Chapter 180 Another Group of Wild Camels
Near noon, Sui Yu came back with the cub. When she approached the guesthouse, she found a puddle of water on the road and some wet footprints. She looked towards the other side of the river and slowed down by pulling the reins.
"Liang Ge'er? Ah Shui? Zhao Xiping?" She called out, "Uncle Lao Niu?"
"Sister-in-law, are you calling me?" Ah Shui came out of the guest house holding Mao Guan, who had several small buns tied with red hairbands.
Sui Liang walked out of the west kitchen and saw that there was no one behind her. He asked, "Has Gan Da and Gan Er not come back yet?"
"No." Sui Yu was relieved and asked, "Where is your brother-in-law?"
"He went into the city to get the contract. He asked for ten slaves from over there." Sui Liang pointed westward and said, "My brother-in-law said that Captain Hu sent them to him."
Sui Yu handed the cub down, then she jumped down after him, pressing down on the camel's back. She asked again, "What's with those wet footprints on the ground? Did the slave bathe in the river before coming here?"
"There was a fight. Ten of our slaves were fighting with ten slaves over there in the river. They almost killed one of them." Sui Liang hugged his fat nephew and rocked him. He stroked the little boy's head and said, "Thanks to your father, otherwise we would both be little slaves. How pitiful."
"Let's not talk about the past." Sui Yu pushed his shoulder and walked into the house, turning back and calling, "A Shui, come here too. Let me see the braid you tied for the cat official."
A Shui happily ran over holding the cat.
The cat official landed on the ground, shook its fur, and rubbed it on the ground. All the work that Ah Shui had been busy with for half an hour was shaken away by it.
"Oh my." Ah Shui picked up the red hairband and muttered, "How beautiful it is."
The kid reached out to ask for it, but A Shui didn't give it to him.
"You eat everything, so I can't let you play." Ah Shui shook off the cat hair on the red hairband, twisted it a few times and put it in his pocket.
The cub stared at her pocket, then saw the cat owner licking his fur, and he sucked his fingers with relish.
"My dear, Gan Da and Gan Er won't run away." Grandma Yin came out to explain worriedly, "If they are not dead, they may come back in two days."
Sui Yu nodded. Even the dumbest people knew how to weigh the pros and cons. Farmers with land couldn't survive natural disasters, and the fleeing slaves were penniless, with no shelter from the wind and rain, let alone a warm meal. So she wasn't worried about these people escaping; she was more worried about them encountering wolves and dying, or getting lost and starving to death in the desert.
A series of footsteps were heard outside the wall. Sui Yu looked out and saw that it was Zhao Xiping who came back.
"Go wash yourself in the river, cut your hair, and trim your fingernails and toenails. Once you're clean, put on your clothes and come over for dinner," Zhao Xiping instructed. He then walked into the house and said, "Sui Liang, scoop half a bucket of grass ash and bring it over to them. Also, bring two pairs of scissors."
"Oh, okay." Sui Liang returned the cub to Sui Yu.
"Da——" The kid reached out to his father to be hugged.
"It's Dad, not Dad." Zhao Xiping took his son and sat him down. He turned to Sui Yu and said, "I got the people back for you. Are you happy?"
Sui Yu smiled brightly at him. She dragged a chair over and sat down, holding the man's arm. She said, "Sir, tell me how you planned this."
"Speak nicely." Zhao Xiping scolded, but he was very pleased in his heart. He couldn't wait to tell what happened before.
He talked and Sui Yu listened. She would exclaim in surprise from time to time, or nod in admiration, and then look at him with admiration. These actions perfectly satisfied the man's vanity.
Zhao Xiping felt relieved.
"What a coincidence! I remember there were also ten slaves we salvaged that day." Sui Yu said, "I think these are the ones we selected."
"Yes, ten." Zhao Xiping nodded. He asked for ten because he remembered these ten people.
"Madam, the meal is ready." Grandma Yin came out and asked, "Do you want to eat in the yard?"
