'm not that useless. Although I have no land and no food, I know how to make money."
Zhao Xiping coughed dryly, took a step back, and didn't take the money. He said, "You keep what you earn. I have enough money, so I don't want yours."
"If you don't want it, I'll keep it to buy groceries." Sui Yu didn't force it. She felt at ease knowing the money was in her hands.
"No, keep it for yourself. I'm not short of money. I can get a salary of 600 coins a year, and about two stone of grain every month." Before Sui Yu's brother and sister came, Zhao Xiping had more than he could spend every year. He would buy a piece of pork at 5 coins per pound every now and then to stew with dried vegetables.
"Get money? Get food? The food you harvest from the land doesn't belong to you?" Sui Yu realized that she had misunderstood.
"No, the grain seeds and farm tools are all distributed by the government, and the harvest from the land also belongs to the government. The government also pays us a salary." Zhao Xiping explained to her. He thought it was good this way. He only had to work in his spare time and receive food on time every month without having to worry about the harvest.
"But only the gentry could receive salaries. The government gave those who volunteered land, farm tools, seeds, shelter, and clothing. They only received 40% of the harvest, with 60% going to the court. For people like my father, mother, and brothers, farming was not only laborious but also stressful. With less harvest, their share of food was also less."
This was the first time Zhao Xiping mentioned his family to her, so Sui Yu took the opportunity to ask, "Don't your parents and brother live in Dunhuang?"
"They are in Jiuquan. I am a garrison soldier who stayed in Dunhuang after the war." Zhao Xiping looked at Sui Yu deeply and said, "My family was a volunteer who moved to Jiuquan thirty years ago. Our hometown is in Guandong. There was a flood in Guandong, and we lost our home and land, so we moved to Jiuquan."
Flood... Sui Yu's heart skipped a beat and she fell silent. No wonder he said that marrying her would bring shame to their ancestors.
Zhao Xiping was also silent.
"You're a good person." Sui Yu said. She had been soft-hearted for a moment and promised Sui Hu that she would take care of Sui Liang, which had brought her trouble. He had been soft-hearted for a moment and brought two big troubles home.
Zhao Xiping did not refute, feeling that she had finally said something that pleased him.
The yard fell into silence again, and Zhao Xiping suddenly realized that if Sui Yu didn't talk much, he would have nothing to say to her.
"Does Qian Wei look like his mother? They both have skinny faces?" Sui Yu asked abruptly.
Zhao Xiping couldn't follow her train of thought. He was stunned for a moment before nodding slowly.
"That's her. She shortchanged me eight cents for my fish today." Sui Yu angrily told him what happened in the evening. "I didn't have time to count before she ran away."
"She's like that. She was once chased home and beaten because she didn't pay enough for meat."
"Luckily I followed you. If I had followed Qian Wei, I would have been so unlucky." Sui Yu stared at him intently and said sincerely, "Although you have a bad temper and are hard to please, you have good character. A man with good character can't be that bad."
Zhao Xiping was a little happy. He kept a straight face and didn't look at her. He said in a rough voice, "Stop talking about these useless things."
"I said that before about whether I could rely on you or not just to irritate you. Don't take it to heart. I know you're not the kind of person who would dare to say that." Sui Yu said in a low voice.
Zhao Xiping immediately glared at her.
"I'll cast a net to catch some fish tomorrow and cook fish porridge for you. You didn't eat enough tonight, did you?" Sui Yu said flatteringly.
Sui Liang looked away and walked to the wall, squatting to look at the moon. The moon was so round tonight.
Zhao Xiping wanted to say stubbornly that he didn't want to eat it, but the fish had already been caught. Saying that he didn't want to eat it would make him feel guilty, so he simply kept silent and went straight back to the main room to sleep.
"Brother Liang, let's go back to the room and sleep." Sui Yu was in high spirits.
…
Zhao Xiping was a vengeful person. Because Sui Yu had deliberately angered him, he had not paid any attention to her for several days. He had not even caught any fish and was busy harvesting millet.
After the ten mu of millet had been harvested, the stalks had been cut down and carried back, leaving the field empty. Zhao Xiping took Sui Yu and Sui Liang to trade fields to harvest beans, leaving the camel with them while he went to the government office to collect oxen and farm tools, intending to plow the millet field.
