Chapter 145: Business at your doorstep
Zhao Xiping led a camel back to the city. After he left, Sui Yu took the money box, drove away the noisy children in the warehouse, closed the door, and counted the copper coins alone in the room, while keeping accounts.
Mother Zhao was full, so she sat for a while to digest the food. She walked around the guesthouse and came in to see that the door of the warehouse was open. She stuck her head in to take a look, but there was no one there.
"Where is the third son's wife?" she asked the old man.
Father Zhao didn't know, he just came back.
"Will she still buy us cloth to make clothes?" Zhao's mother was worried. "I don't know if the third son has told her about it."
Father Zhao brushed off the dust on his body and said, "My clothes are not worn out. Why buy more? Paying off the debt is more important."
Mother Zhao said nothing.
Gan Da came in with a shoulder pole to collect slops. She asked, "Have you seen Sui Yu?"
"The shopkeeper's wife is practicing archery in the east."
Mother Zhao trudged over and saw a feather arrow hit a bird flying in the sky. The black bird fell to the ground, and the black dog and three or five children ran to grab it.
"Shopkeeper Yu, let's go out of the city to hunt together." The escort who was leading the camel shouted.
"Yes, let's go together. Where did you and Captain Zhao hunt the yellow sheep before?" someone else asked.
Sui Yu caught the bird that the little black dog brought over, pulled out the arrow from it, and said, "The yellow sheep found it south of the city, near the sand hill. You go over there and take a look. I won't be going."
The escorts left in groups of three or five. Sui Yu handed the rattan bow to Sui Liang and instructed him, "You can only practice with wooden arrows. When practicing, stay far away and don't point at people."
Sui Liang nodded, and walked north with his bow slung over his shoulder. A Shui wanted to follow him, but he drove her away.
"Go ask your dad if he can buy you some new clothes, and then come with us to the street to play." Sui Yu waved at Ah Shui. She then turned to look at the people standing by the livestock pen and said, "Mom, call Dad. I'll take you to the street to buy clothes and shoes."
Mother Zhao was immediately happy.
Ah Shui also ran back to find her father. After a while, she came running back with ten copper coins in her hand and said in a childish voice, "Sister-in-law, my father said he didn't want to buy clothes, he gave me money to buy candy."
"Okay, come with me." Sui Yu held her hand and looked at the other five nephews and nieces and asked, "Do you want some candy?"
The five children, led by Zhao Dalang, nodded repeatedly.
"You ate the mutton I hunted yesterday, and you wanted to eat my candy today, but I didn't even hear you call me."
"Third Aunt."
"Third Aunt——"
"Third Aunt!"
"Third Aunt——"
"Third Aunt!"
The cries became louder and louder, startling the grazing camel so much that it turned its head to look.
Sui Yu rubbed his ears and said, "Let's go, call your mother, and we will go into the city together."
There were too many people and not enough camels, so the group walked into the city. Sui Yu led everyone straight to the cloth shop she was familiar with. The previous twelve pieces of cloth were bought from this cloth shop, and she had become familiar with the owner.
"Shopkeeper Yu, how many pieces of cloth are you buying this time?" The shopkeeper's wife came out.
"Make a jacket for my parents. Bring out some suitable colors." Sui Yu said.
The shopkeeper's wife took a look and went in to get the cloth. A voice came from the compartment: "Are you Captain Zhao's parents?"
"Yes." Sui Yu looked down and said, "Do they look alike?"
"The third child looks like me." Zhao's mother narrowed her eyes and said, "Actually, he looks more like his uncle."
Sui Yu didn't know whether it was true or not. She had never seen this uncle before. She observed her mother-in-law carefully and found that the mother and son did not look much alike. Zhao Xiping had a fierceness about him, which made him look a little fierce. Fortunately, he had a handsome appearance with noble features and did not have a gloomy look.
The shopkeeper's wife took out three pieces of cloth and said, "Black doesn't look good on old people. Here are some gray-green, indigo, and malachite. Take a look and see which color you like."
"The pants should be black." Sui Yu said.
"Then I'll cut five or six feet for you later."
Sui Yu asked Zhao's father and mother to choose the color. Zhao's mother liked the malachite green, but felt that the color was not stable enough, so she finally chose gray-green and chose indigo blue for Zhao's father.
After buying three pounds of cloth, also known as reed fluff, Sui Yu walked out of the cloth shop and led her six children to buy malt sugar. Two pieces cost five cents, and she directly bought one hundred-cent ones.
"And me." Ah Shui stood on tiptoe. "Uncle, I'll give you the money. I'll buy, I'll buy... Sister-in-law, how many can I buy?"
"I bought it for you." Sui Yu handed her a candy.
Ah Shui didn’t want it, her father told her to only eat what he bought.
The waiter took it and handed her four pieces of candy.
A Shui looked at Sui Yu, and Sui Yu nodded. It was the right number, and she happily took the candy.
