Chapter 288: Meeting Aunt Chun on the Road
Sui Yu sat on the ground for a long time, and when the sour feeling in her heart faded away, she looked at all the wood chips again, and then put them into the sack on the camel's back for safekeeping.
The sheep was bought and the water was boiled. Sui Yu scooped water to scald the bowl, then unscrewed the can and scooped three spoonfuls of fried noodles into the bowl, mixed them with ghee and sprinkled with salt, and poured boiling water over them. The mellow aroma came out with the hot steam.
Xiaoxi was stoking the fire nearby. Seeing her so satisfied after taking a sip of oil tea that she was about to float, she peeked into the pot and said, "Young Master, did you add ginseng to your fried noodles?"
"I exchanged it for something more valuable than ginseng." Sui Yu smiled.
Xiaoxi can understand, but cannot appreciate this feeling, because she has no ties and always misses going home when she is away from home, which is nothing more than her longing for a stable and relaxed life.
Sui Yu glanced at the grassland and asked abruptly, "Do you have someone you like? Do you want to get married?"
Xiaoxi was stunned.
Sui Yu continued to eat her oil tea and didn't say anything else. It seemed like she was just asking casually, and no one could figure out her purpose.
"Is he one of our family?" Xiaoxi asked tentatively.
"Or they could be servants of the Song family," Sui Yu said, hinting, "After selling the horses in Chang'an, I'll probably stay home for two or three years, maybe even longer. If any of you girls have feelings for someone, and if they're interested, you can get married during these two years. If you're not interested, that's fine too. It's okay if you don't want to marry or have children. As long as you work for my family, I'll provide you with a bowl of rice and a room, no matter when you're old or disabled..."
"Like Lao Xia?" Xiaoxi understood.
Sui Yu nodded.
"Gan Da likes Liu Yaer, and Liu Yaer also likes Gan Da." Xiao Xi suddenly revealed, "Qing Shan likes Xiao Chun Hong, but Xiao Chun Hong doesn't like Qing Shan."
Sui Yu had already noticed the signs. She scooped another spoonful of water into the bowl and asked in a low voice, "Who do you like? Zhang Shun?"
Xiaoxi wanted to deny it, but swallowed it back. She blushed and lowered her eyes as she said, "He doesn't seem to like me, and I don't like him much either."
Sui Yu tutted his words and said, "You guys are quite thoughtful. With how much you yearn for freedom, I thought you wouldn't be willing to get married."
Xiaoxi's face flushed. After all, when she was naive and stupid, she had planned to marry a herdsman in the mountains. Now she fell in love with a man who was also a slave. It was really a slap in the face.
"When I first heard you say we could save up money to buy our slavery, it was just a thought at the time. We didn't have much experience, so it was normal for us to make stupid mistakes." Xiaoxi picked at the sparks in the stove, still with her eyes downcast, and reflected on herself, "Later, I went in and out of the customs, out of the customs and in again, and met many people, farmers, fishermen, boatmen, herders. Although they are free, they also have their own restrictions. Many of them work harder than us, and their food, clothing, and housing are not as good as ours with you, not to mention making money. Master, to be honest, don't disbelieve me, you don't have to worry about us escaping at all now. Even if you let us go now, we will probably find our way back on our own."
"I believe it." Sui Yu put down the bowl and said, "Only a fool would run away. Follow me and you'll have meat to eat, money to earn, a chance to learn to read, and you won't have to worry about anything."
Xiaoxi nodded, "Erhei must be regretting it now."
Sui Yu smiled.
"Because our master is kind-hearted, we are not afraid of being slaves and servants. We have begun to have romantic thoughts, wanting to get married and have children." Xiaoxi raised her head, holding her knees and begging, "Master, can you help me ask Zhang Shun about his feelings?"
Sui Yu refused, "You guys can test it out privately, I don't care about this matter."
Xiaoxi said "Oh" unhappily.
"Is the water boiling?" Qingshan and Aniu each brought over a basin of mutton.
"It's boiling." Xiaoxi turned her head away hurriedly.
The mutton was poured into the pot, Xiaoxi watched the fire, and Sui Yu went to the pasture to look after the horses.
After three consecutive days of wandering around Qiuci City, the four caravans sold 21 Dayuan horses one after another. Zhang Shun, Xiao Chunhong and four others exchanged the four horses for five boxes of silverware, 32 sets of wine jugs, bowls, chopsticks and trays, as well as 70 wool blankets, three fox furs, a tiger skin, a jar of tiger bone wine and five grape vines.
Sui Yu did not get involved in this horse-barter transaction from beginning to end. She was very satisfied with what she got in return and was also extremely satisfied with the performance of these four people.
"The tiger skins, fox furs and tiger bone wine were brought by Parthian merchants. They want our Han silk, and Boss Yu Da wants our horses. So we exchange one horse for five pieces of satin brocade from Boss Yu Da, and then use the satin brocade to exchange for other things with Parthian merchants." Xiao Chunhong explained excitedly.
