Chapter 264: Fire Bed
The wheat has turned yellow, and the soybeans and broad beans can be picked. The ears of sorghum and millet are hanging down in fullness. The seeds planted in spring will bear fruit in late autumn.
"Mom, this whole field is planted with seeds I sowed." The cub proudly put his hands on his hips.
"Really?" Sui Yu looked at Sui Liang and asked, "Is your nephew really that capable?"
Sui Liang nodded. "He worked on these two mu of land for ten days. Every morning, my brother-in-law would fill a bag with wheat seeds for him. He would carry the bag to the field and spread the seeds. After spreading the seeds, he would go home."
Sui Yu was amazed, hiding the pain in her heart. She praised him, "You are really a good son of your father. You are as capable as him. Mom is not as good as you."
The little boy was a little shy. He twisted his clothes and asked seriously, "Really?"
"Really." Sui Yu nodded heavily. "When it comes to farming, your uncle and I are both half-baked. We can't handle the hardship or fatigue. Once the farm work gets too much, we get impatient and want to quit. Your father is different. He's an amazing farmer. You take after him in this area. You're also very good at it. You're an extremely patient child."
Sui Yu's emotional value was maximized, and he coaxed the kid so hard that he couldn't stop smiling. His head was dizzy, and he was full of energy, feeling that he had more strength than a camel carrying wheat bundles.
This was not enough, Sui Yu said proudly: "Oh, I am so lucky, I am so good at giving birth, and I actually gave birth to such a wonderful baby."
The kid covered his face with his hands while laughing, hiding his eyes but unable to hide his teeth. He squatted on the ridge and spoke in a long and coquettish voice: "Mom - please stop talking."
Sui Liang found it corny and disgusting, so he took a deep breath, picked up his sickle, and went to the other side to cut wheat, without wasting time on the mother and daughter.
Sui Yu took the opportunity to stride over. She cupped the cub's face and kissed him hard. She deliberately moved closer to him and said, "Baby, you are so great."
The little cub was so shy that he covered his face and twisted into a gristle snake.
Sui Yu suppressed the urge to laugh, and in a good mood she took her sickle and went to the field to harvest wheat.
“Ga ga ga—”
Two pheasants flew out from the wheat field, and the three of them looked up.
"Little guy, go and see if there are any pheasant eggs in the field." Sui Liang shouted.
"I'm coming." The kid ran over happily. He deliberately took a detour in front of Sui Yu, but didn't dare to meet her eyes.
Sui Yu was overjoyed. She bent down to cut a few handfuls of wheat. After a while, she straightened up and asked, "Baby, did you pick up a few pheasant eggs?"
The kid blushed and stammered a few times.
"Baby?" Sui Yu shouted even louder.
"Two..." the kid said tenderly.
"Pooh!" Sui Liang spat loudly and shouted in a strange voice: "Baby——"
"Baby's mother, if you don't want to harvest wheat alone in the field, stop disgusting me." Sui Liang shouted angrily.
Sui Yu laughed loudly. While cutting wheat, she responded, "Baby's uncle, are you jealous? I can call you that too..."
"Ah—shut up." Sui Liang jumped up as if bitten by a snake. He ran up the ridge and said condescendingly with a red face, "You can't say that. If you say that again, I'll leave."
Sui Yu didn't say anything, but silently read out two words, which made Sui Liang embarrassed and angry. He held his breath and ran away as if his butt was on fire.
The little boy was watching the fun with two pheasant eggs in his hands. When he saw that the people had really left, he shouted anxiously.
"Go after him quickly," Sui Yu said, "give your uncle a way out."
The cub put two eggs into the basket and ran away with his short legs.
The wheat field returned to silence. Sui Yu rubbed his cheeks, which were sore from smiling, bent down and continued to cut the wheat.
After about an incense stick of time, Sui Liang came back with a few strands of wet hair. The little boy followed him and kept persuading him, "Uncle, hurry up and harvest the wheat. After threshing, we can steam big buns to eat."
Sui Liang snorted heavily, "I don't care."
Sui Yu dropped a handful of wheat, raised her eyebrows and looked at Sui Liang, saying jokingly, "Go to work quickly, don't force me to use my trump card."
