Chapter 249 Mountain People
Qi Sheng's wife, Li, covered a big rooster with a bamboo basket. A series of loud crowing sounds were heard in the yard. The other chickens eating food were frightened and flapped their wings to fly over the low wall and escape from the yard.
"Sorry to bother you, sister-in-law. I'm sorry to have cost you so much." Sui Yu blushed. Farmers' poultry were precious. Except for slaughtering one during festivals, the rest of the time, the family wouldn't eat it. Just like when she lived in the military settlement a few years ago, every chicken they raised had a use, and they wouldn't be slaughtered unless absolutely necessary.
Li smiled and shook her head. Even if she killed another chicken, it would not be as valuable as the wolf skin. It was not a waste of money. Her family made a profit.
"Dad, Mom, I'm going to pick mulberry leaves." The child walked out with the basket. He looked at Sui Yu and asked from outside the door, "Do you want to go see my mulberry tree?"
"The mulberries haven't turned red yet, so there's nothing to see." Qi Sheng continued. He said to Sui Yu, "You've come all this way here, so sit down and rest. I'll go to the village and ask for mulberry wine for you."
"What's the price of mulberry wine this year?" Sui Yu asked. "Silk cloth is cheaper now, so the price of mulberry wine should be cheaper too, right?"
"One hundred and seventy or eighty coins a jar. Things are cheaper this time of year than in the summer," Qi Sheng replied. He explained, "Every household has plenty of cloth and wine at this time, and if they have too much, they can't sell it at a high price."
Sui Yu suddenly realized that she had previously thought that the caravan that came to the village to buy silk cloth was good at bargaining, which caused the price of silk cloth to drop by thirty cents.
"By the way, how much cloth and wine do you plan to buy?" Qi Sheng asked.
"We want a large quantity. There are more than just one caravan coming this time." Sui Yu stood up and said, "Let's go back and ask. We should be able to consume all the cloth and wine in your village."
"Okay, go back and discuss it." Qi Sheng saw them out and said, "Come over for lunch at noon. The chicken is ready. I'll ask Erlang to go and call them."
Sui Yuying is good.
After the four of them, master and servant, left, Qisheng's neighbors gathered around and asked if the caravan wanted to buy more mulberry wine and linen.
Sui Yu and Song Xian were walking on the road when they met people from the village. Some of them recognized them and asked about the price of mulberry wine and linen this year.
"Where are you from?" asked an old man.
"Chang'an." Zhang Shun answered.
"Is the cloth price in Chang'an very expensive?"
Zhang Shun shook his head. "We didn't buy or sell cloth in Chang'an, so we don't know the price."
"Don't try to fool me. I know cloth in Chang'an isn't cheap. But do the masters and mistresses living in the imperial city wear coarse cloth just like us peasants?" The old man followed Zhang Shun and inquired, "Tell me, what's new in Chang'an? Have you seen the imperial palace? What does it look like?"
"How could we see the imperial palace? But there is one new thing. The Grand Marshal passed away just over ten days ago. So many people came to pay their respects that even the emperor and the empress left the palace to pay their respects," said Zhang Shun.
For the rural folk, apart from the emperor, all other officials were called officials. They had no idea what the Grand Sima and the Small Sima were. The old man asked what the Grand Sima was, but Zhang Shun couldn't explain it. Fortunately, when they arrived at the rented house, he made up a few words and made an excuse to get out.
"Is Shopkeeper Yu back? How's it going?" Head of the Yan family stood under the mulberry tree in the yard and said, "I asked around with a few nearby families. A caravan arrived two weeks ago and bought up all the silk cloth and raw silk in the village. Should we head east and visit the other villages?"
Sui Yu told him the itinerary she and Qi Sheng had agreed on, "After we come down from the mountain, we'll go to the next village."
Yan Da didn't say anything at the time. In the afternoon, Sui Yu and Song Xian came back from having dinner at Qi Sheng's house. He found Sui Yu and said goodbye.
"We've discussed it and decided to go to another village to look for more information instead of wasting time here. It's already May, and if we want to leave by early August, we'll have to leave Chang'an in another month. Time is still a bit tight, and we can't delay any longer." Yan Da explained, "We plan to leave soon and won't be traveling with you."
"So which direction are you planning to go? We'll go in the opposite direction to avoid walking on the same road again and encountering the same situation again." Sui Yu asked.
Yan Dadang had already asked the villagers and learned that the town was in the east and could be reached in two days by following the official road. He thought that the caravan that came from the east half a month ago took the official road, and the villages along the road might have been raided, so he planned to go north and ask as he went.
"Then we'll head south." Sui Yu said.
"Alright." Boss Yan had no objection. He looked at Song Xian and said, "Boss Song, you haven't changed your mind, right? Regarding the camel rental. If you don't change your mind, I'll buy more goods and bring them to Dunhuang."
"I haven't changed my mind." Song Xian smiled and said, "I still have the integrity of a businessman. If I keep changing my mind, who would want to do business with me?"
