Chapter 295 Meeting Sui Hui
Just as the sky was getting light, Sui Yu was awakened by a knock on the door. Before she could fully recover, she subconsciously sat up, reaching under the pillow with one hand while busy grabbing her clothes with the other. As soon as she opened her eyes, her brows were already furrowed.
"Dad, open the door." The kid knocked on the door angrily, "Mom, open the door for me."
Sui Yu woke up in an instant. She was at home. She felt weak and fell on the bed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhao Xiping looked at her with a complicated expression and asked, "Hasn't it come to your senses yet? Do you think you're still outside the Great Wall?"
Sui Yu didn't answer. She shouted outside, "Stop knocking. Your father is here to open the door for you."
As she spoke, she put on her clothes, tidied her hair a little and sat up again.
Zhao Xiaozai ran in with his hair standing on end, wishing he could step into a pit. He entered the room but refused to go to bed. Instead, he stood at the door like a wooden pillar, staring at his father with fire in his eyes.
Zhao Xiping pulled him and he opened his mouth to bite.
"What's making a fuss so early in the morning?" Zhao Xiping sat down on the edge of the bed and explained, "You said last night that you wanted to sleep with your uncle. Don't you remember?"
"Impossible." As soon as he opened his mouth, the little boy's tears fell. He shouted angrily: "You must have taken me over while I was sleeping."
Oh, he's crying and he's quite angry. Zhao Xiping leaned over and pulled him again. Regardless of the boy's desperate struggle, he forcibly took the child to the bed.
The little cub burst into tears. He lay on the bed, ignoring everyone, and howled with his mouth open.
Sui Liang flashed outside the door, took a look and quickly ran away, fearing that he would be blamed.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping leaned over, both propping themselves up on their arms as they observed the crying child. They didn't try to comfort him, but just watched calmly, commenting from time to time: "The baby's teeth are growing well," "Have you noticed that his ears look like yours," "Who has longer eyelashes, his or mine?", "His..."
"I'm angry!" The little boy couldn't stand them. He swallowed his tears and stared at his parents above with tears in his eyes.
"Who are you blaming for being angry? Blame yourself. It was you who said you wanted to sleep with your uncle." Zhao Xiping turned the tables without blinking, "If you don't believe me, ask your mother."
Sui Yu nodded with a guilty conscience, "Your uncle boasted to me last night that you like sleeping with him the most."
The cub began to doubt himself, but still didn't believe it. He said, "I must have dreamed. I was talking in my sleep."
"Then you can sleep with us tonight, but it will definitely be hotter if you sleep with us," said Sui Yu.
The boy believed what he heard a little. In the summer, he liked to sleep with his uncle because his uncle was thinner than his father, took up less space, and slept more easily. He could sleep until dawn, unlike his father, who always woke up at night to cover him with a thin quilt, which would wake him up from the heat.
Zhao Xiping got out of bed and put on his clothes, saying, "The sun is out. Don't sleep any longer, both of you. Get up early so we can go and release the horses."
Sui Yu glanced at the kid. He wiped his eyes and sat up, calling out, "Dad, get me some clothes. I want to wear the short coat with a kitten embroidered on it that my aunt made for me today."
His temper has subsided. He is no longer crying or making a fuss, and is now a good baby again. Sui Yu couldn't help laughing when he thought of what just happened.
The kid was a little embarrassed, and he explained sheepishly: "I'm not good at crying. I don't cry when I'm not angry, Dad, don't you agree?"
"Yes." Zhao Xiping handed him his clothes and said, "Put on your clothes yourself. Let your mother comb your hair later."
The cub was happy again.
Sui Yu took care of herself. She stood next to the baby and compared him, then looked at the wardrobe. The child was growing so fast. The short jackets and trousers in the wardrobe had been changed so many times, and they were all unfamiliar clothes to her.
"Do you have any silk cloth at home? I'll make two more sets of clothes for the kid." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Xiping knew Sui Yu's needlework skills well. The clothes she sewed were no match for wrapping rope around a dog's teeth and letting it chew them. So he tried to stop her, saying, "It's summer now, so I used the cloth you left to make him four sets of clothes. Last month, Xiaomi sent him two new sets of clothes, which is enough for him to wear. He's growing fast now, so the clothes I make this year will be too small next year. I'll give them all to Aning then, and Aning will only wear old clothes. He doesn't need two sets of clothes, so don't make it hard on yourself. If you feel bad, cook him a few extra meals, go pick broad beans with him in the fields, and play with him more often. He'll be very happy."
Sui Yu turned her face away, and when the sourness in her eyes faded, she glared at the man and muttered, "You're so annoying. Don't you understand that I can see through it but don't say it out loud?"
"Mom, here, a comb." The kid came running over from next door, clutching a bunch of hair ties and asking excitedly, "Mom, which one do you like? How many braids do you want?"
Sui Yu thought about it, then she took the cub to sit in the yard. The mother and son sat in the light, one high and one low. She took the comb and combed his hair.
"Your hair is like your father's, shiny black and thick. I'll braid it into two braids and put it into a bun. I'll tie those two red hairbands with bells. Who bought these hairbands? They look pretty nice."
"My uncle bought it for me."
"Your uncle is so nice."
The little cub chuckled.