"Well, it's cloudy today, not too hot, let's eat outside." Sui Yu took his son and asked, "Is the egg custard ready, little one?"
Upon hearing the word "egg custard", the kid immediately looked towards the kitchen.
"It's ready, I'll serve it right away."
A Shui ran out to find her father to come for dinner.
Sui Liang brought in a small wooden bed, and Sui Yu let the kid sit in it. She brought him a bowl of yellow egg custard and fed him with a small wooden spoon. The kid had a good appetite and was strong. He would eat anything he was given.
After feeding him half a bowl of egg custard, Sui Yu wiped his mouth and asked Zhao Xiping to take the rest. She sat down and started eating.
There are fried eggs with leeks, stewed taro with meat slices, bean sprouts, tofu and vegetable soup, and millet rice. This is the host's meal.
The meals for the slaves and helpers were millet rice, fried leeks with bean sprouts, and fried taro with camel oil. Although there was no meat or eggs, it was oily and the quantity was large enough to fill you up.
When there was no business, the master and servants lived a simple life and no longer had to eat steamed buns, pancakes, braised noodles or cold noodles at will.
The people in the courtyard had just finished their meal when ten bareheaded servants came in, their clothes hanging bare. These were hand-me-downs, patched clothes pawned for money, and each of them was given a set. The straw sandals on their feet were new, but they didn't fit them well. It didn't matter; they could just string a straw rope around their ankles and they would be fine.
"Go to the kitchen and get your own food. You must follow the rules when you enter my house. You can't grab or rob. Eat less and don't eat too much. Don't be too full and burp." Zhao Xiping glanced at them and said, "Go in."
Ten timid servants walked into the kitchen. Zhao Xiping stood in the yard and watched. Seeing that they restrained their actions and did not fight over the food like before, he felt slightly satisfied.
Uncle Niu motioned Sui Yu to look. He pointed at Zhao Xiping and whispered, "Look at him now. He's quite impressive. He looks quite intimidating."
Zhao Xiping turned around and saw Sui Yu smiling, so he also raised the corner of his mouth.
Ten male servants brought out the food, and Zhao Xiping asked them to sit over. "The remaining dishes on the table are yours. They will be served at every meal from now on. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly before swallowing. If I find anyone swallowing food without chewing, you will go without a meal."
Qingshan responded and picked up the chopsticks to pick up the food. The soft and slippery taro fell in mid-air. He subconsciously wanted to pick it up with his hand, but his hand stopped in mid-air and picked it up with chopsticks again.
Uncle Lao Niu, Li Mutou, and Yin Po were standing by and watching. They wanted to swallow the food in their mouths quickly, but with Zhao Xiping's warning, they had to restrain their instinct, chewing quickly with their mouths, staring at the food on the table.
When there were only five pieces of taro left in the bowl, two more people took away two pieces. At this time, the remaining eight people stretched out their chopsticks at the same time. Qingshan grabbed the largest piece. Under the gaze of others, he quickly swallowed the taro. Halfway through, he remembered the words of the male master, and he pinched his neck to hold it back.
Zhao Xiping frowned.
Qingshan didn't dare to look at him. He held the taro in his mouth and wiped away the tears with one hand.
The cub uttered a cry and Zhao Xiping carried him out.
Sui Yu waved to the others and they dispersed. Those who cooked pig food did so, those who cleaned up the dishes did so, and those who had nothing to do went out for a walk.
In a moment, there were only ten male servants serving dishes in the kitchen. There was no one to supervise them, and they did not eat their food in a hurry.
A wind blew from the north, blowing away the dark clouds in the sky, and golden sunlight shone on the earth.
"Let's fly." Zhao Xiping ran with the cub.
"Slow down, he just finished his meal." Sui Yu chased after him, "Don't run."
The children's laughter echoed under the sky. The slaves, trying to change their bestial nature, looked up at the wall in front of them. This was the first time they felt that millet was sweet when chewed.
