In September, the herders of the Xia Ranch gradually brought back their livestock, and life became lively again near the mountains. The cows and sheep continuously came down to the river to drink water. With more livestock, Bahu and Chaolu became busier. The pregnant cows and ewes required more careful attention.
“Bahu, the meal is ready,” Mi Niang shouted from outside the felt bag. She had been preparing lunch and dinner these days. Bahu would prepare breakfast when he returned from night duty, eat, and then go back to sleep.
“I’m awake,” Bahu responded. After half a day of sleep, he felt more energetic. When a person is energetic, even his underlings become more active.
“Mistress, come in and help me with something.” Bahu tried to lure Mi Niang inside. These days, he hadn’t been sleeping at home at night, neglecting his marital duties.
The excuse was too obvious, and Mi Niang didn’t fall for it. She blew a wooden whistle, and a horse came over. “I’m going to deliver food to Chaolu. Get up quickly.”
Listening to the sound of hooves fading away, Bahu lay in bed without moving. Even when Da Huang pushed open the door and entered, he ignored it. Only after the discomfort in his abdomen subsided did he lift the covers and get out of bed.
“Da Huang, Da Huang, you’re clever and smart. Can you guard the night for me tonight?” He was almost withering away.
Da Huang didn’t make a sound, wagged its tail, and led Bahu to the kitchen. Before entering, it picked up its bowl with its mouth. When Bahu lifted the lid of the pot, it immediately placed the bowl at his feet. The coarse pottery bowl fell to the ground without making a sound. Bahu glanced outside the door, but he didn’t see Bala and Alse wolves.
Da Huang wasn’t large in size, but it was quite clever. While appearing friendly with Bala and Alse wolves, it schemed behind their backs to eat alone.
It also knew how to curry favor with people. Whenever it heard someone waking up in the felt bag, it would eagerly squeeze in to greet them. Helplessly, Bahu fell for its tricks, and following its lead, he
Bahu glanced at her legs, washed his hands with oil soap, and followed Mi Niang as they walked inside. He said, “In the future when you ride a horse, don’t jump down abruptly. In case you’re pregnant and unaware, don’t accidentally lose the baby. After we eat, I’ll bring a table outside. From now on, when you ride a horse, use the table for mounting and dismounting.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything in my stomach.” Mi Niang snorted. Since Bahu started watching over the cattle and sheep at night after returning from the Xia Ranch, she had been bored every night. If she were pregnant, he would regret it.“
Bahu had indeed hit upon this idea, and as he brought up the topic, he coughed and scooped some vegetables into Mi Niang’s bowl with an insincere smile, saying, “I’ve got something that doesn’t cost a penny. Do you want it? If you want it, I’ll give it to you, as much as you want.”
Mi Niang felt a tingling sensation. She lost interest in chewing the food in her mouth. “You can’t find someone to help you guard the night, huh?” She refused to work during the day. Now that the people from the nearby mountains had returned, there were always passersby around the house.
“Let Da Huang take my place for a while.” The man shifted the responsibility onto the dog. After all, the lamb was not given to it for free.
“Don’t go to sleep too early at night; leave a door open for me,” Bahu said in a low and muffled voice. There was a nervous sense of illicit excitement in his heart, making the meat in his mouth taste bland.
Mi Niang chewed her vegetables with a clicking sound for a while. Eventually, she made a low sound of agreement.
Now Bahu was completely uninterested in eating. He quickly finished the rice in his bowl. He didn’t eat many of the lamb scorpions stewed by Mi Niang; after meals, they were all poured into the bowls of the three dogs. Especially for Da Huang, who had to take over for him for almost half an hour at night, Bahu was attentive, almost feeding the lamb scorpions into its dog mouth.
“Put it in its bowl; it’ll eat by itself.” Wasn’t this planting a thorn in the hearts of Bala and Alse wolves? They were all dogs, yet he treated them so differently.
Da Huang enjoyed eating bones, but when Bahu tried to take it away at night, it resisted fiercely, struggling and howling as if facing a life-or-death struggle. If Bahu persisted, it would hide behind Mi Niang, and if he tried to pull it again, it would bare its teeth.“
“This hurts my heart. I’ve been feeding you for nothing, and you dare to bare your teeth at me.” Bahu was genuinely saddened. After spending so much time together, he thought Da Huang had already accepted him as its master.
“It probably thought it would stay home and guard me at night, while Bala and Alse wolves guard you.” Batu felt a chill in his heart, but Mi Niang’s heart was warm. Da Huang always prioritized her.
“Don’t be jealous. I share a bond with Da Huang that’s been through thick and thin. You can’t compare to that,” Mi Niang couldn’t help but boast.
“I won’t feed it anymore.”
“If you don’t, I will.”
Bahu puffed up his cheeks and glared at her. “So, I can’t compare to Da Huang?”
“How childish,” Mi Niang smirked.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? You’re usually quite talkative.” Bahu squatted down and patted the dog’s backside. Facing each other, he asked the standing person, “What should we do tonight?”
“Let’s wait for Guchuan’s people to come and replace you.” Mi Niang had no choice. If Da Huang refused to go, it wasn’t that she didn’t allow it to.
“If you come with me for the night watch, Da Huang will follow too. When it gets late, we’ll leave them behind and come back.” The same goes for Bala and Alse wolves. As long as someone is with them, they can guard the entire night. Once the person leaves, they slip away. Bahu let Da Huang go to keep Bala and Alse wolves in the flock for night patrol.
“Anyway, you can’t sleep at home either,” Bahu added.
True, Mi Niang nodded.
Bahu felt secretly pleased. He entered the house took the quilt and fell from the bed. When Mi Niang asked why he brought extra things, he explained that he was afraid she might catch a cold from the wind.
