Chapter 25 You Have Changed Too Much
Ten days after leaving home, rats had taken advantage of his absence to gnaw through the food cabinets and smash the oil cans, devouring all the remaining lard inside. Sui Yu hurriedly checked the large earthenware jars containing millet and ash flour. Fortunately, the lid was weighed down by a heavy stone, preventing the rats from getting in and destroying the food.
"Get a cat! These rats are running amok." She carried a firewood stick and searched for rat holes along the cracks in the wall, cursing, "You idiots! Don't let me catch you."
Zhao Xiping brought back some grass for the camel. He didn't even have time to drink a sip of water before moving the food cabinet out. He said, "Don't look for it. Rats can climb down from the roof beams."
"Then let's get a cat." Sui Yu came out carrying a tree stump. He put out the fire before leaving home, and now he had no fire to cook.
"I'm going out to borrow a light." She walked out.
"The stump is burnt out. I'll replace it later. You go do something else first." Zhao Xiping stopped her and said, "Go to the woodshed and get a stump and put it by the wall to dry in the sun."
Sui Yu asked Sui Liang to fetch it while she carried a basin of water into the house to scrub the dust. The house had mud walls, so dust fell a lot. If it wasn't scrubbed for a day, it would become dusty. The bamboo mats on the floor also collected a lot of dust, leaving footprints wherever they stepped.
Outside, Zhao Xiping was chopping wood with a machete, trying to repair the food cabinet. Unfortunately, his tools were awkward, and the holes the rats had gnawed only grew larger as he worked. Losing his patience, he went inside, grabbed a handful of copper coins from a box, and then carried the food cabinet out to find a carpenter.
"I'm going out for a while," he said.
Sui Yu took the water out and knew where he was going by his movements. She splashed the dirty water in the yard and said, "Brother Liang, sweep the yard."
One of the brother and sister was sweeping the yard outside, while the other was wiping mats in the house. The two chickens that were fostered at the neighbor's house heard the noise and ran back, clucking with their breasts puffed out.
Sui Liang dropped the broom and ran into the woodshed, quietly grabbed a handful of soybean meal used to feed the camels and threw it into the chicken coop to feed the chickens.
"Brother Liang, is your sister at home?" Sui Ling walked in cautiously.
Sui Yu heard the sound and opened the door, "Why are you here?"
"Can't come?" The obvious coldness in his words made Sui Ling even angrier.
Sui Yu brought out a basin and sprinkled water on the yard to suppress the dust. She said seriously, "Zhao Xiping doesn't like me associating with you. Don't come here unless it's important."
Sui Ling's face was full of sarcasm, "You just listen to him?"
"Not everyone is willing to take Liang Ge'er and me in."
"How does he treat you? Qian Wei treats me badly, and his mother is even more mean. She starts finding fault as soon as she opens her eyes. All she does is scold me when she opens her mouth to eat. If I just sit down to rest for a while, I become an eyesore to her. She scolds me endlessly at the top of her lungs..." Sui Ling didn't care how Sui Yu was doing. She just came here to vent her emotions.
After sweeping the yard, Sui Yu went into the woodshed, grabbed a polished stick with a pointed end, and took the machete with her. She squatted beside the stump and began to chop wood chips. On the way to exile, she had seen the conscripts making fires by drilling wood together.
"Are you listening to me?" Sui Ling stopped talking when she heard the sound of chopping wood.
"Your mother-in-law is watching you so closely, and you still run out?" Sui Yu said without even looking up, "Go back and make dinner quickly, otherwise she won't come to my house and scold you when she's not around anymore."
"She doesn't let me cook because she thinks I waste things." Sui Ling can only relax during the three meals a day.
She walked over and stood against the wall. She saw Sui Yu kneeling on the ground, holding a stick and rubbing it hard, with his waist bent and neck hanging down. It was exactly the same posture as the doorman's wife whom she had met by chance. She seemed to be able to see Sui Yu's old appearance at a glance.
Sui Ling looked away at the camels grazing in the pen and asked in a low voice, "Have you visited my eldest brother? He's building the Great Wall in the far west."
Sui Yu was stunned for a moment, her hands slowed down a bit, and the sparks disappeared. She put down the stick, shook her hands, and said, "No, I promised Zhao Xiping that I would not associate with you. You should leave too. If he sees you when he comes back later, he will be very unhappy."
Sui Ling was completely disappointed in her. She looked at Sui Yu as if she were a stranger and cursed, "You've completely changed. You're a lady from a noble family, yet you obey the orders of an illiterate soldier, groveling to the point of being spineless. You were so arrogant during your exile, looking down on everyone. How did you become like this now? You have no opinions of your own."
"If it were as you said, I wouldn't have let you in." Sui Yu laughed. She looked up at Sui Ling and said, "I was the one who misjudged you. I thought you were raised too innocently by your family, so you were stupid and willful. I didn't expect you to be quite clear-headed, just too opinionated. No, I was wrong. You are still stupid, a lady from a wealthy family? Or are you me? You've only had a few days of peace and quiet? And you're acting like a lady from a wealthy family again?"
