Chapter 239 Some are happy, some are sad
"Boss Shen, can you help me check if these words are written correctly?" Sui Yu walked over to a middle-aged merchant and sat down, handing over the piece of wood in her hand.
The merchant took the wood and pointed to one of the characters and said, "There are two extra strokes. Just remove them. The calligraphy on this board is pretty good. It's legible."
Sui Yu smiled awkwardly. The wood chip was narrow and rough, while the charcoal used for writing had heavy charcoal marks. When the two were combined, it was normal for the handwriting to clump together. She practiced for a long time before the words she wrote were barely legible.
Sui Yu hadn't forgotten what she'd promised Qin Wenshan in late spring. As soon as winter arrived, she began preparing to write his biography. She'd already bought the bamboo slips, but because she couldn't write some characters, she hadn't started yet. Last month, while she was transcribing a story for Hu Shang, Shen Da Dang came by and pointed out a few typos. She was overjoyed, and since then, whenever she was unsure about a character, she'd shamelessly ask for advice.
As for Mr. Shen, he had to do business to support his family because his family fell into poverty. He learned calligraphy for a few years when he was young, but later he went from being an official to a businessman and never picked up a brush again.
"How much did you get for writing these things?" asked Mr. Shen.
Sui Yu shook his head. "Master Qin helped me before, and I promised to write a personal biography for him."
Upon hearing this, the head of the Shen family understood what he meant. Merchants seek fame when they have money. The bait thrown by Sui Yu is indeed tempting. She uses writing a personal diary as bait, so when she goes out, she is not afraid of not having a caravan to help her.
"Then you'll be busy in the future." He chuckled.
Sui Yu also laughed. She wrote two more words on the back of the wood, handed it over, and asked, "Is this how you write 'cicada' and 'toad'?"
"I want to eat the sweet and sour pork you made earlier at noon." Boss Shen put forward a condition.
Sui Yu agreed. She watched him take the charcoal pencil and write down the correct spelling of the two characters on the table. She copied them down stroke by stroke before she felt reassured. Classical Chinese characters were so difficult to write, with so many strokes. She was like a primary school student now, spending half an hour every morning, noon, and evening practicing calligraphy to avoid memorizing them.
The problems accumulated today were solved. Sui Yu breathed a sigh of relief and braved the snow to go to the warehouse next to the kitchen to practice calligraphy.
Sui Liang and A Shui were both there. Zhao Xiping had come over at some point and was looking at the wood chip attentively.
"Sister, look, this is what I wrote." Sui Liang handed over a piece of wood that was bigger than his face.
Sui Yu didn't answer and said, "You and A Shui check each other."
"Are you going to Mr. Shen to learn how to read again?" Zhao Xiping put down the wood chip.
"Well, he wants to eat sweet and sour pork. Do we have any malt sugar at home?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiping looked at the child sitting on the wool blanket. The child came to his senses and shook his head, saying, "No more, I've finished eating."
"I'll go buy some more." The man took down the bamboo hat hanging on the wall and asked, "Besides malt sugar, what else do you want to buy?"
"I'll go check on the brush too." Sui Yu put down the wood and told the children not to move. She walked out and said, "I want to look at the brush and inkstone. The charcoal is hard and the brush is soft. It's not good to write with charcoal all the time. I want to practice calligraphy."
When Zhao Xiping was alone, he didn't care whether it snowed or not. But with her, he didn't want to go into the city in the snow, so he said he would wait until the snow stopped before setting off.
The couple went to the livestock pen to see the camels. All the male camels had been castrated, and none of the female camels had conceived this year. However, because they were well fed, they were all fat as if they were about to give birth, and their thick camel hair was shiny and slippery. They even chewed snow balls in the cold weather and were not afraid of the cold at all.
Li Mutou and Li Wu heard the noise in the hut and opened the door to come out.
"Didn't you two go to the teahouse? Is this little room cold?" Sui Yu walked over.
"The door is closed, so it's not that cold. If you get cold, just come out and shovel some snow. Then you won't feel cold anymore." Li Mutou continued. He opened the door to let the smell out and said, "Master, it's snowing outside. Why don't you come in and sit for a while?"
Sui Yu stood outside the door and took a quick look. There was a bowl on the table, a dice scattered on the outside, and two piles of dried dates on the side. She looked away. As long as it wasn't gambling, she wouldn't interfere too much.
"The snow has stopped, let's go." Sui Yu said, "You lead the camel out."
The two men rode away on camels, and Li Wu and Li Mutou went into the house and closed the door. Because they had the same surname, Li, they had a good relationship and were close to each other. Li Wu often came to talk to Li Mutou and roll the dice.