Sui Yu gave two pieces of candy to each of her five nephews and nieces, and then took some out to share with her two sisters-in-law and parents-in-law. None of the four ate any of them, which would have been fine if they didn't eat them, but she ate two more.
"That old man has lost all his teeth, how could he give birth to such a spirited girl?" Zhao's mother stared at Ah Shui and asked, "Where's her mother?"
"She went back to her parents' home. Something happened there." Sui Yu handed over the candy again and said, "Take one each to sweeten your mouth. You can't taste it many times a year."
"I ate it once when I was a girl." Zhao Ersao couldn't help herself. She pinched a piece of candy and put it in her mouth, saying, "I guess it was diluted with water. It's not as sweet as the ones I had before."
Mrs. Zhao also took a piece, but she bit off half of it and fed the other half to her little daughter.
Zhao's father and mother refused to eat it no matter what, so Sui Yu stopped forcing them. Even if the two elders took it, they would probably give it to their grandchildren.
Walking back to the guesthouse, Sui Yu handed the remaining malt candy to Zhao Xiaomi and asked her to share it.
After a while, it was almost noon. Smoke rose from the kitchen chimney and Mrs. Yin was frying stuffing.
Some escorts sat in the leeward side to bask in the sun, some were brushing the camels' fur, and more were drying the goods. The furs brought back from the Western Regions were spread out to dry to prevent them from being eaten by insects.
Zhao's mother sat in the kitchen with her eldest and second daughters-in-law, cutting cloth and sewing clothes. Sui Yu took out some dried chicken feathers and tanned rat and rabbit skins from the storehouse and said, "Mother, take these. Use the rabbit and rat skins to sew two waistcoats. Stuff the shoes with the scraps of fur. Cut off the hard ends of the chicken and bird feathers and mix them with the reed catkins to stuff the jacket."
Mother Zhao took the bag of things and looked through it, muttering, "These are all good leathers. Your father and I have ruined them. We don't run around outside, so we won't be cold with coats." Then she stuffed them into the other two daughters-in-law and said, "Make vests for the eldest and second daughters. They are busy running around outside every day. Don't let them freeze too much."
Mrs. Zhao's face flushed red as she refused, "This is for my third brother's wife to show her filial piety to you and my father. How can it be worn by the two brothers?"
Zhao Ersao had a sullen smile on her face, but she held the cloth bag tightly and was reluctant to throw it away.
Sui Yu turned and walked towards the woodshed, saying, "Anyway, we've done our best. Mother can give it to whoever she wants. Just don't blame me and Xiping if she gets cold."
She dragged a bloody sheepskin out of the woodshed, took a basin and sat in the sun to scrape the meat off the sheepskin.
"How much can this sheepskin be sold for?" asked Zhao's mother.
"I won't sell it for money. Your youngest son has to go out of town on patrol, so I'll make him a pair of sheepskin pants." Sui Yu thought that Zhao Xiping was not liked by his parents, so she liked him. His parents didn't care about him, but she did.
Mother Zhao always felt that Sui Yu's words had hidden meanings, but before she could figure it out, a guest arrived.
"Oh, Boss Sui, your shop has moved away, and it's hard for us to eat braised noodles." Three men walked in, and the leader said, "Since we don't live here, can we come over to eat?"
"Of course, you're most welcome." Sui Yu stood up and said with a smile, "How did you get here? It's cold, right? Sit in the barn, next to the kitchen stove. The barn is warm."
"We're walking, so it's not cold. Cook us three bowls of braised soup noodles. We're all hungry."
Sui Yu led the group to the dining hall. She had an impression of these three people. They probably also lived in Minxiang, but they were not engaged in business. Their family had a lot of land, and they sold a lot of grain every year.
"Please sit down, I'll go over and cook for you," she said.
"Okay, do you have buns? Let me have a few to fill my stomach first."
Sui Yu asked Yin Po to bring a plate of buns over. After washing her hands, she pulled the noodles and cooked them, then poured the braising liquid and lots of braised vegetables on them, and added a braised egg to each bowl.
"It's hard for you to run so far. I'm glad you can come to me. I'll give you three extra braised eggs." She brought the bowl in.
"That's great. Winter's a good time, so we'll come back tomorrow." San'an took a bite of the noodles and said, "Your place is still the best. The new food place next door to Lao Tu's is not good. The broth is black, and you can tell that there's too much soybean paste in it. It tastes too salty."
"How's business over there?" Sui Yu asked as he sat down.
"I'm just imitating you. For convenience, quite a few people go there to eat." San'an dipped a bun into the broth and said, "We saw quite a few people when we came here. Are they all living near you?"
Sui Yu nodded.
"Is there a lot more merchants this year? The number of merchants in Minxiang isn't much less than in previous years."
Sui Yu didn't say much. She was about to go out to do her thing when San'an called her back.
