Since leaving last year, no one has set foot on the Xia Ranch again. The feces left by the cattle and sheep from last year are still there, and the grass in the pasture is lush. The eight puppy dogs, as soon as they landed, were overwhelmed by their small size, unable to jump out no matter how hard they tried. They could only whimper and crawl through the grass following the sounds of people.
Bahut instructed Mi Niang to stay in the car for the time being. He gathered dozens of sheep, creating a cleared space, and then lit a basket of dried cow dung. They threw it under the grassroots to drive away insects, creating thick smoke that stung the eyes.
The sky was still not dark, and cattle and sheep dispersed spontaneously across this uninhabited pasture. They formed groups and went down to the river to drink water in waves. After drinking water, they didn’t even bother to clean the tender water grass growing on the riverbank. In the time it took to make a felt bag, the water grass along the river was reduced to bare stalks, half a person’s height.
No wonder grazing needs to be rotated. If a pasture is overexploited, even the roots of the grass can be damaged, turning the grassland into barren land the next year.
After clearing the area where one or two thousand heads of cattle and sheep had stayed, Chao Bao and Xi Jil drove them southeastward. Bahu shoveled the burnt cow dung, now reduced to ashes, into baskets and scattered it in various cleared areas. Dry cow dung not only repels insects and detoxifies but also removes moisture. Every time they moved, it took several days to burn the dung. In the past, Bahu didn’t pay much attention, just driving away the insects and stopping there. He didn’t care whether there was moisture on the ground. However, since having two little ones at home, tender and prone to illness, they had to fumigate with cow dung every few days.
“Alright, come down,” the man knocked on the car door. “Still sleeping? You won’t be able to sleep tonight with so much sleep.”
“I’m awake, feeding milk. Come and take Qiqige down.” Before setting off, they thought the child would cry on the way. Unexpectedly, as soon as the carriage started, Qiqige and Jiya’s eyelids stuck together. They woke up when the carriage stopped and fell asleep when it moved. They were truly born herders.
Accustomed to the swaying and rocking of the carriage, Qiqige refused to sleep once moved into the small bed. He was quite lively in the first half of the night, opening his eyes wide and making sounds of recognition. When his parents tried to engage with him, the siblings babbled to each other. As the latter half of the night approached, restlessness set in. The two children lay in the small bed, kicking their legs, crying loudly with mouths wide open. Their eyelids couldn’t stay open, yet they resisted sleeping, crying until they were covered in sweat.
“Should I drive the carriage around for a bit? Maybe they’ll settle down and sleep better afterward?” Bahu’s throat was almost hoarse, feeling deeply distressed.
“That’s the only option.” Walking back and forth in the felt bag, Mi Niang felt like her arms weren’t hers anymore—they were sore and heavy.
The night air was cool, and both adults and children had to add more clothes when going outside. Mi Niang directly pulled out the rain poncho and put it on. Bahu moved the small bed outside, and Mi Niang followed, locking the door behind them.
“Stay at home and sleep; we’ll go out and try to get these troublesome little ones to sleep before coming back.” The children’s crying disrupted the entire household, even the dogs couldn’t sleep.
With the cattle and horses in the pasture and only the empty carriage at home, it would be troublesome to bring the cattle back at this time. Bahu took off the rain poncho and became the makeshift ox, saying, “I’ll pull the carriage.”
“Are you sure? Can you handle it?” The children need supervision even if they haven’t fallen asleep yet, and no matter how strong Bahu is, pulling a carriage with a person on it is still challenging.
“I can handle it. You get on.”
As the wheels of the carriage turned, the crying inside the carriage paused for a moment. The couple simultaneously sighed in relief, finally finding some peace. Their heads were on the verge of being muddled by the incessant crying.
In the deep night, the cattle and sheep were quiet. The sound of the carriage wheels rolling and the rustling of footsteps on the grass were right next to their ears. The two troublesome little ones finally allowed their eyelids to meet.
