Chapter 208 A pleasant winter day
It took Sui Yu and Xiao Chunhong a whole day to fry five pots of noodle tea. Considering the cold weather, she sewed ten tea bags and put ginger, green onion segments, a little pepper and leek roots in the tea bags. She also prepared rice tea and peach branch water.
The drinks were fully prepared, and Sui Yu arranged for Xiaoxi to be responsible for cutting pickled radishes and serving them to the table every day. A plate of half a pickled radish cost only three cents.
Considering that he would be leaving the customs next year, Sui Yu wrote it down on the wooden board and asked people about sunflowers after leaving the customs. If he could bring sunflowers into the customs, he would have another good thing to kill time in the future.
On the day the teahouse opened, eight Hu girls came on stage in two waves. They wore veils and sat on the stage with their eyes lowered, playing the pipa they brought from outside the Great Wall.
There was a fire burning and water boiling in the teahouse, and oil lamps were lit in broad daylight. It was brighter than a guesthouse with windows. Each person could come in and sit there for a whole day for fifty cents, and merchants were willing to spend the money.
Sui Yu arranged Hu Shang, who had given up Hu Ji, in the front row, which was close to the fire and convenient for pouring tea and water. It was a good position to keep warm and listen to the sounds.
She also set up a table at the other end. In the following days, she had nothing to do, so she was mainly responsible for recording the stories of merchants traveling around the world.
There was food and drink in the teahouse and the children would not be cold. Most importantly, they could listen to Hu Ji playing the pipa, blowing the hu horn and playing the hu flute. Zhao's father and mother no longer had to go to the city every day to take care of Zhao Xiaomi. After every meal, they would go to the teahouse first and find a good seat.
As the twelfth lunar month approached, Zhao Xiaomi became busy with her work and she would bring her child here every day. With her parents around and her brother and sister-in-law at her house, she didn't have to take care of the child or work. She felt relaxed and comfortable every day, and lived the comfortable life she had before she got married.
When the flute music ended, the two Hu girls walked down the stage gracefully. Qingshan and Zhang Shun prepared themselves and went up from the other end to perform the newly-written story.
There were people walking around in the teahouse, and Sui Yu also put down her charcoal pencil and got up to move around. She saw several lone travelers carrying benches and moving to the front, holding wooden boards and charcoal blocks in their hands. It seemed that she was not the only smart person, as they also found that they could figure out a reliable walking route from the stories told by the merchants.
"Shopkeeper Yu." A merchant in the corner stood up and waved for her to come over.
Sui Yu walked over and said, "The teahouse is very simple, please bear with me."
"That's right. The northwest is desolate and lacks talent. I understand." The merchant wearing a wooden crown smiled. He waved to the servant serving tea and asked, "What would you like to drink, Shopkeeper Yu? I'll use yours to flatter you."
"Give me a bowl of pepper tea, with just a little bit of salt, a little lighter." Sui Yu said to Liu Yaer.
"I like pepper tea too, but I have a strong taste and prefer it saltier," said the merchant.
"You should drink water if you eat salty food," Sui Yu replied. She then asked directly, "Why did Mr. Feng call me over?"
"The story you compiled didn't change the route they took, right?" asked the merchant named Feng.
Sui Yu shook his head.
"Can you sell me a copy of the exit route you marked?"
Sui Yu looked up in surprise and said, "I don't have that thing."
The merchant didn't believe him, so he smiled and said, "To be honest, this is our first time in Dunhuang. We haven't even left the border yet, so I'm completely confused about how to get there. That's why I wanted to buy a map from you."
Sui Yu still insisted that he hadn't, but then added, "I also plan to leave the border at the end of February next year. I estimate that the farthest I can go is Shule. We can travel together then."
"I plan to go further west and come back around next winter."
Sui Yu really couldn't help, as she didn't know the terrain and location west of Wusun.
The pepper tea was served, and Sui Yu took a spoonful. Seeing Zhao Xiping come in with the baby in his arms, she stood up with the bowl and said goodbye, "I'll wait for Mr. Feng to come back next winter and tell me the story of your trip."
"Really?" the merchant asked persistently.
"Really not." Sui Yu didn't hide anything. She said frankly: "The large caravans that come back every two or three years have experienced too many adventures, and each time they have experienced life and death. In such cases, they are often reluctant to talk about their experiences outside the customs."
Only then did the merchant named Feng believe it.
Sui Yu finished her pepper tea in a few gulps. She walked over to Zhao Xiping, looked at the sleepy child in his arms, and said, "Are you still asleep?"
The kid stretched out his hand to her, but Zhao Xiping didn't let go. The kid was quite heavy, and it felt heavy to hold him in her arms. Whoever held him would feel tired.