Sui Liang was short, which gave him a height advantage when picking soybean pods in the field. Sui Yu often had to squat or bend over, and maintaining that position for long periods of time either left her legs numb or her back aching. Another problem was that when the sun came out, the pods would dry out and harden, leaving a bloody mark on her hand if she poked them.
While picking beans, Sui Yu also had to watch the direction of the sun's shift, so she could rush back to cook when the time came. Sui Liang also brought back a bag of bean worms to feed the chickens. A large bunch of green and yellow bean worms, entwined and squirming together, made Sui Yu's scalp explode when she looked at them for a second.
But the two hens like Sui Liang very much. Now Sui Liang has become their closest person. Whenever he is at home, the two hens will stay by his side and dig the soil.
"Brother Liang, send a bag of water to your brother-in-law." Sui Yu came in with pig intestines and said, "Come back after you send it. Don't hang around outside."
Sui Liang nodded, filled the water bag with water, and ran away when it was full.
There was a fire burning in the stove. Sui Yu first washed the millet and steamed it. She picked up the half piece of pig intestines soaking in the bucket and squatted in the yard to wash them. She had saved some money from selling fish over the past few days. She went to the cloth shop and bought a foot of linen cloth. She used the remaining money to buy half a piece of pig intestines.
The farm work is too hard, and she is afraid that her health will collapse if she doesn't eat meat properly.
The pig intestines had been washed, but there was still dirt visible to the naked eye. Sui Yu scooped some grass ash into the wooden basin. She rolled up her sleeves and squatted down to rub them. The grass ash removed the oil and odor. After rubbing and rinsing them, the smelly pig manure was washed away.
The firewood in the pot was burned out, so Sui Yu went in to add more firewood and shoveled out a shovel of grass ash and poured it on the pig intestines.
After washing it four times, Sui Liang brought back water and Sui Yu put the pig intestines into the pot to cook.
The spices were expensive, so Sui Yu couldn't bear to buy them. Instead, she bought a large piece of ginger, two taels of thick wine, and some wild onions, and threw them into the pot to remove the fishy smell.
"Brother Liang, come and light the fire." Sui Yu shouted.
She freed her hands and took out the newly bought cloth. After folding it in half, she threaded the needle and sewed the pieces of cloth together. She cut out a crotch and continued sewing. After sewing, she put it on to try it out and found that it was wearable.
This was the first pair of underwear she had worn since she came here. Sui Yu was glad that she didn't have her period during her exile, otherwise she wouldn't know what to use.
The aroma of meat wafted from the pot. Sui Yu hung her washed boxer shorts on the clothesline. She wiped her hands, went in, opened the lid of the pot, and poured the chopped radish in. When the radish was cooked, it could be eaten.
…
The man waiting for food in the field was about to faint from hunger. Zhao Xiping couldn't stand it anymore, so he led the oxen and carried the iron plow back.
"Captain Zhao, your family has cooked something delicious today, and the aroma fills the whole alley." said Aunt Sun at the end of the alley.
A crack appeared on Zhao Xiping's stern face. He nodded and continued walking. As he got closer to home, he could smell the rich aroma of meat.
"Ever since you got married, the smoke from your chimney has been more fragrant than other families'," Du Xiaojiu joked. He raised his chin and looked west, saying, "Your wife is quite good. She doesn't look spoiled, is willing to work in the fields with you, and is busy cooking every day. Unlike the wife of Mr. Qian, his mother scolds him three times a day in the alley."
Zhao Xiping was unaware of this. He went out early and came back late every day. He went to the fields before dawn and did not come back until dark at night. He didn't even know if there was a quarrel in the alley or if someone had died.
"Open the door." Zhao Xiping knocked on the door.
Sui Liang opened the door with a puzzled look on his face. Seeing that it was really him who came back, he ran into the kitchen and pulled Sui Yu out.
"You're back just in time. The pig intestines are freshly stewed." Sui Yu greeted him with a smile, not afraid of his cold face, and asked, "Are you hungry? I think so too. If you weren't hungry, you wouldn't come back."