Grandma Yin came out to pick up the pig feed bucket. She stepped out and then retracted her foot, then turned and went back into the house.
"What's wrong?" asked Cui Sao.
"They're crying." Grandma Yin pointed outside sadly, "They're crying. Let's wait."
After saying this, she thought of her two missing sons, and the bitterness in her heart welled up in her eyes, and she cried with worry.
After the ten servants finished their meal, they each took their own bowls and chopsticks to the river to wash them, and only after they were clean did they bring them to the kitchen.
"You don't have to wash the dishes. Just bring them in after dinner." Cuisao lifted the lid of the pot and threw the dishes into the boiling water. She said, "My wife has instructed that used dishes must be boiled in water for the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Don't leave your used dishes lying around."
The ten servants nodded hesitantly.
After leaving the kitchen, the ten people, who had a rare moment of leisure, felt uncomfortable all over. Someone nudged Qingshan and said, "Let's go ask the adults what they want us to do."
"OK."
"There's nothing to do, so you can take a rest and take care of your meat first. If someone calls for help, go and lend a hand. When no one calls, you can sleep or bask in the sun." Zhao Xiping said, "In another half month, there will be more merchants coming into the city. I'll arrange things for you when I'm busy."
Qingshan Ying was fine, but he felt uneasy after leaving. He was even more nervous lying on the couch in broad daylight, and he dared not close his eyes no matter what.
"Let's go collect firewood." Erhei sat up. "Or should we go weed the fields?"
The others stood up one after another. This time they did not go to find Zhao Xiping, but went to find Uncle Lao Niu and asked him to arrange some work for them.
Uncle Niu thought about it and took these people to his 20 mu soybean field to weed. However, when they looked over, they found that the weeds in the soybean field had been cut. The soybeans in the field were growing well this year.
"Hey, who's so diligent?" Uncle Niu was puzzled. "Come on, come on, that's the Zhao family's land. Let's go see if there's any grass in their land."
The Zhao family's five mu of soybean field was covered with a lot of grass. The ten male servants were like ducks feeding on water grass. They walked into the field, bent their waists, and squatted there. After a while, the weeds in the field were shortened.
When they finished work in the evening, the ten male servants bundled the weeds they had pulled up and carried them away. This was a good thing, as it could be used to feed camels and also to make fire.
Uncle Niu held his waist and sighed. Seeing them working so efficiently, he felt dizzy and followed them to pull weeds. His old legs were almost broken from squatting, and he almost sprained his waist when he stood up.
Walking out of the city, Qingshan saw a group of people riding camels in front of him, and he seemed to hear the voice of the hostess.
"Huh? A caravan is entering the border so early?" Uncle Niu squinted his eyes and looked carefully, then muttered, "That's not right. The camels in the caravan all have camel bells."
"I heard the adults' voices." Erhei said, "There was another person, I don't know his name, who used to bring us food every day."
"Oh, it's Gan Da and Gan Er who are back." Uncle Niu quickened his pace and said, "Hurry, let's go."
But as one rode a camel and the other walked, the distance between them grew larger and larger. When Uncle Niu returned to the guesthouse, panting heavily, Ah Shui came running over and said, "Dad, when I grow up, I want to go out of town and catch camels too."
"What camels are you catching?" Uncle Niu asked in a hoarse voice as he walked towards the livestock pen. "What are you all doing here?"
"Gan Da, Gan Er, and Xiao Chunhong drove a herd of wild camels back," Sui Yu announced loudly. "They encountered a herd of wild camels in the desert and followed them for five days. After chasing and intercepting them, they finally drove the herd back, which delayed them for a day."
"My wife, you didn't see us yesterday. Did you think we ran away?" Xiao Chunhong asked with a smile.
"No." Sui Yu waved her hand. "One heart for another. I know what kind of person I am, and I know what kind of person you are. You will definitely not be willing to leave me, nor will you be willing to leave this family."
Home?
The excitement died down for a moment. Is this also their home?
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