Chapter 72 A fate that transcends heaven
It was late, so Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping did not go to visit. When it was daybreak, she collected twenty eggs from the neighbors on both sides, and carrying the twenty eggs, she and Zhao Xiping went to Shiqitun.
Aunt Du was also here. She was the one who helped deliver the baby yesterday, so she didn't have to bother two people. Today she came again to help with the milk production.
Sui Yu handed the basket of eggs to Aunt Du. She stood outside the kitchen and talked for a while. At Aunt Du's repeated urging, she went into the delivery room to take a look.
"Sui Yu, thank you." Tong Huaer cried after giving birth to the baby last night. It was a girl. If she was still in the brothel, she would have drowned the child after giving birth to prevent her from seeing dirty things when she opened her eyes.
Sui Yu stammered vaguely. She glanced at the child. The child was quite fat and tall. It was obvious that the child had developed well in the womb.
"Take good care of yourself, I'm going out."
"good."
Sui Yu walked out and quickly closed the door. When she looked up, she saw Uncle Niu coming back with a lively fish in his hand, his face full of wrinkles from smiling.
"Uncle Lao Niu, congratulations on having a big fat daughter." She said it in a nice way.
Uncle Lao Niu chuckled a few times. He was a little disappointed last night, disappointed that the child was not a son. Later he thought that maybe he was not destined to have that fate. He should be satisfied with having a son and not be ungrateful.
Early this morning, he went to squat on the street as soon as it was light, and now he has bought the fish that was just taken out of the water.
Zhao Xiping came in from outside. He looked at Sui Yu first and said, "Are you going to go? Let's go to the fields to work."
He remembered Tong Huaer, who had harmed Sui Yu. He didn't want Sui Yu to pretend nothing happened and put on a good face here.
"Let's go." Sui Yu walked out and said, "Uncle Niu, there's still work to do in the fields. We'll leave first."
"Come over for dinner tomorrow, the child is having his third birthday." Uncle Niu chased out.
Zhao Xiping looked at Sui Yu, who nodded and said, "Okay, come over tomorrow after I finish my work."
Sui Liang was still waiting at home, so Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping went back, led the camels, drove the pigs and sheep, picked up the sickle and water bag, and slung over two bows and arrows. Before leaving, Sui Yu did not forget to wrap her head and face with a headscarf and wrapped her hands with cloth strips.
There were still three acres of wheat left to harvest. Before heading out to the field, Sui Yu took a deep breath, holding it until he doubled over, then exhaled. With a flick of his sickle, a handful of wheat fell to the ground. The wheat leaves pricked, the awns pierced. Standing in the wheat field felt like being buried in a steamer, with scorching heat rising from the soles of his feet. In less than half an hour, he was sweating profusely. He couldn't take off his clothes, roll up his pants, or even untie the bandages wrapped around his hands. Sweat rolled down his forehead, slowly soaking the headscarf covering his face.
After harvesting half a row of wheat, Sui Yu couldn't stand it anymore. She strode to the edge of the field, untied the cloth knot around her chin, and pulled off her headscarf to fan herself vigorously.
"You sit down and rest, I'll do the cutting. I don't need your help," said Zhao Xiping.
Sui Yu ignored him. She chose a clean place to lie down and waited until her aching waist felt better before sitting up again.
"Farming is really tiring," she said. "The autumn harvest is the most tiring. Comparatively, I prefer spring sowing."
"You can tell they've never been hungry. The autumn harvest is tiring, but it's only after the harvest that we have food. We farmers have hope, so even if we're tired, we're happy." Zhao Xiping picked up a bundle of wheat and put it on the ground. He asked, "Are you going to make baskets this year? If so, I'll leave some extra wheat straw at home."
"Then leave some more for use on the bed to keep it warm in winter." After resting enough, Sui Yu picked up the water bag and drank some water, then she took the sickle and went to the field again.
Holding the handle, he placed the sickle diagonally against the wheat stalks, and with a gentle stroke, the hollow stalks were evenly broken. At first, Sui Yu was new to wheat harvesting, and feared cutting his legs when he lifted the sickle. But after a few days, he became adept, his legs tamed, and he coordinated every movement perfectly, lifting the sickle, bending over, and stepping back.
"If humans can be tamed, it's no wonder that camels know how to adapt to changing circumstances," she muttered.
