Chapter 275
Sui Yu pulled Xiao Chunhong and asked, "Is there anyone else outside?"
Xiao Chunhong spat out the sand in her mouth and said, "The two brothers Gan Da Gan and Qingshan are tying up the camels. There are more people than just them, so it doesn't matter. They won't get lost."
As she was speaking, Xiaoxi crawled to the tent next door in a staggering manner. The male servant in the tent carried her over here, and Sui Yu and Xiao Chunhong reached out to pull her.
"Aniu, where is Zhang Shun? Go in and count the number of people, and then report to me." Sui Yu shouted while pulling the tent.
"I'll go take a look too..." Xiao Chunhong said.
"There are enough people, they are all back." Song Xian said.
"Mom, don't we need to take inventory of our servants?" Lu Yaer asked.
"No need. They are all experienced old people. As long as nothing happens to us, we won't be a burden to them." Song Xian said.
The servants Song Xian brought with her were all transferred back from the desert. The servants who had been raising camels in the desert for many years were accustomed to life in the desert. Especially the old man left by her father had been specially trained for her and had good adaptability.
Outside, Sui Yu waited until all the servants had entered the tent before she and Xiao Chunhong supported each other and walked in. Then, Xiao Xi and San Cao hurriedly pulled down the curtain and sat on it to press down on them.
Now the last bit of light disappeared.
Sui Yu spat a few times, then let her hair down and shook off the sand. Song Xian went over to help her brush the sand off her body.
"What a horrible weather." Sui Yu cursed.
"It's my fault. Everything would have been fine if I had left later." Song Xian blamed herself.
Sui Yu waved her hand and explained, "That's not what I meant. The weather in the desert is unpredictable. We left late two years ago, but we still encountered a sandstorm. Whatever we encounter along the way is normal. I can accept it, and I won't blame you. Please don't mention it, or I won't have to comfort you again and again."
Song Xian smiled and said, "Okay, I won't say anything more."
"Let's take a break. With the strength of the wind and sand, I will arrange people to go out to shovel sand in less than an incense stick's time to prevent our tent from collapsing." Sui Yu sat cross-legged on the ground.
The whistling sound of the wind and the sound of sand hitting the tent covered everything, and nothing could be heard outside. Sui Yu was worried about his camels, but he could do nothing and could only suppress his anxiety.
The tent pole suddenly swayed violently. Liu Yaer leaped forward and grabbed hold of it, while the others followed suit. Song Xian groped to the side of the tent, leaping up and slapping the taut camel hide, trying to knock off the dust and sand outside.
I don’t know how long it was before the tent was about to collapse. There was a movement outside. Someone went around to the west side of the tent and dug the yellow sand piled on the camel skin against the wind.
"Who's outside?" Xiao Chunhong asked loudly.
"Erdan and I."
"It's yours." Sui Yu said to Song Xian.
Song Xian hummed, "They are better at dealing with this kind of weather than Zhang Shun and the others."
"After this time, we have gained experience. We will be more calm when encountering this kind of weather in the future." Xiao Chunhong said unyieldingly.
"Okay, okay, you're right." Song Xian smiled. "I'm praising my servants, so why are you arguing? What? You want to come to my house?"
"No, I'm not going. My master is willing to share the profits with us, but yours isn't." Xiao Chunhong said in a low voice.
Sui Yu made a "tsk" sound, and Xiao Chunhong immediately admitted her mistake and apologized.
"It's okay, I'm not angry. There's no one else like your master, inside or outside the Great Wall." Song Xian said.
The male servants in the tent next door also came out in the wind and sand. With them busy, Sui Yu felt much more at ease.
"What profit sharing?" asked Green Bud.
"My servants protect me when I go on business, and I give them 20% of my earnings." Sui Yuyou leisurely explained.
Lu Yaer was surprised that it was like this.
"Do my servants know?" she wondered.
"I know about the profit sharing, but I don't know the exact amount." Sui Yu said, "Xiao Chunhong, no one among you has told me, right?"
"No."
"Did anyone ask you about it?" Lu Yaer asked again.