Sui Ling didn't listen to her and still insisted, "You have changed so much..."
Sui Yu admitted this, "I have changed a lot. I want to live, I want to have enough food, I want to eat meat every meal. I don't want to live in hardship anymore, and I don't want to be reduced to a plaything. I hope my life will get better bit by bit." This dynasty is not her own era. Ordinary people have no human rights, let alone a slave like her. Even if she has a thousand ideas, she can't break the shackles on her own. So she has to please people, please this dynasty, submit to it, and live long enough to have a future.
"Sui Ling, I'll give you one last piece of advice. Recognize your current situation and don't dwell on your past days of wealth and prosperity. No one will look up to you just because you were once a daughter of a wealthy family." Sui Yu pushed her out with a stick and said, "If you ever make a fool of yourself, think about those nights you spent in the brothel. Don't go back in there again."
A gust of wind blew and Sui Ling shivered.
Sui Yu closed the door in her face. She stood in the yard in a daze for a long time. Only after she came to her senses did she continue to rub the fire.
Zhao Xiping came back carrying the repaired food cabinet. He lowered his head and didn't look ahead until he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He turned his head, recognized the person, and lowered his head again.
"Sui Yu said you don't allow her to associate with me."
Zhao Xiping ignored her and walked straight past her.
"Open the door," he shouted.
Sui Liang ran to open the door. After the person went in, he stuck his head out to look, then quickly retracted his head and closed the door again.
The food cabinet fell to the ground, smoke rose from the tree stump, and a handful of sawdust ignited a flame. Sui Yu breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "What should we do next? Let it burn, or add more wood?"
"Add more firewood." Zhao Xiping stared at her.
Sui Yu ran into the kitchen and broke off a piece of cow dung, then ran out and threw it onto the flames. Cow dung is durable, and by the time it is completely burned, a hole can be burned out of the tree stump.
"She came to ask me if you were good to me, and I said you were a good person." Sui Yu went to fetch water to wash his hands and said, "There's no water in the water tank."
Zhao Xiping had just moved the food cabinet into the kitchen, and when he came out, he picked up the shoulder pole and hooked the bucket. As he passed by, he said, "Don't forget what you promised."
"I know, she probably won't come again." Sui Yu shrugged. She went into the kitchen to scoop millet and wash it. Sui Liang brought some burning cow dung to plug the stove hole, and then took a piece of dry dung out to continue burning.
The fire in the stove was burning brightly. Sui Yu broke off a few pieces of firewood and piled them on the ground. He shouted outside, "Brother Liang, come and watch the fire. I'm going to soak some dried radish and go buy some oil."
She went into the house to get the money, then went out again with the jar, saying, "You come and lock the door. Your brother-in-law will come back with water and then open it."
Sui Liang ran over and looked outside, but Sui Ling was no longer in the alley.
"When did you come back?" asked Aunt Sun at the end of the alley.
"I didn't enter the city until after noon."
"Has the wedding banquet taken place?"
Sui Yu smiled and nodded.
"It's already been done in our hometown, can we do it here? The gift money that Captain Zhao gave us hasn't been taken back yet." Aunt Sun kindly reminded.
Sui Yu was not sure and just said to listen to Zhao Xiping.
She went to the oil shop to buy a can of soybean oil. When she came back, the millet porridge was already boiled. Zhao Xiping sat by the stove and started a fire. While adding firewood, he used the time to sharpen his machete.
"Are you going to bathe in the river tonight?" Sui Yu asked as he entered the room. "The grass net is hanging on the wall. If you're going to bathe in the river, please help me lower the net. I'll sell the fish and buy some meat to make oil. I noticed you like dishes cooked with animal oil."
The man slowed down in sharpening his knife. He nodded and said, "If you want to buy meat, I'll give you the money."
"How much money do you have?" Sui Yu turned around and looked at him, then asked, "Have you received your salary this year? Is it paid at the beginning of the year or at the end of the year?"
"New Year's hair, I should still have ten or so strings of cash in my hand."
"There are still three months until the Chinese New Year. Don't spend too much money on it. Save it for emergencies." Sui Yu wrung out the washed radish strips and asked thoughtfully, "How about having mixed radish strips tonight?"
"what ever."
Let her do what she wants and then she won’t fry. There is porridge cooking in the pot, and if she wants to fry vegetables, she will have to scrape the rice and wash the pot, which is too troublesome.
"I'll think of a way to make money. If we make money, we'll eat better. If not, we'll just have to suffer a little. If we don't have to spend a lot of money in these three months, I'll buy more pork during the New Year and stew it for you." Sui Yu picked up his previous words.
Zhao Xiping didn't think he had much to spend, except for the medicine and medical treatment for the two skinny guys at home who were sick. He put down his polished machete, went into the house, took out four strings of cash, and put them in the wooden box where she usually took out her money. He came out and said, "I'll keep six strings of cash and give you four strings to buy food. You can use it as you see fit. You can't live a poor life. Not eating well is bad for your health. I do the hard work and can't afford to waste time with you."
