Bahu sat under the tree for quite a while. The sky gradually darkened, and the distant sounds of cows and sheep calling faded away. In the midst of it, human voices emerged, and within a few breaths, two large black dogs with long fur and thick tails came running.
“Bara, Alse wolves… haven’t you gone back to the master’s house?” It was Chaolu’s turn to guard the night. He approached, chasing after the dogs, and noticed a white spot on the ground. Concerned, he asked, “How are Mi Niang’s girl’s sheep? I checked during the day, and there were no issues with our flock.”
“Well, leave the stuff here, you go back. I’ll guard the night tonight.” Bahu pulled on Bara’s neck, using it as a barrier for the motionless sheep behind.
“You guarded all night last night, and slept less than half a day during the day, can you endure guarding tonight? Let me do it. It’s just keeping an eye on the flock. I won’t sleep tonight and will inspect several times.” Chaolu’’s spoke a long string of words, but seeing no response, he knew that this person had made up his mind not to listen to advice.
A gust of wind blew through. On the opposite side, a person and two dogs sat and lay down. Chaolu felt it was boring to deal with Bahu, who didn’t appreciate his concern. He had kindly inquired, but not even a polite word was spoken.
“Alright, I’m going back.” This person was stubborn and unyielding. If it weren’t for having some family business, he wouldn’t even be able to find a wife in the future.
As footsteps faded away, Bahu stood up, picked up the stiff sheep, and walked forward. He took out a flint and a knife from the felt blanket brought by Chaolu, lit the cow dung in the wind-sheltered slope, and carefully observed the size and color of the sheep.
“A bit fat, but she probably won’t notice.” Bahu compared a half-grown lamb that was bleating, pulled out some grass, squeezed out the juice, and rubbed it on the sheep’s head. The color was too intense, so he sprinkled some soil and rubbed it again. However, it still didn’t seem right. He carried a sheep with each hand to the riverside, wetting the sheep’s wool with water, turning the gray into mud, and completely suppressing the grassy green color.
After a flurry of busy activity, the white sheep turned into a gray one. However, the accidental turn of events made this once-healthy little lamb look a bit wilted. Bahu tied up the gray sheep with a rope, carried the dead lamb back to the bonfire, threw it in to burn, and finally dug a hole to bury both the bones and the ashes.
“Who is still roasting meat at this time? It’s deliberately keeping people from sleeping.” Prefect Huxian Cheng took a breath and pondered over the smell, “This direction seems to be where Bahu raises livestock. Lao Qu, shall we go there again and have something to eat?”
“Come to my place. I’ll have my wife slaughter a lamb for roasting, and we can also have some wine.” Perhaps feeling that a direct refusal might offend Prefect Huxian Cheng, Village Chief Qu added, “Bahu is straightforward. He doesn’t drink, and when he sees others drinking, he wears a gloomy expression. It’s unappetizing for me to see that.” There was a hint of teasing in his words, delivered in an elder’s style of banter.
“He’s indeed not open-minded at all. As a grown man, not touching a drop of alcohol, I can’t muster any enthusiasm when I eat with him.” Prefect Huxian Cheng shook his head. “Forget it. It’s not early anymore. I’ll come to your house next time for that lamb. Keep an eye on those people to the west. Like today, reporting about cultivating and planting came a bit late. Seeing that bald piece of land, hurts my heart, not to mention the herders who make a living by grazing. If their tempers flare up, there might be fights and trouble.”
“Ah, I understand. My family has been busy shearing sheep these days, and I neglected this matter for a while.” Village Chief Qu nodded. It was indeed their oversight. The government’s regulations strictly prohibited large-scale cultivation on the grasslands. Each family could only cultivate two plots of land to grow some vegetables. He forgot to inform the refugees who had recently moved here.
The women, including Mi Niang, had just returned from watching the commotion. Now they wouldn’t have to cultivate and plant vegetables. The large piece of land to the north was divided into numerous smaller plots, distributed among each felt tent.
“In this vast grassland that stretches as far as the eye can see, how can there not be enough for the livestock to eat? Opening up a piece of land and threatening us with imprisonment.” Once inside the felt tent, Mu Xiang scoffed. According to her observations during this period, the herders in the northern desert didn’t know how to farm. The vegetables they planted weren’t as good as the weeds, so she was thinking of growing vegetables to sell. Cleaning sheep pens wasn’t a long-term job. Once Old AoGa recovered from his illness, she wouldn’t be able to earn money. Moreover, she was reluctant to continue doing dirty and smelly work forever.