"Yes, many people asked us about it," Xiao Chunhong replied.
Song Xian sighed softly and said, "I've thought about it. I'll give each of my servants who go out with me on business trips 300 coins."
"How much money do you have?" Lu Yaer asked Xiao Chunhong.
Xiao Chunhong subconsciously looked at Sui Yu. Even though she couldn't see anyone and no one spoke, she could vaguely understand what her master meant.
"We won't tell you," Xiao Chunhong interrupted them before they could speak. She said playfully, "This is our family secret. No one else can know."
Green Bud snorted, "When I become the head of the household, I'll also share the profits with the servants."
Sui Yu clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Little Boss Song is generous and magnanimous. I like people like this."
"Silly girl..." Song Xian was speechless.
Lu Yaer snorted in dissatisfaction in the dark. She didn't think she was stupid. Her servants were already unwilling to accept it. If she didn't follow Aunt Sui's example, they might do something bad in secret.
After an unknown amount of time, the servants who had been shoveling sand outside left, and the wind and sand seemed to die down. Sui Yu could faintly hear a few camel calls. However, as soon as she opened a corner of the curtain, a fierce gust of wind rushed in, nearly knocking her over.
She also took this opportunity to take a look at the situation outside. The yellow sand piled on the ground was probably already above her ankles.
Sitting in the tent, they didn't know whether it was day or night outside. When they were hungry, they would chew some fried rice. Everyone had this in their pocket. Sui Yu and Song Xian didn't worry about the people in the next tents going hungry.
Half of the bag of fried rice was eaten. The wind outside died down and people in the tent next to them came out. Sui Yu, Song Xian and the others also shook open the door curtain that was buried in the yellow sand and went out.
The sky was still dark. Everywhere he looked, he saw a yellow curtain of dust. The boulders and mounds seemed lifeless, yet Sui Yu could almost see their weariness. The camels tied beneath the boulders were even more exhausted. They collapsed to the ground, unable to move, their voices hoarse from shouting.
Sui Yu asked Gan Da and Gan Er to bring out cans of water from the tent to distribute to people and animals. Seeing Zhang Shun taking people to check on the camels, she asked Xiao Chunhong to take people to tidy up the tent. Given the current situation, they would not be able to move for the next two or three days.
Song Xian and Lu Yaer went to check on the situation of their own caravan, counting the cloth, provisions, and dry food one by one.
"It's no problem. I took people to move the goods into the tent before the storm came," said Song Laodong.
"Uncle Dong, thank you for your concern." Song Xian said gratefully.
"It should be."
"Well, you have worked hard and made great contributions in protecting us during the trade. I have thought about it. I will give 300 coins to each of you servants who follow the caravan to work in the future." Song Xian took the opportunity to promise the reward.
No one doesn't love money, even the loyal old servant is no exception. He did not refuse and his face was full of wrinkles when he smiled.
"Master, we've lost two camels." Zhang Shun ran over in panic. He handed Sui Yu two ropes tied together and said, "Eggshell and its mother bit through the ropes and ran away at some point."
Sui Yu's face changed. The rope was still wet with saliva and was covered with dust and sand. There were neat teeth marks half a finger away from the broken end. It was indeed them who had bitten through the rope and escaped.
"Shall I take some people to look for them nearby?" Zhang Shun said anxiously. "They're all tied up properly. The other camels are here, but they're the only ones missing."
Sui Yu looked at Song Xian who was walking over and asked, "How's the situation over there?"
"All of them are. My camels are all trained. Camels that bite ropes will not live to grow up," said Song Xian.
Sui Yu looked at Zhang Shun and said, "Forget it. Let's stop looking. Don't let the camel be found and the people get lost again. We have to stay here for two or three days to see if they can find us again."
"Are these two wild camels?" Song Xian asked.
"All my camels are wild. Eggshell came home with us the moment he was born. He has no memory of the wild herd, but his mother must have some." Sui Yu angrily swung the rope and said, "He raised my cub, and then he kidnapped it without even saying a word."
"I said hello to you, it can't run away." Song Xian said, "I'll give you two camels when we get back. Don't be angry."
