Chapter 301 Life Story
Before leaving, the kid climbed up the mulberry tree and picked a box of mulberry leaves, intending to give them away as gifts.
"Sister-in-law, where are you going?" She asked casually when Ah Shui came out of the guest house.
"Let's go sell silkworms, Aunt Shui, do you want to go?" the kid spoke quickly.
Sui Yu was a little nervous. As expected, A Shui agreed immediately. She couldn't refuse, so she could only think about not going to Shisantun and avoiding people who knew A Shui.
"I'm going back to get the silkworm box." Ah Shui ran away, "Dad, my sister-in-law and I are going to sell silkworms. If you have anything to say, wait until I come back."
Uncle Niu responded, and as he heard the footsteps running away, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly chased after them, asking, "Where are you going to sell your silkworms?"
"Go to the military village. Do you want to buy anything? I'll bring it back for you from the city." A Shui replied.
"You can't go!" Uncle Niu reacted a little too strongly. Seeing that Ah Shui was unhappy, he softened his tone and added, "You can't go. I have something for you to do here."
Ah Shui refused to listen. She yelled angrily, "Why don't you let me go to the military settlement? I knew you were hiding something from me, but I'm going anyway."
Uncle Niu glanced at Sui Yu, waved his hand and said, "I'm an old man, what can I hide from you? When did I stop you from going to the military settlement? You're so stupid! Go, go, I won't stop you. You can go wherever you want. I'll go pick broad beans with Da Zhuang."
A Shui hesitated for a moment, but she believed more in her own judgment. She insisted on going there in person to see what was hidden in the military settlement, making the old man feel like he was facing a great enemy.
Sui Yu went to lead the camel, and took a detour to the north to call Huaniu, who was feeding the chickens, and asked her to take the silkworm box and go with them to the military settlement to sell silkworms.
"Let's go." Sui Yu called out, "Come here, little one, you ride with me."
The three camels left the inn one after another. On the way, Ah Shui complained to Sui Yu, "Sister-in-law, do you think my mother is still living in the military settlement in Dunhuang? I've mentioned the military settlement to my father several times before, but he always interrupted me and didn't say much. He even returned the house I lived in as a child to the government. I don't know when it happened, and he still refuses to take me back to see it."
"Don't test me. You don't know, and I know even less." Sui Yu said bluntly, "I only know that your mother can't still be in the military settlement. Your father is always worried that he won't wake up from his sleep. He's afraid that if he dies, you'll be homeless. If your mother is still in Dunhuang, he'll do everything he can to make you two reunite. The only possibility is that he has enemies in the military settlement, or someone he's had a quarrel with. He doesn't want to have anything to do with them anymore, and he's worried that they'll vent their hatred on you. You have to understand, as people get older, their strength is no longer at an advantage. They can't protect their children on their own, so they become timid."
A Shui believed most of it, after all, her guess was not reliable.
"How about I help you sell the silkworms, and you can take A Shui back?" Hua Niu asked.
"Forget it. I've never been to a military village in my life. I don't look like my father, so even if I run into his enemies, they won't recognize me." Ah Shui refused and said, "Sister-in-law, we're not going to the Thirteenth and Seventeenth Villages."
Sui Yu agreed.
After entering the city and turning to the military settlement, Sui Yu took her three children and sold things along the street of the military settlement. She would go wherever there were children.
"A silkworm costs only three cents. They're about to spin a cocoon. When the cocoon breaks, a moth will fly out, and the moth can lay hundreds of eggs. Next year, when the weather gets hot, you can wrap the eggs in a cloth and tuck it under your armpits, and the silkworms will hatch." The boy explained seriously, "Look at the silk coming out of the box. This is the raw silk for making silk cloth and satin. If you raise a lot of silkworms, you can sell the cocoons and make money."
"I saw this at my cousin's place. He bought it from Captain Li's eldest son, but he only has two. He's so precious to me, I'm the only one allowed to look at them, and I can't breathe while I look at them." A snotty-nosed kid said angrily, "Just wait, I'm going back to ask my grandma for money. I'm going to buy ten silkworms and make my cousin jealous."
When this was said, the other children believed it and ran back to get the money.
"Wait here, don't leave." The snotty-nosed boy urged. He waved his hand and said, "Maoshao, you stay here and wait until I buy some silkworms. I'll give you one as a gift."
"Okay, big brother, you go back quickly." A barefoot short boy answered loudly.
Sui Yu found it funny that a group of young boys were divided into big brothers and small brothers.
"Sister-in-law, you guys wait here. Hua Niu and I will go to another alley to sell our goods." A Shui said.
"No, don't get lost." Sui Yu refused.
"We are so old, how could we get lost?" A Shui was not convinced.
Sui Yu didn't respond, nor did he give in. Seeing this, Hua Niu didn't want to make her master angry, so she naturally wouldn't leave with A Shui. A Shui could only stay reluctantly.
