Chapter 354 Business Done
Sui Yu was heavy and bulky, and she was wearing thick clothes. She couldn't stand in the cold northwest wind, so after leaving the guesthouse, she went back to the house. She didn't leave until the New Year's Eve dinner started, and then she was helped out by Zhao Xiping.
"Sister, let's go." Before it got dark, Sui Liang and a group of people prepared to enter the city carrying torches.
"Okay." Sui Yu nodded. She instructed, "Play as you like, make noise as you like, but don't overdo it. If anyone falls or gets burned by the flames, they'll be punished when they come back."
"Don't worry, Aunt San, we will keep an eye on the cub," said Zhao Dalang.
Sui Yu believed this. Although Dalang was a little stupid, he was very much like an older brother and was sincere to his younger brothers and sisters.
"Go ahead." Zhao Xiping said.
The five brothers and sisters of the Zhao family, Sui Liang and his nephew Xiaozai, four people including Ashui and Hua Niu, and three brothers and sisters of the Hua family, about ten people led camels and left happily.
After Sui Yu waited for them to leave, she and Zhao Xiping also returned to the house.
"Is the reward for tomorrow ready?" Zhao Xiping asked.
Sui Yu nodded, "Everything is ready. Have you prepared the New Year gifts for your subordinates?"
"Ten pounds of mutton and ten pounds of pork for each person. Ask Ding Quan to deliver them tomorrow morning." Zhao Xiping carried a chair and sat on the edge of the bed. He held Sui Yu's belly, but the cotton coat was too thick and he could not feel the child's movement.
"Let's get some water." Sui Yu said, "We don't have much to do, so let's go to bed early."
Zhao Xiping helped Sui Yu wash up, picked her up and put her on the bed, then turned around and used the remaining water to wash her feet.
Sui Yu took off her cotton jacket and lay down. As soon as she lay down, the baby in her belly turned over.
Seeing the man sitting on the bed, Sui Yu lifted the quilt, lowered his eyes and said, "Roll over again and say hello to your father."
Zhao Xiping tapped his belly with his fingers. The spot he tapped twitched twice. He smiled and said, "Just like the little one, he loves to move."
"Given our personalities, we definitely won't give birth to a lazy child." Sui Yu pulled up the quilt, leaned against the man's arms, tapped her fingers on the quilt, and said expectantly, "This time next year, there will be a fat baby crawling around in our bed."
Zhao Xiping was lost in thought for a moment. He still remembered the cub's appearance as a child, but now he had grown into a young boy. In two or three months, he and Sui Yu would have another child of their own.
"Women are sacred. It's amazing that one person can give birth to another." Zhao Xiping looked down at the woman in his arms. His eldest son is now ten years old. To this day, he still finds it incredible that living children are born from their mother's womb.
"How did the child come about? How did it have life?" He reached out and touched his bulging belly. The movement under his belly made him clearly know that the child in his belly was alive.
Sui Yu: ...
"God-given?" she ventured.
Zhao Xiping had a complicated expression. He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. He pondered for a while and calmed down. This was the only explanation that made sense.
The next morning, Zhao Xiping woke up and went to pay homage to his father-in-law first. Gods have spirits and people have souls after death.
"Dad, please bless your daughter to be safe and sound." He knelt down and kowtowed three times.
When Sui Liang and Xiaozai woke up, they went to the grave to pay New Year's greetings first. Three sets of footprints spread to the front of the stone tablet, and the fallen snow in front of the tablet was crushed by their feet, revealing a bit of liveliness in the desolate snow.
It snowed in the second half of last night and stopped snowing at dawn, covering the footprints with the new snow. But early in the morning, the road leading from the north of the city to the city was covered with fresh hoof prints again.
Ding Quan brought the New Year gifts into the city. Before he returned, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture came one after another riding mules or camels, but compared with Juan Sui, they were still a step late.
The boy escorted his cousin out on his father's behalf. When they reached a deserted place, he changed his polite tone and said affectionately, "Brother, please say hello to my aunt for me. I have a lot of things to do at home today, so I won't go with my uncle to pay New Year's greetings to my aunt."
Juan Sui was surprised, "Uncle is coming to my house?"
The boy nodded and said seriously, "He's your mother's younger brother, so he must go to visit his sister. In previous years, it was inconvenient to come to her house, but this year we are classmates, and since we have a reasonable excuse, we naturally have to come to visit."
Hu Ansui expressed his understanding and said, "Then I'll go back and prepare. My mother will definitely be happy when she finds out."
The cub waved goodbye.
After watching the man riding the donkey walk away and hearing the voice of greeting behind him, he immediately turned back and walked beside his father, with a smile on his face, listening attentively but not interrupting.
