Chapter 294: The Heart’s Intent is More Precious than a Horse

Chapter 294: The Heart's Intent is More Precious than a Horse

Going to the livestock pen to get the camels, Sui Liang immediately recognized the black horse that had shed its coat. Its sleek figure was especially striking, and its graceful eating movements easily outshone his own chestnut horse.

"Is this the same breed as Big Boss Qin's white horse? Also a Ferghana horse?" Zhao Xiping walked over with a bundle, leaning over the pen gate to scrutinize the black horse closely. "Is this ours or the Song family's?"

"Yours," Sui Liang said with envy. "My sister bought it for you. You didn’t know?"

Zhao Xiping looked at Sui Yu, who nodded.

"A hero needs a good horse. I think this horse suits you."

The man's face turned red. Those words were embarrassing. He felt ashamed—how could he, standing before such a divine horse, possibly match it? He looked shabby in comparison.

"What hero? People would laugh if they heard that," Zhao Xiping said, turning his heated face away to avoid the intense gaze directed at him.

"In our family, you are a hero. You saved us from trouble. How can you not be a hero?" Sui Yu spoke firmly. "Liang Ge, don't you think so?"

Sui Liang straightened up and nodded willingly. "In my heart, my brother-in-law is a hero."

Zhao Xiping fell silent, his ears now completely red. He clenched his fists, trying hard to hold back the joy welling up in his heart. These sweet words were enough to make him melt. He didn't dare move, fearing that if he took a step, he might collapse.

The little one peeked at him, giggling softly. He deliberately said loudly, "Mom, Dad's shy!"

Sui Yu patted his head, teasing, "Be careful, or your dad might get angry and come after you."

Zhao Xiping couldn't help but laugh, his face turning as red as a ripe persimmon. He placed a heavy hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder, pulling Sui Liang close. Looking at the smiling mother and son, he said, "The heart's intent is more precious than a horse. Thank you, Jade Merchant."

Sui Yu winked at him. "Let's go. Try the horse some other day. This horse has a temper and is proud. It won’t give in easily. Only when you’ve tamed it will it really be yours. If it doesn't recognize you as its master, I'll take it to Chang'an and sell it."

Zhao Xiping glanced at the black horse again. He led out three camels, personally helping his wife, son, and brother-in-law mount them before they all left the guest house to head into the city.

At the clinic, the old doctor took Sui Yu's pulse for a while before letting go. He examined her figure, then looked at Zhao Xiping and the two boys, one big and one small.

"Are you a family?" he asked. Seeing Sui Yu nod, he continued, "What’s your job? The three of them look robust, clearly well-fed with rice and flour. But you're thin and sallow, working like a servant in the fields every day?"

As he spoke, he cast a mocking glance at Zhao Xiping.

Zhao Xiping's eyelids twitched, but he lowered his gaze and remained silent.

"No, the Long Return Inn in the north of the city is mine. I’ve been leading trade caravans these past few years," Sui Yu explained. "Thank you for speaking up, but I'm not oppressed. I look thin because I just returned from beyond the pass a couple of days ago. My face is dark from being in the desert."

"Jade Merchant? I've heard of you. You're a capable woman," the old doctor said, glancing at her again before picking up his brush to write a prescription. "You need to rest. A woman’s body isn’t as strong as a man’s and can’t handle too much. You’ve been running around all year, eating and drinking whenever, right? Your stomach and intestines are in trouble. Your rest is poor too. Look at your husband's eyes, then look at yours—yours are yellow. Your pulse is heavy, and your organs are weak. It’s not just a lack of energy and blood; your liver is also weak. Are you always worrying day and night?"

Sui Yu looked at him, clenching her hands. Weakly, she said, "I think I'm in good health, and my spirits are fine. Aside from being a bit thin, I don't have any other issues. The minor problems you mentioned—I can probably recover by eating and sleeping more in the future, right?"

"You need to nourish, regulate, and rest. These are minor issues now, but if you ignore them while you're young, they could become life-threatening as you age," the old doctor said, handing over the prescription. "I'm only prescribing five days' worth of medicine. Come back every five days, and I'll check your pulse again and adjust the prescription."

Sui Yu handed the prescription to Zhao Xiping, noticing his grim expression. She sighed imperceptibly. Once the man went to fetch the medicine, she muttered, "Did you do that on purpose? You scared him. Now I’ll have to do a lot of explaining if I want to go out again."

The old doctor chuckled, putting away his pulse pillow. "You should rest. Wait until your body recovers before going out again. I'm not lying to you. If you keep living like this, eating irregularly, your body will deteriorate, and it will affect your lifespan."

Sui Liang turned pale, almost on the verge of tears.

Sui Yu quickly got up and left, not daring to listen to the old doctor's lecture any longer. Though she felt uneasy inside, she kept a smile on her face, comforting her brother as they walked out. "Don't listen to the old doctor. He's just trying to scare us into buying medicine."

The old doctor snorted.

"Then let’s try another clinic," Sui Liang said, not heeding her words.

Sui Yu: "...Forget it, forget it. Let's just drink this nasty medicine for now. Anyway, we're not leaving this year. We'll try a different clinic at the end of the year and see how it goes."

Zhao Xiping waited in the hall for the medicine boy to prepare the medicine, while Sui Yu waited outside. She watched the passersby on the road, muttering about buying sugar, meat, and oil cakes...

"Let's go," Zhao Xiping came out. The bag, which had been flat when they arrived, was now almost bursting.

