Chapter 330: Luck and Misfortune
The quacking of playful ducks awakened the slumbering crowd. The sky darkened, and the vast earth was a haze. In this half-light, farmers, busy with the autumn harvest, had already taken their children to the fields. In the silent dawn, the snapping and popping sounds of sickles harvesting wheat and hands pulling bean pods echoed one after another.
Bean stalks were burning in the stove, and bluish-white smoke was rising from the chimney. In a short while, the bluish-white smoke merged with the sky, leaving only a faint smell of wood smoke mixed with the fragrance of porridge lingering over the guest house.
The camels that had been locked up overnight were released from the pen. They walked to the river in groups to drink water. The ducks in the river were frightened and quacked. They fluttered ashore and cleaned their feathers on the wet riverbed.
A speck of white appeared in the grass at the edge of the riverbank, and the cub exclaimed, "Mom, it's a duck egg."
Sui Yu wiped the water off her face and took a closer look. It was indeed a duck egg.
"You have good eyesight. Yesterday Liu Yaer said the teal hadn't laid eggs yet, so today I'll let you take a look. Let your uncle lead you to a place where you can cross the river. Pick up the duck eggs and take them to the kitchen. Ask the cook to cook them and you can take them with you to eat on the way." Sui Yu said.
The cub let out an "Ah" and ran away happily.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping squatted by the river and watched the uncle and nephew cross the river. They smiled when they saw the little one cheering and digging out a green-skinned duck egg from the grass.
The merchants took out the camel hair stuffed in the copper bells, and the sound of the camel bells that had disappeared all night rang out again on the river bank.
The sound of camel bells broke the tranquility of dawn, the sounds of harvesting wheat and picking beans disappeared along with the chirping of insects, a gentle and eye-catching golden light rose from the top of the snow-capped mountains, and the chaotic night on the earth quickly receded.
It's dawn.
The orange flame in the stove leaped a few times and then went out. Liu Yaer came out, blew the whistle, and called out, "Everyone, breakfast is ready."
"Mom, my uncle and I picked up seventeen duck eggs." The boy walked over carefully with seven duck eggs in his clothes. Sui Liang followed behind him, his steps and movements exactly the same.
Zhao Xiping looked at it and said "tsk".
Sui Yu glanced at him and he shut his mouth.
The duck eggs were washed clean by the river, and Sui Liang and Xiaozai took them into the kitchen.
After the people had eaten and the camels had been fed, the merchants hurriedly moved their goods out and tied them onto the camels' backs one by one.
Qingshan and Aniu brought out the tightly wrapped quilts. The merchants passing by took a handful and found them thick and fluffy. As they expected, Sui Yu must have brought a quilt with him on this trip to Chang'an.
"Shopkeeper Yu!" Xu's merchant shouted loudly.
Sui Yu was taking the braised duck and dried meat that Liu Yaer had prepared for the caravan. The braised duck was slaughtered last night and cooked in a pot overnight. The dried meat was donkey meat that someone had sold her before, and she bought it, braised it, and dried it. It was prepared for her own caravan from the beginning.
"Shopkeeper Yu——"
"Hey?" Sui Yu responded and walked out. She said, "Take the braised duck and dried meat to Xiao Chunhong, and ask her to get you half a ginseng root. It's getting cold, so buy a few hens and stew them in ginseng soup to nourish your body."
"Shopkeeper Yu, you brought a lot of quilts. Sell me two. I will use them this winter and see how warm they are." The merchant Xu strode over.
Sui Yu: ...
"Yes, we may not be able to buy quilts when we go to Dunhuang, but you are different. You will never be short of quilts. Sell us two quilts." said the merchant Qian.
"We also know that you took the quilts to Chang'an intending to sell them. We don't want you to lose money. You can raise the price and sell one or two to me. We have to know what it feels like to cover ourselves with the quilts before we sell them to others, right?" someone else interrupted.
