Chapter 32
After putting the person down, Zhao Xiping walked out quickly. He closed the door and sat alone in the yard, lost in thought.
Inside, Sui Yu stared at the dark ceiling with wide eyes. After a long moment, she smiled silently. Although tonight had been a bit rushed, at least she had confirmed two things, which was a rewarding experience. She propped herself up and sat up. As she moved, she heard a slight movement outside the door. It sounded like someone was heading to the kitchen, so she lay down again, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
Zhao Xiping had indeed been avoiding her, thinking there was a cat in the kitchen when he pushed the door open. However, after lighting the oil lamp, not only did he not see the cat, he also discovered that Sui Yu had forgotten to leaven the dough. He pondered for a moment, then pulled out a basin to dig out the lees. As he went out to scoop water, he saw a tail dangling from the roof. He looked up and saw the cat official sitting upright on the roof.
"Meow." The cat called out briefly.
When someone scooped water into the house, it jumped down and then jumped onto the stove and stared at him intently.
For fear of startling the people in the house, Zhao Xiping glared at it without saying a word. He slowly poured water and kneaded the dough, killing time bit by bit.
After mixing a bowl of noodles, the man went out to look at the moon. Seeing that it was still early, he made another bowl.
The cat official meowed again, then opened his mouth and yawned.
"What are you waiting for?" Zhao Xiping asked, "When did you go up to the roof? Why were you running around? What did you see... She is not a good person, right? She is too greedy." It's like selling buns. Before she even set up the stall, she was already fantasizing about making a fortune. She was too greedy.
Zhao Xiping rubbed the flour off his hands with the remaining water. Once it was clean, he picked up the cat official and sat in front of the stove, petting it like Sui Liang had done. The cat fell asleep on his lap, and he stared blankly at the flickering flames. He hated Sui Yu's greed, but if it weren't for her greed, she would be a different, lifeless person, perhaps even timid and cowardly because of her background.
Twenty years later, Zhao Xiping muttered silently, "Will the Western Regions remain peaceful for twenty years? If war breaks out, can he survive for twenty years? If he dies, Sui Yu, a criminal slave...
With a "slap" sound, the cat official woke up. He stared at the person who slapped him and jumped onto the stove.
"Who told you to have such wild thoughts in the middle of the night..." Zhao Xiping suppressed his thoughts and thought that his life was also his life, so he should think more about himself.
The rooster crowed, and it was already the late night. Zhao Xiping blew out the oil lamp and walked out of the kitchen. It was dewy at night, and the wind was cold and wet. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open quietly.
The brother and sister on the bed were both fast asleep. Zhao Xiping stood at the door and stopped for a moment. He walked to the wall to take down the wolf skin, but stopped again when he was about to walk out the door. He turned around and hung the wolf skin on the wall again, then walked towards the bed.
…
Sui Yu had something on her mind and woke up before dawn. When she got up, the half-asleep man was suddenly awakened. He listened to the rustling sound of changing clothes, closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, and only opened his eyes after the man left.
Zhao Xiping slept in this morning. Sui Liang woke up and found his brother-in-law still in bed. He was very surprised. Before this, no matter how early he woke up, there was no one outside.
"You're awake, get up." Zhao Xiping let out a long sigh, finally waking the person up.
The two of them, one big and one small, opened the door and went out. The woman who was feeding the chickens in the yard looked over. Sui Yu said as if nothing had happened, "I made some taro and rice porridge. Try the pickled radish to see if it's tasty enough. If it's, we can have dinner."
His tense skin suddenly relaxed, and Zhao Xiping walked into the kitchen in silence. He picked up two radishes and fed them to Sui Liang. "Is it tasty enough?"
Sui Liang nodded.
"Let's eat when the food is tasty enough." He said to himself, and before Sui Yu came in, he followed Sui Liang out to fetch water to wash his face.
Sui Yu glanced at him from behind.
