Chapter 39: Couple's Night Talk
The official was quite satisfied with the couple's attitude of admitting their mistakes. He gave them another warning and was about to leave. After exiting the kitchen, he stood in the yard and looked around. Suddenly, he saw a child staring at him from the dim and dark main door. He was so scared that his face changed and he stepped on Captain Li's foot and took two steps back.
"You, you saw..." He wanted to ask Captain Li if he saw someone standing inside the door, but then he saw the skinny child walking out holding the door.
Zhao Xiping waved his hand and said, "Sui Liang, come over and greet your Excellency."
Sui Liang didn't move. He understood that these two people were bad guys.
"I am a fool and don't understand what you are saying. Please forgive me, sir." Sui Yu apologized sincerely.
Seeing that it was a living person, the officials patted their sleeves and stood up straight, their faces changing again and again. They were very annoyed because they had lost their composure.
"Is he really stupid or just pretending?" Li Baihu never missed an opportunity to annoy others. He took two steps forward, but Zhao Xiping stepped in to block him and said, "This child hasn't uttered a word since the day you put him in my hands. He's only six years old, can't talk and can only obey orders. What else can he be but stupid? He was scared silly to begin with. You put on a stern face and intimidated him, and he pissed and wet the bed out of fear. You're going to take him home to raise him?"
Captain Li chuckled, glanced at Sui Yu, and said, "I didn't force him on you, but if you think he's too much of a burden, I'll take him with me when I leave and send him to the prison camp."
Sui Yu's expression changed, and Zhao Xiping's expression also looked unhappy. He endured it again and again, softened his tone, and said, "He is too young. He won't survive in the slave camp for a few days. When he grows up, no matter whether he is stupid or not, I will send him to serve in the slave camp myself."
The official kept staring at Sui Liang. Seeing that he had no reaction to what he heard, with a dull face, he looked like a fool. He waved his hand and turned to leave.
Captain Li didn't have time to say anything else and hurried out to see him off.
When the footsteps faded away, Sui Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She went to close the door with weak legs and turned around to see Sui Liang standing under the eaves, crying silently. He looked as if he had just realized something and his face was full of fear.
Zhao Xiping didn't know how to coax the child, and he didn't know what words to use to comfort him. He didn't dare to think about the future, and he couldn't think of a way out, so he could only stand there in silence.
"Next time a stranger comes in, stay home and don't come out." Sui Yu warned.
Sui Liang wiped away his tears and nodded obediently. He was vaguely aware that he shouldn't have shown up just now.
"You're still many years away from growing up, don't be afraid." Sui Yu forced a smile. She walked over, took Sui Liang's hand, and led him into the kitchen, coaxing him, "Don't be afraid even if you go to serve. I'll raise you tall and strong. You can learn some martial arts from your brother-in-law, and in ten years, you can build canals and dams, or carry sand and dig earth to build the Great Wall. It will be effortless and easy."
Sui Liang believed it, he wiped his tears and stopped crying.
"You've endured so many hardships during your exile, what else do you have to fear? Right?" Sui Yu said encouragingly, also motivating himself, "Don't be afraid of anything. Everything will work out in the end. Let's just eat well, sleep well, and work hard."
Sui Liang nodded heavily.
"Wash your hands and eat some buns. Eat more." Sui Yu sighed imperceptibly. She walked to the stove and sat down. She grabbed a handful of hay and stuffed it into the stove hole where the flame had gone out. She put her head over to blow out the sparks and cover the fire, again and again, until she felt dizzy.
The flames soared. Sui Yu threw in a lump of cow dung and added some dry firewood. She stared at the orange-red flames and slowly lost herself in thought.
Sui Liang held the bun and squatted beside her legs, taking small bites of it. The cat smelled the fragrance, stretched, and jumped down from the top of the food cabinet. It squatted at the person's feet with its tail between its legs, and squinted its eyes again when it heard the crackling sound of dry firewood breaking.
