Chapter 146 Paying Back the Debt
There were extra radishes and people who knew how to pickle sauerkraut, so Sui Yu bought three large water jars and asked her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law to help her pickle three jars of sauerkraut.
The newly bought radishes are sweet and will not turn bitter after being pickled, making them perfect for mixing with cold noodles next summer.
"It's almost snowing, so I can't make sauerkraut." Zhao's mother, a master at her craft, said firmly, "Autumn is the best time to make sauerkraut. It's not the best time to make it now. It won't taste sour and will freeze first."
"Put the jar of pickled cabbage in the warehouse. It won't freeze." Sui Yu insisted. "If all else fails, I can put it in the boiler room of the guesthouse. I'll boil it every morning and evening. When the temperature rises, I'll close the door and it will definitely not freeze."
Zhao's mother had no choice but to do as she wished. She used hot water to wash the radishes, but they were completely cold the moment she took them out of the water. Touching them with her hand soon turned them red and stiff from the cold.
"It's so hard to get a bite of your food. It's a waste of time." Mother Zhao was annoyed.
Sui Yu was not angry, because she benefited from it anyway.
"Just watch and see. You can pickle it yourself next year," Zhao's mother said. "You don't look stupid. How many times have I brought you pickled cabbage? Haven't you ever thought about it?"
Why didn't he think about it? After eating all the sauerkraut, throwing some radishes and vegetable leaves into the soup would either make the sour soup smell bad or make it lose its sour taste. Sui Yu also put a lot of thought into it.
"I have pickled it, but your son thinks my pickling is not tasty enough and not as flavorful as yours." Sui Yu said.
Mother Zhao was a little unconvinced and asked doubtfully, "How dare he say that? He acts like a good grandson in front of you."
Sui Yu almost choked to death on his saliva. He coughed continuously and his face turned red.
"We've bought pickled cabbage from many different places, but he really doesn't think it's as good as yours." Sui Yu explained, "Every pickled cabbage has its own flavor, and he's used to yours."
"You should have listened to me and brought those two jars of pickled cabbage when you came." Zhao's mother looked at her eldest daughter-in-law and said, "You said the third child couldn't do without pickled cabbage. But listen to me, he loves the ones I make."
Mrs. Zhao looked a little embarrassed, but she kept nodding and said, "Yes, yes, I should listen to you. We can't bring any pickled cabbage from home, so please pickle a few more jars for my third brother."
This time, Zhao's mother had no complaints. Every day when she was free, she would call her two daughters-in-law to wash, cut and pickle radishes. She was afraid that the radishes would freeze, so she would check them several times a day. Once there was no heat in the boiler room, she would ask Gan Da and Gan Er to light the fire.
The snow began to fall, and the weather grew colder. The merchants stayed indoors all day long, and the escorts occasionally went out hunting. But Zhao Xiping couldn't hide, and from morning till night he rode his horse outside the city, inspecting one village after another.
For him, Sui Yu would cook a pot of ginger soup every day and also buy herbs from Hu Shang to keep out the cold and strengthen the body. When Zhao Xiping came back from patrol, he would drink two bowls of sweat-inducing soup, soak his legs and feet, and then sit in front of the stove to warm himself by the fire after he recovered.
Thanks to him, guests staying in the guesthouse could ask for a bowl of ginger soup to warm themselves when they felt cold, and the escorts who went hunting would drink a bowl of spicy and hot scallion and wild ginger water before going out and after coming back.
The days when it snows pass quickly. The sky and the earth are covered in white, and the day and night are the same color. When you wake up in the morning, you can't tell whether it is morning or noon. After eating, you take a nap, and before you know it, it's time for dinner again.
In a blink of an eye, the twelfth lunar month is coming to an end and we are about to enter the new year.
Zhao Xiping finally had some free time and no longer had to go out of the city for patrol. He stayed in the guesthouse in the north of the city all day. His parents, brother and sister-in-law sometimes didn't want to go out because it was too cold, so they lived in the Qianhu Residence in the city. Only Sui Yu, Sui Liang and he were in the guesthouse.