"I won't let you waste time with me. Don't worry, my sister and I will make sure you have enough to eat even if we starve to death." Sui Yu turned around with a gloomy face.
Zhao Xiping seemed not to notice her sarcasm. He sat down and lit the fire in a good mood.
He made her angry before the meal, but during the meal, Zhao Xiping felt his ears were very quiet. He had a good appetite and drank four bowls of porridge before putting down his chopsticks.
"The pot can still hold half a bowl. You should eat it too, so as to avoid attracting mice at night." Sui Yu took the bowl and served it to him.
"Are you full?"
"It doesn't matter if we're full or not, as long as we're not starving to death." Sui Yu handed him the bowl with a fake smile and said, "Just eat until you're full and fat."
Zhao Xiping nodded in agreement.
Sui Yu's face fell for a second, but after a moment's thought, she smiled again and said, "Don't you think I'm caring and considerate of you now? Or do you like me?"
Zhao Xiping lost his appetite instantly. He put down his bowl and said with disgust, "You should talk less."
Sui Yu picked up the bowl to wash, muttering, "Don't think about it, I'm talking to two people, right, Liang Ge'er?"
Sui Liang nodded repeatedly.
The man sneered. He went into the house, got his clothes, and went out to bathe in the river.
"Grass net." Sui Yu ran out to remind.
"I got it." Zhao Xiping walked out and then came back. He called Sui Liang and said, "It's not cold yet. You should go take a bath in the river too."
Sui Liang refused and just sat there motionless.
"He's taking a shower at home." Sui Yu said. Sui Liang was timid and would not go with others after dark.
After Zhao Xiping left, Sui Yu asked Sui Liang to light the fire. She used a steamer to boil half a bucket of hot water and added cold water to wash. It was September and the nights were a bit cold.
At night, the three of them slept separately. Sui Yu looked at the wolf skin hanging on the wall in the moonlight and asked, "Did you kill the wolf yourself?"
"Um."
"Are we still hunting wolves this year?"
Zhao Xiping turned over and ignored her. The wolves didn't live in the ground. He could just pick up the knife and chop them down.
"Auntie Sun asked me today whether you would still hold a wedding banquet at home, and how many tables of wine you should have to get the gift money back." Sui Yu changed the subject.
"No." Zhao Xiping felt ashamed, and even more so, he hated the sympathy of his brothers who came to drink with him.
Just as Sui Yu expected.
…
At dawn, when Sui Yu was cooking, Zhao Xiping went to the river to collect the nets and brought back two buckets of water. Since she came to this house, the family has been using a lot of water.
However, there were no fish in the net, and the bottom of the grass net was rotten. Zhao Xiping brought back a rotten net and said, "I'll come back to fix it tonight. Your weaving is not good enough."
"Okay, let me thank you first." Sui Yu gave him some food and asked, "What kind of work are you doing today? Pulling bean stalks or chopping sorghum?"
"First, pull out the bean stalks. Pull them up and dry them in the sun for two days, then bring them back. Chop up the thin stalks and feed them to the camels in winter, and use the thick stalks for firewood." Zhao Xiping glanced at her and said, "You and Sui Liang go cut goldenrod, cut them, and dry them in the fields. Then bring them back."
Sui Yu followed his arrangements.
After dinner, Zhao Xiping led the camel and took the two of them north. He planted two acres of golden flower grass, which camels love to eat, on the sandy land near the sand hill. As long as the roots are not pulled out, it can continue to grow, and one crop can last for two or three years.
Sui Yu went over to take a look and saw that it was alfalfa. There was no frost yet and the alfalfa was green.
"The camel won't run far, so don't worry about it," Zhao Xiping instructed. "Go back early at noon and cook some food for me and bring it to the fields."
"OK."
Two camels trudged into the field, munching on alfalfa. Sui Yu led Sui Liang to the other side to cut grass. Zhao Xiping watched for a moment, feeling confident that nothing would go wrong, and turned back. He went back to buy four baskets of radishes from Aunt Sun and carried them back. He buried them in the sand pit in the camel pen; they would last the winter.
The family of three was busy at both ends. The bean stalks were pulled out of the soil and dried in two days. The alfalfa was spread on the sandy soil that absorbed heat and dried in two hours. The camel, which had just rested for two days, started working again, pulling hay during the day and bean stalks at night.
On a moonlit night, Sui Liang was watching the fire in the kitchen, while Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping were busy outside. The woman was stepping on the bean stalks to level the pile, while the man was standing on the ground, picking up bundles of bean stalks and throwing them onto the pile.
On the other side of the gate, the haystack was higher than the courtyard wall.
"Captain Zhao, don't forget to collect the rations tomorrow." The grain officer passed by and announced.
"Okay, I won't forget it." Zhao Xiping sighed. The grain jar at home was empty. For the first time, he felt the pressure of being chased by his mouth.
Just as the man was about to leave the alley, Zhao Xiping suddenly remembered something. He dropped the bundle of bean stalks and ran after him, calling out to him, "Grain Officer Zhou, do you have any extra cat officers at the grain station? I want to get one. My house is infested with rats."
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