After seeing off the officials who came to pay New Year's greetings, the boy immediately took off his disguise as soon as they left. He trotted back to the main courtyard, muttering, "It's really cold outside. The gold collar has become quite heavy after wearing it for so long."
"Has everyone left?" Sui Yu asked.
"They're all gone." The kid stepped in. "Are you going to give out the rewards?"
Zhao Xiping also walked into the yard. Seeing Sui Yu's expression, he said, "Everyone has left. No one is coming anymore."
"Okay, then move the cash box out." Sui Yu extended her hand to the man outside the door, "Please help me out."
Zhao Xiping looked at her deeply and helped her into the snow.
The servants had been keeping an eye on it for a long time. When they heard footsteps in the main courtyard, the servants and helpers gathered in the kitchen yard next door rushed out.
"Master, sir, Happy New Year." They shouted in unison.
"Happy New Year to you too," Sui Yu said with a smile. "We weren't home for the New Year last year. Wasn't the morning of the first day of the New Year a little less joyful?"
"Yes." Hua Niu admitted with a smile, "After eating the New Year's Eve dinner last night, I was looking forward to the dawn."
"She woke up before dawn this morning and opened the door three times before waiting until dawn." A Qiang joked.
Sui Liang opened the cash box, and Sui Yu stopped talking nonsense. "Today, I'll make you happy again. I'll give you last year's reward money together with this year's. I've seen how hard you've worked for this family in the past two years."
Before she could finish, the cheers could no longer be suppressed.
Xiaozai and Sui Liang each took five strings of copper coins and handed them to the servants and helpers one by one. One string of copper coins was fifty coins, which was ten coins more than the reward money of the two years combined. The servants and helpers were all smiling when they received the reward money.
"Grandma Yin went to Zhangye to take care of Liu Yaer and is not at home. Her share is kept by Meng Ma." Sui Yu said.
Meng Ma couldn't speak. She bowed to Sui Yu and happily took another string of copper coins.
Da Zhuang and the three girls looked around, guessing that everyone had received the reward money, and they were eager to speak out and ask for good luck.
Sui Yu interrupted them and said, "During the cotton planting and harvesting season last year, Ah Shui, Hua Niu, and Ah Qiang helped me keep the accounts and register. They were a great help to me. Today, you don't have to ask for good luck. You will get double the reward."
The boy happily weighed three strings of copper coins and handed them to them personally.
Da Zhuang rubbed his hands, feeling a little ashamed because he could not write many words and could not help his master.
"Da Zhuang accompanied Liang Ge'er to Wuwei County to open a food shop and helped me protect my brothers. You also made a contribution." Sui Yu did not leave him out.
Sui Liang immediately handed a string of copper coins to Da Zhuang. He patted Da Zhuang on the shoulder and said, "Still work with me this year."
Da Zhuang nodded hurriedly.
"Okay, it's quite cold outside, let's all go back to our rooms." After distributing the reward money, Sui Yu let everyone go.
The helpers took their reward money and left the guesthouse to go home. The servants went back to their rooms. The five brothers and sisters of the Zhao family who lived in the second guesthouse saw a group of servants coming in with heavy strings of copper coins. They were both disdainful and envious.
"Grandma, I won't go back for spring planting this year. I want to stay in Dunhuang to help my third aunt." Zhao Erya wanted to be the second Zhao Xiaomi.
Mother Zhao didn't say anything and didn't make the decision. "Go ask your third uncle if he's willing to let you stay."
"My third aunt is going to give birth in the spring, so I'm staying here to help her take care of the baby." Zhao Erya found a better excuse. "Anyway, I won't be going back for spring planting this year."
"It's not certain whether Third Uncle is willing for us to stay. He said that if we can't satisfy him, we can't come here again." Zhao Dalang reminded her.
Zhao Erya was unwilling to give up, so she immediately went out to try to win Sui Yu's favor. However, there was no one outside the guesthouse, and the gate of the main courtyard was open. She walked closer and found that it was people from the weaving workshop who came to pay New Year's greetings.
"Wow, the guesthouse is really quiet today." Gu Dalang and Yang Erlang rode over on camels. "Erya, where are your third uncle and third aunt?"
Erya quickly stepped back and said, "My uncle and aunt are entertaining guests."
Zhao Xiping came out upon hearing the noise. He turned around and called out, "Mingguang, your classmates are here. Go and wish Mr. Chen a happy new year."
"Sir, we'll come back later to wish you a happy new year." Gu Dalang said, "My father asked me to say hello to you."
Zhao Xiping nodded.
Seeing that her third uncle was still at home, Zhao Erya became depressed. She slipped into the house, intending to look for another opportunity.
After these two waves of people who came to pay New Year's greetings left, it was already noon.
The hungover merchants and escorts slept until the afternoon before waking up. It was not until dinner time that people began to walk around in and outside the inn.
