Chapter 170 One plays the villain, the other plays the hero
Zhao Xiping rode a camel to the foot of the Great Wall in the north and found snow that had not yet melted in a low-lying hillside. He spread the fox skin with a stained corner in the snow and rubbed it repeatedly. The fox skin stained with blood gradually lost its dark color, and the salt-like snow grains turned reddish-gray. The gray fox skin was washed clean.
As the sky darkened, the slaves who were repairing the Great Wall stopped working. Amid the sound of heavy footsteps, Zhao Xiping rode away on his camel.
"Brother-in-law, my sister has already taken the baby back home." Sui Liang said.
"Okay, I understand. I just came to ask." Zhao Xiping pulled the reins and asked, "Are you coming back?"
"I'm not going back. I'll stay here. By the way, when are you moving in?"
The main courtyard of the guesthouse had already been decorated, and Sui Liang had been living there for half a year. Because the house was built when Sui Yu was pregnant, Sui Yu had never been in it for fear of harming the fetus.
"I'll go back and ask her." Zhao Xiping patted the camel with his knee and said, "Then I'll go back."
When he got home, he found Sui Yu packing the baby's clothes and blankets. The diapers had already been packed. Zhao Xiping understood at a glance, so it seemed he didn't need to ask.
"We'll move to the guesthouse tomorrow," said Sui Yu.
"Okay." Zhao Xiping walked to the bedside and found the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, with its big eyes open, tilting its head to look at the oil lamp on the box. He picked the child up and said, "I thought you were sleeping. You are so good. You didn't make a fuss even though you woke up."
Sui Yu leaned over and flicked her tongue at the cub, "Hey, whose cub is this? He's so cute."
The cub bounced his legs happily.
"You haven't eaten yet?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"I ate, but I was hungry when I got home. Meng Ma cooked dumplings for me, but she didn't wait for you. Go to the kitchen and tell her to boil some water and make two bowls for you." Sui Yu pressed the clothes in the box and said, "He's such a tiny child, but he has more clothes than the two of us combined."
"Now that the fox fur is clean, I'll ask a tailor to sew a hat for me tomorrow?" asked Zhao Xiping.
"Okay, you can go order fifteen more rattan bows while you're at it." Sui Yu put down the little boy's fur shoes and walked to the man's legs. She reached out and touched the man's face, saying, "Thank you is too polite, but I still want to say thank you."
Zhao Xiping was silent. When Fujibō was mentioned, he understood why these words were spoken.
"Be well prepared and come back safely." He raised his hand and put it around Sui Yu's waist. After a long silence, he said, "Do you want me to accompany you?"
Sui Yu shook his head, "Don't give up all the achievements you've made on the battlefield for me. It's not easy for you to get to where you are now."
There were footsteps approaching outside the door. Zhao Xiping looked out and saw that it was Grandma Yin coming.
"Sir, the water in the pot has boiled. Should we cook the dumplings now or wait a while?" asked Grandma Yin.
"I'll cook it now," Sui Yu said. After the footsteps faded, she looked down at the man in front of her and said, "You're a captain in the army, and I have a guesthouse for caravans to stay in. After we leave the border, if we encounter these caravans, they will more or less take care of us. I have servants by my side, so I'll be fine."
Zhao Xiping said "hmm" lightly, he also thought so.
Thinking that the dumplings should be cooked, Zhao Xiping carried the baby to the kitchen to eat, while Sui Yu continued to pack clothes, shoes and hats in the house.
The next day, after Zhao Xiping finished his morning training, he went to the guesthouse first, brought a camel to transport the packed clothes, shoes and bedding, and Sui Yu also rode on the camel with the baby in his arms.
The master courtyard to the north of the west kitchen is not very big. Its layout is similar to that of the houses in the military settlement. There is no livestock pen or kitchen, only three bedrooms and a large courtyard.
The cub was carried out by Sui Liang. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping were making the bed in the room. Just as they were done, Sui Liang came in like the wind.
"Brother-in-law, hurry up, the kid is peeing."
Zhao Xiping went out to take over. Sui Liang was wrapped in a swaddle, so he was not dirty. However, the swaddle was wet, which was difficult to wash and dry.
"Still laughing." Sui Liang patted the kid gently, "You need to pee, don't you know how to say it?"
Sui Yu brought diapers and pants. Zhao Xiping asked Sui Liang to bring half a basin of water. He took off the pants of the kid and washed them carefully.
"What should we do with this swaddling cloth?" Sui Liang asked, "It will smell like urine when it dries."
"Take it apart and take out the wool. Wash both the wool and the cloth. Dry the wool before stuffing it in." Sui Yu went to get the scissors.
"What a hassle." Sui Liang muttered.
But after the baby was changed and washed, a clean child was placed in front of him, and Sui Liang took him away with a smile on his face.
Half a day passed in the busy work.
In the afternoon, when the kid had eaten and fallen asleep, Sui Yu asked Yin Po to sit by the bed and watch over him. She called Gan Da and Gan Er, as well as the ten private slaves she bought last autumn, and asked them to learn stick fighting from Zhao Xiping.
As for herself, because she had to breastfeed her child, she did not dare to make any big movements and could only practice her aim with the bow and arrow.
The escorts came over and they stood aside to watch.
When Sui Yu took a breath, someone came over and asked, "Shopkeeper Yu, what is this?"
"Let them practice so they can be useful when something happens. I can't rely on just an old man and a child to look after a guesthouse this big as mine."
