Chapter 51 Spring Planting
Zhao Xiping was glared at as soon as he entered the house. He spread his hands and said, "I don't know anything. When Liang Ge'er and I were getting ready to come back, he said he wanted to come to our house for dinner and even brought his own food. I couldn't stop him."
Sui Yu glared at him again and said, "This old Uncle Niu is not a man who is content with what he has to endure." This was referring to what he said the last time he came over.
Zhao Xiping went into the house to serve sour soup, then came out and said, "He never married, and he has no children. He lives a muddled life, eating, playing, and waiting to die. He does things according to his mood. He's restless, but not bad either." He looked at her and asked, "How many people are truly content? Are you one of them?"
"I think you're a quiet person."
Zhao Xiping was choked. He had nothing to say. Whether it was true or not, it didn't seem right.
When it gets dark, the family goes into the kitchen to eat. The oil lamp is lit, and with the light, the food tastes better.
"Why hasn't Uncle Niu married?" Sui Yu asked.
"He is old and short, so no one wants to marry him. There are many soldiers stationed in Dunhuang, mostly men, but most of the women are immigrants who moved here in the past 20 to 30 years. Not everyone can find a wife." Zhao Xiping drank some sour soup and ate two more buns.
"Since the man needs a wife, why put him in a brothel?" Sui Yu muttered softly.
"It's because too many men don't have wives that we have camp prostitutes."
Sui Yu stopped talking, and Zhao Xiping also stopped talking. The three of them finished their meal in silence, washed their feet, and went to bed.
The next day, Sui Yu grabbed her steamed buns and led her camel out early in the morning. After she left, Zhao Xiping washed the pots and bowls, went into the bedroom, changed into the old shoes he usually wore when chopping wood, tied his hair with a piece of cloth, and then went into the toilet to take out the dung bucket.
Sui Liang didn't know what he was going to do. When the strong stench came out, he vomited a few times and ran out the door.
Zhao Xiping snorted. Who is he showing off his dog-like behavior to? Everyone finds it smelly, but he is the only one who doesn't find it smelly?
Sui Liang was standing in the alley far away from home. As soon as Zhao Xiping came out, he turned around and ran again.
"Come back, don't run too far." Zhao Xiping called him, "You stay home and watch the door, I'll be back soon."
When he came back with the empty bucket, he saw Sui Liang stuffing his nose with a piece of cloth. He frowned and asked, "You didn't poop there? You look down on me like that."
Sui Liang covered his ears and turned his head to face the wall without looking at him.
"I'm going to cook at noon. I want to see if you want to eat."
Sui Liang shook his head. He really didn't want to eat lunch. Even though he saw Zhao Xiping washing his hands with his own eyes, he could still smell the stench.
It's so disgusting.
"Okay, you have guts, then just starve." Zhao Xiping ate all seven steamed buns in one breath.
Sui Liang sat under the eaves and watched him, wondering how he managed to eat it.
"Come and boil the pot for me." Zhao Xiping added a pot of water to the pot. The person who was not at home was more particular than the younger one. If she came back and smelled the food, she would nag for a long time again.
He went out to fetch water and clean the toilet. After a long time, he came back to take a shower, wash his hair, clothes, shoes and socks.
The stinky day passed quickly and the sun set. Zhao Xiping saw that Sui Yu had not returned yet, so he hung up the clothes and prepared to cook.
"What do you want to eat tonight? Are you hungry? Make some dumpling soup?" he asked.
Sui Liang shook his head hurriedly. He pushed Zhao Xiping out and closed the kitchen door to prevent anyone from entering.
Zhao Xiping folded his arms and looked at him. Sui Liang shrank his neck in fear, but still stood upright in front of the door to block him.
"So you're not letting me cook?" Zhao Xiping was eager. He pulled up his trouser legs and sat on a rock to dry his hair. He said cheerfully, "Then wait for your sister to come back and cook. I'm not hungry anyway."
The two of them wasted time, one standing and the other sitting, while the cat official lay on the wall and watched. When the sunset glow in the sky faded away, the sky became dark in the blink of an eye.
At this time, Sui Yu's voice was heard in the alley.
Sui Liang ran out.
Zhao Xiping also stood up and walked out slowly. After waiting for a while, Sui Yu came back holding Sui Liang's hand.
"Why did you come out to greet me today?" Sui Yu handed over the camel rope and said, "Give the camel some water. I'll bring it a bundle of hay."
"You go cook, I'll do it."
"What? Haven't you cooked yet?" Sui Yu raised his voice.
Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Liang and said, "Your brother won't let me do it because he thinks my hands stink."
Sui Yu looked into the yard. When she walked in, there was a foul smell. She covered her nose and rushed into the kitchen. It was okay. There was no smell in the house.
"Well done." Sui Yu praised. She rolled up her sleeves and went out to fetch water to wash her hands. She said, "Brother Liang, light the fire. I'll wash the rice. The water tank is empty. Captain Zhao, it's time to fetch water."
"The water I fetched was also stinky." Zhao Xiping couldn't stand the siblings. He walked in and said, "How many times have I washed my hands? How can it still be stinky? Have I grown fat?"
When Sui Liang saw him, he staggered, looking like a dog afraid of getting stained by shit.
Zhao Xiping stared at him, took a step forward and touched his face.
Sui Liang jumped up, opened his mouth and screamed silently, rubbed his face, and jumped and stomped his feet.
Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Yu. Sui Yu was not too disappointed. She winked at him and asked him to fetch water.
"Go wash your face." Sui Yu started washing the pot.
