Chapter 48 The couple made plans late at night
After making the compromise, Zhao Xiping felt relieved. He didn't have to fight on the battlefield to save Sui Yu and her brother from slavery. This method was beneficial to both him and Sui Yu, and it was also the most convenient.
The night was dark and even the wind was quiet. It was the best time of the day for sleep, but Sui Yu lay there with his eyes closed for a long time and couldn't fall asleep.
She put her feet into the man's arms, but he grabbed them and pushed them away. She whispered, "You didn't sleep either?"
"How can I sleep if you keep moving around?"
Sui Yu picked up the clothes that were under his head and bent over to lie down at the end of the bed, saying, "Let's talk."
Zhao Xiping moved away to prevent her from turning over and leaning on him again.
"When I'm freed from slavery, I'll continue to set up a stall to sell steamed buns. I'll also make oil tea and sell both. When I make money, I'll make a few tables and chairs for customers to sit on." Sui Yu imagined happily. She gestured a few times and continued, "First, I'll set up a stall, then buy a shop. I'll hire a few employees and then slowly expand. Maybe it will take five years, or maybe ten, or even longer, but it doesn't matter. I'll slowly save money, and then sell the food shop, buy land, and build an inn to provide food and accommodation for passing merchants and pedestrians."
"What about me?" Zhao Xiping couldn't help asking.
Sui Yu chuckled, turned over and slept facing him, saying, "You stay home and farm, raise sheep and camels, and cook and wash clothes for me."
Zhao Xiping was not satisfied and said no directly.
"Didn't you live like this before you married me?" Sui Yu asked with a smile.
"Well, well... it just won't work."
"So how do you plan to live?" Sui Yu asked.
The man couldn't explain why. He closed his eyes and said he wanted to sleep.
Sui Yu pulled his arm aside and rested it on him. He tried to move away, but she tried her best to stop him and said, "Do you still want to listen?"
"I don't want to listen anymore. I want to sleep."
"Okay, okay, I'll explain it to you." Feeling the tension under her neck loosen, Sui Yu stopped making a fuss and said honestly, "Here's what I think. You're a great camel trainer. When we have extra money, we can buy more camels, or we can go to the desert and trap wild camel calves. We can raise a large herd, and when my inn is built, we can rent the camels out to caravans heading out of the pass into the Western Regions. You see, this way, we can provide not only food and lodging, but also transportation. Even if others build inns to compete for our business, they won't be able to compete with us in this area."
Zhao Xiping was shocked, and he once again witnessed Sui Yu's intelligence.
"Once this first inn is established, I'll build a few more on the way east to Jiuquan. Then we won't have to stay at farmers' homes when we return home." Sui Yu grew increasingly excited as she spoke. She grabbed the man's large hand and said, "By then, we'll be rich. We'll be able to eat meat every meal, cook with plenty of oil, wear fine cloth, and wear sheepskin, fox fur, or wolf fur in winter. We'll never have to worry about the cold again."
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"Happy." Zhao Xiping answered honestly.
"Do you think marrying me is a blessing for you? When you went home to worship your ancestors before, did you see smoke rising from your ancestral graves?"
"Not really."
Sui Yu punched him and he chuckled.
The two of them whispered a lot more, their bodies getting closer and closer. Sui Yu leaned in the man's arms. She took his other hand and put it on her waist. She turned her face to his burning ear and whispered softly, "When I recover, I will give birth to a baby for you. Do you want it?"
The man turned his head and let the cold wind that came in through the crack in the door freeze his ears that were almost burnt to charcoal.
"Hey, do you want it?" Sui Yu didn't let him go.
Zhao Xiping lifted his stiff hands from under the mattress and covered his face with them. He said in a muffled voice, "Yes."
Sui Yu laughed, she put her arms around him, leaned in close and whispered in his ear: "If you want me to give birth to a baby for you, you have to be nice to me."
Zhao Xiping pushed her, and they both moved inward. After squeezing a little more, they both fell out.
"Did you hear that?" She reached out and pinched him.
The man gasped, pressed down the restless hand on his waist, nodded randomly, and said yes.