"Boss Sui, let me discuss a business deal with you." San'an wiped his mouth and said with a smile, "The land was idle in the winter anyway, so after the wheat harvest, I planted five acres of winter radishes. The seedlings grew well after the autumn harvest. I wish I had been willing to sell the seedlings then." San'an sighed and said helplessly, "I couldn't bear to pull them out then, and last month there was a frost, and the radish seedlings turned a lot yellow. After another month, the radishes were no bigger than a fist, and seeing that snow was about to fall, I pulled them all back. I couldn't sell them on the street, and they would be wasted feeding the pigs. Since you need a lot of radishes here, I came to ask if you could buy them for me. Three pounds for one cent, and I'll give you the radish seedlings as well."
"Did you bring any radishes? I want to try some." Sui Yu said.
Sanan didn't bring any, so he finished his noodle soup with his bowl and said, "I'll go get some right away. I'm not going to lie to you. My radish may be ugly and small, but it tastes really good."
Without seeing the real thing, Sui Yu didn't make any promises. She smiled and said, "Send me a few when you have time."
"Okay." San'an took out a handful of copper coins to pay, saying, "Still twelve cents? By the way, Boss Sui, my two brothers have also planted three acres of radishes. Take a look..."
Sui Yu laughed and said, "How can I eat so many radishes?"
"I'll give you all the radish seedlings. You have many caravans and camels here, so you can sell them to them," said another person.
Before winter, each caravan had stockpiled enough food and fodder, so there was not much demand for wet grass at this time. However, Sui Yu raised pigs, and she needed not only radish seedlings but also radishes. She wanted both because the bigger the pigs, the more they ate.
"You guys take it first, let me taste it." Sui Yu said.
"Okay, we'll come back this afternoon." San'an took the lead and walked out, saying, "I won't bother you anymore."
"Goodbye." Sui Yu saw him out.
In the afternoon, San'an and two other people came again. The three of them carried a basket of radishes. Each one was like a stone egg. The big ones were as big as a fist, and the small ones were as big as an egg.
Sui Yu peeled one and tasted it. The radish was sweet and refreshing. The radish that had been frosted and frozen had no spicy taste. This kind of radish was delicious when braised or stewed in soup, unlike the radish in summer, which had a pungent smell when cooked.
"What do you think? Am I telling you a lie? You can even eat this radish raw." San'an said.
Sui Yu nodded, "It tastes good, without the raw taste of radish."
Sanan was happy that she could be honest with him instead of saying his radishes were not tasty in order to lower the price. He was happy even if she didn't buy them.
"How many radishes do you have left?" Sui Yu asked.
"One acre of land yields about 600 jin (about 100 catties) of radishes. I sold over 100 jin, so I estimate there's still 6,000 jin left." San'an sighed. "If the radishes grow big, 11 acres of land will probably yield over 10,000 jin."
"I'll pay you two thousand coins, and you bring me all the radishes and seedlings." Sui Yu didn't hesitate.
The three men agreed immediately, left a basket of radishes and left happily, thinking that the eleven acres of radishes would rot in their hands.
That evening, the escorts came back from hunting. Some had hunted rabbits, some had hunted voles, and some had caught pheasants. They lamented that the mountains here were poor and could not support wild boars and musk deer, otherwise they could go into the mountains to catch wild boars.
Sister-in-law Zhao Da and Sister-in-law Zhao Er squatted by the river with their prey to clean up. Sui Yu took the money and came out and said, "Sister-in-law Zhao Da, Sister-in-law Zhao Er, clean these furs and skins and use them to make winter clothes for the children."
"Then I'm taking advantage of you again." said Mrs. Zhao.
"We are a family, so we shouldn't talk nonsense." Sui Yu didn't care about this. On the other hand, she couldn't let her brother dress warmly and watch her nephews and nieces shrink their necks and hands because of the cold.
After the meal, Zhao Xiping also came back. He jumped off the horse with a cold look on his body, and the wolfskin he was wearing was covered with a layer of frost.
Sui Yu stuffed him with a bowl of soup and asked, "Are you going out of town on patrol today?"
"Yeah." Zhao Xiping sat in front of the stove and warmed himself by the fire, saying, "Make me another pair of gloves. The previous ones are not warm enough."
"Okay, I'll take the sheepskin to the leather worker to have it tanned. When I get it back, I'll make you a pair of trousers and use the cut sheepskin to make two pairs of gloves." Sui Yu poured him another bowl of soup.
…
Five days later, San'an and his men brought over the radishes and radish seedlings. Gan Da, Gan Er and the two Zhao brothers also dug a pit in the open space north of the west kitchen and brought in sand. More than 6,000 kilograms of radishes were buried in the sand pit. To prevent it from freezing, they also covered the sand pit with bean stalks.
At this time, Sui Yu also took back the sheepskin. She measured the size and cut it, then drilled holes with an awl, strung it together with a rope, and then sewed the cloth around the edge.
It takes a whole day to make a pair of woolen trousers, with thick wool inside and soft leather facing outside. It is a bit ugly, but it is first-class in keeping out the wind and keeping warm.
Zhao Xiping wore it outside, and when the sun came out he was so hot that he wanted to take off his pants.
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