After Big Spot and Little Spot left, the people at home felt gloomy for several days. Bahu’s first task every morning was to open the door. Outside, there were no cats hanging around, so he looked at the snow on the ground, attempting to find evidence of the raccoon’s return during the night in the snow and mud. Qiqige and Jiya’s first words upon waking up in the morning were to call for their parents, and upon seeing them, their first question was whether Big Spot and Little Spot had returned.
“They haven’t come back. They’ve gone to the mountains. Maybe when winter comes and we return, they’ll come back too, or maybe they’ll return earlier than us.” No one knew how long it took for raccoons to give birth and how long the cubs needed to nurse before leaving the mother.
Mi Niang sat by the kang with her padded jacket and cotton trousers. Her belly had grown bigger, so she could only lend a hand in dressing the child, pulling sleeves and tugging at cotton pant legs.
Jiya got dressed and slipped off the kang, sitting on the felt mat to put on his boots. He grabbed his sister’s boots and brought them to the kang, then looked up and asked, “Mother, father says there are tigers and wolves in the mountains.”
“Big Spot and Little Spot are good at fighting too.”
Qiqige sighed, “Big Spot and Little Spot are only good at catching rabbits. They can’t even beat our dogs.” He was worried anyway.
There was endless worry, but Mi Niang didn’t respond anymore. She pushed open the door to let out the stale smell that had accumulated overnight. “Your father is almost done with the meal. Go and relieve yourself.”
The dog outside, hearing the light footsteps of its young master, wagged its tail and approached, shaking its head. Qiqige and Jiya patted the dog’s head and walked along the wall. In an open area, they pulled down their pants and squatted in the snow to urinate. Their buttocks exposed to the cold wind made them gasp for breath, and they no longer had the mood to talk about Big Spot and Little Spot.
“So cold, so cold.” Pulling up their pants, they ran back home. Upon entering, they were greeted with a wet cotton cloth to wash their faces. A bowl of honey water was handed to them, but even though it was sweet, it couldn’t hide the bitter expressions on the children’s faces.
“Quick, drink up. After drinking, you can eat.” urged Mi Niang.
“After drinking this bowl of water, we’ll have to go pee again after breakfast.” Qiqige muttered, knowing resistance was futile, but he still leaned in to slurp the water from the bowl without moving his hands.
Mi Niang handed the remaining half bowl of water to Jiya, gently patting the back of her head. “You’re just lazy.”
As the meal was served, Bahu stood in the backyard shouting loudly in the direction of the sheep pen for Ajima. Ajima, who was always reliable, headed towards the sheep pen as soon as Bahu opened the gate.
“I heard you, I’m coming.” Ajima replied loudly, lifting the milk bucket to the side of the wall to prevent it from being knocked over by the sheep again. “Second brother, the meal is ready. I’ll go back and eat first.”
Xi Jil nodded, and when Ajima left, he heard someone sarcastically comment on him, “You’re really lucky. Your little nephew doesn’t have parents but is raised by outsiders. Yet, he still treats you, his brother-in-law, respectfully. If it were me, I wouldn’t even bother acknowledging you.”
“So, you can’t be my little nephew.” Xi Jil joked, indeed benefiting from the situation. He wasn’t bothered by the sarcastic remarks. “The master’s family is good. Ajima is lucky to be with them.” If he had to live with him, forget about going to school, he would have been sent to herd cattle and sheep long ago by his father.
“Lucky indeed. The master’s family treats him like half a son.” Xi Jil sighed heavily. In terms of food, clothing, and living conditions, even his own son didn’t have such conditions.
…
As the snow and wind subsided, the sun finally brought warmth to people’s bodies. The ground, soaked and scrubbed by the melting snow, gradually revealed clumps of mud resembling the spots on raccoon fur. This was a good time for drying cow dung. Outside the sheep pen, there was a large area of cow dung that had been shoveled out. Cattle, sheep, horses, and camels were all driven out of their pens, allowing the livestock to frolic freely in the muddy ground after being confined for a whole winter.
