Chapter 64: Shepherding Pigs
In front, there was a stone of grain sent by Uncle Lao Niu, and in the back, there was a stone of rice and flour sent by Sui Wen'an. Sui Yu thought that the government would also distribute grain in two days, and by then the grain jars at home would be filled to the brim.
A rooster crowed in the yard. Sui Yu covered the grain jar and walked out. The cat official was pouncing on a pheasant on the ground. She went over and picked up the chicken. Its legs were injured and its wings were clipped. She thought about killing it to get it over with so that it wouldn't get any thinner.
"Brother Liang, come and help me light the fire. I'll kill the chicken. We'll stir-fry it with radish for every meal. We can eat it for several days." Sui Yu said.
Sui Liang nodded happily and ran into the kitchen to light the fire.
Sui Yu scooped a basin of water into the pot. She picked up a knife and a bowl, pulled the feathers off the chicken's neck, and with a prick of the knife, the chicken blood fell into the bowl.
"Meow--" When the cat officer smelled the blood, he screamed in a hoarse voice in a hurry, and even the stones in the yard were dragged away by him.
After the chicken blood had all drained out, Sui Yu threw away the pheasant. She took the bowl into the kitchen, sprinkled a pinch of salt into the bowl, and waited until the pheasant under the wall had completely died and the chicken blood in the bowl had solidified.
"Meow——" the cat official yelled.
"I know, I'll give you the chicken butt later." Sui Yu muttered. She went into the house and took a pair of scissors to cut the chicken feathers. This was a wild rooster with long tail feathers and beautiful feathers. She planned to cut them, wash them, and make a shuttlecock.
Sui Liang knocked on the door with a stick and told Sui Yushui that it was open.
Sui Yu picked up the pheasant and threw it into the basin. She went into the house and scooped up some hot water to pour over the chicken. She said with emotion, "People with a skill, even if they are in trouble, have more ways to make money than ordinary people. I'll look for some more. If I can get some cowhide or sheepskin before your brother-in-law comes back, I'll make a bow. My sister and I can learn to shoot the bow. Even if we don't save our lives, going out hunting can save us a lot of money."
After Sui Wen'an was released from slavery, he relied on the harvest from the fields for food. Now the crops have not been harvested yet, and the food he eats is probably given by Lord Hu or loaned to him by the villagers. He has no extra money to buy rice and flour, so he can only rely on the money he saved from hunting and selling prey.
Thinking of his free trade, Sui Yu sighed. She cut off the chicken's butt and threw it to the cat official, saying, "Your brother-in-law has been away from home for nearly a month. I don't know how he is doing."
After plucking all the chicken feathers, it was pitch black. Sui Yu cleaned up the feathers on the ground and dumped them into the manure bucket. She scooped up water to clean the chicken's internal organs, then stir-fried the intestines, gizzards, pericardium, liver, and blood with some dried vegetables. She also cooked two bowls of dumpling soup. This was her and Sui Liang's dinner.
After dinner, Sui Yu drained the pheasant, rubbed it with salt, and brought it inside to hang it up. She then untied the cat official's rope and let it guard the food in the kitchen. After finishing all this, she lit a lamp and sat under an oil lamp, sewing chicken feather shuttlecocks. She whispered to Sui Liang, "Go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow. When you wake up, we'll play shuttlecock in the yard."
Sui Liang nodded. He remembered that his sister was very good at kicking shuttlecock.
The brother and sister fell asleep, the oil lamp was extinguished, and the courtyard sank into the endless night.
Sui Yu had just fallen asleep when she suddenly woke up. She pricked up her ears to listen to the noise outside. There was someone outside the door, a man laughing.
The pigs in the pigsty grunted, and the lambs also cried twice.
The cat official came out of the kitchen and walked quietly to the front door. Suddenly he screamed, scaring the people outside the door so much that they took a step back. Then the door was violently slammed.
Sui Yu got dressed and sat up. She opened the door in the dark and went out. Standing in the yard, she cursed at the top of her lungs: "Is your father dead? You're knocking on the door in the middle of the night to announce his death. Get out of here, you bastard."
The shout woke up half the alley, and the sound of doors opening was heard from several nearby houses. The thieves in the alley were scared and ran away.