Thinking about this, Mu Xiang gave Lan Niang a disdainful look. She had only earned fifteen cents for standing in the water all day. Still, she shamelessly bragged about eating several bowls of meat, praising the host’s generosity and talking about the hostess giving birth and observing the postpartum period. She never changed her tune, always interested in peeking into other people’s homes wherever she went.
“Maybe the grassland isn’t suitable for farming. Look, we’ve been here for so long, and not a single drop of rain has fallen. People and livestock here rely on the river up ahead for water. Even the deepest parts of that river are only thigh-high. If we irrigate the crops with that water, everyone will die of thirst.” Mi Niang lifted a clay pot and asked, “I’m planning to take a bath, anyone joining?”
“I’m not washing.” Lan Niang sat with her legs spread on the doorstep. After soaking in water all day, her skin had wrinkled, and she didn’t want to get wet again.
“I’m not washing either.” Ying Niang directly went back into the felt tent and lay down. She was tired, and listening to the conversation outside, she closed her eyes to sleep.
Now, only four girls were going to the river to fetch water. While Bai Mei accompanied Mu Xiang to find a convenient spot, Pandi whispered, “Mi Niang, I heard your sheep got sick?”
“Yeah, the smallest one got diarrhea, but the other three are fine. Bahu’s sheep are also okay. It shouldn’t be a contagious disease, so don’t worry.” Mi Niang thought Pandi was concerned that she had been in contact with the sick sheep and might spread it to other sheep.
“Is your master helping you treat that sheep?” Seeing Mi Niang nod, Pandi looked at her with complex eyes, hesitating as she asked, “Why is he so good to you? Does he have feelings for you?”
Surprised, Mi Niang looked at her and jokingly said, “Well, that’s possible. I’m a good, unmarried girl. If a man likes me, why not?”
Pandi’s ears felt warm, somewhat suspecting that Mi Niang was making fun of her. She sighed, “Don’t be upset. I’m not making this up. It’s what I overheard from a few aunties.”
“Oh?” Mi Niang knew without guessing that it was about the women who worked together at Bahu’s house. She said seriously, “They might have guessed wrong. Bahu shouldn’t have any romantic feelings for me. If anything, I haven’t interacted much with him. His interest is more in Da Huang. The sheep’s milk I brought back was also given by his male servant, not him.”
Mi Niang had thought about it, but when she calculated, she realized that before she went to work at Bahu’s house, their interactions were mostly related to Da Huang. He had clearly mentioned wanting to buy Da Huang. After she went to his house to share the sheep, they had a few encounters, and Bahu didn’t show any special feelings for her. The only exception was her action of taking the eggs from Chaolu and giving them to Bahu.
“He helped me treat the sheep. Maybe he wasn’t sure if the disease was contagious. If I brought it back, and it turned out to be a contagious disease, the livestock of the nomads near the mountain might suffer heavy losses.”
“That makes sense. Pay attention to the rumors, and when you get a chance, explain it. Don’t let people tarnish your reputation.” Seeing Mu Xiang and Bai Mei returning, Pandi immediately stopped talking. But on the way back to the felt tent, she suddenly said, “Among the recent arrivals, there’s a girl named Er Ni who looks good. A few days ago, she was taken back by a nearly thirty-year-old herder, who gave forty-eight sheep as a betrothal gift.”
“Age doesn’t matter much if the man has a good character. In our current situation, marrying a herder is more worthwhile than marrying a refugee without a house or property.” Mi Niang rubbed her sore arms, sighed thinking about the unpredictable lambs, and said, “A man who can offer forty-eight sheep as a betrothal gift, Er Ni doesn’t have to do what we do, constantly searching for work, thinking about the next job, and walking around all day with the smell of sheep. Even then, she wouldn’t have a pot to cook, a basin to bathe, or a blanket to sleep.”
“True. Unless you marry an official, marrying anyone else means herding. I don’t want to marry and still live in a rented felt tent after having a child.” Pandi sighed in relief. When she talked with Mu Xiang, Mu Xiang mentioned that Er Ni married a man who had…
“You two are so snobbish.” Immediately, Mu Xiang jumped up, “Mi Niang, I thought you were dignified and strong-willed. I didn’t expect you to only look at good conditions.”