"Okay, that's settled then." Boss Yan bowed to the two female bosses and said, "Goodbye, see you next year."
"Have a smooth journey." Sui Yu said.
"Have a safe trip." Yan Da, the head of the family, stroked his goatee with a smile. He shouted to the tribesmen sleeping in the house, "Don't sleep anymore. Get up quickly. We are leaving now."
Sui Yu walked quickly into the house and called Song Xian. The two of them went into the house and took out the fashionable silk clothes they had bought in Chang'an City, as well as dried mushrooms and fungus, chopped rotten wood, and wood chips with words on them. They filled a box with these things and asked the Yan family caravan to help take them to Dunhuang.
After the Yan caravan left, Sui Yu and Song Xian drove all the male servants out to graze the camels. After closing the door, the two of them and the maids spent half a day boiling hot water, washing their hair and bathing them, washing them from head to toe, and changing into clean clothes. They were busy until dark.
After a night's rest, at dawn, Sui Yu and Song Xian took half of the servants and camels and followed Qi Sheng's family of three up the mountain to purchase silk, raw silk, coarse cloth and mulberry wine.
The May blossoms had faded, and the peach trees planted by farmers were now laden with small, hairy peaches, the size of fingertips, like mulberries, all green and astringent. Many of the wildflowers along the roadside had also faded. Bees buzzed in the warm sun, lingering briefly on the fading petals before quickly flying away.
"Do farmers in the mountains also grow crops?" Song Xian asked.
"Not much is grown. There's little land in the mountains suitable for growing crops," Li replied. "My family lives in a valley. After paying taxes on the crops we grow, the surplus is only enough for our family. Fortunately, there's plenty of wild hemp in the mountains. As long as there's open space, the hemp will grow. The women in my family can save some money every year by weaving cloth. Later, the government allowed us to plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms. With the income from raw silk and silk cloth, life became better."
"Women are very tired. Weaving is very tiring for the waist and eyes," said Sui Yu.
Li's eyes warmed up, and she gave a wry smile and said, "My grandmother lost her sight when she got old, and it's like she was blind. I guess I'm half-blind when I get old too, and I can't even count the chickens I'm feeding."
"Mom, when I grow up I will go out to trade and sell goods. Then you won't have to weave cloth anymore." The child said happily while riding on the camel's back.
The bitter smile on Li's face disappeared, her narrowed eyes sparkled, and wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes. She nodded and said, "Then I will weave more cloth, and when my son grows up, I will buy you a few more camels. Sister Yu, how much did you buy your camel for?"
"Two thousand coins a head."
The smile on Li's face froze. She forced a smile and said, "It's quite expensive."
"If you don't plan to go far, you can use mules or even oxen to carry the goods from your village to Chang'an." Sui Yu offered her another option. "We have a long way to go, over mountains and across rivers, so we can't use a cart, so we have to use camels."
"How far is Chang'an from here? How many days did it take you to walk?" Qi Sheng asked.
"Eight days, the camel runs faster." Sui Yu replied, "If there weren't so many hills and winding roads, it would probably be even faster."
"Yes, we have many mountains here."
The camels went into the mountains. Qi Sheng and his wife stopped chatting and rode their camels in front to lead the way.
The mountain road was difficult to walk on. When encountering steep places, people had to get down and walk. If the branches of the trees were too lush, slaves had to use machetes to clear the way in front.
From early morning to afternoon, after crossing a mountain, Sui Yu and his party followed Qi Sheng and his wife to a valley surrounded by three mountains, where peach blossoms were in full bloom.
"Two female shopkeepers, have a bowl of honey water to sweeten your mouths." Li's eldest sister-in-law brought two bowls of honey water and said, "The honey we raise at home is very sweet."
Sui Yu barely understood what she heard. She took a big sip from the bowl and said, "It's really sweet."
The woman smiled.
"I came here once two years ago. I remember that your family didn't have beehives at that time. Did you start raising bees last year?" Sui Yu asked.
"In half a month, the peach blossoms will wither. When the peach blossoms wither, the bees will fly away. My father will move the beehives to the mountains. You came late two years ago, so you didn't see the beehives." Li explained.
"Can we go out and take a look?" Sui Yu asked.
"Okay, okay, just don't get too close." Li's eldest sister-in-law led them out and said, "You have so many animals. Can they plow the fields?"
Li asked again in Mandarin.
"It's not as good as a cow at plowing the land." Song Xian replied.
Near the beehive under the peach tree, a buzzing sound was audible. Sui Yu squatted down and watched the bees flying in and out of the beehive. She could see the honeycomb inside through the gaps.
"Do you sell honey?" she asked, tilting her head. "Do all the families in your village keep bees?"
Qi Sheng followed and heard this and asked, "Did you buy a lot?"
"Yes, I want to buy more. It's a rare trip for me." Sui Yu said.
"We don't have many beekeepers here. The people living on another hill have more bees. They don't grow mulberry trees or crops; they just make a living from beekeeping," Li said. "If you still feel like buying our honey isn't enough, I'll have my husband take you to another hill."
"OK."
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