The neighbor on the right opened the gate and saw in the moonlight that there was no one in the alley. A man walked back and forth in the alley with a club in his hand, cursing as he walked: "You little bastard, you're so tired of living that you come to our alley to steal. If you have the guts to come, don't run away. We, the old men, will beat you to death."
When he reached the Zhao family's door, he shouted inside, "Daughter-in-law of the Zhao family, if there's any more noise, just shout. Don't be afraid. We are all decent people in this alley. We won't tolerate any little rascals coming here to steal chickens and dogs."
"Hey, thanks, big brother." Sui Yu wasn't afraid. Thirty or forty families lived densely packed in that alley. Unless someone deliberately opened the door to lure the thief in, even the most skilled thief couldn't get to her bed without making a sound. The person knocking on her door tonight was most likely that itchy, lecherous man, deliberately testing her to see if she had any intention of cheating. Even if they had eight hundred guts, they wouldn't dare force their way in.
Sui Yu went into the house and fell asleep, but woke up naturally before dawn. She was thinking about playing shuttlecock to exercise her body, so she didn't try to fall asleep again. She just lifted the mattress, got up and opened the door.
Sui Liang also got up.
There was a fire burning in the stove and rice was added to the pot. Sui Yu and Sui Liang were standing in the yard playing shuttlecock back and forth, and from time to time they ran into the kitchen to put two handfuls of firewood into the stove.
It was bright outside and the millet porridge in the pot was cooked. Sui Yu opened the door and took Sui Liang to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, planning to cook a vegetarian dish when he came back.
"Sui Yu, what happened last night?" asked the woman carrying firewood.
"A few slutty men couldn't control the two pounds of filthy flesh in their pants, knocking on my door in the middle of the night to tease me." Sui Yu didn't mince words about the obvious; the more openly she spoke, the fewer people would talk behind her back. With a glance, she placed her hands on her hips and cursed arrogantly, "If any of those reckless men come knocking on my door again, I'll curse until their ancestors' graves are filled with smoke. They're shameless bastards, they don't even know what they're made of. They've got a load of slutty flesh and they're flaunting it everywhere, acting so slutty."
The woman carrying the firewood was amused and giggled. She had misjudged Sui Yu. She had thought that she was a decent person, but she didn't expect that she was such a hot-tempered person.
"It's all because of your cousin. She's so dishonest and brings shame to the people living around here. In the end, you're the most unlucky one."
Sui Yu sneered and said, "I'm different from her. If anyone dares to come near me, I'll slap him in the face. Okay, enough talking. I'm going to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables. Are you guys cooking too?"
"Just started a fire."
"Then you get busy." Sui Yu took Sui Liang away. Half of the people in the alley heard her scolding, but no one came out to ask her about it indirectly.
When they arrived at the vegetable garden, Sui Yu asked Sui Liang to dig young bitter vegetables. She picked up half a basket of old shepherd's purse and dug half a basket of radishes, intending to go back and cook them to feed the pigs.
"Are you scared? If someone comes knocking on the door tonight, would you be afraid?" Sui Yu asked Sui Liang with a smile.
Sui Liang shook his head. He was afraid last night, but he wouldn’t be afraid anymore. He just wanted to talk, and he also wanted to curse when he was angry.
On the way back, Sui Liang was jumping and skipping. He walked in front. When he saw a butterfly, he opened his mouth and recited a sentence silently. When he saw a flower, he opened his mouth and recited a sentence silently again.
After eating and feeding the pigs, Sui Yu led the camel and the sheep out. Just as she locked the door, she saw Uncle Niu turn into the alley.
"I heard that a shameless person came knocking on the door last night?" asked Uncle Lao Niu.
"Yes, I scolded them, and the neighbors in the alley ran away as soon as they made any noise," said Sui Yu.
"Yes, that's how it should be." Uncle Niu nodded and said, "If there's any noise, just shout. As long as the door isn't opened, no one can get in."
Sui Yu nodded. What happened last night had already come to an end for her. She turned to talking about collecting food tomorrow and asked Uncle Niu not to forget her family's food.
The food that should have been distributed at the beginning of the month was not distributed until the end of the month.
After that, Sui Yu and Sui Liang led the sheep and pigs respectively, and the brother and sister took the pigs, sheep, and camels to graze.