Zhao Xiping couldn't stand the dead silence in the room, so he got up and went to the camel pen to shovel snow and clear the manure. After the camel pen was clean, he turned around to pick up the chicken coop, intending to wash and wipe it with snow.
In the kitchen, Sui Yu, depressed for a stick of incense, regained her spirits. She put the steamed buns into the basket and started making the third batch. If today's buns couldn't be sold, they could be eaten at home. She could eat them every day until she was full and gain weight.
"Captain Zhao, go to the garden and pick some leeks. I'm free today and have noodles, so I'll stir-fry two more fillings and make some pancakes. We can try something different. We're tired of eating radishes every day." Sui Yu leaned out of the kitchen and said, "If you want something stuffed with tofu, go to the street and buy two blocks of tofu."
Zhao Xiping looked her over carefully. He put down the chicken coop and nodded obediently. "What else do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."
Sui Yu thought about it and decided to eat chicken. But after weighing the money in her hand, she shook her head and said, "I don't want to eat anything."
The man took the money and left. Sui Yu took out the soaked bean sprouts from the food cabinet and said, "Brother Liang, come and pick the bean sprouts. They won't taste good if you stir-fry them dry. Look at me, I'm picking out all the bean sprout skins and throwing them away."
Selecting buds and soaking them is time-consuming and laborious. In the past, Sui Yu would not care about this, but now it is a great way to kill time.
Zhao Xiping went to the street to buy tofu, and then went to the vegetable garden to cut two handfuls of snow-covered leeks. He also squatted in the kitchen and slowly picked and washed the leeks.
The pork fat and soybean oil she had just bought a few days ago were both almost full. Sui Yu didn't feel bad about using up the abundant oil. She also fried bean sprouts, tofu, leeks and eggs, and wrapped the greasy filling into the dough, flattened it, and fried it in the pan.
"I found this frying pan is very suitable for baking pancakes. It is also suitable for pancakes. It can bake a golden crust and smells delicious." Sui Yu flipped the pancake with a spatula, looked at the color of the crust, and said, "Turn the fire a little to the west. Just bake it with sparks, don't burn it with flames."
Zhao Xiping nodded, and as she asked, he used a fire poker to clear away the grass residue.
One pot can bake seven round pancakes. By the time the fifth pot is baked, it is already dark outside. When the last pancake is taken out of the pot, Sui Yu scoops water and mixes a handful of grass ash to wash the bottom of the pot and clean the oil and water in the pot. She then scoops water to boil for washing her face and feet.
The oil lamp on the stove flickered, and the oil inside was running low. Sui Yu scooped in two spoonfuls of lamp oil, and the flames soared, magnifying the cat official's shadow countless times and casting it on the wall. Sui Yu stared at the cat's shadow on the earthen wall until the water in the pot began to smoke, and then she came to her senses and lifted the lid.
Zhao Xiping went out to get a wooden basin. When he washed his face, he took out a narrow-mouthed black pottery bottle from his arms and handed it to Sui Yu, saying, "Camel oil, apply it on your face after washing it."
Sui Yu glanced at him, then she pulled out the cork and smelled it. It smelled fishy, like milk.
"When did you buy it? Did you buy it when you bought tofu?"
Zhao Xiping nodded, he wanted to make her happy.
"The waiter said that applying this will keep your face from getting cold or red." He wasn't sure if it was true, but he heard the waiter tell other people that, so he bought a bottle.
Sui Yu smiled. She wiped her face dry, scooped out a lump with her fingertips, and rubbed it in her palm to warm it. She hissed in pain as she applied it to her face. Her face was frostbitten, and cracked from the cold wind. The camel oil soaked into it, burning it.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Xiping was puzzled.
Sui Yu waved her hand, picked out another lump and rubbed it away, then lifted Sui Liang's head and rubbed it on his face. He grimaced in pain, but made no sound.
"You should apply some too..." Sui Yu leaned close and stared at the man's face. He was also suffering from the cold, but his face was neither red from the cold nor dry and tight. Even his lips were not dry and bleeding.
