As dusk approached, the orange-yellow sunset shone on the felt tent, casting its rays from the open and ventilated top, dampening the wrinkled felt nestling on the ground. Nearby lay scattered robes, with a red agate forehead ornament and a heavy coral pendant entangled on a crimson bodice. On the uncovered ground, shiny golden peony hairpins were scattered around, and grassroots with budding shoots passed through the hollow petals, fulfilling the dream of adorning gold and silver for an entire afternoon of madness for the couple.
The sated couple heard the whistling sound from the grassland and sluggishly sat up from their thin quilt. If they didn’t get up now, they’d be pinned down by their children later.
Just as the two of them tidied up the tent that looked as if it had been ransacked by bandits, they heard the laughter and clamor of Qiqige and Jiya, who began calling out for their parents before even reaching the door.
Mi Niang stepped out first, sitting nonchalantly on the chair outside the door. “How many cows gave birth to calves today?” she asked as soon as she saw them.
Jiya stretched out a hand and went to the kitchen to fetch some water first. Qiqige pounced into Mi Niang’s arms, her dirty little hands cupping her face as she puzzled, “Why is everything gone? The red lips, the ornament on your forehead, and your braids.” She grumbled for a while; even her father hadn’t promised to braid her hair today.
“Mom, why did you undo it? I still wanted to see,” the little girl pouted and twisted her body.
“I’ll braid it for you tomorrow,” Mi Niang replied, quickly brushing her fluffy, curly hair. Time was short, so she simply tied it up with a hair tie. “Your dad braided it too tight; it was hurting my scalp, so I undid it.”
At that moment, Bahu came out holding Habul, interjecting, “I’ll make sure to braid our eldest daughter’s hair more gently tomorrow, so it won’t hurt.”
The topic shifted to himself, and Qiqige stopped grumbling, making her demand, “I want my hair to look as pretty as Mom’s today.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Bahu nodded repeatedly. He handed Habul to Mi Niang and took out his purse, asking, “How many cows? Five cows? Here, ten copper coins each. Let’s count them together. If there’s any shortage, I won’t acknowledge it unless it’s counted in front of me.”
Ajima went to study in Xushui, so now they are led by Uncle Muren. They follow the cats and dogs at home, but it’s not entirely accurate to say they’re just loafing around. The siblings are quite responsible. If it weren’t for the lure of making money today, even at lunchtime, Qiqige wouldn’t have been willing to leave home to herd cattle.”
Jiya and Qiqige laid the copper coins on the ground, pointing to their own fingers. Each finger had its own coin. Then they solemnly said, “It’s ten coins. We have enough.”
Turning their heads to talk to their chubby little brother, Qiqige saw Habul’s eyes were red. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, saying, “Little Third, are you being naughty? Why are you crying? Do you miss your big sister?”
The chubby boy recognized them, smiled, and blew a bubble with his saliva. Jiya acted quickly and popped it with a poke.
“Haha.” Qiqige and Jiya laughed together when they saw Habul stunned. “Little Third is so silly.”
Habul had a good temper. He didn’t get angry even when his bubble was popped. He smiled back when people laughed at him, squinting his eyes and showing his toothless gums.
“My little brother is so handsome.” Qiqige kissed him a few more times. “Mom, I want to hold Little Third too.”
“First, go wash your hands and face.” She glanced at the kitchen. Bahu was chopping bones enthusiastically, and the sound of the cutting board vibrating showed his joy.
“Do you need help with cooking?”
“No, just sit and wait for the meal.” Her voice sounded relaxed and content.
Jiya and Qiqige came in after washing their hands by the river. They brought chairs and sat down facing each other, with their legs crossed. Mi Niang stood Habul up and placed him on their laps so one could touch his face and the other his feet, while she sat on the side watching.
During the break, Da Huang came over to take a look, followed by Big Spot. Then there was Bala. Gradually, the dogs that came back one by one also came over to take a look. Jiya and Qiqige took turns introducing the dogs and marmots in the house to Habul. “Little Spotty hasn’t come yet. It’s nursing Little Marmot. There are two little marmots named Da Hu and Xiao Mo. They are even smaller than you.”
The lamb bones simmered in the pot, making a bubbling sound. Bahu wiped his hands and walked out, standing behind Mi Niang with one hand on her shoulder, listening to the three children chatting.
The western sky was filled with fiery red sunset clouds, and the sun had already sunk behind the distant mountains. Birds returning home flapped their wings urgently in the sky, eager to feed their chicks.
…
The next day, Bahu braided Qiqige’s hair just like Mi Niang’s from yesterday, except instead of the silver and gold ornaments, he used colorful hair ties. Each braid had a different color, and when he reached the end of her hair, he gathered the six-colored hair ties together into one braid.
“It looks better than mine yesterday. I want my hair braided like this from now on.” As soon as Bahu finished, Mi Niang began to praise, and she even pulled Jiya over to ask for his opinion. “Do you think the color coordination on her head looks nice?”
Jiya was young and liked shiny things and bright colors. Deep down, he liked the red agate pendant hanging from his mother’s forehead the most. But when Qiqige looked at him expectantly, he nodded without hesitation. “Sister looks very pretty.”
