Before it was even dark, Bahu counted that there were already 173 lambs born on the ground. With so many lambs, there was no space left in the house. Afraid that they might freeze to death at night, Bahu instructed Xi Jil to have people pile up dried cow dung along the walls to keep the fire going.
“Uncle Muren and Uncle Jinku, you’ve worked hard tonight. Don’t go back. Stay with me to keep watch tonight. There should be many more ewes giving birth during the night,” Bahu said. In all his years of raising cattle and sheep, he had rarely encountered such a situation. Last year, some ewes started giving birth before the New Year, but it wasn’t like this year, where they kept delaying until after the New Year, already eight days into it and still giving birth on the same day.
“Master, I’ll stay here tonight too, so you won’t be overwhelmed.” Xi Jil placed a lamb near the fire, taking advantage of the opportunity while ChaoBao was away these past two days.
Bahu nodded. “I’ll go inside to check on the food. Once we’ve eaten, those who need to return should do so early. Come back early tomorrow morning.”
Uncle Muren was too busy to cook, so it was Mi Niang who prepared meals for over a dozen people. When Bahu went inside, she was slicing lamb sausages. She had stewed a pot of lamb, cooked a pot of rice, and steamed five lamb sausages while boiling the rice. Upon seeing the man enter, she briefly lifted her head before continuing to slice.
“Once we’ve prepared the butter tea, we can eat. The water is already boiling.”
“Okay, I’ll wash my hands first.” After spending time in the sheep pen, he had acquired the scent of blood and sheep. Moreover, he had carried wet lambs, leaving sheep water marks dried and stiff by the fire.
“You should serve two bowls of rice and two bowls of soup to Ajima and sit with her in the house. We’re quite dirty, and it might affect your appetite.” Bahu splashed water, fetched a milk bucket, cut a large chunk of butter, poured half a pot of boiling water from the kettle, softened the butter with the hot water, and pounded it vigorously with a milk pestle before adding more water and pounding again.
Mi Niang handed him a piece of lamb sausage and asked about the situation in the sheep pen.
“We’ll be on night duty tonight. I’ve locked the door from the outside. You take the two kids to bed; don’t wait up for me.”
Bahu called the people on night duty to eat first, while the others remained in the sheep pen to monitor the ewes. As he left, he grabbed someone and instructed, “When you leave, take Ajima back and hand him over to his mother before you go.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, lamb sausages! I walk back and forth under the eaves every day, but I still crave this meat.” The man helping himself to the sausages exclaimed as he threw one into his mouth. “It’s chewy and flavorful, even better than fresh sausages.” Inside the host’s house, they dared not gossip about the host, so they could only express their amazement at the luck of ChaoBao, who had married a wife from the Central Plains and now had good food to enjoy.
“Tonight’s not just about good food.”
“Hahaha.”
“Madam, have you finished eating?” The person sitting by the door was the first to notice the newcomer, and he cleared his throat loudly to remind everyone.
Instantly, there was silence in the kitchen. Mi Niang put down her bowl and chopsticks as if nothing had happened. “It’s cold tonight. Finish your meal early and go back to rest.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
After that, Mi Niang didn’t come out of the house until Ajima and the others had left. She then opened the door and went to the kitchen. The dishes and utensils used for the meal had been washed, but there was still a layer of sheep oil residue on the edges of the bowls. First, she took a kettle of water to wash the two children and put them to bed. Once they were asleep, she had some time to boil water and throw the used dishes and utensils into the pot to sterilize them.
Thinking that Bahu might be hungry during the night, she washed another pot and boiled two more lamb sausages to put in the pot. Just as she was about to go to the sheep pen to check, he returned.
“Haven’t you washed up and gone to bed yet?”
“I was just about to. I’ve also boiled two more sausages in the pot. If you get hungry during the night, you can just pick them up and eat.”
“Alright, got it.” Bahu grabbed a basket and went to the backyard storeroom to scoop out a basket of crushed corn kernels. When he reached the front yard and saw the bedroom door closed, he didn’t say anything and just went straight out of the main gate, locking it behind him.
He paid attention to who came back specifically to lock the door.
The sheep pen’s enclosure was only waist-high, allowing the cold wind mixed with snowflakes to blow in. It mingled with the warm glow of the fire at the base of the wall. Outside the enclosure, the accumulated snow gradually melted into water, forming a thin layer of ice in the coldest part of the night.
Mi Niang had been on alert all night as she took care of the children alone, feeding them, changing diapers, and waking up several times throughout the night. When Bahu returned and got up, she also got up, her face showing signs of fatigue.
