Chapter 261 Good News
The door of the warehouse was opened, and Xiao Chunhong and other maids were already tidying up inside. They spread the newly dried goldenrod on the ground, and then placed wooden boards on the goldenrod. Coarse cloth was piled on the boards, and silk cloth and satin were placed on top of them in order.
Sui Yu walked in and checked to make sure everything was OK. She then ordered someone to bring out the wooden boxes containing the wild boar tusks and dried fish.
"Master, there are still three boxes of money left. When will you return to the house? We will carry the money boxes over." Xiao Chunhong said.
"Have Zhang Shun and the others gone to the fields to work?" Sui Yu asked.
"Yes, they went to the fields with Erhei to harvest wheat. They left before daybreak."
"Then wait until they come back at noon. When they come back, let them move the money box. It's too heavy to carry it, so don't move it." Sui Yu said, "Put the honey jar aside as well. When Gan Da and Gan Er come back, have them carry out the three jars of honey. Put one in the kitchen yard's storeroom, take one to the teahouse, and pack the remaining jar into thirty or forty small jars. You can lead the packing work. Withdraw the money this afternoon and go to the city to buy some jars. It doesn't matter if they are of different sizes."
"Okay." Xiao Chunhong agreed. She stood aside waiting for further instructions.
"Remember to report to me after you withdraw the money." Sui Yu instructed.
"Of course, I wouldn't have forgotten even if you hadn't told me." Xiao Chunhong suddenly remembered and pointed into the warehouse, saying, "There's still a jar of dried mulberries and four jars of mulberry wine. Did you forget?"
"I didn't forget, I didn't forget. The mulberry wine was moved into the warehouse in the kitchen yard, and the dried mulberry fruits were moved to the room where Liang Ge'er sleeps. These are for the uncle and nephew." Sui Yu lowered his head. The kid was indeed happy to hear this.
After all these were arranged, Sui Yu signaled Xiao Chunhong to continue working. She dragged the wooden box and sat in the shade, first opening the wooden box that contained the wild boar tusks.
The little boy squatted by and looked on expectantly. When the pig tooth, which was almost half his arm long, was taken out, he excitedly exclaimed "Wow".
The wild boar tusks had been processed when they were dug out. The flesh on the roots had been washed away by repeated scrubbing, leaving only a faint red mark. The rest of the teeth were dark gray, with scars and gaps on them.
"This scar must have been left by a wild boar fighting with other wild boars," said Sui Yu.
The cub believed it. He held the wild boar's tusk in both hands and asked seriously, "Did it win or lose?"
"We won." Sui Yu said confidently, "Look at this wild boar's tusks, they're long, thick, and strong. They must be very good in a fight."
"Mom is still the best. You beat the pig to death."
Sui Yu: ...At this moment, she felt vain and forced herself to hide her guilt while nodding her head, trying to erase the credit of others.
The kid held the boar's tusk against his head, and then held it in his arms for fear that it would hit him.
"Mom, why don't our pigs have such long teeth?"
"Domestic pigs don't have to forage for food or fight for territory, so they don't need such long tusks, so they evolved." Sui Yu picked up another tusk and asked, "Look, which one do you want? You choose first, and I'll give the other one to your uncle."
The kid wanted the one in his hand, so Sui Yu obliged and opened another box. The large carp had thick flesh, marinated with local spices. After drying, it had a subtle aroma and oily flavor, with very little fishy smell.
"Sister." Sui Liang came in, and after him, Zhao Xiaomi also came in holding Aning's hand.
"Third sister-in-law, I met Sui Liang in the city and heard from him that you were back, so I came to see you. Did your trip to the border go smoothly?" Zhao Xiaomi asked impatiently when she saw him.
"It went well." Sui Yu stood up. She looked her sister-in-law over and said, "You look better than in the spring."
"I haven't worked much in the fields in the past six months, but I've recovered." Zhao Xiaomi smiled. "It's all thanks to you and my third brother, otherwise I would still be working myself to death like an idiot."
Sui Yu waved his hand, indicating that the past should not be mentioned again.
"Aning, do you still recognize your third aunt?" Sui Yu leaned over and asked.
