Chapter 127: The Responsibility of a Thousand Households
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping hadn't had a good and peaceful sleep since they were away for a month and a half. They lay down on the bed and fell asleep without saying a word last night. If Mrs. Yin hadn't knocked on the door this morning, the couple would probably have slept until dawn.
Breakfast was ready: a basket of pancakes, half a pot of millet porridge, and a plate of sliced salted duck eggs and pickled radish. Sui Yu sat down and sipped the porridge. The soup was thick and the millet was soft. Mrs. Yin must be quite good at cooking, and she had a good control of the heat.
"Where did the salted duck eggs come from?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"Auntie Sun sent them. The ducks raised by two families in the military settlement have started laying eggs. When she was collecting eggs, she bought twenty and gave them to us." Zhao Xiaomi looked at Sui Yu and said, "I guess she was afraid that we wouldn't need her anymore, so she specially sent twenty duck eggs. I offered her money but she refused, so I didn't force her after that. Third sister-in-law, do you think what I did was appropriate? If not, next time she comes to give her eggs, you can give her the money."
Sui Yu nodded and said, "Forget it, since she wanted to give it to us, we should just accept it."
"I think she feels more at ease now that we've collected the duck eggs," Zhao Xiaomi said, feeling somewhat proud. "Am I right?"
"Yes." Sui Yu smiled.
As they ate and talked, Zhao Xiping had already devoured five pancakes and a bowl of porridge. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "I'm going to go first. When you leave, ask Gan Da to take you there."
"Where is my third brother going?" Zhao Xiaomi was puzzled.
"Go to the training ground to train." Sui Yu said.
It was still dark, the house still lit by an oil lamp. Walking out of the gate, there were few people walking on the street. Zhao Xiping passed by the house of Captain Gu next door and saw the door was open. He asked loudly, "Has Captain Gu left yet?"
Captain Gu, who was over 40 years old, walked out of the gatehouse. He was also tall, had a round face, and was a little fat. He looked like a kind person.
"I heard you were back last night. I guessed you'd be going to the parade grounds for training this morning." Captain Gu smiled. He patted Zhao Xiping on the shoulder and said, "Becoming a captain isn't as easy as being a captain of ten men. You have to report to the captain or the lieutenant before leaving the city or your home."
Zhao Xiping nodded and said, "Last night the captain called me over and gave me a lecture. I've learned my lesson."
When they reached the entrance of the alley, they met two more captains, and the four of them strode towards the parade ground together.
Passing by the government office, the four encountered Captain Hu. After a brief greeting, Captain Hu looked at Zhao Xiping and said, "Since the Captain has already informed you, I will not nag you any further. From now on, if you leave the city for more than three days, you must report to me."
Zhao Xiping breathed a sigh of relief. The news spread really fast. He went to the captain's house after dark last night and spent the night there. His colleagues and superiors all knew about it.
He bowed in response.
When they arrived at the parade ground, Captain Hu assigned a team of soldiers to Zhao Xiping. Zhao Xiping was not familiar with the training on the parade ground, so he asked Captain Gu for advice and then took a team of fifty garrison soldiers to run around the parade ground.
It was the dead of winter in March, and the cold was still there. The mornings and evenings in the northwest were particularly cold, but after Zhao Xiping ran five laps around the training ground, his innermost layer of clothes was already soaked with sweat.
At this time, the sky was bright and the soldiers took out their sticks to fight each other. Zhao Xiping had never learned these moves, so he stood aside with his hands behind his back and watched.
"Captain Zhao, can I practice with you?" Captain Yang walked over with a martial arts stick in one hand.
Captain Gu came over upon hearing the noise, curious about how Zhao Xiping would respond. This guy had a simple background. As a centurion, he mostly worked in the fields, with no formal training, but his military exploits were truly solid.
The other seven captains also came over, intending to test Zhao Xiping's abilities. They urged him, "Captain Zhao, give Captain Yang a warning. He often uses his youth to tease us with his tricks."
Zhao Xiping shook his head. He took the martial arts staff and said, "You're just teasing me. When you were all battle-hardened, I was still fishing in my hometown. Calling me a fancy martial artist is just being modest." He shook the staff to test the feel and said to Captain Yang, "I haven't learned any proper hand and foot skills. Let's have a fight. If I lose, brothers and uncles, please don't laugh at me. Give me more guidance in the future."
Captain Yang took up his stance and said, "Stop talking nonsense and start first."
Zhao Xiping swung his staff down, but when his first move failed, he swung back, and the two staffs collided, sending a numbing sensation through his palms. Glancing at the soldiers practicing their martial arts nearby, he shifted his moves with a somewhat awkward technique, but this was no match for Captain Yang, who knocked the staff away from his hand.
The martial arts stick fell to the ground, and Captain Yang held the stick horizontally with his hand and pressed it against Zhao Xiping's chest.
"Captain Zhao, compete with Captain Yang in archery." Captain Qu walked in from outside the training grounds, half instructing, half lecturing: "You can't stop training in archery, and you can't neglect your hand and foot skills. From now on, you should pay more attention to it, and don't let me see your mediocre skills again."
Zhao Xiping's face turned slightly red, and he bowed in response.
Captain Qu's attendant brought two bows and arrows. Zhao Xiping and Captain Yang each held one. The target was already fixed. The two men stepped back ten steps and each pulled the leather string.
"Captain Yang, you go first," said Zhao Xiping.
Captain Yang didn't say anything more. He aimed at the target and shot the arrow quickly.