"Shopkeeper Yu heard the noise outside." Li Mutou put away the wooden dice and said with a smile, "I won't play anymore, so as not to cause any trouble."
Li Wu nodded, picked up a dried date and took a bite.
"You're not young anymore, why don't you get married?" Li Mutou asked. "If you had a wife and a child, you wouldn't be so idle."
"Who do you want to marry?" Li Wu asked.
"You live in the same courtyard, you see them all the time, so why don't you find anyone you like?"
Li Wu spat out a date pit and said, "We are like camels in a pen. Male or female, every one of them is useful."
Li Mutou was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Li Wu also laughed. In order to prevent female camels from giving birth, all male camels were castrated. Who would dare to do anything wrong?
The snow outside had stopped, and Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping also entered the city. They first went to the grocery store to buy malt sugar. The grocery store next to the oil mill had long since changed hands. The previous owner, Ali, made money from the delivery business and sold the store back home. Now a Han Chinese owner took over the store.
After buying some malt sugar, Sui Yu passed by the oil mill and looked inside. A runner came out carrying two cans of sesame oil. She asked him, "Is Shopkeeper Long here?"
"Which shopkeeper Long? The old shopkeeper is away, but the young shopkeeper is here." The errand boy recognized her and said, "The old shopkeeper got rich and no longer manages the oil mill. Now his second son is running the oil mill."
Sui Yu said "Oh" twice and followed Zhao Xiping.
"It seems that the errand business is quite profitable." said Zhao Xiping.
Sui Yu nodded. She saw the shop selling brushes. It was very deserted inside. She shouted several times before she woke the shopkeeper up from the bed.
"Is this the five-sided inkstone?" Sui Yu asked.
"Yes, how many do you want to buy?" The shopkeeper shrank his neck and rubbed his hands, cursing the terrible weather. Then he changed the subject and complained about the difficult business. "I bought these inkstones last year. I bought ten square inkstones and sold them for two years. I still have half left."
Sui Yu took the largest inkstone and asked how much it cost.
"Take the three strings of cash. I won't ask for a high price. Now I just want to get my money back."
Sui Yu took two brushes from a shelf nearby and said, "I bought an inkstone, will you give me two brushes as a gift?"
The shopkeeper didn't say anything and just held out his hand for money, fearing that she would change her mind and not buy it.
Zhao Xiping paid and said as he left, "Let's light a big torch tomorrow night. Business will be booming next year."
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and shook his head. "The torches I make every year are thicker than my thighs, but they're useless. Forget it, I'll try another business next year."
Riding on the camel, Sui Yu asked, "Shall we come out tomorrow night?"
"It's cold in the snow, so it's better not to go out."
Sui Yu said nothing. When she returned, she asked Sui Liang and Xiaozai if they wanted to go into the city to perform Nuo dance and light torches the next night.
Sui Liang wanted to go.
"What is Nuo dance?" The kid had never seen it before.
"It's just dancing to the beat of the drums, with a lot of people dancing together," said Sui Liang.
"I can play the drum too. I'll go play the drum. Mom, let's go dance the Nuo dance." The kid immediately became excited.
"You don't need to play the drums..."
"Okay, bring the waist drum."
The couple spoke at the same time. Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Yu and said, "If he gets beaten for playing with his waist drum, I won't care."
"If you don't care, I will." Sui Yu drove him away, "Don't delay us from practicing calligraphy. Go and have fun on your own."
Zhao Xiping didn't move, so Sui Yu started to push him. Xiaozai and Sui Liang also went to help when they saw this. The three of them worked together to push Zhao Xiping out.
"Sister-in-law, can I go with you tomorrow night? I seem to have an impression of what you said about burning torches, but I think I have never played it." A Shui asked sideways.
"Okay." Sui Yu agreed. "Call Dazhuang, Aqiang, and Huaniu as well. You all carry waist drums. You can't beat the drums while performing the Nuo dance, but you can beat them when running out of the city. I asked you to stand on the stage and beat the drums, but you're too scared. Tomorrow night it will be dark and no one can see you. If you continue to be so timid, I won't let you practice drumming. You can get a lot of money by selling the waist drums."
Ah Shui replied hesitantly.
Sui Liang was secretly delighted. Fortunately, he didn't give in, otherwise he would be the one to make a fool of himself tomorrow night.
On New Year's Eve, just like last year, thirty tables of New Year's Eve dinner were set up in the teahouse. After the Sui Yu family finished the first round, they left without waiting for the fire for roasting lamb to be lit.
Kurban and Anle were guarding outside Li Mutou's hut. When they saw four large torches approaching in the darkness, they jumped out. Kurban said, "Boss, take us with you to the city to play."
