In the evening, with oil lamps lit, Bahu occasionally glanced at the large ferret lying under the table. His actions of accidentally dropping meat for it to eat were particularly frequent. At first, Mi Niang ignored him, but when she saw Qiqige and Jiya also imitating by throwing meat to the dog, she widened her eyes and snapped at Bahu, “If you don’t want to eat, put down your chopsticks. Otherwise, pour out the rice in your bowl to feed the cats and dogs. Don’t touch tonight’s and tomorrow’s dishes, save them all to feed them.”
Only then did Bahu notice the dog licking its mouth. He glanced at the two younger ones and admitted his mistake honestly, “I’m not full yet, I won’t feed it anymore.”
“If I see you like this again, squatting under the table to eat, and throwing meat on the ground, I won’t let you eat either. Just use chopsticks to feed them directly into their mouths.”
Qiqige and Jiya hung their heads obediently, not daring to make a sound, and ate the rice and beans in their bowls, not even daring to touch the meat in the bowl.
“Why aren’t you eating vegetables?” Mi Niang turned her head and asked gently. “Are you full already?”
The siblings shook their heads and obediently picked up the vegetables with their chopsticks, hoping that she would let them off for voluntarily eating vegetables.
“Yes, eat more vegetables,” Mi Niang took the opportunity to give each of them a bit of vegetables with their chopsticks.
“Thank you, Mother,” Qiqige said with a bitter face, still wanting to express gratitude.
Jiya also followed suit with a vague thank you, using his left hand to push away the dog’s paws that were scraping his legs.
In the past, there would still be leftovers when cooking vegetables, but tonight, the vegetables were eaten up cleanly. While washing the dishes, Mi Niang sat by the stove and said, “From now on, if you misbehave during a meal, you’ll be scolded in turns, and Qiqige and Jiya will obediently eat their vegetables on their own.”
“Don’t blame yourself. I wasn’t paying attention tonight,” Bahu apologized again, peeking at the child in her arms. “Is he asleep?”
“Yeah, he got tired during dinner,” she replied.
Qiqige and Jiya came in to feed the dog, and Bahu took the bowl, scooped some hot water for the siblings to wash their hands. “Remember to use soap and wash your mouths too, wipe with a cloth, not your sleeves.”
After washing the pots and pans clean, he scrubbed with soap using the water his children had used to wash, then went to the bedroom and the side room to light oil lamps. After sending Qiqige and Jiya back to bed and undressing them, he said, “You’ve been tired for half a month. Have a good night’s sleep tonight.”
After closing the door to the side room, the outside suddenly became pitch black without the light of the oil lamps. He went to the kitchen to take an oil lamp and lit it up, and only then did Mi Niang enter the bedroom with the child in her arms.
“You sleep first, I’ll go out for a walk.”
Mi Niang nodded. “Let the dogs and ferrets sleep outside for now. We’ll move them to the east in a few days.”
With the sudden arrival of new neighbors to the east, Bahu felt uncomfortable going out. Even though the two households were not close to each other, he still felt constrained.
He went out at night to check on the cattle and sheep, and the dogs always followed him. This time was no exception, but instead of heading east, he went north after crossing the river. While the cattle, sheep, and camels were easy to manage, the horses were the main concern. When they went crazy, they could run ten miles at night.
Big Spot and Little Spot followed Bahu as he circled around the sheep flock. They went out hunting at night, rubbing against Bahu’s legs and then rushing off to the grasslands in the dead of night without looking back.
“Woof, woof, woof—”
“Da Huang,” Bahu called out, hearing the approaching footsteps, and greeted, “Are you also here to check on the cattle and sheep?”
“Yeah, I’m heading back now,” the other person responded. It should have been the barking dog, and the footsteps moved west. When Bahu led the dog back, he heard the creaking sound of the neighbor’s door opening to the west, realizing that he was the one talking just now.
“The Alse wolves came in.” Bahu wanted to close the door, but the Alse wolves, that awkward little creature, kept circling at the door, reluctant to come in. Bahu patiently said, “Come in, I won’t do anything to you.”