After the bun was done, Sui Yu walked to the front and looked at the child again and again. The child had a childish face, and her watery eyes blinked again and again, showing joy, shyness, and a little anticipation. She was so adorable.
"My son is so handsome," she praised.
The little cub immediately blossomed like a flower bud. He held Sui Yu's hand and skipped out of the house, eager to show off the hair his mother had braided for him.
"Eat, where are you going?" Zhao Xiping shouted.
"Here I come."
Zhao Xiping stood outside the door waiting. Seeing him running over in two steps and deliberately standing in front of him with his face raised, he understood and said, "It looks good. Your mother is really good with her hands."
The kid touched his bun and said with a smile, "I'm going to eat."
"I'm going to the training ground." Zhao Xiping turned sideways and saw Sui Yu talking in the kitchen. He didn't bother to interrupt her anymore and said, "Tell your mother I'm going into the city first."
"Didn't you say we were going to release the horses?" The kid was still thinking about it.
"You two are so slow. It's already so late." Zhao Xiping waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
The cub watched him walk away, and when he heard his mother calling him, he strode into the house.
"Mom, my dad has gone to town."
"Oh, come and eat, after that we will go into the city." Sui Yu said.
After dinner, Sui Yu carried out the wooden box and went to the warehouse to get out two pieces of silk. The red satin brocade was cut into five feet, and the stone-blue Shu brocade was cut into ten feet. She thought about it and decided that as Sui Hui, she would be jealous if she dressed brightly. She asked someone to bring out two pieces of silk cloth, mulberry purple and moon white, each cut into ten feet. In addition to the cloth, she also asked Xiao Chunhong to bring out two small jars of honey and two blanket rolls.
"Prepare another half box of money. How much is left in the box? Go find Sui Liang and ask him to take out three hundred strings of cash to make up a total of one thousand coins for me." Sui Yu said.
"Are you going to ask someone for help?" Xiao Chunhong wondered.
"Those things like finding connections are not enough." Sui Yu laughed, "You and Zhang Shun will come with me into the city later."
After collecting enough money, Zhang Shun brought six camels, two of which carried goods and four of which carried people.
Sui Yu brought Sui Liang and Xiaozai, and the three of them went into the city and knocked on the door of Hu Jianjian's house. She entered as the wife of a thousand households, and two servants stayed outside to look after the camels.
Mrs. Hu had never met Sui Yu, but she knew that Concubine Wen had a cousin who had never visited her. She had heard of the fame of the Changgui Guest House. The two female merchants who had emerged in Dunhuang City were the talk of the ladies of the various mansions. Especially this Qianhu woman, who had been born a convict slave. Even more interesting than her caravan was her beauty. It was said that she had bewitched a centurion so much that he risked his life to fight on the battlefield and earn military merit to free her from slavery. Seeing her today, she was deeply disappointed. The woman before her, with her upright figure and piercing eyes, did not look like the foxy woman rumored. However, she could see some of her youthful beauty in the child at her legs.
"I hope Madam Hu won't mind my intrusion." Sui Yu placed the neatly folded red satin brocade on the low couch and said, "Before I came here, I heard people say that Madam Hu had a fair complexion and kind eyes. I thought the red satin would definitely complement you. Now that I see it, it really is."
Mrs. Hu was delighted and noticed the bamboo curtain move out of the corner of her eye. She looked outside and saw that it was Madam Wen coming over.
"You travel so much, you're really gifted with a clever tongue. You can make people happy with just a few words. No wonder you can take money out of people's pockets." Mrs. Hu said with a faint smile, "You sisters haven't seen each other for many years. I won't be mean. I'll let Madam Wen take you to Wenzhu Courtyard to talk. Stay for lunch. I'll arrange for someone to bring a table."
From her words, she didn't regard Sui Yu as the wife of a thousand households at all, but as a businessman who made a living by selling smiles, and a relative of the concubine in the mansion.
Sui Yu suppressed her smile. This arrogant expression was truly unpleasant. Fortunately, she hadn't prepared too much gift, otherwise it would have been like throwing meat buns at a dog, with nothing coming back. But she couldn't get angry either. She was a merchant, and Sui Hui was her mistress. She was visiting Sui Hui, so it would have been difficult to expect Mrs. Hu to be polite.
From just a few sentences, one can predict that Sui Hui has a hard time under the eldest wife.
"No need to spend money, we have to go home at noon." Sui Yu refused the offer of staying for dinner and said, "I won't bother you anymore."
Sui Hui lifted the curtain outside the door and met Sui Yu's eyes. She forced an ugly smile and forced herself to walk in. She lowered her brows and said submissively, "Madam, can An Ge'er go to Wenzhu Courtyard today? He has grown up so much, and my sister has never met him."
"I have asked someone to call him. Now that his brother is here, he will naturally come out to entertain him," said Mrs. Hu.
"Thank you, Madam." Sui Hui showed gratitude. She stepped out of the door, smiled at Sui Yu again, and then led her family out of the main courtyard.
"Sister Yu, is there any news about my brother?" Sui Hui asked impatiently.
Sui Yu nodded and said, "Go to your yard and tell me in detail."
"Hey! Hey!" Sui Hui cried with joy, "Is he still alive? Is he back?"
"Alive, but not back."
"It's good to be alive. You can come back alive."
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