Chapter 239: Some Rejoice, Some Worry

Chapter 239: Some Rejoice, Some Worry

"Master Shen, can you help me check if these characters are written correctly?" Sui Yu sat down next to a middle-aged merchant and handed him the wooden slip.

The merchant took the slip and pointed to one of the characters, saying, "There are two extra strokes. Remove them, and it'll be correct. This board is written decently today; it's readable."

Sui Yu gave an awkward smile. The wooden slip was narrow and rough, and the charcoal marks were heavy, so it was normal for the characters to smudge. She had practiced for a long time, and her characters were only just about legible now.

In late spring, Sui Yu hadn't forgotten her promise to Qin Wenshan. As soon as winter arrived, she started preparing to write his personal chronicle. She had already bought the bamboo slips, but because she didn’t know how to write some of the characters, she hadn’t started. Last month, when she was copying a story for a Hu merchant, Master Shen happened to pass by and pointed out some mistakes in her writing. She was delighted and, from then on, would shamelessly ask for help whenever she was unsure of a character.

As for Master Shen, his family had fallen from grace, and he had to make a living through trade. He had studied characters for a few years in his youth but hadn’t picked up a brush since he transitioned from an official to a merchant.

"How much reward have you received for writing these?" Master Shen asked.

Sui Yu shook her head. "Lord Qin has helped me before. I promised to write a personal chronicle for him."

Master Shen understood her intention. When merchants became wealthy, they sought fame and recognition. The bait Sui Yu threw out was indeed tempting. Using the personal chronicle as bait, she wouldn’t lack merchant caravans helping her with convenience on her travels.

"You'll be busy in the future," he chuckled.

Sui Yu also smiled. She wrote two more characters on the back of the wooden slip and handed it over, asking, "Are 'chan' and 'chan' written like this?"

"I want to eat the fried pork in sauce you made before noon," Master Shen set a condition.

Sui Yu agreed. He took the charcoal pen and wrote the correct forms of the two characters on the table, and she carefully copied them down. The classical Chinese characters were too difficult to write, with many strokes. Now, she felt like a student again, practicing her characters a little bit every morning, noon, and evening; otherwise, she couldn’t remember them.

With today’s problems out of the way, Sui Yu let out a sigh of relief and headed to the storage room next to the kitchen to practice writing in the snow.

Sui Liang and A'shui were there, and Zhao Xiping had also come over at some point, seriously examining a wooden slip.

"Sister, look at the characters I wrote." Sui Liang handed over a wooden board bigger than his face.

Sui Yu didn’t take it, saying, "You and A'shui check each other's work."

"Did you go to Master Shen for character recognition again?" Zhao Xiping put down the wooden slip.

"Yes, he wants to eat the fried pork in sauce. Do we have any candy syrup at home?" Sui Yu asked.

Zhao Xiping looked at the little boy sitting on the wool rug. The boy shook his head, saying, "It's gone. I finished it."

"I'll go buy more," the man took down the straw hat hanging on the wall and asked, "Besides candy syrup, what else should I buy?"

"A brush. I'll go too," Sui Yu put down the wooden slip and told the kids not to touch anything. As she walked out, she said, "I want to take a look at brushes and inkstones. Charcoal sticks are hard, and it’s not good to always write with them. I want to practice brush characters."

When Zhao Xiping was alone, he didn’t care if it snowed or not. But with her, he didn’t want to go into the city in the snow. He suggested waiting for the snow to stop before heading out.

The couple headed to the livestock pen to check on the camels. The male camels had been castrated, and none of the female camels had conceived this year, but they were well-fed, fat, and healthy, with thick, glossy camel hair. On cold days, they chewed on snowballs and weren’t afraid of the cold.

Li Mutou and Li Wu heard the noise from their small room and came out.

"You didn’t go to the teahouse? Is this small room cold?" Sui Yu walked over.

"With the door closed, it’s not too cold. If it’s cold, we just come out to shovel snow and do some work to warm up," Li Mutou replied, opening the door to air out the room. He said, "Master, it’s snowing outside. Would you like to come in for a while?"

Sui Yu glanced outside briefly. A bowl was upside down on the table, a dice was scattered next to it, and there were two piles of dried dates. She withdrew her gaze. As long as they weren’t gambling for money, she didn’t mind too much.

"The snow has lessened. Let’s go," Sui Yu said, "You bring the camel out."

The two rode the camels away. Li Wu and Li Mutou went back inside and closed the door. Since they shared the same surname, Li Wu and Li Mutou were close friends and often hung out together. Li Wu frequently came to Li Mutou to chat and roll the dice.

"The Jade Merchant heard the noise outside." Li Mutou put away the wooden dice and said with a smile, "We won’t play anymore from now on to avoid causing trouble."