"You're taking advantage of our friendship and trying to rob us." Sui Yu tutted her tongue a few times before relenting, "Alright, I've gained a lot of good karma from you all, and it's time for me to repay you. How many caravans are staying in this guesthouse?"
"Three." Gan Da said loudly.
"And me, I'm all alone in a caravan," a traveler with the caravan said loudly, "Shopkeeper Yu, it's not the lack of food that's worrying, but the inequality. Whenever I pass through Dunhuang, I stay at your guesthouse. I'm a regular customer."
"I'll sell two quilts to the caravan, and one to you." Sui Yu stopped him from shouting and said, "I bought the quilt for 500 coins, and I'll sell it to you for 800 coins. Is this price okay?"
"Okay, okay," the merchants agreed unanimously. It wasn't just quilts; all goods would increase in value once they changed hands. They were in the business, so they understood. They bought a quilt for 800 coins. After shipping it through customs, if they were lucky, they might be able to exchange it for a horse or a string of gold, jade, or gemstones, or even use it to build relationships. It was much more valuable than money.
After selling seven quilts, Sui Yu earned 5,600 coins. After that, she didn't dare to stay any longer. After packing up the goods and food, the group left without stopping.
When the caravan entered the city, they happened to meet a caravan that was leaving the city. The other party recognized Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping, and greeted them warmly and cordially. Even though they learned that Sui Yu had sold the cotton to the weaving workshop, they still pestered her, insisting that she help them so that their caravan could buy three or five quilts from the weaving workshop when they arrived in Dunhuang.
Sui Yu was deeply burdened by the favors she had to pay, and she had no choice but to sell two more quilts to prevent this caravan from meeting the previous three and finding out that she was willing to do business with them but not with him, which would inevitably make them resentful.
After entering the city, Sui Yu sent Xiao Chunhong to the market to buy four straw hats. She, Zhao Xiping, Sui Liang and Xiaozai all put on straw hats and covered their faces with cloth towels. The four of them blended into the group, no longer worrying about being recognized by acquaintances.
Leaving Zhangye County, the next destination was Wuwei County. When the road was clear, the boy took off his straw hat and admired the scenery. The scenery here was completely different from that in Dunhuang. The mountains here were green, while those in Dunhuang were bare and yellow. This land was not affected by wind and sand, so it was fertile. The herds of cattle and sheep were fatter than those in Dunhuang.
The closer they got to Wuwei County, the closer the towering snow-capped mountains became to the caravan, and the color of the mountains transitioned from green to yellow and then to white.
We left Wuwei County early in the morning. The sun was hanging on the top of the mountain, and half of the mountain looked like a prairie fire. The glaciers on the top of the mountain were all bright red.
The boy watched intently, unwilling to blink. As the golden-red glow of the sunset faded westward, he let out a long breath and muttered to himself, "No wonder so many caravans tirelessly travel back and forth along this road year after year."
"That's for money." Sui Liang found it funny.
The cub disagreed, "It must be for the scenery along the way."
Sui Yu was surprised that this child was quite romantic.
"Sister, what do you think?" Sui Liang asked someone to be the referee.
Sui Yu didn't want to get involved in their quarrel. She pointed upwards and said, "The camels are going up the mountain. Everyone, be alert. Don't look around. Hold the reins tight and be careful not to fall off the camels."
Walking through the flat area and going up, the green grass heads turned yellow, and there were more and more rocks on the river beach. There was no grass growing on the huge rocks and hills on both sides, and it was as desolate as a pile of graves.
When they reached a steep valley, people got off the camel and walked. Zhao Xiping held the cub's hand and searched for the next place for him to stay step by step.
"Are you tired? I'll carry you."
The cub's face turned red from exhaustion, but he still shook his head and said, "Dad, I'm not tired. I don't want you to carry me on my back."