I don’t know who helped with the publicity, but after a while, a large group of children jumped out of the alley. Sui Yu led the camel back and left the territory to the three small businessmen.
Each silkworm was sold for five mulberry leaves, and the boy happily collected the copper coins. He also reminded them that silkworms only eat mulberry leaves, and that when the silkworms hatched next year, they would go to the Changgui Guest House in the north of the city to pick mulberry leaves. This was his uncle's instruction: when selling silkworms, he didn't mention that the mulberry leaves had to be bought with copper coins, lest they be unable to sell them. Once the silkworms hatched, buyers would naturally pay for the mulberry leaves to feed them.
There were so many people that Ah Shui and Hua Niu also opened their business. With the kid shouting hard in front, they introduced themselves without wasting any words, collecting money with one hand and handing over the silkworms they had chosen with the other.
"That's right there, let's go." Children from another alley came running over after hearing the noise. The little girl in front asked loudly, "What are they selling?"
"Sell silkworms. The silk used to make satin and silk fabrics is spun by silkworms," Ah Shui continued. Her legs were numb from squatting, so she stood up and said, "Three cents a silkworm. One silkworm can lay hundreds of silkworm eggs. Next year, the silkworm eggs will hatch. After four months of raising them, you can harvest hundreds of cocoons, which you can sell for a lot of money."
"Who are you selling the cocoons to? How much is one?"
"The passing caravans collect silk cocoons, but the merchants want a lot of them, maybe one penny each," said A Shui.
"They are all silk cocoons, why do you sell them for three cents each? And these silkworms haven't made cocoons yet." The smart man found something wrong.
Ah Shui grinned and said proudly, "Because we are the only ones who have silkworms now. Of course, you can also ask the caravan to bring you silk cocoons from the interior."
The others kept silent. They couldn't do it.
"Are you still going to buy it?" Hua Niu asked.
"Buy! Pick out five silkworms for me. I only have sixteen cents. Can you give me one silkworm for free?"
"I'll go back and get the money. I'll buy ten. Please leave ten for me." A lively little girl shouted.
Sui Yu stepped back a little. A large group of children crowded together was too noisy.
Soon, old men and women, having heard the noise, emerged from their houses. After wandering around the crowded stalls, they were soon squeezed out and came to talk to Sui Yu. Upon learning that Sui Yu was the owner of the Changgui Inn and that the silk produced by the silkworms could indeed be woven into silk cloth and satin, they were overjoyed and generously spent money on their children to buy fat silkworms that were about to spin cocoons.
An hour passed and the stall finally became quiet. The little boy who was a little unhappy when he came, smiled happily amid the clattering of copper coins. Even though his throat was dry, he still laughed happily.
"Look, Mom, I've made a lot of money." He pocketed the heavy copper coins in his coat and said, "I forgot to bring my money box. Next time I come, I'll bring my uncle's money box."
Sui Yu looked at him. This time, when his uncle was mentioned, he finally didn't look embarrassed.
"Are you going back? I think your dad is going to be fired soon," she asked. "Or are you going to continue selling somewhere else?"
"Let's continue selling at another place." The kid was still immersed in the excitement of making money.
Sui Yu bought three broken pottery jars with six copper coins, packed them with the copper coins, closed the silkworm box, and took the three children who were shouting to sell their wares to another place.
It was almost noon, and the silkworms were almost sold out. Sui Yu called out to the three children who were sitting by the wall counting copper coins, "Can't you go back and count them again? Aren't you hungry?"
No one cares.
Footsteps were heard at the end of the alley. Sui Yu looked over and saw a little girl who looked about the same age as A Shui coming over with a fair-skinned woman. Her eyes fell on the little girl and her heart skipped a beat.
"Mom, look, this little sister looks like me. Is she really not your daughter?"
The woman's face was solemn. She looked at Ah Shui. This girl looked 80% like her husband.
"Sister-in-law, are you buying silkworms?" Sui Yu asked. She looked at the girl who was staring at Ah Shui with great interest and said with a smile, "What a coincidence! The girls from our two families look like sisters. Isn't this the lost girl from our family?"
"Ah? Mom, I'm not your biological child?"
"Don't be stupid." The woman slapped her and asked, "Sister, is this girl yours?"
Ah Shui also came over at this time. She looked at her in surprise and turned around to ask, "Hua Niu, do I look like her?"
Hua Niu nodded. The two of them standing together looked like twin sisters.
"My name is Tu Xiaoyan, I'm thirteen years old. Sister, what's your name?" Tu Xiaoyan looked excited.
"My name is Ah Shui, and I'm not even twelve years old yet." Ah Shui answered. She looked at Sui Yu and asked, "Sister-in-law, this aunt isn't my mother, right?"
"no."
"no."
Sui Yu and the woman said in unison.
"It's such a coincidence. But there are so many people in the world, it's not surprising that there are some people who look alike. Xiao Chunhong met someone who looked like her when she was in Taiyuan County, but unfortunately they are not relatives." Sui Yu said calmly.