When he didn’t speak, the Alse wolves hesitated and then turned westward. Bahu chased it out for a while, and when he saw it heading towards the sheep pen, he stopped and walked back. As soon as he entered the house, he complained to Mi Niang, “The Alse wolves has been neutered for so long, but it’s still acting like an old lady, twisting and turning, making a fuss. It’s been half a year, and it still can’t get over it. No matter how much I call it, it won’t come in to sleep. The more I call, the faster it runs away. And it’s not like I’m the one who neutered it, why is it mad at me? Isn’t that silly?”
“It’s precisely because it’s not silly that it’s mad at you. Don’t just focus on complaining about it. If you were the one who got neutered, wouldn’t you want to beat someone to death? If the Alse wolves is willing to help you watch the door, you should be grateful.”
Bahu tossed his robe onto the chair and kicked off his shoes before sitting on the kang. “So, do you think it came back to eat dinner or to save face for me?”
Mi Niang didn’t respond. When the man sat at the head of the kang, he blocked most of the light, and the dim candlelight illuminated his cotton clothes, revealing the skin underneath, tight and smooth.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t give anything to Big Spot…” A warm hand rested on his waist, cutting off the man’s words abruptly. He turned around and directly untied the belt, throwing the soap-scented inner garment onto the chair.
As soon as their bodies touched, sparks ignited, and their hot bodies collided fiercely like flint stones, emitting slick sweat. Bahu stirred the stream between the mountains with his hand, lifting Mi Niang’s chin with his palm under the dim light. He rubbed it gently and said, “You scolded me during dinner…”
“You deserve it,” Mi Niang propped up her upper body and kicked him with her foot. “Stop talking to me, just do what you want.”
The man clicked his tongue twice. “You’re really impatient, not letting me finish my words. I wanted to say I didn’t eat enough.”
Mi Niang bit her lower lip and didn’t respond. Finally, she bent her elbow and lay down, deliberately avoiding him. “If you’re not full, then forget it, just sleep.”
“Okay, I’ll sleep.” Bahu bent his knees and got up, blowing out the oil lamp. He lifted the blanket to cover both of them, and even though he received a punch, he just chuckled softly, “Sleep on your side.” He held onto her slippery waist and pulled her up. “Sleep.”
Mi Niang muttered as she pulled the blanket down, only grabbing a corner of it. She buried her head in the pillow and asked indistinctly, “Did you take your medicine pills?”
“Mm-hmm.”
That’s good.
…
Mi Niang hurriedly took the Lele cart loaded with beehives to the grassland behind the house, harvested honey and drove away the bees. When she was returning with Bahu, she happened to meet the people from the east side busy moving. Her neighbor on the east side was Pandi, who was loading her belongings onto the back of a calf and moving them home. Seeing them, she greeted happily, “When I settle in, I’ll invite you for a meal.”
“Okay, just give us a shout if you need help.”
Pandi’s house was a row of three rooms, with a kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Behind the house was the sheep pen, and in front was a high wall. For safety, the courtyard wall was built as high as the roof. With just these things, she had spent half of her sheep.
Mi Niang hung up the beehives in the house to let the honey drain, then took off her outer clothes and went next door to see if Pandi needed any help.
“Just bedding, blankets, and clothes, plus pots, pans, and jars. There isn’t much, I can handle it in two trips. Don’t need your help, go back and take care of your baby.” Pandi pushed Mi Niang out the door. She had chosen to build her house here partly because having Bahu as a neighbor was also a deterrent, and Mi Niang had many dogs, so having her around could help with security. If there was any noise at night, she could call out, and someone would respond. She didn’t want to take advantage of others. Asking for help once or twice was fine, but asking too many times would annoy anyone.
She chose a reasonable-sounding excuse: “Mi Niang, don’t help me just because you see me in difficulty. I don’t want anyone’s help. I rely on myself for everything. If I can endure it, I’ll continue like this. If I can’t, after suffering, I’ll know to bend my head and bow down, while I’m still young and able to marry and have children.”
