Chapter 246: The Choice

Chapter 246: The Choice

Cheshi was under attack, and the courier rode in from beyond the border. The border defense general immediately received the news. Cheshi was besieged, and the Han army commander requested assistance from the imperial court. However, the court had not yet received the message, and without orders, the border garrison could only remain on standby, quietly increasing their training.

Zhao Xiping had been leaving early and returning late these days, too busy to come home for lunch. Sui Liang arranged for someone to deliver his meals to the military camp.

"Uncle, you're lost in thought." The little boy ran over, his short legs moving as fast as they could. He sat next to Sui Liang and pulled a bundle wrapped in cattail and coarse cloth from under his arm. The silkworm eggs had been kept warm for half a month, and every day, some small silkworms hatched.

Sui Liang put down his leg that had been propped up and, like his nephew, retrieved a large clump of silkworm eggs from under his arm, wrapped in coarse cloth. The cloth had tiny silkworms wriggling on it. He ran into the house and brought out a silkworm box.

The uncle and nephew squatted on the empty ground outside the door, heads close together as they gently placed the small silkworms on mulberry leaves.

"Little silkworms are amazing. They can eat mulberry leaves as soon as they're born," the little boy said in his childish voice. "Piglets drink milk when they're born. Did I drink milk when I was born? Did I eat food?"

"Only milk. You were born without teeth and only started eating egg custard after your teeth grew in," Sui Liang replied, turning his head to speak. He gently nudged his nephew's head and said, "Don't talk to the silkworms. You might scare them away."

Footsteps approached. Sui Liang turned to see a merchant who had just checked in, holding a package. Sui Liang stood up abruptly.

The little boy looked up, confused, but when he saw the package in the merchant's hand, a smile immediately spread across his face.

"Seems like you know why I'm here," the merchant said with a smile. "Are you the children of Jade Merchant?"

"I'm her brother, and this is her son," Sui Liang explained.

The merchant handed him the package and said, "We met her on the east side of the great river. She asked us to bring this back for you. By now, she should have arrived in Chang'an."

Sui Liang accepted the package and sincerely thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle."

The merchant nodded but didn't leave. He looked around the courtyard and asked, "I heard from the escort that your brother-in-law is a senior military commander?"

Sui Liang nodded. "He's training troops at the training ground and hasn't come back yet. Do you need to see him?"

The merchant considered asking the child for more information but decided against it, thinking the child might not know. He said, "I'll come back when he returns."

"Then come in the evening. He'll be back at night."

The merchant was surprised. "Does he train even at noon?"

Sui Liang nodded, his mind already focused on the package. He had no interest in chatting further.

"Come in the evening. He'll be back for dinner," he repeated. "Uncle, we're going inside now."

"Alright, alright."

Sui Liang and the little boy stopped picking the silkworms and hurriedly went inside to unpack the package.

When they opened it, various scattered items were spread across the table. Sui Liang was puzzled; why were there leaves and wood pieces?

The little boy stood on a stool and leaned over the table, picking up a folded leaf. "Uncle, what's this?"

It was a heart, folded from a tough, flexible leaf, with words pricked into it with a needle.

"This is my name. It's for me," Sui Liang said, placing the "heart" by his side. "Let me see if there's anything for you."

"There has to be something for me too," the little boy said confidently.

There were eight "hearts" in total, each bearing a name: Zhao Xiping, Zhao Mingguang, and Sui Liang.

"Uncle, you only have two," the little boy said with a giggle.

Sui Liang didn’t mind. He rummaged again and pulled out a handful of stars woven from rice stalks and grass stems. The uncle and nephew were amazed and couldn’t understand how these were made.

"My mother is really amazing," the little one said proudly.

Sui Liang picked up a palm-sized wooden tablet with writing on it and excitedly read aloud, "Liang Ge’er, Zai Zai, I’m now in Zhangye City. At night, I sleep beside a large lake. Fishermen row boats to sell fish. There are many waterbird eggs in the reeds by the lake. I picked a lot of waterbird eggs and roasted them to eat."