The woman calmed down. She had no reason to pick up a bastard from outside, so she used this excuse to respond twice. Before leaving, she looked at A Shui again and left with her little daughter.
"Sister, where do you live? I'll come to visit you later." Tu Xiaoyan turned her head and asked.
"You only know how to play." The woman slapped her with a pale face, "Come back with me."
The smile on A Shui's face fell, and doubts arose in her heart, but she did not show it on her face. When she heard Sui Yu calling her to go home, she hurried to pack her things.
When they returned to the guesthouse, they saw Uncle Niu waiting under the jujube tree from a distance. Hua Niu was envious and said, "A Shui, your father loves you so much. You're just going to the city, not into a wolf's den. It's not worth him waiting outside for you."
Ah Shui curled up the corners of her mouth and drove the camel over quickly.
"Why are you back so late? The food is almost cold." Uncle Niu glanced at her expression, feeling relieved, and said, "How much money did you make?"
"Three hundred and eighty-three copper coins, and some haven't been counted yet. Two people came and interrupted me. Dad, I met a sister today who looks exactly like me. She even brought her mother here. Tell me the truth. I didn't steal her back, did I?" she said playfully.
Uncle Niu's face froze for a moment, but he quickly reacted and said, "Bullshit, you are not my biological child. I must be crazy to raise you."
Ah Shui said, "Oh," and said, "I'm going to eat."
She first brought the silkworm box and the broken jar containing the money into the guest house. After entering the door, she quietly took a few steps back, hid at the door and peeked in. She saw Sui Yu talking to her father, who looked very annoyed.
After that, when the kid went to the military village to sell silkworms again, Uncle Niu said he would never allow Ah Shui to go again, even if Ah Shui was in a bad mood.
Two months passed in a flash. During the autumn harvest season, Ah Shui took advantage of her father's off guard and went to the military settlement on foot under the pretext of working in the fields.
After returning, Ah Shui developed a high fever that night. The cat official who slept in the same room with her squeezed out from the crack of the door and screamed. Uncle Lao Niu opened the door and came out cursing.
"Who's knocking on the door?" Sui Yu woke up.
Zhao Xiping got dressed and went to open the door, saying, "It looks like Uncle Niu. I'll go check it out."
"Xiping, Ah Shui is sick. I can't wake her up even if I shout. I can't run. Please take her to the city to see a doctor."
Ah Shui was ill for a whole month and lost a lot of weight. When she walked out of the room, there were not many leaves left on the jujube and persimmon trees outside the guesthouse, and the jujubes and persimmons were nowhere to be seen. The autumn wind was bleak and winter was approaching.
Uncle Niu came over cautiously, carrying a can of chicken soup. He glanced at the delicate girl and said, "You can't work in the fields anymore. I've spoiled you like that. You spent half a day working in the fields, and you were sick for a month. Your sister-in-law lost more than ten chickens because of you."
Everyone knew whether Ah Shui had gone to the fields to work or not. She smiled and agreed, "Of course not. I'm afraid of getting sick too."
Uncle Niu's heart dropped. He said happily, "Come and have some soup. It's been simmering all night, and the bones are all rotten. Drink more to make up for the lost lean meat."
A Shui followed him in. There were more caravans coming and going. Six lone travelers also stayed in the second guesthouse. When they smelled the rich aroma of chicken soup, they all came out.
"Is there chicken stew in the morning?" someone asked.
"No, I made this for my daughter, but we have stewed chicken for lunch," said Uncle Niu. "If you want to eat the soup in a small pot, you must tell the cook in advance so that she can make a separate pot for you, otherwise you won't be able to eat the whole chicken."
"Just go to the kitchen and find someone?"
"right."
As the six travelers set out, Uncle Niu asked Ah Shui, "Can we eat in the yard? Otherwise, the house will smell of oil, and you don't like that. You're such a cunning girl! You don't mind the cat official sleeping on your pillow, but you despise the aroma of oil and meat."
As he kept nagging, Ah Shui's lips trembled and tears fell. She thought to herself that she was so lucky, having a father who treated her like a treasure, and kind-hearted people like her sister-in-law who had kept her miserable life story a secret so that she could grow up happily.
Seeing her crying, Uncle Niu fell silent. He put down the jar and hunched over to move the table.
"I'll do it." Ah Shui wiped away her tears and ran in. She moved the table and then went to get two bowls. She said, "Dad, you drink the soup and eat the meat too. Take good care of yourself and live to be a hundred years old. Then I can honor you well."
Uncle Lao Niu laughed again. He gave up the idea of talking about the past. It was fine like this. No matter whether she was his biological daughter or not, A Shui was his daughter and he was her biological father.
Alas, he finally doesn’t have to worry anymore. If he had known this would be the result, he would not have given up the military settlement house. He regrets it so much.
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