After migrating from the winter pasture to the spring pasture for nearly a month, Mi Niang’s belly looked significant, but there were still two or three months before childbirth. After a day of rest, she picked up the ladle and spatula to start cooking.
“Mi Niang, Bahu picked fifty big lambs for me.” Mu Xiang cheerfully ran in from outside, holding a basket with tender leeks – intended for making dumplings with leek and egg filling. Half a month ago, Bahu’s mother caught a wild chicken to make chicken soup for Mi Niang. However, considering that chicken soup was more suitable for her postpartum diet, Myniang chopped off the wings, tied them with a rope, and raised them. Later, Bahu brought back thirty wild chickens and ducks, with the ones that couldn’t be raised ending up in their stomachs, and the others laying eggs every day.
“It’s only right. You’ve taken care of me diligently along this journey.”
Mu Xiang pursed her lips and shook her head, “If you say that, I’ll feel ashamed. I haven’t worried about herding sheep along this journey. The food and drink have been the best in the past year in the northern desert. If cooking, picking wild vegetables, chatting with you, and taking a stroll count as hard work, then walking all the way here on foot seems to have cost me half my life.” Whether it was good or bad, she understood in her heart. She was just benefiting from being on Bahu’s side with no relatives to help. If Mi Niang didn’t need someone to take care of her, helping with cooking and keeping her company wasn’t worth Bahu’s gratitude at all.
“The precious thing is the intention. Apart from you, no one else has bothered to come and take care of me.” Mi Niang’s words were referring to the other people who had lived and eaten together. She knew they didn’t have this obligation towards her, and that’s why Mu Xiang’s sincerity appeared even more precious.
“That’s just how I am. Whoever treats me well, I’ll treat them well in return. If someone offends me, I remember it, and I won’t spare them when the opportunity arises.” Mu Xiang smiled with her lips pressed together. “My mother used to say I’m unyielding, not likable because I don’t forgive easily. I think it’s fine. After all, I don’t want to smile at people who harbor hostility towards me.”
“It’s good, living with clarity.” This temperament of Mu Xiang allowed her to easily let go when BaGen, who had good conditions, decided not to pursue her. She decided to leave it behind and didn’t make trouble by sticking around. Mi Niang also learned, after traveling with Mu Xiang, that at the end of March, BaGen had actually come to find her and brought a bunch of things to give her. But when Mu Xiang asked about his family’s attitude towards her, BaGen hesitated and couldn’t explain clearly. Without hesitation, Mu Xiang directly said she wouldn’t marry him and told BaGen not to come find her again.
In the morning, Mi Niang and Mu Xiang made a large basin of dumplings. As noon approached, Uncle Muren walked back first to prepare lunch. He carried a wooden basin full of sheep and cow eggs, with Da Huang following behind with a bulging belly.
Seeing Mi Niang sitting in the small courtyard enjoying the sun, Uncle Muren hesitated for a moment and said, “Mi Niang, the basin is full of sheep and cow eggs. If you don’t want to go inside, so you won’t feel disgusted.”
During the warm spring, it was the time for castrating cattle and sheep. On the second day after sending Dr. Huang away, Bahu started busy work selecting the lambs they wanted to raise.
Mi Niang smiled and brought Mu Xiang inside. “Uncle Muren, don’t bother cooking for lunch. We’ve made a lot of dumplings. Let’s have dumplings for lunch.”
“Alright, I understand.” Uncle Muren went to the kitchen, poured oil and salt into the basin, added some spices, and stirred. Afraid that Mi Niang might find the smell unpleasant, he carried the basin to his sleeping room.
Mi Niang waited until Bahu came back before heating the water to cook the dumplings. Across from them, Uncle Muren’s sleeping room was wide open, and the aroma of roasting meat wafted outside. This made Bahu couldn’t help but glance over.
“If you’re tempted, why not go and have a few?” Mi Niang wiped his chin, “Your saliva is about to drip down.”