Sui Liang glared at her, and Sui Yu immediately said, "I'm going to tell your brother-in-law."
"Sister!" Sui Liang immediately begged for mercy, "Okay, okay, I'm going to go harvest the wheat, you can talk to your good baby."
Sui Yu was laughing like crazy. Sui Liang hung out with a bunch of kids all day long. In front of his family, he spoke and acted a little childishly. She thought he matured late and was not as arrogant as other boys of thirteen or fourteen. She didn't expect that he couldn't accept her calling him baby.
"Mom, let me help you carry the wheat." The kid came running over happily.
Sui Yu came back to his senses and said, "Okay, hug a little less at a time. Also, watch out for the wheat stubble under your feet, or it might poke your legs."
The cub let out a brisk "Ah."
The three of them played and joked for an hour and a half. When the weather got hot, they picked up their baskets and went home instead of staying in the field in the sun.
The cub embracing wheat again and again, his face flushed with heat, but because he was in a good mood, he didn't feel tired at all. On the way back, he swung his arms, and when he saw a butterfly, he would go over and whisper a few words. When he saw a bird flying by, he would stop and look up for a long time.
Sui Yu and Sui Liang let him do what he wanted. When he ran, they quickened their pace. When he stopped, they looked up at the sky or the ground.
It took ten days to plant two acres of wheat, and ten days to harvest it.
The crops of the twenty mu of land belonging to Zhao Xiping were all handed over to the government after the harvest. The forty mu of land divided among Xiaozai and Sui Liang had sixty percent handed over to the government, and the remaining forty percent was carried back by slaves on camels.
To the north of the guesthouse was an uncultivated and ownerless wasteland. Zhao Xiping borrowed a stone mill from the grain field using his authority. Zhang Shun drove camels to flatten the wasteland and made a drying yard that was two meters long and more than ten meters wide.
After the ground was dried, Gan Da Gan Er and other servants carried bundles of wheat and spread them on the drying yard. The wheat had already dried in the field, so they drove the camels and dragged the stone mill in circles to grind the wheat. As the stone mill passed by, the wheat grains fell out of the ears.
The first wheat to be threshed was the two acres of wheat harvested by Sui Yu and Sui Liang. The little boy watched it very closely. When the wheat was being threshed, he and Da Zhuang each carried a stick and ran around the drying yard, yelling and driving away the chickens so that they would not steal his wheat.
Sui Yu mixed a bowl of honey water and brought it out. She stood outside the door and called out, "Little boy, come back and drink some water."
"Little boy, your mother is calling you." Ah Niu, who was shaking the wheat straw, called out, "You don't mind the sun, it's so hot, go back and let Da Zhuang herd the chickens for you."
The cub ignored him, dropped his stick and ran back, yelling, "Mom, I'm so thirsty."
"Come and drink some water if you're thirsty." Sui Yu handed over the bowl. "Look at you, your face is covered in sweat and dust. Drink some water and come back to the house with me. I'll give you a bath and change your clothes. You can lie down on the bed and rest for a while."
The little cub gulped down a bowl of honey water, wiped his mouth and was ready to run again, "I won't rest, I'm not tired."
"Hey!" Sui Yu went to catch him, but after just a few steps, he ran even faster. Seeing this, she stopped and shouted, "I'm not chasing you. Slow down."
"This kid takes after his father; he's full of energy and can do a lot of things." The merchant came out of the kitchen yard. He squinted at the energetic child and said, "Don't worry about him. When we were little, we also loved to play around, climbing over haystacks. We didn't know how to get tired back then."
Sui Yu came over with the bowl and said, "I'm just worried that he might get a heat stroke."
"That won't happen. It's already past October. The sun may still be scorching, but the wind has cooled." The merchant shook his head. "Oh, by the way, winter is almost here. What's the situation outside the Great Wall? When can we withdraw our troops? Has Captain Zhao told us anything?"
Sui Yu shook his head. "He's busy patrolling the city and out of town all day, leaving early and returning late. He hasn't paid attention to news from outside the city, and I haven't asked about it either."
"I should ask, aren't you going to go out on business next year?"