The people from the relief shelter were all carrying burdens and carrying iron shovels as they came out, picking up wet cow dung from the area where the cattle were active to take back and dry.
Just as Mi Niang had sent Pandi away, she saw a yamen official coming from the west, accompanied by a familiar old man, the head Wan Yin who had registered the household when they came to the Mobei years ago.
“Bahu.” Mi Niang shouted into the house, “The yamen officials are here, probably related to building houses.”
Bahu came out of the house, followed by the two yamen officials and Wan Yin. Upon seeing Mi Niang, they exchanged pleasantries. “About to give birth soon?”
“In early May.”
“That’s fortunate timing. The child will be blessed, not born on the road.” It was a congratulatory remark. No one wanted to give birth while on a migrating journey.
The three entered the house, while Mi Niang went to the kitchen to fetch butter tea. The butter tea, made in the morning, had already cooled down. She placed the copper pot on the stove and listened to the people inside calculating the cost of building the house.
“A house ten feet long and five feet wide costs ten adult rams or eight ewes. The construction team is responsible for everything, and the main family doesn’t need to worry about the green bricks, tiles, beams, and columns. One ram for building the kang, dismantling the roof and rebuilding it. According to the dimensions of the sheep pen you built originally, one pen requires seven rams or five ewes. You want to build three rows of houses, each ten feet long and five feet wide, with requirements for green brick partitions. Both sheep pens will have tile roofs, and an additional sheep pen needs to be built, along with six additional kang beds, totaling eighty-two rams.” Wan Yin explained to Bahu one by one. “Is that all? Anything missing or needing addition?”
“And for the additional sheep pen, it requires thirty-two more rams?” Bahu asked.
Wan Yin nodded. “Mainly because your sheep pens are large, requiring three partition walls, and the roofs are tiled. The beams for the large sheep pens cannot be shortened, so the price is higher. However, compared to eight years ago, it’s still cheaper. Mr Hu wanted to show favor to these fellow villagers, and the leading team that came along adjusted the price accordingly.”
Bahu nodded. “There’s nothing missing, and no additional requests.” Without waiting for Wan Yin to speak again, he stood up and asked, “Should we start driving the sheep now, or wait a few days?”
“Today.”
Bahu led the three men to the sheep flock. Mi Niang came out of the kitchen and said, “The butter tea has just been brewed hot. You can come in for a bowl of tea later.”
“No, thank you, little sister-in-law, you take a rest.” The yamen official walking at the back turned around.
The flock included young lambs, and they hadn’t gone far from home, less than a mile away. From afar, they could see three children wielding sticks driving away the eagles weaving among the sheep. The eagles in the sky had grown thin over the winter, continuously hovering, unwilling to miss the opportunity to prey on the fresh and tender young lambs on the ground.
“Be careful, some eagles may get desperate and attack the children.” Wan Yin exclaimed, remembering when he was a child, an eagle had scratched a child’s face and pecked at their neck.
“It’s fine, the eagles won’t dare to come down.” Bahu said confidently.
As the four approached, the dogs in the flock were the first to hear them. Two dogs wagged their tails and approached, while the others just glanced back, wagged their tails as a gesture, and didn’t move their paws. They either stayed by the children’s legs or curled up in the flock, gazing up at the circling and screeching eagles. Da Huang and Alse wolves, with one ear each, stood at the outer circle, keeping an eye on the pregnant ewes to prevent them from straying too far to give birth.
“After a winter, your sheep are still so fat?” Wan Yin and the two yamen officials took a stroll around. They all had sheep at home, so they understood how much fodder it took to raise such fat sheep.
Now they didn’t need to supervise anymore. Driving out eighty-two sheep received neither praise nor criticism.
Bahu called Ajima to help pick the sheep. He was more familiar with the conditions of the rams: those with bad teeth, tricky mouths, bad temper, not picky about where they defecated, he had records of them all.