Bahu was indeed tempted, but he didn’t dare to eat. If he ate, he wouldn’t be able to endure it in the evening, especially when a soft person was lying beside him. Taking a cool shower wouldn’t be enough to cool down the fire.
“I’ll just close the door.” Out of sight, out of mind.
While Mi Niang and Mu Xiang were wrapping dumplings, they cooked two bowls and had a few themselves. When Bahu was having his meal, she joined in and had a few more. “Do you prefer the dumplings with leek and egg filling, or the ones with leek and lamb filling?”
“I like the ones with meat.” The man happily ate dumplings, though he commented, “The leek and egg ones taste good, but without meat, I feel like something is missing.”
“Then next time, I’ll add some lamb meat to the filling.” Mi Niang sniffed and asked in a low voice about the flavor of roasted sheep and cow eggs.
“Fragrant, with a chewy and elastic texture. The gummy taste is stronger than lamb meat. Don’t even think about it; you definitely won’t be able to stomach it.”
Mi Niang didn’t plan to eat it either. She just didn’t expect that the men in the Northern Wastes were extremely fond of cow and sheep eggs. They treated them as precious treasures, delicate and valuable. Unless held in their own hands, they were guarded like treasures. Besides cutting off cow and sheep eggs, they also sprinkled salt, roasted them, and ate them. Could they really eat without feeling a cool sensation when they chewed?
“What’s with that expression? Did I offend you?” Bahu knocked on the bowl to bring Mi Niang back to reality, nonchalantly closing his legs. Eating is eating; why is he staring at his lower body?
Mi Niang snorted. “After you finish eating, wash the bowls. I’m going out for a walk.”
Her expression changed instantly. Bahu didn’t dare to voice any objections, so he could only carry the bowl and chase her out, warning her not to get too close to the calf and lambs as they were irritable in the days after castration.
“Boss, come in and taste a couple?” Uncle Chaolu leaned against the door, skewering a string of golden-brown sheep eggs on his chopsticks, cheeks bulging.
“Leave them for you to eat. You’re getting old; eat more to nourish yourself.” Bahu didn’t give him a glance, and entered the kitchen with a clear purpose, leaving behind laughter filling the room.
Mi Niang walked along the river upstream and indeed found Mu Xiang picking dried cow dung. She had already gone out for a walk before Bahuh came back.
“Mu Xiang, is the man who partners with you in raising sheep from our Central Plains?”
“Yeah, you probably haven’t seen him. He arrived after us and lives farther away from where we stay.” Mu Xiang thought for a moment, subtly adding, “During the Dakang period, he was a scholar preparing for the imperial examination. He was knowledgeable, learned quickly, and was diligent in his studies.” What pleased Mu Xiang the most was that unlike her father, he wasn’t lazy and had a humble demeanor. Despite being a scholar, he had a robust physique and was known to help with farm work in addition to his studies.
Scholars, you see, were a good match during the Dakang period. However, in the Northern Wastes, Mu Xiang was going to face hardships. “As you’ve seen, raising cattle and sheep involves more than just keeping watch for wolves. You also need to be skilled at castrating eggs, and all the men in the family are involved…” Mi Niang reminded her.
“Learn if he can, but already being stranded in the Northern Wastes, we have to adapt to local customs. We do things the way the locals do. If he doesn’t want to learn, I’ll learn myself. Enduring hardships, well, you have to choose something you enjoy.” In the Northern Wastes, men like Uncle Chaolu were everywhere—having a family and skills but no property. Or they were older widowers or men with physical disabilities. These were the kind of men who would consider marrying girls who had fled as refugees. Men like Bahu, who were young, and had a family and a business, were rare. Mu Xiang didn’t want to force herself into the matter of marriage. Anyway, she was still young, not in a hurry to get married, and not afraid of hardships.