At this time, the roosters crowed outside. It was already late at night. Sui Yu yawned and said lazily, "I slept too late. I can't get up tomorrow morning. You go make breakfast."
"Okay." Zhao Xiping raised his legs, but worried that Sui Liang would freeze if he rolled up the mattress, so he reluctantly lowered his legs and said, "Go back to your side and sleep."
"It's warmer here." Sui Yu didn't intend to leave.
"Hurry up." He said loudly, then lowered his voice the next moment, saying, "If you sleep over here, I can't rub your feet. If you don't want to move, I'll sleep over there."
"Forget it, Brother Liang is also a little heater. I'll hold him while I sleep." Sui Yu took his hands and feet off him, and she crawled under the mattress. Sui Liang was startled, and she patted him, and he fell asleep soundly again.
Zhao Xiping let out a sigh. He shook out the mattress and covered himself with nothing. It was a very cold day, but he was sweating. His shower tonight was in vain.
"I'm going to sleep. I want to eat bean porridge tomorrow morning." Sui Yu said in a soft voice.
"Oh, okay."
The weight lifted from his heart, Sui Yu drifted off to sleep with sweet dreams. The man at the foot of the bed, however, hadn't slept all night. Whether it was the sudden closeness of their relationship tonight or the clear plans Sui Yu had shared, Zhao Xiping's heart was burning with passion. In his youth, he'd been filled with passion for the battlefield, but after the war ended, he had lost his purpose and didn't know what he wanted to do. The court had assigned him farming, so he dutifully worked the land, living a dull life day by day. But tonight, he had a new purpose; he had a clear path forward.
Suddenly, he was full of energy.
Two feet stretched out in his arms, Zhao Xiping turned over, holding the two feet and rubbing them slowly, while thinking about what to do after dawn. The next moment, he thought of Sui Yu's idea of opening an inn, and before that, he had to make money and save it.
The rooster crowed three times, and the man who had not slept all night got dressed and got out of bed to cook.
The stove door was opened and the chickens in the chicken coop ran out to beg for food. Zhao Xiping was in a very good mood and grabbed a handful of millet and scattered it on the ground to feed them.
"Meow——" The cat officer stretched and opened his cat mouth to call out.
"I don't need you to keep watch for mice at night. Go to sleep." Zhao Xiping pushed it aside, lit a fire and started cooking. While cooking porridge, he moved a tree stump to dig a hole, and used the fire in the stove to burn the tree stump to produce sparks little by little.
When the bean porridge was cooked and daylight had risen, Zhao Xiping tiptoed into the house to get some money and then went out to the market to buy pig's blood. When he returned, he found Sui Liang awake. He lifted her off the bed and said, "Your sister is tired. Let her sleep. Wash your face and eat first. I'll take you to buy tofu later."
Sui Liang nodded obediently. He glanced at him cautiously. He had snatched the paper yesterday and was very afraid that his brother-in-law would be angry.
"Wash your face yourself." Zhao Xiping scooped a ladle of hot water into the basin for him, and then took a bowl to serve rice.
Seeing that he didn't look angry, Sui Liang immediately smiled, washed his face, and took the basin out to pour water.
After the two of them finished their meal in the kitchen, Zhao Xiping scooped two bowls of beans into his cloth bag. He took one bowl and took Sui Liang to the market to exchange for tofu. Since they wanted to save money, they wouldn't spend money on anything they could.
…
Sui Yu didn't wake up until noon. She heard silence outside and opened the door. No one was home, not the camel, not the chickens. Only the cat was sprawled on the wall, basking in the sun and sleeping. She went into the kitchen to scoop some water to wash her face. She lifted the lid of the pot and saw two bowls of bean porridge warming in the bottom, with an egg submerged in the water. She giggled, washed her face, picked up her bowl, and sat down in front of the stove to warm herself and eat. The stove hole was filled with burnt-out wood, so it was no wonder the rice was still warm.
Having overslept, Sui Yu wasn't feeling particularly hungry. She finished a bowl of porridge and an egg, and was full. She washed the dishes and put them in the cupboard, then poured another basin of water into the pot, intending to wait for the water to heat up before washing clothes.
