Mi Niang really wanted to go see Mu Xiang the next day, but Bahu wasn’t at home. If she left, she would inevitably have to bring her two little tails. Since the road wasn’t close, she could only ride a car. Thinking about how Qiqige and Jiya would get addicted to sleeping in the car, she thought it would be better to wait. She could wait for a day, three days, or even five days.
After being busy for two days, Bahu came back, bringing a fish that was about half an arm long and two boxes of snacks. The fish was almost dead when he brought it home. As soon as he got off the horse, he scaled the fish and cut it into pieces, asking Mi Niang to fry and stew it in oil for dinner. When it came to cooking fish, Mi Niang was better than Bahu.
“Wen Yin sent a fish to everyone who came to help, and the pastries were specifically for me. He said there’s a cook in his house who’s good at making Central Plains snacks and brought some for you to taste.” Bahu stood outside the door holding a child and explained the source of the fish and snacks. “I bumped into Zhong Qi when I went out for lunch today. He nodded when he saw me, but didn’t indicate any intention to speak, so I didn’t initiate a conversation with him.”
After frying the fish until both sides were golden, Mi Niang added a ladle of water to cover the fish pieces. Green onions and peppercorns were also added. After covering the pot and stewing for a while, a fragrant aroma filled the air. Mi Niang told Bahu that she planned to visit Mu Xiang tomorrow morning. After that, she brought up the topic of the children, “Today, I took out the camel hair and let it sunbathe all day. Didn’t you say you want to make a camel hair robe for the child? When are you planning to start knitting? I want to learn too.” With a clear moon and a gentle breeze, the aroma of the meal was enticing Mi Niang didn’t want to talk about troubling matters related to others; overthinking would ruin her appetite.
“Let’s do it the day after tomorrow, and there’s no need for new fabric. We can just dismantle the small cotton clothes the child has worn. The fabric that has been worn is soft to the touch.” Bahu didn’t mention asking Mi Niang to learn how to make woolen jackets and camel hair robes. His implication was that having one person in the family who could do it was enough. “Don’t compete with me; when the child is small, I can still carry him. When he gets bigger, I won’t be of use, and I can only make two jackets to earn some goodwill.”
Mi Niang chuckled and accepted his sentiment. Making a woolen jacket was even more laborious than making shoe soles. He couldn’t bear to see her go through such trouble, but he couldn’t bring himself to say such things.
Mi Niang felt reassured leaving the child in Bahu’s care, so right after breakfast, while the two children were still asleep, she rode off. As soon as she left, the sound of horse hooves could still be heard, and Qiqige’s loud voice came from the felt bag.
Bahu ran inside with Da Huang. Da Huang was a step ahead and squeezed through the door seam, wagging its tail by the bed.
“Running fast doesn’t help; you can’t speak,” Bahu held Qiqige and showed her to Da Huang. “Look, I’m here, why are you still crying? Even your brother didn’t cry. Look at Da Huang, is it laughing at you for being a crybaby?” The thunder roared, and the raindrops were small. After howling for so long, the area under her eyes was still dry.
Qiqige opened her eyes, glanced around, and turned her head to snuggle against Bahu’s chest, ignoring Da Huang, which wagged its tail so hard it could almost fall off.
Oh, she’s hungry. Bahu carried Qiqige outside to warm the camel milk, “Da Huang, watch over Jiya, don’t let her fall off the bed.”
When the camel milk boiled and Bahu just carried it over, Qiqige waved her hand, almost knocking it over. Bahu thought about giving her a pat on the bottom, she was truly a lively girl.
“Slept a night and turned into a hungry wolf? Don’t worry, if you spill it, you’ll have to wait a bit longer to fill your stomach again.”
He rolled up the bedding and let the two kids lean against it. Bahu sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, taking turns feeding them with a spoon. Unlike Qiqige, Jiya wasn’t patient at all. As long as her mouth wasn’t attended to, she would start making noises and even push Qiqige. After a round of feeding, the two kids were sweating, and the bed was splashed with camel milk. Bahu was exhausted too.