“I haven’t really settled on him. I’m giving it two years, also to evaluate him. If he can’t satisfy me, I won’t marry him. Anyway, with you backing me up, there will always be food to eat and a place to sleep.” Mu Xiang joked with a playful tone, thinking that if things worked out, two years later, she would build two brick-and-tile houses west of Mi Niang’s house. She had already decided on the direction the door would face.
“Okay, I guarantee you’ll have food to eat and a place to stay.” Mi Niang readily agreed. When she went back, she took out the beekeeping barrel and melted the beeswax in the kitchen that evening, brushing it onto the beekeeping barrel and beehive.
“Tomorrow, ride a bit farther, find a place with a good source of bees, and nail the beehive and the beekeeping barrel on the windward slope under a big tree or by a rocky cliff,” Mi Niang directed while sitting in a chair.
“Is it that simple? Can it really attract bees to make honey?” Bahu tasted a bit of the melted beeswax, smelling the sweetness but finding it bitter.
“If I don’t tell you this method, do you think you would know?” Mi Niang snorted. “And this is just the first step. Placing beehives is also a skill. After I give birth and finish the postpartum period, I’ll personally go to check. If it doesn’t attract bees but instead a swarm of insects, be careful with the meat on your waist.”
Bahu, threatened but still smiling, provocatively said, “What if your family’s secret recipe is fake, and later you blame me for it?”
Without waiting for the postpartum period, Mi Niang immediately twisted a handful of his waist meat. During this time, Bahu seemed to have grown thorns in his mouth, teasing her from time to time. If he didn’t tease her a couple of times, he felt uneasy.
“I said it wrong, said it wrong, let me off.” Bahu hugged Mi Niang, kissing her belly through the not-so-thin clothes, and as usual, asked if he was heavy.
Not heavy. No matter how heavy, he could still carry her. His hands weren’t honest, and he mumbled, “Applying sheep oil is to expel the cold. In the harsh wind and snow for five or six months, the cold permeates into the bones. When the weather gets better, I’ll lift the felt covering, and you can apply the sheep oil and sit in the sun. When it gets hot, I’ll fetch water for you to clean up.”
Mi Niang doubted it, pushed away Bahu’s face, and asked if he would apply it.
“Yes, I will apply it together with you in the sun.”
It wasn’t until half a month later that The County Magistrate Hu came with people. Mu Xiang took her fifty sheep and moved them back to the west bank of the river. Only then did Bahu start lifting the felt covering, and he also drove away Uncle Muren, who had helped him wash his back in previous years.
“Are you still going to help me apply the sheep oil this year?” Uncle Muren felt a bit sour inside.
“I’ll help. If I don’t help you, who will?” Bahu picked up a stool and placed it by the river. “You sit here and help us keep an eye on people.”
“There’s Da Huang at the door,” Uncle Muren murmured in his heart. However, he obediently sat on the stool for a long time. When Bahu brought the bath bucket out to pour water, Uncle Muren even ran over to help.
“No need for you.” Bahu avoided him, not wanting an old man to trip and fall again.
Seeing Mi Niang coming out, Da Huang just wagged its tail without getting up. Mi Niang noticed its bulging belly and wondered if Da Huang was about to give birth. When she asked Bahu, he didn’t know either. Both Bahu and Alse wolves were male dogs, and he had never assisted in delivering puppies for dogs.
Da Huang was quite capable, not causing any trouble at all. That night, it quietly gave birth to eight puppies. When Bahu woke up in the morning and saw Da Huang’s belly had shrunk, he followed it to the doghouse and discovered the newborn puppies.
“Quite smooth. I hope your owner can be as clever as you.” Bahu picked up each puppy and examined them. They were either yellow or black, or a combination of both, but none looked like Bahu’s dog, Bala.
“Stupid, if it weren’t for your puppies, you wouldn’t have been busy running around all morning.” The man playfully tapped Bahu’s dog on the face.
