Chapter 244: Going into the Mountains to Search for Graves
It was already mid-March when we arrived in Zhangye County. The endless yellow sand and wilderness of Gobi had disappeared here, replaced by fresh green grass and abundant water.
The spring breeze stirred the water waves, and green buds sprouted under the water plants that had stood tall after the severe winter. Long-legged water birds were hiding among them. When the human voices approached, they screamed and jumped out, breaking the ripples on the lake surface. After a series of splashes, the water birds disappeared on the water.
The camels stepped into the lake to drink water, and the servants carried buckets to draw water and poured it into pottery jars. Sui Yu and Song Xian each took a wooden stick to push aside the water grass. Sure enough, there were light white, light green or black hemp colors hidden among the withered yellow and new green. A nest of bird eggs could be found after walking two steps.
"Don't pick them all up, leave two or three for the water birds to hatch eggs," said Sui Yu.
Song Xian nodded. She bent down to pick up bird eggs and said, "Zhangye is such a great place."
Yes, there are vast lakes, dense rivers, flat terrain, and vast grasslands. After a spring rain, grass and crops will grow freely. Here, both wheat and rice can be grown, fish and shrimp are abundant, and cattle and sheep are everywhere, comparable to the areas within the Great Wall and south of the Yangtze River.
The sunset glow is reflected on the lake, the lake is gorgeous, and at a certain moment, a full moon appears on the lake.
The moonlight replaced the brilliant glow of the sunset, a bonfire was lit by the lake, tents were set up, and camels were scattered on the grass, either standing or lying to rest.
A small boat came from the east, and a fisherman casting his net called out from afar, "Hakka, would you like to buy some fish?"
Sui Yu and Song Xian looked in the direction of the sound and saw a customer coming over to ask for the price. They both brushed away the ashes from the egg baking fire and stood up to go over.
"Old man, how much are the fish?"
"Weigh it by the jin, one qian and two jin."
The fish price was cheaper than in Dunhuang. Sui Yu looked at the big carp in the old man's hand and said, "I want this one."
"Okay, this is the biggest fish I caught tonight." The old man picked up the scale and weighed it, saying, "Twelve pounds and three ounces. Twelve pounds is yours."
After saying that, he threw the fish ashore with great force.
Sui Yu went to pick up the fish, and Song Xian paid the old man. Later merchants also bought fish, but none of them were as big as the ones they bought.
Another small boat came, and before it got close, the fisherman started to compete for business.
Sui Yu left with the fish, while Song Xian was still squatting by the lake watching.
"Hakka, would you like to buy some tofu? Tofu stewed with fish is the best." The vendor came out of the city in the dark.
There were also people selling oil, rice, ginger, garlic, and radishes, and many women selling shoes and ready-made clothes. For a while, the lakeside was as lively as a market.
Sui Yu bought seven pounds of tofu, fried the fish first and then added water to boil, added ginger slices to remove the fishy smell and coarse salt to season, then cut the tofu into small pieces and poured all the water in, filling the pot.
Song Xian came back. She walked to the fire, cleared away the ashes, and used chopsticks to pick out the roasted bird eggs. The egg shells were thin and broke easily when squeezed. She tasted one and found that the roasted bird eggs were more fragrant than the boiled ones.
"Hey, Sister Yu, try two." She pinched two shelled bird eggs and handed them to Sui Yu's mouth.
The bird eggs were not choking, so Sui Yu ate one at a time. After swallowing them, he said again, "Zhangye is such a great place."
"It's a pity we can't move here." Song Xian knelt down and sat down.
Sui Yu smiled slightly. She had some ideas. She planned to go to Chang'an this year and buy more goods to sell to the Western Regions. When the time comes, she will sell the goods outside the customs and use some money to build a guesthouse in Zhangye.
Now that she had her own guesthouse in Zhangye, she would no longer have to stay in the wild when passing by here on her business trips.
When the fish soup in the pot began to smell fragrant, Sui Yu made a decision that she would go in and out of the customs every now and then, and use the money she earned from buying and selling to buy camels to expand the caravan, and the money she earned from the inn would be used to build another inn.