The escort nodded.
"Are you guys leaving soon?" Sui Yu asked.
"Yes, we'll be leaving in two days." The escort looked east and said, "It's time for us to go home."
"When will you come next time?" Zhao Xiping came over and started talking.
"Next spring, maybe the year after, or even this autumn. If there's a caravan paying, we'll come." The escort glanced westward and said, "Marquis Changluo avenged the murder of our colonel for the Kingdom of Kucha. Since then, caravans have been less bullied when they venture out of the border. Caravans are traveling to and from the Western Regions in increasing numbers, and our escorts' income has also risen, making them very popular with merchants. I plan to work here for another five or six years, earn more money, and then open a martial arts school in my hometown. I won't have to travel far and wide to earn a living."
"Very good." Zhao Xiping nodded.
After he finished speaking, Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu both heard the baby crying. They looked over and saw that it was Grandma Yin carrying the baby out.
"I'll go back for a while, you stay here and watch." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Xiping nodded.
With a "bang", Liu Yaer was exhausted and lost focus, and the stick hit Xiao Chunhong's shoulder.
Zhao Xiping looked over and said, "Carry three loads of water tonight and then go back to sleep."
Liu Yaer's face flushed, she nodded hesitantly, picked up the stick and continued practicing.
"Captain Zhao, you are using them as soldiers for training." An escort officer joked.
Zhao Xiping smiled and said, "I also practiced it bit by bit. I am very hard on myself and I am not polite to others."
"Shall we come over and practice together tomorrow?" another escort said.
"We'll be leaving in two days, so you'd better take some rest." Zhao Xiping declined politely.
When the sun sets in the west and the cold comes again, Zhao Xiping rides a camel back to the city for evening training in the training ground. The twelve slaves who were practicing stick fighting then disperse with their bodies almost falling apart.
Gan Da and Gan Er took Zhang Shun and Li Wu back to the guesthouse to boil water, and eight female slaves headed by Xiao Chunhong went to the west kitchen to help make pancakes.
When the merchants were preparing to leave, each caravan had to stock up on dry food, such as pancakes, fried noodles, fried rice, and fried beans. Since they could buy these at the guesthouse, they would not go to the city to buy them.
In the evening, Sui Yu went out to digest her food. She heard the sound of water by the river and asked, "Who is still by the river so late?"
"It's me, Liu Yaer." Liu Ya said softly, "I made a mistake this afternoon, and the adults punished me to carry three buckets of water."
This was quite novel. It was the first time Sui Yu had seen Zhao Xiping punish someone. She couldn't help but ask, "What's the mistake?"
"I slipped out of my hand when I was using the stick and hit Xiao Chunhong." Liu Ya said hesitantly.
She was staggering over from the river, carrying two buckets of water. As they got closer, Sui Yu could see that her arms were shaking and weak, and her hands holding the buckets were useless, so half of the water in the buckets spilled.
"Forget it, go back to your room and rest." Sui Yu said, "No need to fetch water, I'll go back and talk to him."
Liu Ya was a little hesitant, as she was quite afraid of the man in the house.
"What? My words don't work?" Sui Yu smiled.
"No, no." Liu Ya hurriedly shook her head. "I'll carry this load of water back, and I won't carry it again."
"Yeah." Sui Yu stood there and watched her leave. When Liu Yaer came out of the west kitchen and walked into the second guest house, she also turned around and went into the house.
"You asked me to go out just to be a good person?" Sui Yu asked as he entered the room.
Zhao Xiping turned his head to look at her and said, "Have you done good?"
"I didn't let your kindness go to waste." Sui Yu walked up behind him and pounded his shoulder with his fist. "Are you planning to play the villain and let me play the hero?"
"Well, fear me and respect you." Zhao Xiping held her hand and gently pulled it. Sui Yu lay on his shoulder. He turned his head and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think it's great." Sui Yu smiled and kissed him.
"Can I..."
Sui Yu glanced at the cub on the bed.
Zhao Xiping dragged over a wooden bed, put wolfskin on the bottom, put the cub in it and covered it with a mattress. Now no one was bothering anyone else.
After not having slept together for a long time, the boat rod entered the alley, the long-frozen snow-capped peaks encountered the spring breeze, the winter snow melted, the spring water gurgled, and after the thunder, the spring snake came out of its nest.
Have a good night's sleep.
The next morning, Zhao Xiping went out for morning training in high spirits. Liu Yaer met him in the kitchen. He seemed to have forgotten what happened yesterday and had completely put his mind at ease.
After Sui Yu got up early to eat, she instructed, "Xiao Chunhong, the adults told me that your arm strength is not good enough. You should knead and roll the dough more these days to avoid mistakes and punishment. Cut the dough and spread it on a winnowing basket to dry. When it is dry, put it away. You don't have to rush to knead and roll the dough when you cook it."
A merchant who was having breakfast heard this and asked, "Can we also buy some rolled noodles to eat on the way?"
"Sure. When you're on the road, boil a pot of water, throw in a few handfuls of noodles, and boil them for a few seconds before you can eat them. Then mix them with my homemade sauce and pickled radish, and the taste is almost the same as what I sell here." Sui Yu's goal is to make money.
"Okay, prepare ten kilograms of noodles for me."
"Also prepare ten kilograms of noodles, two cans of sauce and twenty kilograms of pickled radish for me," said another merchant.
Sui Yu called Sui Liang and asked him to use the wooden board to keep accounts.
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