Chapter 206
When Sui Yu was taking the kid to wash his face and soak his feet, Zhao Xiping brought in a small wooden bed. Sui Yu paused for a moment when he saw it, and then his voice became lower.
The boy was unhappy, but when he saw his father throw his clothes into the small wooden bed, he started talking to his mother excitedly again.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
Lying in bed, Sui Yu hugged the little boy and told him about the journey, such as the towering snow-capped mountains, the rushing rivers, and the plateaus that were as high as the sky... Listening to her soft and slow narration, the little boy fell asleep with a smile on his face.
"Falling asleep?" Zhao Xiping came in from outside.
"Wait a little longer, he probably isn't asleep yet." Sui Yu waved for him to lie down, and she asked him if the kid cried after she left.
Zhao Xiping certainly wouldn't bring her to tears by telling her sad things. He picked out some fun stories to tell her, like how Sui Liang took his cubs to the parade ground every day, or how the cat official had lost five or six pounds in the Qianhusuo house after two months...
When the cub's breathing became steady and long, Zhao Xiping wrapped him in a mattress and moved him to the small wooden bed. Then it was time for the couple to have an intimate communication.
Considering that Sui Yu was tired, the two of them went to bed after having a great time.
When the rooster crowed, the room was still dark. Zhao Xiping opened his eyes and looked at the woman in his arms. He smoothed away the long hair that fell on her face. Sui Yu woke up with a start and realized that she was already home. She sighed and closed her eyes again.
Zhao Xiping patted her back as if he was coaxing a child.
Sui Yu smiled and slept for a while in his arms.
Sui Yu had slept soundly last night and hadn't felt the itchiness of the chilblains on her legs and feet. Now that she was in a light sleep, she arched her body, put her legs and feet into the man's hands, and said vaguely, "Scratch it for me."
There was a movement in the crib under the bed. Zhao Xiping was startled and sat up suddenly. Before the baby could open his eyes, he moved the child back to Sui Yu's arms.
The cub opened his eyes in a daze and saw Sui Yuru mumbling for his mother as if in a dream.
"Be good, baby." Sui Yu hugged him and said softly, "It's not dawn yet, you should sleep a little longer."
The kid opened his eyes wide, he climbed up with his arms and stared at Sui Yu. He was not dreaming. He cried out "Wow", rushed over, hugged Sui Yu's neck and called her mother.
Hot tears fell on her face, and Sui Yu's vision blurred. She responded one by one, pulled up the mattress and covered the two of them with it.
Zhao Xiping breathed a sigh of relief. The kid finally spoke.
The kid cried, wiped his tears and felt a little embarrassed. Sui Yu tickled him and made him laugh until he cried, and then he felt at ease.
"What's the deal with the merchant delivering a message?" Sui Yu inquired. She had only just returned when she discovered that the boy's ability to express himself was limited. He could only manage four words at a time. Beyond that, his words became muffled, likely only understood by himself. Even though he couldn't speak, he could understand adults quite well.
"When the merchants knew you'd entered the border, they'd tease him into looking for you, then try to get whatever he wanted." When the merchants were busy, Zhao Xiping had to train him morning and night, as well as patrol the city, so he couldn't always be with the cub. Sui Liang inevitably had to deal with the merchants when he was with him. Those annoying merchants, when free, loved to tease the child like a puppy, and Sui Liang even argued with them about it.
"The child cried, and they gave him money to buy candy. At that time, I thought you would be back soon, so I told the boy clearly that he knew the merchants would meet you, and if they asked if you could help them find their mother, he would give them money. If they had no money, he would give them food."
"Poor little thing." Sui Yu patted the little cub's head and praised him, "My cub is really smart. Those merchants who took your money and ate your food told me. I knew you missed me, so I hurried back."
The kid smiled with his lips pursed, feeling both shy and proud.
There was a noise next door. It was Zhao's father and mother getting up. Sui Yu touched the baby's belly and said, "Let's get up too. The baby needs to pee."
The family of three opened the door and came out. It was just dawn outside. The escorts had already gotten up early to practice martial arts. The door of the guesthouse was open and blue smoke was coming out of the boiler room.
The newly built teahouse is on the south side of the kitchen yard. Zhao Xiping bought two acres of land to build the house. The walls and roof of the teahouse are high, and it is very spacious inside. A one-person-high earthenwork is built in the middle, which can accommodate ten people walking around.
Sui Yu walked around inside and discovered that there were holes dug in the wall to hold oil lamps. There were four holes on one wall. If all of them were lit, the room would be much brighter. She smiled at the man, thinking it was quite clever.
"I haven't found any acrobatic troupes outside. The music halls in Chang'an are only for wealthy merchants and the powerful. I can't hire the people there. I did think of bringing back some artists who are sick or in trouble, but I can't communicate with them." Sui Yu looked back at the man and said embarrassedly, "This teahouse can't be opened this year."
"You still have stories about merchants out there? Keep writing them up and performing them." Zhao Xiping scratched his nose and said, "I've asked your brother to spread the word that we can listen to stories and watch acrobatics here."
"No wonder Old Baldy is in a hurry to recruit caravans even when it's snowing. People are settling here, but Minxiang isn't full?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiping nodded. "Our guesthouse is full. Of the two caravans that came into the city with you, only one has been accommodated. The other caravan has returned to the city to stay."
The little guy suddenly rushed in, he ran to Sui Yu and acted coquettishly, nothing happened, and he ran away happily.
