“Can you bring outsiders into the mountains on this side?” Bahu finished cleaning the shoes, poured out the dirty water, and stood up. The two men were almost the same height, but standing together, Bahu seemed more imposing.
Asyl gestured silently a couple of times, not understanding what made him stand out. He leaned against the water barrel and asked, looking up, “What do you mean? Do you want to go in?” Thinking of how he brought two mountain ferrets, he chuckled, “Did you get addicted to hunting last year? Want to bring the ferrets into the mountains?”
“No, I want to go with you to peel birch bark from the baskets,” Bahu explained the situation on his side. It takes a long time to reach the mountains from his home, and if you’re unlucky enough to encounter snowy weather, you’ll freeze half to death. “Cutting down trees without bringing them back feels like a waste. Bringing them back requires a lot of effort from both humans and animals. It’s exhausting for both people and horses. Your place is closer to the mountains, so I can cut down the trees in the mountains and peel off the bark. Your family can use the trees.”
Asyl squinted and pondered for a moment before saying, “After lunch, I’ll go find the person in charge of our clan and ask. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“We’re all family here,” Asyl waved his hand and brought up the old topic again, “Are you still not considering moving to our side?”
Bahu also mentioned, “The teacher who taught me when I was young is now the big shot in the government office. Our two families have a good relationship.”
No wonder, Asyl nodded. Good relationships are useful. It’s not worth breaking off, so he didn’t bring it up again.
During lunch, he pointed at the fish soup with a layer of sour cabbage on top. “Brother, there’s fish underneath the sour cabbage, fresh fish. We ran into some of my clan brothers fishing when we came back and brought back two fish. This is my specialty dish. When Wen-er was pregnant, she couldn’t get enough of it. Give a spoonful to Sister-in-law and see if the sourness suits her taste.”
Seeing plenty of Sichuan peppercorns floating in the soup, Bahu knew it would suit her taste. He scooped some fish belly into her bowl and said, “Try it, it’s our little gesture of goodwill.” Then, he turned to the two elderly people who were serving dishes to Qiqige and Jiya, “Uncle, Auntie, we’ve troubled you again this time. This Chinese New Year, you must come to my house with Asyl. Even if it’s just for a few days, you must come over for a meal. Otherwise, we’ll feel embarrassed to come here in the future.”
Wan’er widened her eyes in disbelief upon hearing this, looking at Mi Niang. Bahu’s show of generosity was much stronger than Asyl’s, and this change was too significant. She still remembered that when she and Asyl looked at each other, the warm atmosphere was all thanks to Mi Niang.
Mi Niang smiled lightly. Since Qiqige and Jiya could talk, Bahu’s change was quite significant, but the premise was that he was willing to speak up.
“Okay, we’ll definitely come over,” the two elderly people said with smiles. “At our age, we love lively occasions. It’s no trouble at all. Don’t you think we won’t cook or eat if you don’t come? Coming here is like being at your own home. Don’t be polite.”
Then they asked, “Are you bringing the mountain martens because you want to go hunting in the mountains? In that case, you go ahead. Leave the two children at home, and we’ll take them egg-picking.” The two children were well-behaved and charming, making people like them.
Bahu glanced at Asyl and explained his intention to go into the mountains to peel birch bark. “We brought the mountain martens because they go out every night. We’re afraid they’ll run away if we’re not at home.”
The old man immediately said it wasn’t a problem. “No need for Asyl to go. After lunch, I’ll take you for a walk, it’ll just be a quick look. There are plenty of trees on the mountain, you can come back next year.”
“My father has some influence in the clan,” Wan’er added with a compliment.
“Then I’ll thank Uncle in advance,” Bahu said, lifting his bowl of meat soup to his eyes. “I don’t drink alcohol, so I’ll take the soup to go.”
“Take it to go,” the old man said, raising his wine bowl. He was amazed that such a young man could resist drinking alcohol.
Bahu set down his bowl and saw that Mi Niang had finished the fish in her bowl. He leaned in and whispered softly, “Do you want more? Fish head or fishtail? Do you want more sour soup? Hmm, I know you want more Sichuan peppercorns.”
As Asyl was enjoying his meal, he suddenly felt a pinch on his waist. He glanced over and saw Wan’er glaring at him. Then he looked at the man standing up to ladle out fish soup, and everything became clear.
“Oh, you also want some fish soup?” Asyl took the wooden spoon Bahu handed him, glaring at him with irritation, silently mouthing: “You’re causing trouble for me!”
Bahu ignored him, and the others pretended not to notice.