The grasslands of each family were far apart. The howling wind and the noisy sounds of cattle and sheep drowned out human voices. Even neighboring grasslands only showed the glow of fires without any human sounds. Mi Niang lay in the blankets, her clothes haphazardly removed. Only when the cold wind hit her did she snap back to reality, cursing him loudly as a beast.
“Shh, keep your voice down. You may not know, but cattle and sheep are curious. They love to watch the commotion.” Bahu raised the back of her neck, making her look into the distance. “Look, don’t you see cattle and sheep not eating their grass and looking this way? You don’t want to be surrounded, do you? Actually, I don’t mind, it’s up to you.”
The man’s voice became increasingly muffled. Mi Niang, holding onto his ear in the blanket, twisted it around and bit her lip, squinting at the moon that couldn’t be kept still. Tonight’s moon was a crescent, but in her tearful eyes, it transformed into a full moon with countless shadows.
The cattle and sheep fell into a deep sleep. The man, with a smirk on his face, stood on the vast grassland, leisurely putting on his robe, tying his belt, and then lying back down. He rolled up the felt covering him, breathing heavily, and whistled as he hugged the woman breathing heavily in the blankets.
“Are you coming tomorrow night?”
Last time wasn’t enough? Only a hanging lesson would make him remember? Mi Niang closed her eyes, ignoring him.
Bahu, feeling relaxed and full of excitement, didn’t worry about the cattle and sheep with the dog watching them. With his hands behind his head, he looked at the sparsely dotted stars in the sky, continuously talking nonsense, “You felt faster tonight than usual. Although you talk tough, your body is soft. It’s much more honest than you.”
Mi Niang opened her eyes, reaching out to turn his head. Not bad, his face hadn’t betrayed him, his thick skin hadn’t mutinied yet, and both ears were burning hot.
“Your ears are much more honest than your mouth and body; they know shame.” She hummed and scored a point.
The man grabbed her arm and tucked her into the blankets. He touched his ears, mumbled, and tried to defend himself, “This is reddened by you twisting it.”
Mi Niang didn’t argue with him. When the sweat on her body dried, she kicked Bahu to get her clothes. “I should go back. It’s almost dawn, don’t let anyone block me in the blankets again.”
“I’ll carry you back.” Bahu sat up, wrapped Mi Niang in the quilt, and added another layer with the felt. He lifted her vertically, called Da Huang, and headed back.
The two of them, along with three dogs, walked back home. Only then did Mi Niang remember that Bahu could have ridden a horse to escort her back.
The water on the stove was still hot. Bahu carried a kettle and basin inside. “You wash and sleep. I’ll lock the door from outside. I’ll call you when I’ve cooked breakfast tomorrow morning.” As soon as he left, Da Huang lay down at the door, keeping watch.
Early the next morning, Chaolu went to relieve Bahu. He found Bahu, who had changed his gloomy demeanor from the past few days, looking bright-eyed after a night’s vigil.
“Boss, good news?”
“It’s coming soon.” Bahu dropped a sentence and walked away with long strides.
A hearty meal allowed Bahu to savor the taste for five days. When two servants arrived from Guchuan, Bahu finally resumed the days of late-night sowing. However, this comfortable period was limited. The last caravan from the north passed through Lingshan, signaling that the herders in Lingshan had to pack up and prepare for migration.
“Did the honeycomb arrive for you?” Bahu saw Mi Niang coming back with something wrapped in oil paper. He jumped down from the felt tent. “Get ready; I’ll take you to the Xu River to see the doctor. The army is estimated to arrive tomorrow or the day after.”
“Alright.” Mi Niang placed the honeycomb and butter ghee in the same box. This time, on their way to Xu River, Bahu drove a horse-drawn carriage instead of letting Mi Niang ride a horse. He was afraid that the jolting might affect her if she were pregnant.
“I couldn’t feel a slippery pulse, but your recovery is faster than I estimated. I won’t prescribe medicine for you.” The doctor withdrew his hand and looked at Bahu. “Do you want a prescription for a tonic? If there’s a pregnancy in winter, you can use it.”
Bahu and Mi Niang exchanged glances, nodded, and paid. Only after the pharmacist warned them not to misuse the medicine did they realize it was prepared specifically for moving the fetus, leaving Bahu annoyed. Wasn’t this cursing Mi Niang?
“Better safe than sorry.” Mi Niang pulled Bahu away. She also noticed that the doctor seemed to have some issues with Bahu.
“Do you know him?” Mi Niang asked outside the clinic.
“No recollection.”
“He probably has some grievances with your father, not with you. They look alike, and the doctor seems to be the same age as your father. They might have had disagreements.”
“He’s just a troublemaker.” As soon as the connection with his father was mentioned, Bahu immediately concluded.
That night, government officials went door-to-door, beating gongs and notifying everyone to pack their belongings. They were to tie everything on the backs of cattle and set off when the drums and gongs sounded the next morning.
A few days earlier, Bahu had already retrieved the free-ranging horses and camels with his servants. There were 27 adult horses and only 33 adult camels. Upon closer inspection, Bahu had the most sheep, followed by cows, and the fewest horses.
“Last year, I had too many horses and camels to manage. Some ran away and became wild horses. So, during the New Year’s tribute, I used horses and camels to offset the number of cattle and sheep.” Bahu, accompanied by Mi Niang and two servants, loaded miscellaneous items onto the carriage. “I heard that you people from Dakang pay grain taxes. We also pay, but it’s called a New Year’s tribute. Priority goes to cattle, horses, and camels. If these three aren’t enough, then we count the sheep.”