“It’s still early. You keep sleeping, and I’ll make breakfast.” The man rubbed his face, his face dried from being roasted all night, soaked in the smell of sheep blood, feeling dizzy and groggy.
Mi Niang said she couldn’t sleep anymore. She lifted the lid of the pot, and the two sausages were still in the pot. Most of the water had evaporated, barely covering the sausages. After burning all night, the sheep intestines had burst open.
“Why didn’t you eat during the night? Not hungry?” Bahu looked away and said he had no appetite, especially after seeing the burst meat, feeling a bit nauseous. “Cook a few bowls of rice porridge for breakfast. I feel like having something light.”
“Not feeling well?” Mi Niang looked at him seriously, reaching out to touch his face, but he pulled away. Stubbornly, he said he was strong and wouldn’t catch a cold just from staying up at night.
“It’s just that I’m used to being with you and getting cleaned up. It’s uncomfortable to see dirty and smelly things.” He continued to complain, saying that even when he slept in the sheep pen before, he didn’t have this smelly problem.
Mi Niang slapped him irritably. “I’ll boil water, you bring the bathtub in and take a bath. After eating, go to sleep.”
Bahu was too lazy to move, making excuses that he still had to watch over the flock in the afternoon. “I’ll just go to the neighboring room and sleep for a while. I’ll get dirty again if I bathe now.”
“You ate last night, why do you still want food in the morning?”
“…These are two unrelated matters. There’s no comparison.” He leaned back in the chair, full of excuses. “I feel sorry for you washing my clothes… Ah! You shouldn’t be like this. I stayed up all night, and now you want to hit me with a shovel?”
Mi Niang directly threw the shovel away and replaced it with a kitchen knife. After a while of nagging, the water in the pot had boiled, and she told him not to bother bathing and just peel the skins.
“No need for you to feel sorry. It’s because you stink. Quickly bring in the bathtub and take a bath.”
The man was forced out by the knife, standing in the snowfield with his hands on his hips, laughing heartily. After fooling around for a while, he felt much better.
Bahu bathed in the tub, while Mi Niang sat by the stove, cooking porridge. Occasionally, she was asked to hand him soap, scrub his back, or tie his hair…
“Where are you looking? Why were you in such a hurry to rush me into the bath? It seems you have ulterior motives.” He pretended to gather his legs, but leaned his upper body backward, making sure others could see, being coy and flirtatious.
Mi Niang chuckled and pinched him, then threw the washcloth on the water surface. “Did staying up late damage your brain? You rarely speak nonsense when you’re awake. It’s only when your head is overheated and you’re sweating all over under the covers that your mouth can’t be controlled by your brain.”
“The food is almost ready. Hurry up and wash yourself, or you might be trapped in the tub later.” Mi Niang also kept an eye on the children sleeping on the Kang, not indulging in his antics. She stirred the porridge in the pot and covered it. “Keep an eye on the fire. I’ll go check on the children.” It was time for the two kids to wake up.
Fortunately, Qiqige and Jiya woke up and were playing under the covers by themselves. They probably heard their parents talking next door and didn’t fuss. However, when Mi Niang pulled them out from under the covers to check, their diapers were wet.
“I wonder why you two were so well-behaved this morning. Feeling guilty for doing something wrong?” She gave each of the kids a gentle pat on their buttocks, then removed their wet pants. The woolen mat they lay on was also damp, and the little blanket covering them had a wet patch, but luckily, the big quilt was untouched by the urine.
“Lie down and don’t roll around. Mommy will go fetch water to wash your bottoms.” Pushing open the door to the kitchen, where Tiger had already dressed, she feared the children might fall off the Kang, so she left the door open and returned inside. “I’ll fetch a basin of water to the bedroom.”
Qiqige and Jiya didn’t see their biological father last night. Bahu carried water and entered the house. The two children immediately grinned and reached out to be picked up when they saw him, babbling in their mouths.
“Just a lazy dad, see how you two adore him,” Mi Niang scoffed.
Bahu’s lips were about to reach the roof as he placed the basin on the table and lifted the two naked-bottomed babies. “Only you find fault. My children don’t find fault with me.”
“Wash them, they both smell of urine, even though you just changed them into clean clothes.”
“I don’t mind the smell of my kids.”
The waves of passion rose again.
Mi Niang didn’t join in the intimacy of the three of them. She still had porridge in her pot to attend to. She soaked Bahu’s dirty clothes in the hot water he used for bathing, planning to wash them after dinner.