"What did you say?"
"nothing."
They were busy until noon, and the people working in the fields went home one after another. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping got up from the wheat field, and the couple patrolled among the ridges with bows and arrows.
A field mouse poked its head out of its hole. While no one was in the field, it busied itself nibbling away at the wheat ears and carrying them back to its hole. Zhao Xiping made a gesture, and he and Sui Yu separated, ready to cut off the field mouse's escape route.
The first scouting vole returned safely, and the five fat voles in the cave swarmed out. Sui Yu pulled the string, calmed her mind, and aimed her sights at the vole guarding the cave entrance. With a flick of her index and middle fingers, the arrow flew out, pinning the vole to the ground before it could react. With a sigh of relief, Sui Yu immediately fired another arrow. The mice were now in disarray, each running off in their own direction. This arrow missed, deviating mid-flight and sticking diagonally into the wheat sheaf.
There were five arrows in total, and each of them missed one. They caught three fat field mice, and Sui Yu was satisfied.
The couple retracted the arrows and continued walking along the ridge. They heard the calls of pheasants in the wheat field, but could not find any trace of them. The gray rabbit that was nibbling on the wheat ears had its ears erected vigilantly. It heard the movement first when the arrow was flying in the air, and turned around and jumped away.
They shot five arrows twice more without any results. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping turned back, took their sickles and water bags and went home to cook.
Sui Liang had returned a long time ago because when the weather got hot, the pigs and sheep would run home and he couldn't stop them.
Zhao Xiping was peeling field mouse skins by the river. Sui Yu came back first. She walked in and saw smoke coming out of the chimney and movement in the kitchen. She tiptoed over quietly and saw Sui Liang standing on a tree stump and lying on the stove, skimming rice soup.
Sui Yu didn't say anything. When he got down from the tree stump, she let out a soft "Yo".
Sui Liang shuddered with fear. He turned around in horror, and when he saw people, a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"My brother can cook now. He's audacious and daring. That's incredible." Sui Yu stepped in. She glanced into the pot and saw that the radish had been chopped. She said with admiration, "You want to make radish stewed rice? You're amazing, young man. You can even make radish stewed rice. You're even better than your brother-in-law."
Sui Liang's face flushed with excitement.
"Come on, you be the chef for this meal, and I'll light the fire for you." Sui Yu felt that being able to prepare a complete meal was more fulfilling. She went out to scoop water to wash her hands, then scooped water back in to wash the pot, saying, "I'll wash the pot, and you can cook later."
Sui Liang nodded confidently.
No meat was cut, only lard was used. The lard was put into the pot. Sui Liang picked up the plate of radishes and stepped on the tree stump to pour it into the pot. There was a crackling sound in the pot, and he was so scared that he retracted his hand, and a handful of radishes fell out.
"It's okay, take the radish out, wash it and put it in the pot." Sui Yu said.
Sui Liang ran out and saw Zhao Xiping coming back with three pieces of meat and a roll of rat skin. He smiled shyly, quickly washed the radish, and strode back in.
"The food has been cooked already? That's quite fast." Zhao Xiping was a little surprised.
Sui Yu didn't respond, which made Zhao Xiping feel strange. He leaned over and saw Sui Liang standing on a tree stump, stirring the pot with a shovel in an orderly manner, while Sui Yu watched with a smile.
"Wow, wow, wow..." Zhao Xiping stepped inside. "Who is this? So capable?"
Sui Liang's ears turned red with embarrassment.
"As capable as your sister." The brother and sister were equally determined. Zhao Xiping discovered that Sui Yu and Sui Liang were like leek seedlings pressed under a stone. As long as there was space to grow, they would squeeze upwards desperately, not giving themselves any chance to rest. They were very tenacious.
Sui Liang was deeply touched by the compliment. He looked at Sui Yu and felt very happy.
After draining the rice, Sui Yu poured it into the pot. She stirred the fire in the stove and scooped half a bowl of water to sprinkle around the edge of the pot. She said, "Cover the pot. When the aroma comes out, you can eat."
As for the three field mice, Zhao Xiping salted them and marinated them. While he was busy, the rice in the pot was cooked.
"I'll serve the rice. Little chef, please sit down and rest for a while." Sui Yu stood up.