"Aunt San, would you like some chicken soup? The oil has been skimmed off." Zhao Erya brought a bowl of chicken soup.
"I'm not eating anymore. I'm full. You drink it." Sui Yu said.
"How much did you eat? Are you full with just half a bowl of dumplings?" Zhao Erya was a little skeptical.
"My belly is big, so I can't eat much at one meal." Sui Yu explained. She didn't understand why the girl suddenly became so close, but she didn't need to befriend her niece from her husband's family, nor did she want to burden herself with extra social interactions. She said tactfully, "I have your third uncle to take care of me, and your brother is here to honor me. You don't have to worry about me. Just treat this place like your own home and make yourself at home. If you're willing, take good care of your grandparents. That's how you'll be fulfilling your filial duty on behalf of your parents."
Zhao Erya blushed. Her attempt to please someone was seen through, and she felt extremely ashamed and angry. But she stood there for a long time before she whispered, "Aunt, can I stay in Dunhuang this year? We didn't come here after the spring planting last year, and it made my uncle unhappy. He said that if we can't satisfy him, we don't have to come to Dunhuang anymore. I don't know how to satisfy him. Aunt, I raised my brother and sister. When you have a child, can I stay and help you take care of the child?"
Sui Yu frowned slightly, smoothed her drooping hair, and said, "Er Ya, you are your third uncle's niece. We are relatives. I asked you to come here so that you can study with the teacher, not to ask you to take care of my children or farm. Servants can do these things."
"Writing and recognizing characters are too difficult, and poetry and prose are difficult to understand." Zhao Erya said with a bitter look on her face, "I can't learn and I don't understand. My parents are farmers, and I'm also a stubborn person."
Zhao Xiping noticed something was amiss and came over to ask, "What are you talking about?"
Zhao Erya was afraid of him, and when she heard his voice, she ran away.
Sui Yu asked him to help her back to the house. She explained Erya's purpose one by one. "She has an impatient temper and is not steady. I guess she is not suitable for studying. You should talk to her when you have time. If they really don't want to sit in the school, then don't waste their time. Find something else to do. For example, fluffing cotton to make quilts. Dalang and his friends are tall and strong, so they are suitable for this job. If Erya is willing to take the risk, she can sell her menstrual belt."
"Okay, leave it to me, don't worry about it." Zhao Xiping took a deep breath and made a decision. Since he couldn't sit still in the school, he didn't need to come here anymore.
Sui Yu didn't worry about what happened afterwards. After the Lantern Festival, Zhao Dalang and his four siblings left the guesthouse and went to the weaving workshop, and they would not come back until dark every night.
Sui Yu knew about it, but she didn't question it. She was busy dealing with the caravans. The first to arrive were the You family caravan, returning from Dayuan the previous year. They had learned about the quilts en route and, after crossing the border, headed straight for the Changgui Guesthouse in Dunhuang. From September to November, they not only bought quilts and cotton jackets from the weaving workshop, but also learned from Sui Yu about farmers renting cotton fields. This caravan traded medicinal herbs and furs from outside the borders for low prices, earning them two thousand kilograms of cotton lint.
The You family caravan had connections in Dayuan, and having obtained a large number of quilts and cotton-padded jackets, they were thinking of going back to Dayuan to exchange them for Ferghana horses. Before Sui Yu proposed the warehouse business, they had been considering exchanging furs, medicinal herbs, and gemstones from outside the Great Wall for cloth with the caravans inside the Great Wall, but they had never reached an agreement. The caravans inside the Great Wall understood their intentions and used this opportunity to lower the price.
Sui Yu happened to have 120,000 coins worth of cloth saved up. He bought it when Sui Liang led a caravan to Chang'an to sell horses two years ago. At that time, he bought 200,000 coins worth of silk and silk cloth. The next year, the caravan that left the customs only took away 80,000 coins worth of goods.
Sui Yu negotiated with the head of the You family caravan for a long time, and the price was negotiated to a level that both of them were satisfied with, and the two families reached a deal.
After the first deal was done, small caravans returning from outside the Great Wall bought medicinal herbs brought from Dayuan by the You family caravan from Sui Yu. These small caravans operated around Loulan and Qiuci all year round and had no access to medicinal herbs from Dayuan at all.
Silks and fabrics from inside the Great Wall, medicinal herbs, blankets, furs, and gems from outside the Great Wall, were traded back and forth in Sui Yu's hands, and most of the caravans were satisfied with their purchases. Most importantly, after Sui Yu's hands, the prices of the goods did not fluctuate much, which was what satisfied them the most.
In February, the caravans left Dunhuang one after another, and Sui Yu's business came to a halt as she prepared to welcome the birth of her second cub.
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