“Bath time, bath time, and I have to give you two a bath.” Placing the bowls on the table, Bahu lifted the two kids vertically to burp them. Afterward, he put them in the small bed and moved them to the kitchen, then fetched a large wooden basin and scooped water. Once he took care of the two kids, and the sun was half-slanting, he once again carried the small bed and went to the pasture with Da Huang and the puppy to check on the sheep.
Meanwhile, Mi Niang arrived at the place where Mu Xiang and the others lived but didn’t find Mu Xiang. Pandi said that Mu Xiang had moved away.
“She moved away a while ago, moved away with Zhong Qi. Said Zhong Qi found a job, and it was inconvenient to come back, so she moved away with him. I thought she had already told you. When she left, she didn’t leave any messages for us to pass on. She said she would tell you herself when you met.”
“Moved away with Zhong Qi? How many people know about this?” Mi Niang’s first thought was about this.
“Just a few households on our side, others far away don’t know. In winter, everyone will probably know. Anyway, she moved away with Zhong Qi. Whether it works out or not, she will have to carry the reputation of being with a man before marriage, and let others gossip about it.” Nonchalantly, Lan Niang twisted the grass stems in her hands, “But she doesn’t care. She says she’s considered it carefully. Our advice didn’t make any impact on her. She just chose her own path.”
Mi Niang also understood why Mu Xiang didn’t tell her before leaving. It wasn’t because she was too busy to make time, but rather, she was afraid of hearing her advice or opposition. Thus, it was clear that Mu Xiang wasn’t at peace with this decision. She couldn’t make up her mind and feared listening to others’ advice against it. This indicated she was leaning towards Zhong Qi and was reluctant to part ways with him.
“If Zhong Qi has intentions towards her, even if they part ways, they can still make it work in the future. If you follow him, you’ll only lower your own value.” Pandi spoke frankly, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, showing some interest in the spectacle. “Getting infatuated with a man, luckily, the people in Mobei have a wild and barbaric nature. Isn’t this just eloping in Dakang? No matchmaker, no engagement gifts. She went with Zhong Qi without any formalities, and Zhong Qi didn’t mention marriage proposals. Even if they have no money, they should have a clear verbal agreement.”
Although Pandi had a mocking tone, what she said made sense. Mi Niang agreed with one thing she said: if Zhong Qi cared about Mu Xiang, even if they stopped working together, he would find ways to meet her in the future. Among so many people, Mu Xiang understood Zhong Qi the best. Moreover, Mu Xiang wasn’t her close sister, and now that Mu Xiang had gone with Zhong Qi and lived in the same felt tent, no one could control her.
“There might be other reasons.” Mi Niang said this somewhat dryly and then heard Pandi let out a sarcastic laugh.
“If you don’t believe it, just wait and see. Since you said Bahu saw Zhong Qi with Mr. Hu’s son, how could Mu Xiang not know? Just wait to see if she’ll come find you.” Pandi, who had been mocking Mu Xiang for half a year, was now taking full advantage of the situation to taunt her. “Don’t be fooled by her straightforward and bold appearance. She’s stubborn. She evaluates a person’s entire life based on one thing. Her mind is straightforward. As the saying goes, a stubborn person won’t turn back until they hit a wall. Once she decides on something, she sticks to it.”
Mi Niang didn’t agree with this. While being passionate and daring was having a strong personality, as long as someone had a clear mind, Mu Xiang, who dared to love and hate, could leave Zhong Qi if he did something wrong or treated her unfairly. She wasn’t the type to endure everything. Upon reflection, if Mu Xiang was willing to leave with Zhong Qi, there must be something Zhong Qi did or his attitude that made her willing to risk her reputation and move away with him.
Bahu is a person with a reputation even worse than dog excrement. Mi Niang dared to marry him without caring about his reputation, so Mi Niang remained silent about Mu Xiang’s actions.
“As there are still children at home, and since Mu Xiang can raise sheep without difficulty, I’ll take my leave.” Mi Niang mounted her horse using the stirrup. “If you have some free time, go to my house to comfort the children. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“Alright, take care.”