"Stop talking nonsense and eat when the meal is ready." Zhao Xiping led the cow into the camel pen, turned around and carried two buckets of water in.
"It's sunny outside and the kitchen is hot too. Can we eat in the main room?" Sui Yu asked.
The man nodded. He scooped up water to wash his hands, then went in and picked up the wolfskin and hung it on a rope to dry in the sun. Under the wolfskin was a bamboo mat, and on top of that was a low couch. The food was served, and Sui Yu walked up to it, wearing her shoes, and sat down cross-legged.
There were no tables and chairs in this dynasty. Sui Yu was thinking about making more money so that he could buy a set of tables and chairs when he had enough money.
"By the way, criminal slaves can't do business, right?" she asked.
"Well, after the beans are harvested, I will take you back to Jiuquan and ask Lord Hu to write a guarantee and get a travel permit. Without these things, you can't leave Dunhuang County." Zhao Xiping sat down and started to eat rice with a bowl. After finishing a bowl of rice, he went to eat some vegetables after he had enough food in his stomach.
"Don't cook so late next time," he said.
Sui Yu nodded, then stared at him eagerly and asked in a low voice, "Can the status of a criminal slave be revoked?"
Zhao Xiping said nothing.
"Hey——" Sui Yu grabbed his chopsticks to prevent him from picking up food.
Zhao Xiping looked at her coldly and became more and more presumptuous.
Seeing that he was really angry, Sui Yu put away her chopsticks and wondered what she had said to offend him again.
The three of them ate quietly. Although Zhao Xiping was unhappy, his appetite was not affected at all. He picked up the pig intestines with chopsticks one after another. There was no smell and the meat was chewy. It was not fatty pork, but it was very oily.
"Where did you get the money? Did you buy it with the money you saved from selling fish?" he suddenly asked.
"Well, since you've been unhappy, I made you a delicious meal to make amends." Sui Yu sighed, "I just don't know what I've done to irritate you again."
"I'll give you two strings of cash later," said Zhao Xiping.
"Don't give it to me. I don't want to do it anymore. It's so troublesome to wash pig intestines." Sui Yu glanced at him.
"You can't possibly make up for your crime by performing a major function." Zhao Xiping put down his chopsticks and went to serve himself some rice. Before leaving, he said, "You're asking for too much."
Sui Yu understood that if she wanted to cancel her slavery, she could only hope that Zhao Xiping would make great contributions, provided that he was willing to give up the military achievements he had made at the cost of his life for her.
He misunderstood what she meant, no wonder he was unhappy.
"The truce has been called. I'm just a small fry. It's harder than climbing to the sky to achieve military merit." Zhao Xiping added as he entered the room.
"Okay, I got it." Sui Yu gave him some pig intestines and said, "Eat more. The work in the fields these days has been too hard."
Zhao Xiping paused and said, "If you're tired, just rest at home. If you get sick, not only will it be troublesome, but the treatment and medicine will also cost me money."
"If she dies, you won't have to worry about her anymore. Then you can marry another one..."
"Then I'll strangle you to death right now." Zhao Xiping asked seriously, "How about it?"
"It's okay, you're such a jerk. I care about you, can't you just say something softer?" Sui Yu was unhappy. "Why don't you just tell me to stay home and rest? I'm not even sick yet, but you're already worrying about money. You have a heart of stone, you can't warm it up."
"I don't want you to say caring words. I don't like it."
"Okay, from now on I'll tell you every day that I'll tire you to death, starve you to death, and thirst you to death." Sui Yu scooped a large spoonful of pig intestines into his own bowl, and scooped another spoonful to Sui Liang, saying, "Eat quickly. If others don't appreciate it, we can eat it ourselves. We should be more considerate of ourselves."
Sui Liang ate his meal with a sullen look on his face, not daring to look up.
Zhao Xiping remained indifferent. He finished his meal and left. He went into his bedroom, fiddled around for a while, picked up two strings of copper coins and slapped them on the couch. He said, "Don't go out this afternoon. Go buy half a pig's intestine."
"There's shit in the pig intestines. If I don't wash them, I'll cook them in the pot. They'll stink to death." Sui Yu disgusted him.