The little girl was satisfied, tiptoeing to hold her face and admiring herself in the bronze mirror repeatedly. Then, she turned around and hugged her father, sweetly pleading, “Daddy, from now on, I want you to braid my hair.”
Bahu glanced at Mi Niang. If he didn’t do it, she would. “Alright, at home, it’s me who will braid your hair.” His hands were just a bit more nimble when braiding hair. It had been almost four years now, and whenever he made dumplings, they either ended up with a torn dough or were poorly shaped, and his buns were never as nicely wrapped as Mi Niang’s.
Ajima went to the private school on horseback, and Qiqige and Jiya also went out to play with their friends. Bahu changed into a robe. “Then I’ll be off. If I’m not back by noon, don’t wait for me for lunch, but leave two bowls of food in the pot for me.”
“Okay, be careful on the way.”
That afternoon, he brought back a string of medicine packets. Over the next two or three months, Qiqige and Jiya were very troubled. The bitter smell of medicine lingered around their noses, and every other day, they had to boil a pot of it. But their father seemed quite happy to drink it.
…
When Bahu went to Doctor Zhao again, it was already autumn. When he was in Lingshan, he used to avoid people, but now in the Xia Ranch there were only a few people for miles around. Moreover, the medicine packets had been replaced with black pills. He wasn’t worried about being caught, nor did he have to worry about neighbors asking what illness he had. Whenever someone passed by his house, they could smell the scent of bitter medicine.
“Dad, are you cured?” Qiqige asked excitedly.
See, even when he said he wasn’t sick, the children didn’t believe him.
“I’m not sick,” Bahu insisted.
“Do you still drink that bitter medicine?” Jiya asked with a furrowed brow. “Many people say drinking bitter medicine means you’re sick.” He was very worried.
“I won’t drink it anymore,” Bahu waved his hand. “Daddy isn’t sick. Don’t worry, both of you go play with Habul.”
Both Qiqige and Jiya breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously. If their father stopped drinking the bitter medicine, it meant he was cured. They no longer had to fear that their father would die. They happily grabbed their cowhide pads and went sliding down the grass. As for playing with the little kids? Absolutely not. They had spent enough time at home in the past three months.
“Come help me take off my clothes,” Mi Niang called as she bent down. When Bahu approached, she asked, “What did Doctor Zhao say?”
“He didn’t say anything. He just threw the black pills to me and let me go,” Bahu said as he rubbed his hands clean in the river before going to help her undress. With only the two of them present, he showed a hint of bitterness. “Finally, I don’t have to drink that stuff anymore. It was so fishy and bitter, it made me sick.”
“You didn’t say that when you were drinking it before. You said it wasn’t bitter at all, just smelled bitter,” Mi Niang imitated his speech. No one dared to taste the bitter medicine, and when Bahu drank it, he didn’t even furrow his brows. She really believed it wasn’t bitter.
The man chuckled. “That’s because there was a radish hanging in front of me. I was like the donkey at the mill, thinking of that sweet radish. Bitterness could even be turned into sweetness.”
As they chatted, the sound of bells came from the Mobei, but Bahu couldn’t see anything until the bedsheet and robe shook and draped over the rope. Then, a carriage slowly appeared.
“It must be the meat seller. I’ll go buy some. You watch Habul,” said Bahu, who had decided to buy some meat. At the Xia Ranch, the meat they ate was all air-dried beef, suitable for soup but not for frying. Bahu wanted to change things up a bit at home.
As the carriage approached, he frowned. “This is a cow. How old is she?”
“Exactly three years old. She’s a good-for-nothing. She couldn’t get up after giving birth to just one calf. There was no choice but to slaughter her and sell the meat to at least get some money back.”
Bahu dismissed the idea of buying meat. This kind of beef wasn’t good, but he did inquire about the disease in detail. How could a healthy cow become paralyzed after giving birth to a calf?
The man shook his head. “I don’t know. I even hired a Mongolian doctor, but he only vaguely said there was too much bleeding.”
As the meat cart with the ringing bell moved away, Bahu walked back with his hands behind his back and explained to Mi Niang, “It was a recently calved cow. The meat isn’t good, so I didn’t buy it.”
Mi Niang nodded indifferently, locked the door, and asked him to come lift the crib. “Let’s go, we’ll also go herd the cattle and sheep.”
On the way, they met Big Spot and Little Spot coming back, followed by Da Hu and Xiao Mo. Da Hu and Xiao Mo were only three months old but were already being dragged out by their mother and uncle to learn to hunt.
Da Hu and Xiao Mo were born at home and had only seen humans since they were born. Moreover, Big Spot and Little Spot were friendly towards humans, so they didn’t shy away from interacting with people. After they came out of the den, they even actively approached people’s feet.
“Mi Niang, what do you think if I castrate Da Hu and Big Spot? With Big Spot castrated, he won’t run to the mountains next year, and Little Spot has two little cubs to take care of. It’s unlikely he’ll go to the mountains either.”