Aning grinned and shyly hid behind his mother's legs.
The boy ignored their conversation and dragged out a dried fish by himself. He raised his arms as high as he could, but still couldn't lift the fish.
Sui Liang strode over to lend a hand. He held the fish upright next to his nephew and said, "This fish is almost as tall as a cub."
The kid pointed at Aning and said, "He's taller than my brother."
Zhao Xiaomi pushed her son and said, "Don't cling to me. Go play with your brother."
Sui Yu tilted his head to take a look. Aning was young and short, and this big carp was actually as tall as him when it stood up.
"There's actually such a big fish." Zhao Xiaomi exclaimed in amazement, "Are the fish in the interior of the country this big?"
"No, the fish in the big river east of Hongchiling are bigger." Sui Yu kicked the wooden box and said, "Take a few with you when you go back."
Zhao Xiaomi waved her hand to refuse, "I don't want it. There are too many people here and too many mouths to feed. You keep it for yourself."
"One is enough for a meal, there's no need for so many. Just try it."
"If you can't finish it, you can make it into a dish and sell it to merchants. If I want to eat it, I'll leave it here with you." Zhao Xiaomi insisted on not taking it. There are few fish in Dunhuang and the price of fish is expensive. A pound or two of fish costs two or three cents. This big fish is probably more than ten pounds after being dried. It is too expensive. She doesn't want to take it back and give it to her in-laws for a cheap price.
"Then you can stay here with me for lunch. I'll ask someone to tell my brother-in-law to come over for lunch as well." Sui Yu said.
Zhao Xiaomi nodded. "I'll go back and tell him. Third sister-in-law, I won't chat with you anymore. I'm going to go out for a walk and see if there are any merchants who want to buy food and supplies. Aning, you just stay here and play with your brother. If you need anything, come to your third aunt."
"Mom and Dad are here too." Sui Yu said.
"I heard about it. I didn't see anyone when I came here just now. I'll go out and look around again."
Zhao Xiaomi left. Sui Yu caught a glimpse of Sui Liang playing wildly with the boar's tusk. She quickly stopped him, "Playing is one thing, but you can't use the boar's tusk to play around. Bring it over here, I'll put it away first."
Sui Liang was unwilling. He stared at his nephew and said, "I'm already old enough. You don't need to take care of me, sister. You just need to control the little guy."
Sui Yu ignored him and she directly tried to snatch it away. Sui Liang tried to escape with the wild boar tusk in his pocket, but he was outmatched and was restrained in just a few moves.
Sui Yu quickly snatched the boar tusk from his hand and snorted, "With your mediocre skills, I don't think you can even beat the cat official. I was planning to grind the boar tusk into a dagger, but now it seems like it would be wasted in your hands."
Sui Liang was not convinced. He shouted, "Send the cat official here and see if I can defeat him."
"You've got a lot of potential!" Sui Yu grabbed his hands and clasped them behind his back, taking the opportunity to give him a beating. "Haven't you been practicing martial arts properly in the past six months?"
Sui Liang felt guilty, so he gave up resisting.
"Tomorrow morning, get up early and practice martial arts with Zhang Shun and the others. Don't neglect your leg and hand skills." Sui Yu pinched him, making him howl. She told him to shut up and said, "If you can beat me by the end of next year, I'll take you with me to the caravan."
"Really?" Sui Liang howled excitedly. He quickly got up, hugged Sui Yu, and said sweetly, "My dear sister, just wait and see. I will definitely defeat you by the end of next year."
"Mother, mother..." The cub offered the wild boar tusk earnestly. He pushed Sui Liang aside, hugged Sui Yu's thighs and wailed, "Mother, I also want to go into the pass with you."
Sui Yu glanced at Sui Liang, and the boy understood. He patted his chest and said, "I practice martial arts too. I'll ask my dad to teach me."
Sui Yu: ...
This was a pleasant surprise, as she originally intended to let the kid supervise his uncle.
"Mom, is this okay?" The kid hugged Sui Yu's thigh and shook her.
Sui Yu nodded, "Okay, but I don't ask you to defeat me. If you can run fast and grow strong, I will take you away."
