Chapter 183: Transference

Chapter 183: Transference

The first light of dawn seeped through, and roosters crowed from all directions. The mist over the river gradually dissipated, enveloping the early-rising chickens pecking for insects.

On the rooftops, wisps of smoke curled up against the grayish clouds. The stove was ablaze, and the bustling figures were reflected on the earthen walls, which were hung with oil-scented paper.

"Is the pancake ready, Master?" Yin Po asked.

Dream Mom gestured that the leek and egg box had been wrapped and was about to be fried.

The wooden door creaked open, and Zhao Xiping entered the dim room. He walked to the bedside, picked up the little one, covered Sui Liang with a blanket, and then quietly left.

"Still asleep?" Sui Yu asked, leaning against the headboard.

"I played until late last night and need more sleep today." Despite his words, Zhao Xiping reached out to wake his son, forcing him to get up to urinate.

The little one was still groggy and uncomfortable, opening his eyes and about to cry.

"Where are we? Who did you sleep with last night?" Sui Yu interrupted his crying and asked, "Are you hungry?"

After he finished urinating, Zhao Xiping handed the child to her and said, "I'm leaving."

"Go ahead, don't delay," Sui Yu said, holding the little one and feeding him milk, then pulling the quilt over him; it was still a bit cold in the morning.

With a full stomach, the little one became lively again. Sui Yu dressed him in a thin jacket and let him roll and climb around on the bed.

"Sister? Are you awake? Is the little one with you?"

"Whoosh—" The little one immediately perked up at the sound of his uncle's voice.

"I'm awake. Come in and take him," Sui Yu said.

"Hehe, little one." Sui Liang jumped in, standing by the bed and saying, "Come on, Uncle will carry you out to play."

The little one crawled over, and Sui Yu helped him. Sui Liang carried his chubby nephew out.

Passing servants cast curious glances, making Sui Liang a bit embarrassed. He carried his nephew to find the big black dog and then went to wake A’shui.

Sui Yu got up and went to the kitchen to check the food. There was porridge, noodles, steamed dumplings, pancakes, buns, and boiled eggs. Some of the early-rising guards were already eating.

"What was your little master crying about last night?" a guard asked.

Sui Yu smiled and said, "He did something wrong and was crying in repentance."

"Nonsense," the bearded guard didn't believe it, "Did you two beat him?"

"I didn't touch him," Sui Yu didn't want to elaborate and changed the subject, "When are you leaving?"

"We're leaving this morning. Better to leave early to avoid the snow, which can freeze people to death," the bearded guard slurped his noodle soup and said, "Last year, the snow came early. We don't know how it will be this year."

"It might come later this year. It's still warm in the mornings and evenings, and it's only half a month until October," Sui Yu replied.

"That's not certain. Last year, it was warm before the snow, but it turned cold overnight, freezing many people and animals," a merchant surnamed Ma stepped in and said, "The cold weather last year raised the price of furs. If the snow is delayed this winter, my stock of furs won't sell well."

Sui Yu entered the kitchen and brought out the fried leek and egg box, saying, "I'll send you two baskets of dry food. Do you want some more porridge?"

"Boss Yu, why don't you treat us?" a merchant sitting opposite asked.

"My son was naughty yesterday, and this brother spent money on him," Sui Yu explained, adding, "There's only one row of leeks left in the garden. Come back next spring, and I'll treat you to leek and egg pancakes. The leeks will be fresh then."

"Alright, I'll remember that."

The merchant surnamed Ma smiled at Sui Yu, took a bite of the leek and egg box, and said, "You're too kind."

"Anything else?" Sui Yu asked.

"One more bowl of hot noodle soup each, and an extra boiled egg in each bowl."

"Are you also leaving today?" Sui Yu asked as she walked out.

"Yes, eat well, and we'll leave after breakfast."

"Wife, are we steaming egg custard this morning?" Yin Po asked.

Sui Yu shook her head, "The porridge is good this morning. I'll eat some and feed him a few bites. Serve twenty-three bowls of braised noodle soup to that table, with an extra boiled egg in each bowl."

Said that, Sui Yu served herself a bowl of porridge and sat by the stove to eat. One bowl of porridge, a sour cabbage and egg bun, and a boiled egg filled her up. She went out to find Sui Liang and the little one, seeing them far away with Sui Liang helping the little one ride the dog.

"Sister-in-law, you're here," A’shui patted the dog hair off her hands and said, "The little one likes riding the dog."

Sui Yu didn't know what to say, only managing to suppress her disgust as she took the child, telling Sui Liang and A’shui to go eat.

"Big Black should eat too," Sui Yu said.

The big black dog wagged its tail, circled the little one, licked its mistress, and then chased after Sui Liang with its messy fur.

The little one cried out, flapping his arms to chase after them.

"Don't move!" Sui Yu lowered her voice, scolding, "Look at the dog hair on you. I don't even want to hold you."

The little one stared at her face, showing a toothy smile, and affectionately kissed her.

Sui Yu glanced at him, "Who taught you that? You're quite good at coaxing people."

A bird flew over, and the little one's attention wandered. He opened his eyes wide, watching the bird flap its wings.

Sui Yu barely managed to pick the black dog hair off his clothes, then carried him to see the grazing camels. The merchants' camels had been released at dawn and were scattered across the wilderness.

Servants who had finished training went to eat breakfast. After eating their fill, men and women alike took sickles to the fields to harvest wheat. On the way, they greeted Zhao Xiping, who was returning on horseback.

"I need to patrol outside the city walls to prevent people from the frontier from bypassing the walls through the desert," Zhao Xiping hurried back for this very reason. "I might be gone for ten days or half a month. If anything happens at home, go to Huang Ancheng first. If he can't solve it, find Gu Qianhu; I've already spoken to him about it."