Hearing the sound of the car door opening, Bahu turned around and saw Mi Niang jumping off the carriage shaft. “Why did you get off?”
“I’m helping you.” Mi Niang pulled a carriage pole. “Make another turn and then head back. Once they’re sound asleep, we can bring the small bed inside.”
“Will they wake up and cry again?”
“Give it a try; they slept quite well last night.” The parents couldn’t act as makeshift oxen, walking all night in the boundless grassland.
This was Mi Niang’s second time experiencing the night on the grassland. The winds in the northern wilderness never ceased throughout the year. In the wind, there were the low moans and chewing sounds of sleeping cattle and sheep, footsteps of rodents, rabbits, or other animals foraging in the grass, and the crisp sound of river water hitting the pebbles.
“Unless the river freezes, it seems to be always flowing, making a sound. Where does the water come from?” The water is shallow, not even as high as a person’s thigh, and under the intense sun, it seems like it could evaporate. However, from spring to autumn, it never stops flowing downstream. The river twists and turns endlessly, and wherever there is grass, there is water—wherever people go, water is there.
“I heard that in the far west and north, there’s an extremely large river and lake, and further west and north, there are snow-capped mountains with perennial snow. The water in this river flows down from the farthest west and north, winding its way to the farthest east and south. I’ve heard people say that the people in Youzhou and us all drink water from the same river.” Bahu lowered his voice.
“Is that true?” Can a river be that long?
The man shrugged and smiled, “It’s hearsay. Believe it if you think it’s true, doubt it if you think it’s false. But the water in the river does come from the northwest.”
As they chatted, the two unconsciously changed direction, pulling the carriage toward home. When they reached the doorstep, they didn’t dare to stop the carriage immediately. They stood there for a while, listening for any movement inside the carriage. Mi Niang held onto the carriage pole, and Bahu gently opened the door and took the small bed down. Only then did Mi Niang let go of the carriage pole, and the carriage could finally rest.
Even after getting into bed, they dared not make a sound. The two chuckled in silence. After laughing, they thought about waking up hungry in a while, needing to feed milk, and then having to poop and pee. The frustration that had just been released returned.
“Ah…” Both sighed silently.
After three days of fussing, Jiya and Qiqige finally accepted sleeping in the felt bag again. The upside-down sleep cycle is also normalized. The two children were eating well, and looking healthy, but both Bahu and Mi Niang had dark circles under their eyes, and their legs felt weak as they walked.
“What happened to you two?” Having not seen each other for a few days, Mi Niang looked like she had been through another ordeal.
“Pulling the carriage to coax the kids to sleep at night, and during the day, not only do we have to watch the cattle and sheep, but we also have to keep the kids from sleeping. Even the dogs live better than us,” Mi Niang waved her hand, showing no desire to talk about it.
“Did you arrive yesterday afternoon?” she asked.
“Yes, when we arrived, it was getting dark. We were arranged not far from you, twenty families living together,” Mu Xiang looked around, “Did Bahu take the kids with him?”
“Yeah, he took them to see the cattle and sheep.” Mi Niang didn’t go in the morning to take care of the accumulated diapers over the past few days. It was worth it; otherwise, Mu Xiang would only see diapers all over the house when she and her sister came.
“In that case, you’re busy. We’ll talk when you have time.” Pandi stood up, seeing that it was almost noon, and it was time to go back and cook.
“Sure, the kids are too restless. Come over again when you have time.” After seeing off the guests, Mi Niang also went into the kitchen to cook. Being tired, she didn’t have much appetite. She simmered a pot of lamb soup and added a couple of handfuls of noodles just before serving. She also boiled some water, waiting for Bahu to come back and make a pot of butter tea.
“The food is ready. Clean up and get ready to go back for lunch.” Cleaning up meant handling the kids on the floor. The two children and three dogs were lying on the felt blanket, each doing their own thing. Another five puppies followed Da Huang, weaving through the flock of sheep.
“What’s for lunch?”
