Chapter 342 "Brother, are you tired?"
Waves splashed in the river, and the men who were thrown into the river were quickly washed away by the rapid current. They shouted for help and climbed to the shore desperately by grabbing water plants with their hands.
With the servants watching them, these people would not drown. Sui Yu turned her gaze away indifferently. She looked at the other people standing on the ground. The men who accidentally met her eyes lowered their heads in panic. They did not dare to look at her.
Sui Yu looked at the women with bruises on their faces. Some of them were crying, some were laughing, and some were looking at her with gratitude. She remained indifferent and simply reminded them, "You all have hands, feet, and mouths. If you get hit, you must hit back. If you get scolded, you must scold back. If you are hurt, you must also make them feel hurt. If you only tolerate it, you will suffer endlessly."
Some people cried, and some people complained about their miserable lives.
Sui Yu was impatient to listen. She looked at the men who were secretly curling their lips and said sarcastically, "Everyone has to close their eyes and sleep. You get beaten during the day, and then at night when he closes his eyes, you chop off one of his fingers or his hand with a knife. If he wants your life, you can take his life in return."
Xiaochunhong's eyes lit up, and she turned her head to Xiaoxi beside her and said, "Yeah, why didn't I think of that? When I get married, if my man dares to lay a finger on me, he won't be able to close his eyes and sleep unless he beats me to death, or he won't be able to open them again."
Xiaoxi saw her raise an eyebrow and wink. She thought for a moment, then immediately reacted and agreed, "You're right. At worst, it's a gamble of one's life. If he dies, I'll go to jail. If I'm lucky, I can even escape and herd sheep outside the border."
There was a sound of whispering in the crowd. The men who had looked disdainful a moment ago were now no longer calm, and fear appeared between their brows.
The nine men thrown into the river climbed out. They looked at Sui Yuru like a Rakshasa ghost, suppressed their coughs, and walked around her.
"Get to work." Sui Yu said this and walked away lightly.
"My mother is so majestic." The boy stared at his mother's back as she crossed the river gracefully, with stars in his eyes.
Ah Shui nodded in agreement, but she quietly leaned over and asked, "Has your father ever been beaten?"
"How is that possible!" The boy's face was full of disbelief. "My father would never touch my mother, and my mother would never beat him."
Sui Liang tapped Ah Shui on the head with his fingers and said speechlessly, "If you're not stupid, you're blind."
Ah Shui: ...
The kid chuckled. He remembered that he had run into his mother and father, and thought that she would not bother to use force to suppress his father.
"Are we registering here?" Two women carrying loads came over.
Sui Liang came back to his senses. He unfolded the parchment scroll, dipped his brush in the dusty ink, and asked, "What's your name? Where do you live? Do you want to use cash or cotton seeds to offset the cotton seedlings you owe on credit?"
"If I buy cotton seeds on credit, I have to pay back five cotton seeds for one cotton seedling, right?" Jiang Qiaonu asked.
"right."
"My name is Jiang Qiaonu. I live in the Eighth Military Village. I'm on credit for 200 cotton seedlings."
"My name is Quzhu. I live in the Eighth Military Village with Qiaonu. I also have two hundred cotton seedlings on credit."
Someone else came over from behind, and Ah Shui waved, "Come over here, I can also register here."
"They are 200 cotton seedlings, belonging to Jiang Qiaonu." Hua Niu leaned over and said to Sui Liang.
A Qiang also counted and found the number correct. She asked Quzhu to carry the load and leave, and told them to return the dung baskets and shoulder poles as soon as possible after use.
Lu Yaer and A Shui worked together, one checking the numbers and the other holding a pen to write and register.
"Are you all the children of the General and his wife?" asked the woman waiting in line at the back.
"Do we look alike?" Lu Yaer smiled and pointed at the people sitting or squatting.
"This young man must be the lady's biological son. The mother and son are cut from the same mold." said the woman who was registering the boy in front of him.
The kid grinned and said, "Yes, I am the only child of my parents. The handsome boy next to me is my uncle, his biological son."
Sui Liang couldn't help laughing. He pointed at Lu Ya'er with his brush and said, "Except her, the rest are all from the same family."
The smile on Lu Yaer's face faltered, and she nodded and said, "I'm a classmate of theirs."
Those who were observant could already see that Hua Niu and A Qiang's attire and expressions did not resemble those of masters, but they also did not resemble those of ordinary maids.
"Auntie, you've registered and you can go now." Ah Qiang said, "Next one, come to me."
