Chapter 74 Heavy Labor
"I thought I could harvest the remaining five mu of soybeans and sorghum within half a month, but I overestimated myself. I only harvested three mu of soybeans in half a month." Sui Yu went down to the field with a basket and said with a smile, "Thank you, Uncle Niu, for your help. I won't be polite. I really can't bundle these sorghum stalks by myself, let alone lift them and tie them to the camel's back."
"Three acres of soybeans in half a month? Picking, pulling, bundling and transporting them away, it's good enough if I can finish it in half a month." Uncle Niu broke a sorghum stalk with his foot and said, "I haven't done any serious work in years. Give me a month and I may not be able to harvest three acres of soybeans."
After saying this, he chuckled and said, "I am lucky. I escaped death on the battlefield and came back alive. I have never suffered any hardship."
"Has the agricultural official and the village chief ever caused you any trouble?" Sui Yu was curious.
"Of course I don't have any, but since my hands and feet are on my body, I won't leave the ground. I'm old, and I'm missing a hand. Who can do anything to me?" Uncle Niu was not shy. He was proud of it and said proudly, "One, two, three years, after a long time, I'll get used to it."
"My wife's words are still effective." Sui Yu joked.
Uncle Niu sneered and said frankly, "I don't help everyone. It's just you. If it were someone else, she would talk until her mouth broke and I wouldn't listen to her. There's nothing I can do."
Sui Yu lowered her eyes and smiled. She knew the reason. First, it was related to Zhao Xiping, and second, she was the one who helped him find a wife and take care of his children.
"When the sorghum is harvested, I'll make you some dumplings covered with a curtain," said Sui Yu.
Uncle Niu was satisfied and asked, "Is there any meat left at home?"
"I have two more pieces. I'll stew them until they're soft and then chop them into minced meat for stuffing."
Uncle Niu became more and more satisfied and worked harder. He was busy in the fields until noon before going back to cook for Tong Huaer.
In the morning, they picked the ears of sorghum and stepped on the stalks. In the afternoon, they cut the broken sorghum stalks and tied them into bundles. The camel knelt on the ridge. Sui Yu and Uncle Lao Niu lifted the bundled sorghum stalks and tied them to the camel's back, two bundles on each side.
Sui Liang was responsible for leading the two camels to the granary, where there were workers unloading grain and grass. He could tell whose camel it was by looking at the piece of wood tied around the camel's neck.
When he finished work in the evening, Uncle Niu was so tired that his legs bent and his back was hunched, making him look even shorter.
"Old Cow, the grass in your own field is taller than the crops, but you don't even look at it. You are busy working on other people's crops." The people traveling with you said sarcastically.
"Baldy, your wife is always arguing with your daughter-in-law at home, and you usually pretend to be deaf and don't ask a single question. Now you're busy meddling in other people's affairs. What's on your mind?" Uncle Niu smiled. He glanced at Sui Yu, turned his head, and asked, "What do you want to say? That I took advantage of Zhao Xiping's absence to flirt with his wife?"
“…I didn’t say that.”
Uncle Niu was disappointed. He shook his head and said, "Whoever thinks I have bad intentions should come and help me with the work. I'm just resting at home."
Seeing that he was quite capable in fighting, Sui Yu didn't say anything. She walked to the fork in the road, led the camel to the river to drink water, and then went straight home.
After five days of hard work in the two mu of sorghum fields, Sui Yu finally recovered after three days of harvesting. She didn't have to work in the fields, but she did a lot of work at home, cleaning the house, the livestock pen, stewing meat, chopping stuffing, and making dumplings for Uncle Niu.
This time last year, after the land was cleared, Zhao Xiping immediately borrowed oxen to plow the fields. This year, he was away, and Sui Yu didn't know how to plow the fields, nor did she have the energy to do so. She could only leave the twenty acres of land there. If the government had plans, they would arrange for plowing. If not, she would have to wait until Zhao Xiping returned.
Mid-September had already passed, and other families had already planted winter vegetables and radishes in their vegetable gardens. Sui Yu had been busy harvesting beans and sorghum, leaving her vegetable garden uncultivated. Now that her farm work was finished, she hurried back to digging the vegetable patch, sowing radish and shepherd's purse seeds. Aunt Du had given her a handful of winter vegetable seedlings, and she dug two furrows to plant them.
Finally, camels were used to transport water and water the soil where the rapeseed was sown.
After finishing all the work, it was approaching October. The sun was shining brightly during the day, but it felt chilly in the morning and evening.
Sui Yu and Sui Liang rode camels for two days before discovering a reed marsh downstream. The reed catkins had long since been stripped, leaving only the reeds standing upright. The next day, Sui Yu took her sickle and cut two bundles, bringing them back to the yard to dry. At night, when she couldn't sleep, she and Sui Liang sat on bamboo mats, trying to weave a futon.
When it’s cold, it’s a bit cold to sit on a stone or wooden block. You can make a cushion and stuff it with hay. It will be soft and fluffy and comfortable to sit on.
"Oh, I forgot something important. The golden flowers have not been cut yet." Sui Yu suddenly remembered.
Sui Liang nodded. Now that there were two more camels in the family, he had to prepare an extra stack of hay this year.
"We'll go mow the lawn tomorrow," said Sui Yu.
She had been planning to go hunting.
…
Sui Yu and Sui Liang took Luotuo out to cut grass. As soon as they left, Uncle Niu came over with his daughter in his arms. He thought that Sui Yu was the daughter of a wealthy official and must know some words, so he wanted her to help him choose a good name.
Sister Lamei passed by and took a look at the baby in the cradle. The child definitely did not look like Uncle Lao Niu, nor did she look much like Tong Huaer. She should have taken after her unknown father.