"I haven't bought any tea either. It's in short supply. I'll ask when I have dinner later if any caravan has tea bricks and if they can share some with me." Sui Yu continued what he had said before.
After saying that, Sui Yu asked again: "Is there any large caravan bringing back Hu Ji?"
There really was one, but it was brought by a Hu merchant.
With a goal in mind, Sui Yu immediately left the teahouse and waited outside the kitchen. When the Hu merchant brought eight beautiful and elegant Hu girls out for dinner, she walked up to them and started a conversation. After finding out that the Hu girls were bought by the caravan and were going to be sold in Chang'an, she asked if she could hire them to play the pipa and flute in the teahouse this winter.
"How much?" Hu Shang asked.
Sui Yu was unsure whether the teahouse would be profitable, and she was reluctant to spend the money. She pondered for a moment, and the only thing she had that might appeal to Hu Shang was the map of the trade routes she'd marked herself and the parchment scroll Song Xian had given her. However, she couldn't take these things out. She'd seen plenty of handwritten maps depicting treason in TV dramas.
"I'll give you ten cents a day for your performance," Sui Yu said. Seeing that the Hu merchant seemed to be disgusted, she continued, "This winter, eight Hu girls ate at my place for free."
Hu Shang, who was talking to Sui Yu, sighed. He went to discuss with the leader of the family and finally came over and said, "Okay, we agree."
After solving one problem, Sui Yu went to the western kitchen to inquire which caravan had tea bricks.
"Shopkeeper Yu, we are rough and uncouth, with thick and dull tongues. We can't drink that precious tea. You don't have to make that stuff. Just make some oil tea or stew some soup to keep our mouths busy." said a middle-aged businessman.
"Yes, get some drinks and cut some pickled radish, as long as it can keep people from falling asleep." Someone else continued.
Sui Yu happily agreed, and she said to herself, "When I become rich in the future, I will treat you to free tea."
"I'd love to drink free tea," Wang Ping said loudly.
Others laughed, saying that tea is expensive and scarce, so it's worth buying to entertain guests, but not worth buying to drink as water.
"By the way, Manager Yu, are you still writing stories here? I heard that you wrote about the business stories of several businessmen." A caravan stayed at the Changgui Inn just for this matter.
"Write. I'll take a break for two days and start writing after visiting relatives and friends." Sui Yu did not respond.
After breakfast, Zhao's father and mother went to see their daughter and grandson. Sui Yu cut the coarse cloth she bought into eight feet, filled a bag with mulberries, and brought a chicken. She followed her parents-in-law into the city with her cub.
Xiaomi's son is called Aning. He just turned one year old. He looks like Xiaomi and is a very delicate boy. He has the same personality as Huang Lianzheng and is a shy and quiet child.
It was cold, so the child was not taken out. Sui Yu went into the room to take a look, took the cub to recognize people, praised him a few words, and then came out, leaving Zhao's father and mother sitting by the bed to coax the child.
"Third sister-in-law, when did you come back?" Zhao Xiaomi asked. "I went to the guesthouse a few days ago when it was snowing. I learned that you hadn't come back, and I haven't slept well these past few days."
"I came back yesterday afternoon. I went to pick up my parents. It started snowing as soon as we left Jiuquan." After entering the house, the warm wind warmed up her hands that had been blown by the cold wind. The chilblains on Sui Yu's hands began to itch again. She held the little cub in her arms and asked him to rub her hands.
"Got frostbite again?" Zhao Xiaomi leaned over to take a look.
"It's cold on Hongchiling. It snowed, and I walked in the wind and snow for half a month. My frostbite came back, but fortunately it wasn't serious."
The little boy opened his mouth and blew on Sui Yu's hand. He then used his little hand to gently pinch the red bump and asked carefully, "Mom, does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." Sui Yu smiled and shook his head.
"Your mother suffers all this just to make money for you..." Huang's mother walked in and said.
"No, no, no." Sui Yu interrupted Huang's mother, "It has nothing to do with the cub. I just want to live a good life."
"When you came back, did the baby cry?" Xiaomi talked about other things.
Sui Yu looked at the kid, who smacked his lips embarrassedly. He took a breath, puffed out his cheeks and blew hard.
Zhao Xiaomi patted his head and said, "He still remembers you and is attached to you."
Sui Yu said "hmm". She was not sure whether the boy still had a clear memory of her, but in the past six months, the boy had grown from being ignorant to being sensible and alert. She felt very sorry. Things did not develop as she had imagined. The boy would not always be ignorant, nor would he grow up to be a naive child with a careless and shallow mind.
At noon, they had lunch at Zhao Xiaomi's in-laws' house. Zhao Xiping came over after finishing his work. Huang Lianzheng went to invite his uncle and aunt, but only Huang Ancheng came.
"They had a fight." Xiaomi learned the news from Huang Lianzheng and whispered it to Sui Yu.
Sui Yu glanced at Huang Ancheng and said nothing. If Song Xian decided to come out, the couple would probably have another big fight.
After dinner, Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu took the little boy away from Huang's house. Sui Yu took the little boy to buy malt sugar, saying that she would go back and make sweet chestnut cake for him.
On the way back, the kid was tired, so Zhao Xiping carried him on his back. The kid looked up at the sky and hummed a little tune that only he could understand.
"Is it good that your mother is back?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"Okay." The kid said loudly, shaking his legs and tilting his head to call Sui Yu "Mom" sweetly.
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