The little one stretched his neck, listening intently. When he saw his uncle stop reading, he urged, "What else? What do waterbird eggs look like? Are they yummy?"

"That’s all," Sui Liang put down the wooden tablet and found another one to read, "We are crossing the great river. A big fish jumped out of the river, longer than Zai Zai’s leg."

The little one looked at his own leg and asked, "Did you catch it?"

"I don’t know. Your mother didn’t say. Wait until she comes back and ask her," Sui Liang put down the wooden tablet and picked up another one to read, "I bought half a pound of rice in Zhangye. The little one’s father, remember to plant it on the riverbank and see if it sprouts and produces grain."

Rice, rice. Sui Liang rummaged through the bundle and found half a pound of rice seeds in a handkerchief. He told the little one that there was white rice under the husk.

"Uncle, keep reading," the little one handed over a thin wooden tablet.

"Zai Zai should not play by the river." Just one sentence.

"Okay, I won’t go to the riverbank," the little one replied and handed over another tablet.

"I saw a huge butterfly flying west. I asked it to send a message to my family: 'I miss you all.'"

The little one and Sui Liang were both stunned. After a moment, the little one covered his heart and said, "The big butterfly came to deliver a message. I miss my mother too."

"Yes, yes, yes, we received the message sent by the big butterfly," Sui Liang carefully put down the wooden tablet, picked up another one, and continued reading, "I saw an old woman by the river killing fish. After she left, I picked up a bunch of fish scales, washed them clean, and dried them. I’ll show them to Cat Official; he’s never seen such big fish scales."

Picking up the scattered fish scales from the bundle, the little one compared them with his hand and said, "They are bigger than my toes and bigger than Cat Official’s eyes."

"Time to eat," A’shui came over and called, "Are you two still in the room?"

Sui Liang looked at the wooden tablet he hadn’t finished reading, put down the things in his hands, and only took a handful of fish scales, saying, "Let’s go. We’ll eat first and then come back to read."

Seeing them come out, A’shui ran off to call her father.

"A’shui Aunt, bring Cat Official," the little one shouted loudly.

"Cat Official is in the kitchen."

Cat Official, having eaten his fill, was lying on the kitchen court’s wall, lazily wagging his tail. When he saw Sui Liang and the little one come in, he reluctantly shook his fur and jumped down after much urging.

"Cat Official, look. You’ve probably never eaten such a big fish," Sui Liang took the largest fish scale and spread it out in front of Cat Official. Smelling it, Cat Official sniffed hard.

Yin Po brought out the dishes and said, "Wash your hands and come to eat."

"Has your father’s meal been sent?" Sui Liang asked.

"Your father has returned and was called away by a merchant," Yin Po replied.

By the river, Zhao Xiping stood with two merchants. The merchants looked anxious and said a few words. He nodded and said, "It’s not safe beyond the border right now. You can wait a few days. When the Hu merchants come through, ask them about the situation."

The two merchants thought about it, unsure if Zhao Xiping was suggesting they delay their trip.

"Will we be able to leave the border this year?" one merchant asked persistently.

Zhao Xiping thought for a moment and said, "If you’re really worried, you can take the southern desert route, avoiding Loulan and Kuqa, and pass through Ruoqiang and Hotan. When you return in autumn or next year, you can decide which route to take based on the situation."

"We’ll think about it. Thanks for your help, Zhao Qianhu."

Zhao Xiping waved his hand. He didn’t say much more. What he said was that they just needed to wait a few more days and ask the Hu merchants coming through the pass to get updates on what was happening beyond the frontier.

"Big brother, let's go eat." A'shui led Old Uncle Niu over and curiously asked, "Not busy today, huh?"

"Yeah, mostly done." Zhao Xiping caught up with the father and daughter, and the three of them headed towards the kitchen yard together.

Sui Liang and Xiao Zai had been waiting for them. Once everyone was there, the uncle and nephew picked up their chopsticks and started eating meat.

"Dad, Mom has brought us things back." Xiao Zai excitedly announced, "And there are so many messages."