"Go downstairs and go play with your aunt and Aning." Sui Yu said.
The cub shook his head.
Sui Yu looked around and saw Da Zhuang and Hua Niu sitting at Uncle Lao Niu's feet, listening to the stories on the stage with A Shui. They were about the same age, and if it wasn't for the sake of coaxing the kids, they wouldn't play with him.
Sui Yu pulled Zhao Xiping's hand, touched it briefly, and then let go. She led everyone to the front row and asked him to hold the child and listen to the merchants chatting with her.
The boy saw the Hu girls opposite him taking off their veils. He was interested in their Hudi and Pipa and kept staring at them.
Hu Ji, who was holding a pipa, beckoned to him, and the boy immediately slid off his father's legs and walked over excitedly.
Zhao Xiping turned his head to watch but did not stop him.
"Your name is Xiaozai?" Hu Ji plucking the pipa strings and asking in awkward Chinese: "Do you like it?"
The cub nodded.
"I asked you to dial twice, what do you have to give me in exchange?"
The boy thought for a moment, then pulled out a handful of mulberries from his pocket and said, "Eat."
Hu Ji had never seen this thing before. She just thought it looked a bit like raisins. She picked up one to taste and gave the rest to others.
The boy finally got to touch the pipa. Hu Ji held his little hand and taught him to pluck it a few times, then she pushed him away and said, "Tell your mother to stew a chicken for us tonight, and you can play with it tomorrow."
Hu Shang, who was sitting at another table, saw this. He glanced in the direction of Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu and said, "Go tell your parents to stew two chickens. I'll ask them to teach you how to play the pipa. Once you learn, your mother won't have to hire any more of my people."
The boy didn't quite understand what he said. He returned to Sui Yu and asked her to stew chicken for those people.
"Stewed chicken?" Sui Yu was puzzled.
"What did they say?" Zhao Xiping leaned over and asked.
It happened that the story on the stage was over, Qingshan and Zhang Shun came down, and Hu Ji, holding the pipa, covered her face with a veil and went up again.
The kid looked up, and his hands moved around, imitating the movements of Hu Ji on the stage as she played the pipa.
After just one song, Sui Yu took the little cub over to ask why. When she learned that it was about using a chicken to make a fuss, she looked around and pointed at the hudi and asked, "Do you like this one?"
Hu Ji played the flute twice, and the boy's eyes lit up immediately.
"Can I buy a hudi in Dunhuang?" Sui Yu asked.
"We have them with us. They are 200 coins each. Do you want to buy them?" asked the Hu merchant nearby with a smile.
"Buy it." Sui Yu didn't bargain. She negotiated with the hudi player, "I'll stew two chickens for you tonight. Can you teach my child to play the hudi?"
"He is too young to learn," said Hu Ji.
"It's okay, just play it randomly." Sui Yu pulled the kid to leave and said, "When you come to our place in the future, there is a warm warehouse in the west kitchen. You can take the kid there to play the flute."
Hu Ji looked at Hu Shang, and when she saw him nod, she agreed.
Later, Sui Yu bought a Hu flute from a Hu merchant with two hundred coins. The merchant said, "I have a pipa here too. Would you like to buy one?"
"No, my child is still young, his bones haven't fully grown yet, and his skin and flesh are tender. Learning the pipa will hurt his hands too much."
The flute was wiped with wine and then washed with water before being handed to the boy. With this fun thing, he would play the flute all day long, and it was louder than the crowing of a rooster.
"Little guy, take a break and go get something to eat from your mother, okay?" Father Zhao came out of the house with a fierce look on his face. "The chickens just stopped and you took over again. Your head is buzzing and I can't sleep well."
"Buzzing?" the kid asked, "Grandpa, you are a mosquito."
Father Zhao: ...
"Grandpa is a mosquito, buzzing, buzzing--" The kid pinched his mouth and opened and closed it, imitating the buzzing of a mosquito.
Father Zhao came into the room again with a wooden face. He couldn't communicate with the kid.
The cub ran out buzzing. Zhao Xiping saw him and said, "Cub, go call your grandparents to come over for dinner."
"Grandpa Mosquito, it's time to eat."
Zhao's mother laughed, and Zhao's father was helpless. This grandson could not be criticized, scolded, or beaten. The other party was not afraid of him at all. There was no point in putting on a fierce face, so he could only accept it.
Seeing that no one had come out yet, the kid shouted again in a loud voice: "Grandpa Mosquito——"
"I'm coming, stop shouting." Father Zhao changed his shoes and came out, saying, "Don't shout that, I'm not a mosquito."
The kid ignored him. The more he was told not to shout, the more he shouted. This old man liked Aning but not him, so he would use the flute to bother him and call him Grandpa Mosquito.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com