Chapter 143 Choking
The Zhao family, a total of eleven people, young and old, set out half a month ago. They borrowed two camels to pull a wooden cart with a mattress on it. The two old people and the five children sat on the cart. For fear of tiring the borrowed camels, the couple Zhao Da and Zhao Er walked all the way.
After entering the city, Zhao Er led his family to the military settlement. The house in his memory had changed owners. Qin Dashun heard the noise and led people to the north of the city.
Zhao's father and mother looked at the large house in front of them and thought to themselves that the third son had become really rich.
"Even if you give birth to ten sons, you won't have to worry about having no place to live." Zhao's mother muttered.
Father Zhao felt very proud and his face was flushed. He thought that he should let his relatives come and take a look.
"Dad, Mom." Zhao Xiping came out to greet them, and then called out to his brother and sister-in-law one by one. He grabbed Qin Dashun, who was about to leave, and said, "Don't go. There's mutton stewing in the house. Let's go in and have a meal together."
Qin Dashun hesitated for a moment and was pushed in by Zhao Xiping.
"Brother Qin, please come inside and sit down. Uncle Niu, please help me greet them." Sui Yu instructed, and she followed him out, smiling warmly and greeting them: "Dad, Mom, Big Brother and Sister-in-law, Second Brother and Sister-in-law, I invited you to come over to celebrate the New Year this year. I'm sorry for the hard work you've put on the road."
The Zhao family members all looked at her belly at the same time. Although she was wearing thick clothes in winter, her waist could still be seen, which meant that she was not pregnant yet.
"Let's go inside and eat first." Zhao Xiping was a little unhappy. He stood in front of Sui Yu and said, "Don't unload the luggage yet. After dinner, take it back to the city. We're staying in the city tonight."
"The camel needs to be fed. This is a camel borrowed from my cousin's house. We must take good care of it." said Brother Zhao.
"Someone will come to feed you, you go into the house first," said Zhao Xiping.
The west kitchen was bustling with activity at the moment, as merchants were having lunch there. The four dining halls were full, and three official slaves were busy adding food, with the money boxes tied around their waists rattling.
When the Zhao family, young and old, came in, they all looked out carefully. When someone looked at them, they straightened their bodies, quickly withdrew their gazes, and kept a tense look on their faces, for fear of being looked down upon.
Zhao Xiping and Sui Yu exchanged a glance, then asked helplessly, "Do you regret being a filial daughter-in-law?"
Sui Yu rolled his eyes at him and said, "You don't want to be a filial son, but you're trying to stop me."
"I just want to show off." Zhao Xiping couldn't help laughing.
Sui Yu also smiled.
"Don't be angry if my parents make things difficult for you. They can't interfere in our affairs. I'm on your side." He said meaningfully.
Sui Yu nodded. She reached out and gave him a gentle push, saying, "Let's go. Everyone has gone in."
A room had been cleared out in the barn. When the weather got cold, the Sui Yu family would sit and chat in it, and they would also eat in it at mealtime. Today, they had brought in a stove to cook mutton hotpot. A clay pot was placed on the stove, and mutton was cooking in the pot, with the mutton broth bubbling.
"Dad, Mom, eldest brother and his wife, second brother and his wife, I was just getting you dishes and chopsticks. Don't blame me for not going out to greet you." Zhao Xiaomi said.
"Sister has grown taller and prettier." Sister Zhao glanced at her and said, "She looks more like your third sister-in-law, not like the girls in our village."
Zhao Xiaomi touched her face happily. She glanced at Sui Yu and asked in surprise, "Really?"
Mrs. Zhao nodded secretly. Zhao Xiaomi had indeed changed a lot. She didn't know how to put it, but she just looked like the man of the family, giving her the feeling that he could make decisions and take charge.
"Come sit here, let me take a look." Mother Zhao waved.
Zhao Xiaomi squeezed over with a smile, but before she could sit down, her ear was twisted.
"You've become so wild that you don't even want to go home." Mother Zhao exerted a little strength and scolded, "If we don't come this year, you won't go back?"
"How could that be? I will definitely go back." Zhao Xiaomi took back the ear, lifted his butt and ran away quickly.
Zhao Xiping and Sui Yusheng brought the mutton soup to the table. When the meat in the bowl was empty, he went to the kitchen to get another bowl.
The whole yellow sheep was stewed, most of it was stewed with radish, and two pots of mutton soup were sold to merchants. A small part was kept for the family. Originally, we planned to have two meals of it, and then cook a few bowls of noodles with the mutton soup tomorrow morning. Now it seems that it is probably not enough for one meal.