Sui Yu refused to take it. "You didn't start the sandstorm, and you didn't cut the camel's rope. Why are you giving me compensation?"
"It's not compensation, it's a gift. If you help me educate my daughter, I'll give you a stipend." Song Xian said.
Sui Yu touched her chin and said happily, "Really?"
"Absolutely true." Song Xian nodded. "It's your choice when we get back."
Sui Yu immediately stopped worrying about the loss of the animals. She agreed immediately and said, "Lu Ya'er, if you have any questions in the future, feel free to come to me."
"Hey, Shopkeeper Yu, how are you doing?" asked the head of the household, Xu, loudly. "Two of our tents are broken, and two of our water jars are broken. We're really unlucky."
"I lost two camels," said Sui Yu.
"Oh my!" Boss Xu felt sorry for her. "It seems you are the most unlucky. Wait a few more days and see if they can find it."
The strong wind made it difficult to make a fire, so everyone chewed some dry food and drank some cold water and went back into the tent. They woke up and slept all night, going out from time to time to shovel sand, and barely made it to dawn.
The yellow sand accumulated around the tent had already reached above the knees. Thanks to the yellow sand pressing down the tent, otherwise it would have been blown over by the strong wind.
Yellow sand filled the Gobi Desert for three days. When the wind stopped and the sand settled, the Gobi Desert became exceptionally quiet and peaceful. The sky above was so blue that there was not a single cloud. The dazzling light poured down, stinging people's eyes.
After a storm, the standing boulders and mounds were thinned a little. A bird that was blown to the ground died under the yellow sand. When a foul smell came out, the bird's stomach was found to have been hollowed out by insects and ants.
The escaped camel never came back, so Sui Yu stopped waiting. She had to continue on her journey while the weather was fine.
In the morning, he walked with his back to the sun, and in the afternoon, he chased the sun. Worried that the weather in the desert would change again, Sui Yu decided to chase the moon at night. The two caravans behind him had no objection.
After twelve days and nights of walking and resting, the three tired caravans finally walked out of the Gobi Desert, but the main group had gone astray. The snow-capped mountains in the south were vaguely in front of them, but Loulan was already in the far north.
"Looks like we need to take the trade route south of the desert, passing through Ruoqiang and other countries." Sui Yu sat down on the sand to catch her breath. She turned to look at the other two caravan leaders and discussed, "How about we take this trade route? On the way back, we can go through Qiuci and Loulan?"
"Okay, I have no objection. If we go through Kucha, I'm afraid of encountering fleeing Hun soldiers." said Xu Dadang.
"I'll listen to you and go together." said the boss Li.
"I'll stay here tonight and rest tomorrow," Sui Yu said. "I can't walk anymore."
Song Xian and her daughter sat slumped on the ground, back to back. Cleanliness or dirtiness was unconcerned at the moment, she just wanted to rest her stiff legs. After an incense stick of time, she sent the servants out to find water and firewood. They still had seven live chickens, so skinny they were just a bag of bones. While they still had a breath left, she decided to slaughter them all and make a pot of soup to nourish everyone.
The seven chickens were plucked until late at night. The night watchman chopped the chickens and threw them into the pot. Just as he was about to close his eyes for a while, he turned around and saw two clusters of blue and white flames floating towards him. He was so scared that he screamed and fainted.
"Oh my god! Will-o'-the-wisp!"
The sleeping people woke up. Sui Yu heard the chaotic noise outside, pulled aside the curtain and took a look. A large group of blue flames were chasing people and camels. She knew what it was in an instant. This was the first time she had seen it. It looked like a ghost fire.
"It has nothing to do with ghosts. Don't run. The more you run, the more the fire will chase you." She shouted, but no one listened to her. She pounded the ground in anger. "What bad luck has happened to me? There won't be a few days of peace on this trip. Is God trying to stop me from getting rich? Bah! Damn God!"
Sui Yu put on her shoes and dragged the trembling maids out, saying, "It's not a ghost. Take your weapons and beat them down. I'll teach you a lesson today."
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