Dilly had been speaking for Ye Xiaoxian and her companions. She said they would be frozen to death without clothes to get through winter, which successfully silenced Dati and Guri.
The women were pretty good at sewing clothes. With Dilly’s help, the work went on smoothly. After finishing the clothes, they even made a pair of boots for each person.
Ye Xiaoxian calculated the cost and found it was one-third cheaper than those ready-made. Dilly really helped them save a large sum of money this time. Ye Xiaoxian wanted to give Dilly some crisps in return. But Dilly seemed uninterested in snacks and declined after trying some.
Ye Xiaoxian then went to the lakeside with Xiao Baozhu and the two servants responsible for fishing. Since winter was coming, they had to prepare lots of food. In this situation, dried fish was best to supplement protein. Although Ye Xiaoxian knew nothing about fishing, she wanted to see how many fish the servants could catch a day and whether there was a way to improve efficiency.
The river was freezing cold and it might soon become icy. There, Ye Xiaoxian saw the servants netting fish on the shore. If they have a boat, they can cast the net in the middle of the lake and catch more fish, she thought.
The servants also had the same idea, but they didn’t know how to make a boat. If they simply nailed some wood together, the boat made this way might end up sinking into the lake.
The lake was so deep and freezing that even a good swimmer might die once he or she fell into it. Does anyone in the tribe know how to make a boat? If someone does, perhaps I can buy or borrow one from him, Ye Xiaoxian thought.
On the way back home, Xiao Baozhu noticed something at a river bend downstream and exclaimed, “Sister Ye, Look! There’s a wooden boat! Is it a fishing boat?”
“Let’s go and see!”
Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu soon came to the boat which looked narrowly big enough to hold five people. There was some space in the middle; the fish scales there showed that the boat was indeed used for fishing.
The boat was tied to a stake. Its owner was nowhere to be seen. The boat’s structure was somewhat complicated. Even if they copied it, they would take a long time to cut the wood and made it into planks. Perhaps before the boat was ready, winter would already be upon them.
While Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu watched the boat intently, they heard a loud whistle from behind them. They turned around and saw a local young man standing there with a flirtatious look.
Xiao Baozhu whispered, “He looks frivolous. I don’t suppose he’s a good guy.”
Since some locals were xenophobic, Ye Xiaoxian thought it was better not to provoke this man. She smiled politely at him and dragged Xiao Baozhu’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
But the man walked up to her and asked in the local dialect, “You want the boat?”
Having learned the dialect for a period, Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu could understand “do you want”, but “boat” was beyond their vocabularies. The man then pointed at the boat and said, “Mine.”
They got his meaning this time. But Ye Xiaoxian felt embarrassed to borrow his boat and stuttered in the local language, “Well, yes, yes.”
To her surprise, the man said, “Take it.”
The two women knew these words, but they couldn’t believe that he would just lend them the boat like that.
Ye Xiaoxian waved her hands. “No, no, thanks.”
With a smile, the man untied the rope from the stake, stepped onto the boat and said to them, “Come up.”
Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu exchanged a look at each other. What would happen if they got on his boat? Would they appear flighty?
According to Dilly, there were not that many rules between men and women in this tribe. A man and a woman could ride a horse together and enjoy the same treatment.
The young man pointed upstream where the servants of the Liu family were. “Let’s go there!”
Ye Xiaoxian understood his meaning at once.
Now that it was going upstream, she didn’t think he would do anything indecent to them. So she pulled at Xiao Baozhu’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go with him. We’re on the same boat, so we’re two against one. He won’t hurt us.”
Hearing that, Xiao Baozhu also climbed into the boat, albeit uneasily. The boat was rocking so much that they almost toppled into the water. Just then, the man grabbed Ye Xiaoxian’s arm with strength. With his help, she regained her footing and lent a hand to Xiao Baozhu.
After the women seating themselves, the man smiled and blew a whistle. Then, he rowed the boat upstream. The river was fairly calm, putting little pressure on the oars. After a while, the man began singing. It was the local folk music, loud yet indescribably beautiful.
Ye Xiaoxian studied his profile and found he was quite handsome. To be honest, the straight noses and deep eyes endowed all the locals with the advantage of being good-looking. Of course, Dati and Guri were somehow two exceptions.
Ye Xiaoxian asked in the dialect, “What’s your name?”
“My name? I’m Tarico.”
All the locals’ names had special meanings, such as pretty flowers and bright moon. As such, “Tarico” must also represent something nice.
Tarico looked over his shoulder and asked, “What about you?”
Ye Xiaoxian didn’t know how to say her name in the dialect, so she replied in her own language, “Little Ye.”
Xiao Baozhu followed, “I’m Baozhu.”
“Oh, Little Ye and Baozhu.” Tarico gave them a carefree yet somewhat frivolous smile.
Very soon, the boat had arrived upstream. The two servants there were stunned when they saw Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu on the boat with a local man.
After getting off the boat, Ye Xiaoxian asked, “You, really, lend the boat, to us?”
Tarico handed the oars to her and stretched out two fingers with a smile. “Two hours before sunset every day.”
Ye Xiaoxian gestured as she said, “Two hours, every day, and return it to you, before sunset?”
Tarico nodded and gave her a thumbs up.
She was worried that he would extort money from them and asked tentatively, “Do I need to pay? I mean… money to rent this boat?”
Tarico pretended to be angry. “I won’t lend it to you if you give me money.”
She was speechless. In fact, she would feel more at ease if he charged them rent.
Tarico pointed downstream and said, “Put the boat in the old place after using it.”
Afraid that she didn’t get his meaning, he slowed his speech considerately.
She nodded at once, showing that she understood.
Tarico gave her an unaffected smile, turned around and left right away. After a few steps, he sang a folk song again.