At dinner time, Zhao Xiping walked out the door with his bowl and ate outside. Sui Yu stared at him and followed him out. In the alley, many people were talking about their farm work with their bowls in hand, and she went over to listen.
After eating a bowl of rice, Sui Yu took the bowl home and happened to run into a man leading a camel out. She asked as usual, "Are you full?"
"Um."
"Remember to come back and help me knead the dough."
Zhao Xiping nodded.
Sui Yu staggered over and let him go out.
Someone took care of kneading the dough. After washing the pots and pans, Sui Yu started chopping radishes and frying the stuffing. When she was scraping the lard, she found that the oil tank was empty. She asked Sui Liang to look after the house while she took the money to the market to buy lard.
When he came back, he happened to meet Sui Ling wandering in the alley. Sui Yu glanced at her and walked straight past her as if he didn't see her.
"Are you selling buns?" Sui Ling asked.
Sui Yu ignored him and hurried home. When she entered the house, she didn't have time to put the meat in. She leaned over the water tank and looked left and right at the water.
"Brother Liang, come here and see if I'm as black as the water." Sui Yu called out. She muttered to herself, "It's only been a short while since we last met, how come Sui Ling has become so pale?"
Sui Liang pointed towards the house. Sui Yu looked over and saw Zhao Xiping coming back. She explained, "We just bumped into each other on the road and didn't say anything."
As Zhao Xiping walked out the door, he glanced at her and said, "I saw her a few days ago, too. You're a lot darker than her."
Sui Yu was annoyed and said, "I am also thinner than her."
"You've never been idle." She refused to rest, and the food she ate didn't make her gain weight, so it would be a miracle if she could gain weight.
Sui Yu sighed and said, "I'll eat an extra bowl of rice from now on."
After a few words, Zhao Xiping felt more at ease. Since she could pretend, he could too.
"You knead the dough and I'll cut the radish." Sui Yu assigned him tasks.
Zhao Xiping had no objection. He patted Sui Liang and walked into the kitchen. He handed out the chopping board and said, "Use the tree stump as a cushion and cut it in the yard."
The two of them were doing their own thing, not disturbing each other. Sui Liang saw that there was nothing for him to do, so he broke off a branch and went out to dig worms in the rotten soil at the foot of the wall to feed the chickens. He did not come in until Sui Yu called him to light the fire.
The pork fat was put into the pot, and the aroma of meat wafted out with the wind. The people in the alley who had not yet gone out to work smelled the odor and felt hungry.
"Selling buns still makes money, and his family buys meat from time to time."
"I went to check, and the buns are stuffed with lard. I guess they bought pig fat and made it into oil." The curious person had gone to investigate as soon as she knew Sui Yu was setting up a stall. Although there were clearly no outsiders around, she lowered her voice to hide her laughter and said, "Mr. Zhao is suffering for marrying a convict. He used to live a lavish life, always buying pork or mutton to stew with. But since he brought people back, I haven't seen him buy meat. You don't know, half a month ago, my wife fell ill and craved meat, so my husband went to buy meat, and the butcher asked him if something had happened to Mr. Zhao."
As soon as the words came out, everyone else covered their mouths and laughed, then shook their heads and said, "No matter who it happens to, no one will be happy. The family in the next alley quarrels every day over food and drink."
"Li Baihu is the worst. He only has ten centurions under him, and he harmed two of them right away..."
"Hush!" The older man stopped her from talking. She was afraid someone might spread the news and get into trouble. She put away her work and said, "I have something to do at home. I'll be back first."
"Then I'll go back too. It's almost noon. I'm going to the vegetable garden to pull two radishes."
"It's time to get ready for dinner."
Four or five people dispersed and when they went out, they happened to see Sui Yu leading a camel and a cat out.
"You're a hard-working person. You went out early today." When they saw the person they were gossiping about, their faces turned happy again.
Sui Yu and the cat turned back at the same time. She waved her hand and said, "I'm not diligent. Diligent people open their business before the sun comes up."