After finishing all this, she took the key and walked to the door. If someone passed by, she would shout and ask them to help unlock the door.
"Why did you lock the house? Your husband, Zhao, went out to chop wood early this morning, and you didn't go?" The sister-in-law who opened the door smiled ambiguously and jokingly said, "Did you oversleep?"
Sui Yu scratched his head and explained, "My health is not good. I went to chop wood for half a day yesterday and my body couldn't take it anymore."
The sister-in-law didn't believe it. "Master Zhao's body looks like it could be tormented. You are too skinny to handle it."
Sui Yu waved her hands hurriedly, mumbled a few words, put the key in her pocket and ran away in a hurry.
The sister-in-law who stayed where she was burst into laughter.
Sui Yu pouted when she heard the laughter. It was really unfair. She and Zhao Xiping were just in a simple relationship of holding hands and touching feet.
After leaving the military settlement, Sui Yu went straight to the Hu Mansion in Bailu Lane. When she reached the second side door, she found that there were many people coming in and out today. She turned around and thought that today was the Lantern Festival, so she wondered whether she should come back another day.
"Hey——" the old uncle guarding the gate waved towards Sui Yu, "Come to see your cousin?"
Sui Yu nodded. She skillfully took out ten coins, handed them over, and said, "Uncle, please help me pass on a message..."
The concierge pushed open the copper coin and said, "Miss Sui is very lucky. The master took her in the room the day before yesterday. I'll ask someone to run an errand and someone will come to take you in later."
Sui Yu waved her hand. Sui Hui was born a criminal slave and was already inferior to others in Lord Hu's backyard. If she went in at this time, it would probably embarrass Sui Hui and she would most likely be ridiculed by the other concubines.
"I have something else to do, so I won't go in. Uncle, please send someone to tell her that I agreed to what she said before." Sui Yu insisted on giving the doorman ten coins. He would only move if there was something sweet. "Thank you for your trouble, uncle. I'll be back first."
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely pass on the message to you."
Sui Yu walked back, and after all this back and forth, it was already noon. When she got home, she found the door open. She ran in and saw smoke coming out of the chimney.
"Captain Zhao, are you cooking?" Sui Yu leaned over the door frame and stuck his head out.
Zhao Xiping heard the sound when the person entered the door. He raised his eyes and asked, "Where did you go?"
"Go tell Sui Hui." Sui Yu walked into the kitchen and said, "I'm going to the west tomorrow. I'll go there alone."
Zhao Xiping had no objection, as he had not originally planned to go.
"What's cooking?" Sui Yu asked.
"Steamed bean rice. I also bought pig's blood and tofu. What do you want to eat?"
Sui Yu smiled. When a man really wants to be nice to someone, he will be considerate and thoughtful.
"We'll have pig's blood for lunch and tofu for dinner. I'll go get the pickled mustard greens." Sui Yu took the bowl and chopsticks, then turned around and remembered the water she had boiled. She asked, "Where's the hot water in the pot? Did you pour it out? I was planning to do some laundry."
Zhao Xiping pointed outside and saw clothes hanging on the clothesline in the yard, where water was still dripping. He washed the dirty clothes himself.
Sui Yu smiled at him and went to the woodshed to pick up some pickled vegetables. After a while, she came back and said, "We need to add another room to our house. When the weather gets hot, let Liang Ge'er move out. Sleeping with us is not a long-term solution."
Zhao Xiping coughed twice and didn't respond.
Sui Yu was busy washing and chopping pickled vegetables and pig blood. When everything was ready, she walked to the stove and stood beside the man. She stepped on him and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean?"
"oh."
"Oh what?" Sui Yu walked away, "Forget it, just sleep like this."
"...I'll take care of this. Don't worry about it. I know what's going on."
Sui Yu glanced at him and said meaningfully, "You've already made plans?"
Zhao Xiping clenched his hands, raised his eyes and stared at her, his eyes were deep and dark, he said nothing, but it was better than saying a thousand words.
Sui Yu turned her head away from him, feeling like there was a mad bull in her heart.
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