Chapter 212 This is a road full of hope
The camels carried people out of the city step by step. Sui Yu threw away the reins and covered her face with her hands. Tears slipped through her fingers. She took a deep breath and slowly wiped away her tears.
"Sister." Sui Liang strode over. He had disappeared early in the morning and had run out of the city first to see her off.
"Don't cry, the kid will only cry for a while. I will take him to buy some candy later, and then he will stop crying." Sui Liang said.
Sui Yu took her hand away, she sighed, and said, "I'll leave the cub to you."
"Yes." Sui Liang handed her the bundle in his hand. It was a vest he had bought from cowhide, which he had drilled holes in and tied with hemp rope. "I remember you prepared a cowhide vest for my brother-in-law when he went out to fight. It's also very dangerous for you to go out this time. Why didn't you prepare one for yourself?"
Sui Yu was stunned.
"Don't worry about family matters. Think more about yourself. You are made of flesh and blood just like us. You can get hurt and die." Sui Liang lowered his hands and said seriously, "It's okay if you don't make money. You can go out and take a look. Come back after you've seen it. We don't have to eat meat every meal."
Sui Yu reached out and touched her brother's head. He had grown up, had his own ideas, and started to care about her.
"Okay, I'll come back when the wheat is ripe." She agreed solemnly.
Sui Liang took two steps back and said, "We'll wait for you at home. Go ahead, the sun is already high in the sky."
Sui Yu put the Hu Di into her bag, slung the bag over one shoulder, glanced at Sui Liang, then looked back. The father and son were no longer visible inside the city gate.
The reins were thrown, the camels started moving, and Sui Yu followed the camel caravan, leaving Dunhuang City step by step.
Sui Liang folded his arms and stared intently. The huge caravan meandered forward, and the jingling sound of camel bells slowly spread from near to far.
Song Xian slowed down and looked back at the city gate. The wind was blowing sand and the smoke and dust were billowing behind the camel caravan, blurring the figures outside the city wall. She was not sure whether her husband would come out and watch them for a while.
When the caravan turned into a black dot in the desert, Sui Liang took a deep breath and turned around to prepare to enter the city.
"Brother Huang, please go find Captain Gu and ask him to ask for leave for me. I will be out of the city and will be back in ten days." Zhao Xiping had a child hanging in front of him, a bow and arrow on his shoulder, and a wolfskin mattress and a water bag of dry food tied to the camel's back.
"Are you going to send him to Yumen Pass?" Huang Ancheng asked.
Zhao Xiping said "hmm". He went out of the city gate and saw Sui Liang. He said, "I'll leave the guesthouse to you. I'll be back in ten days."
"Wait!" Sui Liang followed in big strides, stopping them and saying, "Isn't seeing them off once enough? Brother-in-law, if you chase them, you'll make my sister and the little one sad again."
"Are you still crying?" Zhao Xiping asked the child in front of him.
The cub shook his head, "Don't cry anymore."
There was still a nasal tone in his words.
"He doesn't cry anymore." Zhao Xiping said to Sui Liang.
Sui Liang was speechless. How could he trust the words of a two-year-old? Who was the adult?
"Uncle, I won't cry anymore." The kid poked his head out from under his sheepskin coat. "I'll go comfort Mom."
The little boy cried loudly before, and he regretted it as soon as he cried out loud. Thinking that his mother had gone out of town and there was no one to comfort her, he wanted to chase her out.
Zhao Xiping had this idea in mind. After making repeated agreements with Xiaozai, he went back to get the food, drinks and other things he needed for the journey. He had prepared enough luggage as he was going to take the child on a short trip for a few days.
"I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to chase your sister." Zhao Xiping drove the camel and ran.
"Ah!" Sui Liang's face turned pale with anger. He grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it out with all his strength.
Huang Ancheng saw it and couldn't help but smile. Then his eyes moved to the dark shadow in the distant desert. He sighed deeply, turned around and went back to continue his work.
"Brother Huang, why is my sister-in-law out of confinement too?"
"Crazy." Huang Ancheng said calmly, "He's crazy about money."
The other city guards smiled, their situation irreversible. Someone consoled them, saying, "If a woman forms a merchant caravan and becomes famous, she'll gain both fame and fortune, and build a fortune that will provide for your three generations."
"Yes, when the time comes, donate an official position and a title to your son. When it comes to your grandchildren, if they have any promising future, your family's status will be transformed." Someone else said.
Sui Liang passed by, looked at Huang Ancheng, and strode into the city.
It was almost noon, and after an hour's delay, Zhao Xiping was already quite far away from the caravan. If he were alone, he could have chased them without food or water, but with a child, he had to feed him water and eggs regularly, and he had to pee and poop every now and then, which put him further and further away from Sui Yu.
When it was getting dark, Sui Yu's caravan was still on the road, but Zhao Xiping wanted to stop and rest. He found a place with some trees for the camels to forage for food. He bundled the branches and lit a fire with the hay and fire starter he brought with him.
The fire was burning and the sky was dark.
At this time, a caravan passed by, and the little boy stood in his father's arms with his eyes wide open.
"Kid? Captain Zhao?" The people in the caravan recognized the two men in the light of the fire.
"Why are you and your son here?" asked the escort who led the way.
"I wanted to see Shopkeeper Yu off, but she ran away too fast." Zhao Xiping smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll just treat it as taking the kids out for a couple of days."
"The child is still so young..." The merchant didn't know what to say, nor was he worried that the child would be frightened or catch a cold, as it was not warm at night in February.
"You two are both very bold and courageous." The escort shook his head and advised, "Go back when it's daybreak. If we run into Manager Yu's caravan on the way, I'll pass on a message for you."