After saying that, he continued walking.
Listening to the sound of hooves fading away, Zhao Xiping locked the door from inside. He cleaned up the messy kitchen, washed his face and feet, and went into the house to sleep. Now that everyone had left, the bed was finally his again.
Zhao Xiping slept until the late afternoon, then sat on the bed and thought for a while. He placed all the sorghum stalks standing under the eaves in the yard. It didn't matter anyway, so he might as well type out the manuscript first.
"Open the door, I'm back." Sui Yu knocked on the door.
It was already dark, and Zhao Xiping was so engrossed in his work that he had forgotten the time. He walked over to open the door, and when their eyes met, he looked away first.
"What are you doing at home with the door closed? Cooking?" Sui Yu looked curious.
"No."
Sui Yu immediately glared at him, "I'm out making money and you still have to wait for me to come back and cook?"
"You didn't tell me, how would I know what you want to cook?" Zhao Xiping argued.
Sui Yu angrily smiled and said sarcastically, "Do you know what to eat before you get married?"
Zhao Xiping said nothing. He made way for Luotuo to enter.
"Look how much I've spoiled you." Sui Yu tutted her words and imitated them in a strange voice: "How would I know what you're going to cook?"
"That's enough, let's quit while we're ahead." Zhao Xiping smiled. He pushed her in and said, "You take a rest. I'll cook."
Sui Yu was satisfied. She walked with her hands behind her back. Seeing the sorghum stalks at the base of the wall, she said "Oh" and said, "It seems I was wrong about you."
Zhao Xiping was also confused by her words. He took the steamer from the basket on the camel's back and said, "How can I cook without a pot at home?"
Sui Yu smiled awkwardly, apologized repeatedly, and went into the kitchen to help light the fire.
"Make dumpling soup?"
"Okay, I've already eaten all the buns."
Zhao Xiping was silent.
"What did you eat for lunch?" Sui Yu realized the problem.
"When I'm not working, I only eat two meals a day."
Sui Yu didn't say whether she believed it or not, but asked softly, "What did you do at home during the day? You even forgot to eat lunch."
Sure enough, she couldn't stay still for long, and began to test it again eagerly. Zhao Xiping's heart, which had been hanging in the air, began to beat loudly again.
"... go to sleep." Zhao Xiping stopped kneading the dough, looked straight at him, and said seriously: "Be honest, don't provoke me, you will suffer if you provoke me."
Now it was Sui Yu's turn to remain silent.
Zhao Xiping was also silent, but his mind was full of complicated thoughts. After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to speak out.
"At the young age of fifteen, I went to the battlefield, climbing snow-capped mountains and scrambling through deserts. To survive, I ate dirt and drank blood, stepped on the dead, and even slept among them. Back then, I didn't think about wealth or fame, or about building a career. I just wanted to be alive. I'm twenty-one this year, and I still think the same way: just being alive is enough." Zhao Xiping rarely spoke so much in one go, and this was his first time reasoning with someone. He stared at Sui Yu, the firelight illuminating her face. He lied. She wasn't ugly. Although she was frighteningly thin, her features were beautiful, and her eyes were particularly striking.
"Sui Yu, I'm not in bad shape myself. I've been spending lavishly this year, so I'm feeling tight financially. After next year's salary comes in, even if you sit at home and do nothing, I can still support you and Sui Liang. I don't mind your status anymore, and don't take what I said before to heart. Slavery is only for twenty years. As long as you live long enough, you'll be free sooner or later." Glancing at Sui Liang coming in, Zhao Xiping stopped talking and finished, "Stop overthinking. You're not growing because you think too much."
The last sentence made Sui Yu laugh out loud. She complained, "If you didn't look down on me, I wouldn't mind my status as a criminal slave so much."
Zhao Xiping didn't care whether what she said was true or false. He just smiled and said, "It's not slaves that I look down on, it's sins."
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