When they arrived at the west bank of the river, there were still about ten kilograms of beef left in the cart. Mi Niang gathered them up to send to Pandi and her companions. It was dusk, and they had just returned from herding sheep. They sat outside the felt tent, boiling sheep’s milk.
“Stay for a while and have a bowl of milk before you leave?” Pandi offered her seat.
“No, Bahu is still waiting for me with the children,” Mi Niang handed the beef to Ying Niang. Having been in the Mobei for two years, Ying Niang had gained weight and grown taller.
Bahu saw Mi Niang approaching and opened his arms to welcome the two running children. They had just learned to walk, and as soon as they ran, they were about to fall. The two chubby children rushed into his arms like little lambs.
“Mom’s here, let’s go home by cart,” he said as he lifted one of the children onto the cart.
“Mom!” Qiqige shouted excitedly.
Mi Niang hurriedly climbed onto the cart after taking a few steps, embracing the two children on her lap. “Driver, we can leave now.”
The man paused for a moment, then realized and gave her a stern look. “Someone called you ‘sister,’ not ‘miss.'”
“You can call me that if you want.”
“He’s full of himself, isn’t he?” Bahu flicked the reins at the horse’s backside and slowly followed the river eastward. When they reached the doorstep, Uncle Muren and Chaobao were also returning with the milk cart.
“Master, we squeezed eleven barrels of milk tonight,” Uncle Muren reported.
Bahu nodded. “Later, have someone come to take back the leftovers from lunch.”
“What about the roast lamb?” Chaobao asked first. When they returned after lunch, Bai Mei told him how delicious the roasted lamb was.
“Divide it among yourselves. Don’t let one person take it all,” Bahu replied. He didn’t eat the leftovers from the banquet, and with four beef legs still to eat at home, the leftovers from lunch were all taken back by the servants.
While Uncle Muren was boiling milk in the yard, Bahu brought out a stove, filled a pot with water, and washed the coarse salt off the beef legs. He then cut them in half and put them in the pot to stew over a high flame.
Meanwhile, Mi Niang returned to the house with water from the river to boil. Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn’t yet dark, she bathed the two children first. The bathwater was then used to soak their clothes. Qiqige and Jiya’s clothes, covered in dog hair, could only be washed clean by dipping them in the flowing river water.
“Bahu, don’t forget about the mosquitoes and bugs in the felt bag,” Mi Niang said as she dressed Qiqige and Jiya and lifted them up. “What did I tell you not to touch after taking a bath?” she asked the two children while crouching down.
“Earth, bugs, dogs,” Qiqige said loudly. However loud she spoke, it didn’t change the fact that she had a short memory. When she saw spots running in, she immediately waved and called out to them.
“Bahu, keep an eye on your kids. If they get dirty again, you’ll be the one washing them,” Mi Niang said as she handed the children to him.
“Didn’t we agree on this before? They’re your kids. Speak more kindly, I’m just helping you watch them,” Bahu replied helplessly, taking the children and shooing the spots away for the time being. “It’s not time to eat yet. Come back when the food is ready.”
Mi Niang heard but acted as if she hadn’t, sitting on the stool scrubbing the dirty clothes. Taking advantage of the last remnants of sunlight, she went to the river to rinse the clothes. The setting sun in the west cast a corner of orange light on the rippling river, creating wrinkles on its broken shore.
When Mi Niang returned with a basket, Uncle Muren had already boiled the milk, poured it into a milk barrel, covered it with cotton cloth, and brought it into the felt bag. Seeing her come in, he asked if she wanted some.
“I don’t want any. Did Qiqige and Jiya drink?” Mi Niang asked.
“They did. I scooped two bowls and took them over.”
“Alright, when you’re done, you can rest. I’ll call you when the food’s ready.” The boiled milk would sit overnight. The next morning, the cream that floated to the top would be skimmed off and churned into butter. After pressing the butter for a day to remove excess moisture, it could be wrapped in oil paper and preserved for a year.
Bahu spread out the felt on the ground, and Qiqige and Jiya rolled and tumbled on top of it. The siblings bumped into each other, pouted, and cried for a bit, but before anyone could comfort them, they were back to playing together again.
In the glow of the fire, Bahu glanced at Mi Niang, his narrow eyes gleaming with inexplicable meaning amidst the flickering sparks.
As Mi Niang passed by, she cast a glance at him, then hung her wet clothes and took off her shoes, sitting on the felt mat. She embraced her eldest daughter as she rushed over, intending to feel if she had sweated yet, but her hand, cold from soaking in the river water, made the girl scream when it touched her. Like a little bug, she wriggled away.
When Qiqige left, Jiya came over. He stood in his mother’s embrace, wrapping his arms around her neck and affectionately calling her “mother.”
Even though he had just started speaking, the child was already showing signs of shyness, acting coy and always lagging behind his sister. Mi Niang leaned her forehead against his and whispered, “Are you feeling sleepy?”
“No, I don’t want to sleep,” he replied, playing with her hair while nestled against her shoulder.