The camel lost its leash and was left to run free. Two lambs were tied to a small tree and grazing. The black pig was a lazy guy, sleeping when he was full. When he arrived at his destination, he lay down in the sandpit to bask in the sun and sleep. The cat official scurried into the grass to catch insects and eat for a snack. Sui Yu and Sui Liang went to collect firewood nearby: branches broken by cattle and sheep, roots eaten by insects, and wet wood floating down from the river. Sui Yu picked up whatever he could find.
"Girl, is that your sheep? It ran away." The shepherd on the other side of the river shouted.
Sui Yu looked back and saw her two sheep breaking through the saplings and running away, dragging the rooted saplings with them. She quickly dropped the firewood and told Sui Liang to watch over them while she ran after the sheep.
The black pig was awakened. It shook off the sand on its body and stood up. After looking for a while, it bit the rope and slipped away right under Sui Liang's nose.
The two goats ran apart. Sui Yu caught up with one, but was helpless against the other, which had already grown up and was too big for her to catch. She bleated loudly, trying to call the fleeing goat back. The next moment, she saw a pig chasing the goat. The black pig ran and bleated, with Sui Liang hanging behind it. There was a considerable distance between the man and the pig.
Sui Yu pulled the sheep in her hand to another tree and tied it to it. After settling it down, she rolled up her sleeves and continued to chase it. After running around, she saw the pig chasing the sheep towards her, and Sui Yu opened her hands to stop it.
There was a person in front and a pig behind. The fleeing goat slowed down, and Sui Yu took the opportunity to run over and grab the rope. Just when he was about to catch the pig, the black pig stopped, grunted a few times, and walked to the person's feet.
Sui Yu looked at it for a few seconds and recalled what had just happened. It seemed that the pig had been chasing the sheep.
Sui Liang came running over panting. He grabbed the pig rope and fell to the ground gasping for breath, exhausted.
"Brother Liang, you can't even outrun the piglet yet. You need to practice more in the future." Sui Yu teased him.
She pulled the black-headed sheep to lead another sheep. The black pig also wanted to leave, but the rope around its neck was in Sui Liang's hand.
Sui Yu suddenly let go of the black-headed sheep she was holding, and it ran away. She waved to the pig, "Xiao Hei, go chase the sheep. Liang Ge'er, let go of the rope."
The pig came slowly towards her.
Sui Yu was disappointed, thinking she had misunderstood. She quickly tied up another sheep and went after it. As soon as she moved, the black-skinned pig followed her. Both the man and the pig were aiming for the black-headed sheep that had run into someone else's wheat field.
The black pig passed the people, and with its knee-high piglets twirling their trotters, it pounced on the sheep that were destroying the crops, grunting and driving them away, around and around, driving the sheep towards the people.
Sui Yu slowed down her pace. She had only seen sheepdogs, and this was the first time she had seen sheep pigs.
"Good pig, I'll give you more food when we get home at noon." Sui Yu patted the pig's head with a smile.
The sheep and camels were brought back, and it was time to make lunch. Sui Yu bundled the firewood she had collected and piled it between the camel humps, and she pulled the two sheep back.
The camel, which knew the way, walked in front, and the black pig, which had won the favor of its owner, followed behind, grunting and dragging the rope. The cat owner held its tail upright and scratched it with its claws from time to time.
The door opened, and the camel and pig entered, each obediently returning to its own pen. Sui Yu peered in, then retracted her head and patted the sheep. She dragged the two stubborn sheep into the house and said, "They're all human and can work, but you all just eat, eat, eat."
When cooking at noon, Sui Yu would scoop half a bowl of millet when steaming rice. People would eat the white rice, and the millet would be saved to feed the pigs.
In the afternoon, Sister Lamei came to Sui Yu to do needlework, and Sui Yu sat at home for half a day.
Night fell again. Uncle Niu went out in the dead of night, carrying his machete. He quietly hid behind a pile of alfalfa outside the Zhao family's wall. When no one showed up, he slowly fell asleep. He woke up to hear some movement in the yard. It was still dark. When he heard that it was Sui Yu who woke up, he went home with his machete.
In the middle of the morning, Uncle Niu came carrying two stone of grain. He heard people in the alley say that someone had slept in Sui Yu's haystack. He sighed and said, "I slept there. I was on guard outside all night, but I didn't wait for those little rascals to come over."
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