After dinner, Bahu went to sleep, while Ajima stayed in the room to soothe Qiqige and Jiya. Mi Niang washed the dishes and then washed the clothes. After hanging them to drip dry under the eaves, she changed into boots and went to the sheep pen.
She walked around the sheep pen with Da Huang and asked the male servant who was guarding, “Why are these few sheep lying down and not moving? They haven’t even eaten the grass.”
“Master should have fed them crushed corn last night. When we came this morning, a few sheep were just drinking water, and after chewing a few mouthfuls of grass, they lay down and didn’t move,” the male servant replied.
“Oh, they must be full,” Mi Niang said, knowing it was Bahu who fed them. She asked about the number of lambs born and, seeing no problems, went back.
She wasn’t very confident in these male servants, so she came back twice before noon. She found that those few sheep still weren’t eating or drinking, just lying there motionless. This wasn’t normal. She approached and saw that there was a ring of saliva around the sheep’s mouth, and the mouth itself was moist.
“Bahu, wake up, something’s wrong with a few sheep.”
“What?” Bahu suddenly sat up from the bed, took the clothes Mi Niang handed to him, and listened to her saying that several sheep he had fed crushed corn to hadn’t moved all morning and were drooling.
“That’s not right. There were quite a few sheep that ate the crushed corn last night. I even gave some corn to the ewes that gave birth. What about the other sheep?”
“The other sheep are fine.” Mi Niang followed him to the sheep pen. “Go see for yourself.” She wasn’t very knowledgeable about cattle and sheep.
Six sheep were drooling, and people were gathered around them, but they didn’t move. Bahu walked over quickly, and the others stepped aside automatically. They all chattered, saying they didn’t feed them anything unusual. “They drank quite a bit of water, barely chewed any grass, and the water is still warm. It couldn’t be that their stomachs got cold.”
Bahu opened the sheep’s mouths and looked inside, then asked if they had been lying there motionless the whole time. He flipped over the grass around them but found no sheep droppings. He said they drank quite a bit of water, but there was no sign of urine either.
“Give me a hand to carry one out,” he pointed to someone. They carried the sheep outside to the snowy ground by the gate. Bahu asked Mi Niang to call all the dogs inside. With one swift stroke, he stabbed the sheep to death and then cut open its belly.
“This is a ewe.” The servant’s face was filled with pity. It was the first-time mother, and she had just given birth this year.
Bahu ignored him and found the sheep’s stomach inside its belly. The stomach was swollen, and with a single cut, golden corn kernels poured out.
“This… this is undigested! What about the other sheep?”
Bahu stood up straight, wiped the knife with some snow, and said, “These few must have sneaked in and stolen the corn from the other sheep when I wasn’t paying attention. They ate too much, drank a lot of water, couldn’t digest it, couldn’t urinate, and got so bloated that they couldn’t move.”
“Grab the legs of the other sheep and turn them over. Open their mouths and press their bellies. If they can vomit it out, they might survive. If not, tie them up and let them fast.” As for whether they would die from bloating, that was up to fate.
Bahu instructed the servant to take the sheep away to be skinned. He then went back inside the house to inform Mi Niang before heading to Huxian Cheng’s residence again. “I just found out that feeding too much corn is harmful. It’s hard to digest. Some of my sheep got bloated and were drooling acid.”
When Huxian Cheng heard this, he immediately sent someone to call the shepherd. Upon learning that they hadn’t started feeding corn at his house yet, he said, “Then let’s not do anything for now. Let’s keep them locked in the storeroom.”
He then turned to Bahu and remarked, “You discovered this just in time. It’s clear when you see it with your own eyes. If it were in my house, half the sheep might have died before anyone realized what caused it.”
“Older shepherds have experience. Just like people, drooling acid definitely means the stomach isn’t feeling well. And it’s not even me who discovered it. I kept watch all night and slept all morning. It was Mi Niang’s attentiveness. She noticed something was wrong after making a few rounds. The servant in my house was guarding the sheep pen and didn’t notice anything.” Bahu complained about the male servant’s incompetence, but his face didn’t lack satisfaction.
Huxian Cheng caught the implication and complimented, “You’re lucky to have such a good wife.”
Bahu chuckled, “You’re right, Mi Niang is indeed wonderful.”
Everyone has a good wife, including Huxian Cheng. He smiled contentedly, not envious at all.
“Alright then, I’ll be going back. It’s almost noon, time to prepare lunch.” Bahu stood up and walked out.
“What’s wrong? Are you rushing back to cook?” He had never entered the kitchen.
“Yeah, Mi nang cooked both last night and this morning. Today, I’ll give her a break.” His departing figure exuded joyfulness.