Zhao Xiping ignored her, took the ox away, carried the iron plow, and went to work in the fields again with full energy.
"He doesn't know what's good or bad, and his mood is so changeable. He's just like a stinky stone in the toilet, smelly and hard." Sui Yu cursed while washing dishes. She was really convinced. She was humble and submissive, pretending to be obedient and clever, and tried to be considerate and caring like a stone grinder, but this man's attitude remained unchanged, just like a glacier on a snowy mountain.
As the day of returning to Jiuquan drew closer, Sui Yu became more and more uneasy, fearing that Zhao Xiping would go back to see his family and change his mind again after being persuaded by others. What would happen then?
"Brother Liang, I'm going to buy some pig intestines. You can sleep at home for a while." Sui Yu walked out the door and said, "I'll lock the door from the outside. I'll call you when I come back. We'll go to the fields to pick beans."
Sui Liang nodded.
As soon as Sui Yu left, Sui Ling came over. There was a clear slap mark on her face. Seeing that the door was locked, she slapped it hard and left.
Sui Liang heard the noise and came out. He looked through the crack in the door and saw no one, so he went back inside to lie down. He wouldn't tell anyone, so Sui Yu naturally didn't know anyone was knocking on the door. She bought some pig intestines, washed them with grass ash, and marinated them in wine. The sun was not so strong now, so she woke Sui Liang and they went down to the field with baskets to pick beans.
When the basket was too full to lift, Sui Yu went to the millet field and called out, "Captain Zhao, if you're not dead from exhaustion, come and lift the basket."
Zhao Xiping pretended not to hear.
Sui Yu stood there and wasted time with him. She stared at him, her eyes moving back and forth over his face, neck, chest, and thighs, and she would click her tongue from time to time.
Zhao Xiping was annoyed by her look, so he loosened his grip on the iron plow and raised the whip to hit her.
Sui Yu strode away, and she hid far away. After he poured out the bean pods and left, she smiled and went back to the field to pick beans.
…
After plowing the ten acres of millet field, there were only two acres left of the five acres of soybean field. Zhao Xiping, a capable man, joined in, and the three of them picked the two acres of soybeans in two days.
"I will go to see Lord Hu tomorrow and get the pass. You and Sui Liang will come back to Jiuquan with me." After dinner in the evening, Zhao Xiping suddenly announced.
Sui Yu panicked instantly, her legs even weakening as she murmured, "So fast?"
Zhao Xiping glanced at her. It had been almost a month since she entered his home. How could that be considered fast?
Sui Yu quickly washed the pots and dishes. She dried her hands and squatted beside the man's legs. She tilted her head and asked, "Will your mother like me?"
Zhao Xiping looked at her as if she were a fool.
"Then, after I come back from Jiuquan, will you still let me in? You won't give me to another man as a wife, right?" Sui Yu continued to ask, suppressing her shame. "I think you're a good person. I don't want to go to someone else's house again."
"You reminded me..." Zhao Xiping seemed to be thinking.
Sui Yu punched him, but when she saw him glaring at her, she quickly withdrew her hand and stared at him in frustration.
Zhao Xiping couldn't help but laugh. He quickly stood up and went out, saying, "Don't think too much. Go back to your room and sleep early."
"Remember what you said." Sui Yu chased out and shouted.
The next day when the sun rose, Zhao Xiping went to find Mr. Hu to write a guarantee, got a pass and came back to lead the camels. He rode one camel alone, while Sui Yu and Sui Liang rode one together.
The two camels ran wildly for four days, and Sui Yu was about to fall apart. Zhao Xiping slowed down and said they were almost there.
Jiuquan County's fortifications weren't as well-fortified as Dunhuang's. The Zhao family lived in a settlement outside the city. They'd migrated there as a clan thirty years ago, and even now, members of the same clan still lived in the same settlement. When Zhao Xiping showed up, people he knew greeted him and chatted with him. Some even sent their children to report the news before looking at Sui Yu.
"Second Madam, my uncle Xiping has returned with his wife." The boy who delivered the message shouted in a hoarse voice as he entered the room.
"What the hell?" The mallet in Zhao's mother's hand almost hit her hand.