Li Wu nodded and picked up a dried jujube to bite into it.

"You’re getting on in years. Why don’t you settle down and find a wife?" Li Mutou asked. "With a wife and a child, you wouldn’t be so idle."

"Who would I marry?" Li Wu asked.

"You live in the same courtyard and see them all the time. Isn’t there anyone you fancy?"

Li Wu spat out a jujube pit and said, "We’re like the camels in the corral. No matter if they’re male or female, each one has its role."

Li Mutou was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Li Wu also laughed. To keep the females from getting pregnant, all the males were castrated. So, no one dares to mess around.

The snow had stopped outside. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping had also entered the city. They first went to the general store to buy some malt candy. The general store next to the oil mill has been sold for a while now. After making a fortune from deliveries, the former owner, Master Ali, sold the store and went back home. Now, a Han Chinese owner had taken over the store.

After buying the malt candy, they passed by the oil mill. Sui Yu looked inside and saw a runner carrying two jars of sesame oil. She asked him, "Is Master Long here?"

"Which Master Long? The old master is not here, but the young innkeeper is," the runner recognized her and said, "The old master made a fortune and no longer manages the oil mill’s business. Now, it’s run by his second son."

Sui Yu responded with two "Oh"s and followed Zhao Xiping away.

"Looks like the delivery business is pretty lucrative," Zhao Xiping said.

Sui Yu nodded. She saw a shop selling brush pens, which looked deserted. She called out a few times before the shopkeeper finally got out of bed.

"Are these the five inkstones?" Sui Yu asked.

"Yes, how many do you want to buy?" The shopkeeper wrapped his neck and rubbed his hands, cursing the ghost-like weather for being deadly. He then digressed and complained about the difficulty of doing business, "This inkstone was purchased last year. I bought ten inkstones, and after two years, half of them are still left."

Sui Yu picked up the largest inkstone and asked how much it cost.

"Three strings of cash, and it’s yours. I’m not charging much; I just want to break even."

Sui Yu picked up two brush pens from the shelf and said, "I’ll buy an inkstone. How about giving me two brush pens as a gift?"

The shopkeeper didn’t say a word and directly reached out for the money, afraid that she might change her mind and not buy it.

Zhao Xiping paid, and as they left, he said, "Tomorrow night, we’ll light a big torch, and maybe next year, business will pick up."

The shopkeeper shook his head with a bitter smile, "Every year, I tie a torch bigger than my thigh, but it’s useless. Well, next year, I’ll switch to another business."

Riding the camel back, Sui Yu asked, "Shall we come out tomorrow night?"

"It’s cold in the snowy weather; it’s better not to come out."

Sui Yu didn’t say anything. When she returned, she asked Sui Liang and the little one if they wanted to go to the city to perform the Nuo dance and light torches tomorrow night.

Sui Liang was somewhat interested.

"What’s the Nuo dance?" The little one had never seen it.

"It’s a dance where everyone moves to the drumbeat," Sui Liang said.

"I can also play the drums. Mom, let’s go for the Nuo dance." The little one immediately got excited.

"We don’t need you to play the drums..."

"Alright, bring the waist drums."

The couple spoke at the same time. Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Yu and said, "If he starts banging that drum and gets into trouble, don't come crying to me."

"I'll take care of it if you won't." Sui Yu urged him to leave. "Don't disturb our calligraphy practice. Go find your own fun."

When Zhao Xiping didn’t move, Sui Yu pushed him, and the little one and Sui Liang joined in, the three of them pushing Zhao Xiping out the door.

"Sister-in-law, can I join you tomorrow night? I think I remember something about the torch you mentioned, but I don’t think I’ve ever played it," A’shui asked, turning to face her.

"Sure," Sui Yu agreed. "Bring Da Zhuang, A Qiang, and Hua Niu along, and all of you carry waist drums. You can’t beat the drums while performing the Nuo dance, but you can when running towards the city gate. If you’re too scared to beat the drums on stage, tomorrow night, in the dark, no one will see you. If you keep holding back, I’ll stop letting you practice the drums. We can still get a good amount of money selling the waist drums."

A’shui nodded reluctantly.

Sui Liang secretly rejoiced that he hadn’t agreed, or he would have been humiliated tomorrow night.

On New Year’s Eve, like the previous year, the teahouse was set up with thirty tables for the New Year’s feast. After Sui Yu’s family finished the first round, they left before the bonfire for roast lamb was lit.

Kurban and An’le were guarding Li Mutou’s small house. Seeing four large torches approaching out of the darkness, they jumped out. "Master, take us to the city for fun," Kurban said.

"Alright, alright," Sui Yu waved. "Come on, bring the camels and follow us."

