Chapter 287 A Letter from Home is Worth a Thousand Gold
Winter has passed, the ice and snow have melted, and when the barren wilderness turns green and the dry branches sprout new buds, a new round of spring planting begins.
The caravans that had stayed in the inn for a winter had long since left, and the new caravans that had moved in were replaced by a new group. The caravans were moving in and out of the city, and the sound of camel bells surrounded the border town, accompanied by the sound of gurgling water, day and night.
As the sun rises to three o'clock, the sound of camel bells leaves the guesthouse, and camels carrying colorful cloths slowly walk away.
The kid was standing in the wheat field with a bag that was too dirty to be washed. He stood up and looked at the caravan moving step by step. The hunchbacked merchant noticed him, put two fingers on his lips and whistled loudly.
"Woof——" the big black dog barked.
Zhao Xiping took the time to glance at it, then looked away, holding the iron plow and following the old ox that was plowing the field.
The boy raised his hands and shook them vigorously, watching the caravan go away. When the figures on the camel's backs were no longer visible, he grabbed a handful of wheat seeds from his bag and scattered them into the plowed soil.
The big black dog panted and ran to the little master's legs. It tilted its head to look at him, and when it saw him wiping his eyes, it barked again.
The cub rubbed his head, looked to the west, then looked at the wet soil under his feet, stretched out his legs and sat down.
The big black dog licked him, and he scolded it, pinched the big black dog's muzzle, and stroked the hair on the dog's nose backwards.
"Dahei, do you miss my mother?" the little cub asked, "Do you still remember her?"
"Woo--" The big black dog couldn't open its mouth and could only wag its tail wildly.
"Zhao Mingguang, are you slacking off?" The ox turned a corner, and Zhao Xiping held the iron plow and plowed another ridge of land.
The cub ignored him. He put his head against the big black dog's and looked at himself quietly through the dog's eyes.
Two sparrows with sharp beaks landed, staring at the man and the dog vigilantly. They turned the soil with their claws, and the wheat seeds that had not yet been covered with soil quickly went into the birds' stomachs.
The cub let out a "hush" sound, and he let go of the dog's mouth and shouted "pounce". The big black dog suddenly jumped out and pounced on the stealing birds like an arrow.
The two sparrows took off in panic. The fat bird was a step slower and was bounced up and pressed down from mid-air by the big black dog. The bird screamed a few times before being silenced.
The kid laughed happily, jumped up, and kept praising Hei for being great.
The dog came running over with a live sparrow in its mouth, showing off its might. The cub waved his hand and said, "You eat it, not me. After you eat this bird, you keep an eye on it for me and don't let other birds come down to steal it."
After saying that, he patted the dirt off his butt, grabbed a handful of wheat and continued to sow.
The father and son walked past each other. Zhao Xiping took a closer look at him and heard what he was humming. Only then did he feel relieved.
After plowing half an acre of land, Zhao Xiping unloaded the iron plow and let the cattle graze. He picked up a wooden rake to pull the soil. The sown wheat seeds had to be covered with loose soil, otherwise when people left, a flock of birds would land and eat up all the wheat seeds in the field in less than half a day.
The sun rose higher and higher, and the wheat seeds in his bag were almost gone. The boy was so tired that he was sweating all over. After scattering the last two handfuls of wheat seeds, he clapped his hands, walked to the ridge, and sat down.
"Dad, where is Dahei?" he asked.
"I don't know." Zhao Xiping didn't pay attention to the dog. He stood up, looked around, and said, "I guess it went back. Are you hungry? Do you want to go back first?"
"I'm tired and don't want to walk."
Zhao Xiping stared at him, and he laughed shamelessly.
Zhao Xiping continued to work. The kid sat on the ridge, picking grass leaves and blowing them into his mouth. When he got tired of sitting, he lay down with his left leg resting on his right leg, swaying back and forth.
When Zhao Xiping finished his work in the fields, he carried his wooden rake and called out, "Little boy, go back and eat."
No one answered, so he walked over to take a look. The child with his eyes closed was sweating all over his forehead, his little face was red, and his eyeballs were moving constantly under his eyelids.
Hearing the footsteps leaving, the cub squinted one eye and heard his father calling the cows. He snorted unhappily but did not get up. He just didn't believe that this man would throw his own son to the ground.
Not long after, Zhao Xiping piled the iron plow on the ox's back, put the water bag and the thin jacket he took off into the basket, packed up all the things he brought, and walked towards the child who was pretending to sleep.
The kid raised the corners of his mouth and then tried to straighten it, but how could he hide his smile from Zhao Xiping?
"Sleeping so soundly?" he asked deliberately.
The kid tried hard to suppress his arrogant laughter.
Zhao Xiping leaned over and picked up his son, not exposing him. To make it easier to get things, he moved the child from his arms to his back. Finally, with the child on his back, he carried the bamboo basket in one hand and the child in his arms with the other, and drove the cattle home.
The cub quietly opened his eyes, and he lay on the broad shoulders, swinging his feet excitedly.
Zhao Xiping seemed unaware.
"Dad, I'm awake."
"oh."
"Dad, I'm holding your neck, you don't have to hold me, I won't fall. Use your other hand to hold the wooden rake, the handle of the wooden rake is poking my butt." The kid reminded.
In order to free up one hand, the wooden rake was placed horizontally on the bamboo basket, and the section sticking out from the back just rested on the kid's butt.
Zhao Xiping didn't listen. The kid shouted in his ear and his leg was twisted. He pretended to scream in pain.
"Dad, did you notice that I was pretending to be asleep?" The kid laughed.
Zhao Xiping thought for a moment and said, "No, were you pretending to be asleep?"