"It's true. I'll be right back." Zhao Xiaomi came back quickly and said, "Mom, hurry up and pack up. My third sister-in-law will be coming in soon."
The three women pounding beans in the yard hurried to clean up the debris. Zhao's mother untied her old headscarf and had just entered the kitchen when she heard voices coming into the yard. She walked out of the kitchen door and saw the girl on the camel. Damn, she looked just like the girl she had fled with, as thin as the crops dying in the yellow earth. She didn't look normal.
Zhao Xiping helped Sui Yu clumsily down, and then carried Sui Liang to the ground. Looking at his family, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Come in, come in, don't stand outside." Mrs. Zhao said.
A group of people squeezed into the main hall. Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu were surrounded by people. Sui Liang was squeezed out and pulled away by the children of the Zhao family.
"Dad, Mom, this is Sui Yu. She's the wife my Shangguan found for me." Zhao Xiping's lips went numb and his scalp stiffened at the mention of the word "wife." Thinking of what he was going to say next, he simply pushed Sui Yu out the door and said, "Go get some water for the camels. Wait outside."
Sui Yu glanced at him nervously and left obediently. A moment later, a loud voice came from the main hall: "No, I don't agree with you marrying her. Are you crazy or stupid enough to marry a criminal slave? If you marry her, the child she gives birth to will also be a slave."
"Twenty years, twenty years of exile. After twenty years, her slavery will be cancelled." Zhao Xiping specifically asked Lord Hu when he went to apply for a travel permit.
"That won't work either." Mother Zhao was furious.
"I can't change it. Captain Li is deliberately trying to harm me. If I don't marry him, I will end up in trouble with Lord Hu." Zhao Xiping explained calmly.
"Then don't join the army, come back and farm." said Zhao's father.
This remark hit Zhao Xiping so hard that he rejected it outright: "Impossible."
"Why don't you find another man to marry her? When the adults ask, your third uncle will say that she is your wife and you two have nothing to do with each other privately." Mrs. Zhao suggested.
"Yes, you still remember your cousin, right? He is in his forties and still has no wife..." Mother Zhao was moved.
"My cousin is old and ugly, and half of his teeth are gone." Zhao Xiaomi couldn't stand it any longer. She said, "You are so vicious."
"You little kid, you know nothing. Get out." Zhao's mother drove her away.
Zhao Xiaomi ran out, shouting, "Third brother, don't listen to my mother. I support you."
Zhao Xiping looked over and out the door. He saw Sui Yu standing listlessly beside the camel's legs. When she saw him looking over, she looked back at him sadly.
"Third sister-in-law, my name is Xiaomi." Zhao Xiaomi leaned over and stared at Sui Yu curiously, saying, "You have beautiful eyes."
Sui Yu sighed and smiled at her.
"He looks good when he smiles." Zhao Xiaomi clapped her hands and lowered her voice, "Don't be afraid. My parents can't control my third brother. He's a stubborn guy and won't listen to anyone."
Sui Yu felt a little relieved.
"Thank you," she said.
Zhao Xiaomi chuckled, and in a moment of excitement, she joined in the shouting: "If my third sister-in-law hadn't fallen on hard times, even if my third brother married into the family, people wouldn't look down on him."
After hearing her instigation, Zhao's mother chased after her and was about to beat her.
Zhao Xiaomi ran away.
Zhao's mother stared at Sui Yu for a few seconds, then walked in and asked, "What do you like about her? She has no butt and no breasts, and she's skinny like a skeleton. What do you like about her?"
Zhao Xiping felt uncomfortable when he heard this. He frowned and said, "Stop talking about it."
"If you don't like her, why marry her?" Brother Zhao didn't understand.
"If I must say, she's smart, knows when to advance and when to retreat, knows how to behave, and has a thick skin. This is one aspect that makes her better than others." Zhao Xiping thought carefully and finally made a decision: "Prepare for it in the next two days. Hold a wedding banquet at home. Once she's married, I'll take her away. I'll pay for the groceries."
After saying that, he put down his hands and walked out.
When Sui Yu saw him come out, she looked at him nervously. Seeing that he was still as naughty as before, her heart settled down.
"Thank you." She squeezed out two tears. All her flattery these days was still useful.
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