"Okay, okay." Sui Yu waved his hand, "Come on, grab the camel and follow us."
Zhao Xiping rode a camel with his little boy, Sui Yu rode A Qiang, A Shui rode Huaniu, Sui Liang rode Da Zhuang, Kurban and Anle rode a camel each, with waist drums slung in front and behind them, and went to the city together.
After entering the city, Zhao Xiping drove six camels to Zhao Xiaomi's house. The camels were first tied in her yard. Her children were young and the weather was cold, so she didn't plan to dance the Nuo dance or light torches, so there was always someone at home.
"Third brother, when you come back, we will go to the guesthouse with you to have barbecue. There will be barbecue tonight, right?" Zhao Xiaomi asked.
"Yes." Zhao Xiping walked out and said, "My brother-in-law rode a camel to my house and brought two or three camels here for transportation. The camels I brought are all in use and cannot take you with me."
"Okay, we can walk there. It's warmer there." Huang Lianzheng said.
Zhao Xiping didn't care about this matter and had already walked away.
"We'll also buy two camels next year. We can't keep borrowing my uncle's camels," Xiaomi said. "Once we have camels, it will be more convenient to transport grass in the future."
Huang's mother came out of the kitchen and heard this. She couldn't help but say angrily, "You don't even know your name or surname after making a little money. You buy everything you see. You're so happy after spending all the money you have."
Zhao Xiaomi's expression suddenly turned cold. She didn't think it was unlucky to argue during the Lunar New Year. She argued with her mother-in-law at the top of her voice, refusing to listen to anyone's advice. She had just been worrying about how to bring up the matter of splitting up the family, and now she had found her chance.
On the other side, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping led a group of people into the crowd dancing the Nuo dance. They arrived late and could only gather around the fire, watching the soaring flames and crackling sparks, swaying with the crowd.
Dancing is what Kurban and Anle are good at. They danced with great enthusiasm. Sui Liang was amazed. He took his nephew's hand and chased after them. A Shui, Huaniu and A Qiang also ran to watch the fun. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping didn't have to worry about the child. She took his hand and led him to dance with the crowd.
Sui Hui came out of the back door of the Supervisory Office wearing a cloak. She lifted the hem of her cloak and took out a lantern with a light blocked out. The lantern could only illuminate a small area. She looked at the darkness with some fear, and she hardened her heart before leaving.
"Auntie, let me accompany you." The maid was worried.
"You guard the door for me, I will be back before dawn." Sui Hui plunged into the night.
Two streets away, the sound of drums could be heard. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping were busy taking their children away.
The people who were performing the Nuo dance dispersed, each picking up a burning torch from the fire, and ran towards the city gate holding the torch that was about to burn out.
With a clang, Kurban struck the waist drum slung over Dazhuang's shoulders. He pointed at the three little girls and said, "If you still want to learn how to play the drums, then play them openly tonight."
A Shui nodded, she took a deep breath, and when Da Zhuang beat the waist drum, she held her breath and followed the rhythm.
Five waist drums sounded one after another, and cheerful drum beats flowed out. The running crowd was surprised and looked to see where the drum sounds came from. However, the torches in their hands did not allow them to stay for long. Before they could figure out what was going on, the people had already run far away.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping stood by and watched, each holding two torches. Just as Sui Yu was about to urge them to run, Kurban and Anle urged them to run forward. The drum sounds were disrupted for a few moments, but soon returned to normal. Five children carrying waist drums ran after the crowd while beating the drums.
The cub's face flushed with excitement. Someone passed by and touched his head, and he shouted, "Run faster—"
"Whose kid is this? He's quite funny." Someone else passing by said.
After receiving the praise, the children became more excited and beat the waist drums louder.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping followed behind. She suddenly reached out and grabbed someone, saying, "Brother, do me a favor. Go over and praise their good knocking."
"Good job, you play the drums well." A loud-voiced man passed by and shouted.
The cub laughed out loud.
"Thank you." Ah Shui summoned up the courage to shout.
"The drum sounds nice." Another aunt praised.
"Thank you." A Qiang smiled.
"It sounds so good." A young man with a duck voice strode over and clapped his hands when he passed by Dazhuang.
Da Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then imitated the other person and said thank you.
The torch in Sui Yu's hand was almost burned out, and the group arrived at the city gate. The little boy was sweating from running. He hugged his mother's legs excitedly and said happily: "Mom, I will come out to play again next year."
"Okay, I'll bring you out next year." Sui Yu handed the torch to Zhao Xiping and said, "You go and throw it. The wind is strong outside the city, so I won't take them out."
"Okay, wait for me here."
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