Chapter 126
Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang were working in the shop, but they were too busy to handle everything, so they just sold steamed buns and boiled some braised eggs for Lao Tu to sell to the caravans. After a month and a half of business, after deducting expenses, they had made 73 cents. The two of them split the profits 70/30, with Zhao Xiaomi taking 50 cents. Her wallet was bulging, and she worked tirelessly every day.
When Mrs. Yin came over to call them for dinner, Zhao Xiaomi was kneading dough. The takeaway business had stopped, and business was slow in the evening.
Upon learning that Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping had returned, Sui Liang was eager to go home, but the steamer had not been washed yet, so he asked Mrs. Yin to come and clean it up, and then he ran out.
"Hey! Wait for me." Zhao Xiaomi looked at the noodles in the basin and said with a smile: "Grandma Yin, please help me knead this bowl of noodles later. When you leave, put the firewood in the stove..."
Mrs. Yin agreed to everything without hesitation.
But Zhao Xiaomi was worried, so she planned to come over again after dinner.
The two ran back one after the other. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping had just come out of the bathroom. Sui Yu's face was slightly red, and there was a lazy look between her eyebrows.
"Sister, you're finally back." Sui Liang approached, looking up happily, and said, "You won't travel far from now on, right?"
Sui Yu didn't answer. She looked at Zhao Xiping, placed her hand on Sui Liang's head, and said, "Why do I feel like Brother Liang has grown taller? Or is it just my imagination because we haven't seen each other for so long?"
"He has grown a little taller. He is nine years old. In another five or six months, he will be ten. It is the time for him to grow." Zhao Xiping motioned Sui Liang to come over. He compared with him and found that the child was as tall as his ribs. He still had a lot of room to grow.
"Third brother, third sister-in-law." Zhao Xiaomi jumped in. "You are finally back. If you don't come back, I will report you to the police."
"Once you leave Yumen Pass, no one will come to you even if you report to the police." Sui Yu smiled and said, "Come and eat quickly, the food is getting cold."
While they were eating, Mrs. Yin's two sons carried pig feed and hay to the backyard to feed the livestock. Sui Yu peeked outside and said, "Tell me about Mrs. Yin and her two sons. Did Captain Qu leave any words when he sent them over?"
"They came here on the 28th day of the first lunar month. Captain Qu sent someone to bring them here. He said they would give you three official slaves. Other thousand households also have official slaves." Zhao Xiaomi had inquired about this and continued, "In addition to official slaves, thousand households can also keep private slaves, up to 30 people."
"How much is a private slave?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiaomi shook her head, she didn't know.
"Do you think that if Liang Ge'er and I had used money to redeem her, would it have worked?" Sui Yu turned his head and asked.
Zhao Xiping swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, "Are you government slaves or private slaves?"
"Official slaves..." Sui Yu thought for a moment. Just then, the two people feeding the livestock came over. She called out to them and asked, "Can an official slave be redeemed? If I pay money to redeem him, how much does it cost?"
Gan Da shook his head, "I've never heard of it. Buying a rank of nobility at level 30 can redeem death, but I've never heard of redeeming slavery."
Sui Yu understood and shrugged at Zhao Xiping. The control over slavery was really strict, with easy entry but difficult exit.
"Sister, have you caught the camel?" Sui Liang asked.
Sui Yu nodded. Her excuse for going out last month was to harness a camel. After all, few people knew that she had a relationship with Sui Wen'an, so there was no need for her to publicize it.
After dinner, Sui Liang and Zhao Xiaomi went to the backyard to see the camels. After looking for a few times, they found the little camel hiding in the corner. It had fluffy fur and no hump, and looked like a calf.
Zhao Xiaomi counted them and found that there were nine camels in the pen, including the baby camel. She wondered, "Why do you keep so many camels?"
"I'm going to the shop to take a look. Xiaomi, do you want to come with me?" Sui Yu shouted from the front yard.
"Go!" Zhao Xiaomi ran away.