Sui Yu was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered. "Is Officer Hu deliberately causing trouble?"

Zhao Xiping nodded. In previous years, such tasks were handled by the garrison troops, with small units patrolling in ten-day rotations. Officer Hu had been humiliated and couldn't find any faults in business matters, so he resorted to using his authority to assign Zhao Xiping difficult tasks.

"It's nothing, leading patrols isn't dangerous, just exhausting to be away from home." Zhao Xiping embraced Sui Yu and said, "Don't worry too much."

Sui Yu nodded. "I'll pack your clothes. Bring your sheepskin pants and coat, wear them when you sleep, and take a wolf skin and your bow and arrows."

Xiaozai was asleep, and Zhao Xiping bent down to pick him up, cradling him along with the bedding. He walked slowly around the room, his gaze never leaving the child's face.

Sui Yu packed two bundles and then looked at the man full of tenderness. He truly loved this child.

"Should we wake him? Do you want to talk to him?" she asked.

"Let it be." Zhao Xiping stroked the child's cheek, placed him back on the bed, and kissed his forehead before kissing Sui Yu. He then picked up the bundles and left.

Sui Yu saw him off, watching as he rode away, then returned inside.

At noon, Xiaozai kept looking out, and Sui Yu tapped his bowl with a spoon to draw his attention back.

During dinner, Xiaozai noticed his father still hadn't returned. He tugged on Sui Yu's hand, pointing outside, wanting to go look for him.

By nightfall, Xiaozai played on the bed until he was exhausted, his eyes drooping, yet he struggled to stay awake, becoming increasingly restless and whimpering.

Sui Yu held him and fed him milk, finally soothing him to sleep.

But in the middle of the night, Xiaozai woke up and realized his father was missing. He couldn't hold back his tears and started crying loudly, clinging to Sui Yu.

"If your father knew how much you miss him, he'd be overjoyed," Sui Yu said, wrapping herself in a robe and holding him. "You're so young, yet you have such strong feelings. Your father hasn't gone anywhere; he'll be back in a few days."

Xiaozai mumbled something that sounded like "father," still learning to speak, his words unclear but able to distinguish between father, mother, and uncle.

Sui Liang was woken up and rushed over. "Sister, what's wrong with Xiaozai?"

"He misses his father-in-law, but it's fine. A good cry will do him some good."

"Should he sleep with me?" Sui Liang felt he still held a significant place in his nephew's heart.

Sui Yu opened the door and let him in. Sui Liang took Xiaozai and stepped out, but the child reached out for his mother again.

Unable to help it, Sui Liang stayed in his sister's room to play with Xiaozai. Together, they managed to cheer him up, and he forgot about his father.

The next morning, Xiaozai cried again, and to comfort him, both the cat and the big black dog came over.

After three days, Xiaozai seemed to get used to his father being away and stopped crying, though he would still look out when he heard hoofbeats.

One evening, after putting Xiaozai to sleep, Sui Yu lay beside him, propping her head up and watching him. After a long silence, she spoke softly, "You're so emotional. When I leave next year, how long will you be upset? Oh, you should be more insensitive, less attuned to others' emotions."

No one answered.

Worried about this, Sui Yu couldn't sleep all night, only closing her eyes when the rooster crowed.

In the morning, Sui Yu handed the inn to Sui Liang and took A'shui and Xiaozai to work in the fields with the servants. The wheat and millet had been harvested, but the soybeans and sorghum were still growing.

"Look, Xiaozai, I caught another big grasshopper," A'shui ran over, holding the grasshopper's legs. She explained, "Summer grasshoppers are green, but when the grass turns yellow in autumn, they turn yellow too."

Xiaozai took the grasshopper and, with lightning speed, tried to put it in his mouth. Sui Yu quickly grabbed his chin and pulled the grasshopper out.

Xiaozai glanced at her, seeing no scolding, he reached for a swaying blade of grass.

A'shui put the grasshopper in her pocket and said, "Xiaozai must have seen the chickens eating grasshoppers, so he wants to try them too."

Sui Yu nodded. She carried Xiaozai and went with A'shui to catch grasshoppers in the grass, digging for bugs in the soil where soybean stalks had been pulled. They filled a bag and excitedly returned to feed the chickens.

Catching bugs to feed the chickens, which then laid eggs, Sui Yu took Xiaozai to collect the eggs and cook them.

Xiaozai savored the boiled egg.

The next day, he eagerly wanted to catch bugs to feed the chickens again, but Sui Yu slung her bow and arrow, took A'shui and the big black dog to patrol the fields. In the wheat field, a rabbit dragged wheat ears into its burrow, and the big black dog chased it, forcing it into the hole.

Disappointed, the dog returned, and Xiaozai looked dejected. But when Sui Yu shot a wild chicken flying overhead, both the child and the dog became excited.

For dinner, they stewed the chicken, with the humans eating the meat and the dog gnawing on the bones. Xiaozai sat in his wooden crib, drooling with hunger.

As the weather turned colder and the river dried up, it was time for the annual fish-catching season.

Sui Liang dug a palm-sized fish out of the mud and threw it on the shore. Xiaozai leaned in to look, but the fish suddenly flicked its tail and jumped, startling him.

Sui Liang pointed and laughed, and Sui Yu also chuckled. A'shui teased him for being timid, and Xiaozai looked at everyone, then smiled innocently.

In the distance, hoofbeats grew louder. Sui Yu turned, stood up with Xiaozai in her arms, and pointed at the approaching rider. "Xiaozai, is that your father coming back?"