Ajima pointed, Bahu pulled, and with their cooperation, they managed to select eighty-two sheep without any unfinished business. Bahu glanced at the little notebook in Ajima’s hand, with its densely packed entries causing his eyes to ache.
The yamen officials drove the sheep away, while Qiqige and Jiya stood by Bahu’s leg and looked westward. The eighty-two sheep kept bleating, occasionally looking back, eagerly seeking a chance to run back.
The flock echoed their bleats, long and short, their eyes alert, their hooves restless. It wasn’t until they could no longer see the departing sheep that they quieted down again, digging into the grass roots with their hooves.
The circling eagles had disappeared, and Qiqige and Jiya each held one of Bahu’s hands, walking back with him.
“Dad, those are our sheep.”
Bahu lowered his head. The two children were a bit reluctant, both pouting.
“We give them sheep, and they build us houses. When we come back in winter, there will be two more rows of houses on the west side of the courtyard. One row is for the dogs to live in, and when Big Spot and Little Spot return, they’ll have their own little houses too. Even if we bring the whole family back, there will be enough places to sleep without having to squeeze with the dogs.”
The three of them looked southward unanimously. It would take a day or two to drive the Lele cart to the mountain, but even standing at the doorstep, they could see the deep grayish-blue covering of the distant mountains, vague and indistinct.
…
Preparing to depart for the foothills, Bahu packed his belongings at home, washing the thick clothes that needed washing and drying those that needed airing. Mi Niang could only help him with small things on the side, reminding him of what to bring. She also took a little notebook to record what they would need on the way and which cart it would be placed in.
“Master.” Uncle Muren returned from outside, followed by three or five men. “Someone wants to rent sheep. Will you rent them out?”
Bahu clapped the dust off his hands and strode out. “Brother, you look unfamiliar. You’re not from around here, are you?”
The man in the lead said that they had relatives in Wahu and knew that he raised good sheep. They wanted to rent twenty or thirty.
“That’s too late. The ones available for rent have already been taken. The ones left, I plan to raise myself.” Bahu refused. His sheep were only rented out as far as Mao County because he had family there. Even if something happened and he couldn’t get his sheep back, he could use people as collateral. As for these roundabout relatives, he wasn’t interested in renting to them.
“I see many young lambs left in your flock…”
“I want to expand the flock.” Bahu interrupted him, then asked whose relatives he was. Seeing his natural response, Bahu’s suspicion lessened slightly, but he still didn’t relent. “If you want to change breeds, you can go and exchange with your relatives. It’s easier to negotiate with relatives.”
No matter how she tried to engage him afterwards, he just smiled and remained silent.
After the visitors left, Bahu went back inside to continue packing. As soon as he entered the bedroom, he was embraced tightly. The man had been prepared since early morning, his hands gently holding her waist.
The room was dimly lit, but it couldn’t hide the watery gleam in Mi Niang’s eyes. There was a mixture of admiration and infatuation in her gaze, a look that any man would cherish. Bahu’s heart trembled slightly, from the back of his head to the soles of his feet.
“What’s wrong?” he asked knowingly. They walked to the edge of the kang together, with Mi Niang sitting against it. She leaned her head against his chest and raised her hand to hook his.
There was a light touch before they separated. Bahu rubbed her earlobe. He had noticed Mi Niang watching him from the window while he was talking outside, knowing what kind of demeanor she liked. He deliberately spoke less, his face relaxed with a smile, occasionally shaking his head lightly. As expected, she was mesmerized.
“Why aren’t you speaking?” Bahu pretended to ask again.
With her hands resting on the kang, Mi Niang looked up at him and said sincerely, “You seem more attractive as you get older.” In truth, much of the fierceness in his eyes had dissipated, making him seem like a different person compared to before they got married.
“You’d better not talk.” Bahu gave her a glance. What did she mean by getting older? He was only three years older than her.
She had played along for nothing.