“I didn’t say I only look at conditions. I said from the beginning, the man should have good character.” Mi Niang glanced at Mu Xiang, then asked thoughtfully, “Mu Xiang, is your family well-off? Do you have scholars in your family?”
“My father is a scholar, and my maternal grandfather is also a scholar.” Mu Xiang suddenly fell silent. “If there were no earthquakes or floods, I would have been discussing marriage by now. The other party must be a scholar.”
No wonder. Mi Niang glanced at Pandi and said, “In the northern desert, education isn’t so restrictive. Most are scholars. It shouldn’t be difficult for you to marry a scholar.”
Mu Xiang fell into contemplation, and Mi Niang didn’t say more. Pandi suddenly brought up this topic, perhaps as a way to test Mi Niang’s views, or she might be aiming to influence Mu Xiang.
Living with six strangers in one felt tent, they had been forming alliances from the beginning. Pandi and Mu Xiang had the closest relationship, and their bond had been growing stronger every day. Mu Xiang was straightforward and unafraid of offending people, while Pandi was tactful and didn’t want to offend anyone. Tonight, they might face a significant disagreement for the first time. Pandi didn’t want to drift apart from Mu Xiang, so she used this conversation to test Mu Xiang and maybe even influence her.
Mi Niang chuckled softly, finding it amusing. Compared to the sharp exchanges between Mu Xiang and Lan Niang, she preferred this indirect way of speaking.
As the night deepened, the four returned to their tent, heated water, cleaned themselves and lay down to sleep. Another busy day awaited them at dawn.
“Mi Niang is here,” someone whispered.
“The master is also here.” Someone had been paying attention to the movements of the men.
“You didn’t sleep again all night?” Mi Niang noticed that his under-eye circles were even darker than yesterday. “Is it because of my sheep? If so, tell me how to treat it. I…”
“It’s already better.” Bahu turned around and led her up, pointing to the gray sheep that he had been caring for all night, looking exhausted. Without changing his expression, he said, “It had fewer problems last night, and by dawn, it was already dry. I carried it to the river and washed it a bit. It rolled on the ground and ended up like this.”
“Thank you for your trouble.” Mi Niang felt happy inside. Seeing Bahu in this state, she thought expressing gratitude verbally would be too light, and she didn’t have anything good to offer as thanks. The only thing she could do was make a pair of shoes. However, he was a young man, and given their current relationship, gifting shoes might be inappropriate.
“Do you need anything? Let me give it to you as a token of my gratitude.” Mi Niang tested the waters, hoping Bahu might express interest, perhaps in handcrafted embroidery from a woman’s hands.
“No need. You don’t have anything good.” Bahu saw that her smile had diminished by half and added, “Consider those two eggs from yesterday as a thank-you gift.”
“Oh.” It seemed he genuinely had no interest in her. Mi Niang turned away and noticed that the four sheep that used to graze together had separated, leaving the cured little lamb feeling rejected and isolated.
Were even the four sheep forming alliances? She didn’t care. Turning around, she said, “I’m going down to work.”
Bahu nodded. It was time for him to go back and get a good night’s sleep. Staying up late had left his body aching.
“Master, is Mi Niang’s sheep cured?” Seeing the two of them walking over with relaxed expressions, Old Li stepped forward to strike up a conversation.
Bahu nodded without saying a word. He was ready to leave, and both dogs had already gone back to sleep.
“Master, can we leave our sheep here at night too? Would it trouble your servants to keep an eye on them?” As soon as Old Li spoke, others joined in, all complaining that the smell of sheep was strong when they were kept in the felt tents with people.
“No.” Bahu didn’t even stop.
“We’re all working for you, and our work is no worse than Mi Niang’s. Don’t favor her. If she can leave her sheep, why can’t we?”
Bahu stopped and turned around, looking at them strangely. “I’m not anyone’s father, and there’s no favoritism involved. My sheep, my workers. I can do whatever I want.”
“Are you perhaps interested in Mi Niang?” A woman muttered, thinking she was speaking quietly.
Bahu’s heart skipped a beat, and he dared not look at the girl standing not far away.
Mi Niang tightened the scissors in her hand, palms sweaty, and looked down at the grass.