The radish was cut coarsely and tasted a bit hard, and the rice was a bit soft, but it did not affect the taste. All in all, Sui Liang's debut was pretty good.
"It tastes better than what I cook. When your sister opens a food store in the future, you can be the chef." Zhao Xiping said.
"What about you? A cook?" Sui Yu asked.
"A cook is a cook." Zhao Xiping pointed to the pickled field mouse meat in the basin and said, "You won't be needed to bundle the meat this afternoon. Just sleep at home for a while and stew the meat tonight."
"Okay." The vegetable garden needed watering, and Sui Yu thought that she had other things to do even if she didn't go to the fields.
After the hottest time of the day, Zhao Xiping led the camels to work in the fields. After he left, Sui Yu tried to get the camels out. With the gate closed, the two camels sniffed around in the yard, their timidity daunting. The cat officer pounced, and they fell to the ground in fear.
Seeing this, Sui Yu tied them up with ropes and led them out. She walked in front, pulling, and Sui Liang followed behind, tugging and dragging them to the vegetable garden. Two young camels were tied to a tree, and Sui Yu walked back and forth past them, occasionally giving them some water or throwing them some grass.
At dusk, Sui Yu and Sui Liang led them back again. As soon as they entered the yard, the two little camels ran straight to the gate of the pen, fearing that they would be dragged out and sold if they were a step late.
"You play with them, I'll go stew the meat." Sui Yu said.
Vole meat is fatty and greasy, so it takes a while to stir-fry it over high heat to get all the fat out. She poured a ladle of water into the pot to simmer it. Sui Yu went to the woodshed and grabbed a handful of dried bitter herbs, throwing them into the water to soak. She sat in front of the stove, lost in thought.
Sui Yu vaguely remembered entering the Dunhuang city gates during these days last year, though she couldn't recall the exact date. A year had passed, and her situation seemed unchanged, yet also changed. She still didn't have freedom, but she had hope and expectations.
It has been two years since she came to this dynasty, and her memories of her previous life have become a little vague. Sometimes she dreams about it in the middle of the night, and when she wakes up, she vaguely thinks it was just a long dream.
The flames that shot up in the stove suddenly fell, and there was a sign that they would go out. Sui Yu quickly grabbed a handful of hay and stuffed it in, and added some branches and dry firewood. The fire got bigger, and the broth in the pot began to gurgle again.
It was getting dark and the chickens came back to eat. Sui Liang walked in briskly, took the vegetables from the basket and poured them out. Sui Yu stared at him, and when he noticed, he stuck out his tongue mischievously.
Sui Yu smiled. She got up, washed the dried vegetables, squeezed out the water, cut them in two pieces, and put them into the pot to cook with the meat.
When it was too dark to see the road clearly, Zhao Xiping came back with the camel. He went into the house and got water for the camel first.
"I remember when I first came here last year, you also worked until dark before coming back, but at that time you were too lazy to see me," said Sui Yu.
Zhao Xiping was stunned for a moment and said, "It's been a year."
"yes."
After the field mouse meat was cooked, Sui Yu used pickled radish to make a sour soup, which she used as wine. She took the bowl and said, "Come, let's celebrate this incredible fate."
Zhao Xiping took a deep breath and said, "I want to thank Captain Li. Without him, we wouldn't be able to accomplish this."
"You wanted to kill him then."
The man laughed and asked, "Are you really going to Uncle Lao Niu's house tomorrow?"
Sui Yu nodded. The incident Tong Huaer had exposed last year hadn't brought her any serious consequences; instead, it had been a wake-up call. From that day on, she began to accept the current era, no longer stubbornly insisting on using the rule of law to handle the feudal turmoil. Otherwise, even if Tong Huaer hadn't existed, there would still be Li Huaer and Wang Huaer. Sooner or later, she would have learned a lesson.
So, although she couldn't say she forgave him, she didn't hate him to the point of spitting at him every time they met. But then she thought about it, it was also because Sui Yu was satisfied with the current situation. If Tong Huaer had been forced to stay in the brothel because of her words, Sui Yu would probably have fought Tong Huaer to the death.
"Forget it, you go tomorrow, I won't go. I don't want to have too much contact with her." Sui Yu made a decision. After all, Tong Huaer's temperament is unpredictable, and you can't be sure when she will explode again.
Since there is a grudge, it is better for everyone to keep a distance and stop contacting.
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