"Madam is a good person. You are blessed." The woman reached out and touched the top of Aqiang's head, saying, "Study hard with the teacher, and strive to be able to hold a brush and write next year."
Ah Qiang smiled proudly, "I can write, but I just lack the ability to count, so I made up for it."
"Good girl." The woman carried the load and left.
Xiao Chunhong heard the commotion in the fields and said to Xiaoxi, "I don't know if I'll be able to leave the border this year. If not, I'll go learn math and writing from Aqiang and Huaniu."
Xiaoxi seemed to be lost in thought.
At the end of a day's work, in the evening, Xiaoxi rode a camel into the city with a bag of money. She bought a can of lamp oil and some fried hemp leaves and malt sugar.
"Is Ah Qiang asleep?" Xiaoxi pushed open the door of the next room with a plate of fried hemp leaves, and saw Ah Qiang and Hua Niu sitting face to face under the oil lamp, writing and drawing on the sandboard with their fingers.
"Are you so hardworking? You practice calligraphy at night?" Xiaoxi was surprised.
Ah Qiang smiled sheepishly and explained in a low voice, "We have to work during the day and only have time to relax after dark. This is the only time we can write and practice more."
"Sister Xiaoxi, what do you want from Aqiang?" Hua Niu asked.
"I'm not just looking for her, I'm looking for you too. I want you to be our little tutor and teach me how to count. It would also be nice if you could recognize some words." Xiaoxi placed the plate of fried hemp leaves on the table and said, "You're young and still growing. You can eat something before bed if you're hungry."
Hua Niu was somewhat reluctant. She and A Qiang also had wages, so they had enough food to eat, and they didn't want to waste time. After all, after leaving school, they only had some free time to study at night, and it was quite difficult for them to keep up with the teacher's teaching progress.
Ah Qiang was shy and wouldn't refuse anyone, so even though she felt embarrassed, she nodded and agreed.
"Then come to our room. We have five oil lamps lit in it, so it's very bright." Xiaoxi stuffed a small bag of almost melted malt sugar into Ah Qiang's hand and said, "Sweet mouth, I'll buy you some tomorrow."
"No need to buy it, I don't like candy." A Qiang waved his hand.
"Silly girl, who doesn't like sweets? I'll go back first, come over when you're done packing." Xiaoxi walked out quickly.
Hua Niu went to close the door, and she scolded, "Why did you agree to this? You don't want to practice calligraphy anymore? You don't want to recite the law anymore?"
"I won't sleep at noon. I'll catch up at noon." Ah Qiang tied her hair up, put on her shoes and went to the ground. She said, "When we first came here, we slept with the sisters. Although it was the master's order, the sisters took good care of us and never bullied us."
Hua Niu puffed her lips and said, "Okay then, you go over tonight and I'll go over tomorrow night."
"Hey." A Qiang responded cheerfully, "I'll go over first. You're sleepy, so go to sleep first."
Zhang Shun and his companions heard the noise and unwillingly asked Da Zhuang to come out. Although Da Zhuang was not as good as Hua Niu and A Qiang, he was still capable of teaching a group of illiterate people to count. He could write thirty or forty characters.
The servants held a small class at night. Everyone was studying seriously, except Ding Quan and Er Hei, who were absent-minded and anxious.
The next day, Sui Yu saw Ding Quan and Erhei circling around her from time to time. In the evening, she waved and called them over.
"Have all the cotton seedlings in the field been removed?" Sui Yu asked.
"They've all been moved. If we hadn't had enough farm tools, we would have finished the work in one day yesterday." Ding Quan quickly replied.
"There are still five mu of seedlings left. I'll drive the camels to plow the land tomorrow, and plant cotton on the remaining five mu in the next two days." Erhei followed suit and continued, "Master, I think using farmland to pile mud bricks for seedling cultivation is not good for growing crops. Look at the five mu of land where the seedlings are grown. The soil has been compacted because people have walked all over it. It will definitely be difficult for the crops to take root. It would be better to find a wasteland to flatten and pile river mud on it to grow cotton seedlings next year. It won't affect the fertility of the seedlings."
Sui Yu nodded, "You make sense, let's do as you say. You can worry about this matter next year."
Erhei's eyes lit up, and correspondingly, Ding Quan's eyes dimmed.