"It's just minor stuff, look how much I'm eating," Sui Yu pushed up the corners of his mouth, saying, "Why the gloomy face? I'm not on my deathbed, just some minor problems. If you don't believe me, just ask ten people on the street—nine and a half of them will have their own issues."

"Brother-in-law, don't listen to her, the old doctor said it could shorten her life," Sui Liang tattled.

Sui Yu hit him, "Did you miss what was said earlier? When Chen Lao returns, I'll ask him how he teaches his students, can't even understand words." Then she turned to explain to the man, "The doctor meant that if I keep ignoring these minor issues and eating irregularly, it could affect my lifespan later. But I'm already resting at home, taking medicine, resting and nourishing, I definitely won't kick the bucket early."

Zhao Xiping pinched her mouth, her talk about death was really unsettling.

"Let's go home," he pushed her.

"What home? My son still wants to buy me candy," Sui Yu grabbed the little one, saying, "Let's go, we're buying candy."

Looking down, she saw the child's teary eyes and immediately quieted down, squatting to say, "Mom promises, I'll take my medicine, eat right, sleep well, and still be spry at eighty."

"Live to a hundred," the little one wiped his tears, holding Sui Yu's face with both hands, saying, "Mom, rest, when I grow up, I'll go trading to earn money."

"Living to a hundred would turn me into an old hag," Sui Yu picked him up, walking and saying, "Don't worry, I make enough to keep us set for life, no need for you to go trading."

"Walk by yourself," Zhao Xiping said, "Your mom's my responsibility, don't think about unnecessary things, take your money to buy candy, buy more, from now on, you and your uncle are in charge of the candy your mom eats after her bitter medicine."

The little one still trusted his father, hearing this, he relaxed, and after eating the candy and being distracted by Sui Yu, he became happy again. Hearing the camel bells on the road, he cheered, "Looks like a caravan's coming."

It was the Xu and Li family caravans entering the city. Sui Liang rode a camel to the butcher shop and ordered thirty to forty pounds of pork for the guest house.

After strolling around the city, as the sunset painted the sky, Sui Yu took the two little ones out of the city to the north.

"It's my aunt," the little one recognized the person ahead.

"Sister-in-law, you're finally back. You've gotten thinner," Zhao Xiaomi looked at Sui Yu, saying, "Not leaving this year, right? Rest well at home."

"Not leaving," Sui Yu looked at her belly, surprised, "You're pregnant again? When did that happen? Already?"

"You've been gone for two years, what's soon? In two more months, this child will be born," Zhao Xiaomi touched her belly, saying, "Don't go far in the future, I've had dreams about you, waking up worried, scared something bad had happened."

"Alright, alright," Sui Yu agreed readily, "Are you here for us? Turn around then."

"Of course, I'm here for you. I heard the camel bells and came to check if the caravan needed supplies," Zhao Xiaomi laughed, "I'm heading back, I'll have your brother-in-law bring the fodder later, I don't travel at night."

"I'll come see you in a few days," Sui Yu said.

"Alright," Zhao Xiaomi stood by the roadside, letting the camels pass.

Passing by, Sui Yu looked back, seeing Zhao Xiaomi's bulging belly, she felt a sense of disorientation. Since she left Dunhuang last February, the city behind her had become frozen in her memory. The people and things she remembered were from two years ago. She knew children would grow, trees would grow taller, the elderly would age, but seeing it in person, she still felt a sense of unreality, it was all too surreal.

Returning to the guest house, Li, the caravan leader, came over to say hello, he sighed, "I just saw Zhao the Head of the Household, it's been over a year, she's pregnant again."

"I met her on the road too," Sui Yu said.

Li, the caravan leader nodded, lost in thought for a moment, then said, "Are Song the Head of the Household's horses kept here?"

"Yes."

"When did you guys return?"

"Yesterday."

"Oh." With nothing more to say, Li, the caravan leader, left.

Sui Yu went to find Xiao Chunhong and suggested they visit the clinic another day for a check-up, with the medicine costs billed to her account.

The little one skipped his noon nap and was dozing off as soon as it got dark. After barely finishing his rice, Sui Liang took him back for a bath, cleaned him up, tucked him into bed, and then headed out.

"Let him sleep with you tonight; I want to talk to your sister," Zhao Xiping, who had just returned, stopped Sui Liang and said, "Your nephew is getting older; it's not appropriate for him to sleep with us anymore. Try to persuade him these days to gradually get used to sleeping separately."

"Alright," Sui Liang agreed readily, as he had also started sleeping separately from his sister and brother-in-law at that age.

Before bed, Sui Yu pinched her nose and downed half a bowl of bitter medicine in one gulp. As soon as she set the bowl down, she popped a candy into her mouth to chase the bitterness, then collapsed onto the bed.

Zhao Xiping tossed the medicine bowl into the water basin and rinsed his candy-sticky fingers. Sitting by the bed, he said, "Scoot over."

"Ah," Sui Yu shifted over, sat up, and leaned on his back, teasing, "Come here, let me kiss you. I've been back for two days and haven't even gotten a kiss. Honestly, did you sneak a kiss last night?"

"No."

"Not telling the truth," Sui Yu leaned down and kissed him.

The spark ignited instantly, but at the crucial moment, the man resisted and tried to pull away. Sui Yu grabbed him and scolded, "What's wrong? Are you holding back?"

"You're weak..."

"Nonsense, give it a shot."

"No, I'm afraid you might get pregnant," Zhao Xiping pushed her down, "You lie down, I'll take care of you."