Zhao Xiping followed closely behind.
Two feather arrows hit the target one after another, and the arrowheads were embedded in the target. The distance between them was not far, and the two were evenly matched.
Captain Yang then looked directly at Zhao Xiping and suggested, "How about a moving target?"
Zhao Xiping readily agreed. He drew an arrow, pulled the string again, and shot it out to test the feel before judging the wind direction and strength.
Five war slaves came over holding targets. They were numb to this kind of orders. They ran within the designated area holding the targets. Arrows flew over their shoulders or landed on the targets. The sound of the arrows breaking through the air and the creaking sound of them being inserted into the targets made their bodies tense.
After the five arrows were shot, there was a hint of blood in the air. Captain Yang accidentally shot a war slave. The war slave pulled out the feather arrow from his arm and bent down to pick up the arrow that fell on the ground.
"Alright." Captain Gu came over and patted Zhao Xiping, saying, "Four arrows hit the target, and one arrow missed. The accuracy is not bad."
Zhao Xiping glanced in the direction where Zhan Nu had left and said, "He's only slightly accurate in archery."
Captain Yang dropped the rattan bow, turned around and left without saying anything.
Only then did Zhao Xiping realize that Captain Qu and Captain Hu had left at some point. He picked up the rattan bow and put it aside, then picked up the martial arts stick and went to practice martial arts with the soldiers.
"Can you read?" asked Captain Gu.
Zhao Xiping was surprised and asked, "Does it count if I only know my own name?"
Captain Gu: ...
"I heard you speak so well that I thought you could read and write." He was a little skeptical and asked, "Really, you can't read?"
"I can't read, but my wife can." Zhao Xiping thought about it and said, "You think my speaking is good, I probably learned it from her. I didn't learn it on purpose, but I was quite influenced by her."
Zhao Xiping was suddenly delighted. He carefully considered what he had said before. It seemed quite sophisticated, and he even knew how to give people indirect compliments. Before he got married, he had no idea about these things. As his mother said, the words coming out of his mouth were harder than a clothes hammer.
The fiery red sun broke through the clouds, and the soldiers on the parade ground dispersed. Captain Gu and his men were about to leave, but Zhao Xiping caught up with them and asked, "What do we have to do next?"
"There's no fighting going on, so the military training isn't that intense on weekdays. There's only morning and evening training." Captain Gu chimed in, "I'll send a servant to call you when you come this afternoon."
Zhao Xiping thanked him, but he did not leave with them. He returned to the training ground, picked up the martial arts stick, and recalled the moves he had memorized in the morning, training alone in the training ground.
As the sun climbed higher, the chill in the wind suddenly lessened. Zhao Xiping unbuttoned his singlet and took off his inner padded jacket. He took his martial arts stick and went to the old soldier in charge of the crossbows. He received a bow and a barrel of wooden arrows. He left the training grounds and headed east, to practice archery in the fields and perhaps even bring back some birds and rabbits.
In the west of the city, Mrs. Yin was walking back with a camel loaded with a basket of wet clothes. No one was home and the livestock had been taken out to graze. She hung out the clothes of her master's family, hurriedly locked the door and went to help in the shop.
It was after breakfast and not yet noon, and there was no one else in the shop except Sui Yu and her brother and Zhao Xiaomi who were making flatbread and dumplings.
"Madam, is there anything I need to cook?" Mrs. Yin came in and asked, "The house is ready. What should I cook for lunch?"
She was still used to calling Sui Yu "wife". She had been a slave for too long, and the slave nature had been integrated into her bones and blood. She did not dare to call her master's name.
"We don't cook lunch at home. We eat it all in the shop." Sui Yu pointed to the pickled cabbage jar in the corner and said, "It's just been delivered. Take out a pot of pickled cabbage and rinse it twice, then put it in a dustpan to drain the water."
"Hey." Mrs. Yin did it immediately.
Only four bowls of flour were made last night. After wrapping the dough, Zhao Xiaomi moved over to continue making dumplings, while Sui Yu freed up his hands to beat eggs and fry the stuffing, planning to add a few more dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut and eggs at noon.
When the sun was slanting towards the roof, Zhao Xiping came over carrying a skinny rabbit. He went into the yard to take a look and went straight into the shop.
"Are you sweating so much? Go wash your face." Sui Yu said.
"I'm hungry. Cook me a bowl of dumplings." Zhao Xiping went out again.
Sui Yu scooped two braised eggs and a bowl of braised vegetables for him and put them on the table, saying, "Eat first. The buns are still steaming in the pot."
"I've inquired. Eight mu of wasteland costs about 1,500 coins, and private slaves cost 2,000 coins each." Zhao Xiping first explained her commission. "But the land can't be purchased in your name. You can't list the property under your name. Do you think it should be listed under Sui Liang's name?"
Thick smoke billowed from the steamer, and the white mist enveloped Sui Yu, obscuring her expression but not her clear voice: "Why would you put it under Liang Ge'er's name? It must have been bought in your name. I'm spending my whole life with you, not with him. This is the hard work of both my husband and me."
Zhao Xiping didn't want to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He took a smug bite of the egg to cover up the corners of his mouth.
"I'll collect my salary in a few days and give it to you. If you don't have enough money to build a house, you can use this thousand yuan." The man said.
Sui Yu brought him two freshly-baked buns, sat down, and with a wink, said delicately, "Thank you, Captain Zhao."
Zhao Xiping couldn't bear it and almost choked to death on the egg.
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