"I pretended to be asleep? Who said that?" He denied it again.
The two black dogs sleeping under the shade of a tree heard the sound and came over happily, wagging their tails. The little cub asked Dahei why he came back without saying a word.
"Come down, I'll drive the cattle to the livestock pen." Zhao Xiping half-knelt down.
The cub slid off his back and he ran back with the two dogs. He saw A Shui and Huaniu changing mulberry leaves for the silkworms under the mulberry tree. He walked over and squatted to watch.
"Have you finished planting the wheat?" asked A Shui.
"Well, the planting is done. It will rain in a few days, and the wheat will sprout." The boy picked up a small silkworm and put it in his hand, saying, "My mother will be back when the silkworm spins a cocoon."
Sui Yu's journey was faster than Xiaozai had expected. They left the Pamir Mountains in less than May and rested for two days in Shule State. Then they headed north to Wensu State. After half a month's journey, the caravan entered the Kingdom of Kucha, where they met the first caravan to leave the country this year.
"Shopkeeper Yu? Are they back from Dayuan?" Boss You's gaze fell on the horses, his eyes filled with excitement. "Wonderful, wonderful! This year it's your turn to get rich. How are these horses? Did they get sick after crossing the Pamir Mountains? I see they have good appetites and look quite energetic."
"They are not sick. When we left Dayuan, we took away 300 bundles of dry grass, and also took away 10 jars of water and 5 jars of soil from Dayuan. Maybe it was because of the local water and soil that these horses did not suffer from acclimatization problems." Sui Yu said proudly.
This practice wasn't uncommon; every caravan buying horses from Dayuan would provide the horses with pasture and soil from their homeland. The head of the household, You Da, approached Sui Yu and Song Xian and whispered, "Hey, ladies, we're old friends. How about a word? From whom did you buy these horses? And roughly how much do they cost?"
"Well..." Sui Yu and Song Xian had already accepted benefits from the Xu and Li caravans, and they didn't intend to reveal it to anyone.
Sui Yu made an excuse, saying, "If Master You wants to buy horses, you'll have to look elsewhere. Last year, all the cloth and silk our four caravans brought to Dayuan were sold to local horse owners. They probably won't be short of fabrics in the next two or three years."
You Da, the head of the household, understood what she meant. He sighed and asked, unwilling to give up, "Really, you can't tell me?"
"I can tell you the price of each horse, it's about three thousand coins." Sui Yu said.
"I'll go see your horse." The head of the household, Youda, tactfully stopped asking questions.
Sui Yu followed him, rubbing her hands and asking nervously, "Master You, did you meet my family in Dunhuang? Did they have any message for me?"
Only then did the leader You Da remember. He shouted to his clansmen and asked Sui Yu to go and get the things himself.
Sui Liang and Xiaozai asked the caravan to bring back a bundle, which contained a can of fragrant fried noodles, a can of soybean paste, and the rest were pieces of wood and bamboo slips with ugly characters written on them.
"Sister Yu, we are going to sell horses. Do you want to go?" Song Xian asked.
Sui Yu looked at the thing in her hand. Her mind was on it. She couldn't wait to see it and didn't want to leave at all. She pointed at Xiao Chunhong and Zhang Shun and said, "You two follow me."
Xiao Chunhong and Zhang Shun were both shocked. After they came to their senses, they moved their lips but did not say that they were afraid to take on the responsibility. They looked at their master who was reading the letter with a smile on his face, and they knew in their hearts that this was a good opportunity to prove themselves.
"Master, I'll go too." Li Wu said, "I still remember the shop where I bought the silverware last time, and I remember the price. I can go over and help."
Sui Yu looked up at him, hiding her surprise. She asked the others, "Who else wants to try?"
Liu Yaer stood up, clenching her sweaty hands and said nervously, "I saw a lot of good things in my previous master's house. I can tell the difference between good and bad colors and patterns..."
Sui Yu waved, motioning her to follow.
The other slaves thought about it and realized that they had no unique advantages, so no one spoke again.
"Leave three or four horses over," Sui Yu said. "Each of you will be responsible for one horse. You can use the horses to trade with the caravan for blankets, silverware, jewelry, and seeds. If you come across anything rare, ask Master Song if you're undecided."
The four servants responded in unison. They each took a horse and followed the two caravan leaders, Song Xian and Xu Li.
The servants who stayed behind went to brush the horses and camels, while Sui Yu sat alone by the stove reading letters from home. The soybeans for making soybean paste were planted and picked by Xiaozai himself, and the fried noodles were fried by Zhao Xiping under Xiaozai's supervision. On the bamboo slips, Sui Liang praised these two things to the heavens, but in the end, he frankly confessed that the above words were written under duress.
The boy can write now. In addition to the three words "father", "mother" and "uncle", he has also learned to write the names of his family members. Among all the words, the word "Sui" is the largest and ugliest he writes.
"Sister, my little boy dreamed of you last night. When he woke up, he kept talking to me for most of the night and even dropped a few golden beans."
"It's snowing, and the family is slaughtering pigs."
"We also went to see the will-o'-the-wisp fire. Were we chased by it for two miles? It was really scary. Were you scared that night too? Sui Yu, you are amazing."
Sui Yu smiled and looked at the words again, finally confirming that it was written by Zhao Xiping.
"It's New Year's Eve, sister. We built four snowmen and are waiting for you to come back."
“…”
"The snow has melted, spring has arrived, and I'm taking your son to plant wheat."
"The wheat is almost turning yellow, Mom. I love autumn the most."
The last word on the bamboo slip was written by Zhao Xiping while holding the little boy's hand.
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