The aunt and sister-in-law met Mrs. Yin halfway. Sui Yu didn't want her to follow her and said, "Go back and eat. There's rice left in the pot."
Mrs. Yin breathed a sigh of relief. The hostess was a kind person, and life would be easier for her and her two sons.
Zhao Xiaomi said business was booming, but she also complained about being too busy. "Third sister-in-law, if you hadn't gone out, we would have made a lot more money this month."
"Why don't you ask Mrs. Yin and Gan Da and Gan Er to come to the shop to help?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiaomi smiled bitterly and muttered quietly, "How much does it cost to call someone to help? Besides, I'm young and I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything."
Due to Sui Yu's background, Zhao Xiaomi thought that official slaves were all from powerful families before their family fell into decline, and she was just an ordinary farm girl. For her, ordering slaves and maids around was the life of an official's daughter. She was timid and lacked confidence, and was polite when ordering Yin Po to do things, not as free as Sui Liang.
Sui Yu thought carefully about it. She had the impression that slaves were expensive to buy, but once bought, they belonged to the master's family for generations, with food and shelter provided, and no wages or monthly wages required. She suddenly thought of Sui Hui. When Sui Hui first entered the mansion of Supervisor Hu, her situation was probably similar to that of Mrs. Yin.
The shop was clean and the firewood pile was neatly arranged. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi walked around and left without touching anything.
"You're back?" The bald old man came out with a bowl of rice and said, "You went to harness the camels? What took you so long?"
"The first time we went into the desert, we didn't find any wild camels. We stayed at Yumen Pass for a few days and were about to return when we ran into a group of people trying to harness camels. We followed them on another trip," Sui Yu explained. "We had dinner late today."
"A caravan left at noon, and my wife and I were busy sweeping the floor and washing mattresses until sunset. I was planning to cook a couple of bowls of millet and buy some buns, but your shop is closed again." The old bald man picked up a piece of soup noodles with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, asking vaguely, "Will the shop open tomorrow? Will you sell braised soup noodles?"
Sui Yu nodded.
"How many camels do you want to tether?" the man from the shop opposite asked.
"Five heads, four big and one small." Sui Yu said.
"Oh, that's quite a bit. It's more profitable than opening a shop."
Sui Yu smiled and said, "You guys are busy, I'll go back first."
"Okay, go back and come early tomorrow morning." The old bald man instructed. He pointed at Zhao Xiaomi and said, "Girl, don't forget the braised eggs."
"I can't forget it." Zhao Xiaomi said loudly.
On the way back, she whispered to Sui Yu how much she had earned over the past month. She said a little embarrassedly, "Third sister-in-law, I'll pay for the rent for the next two months."
Sui Yu immediately understood what she meant. Zhao Xiaomi wasn't just a hired helper, she was also her sister-in-law, so there was no need to be too picky. She didn't even want the profits, so she decided to be more generous: "If you and Liang Ge'er don't open a shop, I'll still pay the rent for the past two months. You can save the money you earn, and I'll pay the rent."
"No." Zhao Xiaomi insisted on giving it.
"Then you and Liang Ge'er pay the rent together, you get 70% and he gets 30%. Give me the rent money tomorrow." Sui Yu patted her shoulder.
When he got home, before he could knock on the door, Gan Da heard footsteps and came to open the door, saying, "Master has gone out and has not returned yet."
Sui Yu nodded. She walked into the yard and asked, "Where do you three sleep, mother and son?"
"Gan Er and I sleep in the gatehouse to keep watch, and my mother sleeps in the side room next to the back house."
The back room was built by the wall between the courtyard and the porch, three steps deep and ten steps long. Zhao Xiping used it to store livestock feed. As for the side room, it was small and dark, and it faced the road. If someone walked by and coughed, they could hear it clearly from inside. Sui Yu remembered that the cat official liked to play in there, so she left it unlocked. She probably thought that if Mother Yin saw her, she would move in.