“Lamb and noodle soup, and a pot of butter tea.” Both children were brought back to the small bed. Mi Niang and Bahu each carried one side as they walked back. “I want to have grilled lamb. In a couple of days, slaughter a sheep, and we’ll bring the iron rack here to roast lamb legs. We happen to have honey; brushing a layer on the lamb legs will surely make them delicious.” Seeing Bahu frown, Mi Niang added, “Don’t worry; I guarantee it’ll be delicious.”
Bahu wasn’t very convinced. Grilled meat is savory and spicy, while honey is sweet. No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem appetizing. So, when preparing the grilled meat, he took off two lamb legs for marination, thinking that if one got ruined, there would still be one to eat.
“Da Huang, call all your puppies away!” Mi Niang was exasperated. Surrounded by eight dogs while grilling meat, she could accidentally step on a few small paws if she moved.
Bahu took a long pole and started knocking them away one by one. “Calling them is like calling me. They don’t understand human language.”
But didn’t you say before that dogs understand human language?
“Then bring me the knife, and I’ll make a few cuts for better flavor.” Mi Niang took a small brush and brushed a layer of honey water on the lamb leg. The flame licked the lamb leg, and the crystal-clear honey water became even more radiant. The sweet fragrance mixed with the charred aroma of the meat rose with the white smoke. Bahu swallowed his saliva, and when he looked down, he saw the puppy licking its tongue, drooling. He silently turned away.
“Are you not brushing honey water on the other lamb leg?” Mi Niang asked again.
Bahu shook his head. Even if the smell was delicious, he maintained a skeptical attitude towards honey-coated meat. But he didn’t want to be too firm in his words. “Dogs shouldn’t eat too much sweet. Leave the other lamb leg for them. If they get tired of the sweet, we can still have a few slices of unsweetened meat.”
The lamb leg brushed with honey water had a brownish-red color, and the surface seemed to have a layer of sticky fat. Below the fat were grains of peppercorns, and finely chopped green onions. The lamb leg without honey water had a golden-brown surface, and the meat looked dry. The peppercorns, green onions, and sauce were all in black and yellow colors.
“Taste it?” Mi Niang sliced a piece of meat and fed herself before giving a piece to Bahu. Seeing his cautious expression, she clicked her tongue and said, “I’m not planning to poison you; go ahead and eat.”
The flavor was rich. Grilled lamb inevitably had a dry texture, but this time, even after swallowing the lamb, a smooth sauce lingered in the mouth. It seemed to be a mixture of lamb fat and honey, without the greasiness of lamb meat and the overly sweet taste of honey.
“It’s quite delicious!”
Mi Niang turned her head without responding to him. She cut a piece of lamb without honey water and fed it to him, while she enjoyed the brownish-red, shiny meat slices.
Bahu chewed two bites and spat them out to feed the dogs. “Leave that lamb leg for Da Huang and the others. Don’t give it to me; I won’t eat it.”
“I don’t bother giving it to you. Let you doubt me.” Despite saying that, Mi Niang still fed him another bite. “Are the kids asleep? Once they’re asleep, wash your hands and come over to slice the meat yourself.”
The puppies were jumping around, eager and whining. Afraid of waking up the troublesome little ones, Bahu washed his hands and fed the puppies first. The surface with a golden-brown color and peppercorns went to the big dogs, while the juicy ones without large pieces were chopped into minced meat, mixed with butter tea, and fed to the puppies.
“Honey water locks in the moisture on the lamb leg, and the lamb fat won’t drip into the fire. The grilled lamb is both crispy and tender. Some of the sweetness is roasted away by the fire, while the rest is absorbed by the lamb meat. Eating it doesn’t taste like honey.” Mi Niang explained to Bahu. The two sat on a gently sloping hill, a short distance away were the peacefully sleeping children, and at the base of the hill were herds of cattle and sheep.
Bahu pointed at a mischievous young ram, “We’ll slaughter it another day. The meat of a semi-grown sheep is tender, and since it loves to frolic, the texture is firm. It’ll definitely be delicious when grilled.”