"It's still early next spring, so don't worry too much. Just wait patiently." Sui Yu said, "There's no point getting anxious about what's happening on the battlefield. It's better to eat well, drink well, and sleep well, and wait patiently for the army to return."
The merchant sighed in frustration. He took two steps forward, approached Sui Yu, and whispered, "I'm worried about chaos outside the Great Wall. If the Xiongnu attack again, not only will I be unable to take care of my business, I'll have to run and return home alive. By the way, Shopkeeper Yu, I have a suggestion for you. Build a house and buy twenty or thirty acres of land inside the Great Wall as soon as possible. If there's chaos outside the Great Wall, you and your family can just move away."
Sui Yu smiled and shook his head, saying with certainty: "It won't be messy."
The merchant raised his eyebrows and asked excitedly, "Shopkeeper Yu, you are not being honest. I am being honest with you, and you cannot hide your secrets from me. Tell me, what did Captain Zhao say to you?"
Sui Yu still shook his head, "He didn't tell me anything, but I can conclude that there will be no chaos outside the pass."
"Fidelity?"
"Believe it or not."
The more vague she was, the more the merchants believed her. In just half a day, 80% of the merchants staying in the inn knew about the conversation.
Even Old Chen got wind of the news. While Sui Yu was in the livestock pen looking after the pigs, he went over to ask, "I heard from the merchants that you were so certain that there wouldn't be any unrest outside the Great Wall?"
"Yes, I believe in the court." Sui Yu turned and asked, "Mr. Chen, do you think there will be unrest outside the Great Wall? I remember Zuo Duhou once said that you were responsible for copying documents for the Grand Marshal in the Huo Mansion. You know the contents of those documents better than anyone else, and you should be the most discerning."
Old Chen stared at her scrutinizingly for a moment. Finally, he lowered his sagging eyelids and said, "The autumn harvest is almost over, and it's time for my old school to open. We can start preparing now."
"Do you have any requirements for your students?" Sui Yu followed his wishes and changed the subject.
Old Chen shook his head. "They're nothing more than children from officials or wealthy families. Don't make things difficult for them if they come knocking on your door. Three or five more won't matter. My teachings are superficial, and men and women live together. After the initial excitement wears off, those who can't stay will leave on their own."
Sui Yudao thanked him.
Two days later, when there was a strong wind, the slaves swept away the ashes and debris from the wheat. After the wheat was bagged, they continued to press the soybeans.
The soybeans handed over to the government were all picked pods. For the 40% grown at home, there was no need to spend that much effort. The bean stalks were directly cut and carried back, and they were also crushed using camels pulling stone mills.
After all the grain was stored in the warehouse and the bean stalks, wheat stalks, sorghum stalks, and millet stalks were all piled up, the hot late autumn quickly transitioned to the bitter winter.
"The cold wind from the northwest blows over the Tianshan Mountains and reaches Dunhuang in just a few days. That's why winter here comes quickly and violently. You might wear thin clothes one day and a thick coat the next," Sui Yu explained to Mr. Chen. "Considering your age and this being your first time in Dunhuang, I'm worried you won't be able to withstand the winter here. I'm planning to build you a kang (a heated bed). As long as you light a fire, the room will be as warm as spring."
"Let's build one in the school too," said Mr. Chen.
Sui Yu hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Mr. Chen noticed her hesitation and asked, "What's the problem?"
"No." Sui Yu shook his head. "Have you moved to the guest room next door to sleep these days, or set up a kang nearby? I haven't built a kang yet, so I might need to try a few more times. It will be quite noisy during this period."
Old Chen noticed something was wrong, "You guys don't use the kang either?"
"Dunhuang has few trees, so they can't withstand large-scale felling. Kangs require a lot of firewood. Given the scale of my guesthouse, if every room has a kang, I'm afraid we could burn half a mountain of trees in one winter." Sui Yu shook his head. "Sheepskin, wolf skin, and fox fur are all very warm. Covering yourself with these furs at night will keep you warm. During the day, there's a fire burning in the teahouse, so everyone can come in and keep warm."
"You, I'm asking if your family doesn't have a kang?" Old Chen asked clearly. Seeing her shaking her head, he looked at her strangely, not knowing whether to say she was stupid or honest.
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