"Great!" The kid was so excited that he jumped up and down, grabbing Sui Yu's clothes. After the excitement subsided, he acted like a filial son again: "Is my dad going too?"
"Yes, if we all leave, what will happen to the guesthouse's business?" Sui Liang calmed down.
"We'll talk about it later. If your father can get a long vacation, he'll go through customs with us. If not, he'll wait for us at home alone." Sui Yu squatted down and hugged his son, asking, "Are you willing to leave your father?"
The kid couldn't bear to leave, and he was worried and tangled up.
"Why don't you stay at home with your father?" Sui Liang said.
The cub immediately shook his head, "No."
"We'll talk about it when the time comes." Sui Yu patted the cub's head and said, "I'll go out of the customs next year and replace the cloth in the warehouse with blankets and furs. The year after, I'll take you back through the customs. After I come back, I'll stay at home."
The cub's eyes lit up, and he was radiating joy from the inside out. He was so suddenly caught off guard by the good news that he felt dizzy.
"Mom, listen quickly." He stood on tiptoe and hugged Sui Yu's head, resting it on his chest. "Listen, is my heart beating fast?"
"Tsk!" Sui Liang rolled his eyes at him, finding it corny.
"It jumps fast." Sui Yu said with a smile, "It tells me that you are very happy."
The kid laughed loudly, turned around and left, pulling Aning and running out, shaking his head.
"Little boy, why are you so happy?" asked a passing merchant.
"Yes, yes, my mother won't leave the year after next." The kid boasted, "My mother will take me through the customs!"
Before he finished speaking, the kid flew away like a bird. He smiled at everyone he saw and talked without waiting for anyone to ask him anything.
Sui Yu brought two dried fish to the kitchen and asked Cuisao to soak them in warm water. "Keep these two fish. I'll fry them at noon."
"Shopkeeper, I heard from my little boy that you will not leave the country the year after next?" asked Grandma Yin.
Sui Yu nodded, "I plan to rest at home for two years, and I have other plans."
"It's time to take a break." After hearing what her two sons said, they were going to make a lot of money by buying a lot of goods during this trip. She looked at Sui Yu and wanted to say something, but then she felt that the timing was not right, so she swallowed the words back.
The sound of camel bells came from the south, another caravan was coming, and Sui Yu went out to receive them.
Sui Liang brought his chestnut horse. After another half a year, the horse had grown a lot bigger.
"Sister, next year I'll ride a horse with you into the pass," Sui Liang said. "I'll grind pig tusks into daggers, learn to use them well, and then I'll be your escort."
Sui Yu understood that he was here to ask for wild boar tusks. She glanced at him quietly, and Sui Liang laughed shyly.
"It's okay to give it to you, but you can't bring your little cub with wild boar tusks and hit people randomly. You two should stay at home and guard the house." Sui Yu warned him.
"I definitely won't take the wild boar tusk out." Sui Liang promised.
The two wild boar tusks were returned to their original owners, but Sui Liang took away the cub's wild boar tusks before they could even warm up. He was worried that his nephew would be the last straw.
Near noon, Xiao Chunhong brought people to buy thirty-six ceramic jars of different sizes and divided the honey into packages. Sui Yu gave a jar to her parents-in-law, so that they could drink two bowls of honey water every morning when they woke up.
"Ah Shui, these two cans are for you and your father. Come back to me after you finish them." Sui Yu handed two cans of honey to Ah Shui and said, "This is multi-flower honey. It's good for your health, but don't drink too much. One or two bowls of honey water a day is enough."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Ah Shui smiled, "Sister-in-law Cui and I have learned how to make shoes. I made you a pair of cloth shoes. Wait for me, I'll get them for you."
After getting the cloth shoes, Sui Yu did not spoil the child's fun. She tried them on the spot and found that they fit her feet very well.
"Good boy." Sui Yu put her arm around Ah Shui's shoulders. She looked at the shoes on her feet and said, "I like them very much."
Ah Shui rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Come on, follow me to the kitchen. I'll cook today and stir-fry spicy fish for you. Let's try the big carp from other places and see if it tastes good." Sui Yu walked with his arm around A Shui.
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