That evening, before it got dark, the guesthouse had already served dinner. After eating, Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu and Sui Liang were walking back when they unexpectedly found a frozen gray rabbit on the way.
"I'm going to get rich next year." Sui Yu took the rabbit, shook it, and said, "It's quite heavy, which is a good omen."
"We'll go and get our wages tomorrow." Zhao Xiping was still thinking about this.
Sui Yu looked at Sui Liang and said, "Brother Liang, you will come with us tomorrow. You will carry a separate money box and give each person an extra fifty coins. You will be responsible for this."
"Why?" Zhao Xiping was puzzled. "You didn't mention it before, why are you suddenly asking for an extra fifty coins?"
"Withholding wages is not a good thing. People will talk about you behind your back, and you will be affected to some extent. Since Chinese New Year is the day after tomorrow, I thought I'd give you an extra fifty coins as a token of your appreciation, part apology, part reward. The recipient will be happy, and others won't find fault." Sui Yu looked at him and asked, "What do you think? Even if the other captains knew, they wouldn't think much of it, since you have a legitimate reason."
Zhao Xiping had never thought about these things at all. His vision was limited and he couldn't think about these things.
"You are more suited to officialdom than I am." He said with some regret, "If you were a man, you would definitely be better than me."
Sui Yu laughed. She really didn't have that ability. Not to mention her limited background in this life, even in her previous life, she was just an ordinary person. She went to school with the crowd and then went to work step by step after graduation.
"I'll do as you say." Zhao Xiping put his arm around her shoulders, holding Sui Liang with his other hand. He said, "You two are siblings. Your sister is smart, so your brother can't be stupid either. Learn from your sister."
Sui Liang nodded and said confidently, "I am also practicing archery. If there is a war in the future, I will also go to the battlefield to kill the enemy."
Zhao Xiping: ...
He looked at Sui Yu, but Sui Yu didn't react. It was hard to say what would happen in the future. In this dynasty, one couldn't become an official by studying and taking the imperial examination. Sui Liang would probably follow her or his path, going into business or joining the army.
When I got home, night had already fallen.
After entering the house, Sui Yu found that the atmosphere at home was not right. She motioned Zhao Xiping to go over and take a look. She took Sui Liang to the kitchen to boil water and peel the rabbit skin.
After the rabbit's head was chopped off, Sui Yu was about to call the cat official when he remembered that the cat official lived over at the guesthouse.
"I'll take it to the cat official tomorrow." Sui Liang took the rabbit head and said, "I'll take it to him tomorrow."
"What do you want?" Zhao Xiping came over.
"What's going on?" Sui Yu asked.
"Xiaomi's matter. Today they were discussing her marriage at home, and she wasn't happy about it, so they started arguing." Zhao Xiping took over the rabbit skinning job and said, "The water in the pottery cauldron is smoking. You should get some water and wash your faces first."
Just as she finished speaking, hurried footsteps were heard, and then a person rushed in. The three people in the room looked at her.
"Is someone chasing you?" Zhao Xiping asked.
Zhao Xiaomi choked. She closed the stove door and said, "I need to talk to my third sister-in-law."
"Then you should come to me. She doesn't dare to make the decision about you." Zhao Xiping would not let Sui Yu interfere in this matter, lest his parents blame her again.
Zhao Xiaomi gritted her teeth in resentment. She leaned against the door and said, "I've made up my mind. I don't want to go back. I want to marry a man who lives in Dunhuang County. I don't care if he's very capable, just hardworking and willing." Then, she carefully eyed her brother and sister-in-law and muttered softly, "I want to start a food and fodder business, storing food and fodder and selling it to the merchants staying in the guesthouse."
Sui Yu thought it was feasible. As long as Zhao Xiaomi had an idea, everything would be easy.
Zhao Xiping didn't express his opinion. He asked, "Are there any that you like?"
Zhao Xiaomi quickly shook her head and said with a blushing face, "I need you to help me choose a reliable person."
"After the New Year, I told my parents that they should stop arguing for the next two days and have a good New Year." Zhao Xiping agreed.