When it got dark, the cub still hunched over his father's back, looking up at his mother and uncle walking ahead. Then, he gazed westward along the dimming sky. The mountains stretched endlessly, he couldn't see the end, nor could he see the city of Dunhuang connected to the desert. But he seemed to remember that one year, his mother and uncle had stood here, gazing westward.
That night, the caravan camped on a riverbank. They set up a tent made of camel skin and took out the winter clothes from the bag. Sui Yu put a thin coat on the little boy and told him not to take it off even when he slept at night, as it was cold at night in the mountains.
This was the first time the little cub fell asleep listening to the deafening snoring. When he woke up from the heat in the middle of the night, he found that he was held tightly in his father's arms.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Xiping woke up as soon as he moved.
"It's hot, and I'm thirsty too."
"I'll go get you some water." Zhao Xiping unbuttoned his thin jacket and said, "It won't be hot soon, so don't lift the quilt."
The boy looked out, and when the door curtain was lifted, he saw a fire outside, followed by muffled voices.
When the water was brought in, Geng Zhongcheng woke up. He sat up and asked, "What time is it?"
"It's late at night," Zhao Xiping said. "Would you like some water?"
"No, I'm old and I can't sleep at night if I drink water." Geng Zhongcheng lay down again. Outside the tent, the snoring sounds made the night particularly quiet.
"It's hard for Shopkeeper Yu to lead the caravan to travel inside and outside the Great Wall. Merchants are really determined to make money. Life on the road is too hard." Geng Zhongcheng sighed.
Zhao Xiping was silent for a moment and said, "She has perseverance, because she has suffered even greater hardships."
"Dad, I'm done drinking." The kid pushed the bowl away.
Zhao Xiping placed the empty bowl next to his pillow, then he lay down in bed and said, "Go back to sleep."
Geng Zhongcheng fell silent, and the tent fell silent. The boy stared at the pitch-black tent ceiling with his eyes open, counting his snoring sounds in his mind. By the time he woke up to the sound of camel bells, he had already forgotten which number he had counted to when he fell asleep.
Sui Yu opened the tent curtain and saw that the cub had woken up. She came in and said, "Lazy boy, get up quickly. We have to continue climbing the mountain."
"Am I the only one still sleeping?" The kid quickly threw off the quilt and put on his pants. He muttered, "Mom, it's too hot to sleep in a coat. I woke up with a fever last night. I don't want to sleep in a coat tonight."
"Let's talk about it tonight." Sui Yu helped him comb his hair, and after he put on his shoes, the mother and son folded the quilt together and carried him out.
This was the only tent left standing. The servants were tying up the goods. The fire in the stove had gone out. The boy rinsed his mouth, then slurped down the hot porridge and fried eggs. Once he was full and the caravan was ready to depart, he took his father's hand again and headed up the mountain.
The higher you go, the colder the mountain air becomes. When you walk through the winding river and reach the valley sandwiched between two mountains, the flow of the river suddenly slows down, and white frost falls on the dry riverbed.
Winter has arrived in Hongchiling.
The terrain became flatter, and people rode camels to speed up their journey. The kid sat on Zhao Xiping's chest, covered with a wolfskin mattress to keep out the cold. He could only see the road in the valley through the gap between his feet.
"Aunt, it's snowing on the top of the mountain." Lu Yaer exclaimed.
The cub heard the sound and crawled out of the wolfskin mattress. He looked up and saw that the glacier on the mountain was covered in thick clouds. The sharp ice edges were thicker than wooden rafters. Looking further up, the top of the mountain seemed to be frozen in the ice. The vast snow and the crystal clear glacier melted together. He was stunned.
"Dad, this place is completely different from Dunhuang." he shouted excitedly.
Zhao Xiping looked at Sui Liang and Sui Yu. Sui Yu looked calm, while Sui Liang was pale. He looked down at the child with eyes full of amazement, and he finally understood why Sui Yu felt so much pity for Sui Liang.
He wants his children to always have light in their eyes.
She hoped the light that burned in her brother's eyes would never die out.
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