Chapter 351 Returning Home in Winter
Autumn is coming to an end, and the warm autumn air is gradually replaced by the cold air covered with white frost. In the early morning of late October, the withered and yellow wilderness is covered with a layer of white frost like ice crystals, and the wind is also cold.
There was a knock on the door, and Zhao Xiping answered, "Get up."
"Is my mother awake?" the boy asked through the door.
Zhao Xiping opened the bolt and the kid came in with a chill.
Sui Yu looked at him from under the covers and asked, "Did you kick the covers yesterday?"
"I don't think so. I wasn't woken up by the cold." The kid lay on the edge of the bed and touched his bulging belly through the quilt.
"Let's go." Zhao Xiping tied his hair, opened the door and walked out.
"Mom, I'm going to practice martial arts first. You should sleep for a while. It's still dark outside." The boy followed her out and closed the door gently.
With the busy farming season over and the crops gathered in the granary, Zhao Xiping had some free time. He no longer had to patrol the fields to check on the crops' progress or sue farmers over a scoop of manure or a bucket of water. He now waited until daybreak to report to the Agricultural Office for duty. Freed from the constant rush, he had the leisure to train his children in martial arts. Every day before dawn, he took the youngster to the open space north of the guesthouse for training.
Ding Quan, Erhei and three little girls were already waiting outside. As soon as the door of the main courtyard opened, they were the first to move.
Zhao Xiping helped the cub to loosen up his joints, and the father and son followed, running around the guesthouse while breathing out white air.
Gradually, the east and west side doors of the guesthouse opened from the inside one after another. The escorts came out when they heard the noise, and they rolled up their sleeves and ran after them.
After running three laps, Zhao Xiping first took Xiaozai, A Shui and the servants at home to the open space to practice boxing.
"Huff-Huff--"
The two boys from the Hua family joined in, panting heavily. They stood behind and stared at Zhao Xiping's movements and imitated them.
At daybreak, Hu Ansui came running with half his head covered with white frost. He did not ride a donkey, but ran all the way from home. He was sweating and his limbs were stretched. He came over and joined the martial arts training team directly.
"Kid, stand up straight." A sweaty escort passed by, shirtless. He reached out and grabbed Hu Ansui's shoulder, pulling him back. "Your legs and feet are behind you, and your shoulders are stretched two miles. You're not practicing Mantis Fist. Keep your back steady. The punch comes from your upper arms, not your shoulders."
Juan's face turned red. He subconsciously wanted to escape, but he held back. He held his breath and got into position, trying to concentrate his strength on his upper arms. He swung a punch, but he found that his fist felt shackled. The action of retracting it was subconscious and effortless.
A smile appeared on his face.
"You're too early to be happy." The escort slapped him on the lower back. "You have no strength in your waist. If you keep training like this, in two or three years you won't be able to walk, let alone get married."
Zhao Xiping coughed and said, "Stop talking nonsense."
The escort then realized that there were three girls of medium age beside him. He swallowed his frivolous words and said jokingly, "General Zhao, you are a half-baked master. I'm afraid the apprentice you teach will be a hollow shell."
Zhao Xiping accepted the teasing calmly and explained, "I haven't had any proper martial arts teachers. I figured it all out on my own. I was already quite old when I started learning, and my body had grown. I probably adjusted some of the force-generating movements subconsciously, so I didn't notice anything wrong."
"Just practice more and you'll be fine. Once you're familiar with the movements, you won't have to stare at your arms when punching or retracting your fist. Your body will automatically straighten itself." Ding Quan spoke up to defend his master.
A Shui and Hua Niu nodded quickly.
The boy lowered his eyes and thought, he was a little dissatisfied. For example, when picking up food with chopsticks, he found that not everyone had the same posture. This should be related to the posture of holding chopsticks when they were young.
"Uncle Du, can we learn martial arts from you?" asked the kid.
"Hey? Do you still remember my last name?" the escort was surprised.
The kid nodded and said, "I remember you came here last year and gave me a handful of rice candy. It was delicious."
Zhao Xiping seemed to be lost in thought. He asked, "Master Du, where are you from? Your accent sounds a bit like someone from Longxi County."
"Yes, Longxi County. I am from the same hometown as Qin Wenshan, the head of the Qin family."
"Would you consider opening a martial arts school in Dunhuang? Or you can follow me and be my bodyguard when I'm out. When I'm at home, you can be my children's martial arts master." Zhao Xiping was considering that he would have to go to the three eastern counties to grow cotton next year, so having a bodyguard along the way would be useful to protect against both wolves and people.
Escort Du didn't immediately agree or refuse, saying, "I'll think about it."
"Okay, give me your answer before the end of the year," Zhao Xiping said. "If you work with me, you'll get eighty coins a month, and I'll provide food, clothing, housing, and transportation. If you plan to open a martial arts school in Dunhuang, I'll send all my children there."
"I'll think about it." Master Du was conflicted.
Zhao Xiping let him go. He stopped teaching the kids boxing and started teaching them stick fighting instead.
When the rosy glow emerged from the clouds, Sui Yu woke up. She opened the door wearing a thin cotton jacket and came out. There were deafening shouts coming from the open space in the north. The shirtless men were sweating all over and looked very hot.
Inside the guesthouse, the merchants were still lying on the couches, covered with quilts and fast asleep, their snoring sounds could be heard through the courtyard wall.
A calico cat climbed out from the courtyard wall, and then a stick-sized child climbed out through the door. The calico cat had already run away, and she sat at the door in a daze.
Sui Yu came out of the kitchen with a bowl of hot soy milk. As soon as she stepped out, she saw the child sitting outside the fifth guest house, picking up dirt to eat. She cried out, "You can't eat anymore. You've vomited. Where's your mother? Why did you crawl out here alone?"