"Master You is not going to Dayuan? Why is he buying our horses?" Sui Yu asked.
"He fell in love with the stallion with brown spots on its buttocks. I heard the second leader You shout, and it seemed that the first leader had a birthmark of a similar shape on his buttocks." Li Wu explained.
Everyone who heard this burst into laughter. Sui Yu thought to himself, "No wonder, this is truly fate. No wonder he had to buy it back."
After a wave of transactions was completed, the caravan left Qiuci and headed for Yuli.
The desert separated the Kingdom of Kucha and the Kingdom of Yuli. In May, the heat was already intense, and the road, devoid of any leaves for shade, was a torment for both men and horses. While heatstroke might be a concern for humans, the most pressing concern was that the dumb animals would become ill. To cover this distance as quickly as possible, the caravan traveled day and night, reaching Yuli in just two days and two nights.
Yuli was a small country. It would take less than half a day to travel from east to west on horseback. There were three small caravans coming from Loulan in front, and a large caravan of nearly 500 camels from Sui Yu behind. With so many people squeezing in, the locals were busy as hell. People with or without ability seized the opportunity to make money from the caravans.
Water carriers, rice carriers, grass carriers, shoes carriers, clothes carriers, sheep carriers, pig carriers—young and old, all holding something. Among them was Aunt Chun, a delicious cook. Every night she would soak two basins of millet, and at dawn she would make millet jelly, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with raisins. The passing caravans loved it.
"Grandma, there's a caravan coming from the west with many women. They must like sweets. Let's go to that caravan with our buckets first."
"Okay, walk slower and don't fall." Aunt Chun couldn't catch up with him, leaning on her jujube wood crutch.
"Mom, aunt, there's a boy here selling millet jelly. Would you like to eat some?" Lüyaer shouted.
"Bring the people here and buy food if you want." Song Xian was checking the horses. One of the horses had diarrhea early in the morning, perhaps because it was too hot or had eaten something wrong.
Sui Yu was watching from the side when she suddenly heard a familiar voice. She turned her head and scanned the crowd. When her eyes passed the old woman standing next to Lu Yaer, she paused.
"It probably drank unclean water. Perhaps the river water it was fed from had worm eggs or something in it. A couple of days ago, while walking in the desert, worms died and contaminated the water, and the horse got diarrhea from drinking that dirty water," the veterinarian speculated. "For the next couple of days, feed it cooled boiled water, or rice soup with some salt. Also, feed it separately from the other horses."
The servant standing by nodded.
"It's not a big deal..." Song Xian turned around and found that there was no one behind her.
Sui Yu walked over to the old woman selling cold cakes and squatted down. Aunt Chun looked up and said, "We have lived in Yuli for many years...you..."
"Auntie Chun? Is that you?" Sui Yu spoke.
"You, you...Yu girl?" Aunt Chun almost forgot the name.
"Aunt, do you know each other?" Lu Yaer asked in confusion.
Sui Yu nodded and said, "Let's buy all the cold cakes. You take this kid to pay the bill."
Aunt Chun looked at Sui Yu carefully for a few times and said, "If you hadn't spoken, I wouldn't have recognized you. It's been so many years."
"Let's talk somewhere else?" Sui Yu reached out to support her. Seeing the old woman's cane, she slowed down and asked, "Auntie, are you feeling well?"
Aunt Chun tapped the door a few times with her cane and said, "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm just old and my hands and feet aren't as agile as they used to be."
"I passed by Yuli two years ago and walked back and forth from here, but unfortunately I didn't meet you." Sui Yu said.
Aunt Chun didn't respond. It didn't matter whether she met him or not.
"How are you doing? Why are you, a woman, out doing business? Where's your husband? I heard from Tong Huaer that he used his military exploits to free you from slavery. So, your relationship should be pretty good."
"Yes, we have a good relationship. He takes care of the children at home. We also have a guest house at home. He also has a position in the army, so we can't do without him."
Aunt Chun patted her hands and said with a smile, "Now it seems that among all of us, you have the smoothest life. I was right, good people will be rewarded."
Sui Yu helped the person sit down in the rented house. Having talked about this, she curiously inquired about the situation of other people.
"...After leaving the Gobi Desert, we first went to Loulan and worked as a herder for two years. Later, we heard that Yuli was recruiting people to open up wasteland and cultivate the land, so our family came here," Aunt Chun said. "We haven't had any contact with anyone since then."
"Where is Tong Huaer? Is she still in Loulan?" Sui Yu asked.
Aunt Chun didn't know either. "When we left, she and her husband were in Loulan. It's been years now, and I don't know if she's still there. By the way, Yu girl, do you have any news about your cousin?"
Sui Yu shook her head. "After you left, my husband and I chased after him. We saw him leaving with two monks outside the Gobi Desert, and we haven't seen him since. Auntie, what happened in the Gobi Desert? What happened after you left? I thought you would live together."
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