"Forget it, you don't need to apply it." Sui Yu took back the narrow-necked bottle and said, "Thank you. I feel better now."
Zhao Xiping hesitated twice, poured the water he used to wash his face into the foot basin, scooped hot water from the pot and added it, then took off his shoes and socks and soaked his feet.
There is no need to ferment the dough tonight and there is no need to keep the fire in the stove, but considering that there is a cat, Sui Yu buried a cavity of grass ash in the stove hole before leaving. With this little fire, the stove can stay warm until the second half of the night.
Lying on the bed, Zhao Xiping spread the wolf skin flat on the mattress. Seeing that the two people at his feet had closed their eyes, he blew out the flame in the oil lamp. The next moment, the room fell into darkness and was so quiet that only the sound of breathing could be heard.
Slowly, one of the breathing sounds became steady, and Sui Liang fell asleep, but the other breathing sound became fast and slow, and could not calm down for a long time.
The night passed quickly in the cold wind. The quilt that was squeezed into the bed for three people was warm, but the chilblains on Sui Yu's legs and feet began to flare up again. She was too lazy to get up, so she rubbed her feet gently through her socks. However, the itch persisted, and she lost her patience and rubbed them hard against the raised curve of the manuscript under the bed.
The chilblains were rubbed open and water started to ooze out, and the pain started again.
"It's so annoying." Sui Yu sat up impatiently. She took off her socks and slapped the painful and itchy parts of her feet. The clear slapping sounds echoed in the room. Sui Liang was woken up and turned over and sat up.
"It's okay, you sleep, I'm swatting mosquitoes." Sui Yu patted him and lay down holding her breath. The itchiness on her legs and feet made her more and more irritated. She lost her composure and stretched out her feet to rub them on the edge of the bed.
Zhao Xiping opened his eyes and reached out to pull his feet back. Without socks on, his insteps felt hot, but the soles were cold. He felt for bumps and pressed them with his fingertips. Insteps, toes, ankles, and thighs—none of them were smooth—he switched to pressing with the palms of his hands.
"My toes are the most itchy." Sui Yu said in a low voice, "I can't even get a good night's sleep. It's too torturous. I might as well give them a knife to end it."
Zhao Xiping didn't say anything. He used both hands, grabbing one foot with one hand and rubbing it with his palm.
"Will you scratch me again tomorrow night?" Sui Yu asked.
"Well, you sleep. I'll sleep after you sleep."
Sui Yu couldn't sleep. Since she had nothing to do tomorrow, she didn't need to force herself to sleep. When the itchiness temporarily subsided, she pulled her foot away and got up to sleep at the end of the bed.
"Don't be afraid, I won't touch you." Sui Yu lifted the mattress and wolfskin and lay down quickly. It was really warm on the man's side.
"Go back to your side and sleep."
"I don't want to sleep yet. Go back when you want to." Sui Yu sighed. She said softly, "I almost cried when you tickled my feet. Please talk to me. I'm not happy today."
Zhao Xiping moved forward a little stiffly, staring at the dark ceiling, not knowing what to say.
"If I can't sell anything, how am I supposed to make money? The pressure is all on you again."
"I can support you."
Sui Yu shook her head, once again deeply aware of her precarious situation. A criminal slave, a criminal slave, these shackles trapped her, and it could take her life at any moment. If that happened, Zhao Xiping wouldn't be able to protect her. Just like today, if the officials were violent and wanted to take her away, Zhao Xiping wouldn't be able to stop them.
"Don't you want to raise piglets? When spring comes, I'll buy you two sheep. One pig and two sheep. By the end of the year, you'll earn more from selling them than my salary." Zhao Xiping said slowly, "Didn't you say you're not afraid of any difficulties? Don't be discouraged. If you can't do business, there are other ways to make money."
Sui Yu nodded. This was the only way.
"The money I earn can only buy a piglet..."
"I'll buy it for you, and the money from selling the sheep is yours. I don't want it."
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