Sui Yu pointed to a wing room and said, "Let your mother move in tomorrow. As for you and Gan Er, you can live in the back room. You won't have to guard the door. You two can take care of the pigs, sheep, camels, and chickens."
The back room is at the back of the backyard, with a door leading to the livestock pen. It should have been used by the previous owner to house slaves. Sui Yu's family is small, so it has been vacant since they moved in. Only the cat official would go there to catch mice.
Just as I thought of the cat official, the cat official came back over the wall, meowing. When it saw Sui Yu, it meowed even louder, and ran towards her quickly with its voice mixed with mine.
Sui Yu squatted down, picked up the cat, and shook it, saying, "You've grown fatter and heavier. It's spring again, and you haven't gone out to find a wife yet?"
"It stays away from home every day and only comes back at mealtime," Zhao Xiaomi complained. "It only allows Sui Liang to hold it. If I touch it a few times, it will breathe out impatiently."
Sui Yu laughed, she patted the cat official's butt and refused to judge the case for cats and humans.
"Let's go back to the house to sleep." She walked to the corridor and asked, "The eggs haven't been braised yet, right?"
"Grandma Yin, help me braise the stew." Zhao Xiaomi laughed. With a servant, she didn't have to do any housework.
Sui Yu turned and went to the kitchen to take a look. Mrs. Yin was peeling eggs, so she sat down to help.
"Madam, please go back to your room and rest. I can take care of this matter." said Mrs. Yin.
"Just call me Sui Yu. "Madam" or "Madam" gives me goose bumps. And there's no need to call yourself "slave" or "little one." "We don't have so many rules in our family, and there aren't any mean people. You three just need to behave yourself, be diligent, and be attentive. Don't talk about family matters outside, and don't play tricks on us. We won't punish you or punish you."
Mrs. Yin let out a cry of "Ah".
"What crime did you commit to be enlisted as slaves?" Sui Yu asked.
"My old man went up the mountain to become a bandit. He ran away, leaving me and my two children in jail," Mrs. Yin said calmly. "But my wife, Sui... Sui Yu, Boss Sui... you don't have to be afraid. The elder and second Gan came here when they were only ten years old. They were slaves to the government for seven or eight years, and they've been beaten into being honest people. They're not like their father."
Sui Yu nodded. She then inquired, "Why are some female prisoners sent directly to the brothel, while others are not? Some male prisoners are sent to build the Great Wall, while others are sent to feed livestock."
"It depends on the severity of their crime. Those who went to build the Great Wall were prisoners and had to serve in the army. It may also depend on whether there was a shortage of people somewhere. When we came here, there was a shortage of people at the ranch, so they sent us there. There were also prisoners of war in the same group, and the prisoners all went to build the Great Wall." Mrs. Yin told her everything she knew.
Sui Yu was relieved of her confusion. When she heard the door open, she took a basin and scooped some water out.
"Are you back? Where did you go?" she asked.
"Captain Qu heard I was back and sent for me." Zhao Xiping strode over, entered the house, and closed the door. He continued, "The captain informed me that I will be going to the parade grounds for training starting tomorrow. If the shop is too busy, you can take the family of three with you."
"Training?" Sui Yu picked up the cloth to wipe his face, then took a lump of camel oil from the table and rubbed it while asking, "Is the war going to start again?"
"No, it's just ordinary training. The garrison troops guarding the city, the cavalry patrolling outside the city, and the soldiers with errands all need training." Zhao Xiping glanced at her and said, "Put less on it, it will stick to your lips when you kiss."
Sui Yu glanced at him and muttered, "Why don't you just not kiss me?"
"Since you're going out to train, please help me find out how much it would cost to buy seven or eight acres of wasteland," she instructed. "Also, find out what the price is for a private slave."
Zhao Xiping paused and asked, "Why buy a private slave? Aren't the three at home enough for you to command?"
Sui Yu shook his head and said, "I have other important needs. Just help me find out. Forget it, I'll go find out myself. Business people have the most information."
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