Watching Mi Niang move further away, Lan Niang flicked a broken piece of grass. “Mu Xiang moved away without informing Mi Niang. She found out only when she came to visit, and she didn’t even get angry.”
Pandi lowered her head to continue stitching shoe soles. This was the work she took on in the shoe shop, with needles, threads, and fabric all provided by the shop, earning two cents for crafting a pair of soles.
“You forgot that before she married Bahu, she was a person who kept her emotions hidden. Even if she’s angry, she won’t let you see it.” Pandi glanced at Lan Niang. Among the few people, besides the youngest, Ying Niang, Lan Niang’s thoughts were the easiest to understand. Mi Niang was quite tactful, appearing friendly but keeping a distance, smiling in front of others but not revealing her true feelings. It was difficult to truly connect with such a person, even for Mu Xiang, who was planning to keep her actions hidden.
When Mi Niang returned and told Bahu about it, he immediately frowned. “You still care about her? Now you know you’ve cared about the wrong person. Just as I said, don’t bother with other people’s matters. Our family can live well on our own.”
This is like a snail poking its head out, quickly retracting into its shell when it touches a blade of grass. Mi Niang asked Bahu what if, in the future, the two children had classmates or teachers, and they had arguments with classmates or received scoldings from teachers. Should they stop going to school or stop talking to classmates?
Bahu hesitated and remained silent, evading the question. After a long silence, he stubbornly said, “I didn’t discuss the children’s matters with you, and now you’re telling me if you’re angry or not.”
“I’m not angry, but I feel uncomfortable and unhappy.” Mi Niang admitted frankly. “After all, we are not family, and my relationship with Mu Xiang is not at the level where we can talk about our inner feelings.” Just like she had never discussed her relationship with Bahu with Mu Xiang, she hadn’t mentioned anything about her in-laws either. Mu Xiang, understanding and tactful, never asked.
Bahu clicked his tongue, skeptical of her words.
“If we were real sisters, instead of leasing sheep to her, we would have given her the sheep.” Mi Niang took off Jiya’s little foot, holding it in her hand. “Between Mu Xiang and me, there is still a relationship between employer and tenant, just like your relationship with Uncle Chaolu. Can you say we’ve truly bonded over the past five years?”
That hadn’t happened. Bahu hadn’t even formed a deep connection with Uncle Muren. If Uncle Muren suddenly brought a woman to him and said they were getting married, asking him to settle the wages he owed for those years of work, Bahu thought about it and realized he couldn’t summon any anger. He didn’t have the qualifications to get angry.
Now Bahu was truly speechless and didn’t bring up the issue of not allowing Mi Niang to interact with others. Mi Niang understood much more than he did. Of course, what really convinced him was that Mi Niang hadn’t been influenced by Mu Xiang. In the face of him and their children, she remained peaceful and joyful, even when Mu Xiang hadn’t visited until late autumn, just before returning to the winter pasture. Only then did he believe that the relationships Mi Niang talked about were external to their home and wouldn’t affect the mood of their family.
“Are you making baking snacks again? What kind of cake did you make today?” Bahu smelled the sweet aroma as soon as he arrived home.
“It’s not baked, it’s steamed. Mi Niang, egg, camel milk, and rice flour cake.” Just by hearing the name, Bahu knew which ingredients she used. After Bahu’s return, the cooking could commence. The rice cake had a light yellow color, was fluffy, and soft. Mi Niang dipped her hand in cool water, picked up a lump, and fed it into her mouth. “Delicious, delicious.” There was no hint of the egg and camel milk’s gaminess because she added a small amount of powdered Star Grass, a unique grass in the Mobei, which cattle and sheep loved. The flavor was refreshing, and it became even more aromatic after being sun-dried.
Bahu also took a piece to eat. Just out of the pot, it was steaming hot – a good thing to fill the stomach when hungry. “When we go back to the winter pasture, we can steam more. It’ll be a tasty snack when we get hungry on the road.” Tired of buttercakes.