Zhao Xiaomi jumped up with joy. She looked depressed when she came, but her face was full of joy when she left.
Zhao Xiping hung the rabbit skin outside the wall and marinated the rabbit meat. He grabbed a handful of grass ash and rubbed his hands, then followed Sui Yu into the house.
The couple talked about Zhao Xiaomi for a few more words and then went to bed.
…
The next day, after breakfast, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping led out the camel, tied four boxes of money on the camel's back, and the couple took Sui Liang and walked through the snow to the city.
The aroma of fried meat and steamed buns wafted through the military settlement. Zhao Xiping had no idea where those people lived, so he first found a few centurions and had them take him to knock on their doors.
"Tomorrow is the last day of the year. Didn't you say Captain Zhao would come to collect wages at the end of the year? Where is he?" A woman in a small courtyard deep in the military settlement said with a worried look on her face. "He's not planning to default on his debt, is he?"
"He doesn't look like that kind of person." The man sat in front of the stove with his head lowered, speaking sullenly.
"If you go to him for it, your family will barely be able to make ends meet," said the woman.
The man sat still, as if he hadn't heard.
The woman dropped the shovel in her hand and cursed, "I've never seen such a shameless person..."
“Bang, bang, bang—”
There was a knock on the door. The couple was stunned for a moment, unable to tell whether it was their own door or their neighbor's door.
"Wang Shuanzi, come and open the door. Captain Zhao is here to deliver your wages."
The worried-looking couple immediately opened the door and went out happily. Wang Shuanzi lived next door to them. When they opened the door, they saw two strong camels. The camels shook their necks and the copper coins in the wooden box rattled.
"This is Song Quanxi." The captain who was responsible for knocking on the door introduced.
Zhao Xiping recognized it. He held up a string of copper coins and said, "Fifty-six days, four coins a day, that's two hundred and twenty-four coins. Please count them."
"No need to count. You won't fool us." Song Quanxi handed the money chain to his wife and said, "Come in and have a seat, Captain. There are steaming buns on the stove. Eat two while they're hot."
"I came here after breakfast, so I'm not hungry." Zhao Xiping glanced inside the door and explained, "I just managed to get the money together over the past two days. I'm sorry I delayed your New Year celebrations."
"No, no..." Song Quanxi looked very uncomfortable, afraid that the previous words would be heard.
"Uncle, please accept these fifty coins." Sui Liang handed the counted copper coins to Wang Shuanzi, then walked over to give some to Song Quanxi, saying, "You've worked so hard to build our house, and you've been so understanding of our difficulties and allowed us to pay you on credit. Since it's the end of the year, these fifty coins will buy my brothers and sisters some candy to keep them happy."
"This, this..." Song Quanxi felt like he was holding a hot potato. He was holding a handful of copper coins, not knowing what to do.
"Take it." Zhao Xiping brought the camel and said, "You guys are busy, we're going to the next one."
"This is money for the kids to buy candy." Sui Yu said behind.
Song Quanxi's wife's face was filled with shame. She ran into the house with the money string, grabbed three steamed buns and chased out, stuffing them all at Sui Yu, stammering, "Eat, eat a steamed bun, it's still hot."
Sui Yu took it, but didn't eat it. He went to give money to the next family.
…
Although fifty cents is not a lot of money, everyone who received the money was smiling, and some were even quite surprised.
From morning to noon, the wages of the thirty-four people were received. The copper coins in the cash box were gone, but it was filled with steamed buns, or fried dough leaves.
"There are still more than three hundred yuan left." Sui Yu patted the cash box. This was all the family assets. Although the money was not much, the debt was paid off and she felt relieved.
"Let's buy a fat sheep." Zhao Xiping suddenly got excited and said, "Let's buy a fat sheep. We can build a fire and roast the lamb tomorrow night. This will be a prosperous New Year."
Sui Yu had no objection and didn't spoil the fun at all. She walked towards the East Market with her hands behind her back and said, "I can still earn more after I spend all the money."
"Shopkeeper Yu is so generous." Zhao Xiping teased with a smile.
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