Zhao Xiping looked at Sui Liang, understanding that Sui Yu had written a bunch of messages on wooden slips. He planned to take a look after the meal.

"Cui Sao said that when she has time, she'll use needle and thread to string the fish scales together to make a necklace for Cat Official." Sui Liang said.

Zhao Xiping nodded and said, "That's feasible. The cats in Dunhuang have never seen such big fish scales. If Cat Official wears a fish scale necklace, he can marry a few more cat wives."

Everyone else laughed heartily.

After the meal, Zhao Xiping went back to the room with Sui Liang and Xiao Zai. A'shui wanted to join in too, but Old Uncle Niu pulled her away. Seeing this, Huaniu and Da Zhuang decided not to go over either.

Zhao Xiping could only read about half of the characters on a wooden slip, so it wasn’t very interesting. He asked Sui Liang to read it again.

After repeating the ones from the morning, Xiao Zai organized the remaining slips. Sui Liang took the slips with one hand and accepted the water his brother-in-law handed him to moisten his throat.

"Climbing the snowy mountain, saw a stone that looked like a piglet, giving it to Xiao Zai."

"Today, I shot a snow rabbit. The meat was so tender, not gamey at all. The soup was really fragrant too, but you all couldn't taste it."

"In Wuwei County, they're plowing the fields and planting wheat. Is our home busy with spring planting too? Is Er'hei behaving?"

"This part about Liang Ge… never mind, even if you saw it, just forget it." Sui Liang choked, glancing at his brother-in-law.

Zhao Xiping raised his eyebrows and fiddled with the pig-shaped stone in his hand, asking, "What's wrong? Continue reading."

"Alright." Sui Liang, a little red-faced, cleared his throat and continued reading, "This Liang Ge… never mind, even if you saw it, just tell your brother-in-law that I dreamed about him last night..."

Zhao Xiping snatched the slip from him, causing Sui Liang to blush deeply. He secretly laughed while holding Xiao Zai.

"What, what?" Xiao Zai, being clever, asked curiously.

Zhao Xiping smiled; he recognized the last line on the slip: "Zhao Xiping, I like you, miss you."

"Dad, what did Mom say to you?" Xiao Zai asked, resting his chin on his hands.

"None of your business." Zhao Xiping put away the slip and asked, "How many slips are left?"

Xiao Zai didn’t want to pay attention to him, but seeing his glare, he had to reluctantly let go. There were only three left.

Sui Liang glanced over them roughly and said, "Brother-in-law, none of them are addressed to you."

"Alright, you two have fun." Zhao Xiping put down the stone and left with the slips in his pocket.

At the training ground, Zhao Xiping ran into Gu Qianhu. The two stood together, and Gu Qianhu asked, "Are you going back to the battlefield this time?"

"The court hasn't issued the order yet."

"It's only a matter of time. We can't let Cheshi stay under siege forever."

Zhao Xiping didn’t say anything.

In the evening, Commander Qu came over and asked Zhao Xiping, "Do you have any thoughts on going to the battlefield?"

Zhao Xiping declined, explaining that unless Officer Hu died, the position would not become available. Even if he earned merit on the battlefield, he wouldn’t be promoted. Instead of risking his life for some reward money, he’d rather stay home, run the guest house, and raise his kids.

"So, you’re not going to be the fearless warrior anymore?" Commander Qu was surprised. "I suppose it makes sense now that your wife has been freed from slavery. If she were still a slave, you’d be fighting tooth and nail to get back on the battlefield."

"Back when I was just a low-ranking soldier, all I had to do was follow orders and kill on the battlefield. But now things are different. Now that I’m responsible for a thousand men, I don’t have the skills to command them or even know how to assign tasks properly." Zhao Xiping explained honestly.

Commander Qu understood. This was indeed a problem. The only way to gain that experience was through the battlefield, but that came at the cost of lives. Alternatively, one could have family connections or a mentor who could guide them over time. Zhao Xiping had neither.

This was the struggle for poor families—relying on blood and sweat to build a future. Without a break, their path had a clear endpoint, like a road that hits a dead end.