The child smiled at her with wet yellow soil in his mouth and snot running down his nose.
Sui Yu took out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped her face. She pushed open the door with her belly bulging and shouted directly, "Master Li? Who of the Li family's merchants is awake? The child has escaped."
No one answered. After a few breaths, a woman with a flushed face and a wrinkled jacket opened the door and came out. She didn't dare to look at Sui Yu. She quickly went out and picked up the child and went back to the house.
Sui Yu frowned, but couldn't do anything about it. She closed the door of the guesthouse and left.
The sun rose and the sky became bright. Vendors from the city came over carrying their loads and pushing their carts. In addition to those selling vegetables and grains, there were also those selling food.
The bodyguards who were practicing martial arts dispersed and rushed into the kitchen. After a while, the bodyguards who could not stand the long queue for food strode out again and rushed to the food stalls.
"Shopkeeper Yu, buy a few pounds of donkey meat today and stew it in a pot to sell. We brothers are craving for donkey meat." said a bodyguard.
Sui Yu nodded in agreement, "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to go to the city to buy it this morning."
A few steps away, a duck vendor heard what was happening. He came over and said, "Shopkeeper Yu, a family in our village has slaughtered a donkey. They're going to take the meat to the city to sell. How much do you want to buy? I'll have them bring it over to you."
"Send thirty pounds." Sui Yu said, "Tell him a message. If the donkey hide hasn't been sold yet, tell him to clean it up and send it to me."
The vendor sighed and said, "Shopkeeper Yu, come and look at my ducks. They weigh five or six pounds each and are incredibly plump. Buy a few and take them home."
All six ducks were male ducks. They looked energetic and had shiny feathers. The vendor's words were not an exaggeration. Sui Yu nodded and bought his ducks.
"Wait a minute, someone will come over to weigh and settle the bill." Sui Yu said to the vendor.
Zhao Xiping led the camel over and said to Sui Yu from a few steps away, "I'm going to be on duty."
Sui Yu waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
The cub came over quickly. He saw someone selling smoked rabbits and said, "Mom, buy some smoked rabbits. I want to eat steamed rabbit meat."
Sui Yu wrote something on the parchment scroll, "Look, what else do you want to eat?"
"Young shopkeeper, would you like to eat some fried dates?" asked the woman who was frying dates in the oil pan.
The cub walked over and the woman handed him one. He took it and put it in his mouth.
Sui Yu went over and said, "Weigh two catties."
"Okay."
Ah Shui came over after having a full stomach. She brought a scale with her three maids, took the parchment scroll from Sui Yu, and began to weigh the vegetables and grains to be bought today.
The boy picked up a date and fed it to his mother. Sui Yu refused to eat it, so he went to feed A Shui and then went to find Hua Niu and A Qiang.
Half an hour later, the vendors selling vegetables, grains and meat received their money and left with their loads on their shoulders, while the vendors selling food continued to guard the place.
"Child, do you want some oily dates? Go find your parents and they'll buy you some oily dates. They're so fragrant and sweet."
Sui Yu came out of the main courtyard and saw the child who had eaten dirt in the morning crawling out again. There were people coming in and out of the guest house. They seemed not to see her and walked past her as if they didn't see her. If they stepped on her, they would at most frown, turn on their toes, and walk away.
"Mom, I'm done packing, let's go." The kid came out with a bag on his shoulder. He saw the child drooling at the oil date stall.
"Go to the guest house and shout at the head of the household, Mr. Li, and tell him that his daughter has slipped out like a puppy again, and seems to be hungry and craving for other people's food." Sui Yu ordered his son.
The kid understood. He ran over and picked up the dirty child. He remembered which room Mr. Li lived in, so he went to knock on the door with the child in his arms.
The door opened, and the kid shoved the child inside and said, "Uncle Li, I brought your daughter to you. She crawled out by herself and is sitting at the door like a puppy, staring at the date stall and drooling. Are you not giving her food?"
Li Dadang glanced at the dirty child, then immediately looked away and turned to look at the cub. He said, "This is not my child. I will ask her mother to feed her. Thank you for sending her here."
The kid waved his hand and ran away.
Sui Yu was waiting for him not far away. When she saw him come out, she looked into the guest house and clearly heard the headmaster Li calling someone.
"Mom, let's go."
"good."
The mother and son walked into the city. Sui Liang asked the caravan to take a letter, saying that he would probably be back on October 28th, and asked his sister and nephew to go to the city gate to pick him up.
Sui Liang left Dunhuang on July 11 and never returned. He stayed in Wuwei County to run the food shop business. Recently, there were fewer caravans on the road, so he closed the shop and returned to Dunhuang with Song Congzu and his servants.
When passing by Jiuquan, Sui Liang met Zhao's father, Zhao's mother, and Zhao Dalang's brothers and sisters who were traveling with the caravan. He asked the seven of them, grandparents and grandchildren, to go with him.
There were two elderly people whose journey slowed down and they arrived in Dunhuang on the third day of the winter month.
"Your uncle is back." Sui Yu pushed the boy lying on the table playing with grass, "Get out quickly, he's looking for you."
Sui Liang stood on the camel's back and looked around: at the foot of the city wall, at the city gate, on the street, at the oil-tea shop...
"Uncle——" the kid ran out, "I'm here."
Sui Liang's tense face immediately relaxed.
Sui Yu also came out holding her belly.
"Shopkeeper Yu, have you picked up your brother?" asked the female shopkeeper who was frying noodles.
"I got it. Sorry to bother you these past few days." Sui Yu smiled, "We'll be back now."
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