It was already dark, and cooking bean porridge and then cooking vegetables was too time-consuming. It would probably be midnight by the time they finished eating, so Sui Yu made dumpling soup instead. While the water was boiling, she kneaded the dough. Once the water was boiling, she kneaded the dumplings, spreading them into the pot in circles. She then stirred a lump of lard into the water, sprinkled some salt on it, and then beat two eggs and poured them into the pot.
A pot of egg drop and dumpling soup was cooked, and the man who carried water came back. This time he fetched hot water and washed his hands carefully under their noses, rubbing them with a handful of grass ash.
"Is it clean now?" he asked.
"It's clean, it's clean." Sui Yu smiled. She handed the bowl over and said, "Want some pickled radish? I'll go cut half a bowl."
"No, I'm not that hungry." Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Liang and said, "He thinks I stink. He didn't eat lunch, so I ate all seven buns."
Sui Liang had never seen this before, so it was no wonder he reacted so strongly. Sui Yu had only seen it as a child in the countryside in her previous life, and she was also quite disgusted with it.
That night, when she went to bed, she lay quietly in her position and did not sleep side by side with the man.
A sneer suddenly rang out from the dark and quiet room. Sui Yu opened his eyes and asked, "Why are you laughing if you're not sleeping?"
"I'm going to pick cow dung to fertilize the land tomorrow," said Zhao Xiping.
“Where can I pick up the cow dung?”
"In areas where the government raises cattle, every year before spring plowing, you can get one load of cow dung per mu of land as fertilizer." Zhao Xiping explained in detail how to crush the dung, mix it with water, and then sprinkle it on the fields. After successfully disgusting her, he said, "Cow dung is also dirty. I stink all over if I use it. Don't let me wash dishes or cook."
"I can wash the dishes and cook by myself, I don't need you."
Zhao Xiping was just what he wanted. He closed his eyes and fell asleep in a wonderful mood, but suddenly he turned over and sat up. He leaned over to the head of the bed, supporting himself on one knee. Before Sui Yu could react, two warm hands covered her face with precise and fierce force, rubbing it twice quickly before withdrawing triumphantly.
"Zhao Xiping!" Sui Yu yelled. She grabbed Sui Liang's legs and kicked the man on the other side. "Are you annoying? You're so childish."
Zhao Xiping didn't care if he got kicked a few times, as he felt good anyway.
After a noisy night, when the dew fell, the yard, which had been filled with a strange smell, became refreshed.
When Sui Yu got up to cook, she found that the smell was gone, and she happily went into the kitchen.
After breakfast, Zhao Xiping carried his camel out in a basket. He first walked around the fields, then led the camel to the cattle pasture. The imperial court maintained four to five thousand official cattle, and the daily accumulation of manure was considerable. He asked the steward to register the manure, then took a shovel to shovel the manure. He thought that people who didn't know the value of the land would despise it. Such fertile land was something money couldn't buy. Soldiers like him could carry off the fertile land, but the relocated volunteers didn't have such privileges.
It took two days to transport twenty loads of cow dung to the field. Zhao Xiping then used camels to transport water. He mixed one bucket of water with one piece of cow dung, stirred it evenly, and poured it on the field.
Sui Yu had nothing to do at home, so she took Sui Liang to help in the fields. She was not needed to stir the manure water, so she and Sui Liang were responsible for leading the camels to the river to fetch water.
There were many people fetching water by the river. Strong women would pour buckets of water directly into the buckets hanging on either side of the camel's belly in just a few seconds. Sui Yu didn't have that much strength, so she and Sui Liang could only scoop water into buckets with a ladle, scooping half a bucket and then pouring it into the bucket on the camel's back.
As the weather changed and the first spring rain was about to fall, every household went out early and came back late to fertilize the land, and men, women, young and old all took part.
Sui Ling was also taken to the fields. She was reluctant, but she couldn't resist. The old woman constantly compared her to Sui Yu, saying that Sui Yu had done this and that and had ruined her. She even disliked Sui Yu now, and when they met her by the river, she ignored him and pretended not to see him.
Sui Yu was just like her. They disliked each other and pretended not to know each other when they met.
"Isn't that your cousin?" Sister Lamei asked quietly.
Sui Yu shook his head, "I don't know him."
Suddenly, heavy and chaotic footsteps were heard in the distance. Sui Yu stood up and looked over. A group of dark people were coming towards him.
"These are the laborers who built the Great Wall, repaired beacon towers, and dug canals and dams. Every year when spring plowing season arrives, they stop what they're doing and come to support us," Lamei said. "Farming in the northwest is better than back home. The government is in charge, and all we have to do is obey. We don't have to worry about anything else."
Sui Yu watched from afar as a massive, dark mass of servants approached. Like a swarm of ants, they entered the fields, then separated at the sound of a whistle, each one bending over to head for their own plot. She and Sui Liang each led a camel up the ridge. Her own plot was also assigned five servants, each working silently.
In one day, the remaining ten acres of land were covered with manure, and then the five servants moved to the farmland in the southeast to help the volunteers work.
It was raining, and the rain in the northwest was thin and sparse. After a day of rain, the soil in the ground was wet half a finger deep. When you dug deeper, you found dry soil. The manure that had been applied before was just right and carried deep into the soil by the rain.
Sui Yu stood at the edge of the field waiting for Zhao Xiping to come back. She looked into the distance. It was a rainy day and there were still workers working in the fields in the distance.
"Before the spring plowing is over, you don't have to bring food to your cousins anymore. They will then be scattered everywhere to help plow the land and sow seeds," said Zhao Xiping.
"Okay, we'll be busy from now on." Sui Yu followed him back and said, "Isn't it time to pick up the lamb?"
"Um."
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