The yellow goat was still alive when we brought it back, and the meat was fresh. After skinning and chopping, it was directly stewed in a pot, with no other seasoning except salt and green onions. The mutton broth was thick and white, and the radish oil was moist and translucent. I broke off a piece of browned pancake and tossed it in. As I chewed the pancake, the freshness of the broth and the fragrance of the wheat flour made my mouth water.
No one spoke anymore, but the voices of the merchants outside the house could be heard clearly, and the escorts were discussing going out of the city to hunt yellow sheep.
When the pot of mutton was empty, the people in the warehouse put down their bowls and chopsticks one after another. After eating the meal, everyone broke out in a sweat.
Ah Shui was sleepy, so she dozed off on Uncle Niu's lap. Uncle Niu picked up the child, walked over to Zhao Xiping, and asked, "Should I go home? Or should you give me something else to do?"
"You will stay here and keep watch for me from now on." Zhao Xiping opened the door and went out, calling out to Yin Po who was tidying up the table, saying, "Take Ah Shui's father to the guest room where I sleep, and you will live there with Ah Shui from now on."
The last sentence was said to Uncle Lao Niu.
Uncle Lao Niu looked back, then carried A Shui away.
"It's time for me to go on duty." Huang Ancheng walked out.
Qin Dashun followed him out the door. He patted his stomach and said, "I had a good meal. I'm going back now. If you need anything, come find me."
Zhao Xiping saw them both out and hurried back in. As soon as he stepped inside, he heard his mother scolding Sui Yu for not being pregnant yet.
"I'm not in a hurry, why are you so anxious?" Zhao Xiping said anxiously, "If you think you don't have enough grandchildren, let my eldest and second brothers have a few more."
"They all gave birth, why don't you?" asked Zhao's mother.
"Why wouldn't I give birth?" Zhao Xiping was almost losing his patience. He said irritably, "Aren't you annoying? You came all this way here, and you're already looking for trouble. My promotion to a thousand households is not something you should mention? Sui Yu's huge fortune is not something you should ask about? You didn't even praise the yellow sheep we just ate. It was delicious? You're already looking for trouble."
The room was filled with silence.
Sui Yu looked at him like a warrior.
"It was my third sister-in-law who suggested bringing you over for the New Year," Zhao Xiaomi muttered. "We've been so busy this year. My third brother and sister-in-law are saddled with a debt of seven or eight thousand yuan, and they still wanted you to come over so they could eat and dress well. Mother, you're the one who starts making trouble the moment you get here. It's really hard to be a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. I don't even want to get married anymore."
"A debt of seven or eight thousand coins?" Zhao's father was so shocked that he almost fell down. "Seven or eight thousand coins? You're right? You owe seven or eight thousand coins? How did you borrow so much money?"
Zhao Xiping didn't say anything.
It seemed to be true. Father Zhao was so angry that he had a headache. He angrily scolded, "Are you crazy? You have no money, but you still set up such a big mess?"
"I didn't ask you to help me pay off my debts, why are you shouting?" Zhao Xiping was furious.
"We'll be able to pay off the debt in another month, so parents don't have to worry too much." Sui Yu soothed them, saying, "Come over and take a look around. We don't need you to do any work in the guesthouse, so you can relax and take a break."
"Dad, my third brother and his wife are more knowledgeable than us. They know what they are doing. Don't interfere." The eldest brother Zhao said. He was really worried that if they made more trouble, the third brother would no longer want to let them come over.
"Let's go out and take a look. I've never seen such a big house. It's bigger than the post station, right?" asked Brother Zhao.
"No, it's not as big as the post station." Zhao Xiping looked at Zhao Xiaomi and said, "Take your parents, brother and sister-in-law out for a walk."
The eldest and second Zhao brothers forcibly helped the two elders out. When they walked out of the west kitchen and saw that Zhao Xiping had not followed, the eldest brother said helplessly: "Dad, do you think that the second brother and I are your third son? When you are unhappy, you yell at us, and after that, we still call you dad in a nice voice. The third brother is a donkey that goes along with the flow. If you stroke him, he can still talk to you nicely. But if you glare at him, he will get stubborn and will confront you. He didn't listen to you when he was ten years old. He even climbed over the wall and ran away from home to fight in the war in the middle of the night. What's the point of borrowing money to build a house now?"
Zhao's father was unconvinced and shouted in a gruff voice, "No matter how stubborn he is, he is still my son."
Mrs. Zhao rolled her eyes and thought to herself, let alone your son, with the temper of the third brother, even your grandson wouldn't do. If you poke his sore spot, he would jump up and down and not listen to a word you say.