Lunch was late, and by the time Bahu and the old man returned from the clan, it was already mid-afternoon. People of all ages had grabbed baskets and headed to the reed marshes again. This time, Bahu also brought a sickle, cutting down reeds ahead and carrying bundles back to the shore. In the evening, he and Asyl used a Lele cart to haul the reeds back to stack them in the woodshed for burning in the winter.
Over the next two days, Bahu, Asyl, and his two elder brothers went into the mountains. They left early in the morning with Big Spot, Little Spot, and Da Huang, only returning late at night when it was completely dark.
Mi Niang spent the rest of the day picking duck eggs with Wan’er, and they managed to fill a basket with eggs collected from the vast reed marshes. Then, they joined Wan’er and her two children to go fishing and even tried their hand at sharpening fishing hooks. Sitting by the lake like professionals, they ended up catching a whole bucket of fish.
…
Qiqige and Jiya stood in the Lele cart, poking their heads out of the window and watching as the shimmering lake slowly disappeared from view. Jiya asked forlornly, “Mom, when can we come back again?”
“Next winter. By then, I’ll have your father take you and your sister to learn ice skating on the frozen lake.”
The siblings perked up at the idea, crowding around a window and shouting at the low-flying birds, “Birds, it’s getting cold, it’s going to snow, come home with us!”
“We have plenty of food and meat that we can’t finish, and we have sturdy brick houses that aren’t afraid of wind and snow, with warm Kangs inside.”
…
The honey in the beehive hadn’t fully drained out yet when the woman who wanted to buy honey arrived with her companions. Even before entering the house, she loudly exclaimed, “It’s a good thing someone reminded you that you have so many dogs at home. Otherwise, if we knocked on the door directly, we might have been torn apart by the dogs.”
“Our dogs are dogs, not wolves. If they were to bite every stranger they saw, they wouldn’t have survived until today without waiting for your reminder,” Mi Niang responded as she greeted them. “How did you come? Riding a horse in this cold must be freezing. Come in, warm up by the fire, and have a bowl of butter tea.”
“No need to delay, this unpredictable weather might start snowing anytime soon. Let’s buy quickly and head back,” the lead woman waved her hand, standing in the yard without intending to enter the house. “As you said, we’ve all brought jars, but you have to give us a discount. It’s not easy to make such a long trip.”
Mi Niang led them to the backyard, where she had bought two sturdy water jars for storing honey and several jars for pickling sour vegetables. The water jars hadn’t been used yet, but all the pickle jars were occupied.
“The price can’t be lowered, but since you’re all recommended by my sister-in-law and come from the same place as her, after weighing, I’ll give each of you an extra half spoon,” Mi Niang explained.
Several people were satisfied when they saw the size of the spoon used to scoop the honey, especially the woman who had bought honey last year. Her face lit up, and she added a few more compliments, “The honey sold by little sister-in-law isn’t expensive at all. It’s much cheaper than the laxative soup sold at the pharmacy. And most importantly, it’s not bitter. My family members have been adding water to that sweet soup, saving me a lot of trouble.”
Another woman, who had come on horseback, worried about transporting the honey safely. Mi Niang reassured her, saying her family was planning to go to the capital the day after tomorrow. “There should be someone from your village going there too to pay the annual tribute. Just let them know to take a carriage and bring it back for you.” She mentioned the location of her stall at the alley mouth from last year.
“This plan sounds feasible.”
As they escorted the visitors out, someone joked that if drinking honey water was effective, they would have Mi Niang bring honey to their village next year, ensuring they would buy it all.
“That’s not necessarily true. Next year, my honey production will double. Those two water jars in the house are for next year’s use,” Mi Niang said proudly.
As a group of seven horses galloped from east to west, shortly after they left, Mi Niang was still discussing having Bahu scoop out two jars of autumn honey to send to Mrs. Hu. Then, the sound of barking dogs was heard outside.
“I’ll go check it out,” Bahu said as he hurried out. Not long after, he returned with a few more people, including Bao Yin. She blinked and said, “Shopkeeper, the honey hasn’t been sold out yet, has it? I’ll buy a jar.” Those who came were all on good terms with her, so they had no doubts about the honey.
With the departure of the two groups, three jars were emptied.
Bahu carried a box of copper coins, with a silver coin tucked inside. He glanced at Mi Niang. “Perhaps next year we won’t need to carry honey jars to the capital to sell.”
After listening to Ajima’s story, Qiqige and Jiya came out, with Qiqige’s hands on hips and the other hand raised above her head, arrogantly saying, “The little shopkeeper is going to audit the accounts. Hand over the money box.”