"Thank you very much. This is the first time she is leading people out of the customs. I would like to ask you brothers to help her. Please take care of her. When she returns, if you need anything, just let me know." Zhao Xiping said bluntly.
For businessmen, getting to know one more official means having one more amulet, so they gladly agreed.
The caravan left. The desert was smooth and there was a full moon in the sky to illuminate the way. They had to continue their journey through the night.
Zhao Xiping heated the pancake, broke off the burnt part and ate it himself, and fed the white flesh inside to the cub.
"Dad, are there any wolves?" The cub looked at the boundless desert, with endless thoughts in his mind.
"No." Zhao Xiping added two pieces of firewood to the fire. He used a stick to push away the cracked eggs. He ate the dirty ones and left the clean ones for the cub.
"Mom, mom, every day..." The cub didn't know how to express himself. He stood up and looked west. The caravan was no longer in sight, but he could still hear the sound of camel bells.
"Poor mother." said the kid.
Zhao Xiping nodded in agreement and said, "Your mother is pitiful. We enjoy our life at home while she works hard outside to earn money. When she comes back, we will make her happy every day and stop her from crying."
"Okay." The kid sat back on his lap.
Zhao Xiping fed him a few more bites of eggs and pancakes. Seeing that he shook his head and refused to eat, he opened the heated water bag and tasted it. The water was no longer freezing and was warm. He fed the child a few sips.
After eating, Zhao Xiping took the straw bale and wolfskin mattress off the camel's back, spread the hay on the ground, and lay down with the cub in his arms. He put the sheepskin coat under the child and covered himself with the wolfskin mattress. There was a fire burning next to him, so he was not cold at all.
The cub lay in Zhao Xiping's arms, smacking his lips, mumbling a few times, and slowly quieted down.
Zhao Xiping also fell asleep. He woke up five times in the middle of the night to add firewood. When the sound of camel bells rang again in the desert, he took his cub to have breakfast, packed up his things and continued on his way.
Zhao Xiping knew that this delay would mean he would never be able to catch up with Sui Yu, but he had no intention of stopping. He thought it would be good to let the cub experience the life of sleeping in the open air, sitting on a camel and looking at the desert, so that he wouldn't cry again when he returned.
At noon, a caravan came up from behind. This caravan lived in the alleys of the city. The two sides did not know each other, but the people in the caravan still asked in a friendly manner if they needed help and why they were traveling in the desert with a child.
"Let's go find my mother." The kid spoke first.
The merchant looked at Zhao Xiping and asked, "Do you need our help?"
Zhao Xiping waved his hand, "We'll go to Yumen Pass and come back."
The merchant didn't understand, but he didn't plan to ask any more questions. The caravan passed by the father and son and continued forward.
Zhao Xiping slowed down and drove the camel to turn north to create distance and stop being in the dust, so he sped up.
At noon on the third day, Sui Yu's caravan left Yumen Pass, and Zhao Xiping and his children only vaguely saw the shadow of the city wall.
After another day of marching in the desert, Zhao Xiping brought his children into Yumen Pass just before the city gate fell.
Yumen Pass occupies a much smaller area than Dunhuang, but the city walls here are high, and there are huge granaries and hay warehouses outside the city, which store food and hay for wartime use.
Zhao Xiping and his child stayed in the city for one night. The next day, they left the city and looked at the granary from afar on the Gobi Desert with his child. The granary was three meters high and meandered for forty to fifty meters from east to west, like a giant dragon crawling on the ground.
The cub exclaimed "Wow" and pointed his finger to go over.
"We can't go over there. If we get too close, we'll both be shot into sieves by the arrows." Zhao Xiping laughed.
When the sun rises, the granary casts a huge shadow on the Gobi Desert, and as the sun rises, the shadow gradually shrinks.
Another caravan came out of the city, the sound of camel bells was melodious, and the little boy turned around and stared at it without blinking.
Camels trudged across the hard Gobi Desert with heavy steps, kicking up dust that shimmered golden in the sunlight. Merchants wore thick linen headbands, covering their hair and faces. The chill northwest wind whistled past, lifting their turbans and revealing pairs of determined eyes.
The caravan walked away step by step, and the sound of camel bells changed its tone in the wind.
"We should go back." Zhao Xiping said frankly, "We are late. Your mother has already come out of seclusion."
The cub looked away.
"Can we come here to send her off next time?" Zhao Xiping asked in a negotiating tone.
"Okay." The kid agreed readily.
"Shall we go back then? Your uncle is still waiting at home."
The cub nodded again.
Zhao Xiping chuckled, thinking that this trip was the right one, at least the kid no longer objected to Sui Yu leaving.
Zhao Xiping drove the camel back. The area outside the pass was deserted. Except for an oasis where Yumen Pass was located, there were Gobi and desert in all directions. Standing outside the pass, the snow-capped mountains in the south were clearer than in Dunhuang.
When they entered the city gate, Zhao Xiping looked back with the cub and said, "Tell your mother not to cry anymore."
"Well, baby, don't cry, and mom won't cry either." The little boy imitated the gesture Sui Yu made when she left and said goodbye.
Zhao Xiping took a look, turned around and took the child through the customs.
"After we go back, we will start planting wheat." He said to the child.
"When the wheat is ripe, mother will be back." The boy spoke with longing and a smile.
"Yes, your mother will be back when the wheat is ripe." Zhao Xiping put the child in his arms, went to the street to buy a bag of eggs, and paid someone to cook them. After replenishing his food and fodder, he rode a camel and left Yumen Pass.
As they walked back, they encountered a continuous stream of caravans heading west. In this season, the sound of camel bells between Dunhuang City and Yumen Pass continued for a long time.
This is a road full of hope.
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