Mi Niang hadn’t bathed or changed her clothes yet, still carrying the scent of cooking oil from the morning and now with the addition of sweat. After a whole day, she found the smell on her body unpleasant.
Pushing away Jiya gently, she said, “Mother smells bad, don’t get close to me.”
Though he didn’t understand the whole sentence, he caught the word “smell” and hugged her tightly, insisting she didn’t smell bad.
Seeing him approach, Qiqige followed suit. The two siblings hugged Mi Niang from both sides, not staying still for a moment and instead spinning her around. They didn’t mind the dizziness, but Mi Niang found herself getting dizzy and had to close her eyes.
As the sky filled with numerous stars, the aroma from the pot grew stronger. Mi Niang and Bahu carried the two exhausted children inside and laid them on the bed. The smell of burnt cow dung still lingered on the felt mat.
A single leg of beef was too much for three people to finish, so Bahu first cut off half of the leg. They would reheat it in the morning and enjoy it with cold milk for another meal.
After bathing and washing their hair, Bahu and Mi Niang sat on the felt mat, taking turns to help each other dry their hair. Big Spot and Little Spots were lying nearby gnawing on a beef bone, which was leftover from the dogs’ chewing. Only Da Huang was left in the doghouse; the other nine dogs had gone to guard the cattle and sheep.
The oil lamp inside the felt tent went out, leaving only the faint glow of the remaining embers in the stove in the courtyard. The moon in the sky disappeared behind the clouds, causing the surroundings to darken suddenly. However, the sounds became clearer: the crunching of bones, the murmuring of flowing water, the chirping of insects in the grass, the mooing of cows and the bleating of sheep crossing the hill, and the distant howls of the old lone wolf on the vast grassland…
“Qiqige and Jiya are one year old today. A year ago today, you gave birth to both of them. I struggled to make the butter, my hands trembling so much that I was afraid to hold the children. You were too weak; even sitting up to eat required assistance.”
Mi Niang listened quietly to his recollection, not saying a word. Perhaps childbirth was too painful for her; she had blurred memories of that day. However, she remembered clearly what had happened the day before and the day after giving birth.
“Ten months before that, Qiqige and Jiya took root in your belly. Do you remember which day it was?”
Mi Niang felt something was amiss and became wary. She shook her head, saying, “It’s been too long, I’ve forgotten.”
“How coincidental, I’ve forgotten too.”
Mi Niang wondered what was so coincidental about it when she felt a hand wrap around her. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember. Let me help you remember. You’ll remember tonight for the next year, even the years after.”
“Is that so? Miss? Miss Ji?”
…
In the summer of the Mobei, dawn always came early. Mi Niang opened her dry eyes and felt around her, but the children were not there. She was alone in bed. She felt like she hadn’t slept for long, but the sunlight seeping through the crack in the door told her it wasn’t early anymore.
She sat up in bed, and at the same time, she heard the creaking sound of the door being pushed open. It was Da Huang. Every morning, it waited for her to wake up before feeling assured enough to leave. Even on the day she gave birth to the puppies, it still came to greet her with a squeak.
Mi Niang quickly put on her clothes and went to open the door. “Where’s your puppy? Is it still cuddled up with Bala sleeping?” Da Huang gave birth to five puppies this year, but only two survived until they were a month old. They must have encountered a wolf pack on the way, causing Da Huang to give birth prematurely, resulting in the puppies not being well-developed in her womb.
The butter-making by the river was coming to an end. When Bahu came in to get the wooden frames for the butter, he heard noises coming from the felt bag. As he approached, he saw Da Huang wagging its tail as it came out. It didn’t even lift its head as it passed him and walked straight out.
“Did I offend it again?” Bahu got annoyed every time he saw Da Huang’s disrespectful behavior. He married a wife, and in return, he got an old mother-in-law as well. Despite being well-fed and well-treated, Da Huang seemed to be displeased with him, making it even harder to please than his mother-in-law.
“It’s just a dog, it doesn’t know any better. Don’t take it personally,” Mi Niang comforted him skillfully. She also couldn’t understand why Da Huang seemed to resent Bahu more and more each day. It could give a good attitude to Qiqige and Jiya, but when it came to Bahu, it acted as if he didn’t exist, which was infuriating.
“If I were to take it personally, I would have kicked it out a long time ago,” Bahu grumbled, calming down a bit. He followed Mi Niang into the kitchen and grabbed the wooden frames, but didn’t leave immediately. “There’s some warm food in the pot and warm water in the kettle. I’ll bring you cold milk later.” Every morning, they drank skimmed milk, with some used to make yogurt and the rest taken back by the servants for the family to drink.
“You go do your thing, don’t mind me,” he added, dismissing her concern.
“Other things can wait, but no one can afford to keep the miss waiting,” Bahu said with a sarcastic tone, earning a glare from Mi Niang, which made him feel relieved.
Hearing the mention of the miss, reminded her of last night’s events. She splashed water on her face, then changed the subject, asking about the two children.
“Asyl came to propose, Ajima and Baoyin, along with those children who call you ‘sister,’ took the siblings to see the excitement,” Bahu replied.