Maybe when she gets old, she will have properties from Taiyuan County to Yumen Pass, and even to Loulan and Kucha, hahahaha.
Song Xian looked at her strangely and asked, "What are you thinking about? She laughed happily."
Sui Yu came back to her senses. Xiao Chunhong, Liu Yaer and the others were all looking at her. She touched the corner of her mouth and found that it was indeed upturned.
"Nothing." The matter was done in secret, so Sui Yu didn't plan to say more. She kicked the firewood and said, "The fish soup should be cooked. Is the millet rice steamed? If it's cooked, let's eat."
The rice was soaked in fish soup, and those who were not full would eat a few cold flatbreads to fill their stomachs. After they were full, they went into their tents to sleep.
The next morning, we set off again.
The tinkling sound of camel bells faded away, and the complex sound of hooves gradually disappeared. The caravan entered the city, and the escaped water birds came ashore and returned to their nests.
After leaving Zhangye and entering Wuwei, the horn for spring planting had already sounded when we entered Wuwei County. Water was being diverted to the paddy fields for irrigation, and old oxen were pulling plows on the dry land. Birds were flying in the sky like swarms of flies, scrambling to land on the farmland to eat the pests and earthworms that were turned over.
With a "whoosh", a big net was cast down, and the young man standing at the edge of the field looked very proud.
The unlucky birds will become the farmers' snacks tonight.
While the camels were drinking water, Sui Yu and his servants also drew their bows and shot arrows. In the time it took to stick up an incense stick, they shot down more than ten birds. At night when they stayed in the city, they burned the bird feathers, removed the internal organs, and cooked a pot of them with millet. This would make meat porridge for the next morning.
When leaving Wuwei County, Sui Yu and Song Xian used money to fill up rice and flour jars, added a jar of long-lasting pickled cabbage, filled the leather bags for oil and salt, and prepared two boxes of bacon and chicken. They left the city only after everything was ready.
Sui Yu thought that he should build his own guesthouse in Wuwei County as soon as possible, but building a guesthouse in Wuwei County would steal the business of the Dunhuang guesthouse. It would be more cost-effective to build a restaurant selling food.
When the spring breeze blew through the four counties in Hexi, the snow on Hongchiling Mountain melted. The caravans coming from the east were crossing the river in full swing, and the caravans going to the west were climbing the hillside in a mighty manner. When the two sides met, a winding road with no end in sight had been trampled out on the snow-capped mountains that had been frozen for a whole winter.
Sui Yucai left home in April of the previous year. In April of this year, she had crossed Hongchiling and crossed the river at the end of the dry season.
Looking at the lush Qinling Mountains in front of her, Sui Yu couldn't help but think of Sui Liang's words about protection. Her experience made it difficult for her to believe that there were no ghosts or gods.
"Here I am again." She looked around and muttered softly, "Your son is no longer stupid and can speak now. I have lived up to your trust."
"Sister Yu, what are you mumbling about?" Song Xian couldn't help but get goose bumps when she saw her looking around.
Sui Yu laughed dryly, "Nothing, nothing."
"Brother, are there many people crossing the river ahead?" asked the merchant who came down from the mountain.
"Duo, we waited for most of the day before crossing the river." Someone from the caravan ahead answered.
There are camel caravans walking on both sides of the river. The clear sound of flowing water accompanied by the melodious sound of camel bells is better than thousands of music and dances.
Sui Yu looked at the caravan on the other side of the river. Seeing a familiar face, she waved and greeted.
"It's Shopkeeper Yu. You set out quite early." The escort from the other side of the river spoke. "How was the business at the guesthouse last winter?"
"It's pretty good. We slaughtered thirty-six pigs in one winter and ate them all." Sui Yu said.
The escort shouted and told the escort's host, "If you're late entering the border in the future, you can stay in the guesthouse in the north of Dunhuang during the winter. Manager Yu's guesthouse provides food and lodging, and the food is good."
Sui Yuchong smiled at the curious merchant and asked casually, "You are a stranger to Hakka people. Is this your first time doing business outside the Great Wall?"