Mi Niang chuckled and pointed to a row of empty houses between the two families, identical in width, length, and height to Pandi’s house. Pandi’s door faced east, while her house faced west. “In the future, my dogs and mountain badgers will all live here. You can sleep peacefully at night, no thief would dare to approach.”
“Then I am truly at ease, more so than having a man at home.” Pandi patted her chest. With twenty or thirty dogs, any thief who dared to come wouldn’t leave with both legs intact.
After Mi Niang left, Pandi stood outside her house with her hands behind her back, taking a walk around. Although her house was the same size as the one where the dogs lived, she looked content. This was hers, completely and entirely hers.
“So soon back?” Bahu was surprised, seeing his little son in his arms trying to go to his mother, he deliberately held him tightly. “What’s up? Afraid your dad will eat you? If someone wants to hold you, you should be happy, stop being so picky.”
“Yeah, she didn’t want my help.” Mi Niang walked up behind Bahu, draped her arm over his shoulder, and tiptoed to kiss her son’s chubby cheeks. “Oh, stinky, I won’t hold you, you’re too smelly.”
Habul giggled and stretched out his arms, frowning as if holding his breath, wanting her to hold him. At this moment, feeling a bit temperamental, she only allowed him to be kissed. If Bahu tried to kiss him, she would push his face away and scold him fiercely.
“The little rascal is really something, trying to rebel.” Bahu insisted on kissing him, not only kissing but also trying to carry him out. Mi Niang grabbed a shovel and followed, closing the door behind her. Habul’s crying, the family of three headed towards the back of the house. Qiqige and Jiya had already come with Uncle Muren to pull radishes early in the morning. This autumn, the old man didn’t come back, and there was no one to tend to the radishes in the field.
“Why is he crying?” The old man couldn’t sit still upon hearing the child crying. He patted his muddy hands and wanted to hold him.
Bahu waved his hand. “He’s being overly dramatic. He won’t let me hold him, insisting on being held by his mother.” He was being driven crazy by the noise. He took the shovel and handed the little one back to Mi Niang. “Here, he’s your son.”
“He’s my son, he’s my son. I gave birth to him for some other wild man.” Mi Niang took the chubby bundle and wiped away his tears. As soon as the child was in her arms, he stopped crying. “Did your dad pinch you? You’re not happy even when he holds you, acting like you’re being sold.”
The old man looked around silently and quietly went back to pulling radishes in the field. The boldness of the young people’s words made him afraid to intervene. One dared to say the child was born for some wild man, and the other didn’t seem angry.
There were still some green leaves on the radishes. Qiqige and Jiya were responsible for twisting off the leaves to feed the sheep later. They were very diligent, earning five cents for each basket of leaves. They were so engrossed that they didn’t even notice when their parents arrived.
“After planting radishes for so many years, this is the first year I’ve come to dig them up.” Bahu dug one after another with a shovel, looking at Mi Niang, asking if they should bring the little chubby’s wooden bed.
“No need.” She took off her outer coat and tied Habul’s bottom to Bahu’s back. When she saw him about to speak again, she immediately reached out her hand. “No crying allowed. You’ll stay on your dad’s back today. Let’s see if you’ll lose a pound or two.” During the migration, most of the time she carried him in the Lele cart, which made him a bit stingy. He pouted whenever he couldn’t see her for a long time and didn’t let anyone else hold him for too long as long as she was around.
Bahu dug the ground with the little one on his back, while Mi Niang followed behind, twisting off leaves and shaking off soil. They threw the radishes one by one into the basket, and it took the five of them the whole day to finish pulling them out.
“Uncle Muren, how many days did it usually take you to do this alone in previous years?” Bahu asked as he came over to the Lele cart to move the basket of radishes.
“In previous years, it wasn’t just me pulling them out; there were a dozen people working together. It only took half a day to finish pulling them out and transporting them back. This year, you forgot to instruct them, and they got lazy, so they acted like nothing happened.” Uncle Muren lifted his hand to shield the chubby little one bundled in clothes. Seeing his eyes closing as if he was about to fall asleep, he couldn’t help but praise, “Just like your siblings, brave since childhood.”
But their parents are also brave and kind-hearted, and they’ve raised three good-natured children.