"When I left last year, I told you that I would promote whoever of you was more capable to be the housekeeper. I still remember this, but I've been too busy for the past half month and haven't had time to look for you." Sui Yu stopped beating around the bush. "Mr. Song praised you to me, and Uncle Lao Niu has praised you a lot too. You two are as capable as the other. When we were not at home, you managed the affairs inside and outside the guesthouse in perfect order, and you are worthy of my trust. Especially Erhei, considering that we will plant more cotton this year, I didn't tell you, but you went ahead and found the family who reclaimed wasteland in the north of the city and negotiated with them to buy their wasteland, and also gave me an additional 25 acres of land. I can see your loyalty, so let the past be the past. You learned a lesson, and I won't mention it again."
Erhei lowered his head in shame, "I was possessed by the devil before, Master, I won't have any other thoughts in the future."
"Well, you're adaptable. From now on, you'll be in charge of the guesthouse and the farm. You can command the servants at home," Sui Yu said. "But Zhang Shun and Xiao Chunhong are mainly responsible for the caravan. If there's a shortage of manpower on the farm, you can let them take over for a day or two. Normally, you can leave them alone, or give orders through me."
Erhei nodded excitedly and breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally turned things around.
"Thank you, Master, for still trusting me. I will never let you down again." He promised loudly.
"Well, you go down first." Sui Yu waved her hand and instructed, "Keep an eye on the work in the fields. Not only patrol, but also pay attention to the growth of the cotton. If the land is dry, hire helpers to water it."
"Hey." Erhei retreated quickly.
Sui Yu looked at Ding Quan, who had a humiliating look on his face, as if all his energy had been sucked out.
"You didn't expect this result?" she asked with a smile.
"There's a chance of luck. I thought Erhei had betrayed his master before, so you might trust me more."
"So you are lazy and do things in a conventional way, just to avoid mistakes, not to achieve anything." Sui Yu said incisively.
Ding Quan lowered his head and had nothing to refute.
"I'll give you another chance to perform. If you can handle this matter well, I'll speak well of you in front of your master and let you work for him and run errands for him."
Ding Quan's spirits lifted, and his face immediately lit up with joy. "You tell me, give me your orders, and I will definitely do it for you."
"I plan to build another warehouse on that vacant land. You, sir, will hire the craftsmen. You will be responsible for supervising the construction after it starts. You will be responsible for transporting soil, buying wooden rafters, buying tools, and arranging things." Sui Yu led him to the vacant land in the north. At the beginning of spring, fifty kilograms of golden flower grass seeds were sown on the ten acres of land. The weather was dry and the land was not watered in time. There were also camels foraging on the land all day long, so the grass did not grow well.
"Three or four mu of land will be enough. I'll tell you the sketch and my ideas in a few days. You will supervise the craftsmen who build the house according to my idea and report to me in time." Sui Yu instructed, "Can you do it?"
Ding Quan thought about it and nodded heavily, "I'm sure you'll be satisfied."
Sui Yu smiled and said, "Okay, think about it. If you have any questions, come and ask me or Uncle Niu. It was Uncle Niu who supervised the construction of the guesthouse."
As he finished speaking, Sui Yu heard the sound of camel bells, and another caravan arrived.
This caravan came from the interior of the country and rested at the Changgui Guesthouse when passing through Zhangye. When leaving, the caravan also took on the task of delivering good news.
"Shopkeeper Yu, your housekeeper Liu is pregnant. Please tell her mother-in-law and her mother." The merchant announced the good news as soon as he landed.
Meng Ma, who was plucking chicken feathers under a tree, couldn't help but be happy when she heard this. She hurried into the kitchen and gestured to Yin Po. Liu Yaer and Gan Da had been married for a year and a half, but there had been no happy news. The two old maids couldn't sleep well.
When it was dark, Zhao Xiping came back from the fields covered in dust. After washing and eating, he dragged his tired feet back to the house.
"Dad, are you back?" the kid asked loudly while lying on the bed. "You didn't come back, so we didn't wait for you. We ate first."
"Well, no need to wait. I'll be busy for a few more days and then I'll be done." Zhao Xiping stopped under the eaves and said, "You and your uncle should go to bed early and don't play too late."
"Okay, are you tired? I'll give you a back massage."
Zhao Xiping was tempted, but as soon as the door opened, he immediately turned around and refused: "I'm not tired, I don't want you to step on my back, don't come over."
Two oil lamps were lit in the room. Sui Yu was lying on the bed, covered with a pomegranate red silk cloth, naked. Mountains and hills were rising and falling.
Seeing the man come in, she winked at him.
"Brother, are you tired?" she asked tenderly, "Do you want a little girl?"
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