"Yes, we went into Shu before, but the mountain roads there are dangerous and steep, so we intend to go outside the Great Wall. Shopkeeper Yu, is everything peaceful outside the Great Wall?"
"The situation in Cheshi is not peaceful. There are Hun soldiers looting goods. However, the trade route from Loulan to Qiuci is not a big problem." Sui Yu did not hide it.
"Then we'll take the southern route of the Tianshan Mountains," the escort told the merchant. "We're familiar with the southern route of the Tianshan Mountains."
"OK."
Sui Yu handed over a bundle and said, "Brother, could you please bring a bundle back for my child?"
"Okay." The merchant agreed immediately. "Dunhuang's North City Guesthouse, right? We'll definitely stay there when we get to Dunhuang."
Sui Yu estimated the width of the river, tied the belt of the bag tightly, gathered her strength and threw it, and the bag landed on the open space on the opposite bank.
"Thank you." Sui Yu looked relaxed.
"No problem." The merchant waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
After saying goodbye to each other, Sui Yu and Song Xian led the caravan into the trade path in the forest. Once they entered the forest, the sound of hooves disappeared. The chirping of birds in the forest and the swaying of branches drowned out the loud hooves. The camel caravan became a part of the forest.
The conversation took a while, and Sui Yu was more than a mile away from the caravan ahead. Fortunately, the caravan ahead was willing to wait for her. She stopped at noon to have a meal, and then continued on her way after her caravan caught up.
The fog cleared in the morning and they set off. In the evening, the fog rose and stopped. After eight days of traveling through the wet mountain forests, Sui Yu heard the sound of thousands of horses galloping again.
"Sister Song, I need to go to the ranch in the east. My father is buried there, and I want to take him to Dunhuang." Sui Yu told Song Xian, "I'll tell the caravan ahead to go ahead. You and your men wait here for me. I'll take a few people to the ranch."
Song Xian had no objection. "No wonder you climbed up the tree to look over there when you passed by here two years ago. But you want to dig up the grave and collect the bones now? Why not do it when you come back?"
Sui Yu shook her head. "The sooner I can get it done, the more at ease I'll be. The sooner I can get it over with, the easier it will be for me to stop worrying about it."
"Okay." Song Xian said no more, "Then we'll wait for you here."
Sui Yu went to say hello to the caravan in front again. She did not hide anything and directly stated her purpose to avoid others from thinking too much. On the other hand, this was not something shameful that needed to be concealed.
"It's not that officials can't pass through the ranch, but since you're the wife of an official, you can give it a try." The merchant nodded. "Then let's go first. This place is not far from Chang'an. You have a lot of people with you, so nothing should go wrong."
"We'll meet again in Dunhuang some other day." Sui Yu said goodbye.
She chose Zhang Shun, Gan Da, Gan Er and Xiao Chunhong to go with her. When she left, she carried away an empty jar, which she brought from Dunhuang and was going to hold Sui Hu's remains.
After Sui Yu left, Song Xian led the caravan off the main road to avoid blocking the passage of other caravans.
Just as the camel caravan turned onto the fork in the road, a merchant caravan came from the east. The camel bells rang for a long time before the caravan came into sight.
"Hey?" Hua Suichun recognized Song Xian and the others and shouted, "Who's that, Shopkeeper Yu? Did you take the wrong road? That road doesn't lead out of the mountain."
Song Xian looked up. She didn't recognize the person and didn't know who he was. She waved her hand and saw the other person coming down.
"Your shopkeeper Yu is quite popular." Song Xian said to Liu Yaer.
Liu Yaer pursed her lips and smiled.
"Shopkeeper Yu, this road doesn't lead out of the mountain. It's probably a trail made by villagers down there collecting firewood and hunting." Hua Suichun approached on his camel and said, "Isn't there a road up there? Why did you turn here?"
"Our master has to go to the ranch over there for something. We'll wait for her here." Qingshan came over. "Thank you for reminding me."
Hua Suichun suddenly realized something. He looked at the caravan above and said, "Okay, I thought you guys had taken the wrong road."
"Are your family members traveling with you?" Qingshan still remembered him.
Hua Suichun nodded and said, "I plan to stay in your guest house."
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