Zhao Xiping led the little one on a camel, Sui Yu took A Qiang, A’shui took Hua Niu, Sui Liang took Da Zhuang, and Kurban and An’le each rode a camel, with waist drums slung across their bodies. Together, they headed towards the city.

After entering the city, Zhao Xiping took the six camels to Zhao Xiaomi’s house. The camels were tied up in her courtyard first. Her children were young, and it was too cold to go out for the Nuo dance and torch procession. Someone was always at home.

"Third Brother, when you come back, we’ll go with you to the guest house for roast meat. There’s roast meat tonight, isn’t there?" Zhao Xiaomi asked.

"Yes," Zhao Xiping said as he walked out. "My brother-in-law can ride a camel to my house and bring two or three camels back for us to use. The camels I brought have other purposes and can’t carry you."

"That’s fine. We can walk, and it’ll keep us warm," Huang Lianzheng said.

Zhao Xiping didn’t concern himself with this and was already far away.

"Next year, we should buy two camels. We can’t keep borrowing my brother-in-law’s camels," Xiaomi said. "With our own camels, it’ll be easier to transport grass in the future."

As Huang’s mother came out from the kitchen, she couldn’t help but get angry. "You’re spending money like water and forgetting who you are. You buy everything you see. When you’ve spent all your money, you’ll be satisfied."

Zhao Xiaomi’s face turned cold, and despite the bad luck of quarreling during the New Year, she argued loudly with her mother-in-law, not listening to anyone who tried to persuade her. She had been wondering how to bring up the topic of dividing the household, and she seized the opportunity now.

Meanwhile, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping led a group of people into the crowd dancing the Nuo dance. They arrived late and could only stand on the outskirts of the bonfire, watching the leaping flames and crackling sparks, swaying with the crowd.

Dancing was Kurban and An’le’s specialty, and they twisted with particular vigor. Sui Liang was amazed and led his nephew to chase after them. A’shui, Hua Niu, and A Qiang also ran to watch the excitement. Sui Yu didn’t need to worry about the kids; she held Zhao Xiping’s hand and joined the crowd in dancing.

At the back door of the Inspectorate, Sui Hui came out wrapped in a cloak. She lifted her cloak and pulled out a lantern that cast a dim light, barely illuminating the ground. She was afraid of the dark night but gave herself a mental push and left.

"Miss, should I go with you?" the maid asked, worried.

"You stay and guard the door. I’ll be back before dawn," Sui Hui said and plunged into the night.

Two streets away, the sound of drums echoed as Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping each busily led the children away.

As the people dancing the Nuo dance dispersed, they each took a burning torch from the bonfire and, holding the nearly burnt-out torches, ran towards the city gate.

"Clang," Kurban struck the waist drum slung on Da Zhuang. He pointed to the three girls and said, "If you want to learn drumming, be bold and strike the drums tonight."

A’shui nodded and took a deep breath. As Da Zhuang struck the waist drum, she held her breath and followed the rhythm.

The five waist drums sounded one after another, and the cheerful drumbeat flowed out. The runners were surprised by the drumming and glanced around, but they couldn’t stop for long because of the burning torches in their hands. Before they could figure it out, they were already far away.

Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping each held two torches, standing nearby and keeping watch. Just as Sui Yu was about to urge them on, Kurban and An'le drove the crowd forward. The drumbeats stumbled for a moment but quickly regained their rhythm. The five children, each wearing a waist drum, beat their drums and ran along with the crowd.

The kid’s face turned bright red with excitement. Someone passing by patted his head and shouted, "Run faster—"

"Whose kid is this? Pretty cool!" another passerby remarked.

Spurred on by the praise, the kids got even more hyped, pounding their waist drums even louder.

Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping followed behind. Sui Yu suddenly grabbed a guy’s arm, saying, "Hey, can you do me a favor? Go tell them they’re doing a great job with the drums."

"Nice work, the drums sound awesome!" the loud-voiced man shouted as he passed by.

The little one laughed heartily.

"Thank you," A'shui summoned the courage to call out.

"The drums sound nice," another woman chimed in.

"Thank you," Aqiang smiled gently.

"Sounds great, sounds great," a teenage boy with a raspy voice jogged past, playfully slapping Da Zhuang on the back.

Da Zhuang hesitated for a second but then echoed the others with a ‘thanks.’

Sui Yu’s torch was nearly burned out, and they were approaching the city gate. The kid was drenched in sweat from all the running. He excitedly hugged his mother's leg and said, "Mom, I want to come out and play again next year."

"Alright, I'll bring you out again next year," Sui Yu said, handing her torch to Zhao Xiping. "You go throw this away. It's windy outside the city, so I won't take them out."

"Okay, wait here for me."