"The girl is pretty," she said.
Uncle Niu smiled broadly. He held the baby with his armless arm and patted him gently with his other hand. He said without hesitation, "If he doesn't look like me, he can't be ugly."
Sister Lamei laughed awkwardly.
"What's your girl's name?" asked Uncle Niu.
"Arya."
"Just call her Erya?" Uncle Niu said with disgust.
"A humble name is easy to maintain. It's all right if the name is humble but the life is not." Sister Lamei looked at the fair and clean little girl and said, "In my opinion, it's better to call your girl Ah Shui. Water is clean."
Uncle Niu seemed to be thinking about something.
Someone else came to see the child, and Uncle Niu generously let them see him. Someone said maliciously that the child did not look like him, but he laughed cheerfully and said, "It's better not to look like me. If a girl is ugly, she will be disliked when she is looking for a husband."
A toothless old man, holding a toothless baby in his arms, stood in the alley, letting passersby stare and criticize him. No matter how veiled their words were, he pretended to be deaf and dumb, pretending not to understand, making those with malicious intentions look ugly. Later, fewer people spoke ill of him. After all, she was just a little girl, only one month old, and she had no grudges against anyone.
Before Sui Yu came back, the little girl started crying from hunger, so Uncle Niu took the child back to feed her.
As Tong Hua'er was feeding, Uncle Niu sat on the ground and watched. He whispered, "I don't care what you think. You can hide and avoid people, whatever you want. But you can't keep my daughter at home. I brought her home openly, and she can walk out openly. I don't care which man she looks like, so why do you care?"
Tong Huaer said softly, "I understand."
"I got a good name today, A Shui, I think it sounds nice. From now on, my daughter will be called Niu A Shui." Uncle Niu said.
Tong Huaer had no objection.
After listening to Lao Niu's words, Tong Huaer carried A Shui out of the house the next day. Although she left the house, she did not talk to anyone. From time to time, she would stroll in the alley where Sui Yu lived, or walk away.
On the fifth day of Sui Yu's grass-cutting work, he met Tong Huaer. They met face to face at the entrance of the alley. No one spoke. They looked at each other and then went their separate ways.
But within a day, Tong Huaer took Uncle Niu to the place where Sui Yu was cutting grass. Uncle Niu was not able to cut grass with one hand, and he was too lazy to work, so he just held the child while Tong Huaer took the sickle and went to the field to cut grass, and then spread it out to dry.
When the child was hungry, she would sit on the ground and feed him. When the child was full, she would continue to mow the grass.
There were two acres of sandy land planted with goldenrod. Sui Yu and Sui Liang were mowing the grass on the south side, while Tong Huaer was mowing alone on the north side. Both sides could see each other, but neither of them spoke.
Uncle Niu carried Ah Shui to Sui Yu and said, "Four camels, you need to prepare a lot of hay this year."
Sui Yu nodded. "These two acres are still not enough. Luckily, I brought back an acre of bean stalks with a camel. If that's still not enough, we can only wait for Zhao Xiping to come back and find a solution."
After that, she looked up and said, "Uncle Niu, take Auntie back. Cutting grass is an easy job. Sui Liang and I can handle it. We don't need her help."
"She's just sitting around doing nothing, so it's good for her to come work so she doesn't have to wander around with the baby." Uncle Niu suspected Tong Hua'er was trying to get information about Sui Ling. He didn't want to cause any trouble, and now that she was willing to come and weed, he had no objection. Instead, he tried to persuade Sui Yu, "Just pretend she doesn't exist. Go about your own business."
When Sui Yu didn't go to eat when Ah Shui had her third day's bath, Tong Huaer understood what she meant. Although she came to help this time, she never spoke to Sui Yu.
He came here silently every day and left silently before Sui Yu returned.
It is true that everyone is doing their own thing, without talking about past grudges, and there is no question of asking anyone to forgive whom just because they helped each other.
The golden flower grass was dried, and Sui Yu rolled four baskets of straw ropes to bundle the hay. When they transported it back by camel, Tong Huaer was waiting outside the door. The two of them handed the hay to one another, and the height of the hay gradually increased over the courtyard wall.
"Sui Yu, did you two know each other before?" The woman next door looked around with her triangular eyes. She asked tentatively, "This man usually ignores everyone, but he helps you with work every day. Are you two relatives?"
Sui Yu did not admit it, saying that she hired him herself, as there was no need to add to the trouble.
After the hay was transported back, Sui Yu felt relieved. In the days that followed, she carried a bow and arrow and went to the harvested fields to look for field mice and hares.
The day before, Sui Yu shot a field mouse and took it to Shiqitun to give to Uncle Lao Niu.
The next day, Sui Yu walked far away. She chased a wild rabbit into a cave and waited outside the cave for a long time but couldn't catch it.
The next day she went there again without giving up.
This time I met Sui Wen'an, who was also here to hunt.
Sui Yu frowned and considered whether to leave.
Sui Wen'an left first. He went to the west gate instead and submitted his household registration. Then he went out of the city to look for prey.
In the evening, Lord Hu heard from a servant that Sui Wen'an had sent another pheasant to Sui Hui. He sent for the village chief, who had been keeping an eye on Sui Wen'an, and learned that when Sui Wen'an wasn't working in the fields, he was always hunting. He either brought his prey to Sui Hui or exchanged it for noodles. He saved up the food and steamed buns to send to the foot of the Great Wall. He was beaten every time he went, but he would go again after his injuries healed.
Master Hu drummed his fingers and sipped his tongue carefully. After a long pause, he said, "Don't keep an eye on him. He's so indecisive that he can't accomplish anything great."
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