It was Zhao Erge who could grasp the temperament of his parents. He said, "The third brother is now a captain, in charge of thousands of people. Now he and his wife run a guesthouse. There are people everywhere here. Everyone knows that Captain Zhao's parents are here. You guys should make as much noise as possible, the louder the better, so that people can see you laughing at yourselves."
These words suppressed Zhao's father and mother. Zhao's father cursed a few more times and asked Zhao Xiaomi to lead the way to see the guesthouse.
Since he can pay off his debts this year, he is not in a hurry.
The first three rooms were occupied, but Zhao Xiaomi refused to take them in. Instead, she led her family into the fourth guesthouse and said, "My third brother and his wife are out of money. The three guesthouses at the back haven't had doors or windows installed yet, and the couches haven't been built yet. We'll have to wait until we save up enough money to do that. We also have a few acres of land at the back, so we'll probably need to build a house there later."
"How long will it take to save enough money?" Zhao's mother worried.
Zhao Xiaomi came over, grinning, and asked, "How much money have you saved? Would you like to help out?"
Both the Zhao Da and Zhao Er couples looked over.
Mother Zhao reached out to hit the silly girl. How could she say such a thing? Her heart was biased towards the third child, and she was not afraid that her eldest and second brothers would hold a grudge against her.
"Giving the little money we have is like throwing a stone into a river. It's useless and will only make a noise." Father Zhao said, "Your eldest brother will take care of me and your mother in our old age. Most of the money we save will be left to him."
This was also said to the two sons.
Zhao Xiaomi curled her lips.
After visiting the guesthouse, we went to see the livestock pen. We happened to meet Gan Da and Gan Er, who were picky eaters, who came to feed the pigs. The pottery pot that had been used to cook mutton soup was used to cook radish and millet, and added some animal oil. The ten pigs ate with a loud smacking sound.
"Is this the black pig we bought from our village?" asked Zhao's mother.
Zhao Xiaomi nodded.
Just as Zhao's mother was about to boast about her good judgment, she heard Xiaomi say, "I've raised it for over three years, and this is the first time it's given birth."
Mother Zhao shut her mouth again.
After a walk around, I returned to the west kitchen and saw Zhao Xiping chopping firewood in the yard with an axe.
"I'll take you home. I just bought the bed a few days ago. It hasn't been cleaned or made yet." Zhao Xiping seemed like nothing had happened and his tone of voice was normal.
Father Zhao seemed to have forgotten his previous challenge, and when Zhao Xiping asked him to go, he followed him.
When Mrs. Zhao saw that Sui Yu didn't show up, she couldn't help but feel envious. If her man was like the third brother, she would have to suffer less injustice.
Back in the city, Zhao Xiping walked into the Qianhu Office and met Qianhu Gu. He greeted him and said, "Are you going out?"
"Captain Hu called me for something, probably to arrange training. Didn't he call you?" Captain Gu asked.
Zhao Xiping waved his hand and said, "I didn't meet anyone. Maybe I got lost."
"Then I'll go first." Captain Gu nodded and greeted the old couple of the Zhao family. He smiled and asked, "Are these Captain Zhao's parents? They raised a capable son. They will enjoy the good life in the future."
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao loved to hear this. The old couple were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. Although the third child was angry, it made their family save face in public.
At the guesthouse, the errand boy found Sui Yu and learned that Captain Zhao had returned to the captain's office. He then ran towards the city again.
Sui Yu called Gan Da and gave him a few instructions. Gan Da rode the first camel and led the second camel to chase the soldier, and the two of them entered the city together.
"Uncle Lao Niu, you've been away for two months, and I still haven't paid you." Sui Yu came to the door and said, "For these two months, I'll pay you the same salary as before for overseeing, which is three hundred coins in total. From now on, when you keep watch, since you and Ah Shui will be staying at my place, I'll pay you twenty coins a month. Don't think it's too little, because my sister-in-law works for me, and I only pay her twenty coins a month."
"It's not too little, how could it be too little?" Uncle Niu was happy. He accepted the three hundred coins, thought for a moment, and returned another hundred coins, saying, "You've been taking care of Ah Shui for nearly half of this year. I didn't pay for her food and drinks, so this is her meal money."
Sui Yu declined, "How much can a child like her eat? Even less than a puppy."
Uncle Niu was determined to give it to her, and when she refused, he stuffed it into the suitcase left by Zhao Xiping. Uncle Niu was a bit shady, and sometimes he liked to take advantage of others, but when it came to Ah Shui, he knew the difference. It didn't matter if others looked down on him, but he couldn't let people despise Ah Shui. Ah Shui was not a begging puppy.
Although Ah Shui's background was not clean, his food, drink and clothing were all clean, and he could walk out with dignity.
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