Xiao Tieshu clapped his head and said in embarrassment, “You’re right. I have to sell crisps.”
Squire Liu asked, “Do you know how Qinghe county is now?”
“Now?” Li Chengru looked angry. “The imperial court has sent new troops to station there and will reallocate the land to peasants. In short, it’s a reshuffle. I don’t advise you to go back, or you’ll have to start from scratch. Money can’t guarantee a peaceful life for you. In my view, you’d better settle down here. After all, life is only a few decades. It doesn’t matter where we die.” That was an indisputable fact.
All the people felt somewhat homesick for the county where they couldn’t go back. Old Mr. Xiao, especially, lost his appetite for the delicious naan in his hand.
He felt like crying. “Alas, if only we hadn’t escaped in the first place. Now we can’t go back even if we want to.”
Xiao Tongshu said, “Dad, didn’t you hear what Mr. Li said? There will be a reshuffle. Even if you go back, you’ll be treated as an outsider. Without land, what can you live on?”
Old Mr. Xiao didn’t care about that at all. “I just want to… be buried with your mother after I die.”
They gave up reasoning with him. A thousand times they had told him that all the dead would meet in the afterlife, however far apart they were when they were alive.
…
In the evening, the children put the washed bowls into the yurt as Ye Xiaoxian went out to pick some firewood. It was late autumn. The fire was necessary to keep the chill off the yurts in the middle of the night. As she was holding too much firewood at once, some fell to the ground. When she wanted to pick it up, a man appeared and helped her. She turned around and found Li Chengru standing there.
She asked, “When did you appear behind me?”
Li Chengru replied, “Just now. I felt thirsty and wanted to ask you for some water. Then, I saw you here.”
“Do you want some milk tea? The one you drank in the afternoon?”
His eyes lit up in the darkness. “That will be even better.”
Ye Xiaoxian put the firewood into the yurt and saw the stove was still heating. Then, she used it to cook a pot of milk tea.
While waiting for the milk tea, Li Chengru sat next to her and asked, “What do you usually do at night?”
Ye Xiaoxian stirred the milk tea and said, “Nothing particular. The candles are too expensive for us, so we just do some work under the moonlight.”
He looked up at the sky and saw countless stars. He said, “The sky here is much brighter than in town.”
“Yes. If you can’t fall asleep at night, you can go out to see the moon and stars. Of course, that is if you’re not afraid of the cold.”
“Will it be very cold at night?” he asked.
As the Sixth King’s brother, he usually lived in the palace where he could enjoy a whole night of warmth from the stove.
Ye Xiaoxian replied, “It won’t be too cold with the stove. But now that we’re going to be here a long time, I want to make a few kangs (heatable brick beds) so that we can sleep better at night.
“I know those. They’re just like a stove. One can burn wood and sometimes steam buns on the bottom layer and sleep on the top layer.”
“You’re quite knowledgeable.”
“It’s common sense for a traveler like me.”
“Traveler? I thought you were a nobleman who would be well served in the capital.”
He snorted, “I hate living like a puppet at the mercy of others.”
“Then what kind of life do you want?”
“A free and full one like this. I’m not restricted and I can help my brother with some work.”
Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “Masochist.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
…
Under the starry sky, they chatted while enjoying the milk tea. The silhouettes of their backs against the flames looked blessedly harmonious.
The other women were making beds in the yurt. Wong Mudan poked her head out from time to time. The more she saw, the more suspicious she felt. She ran up to Li Hongmei and whispered, “Why do I feel… the Seventh King and Little Ye are getting quite close?”
Li Hongmei had the same feeling. But she had kept silent when making her bed, not knowing what to say.
Hearing Wong Mudan’s words, she replied, “Little Ye used to run a business and has a more open mind than we do. She’s friendly to everyone and treats a king and a servant equally. She’s more talkative to the Seventh King because they have common interests.”
Wong Mudan said, “But I feel that he also likes her, or why would he come and stay the night here?”
“You want him to hurry back at night? Besides, he talked to everyone at dinner, not just Little Ye. You know his temperament. He wouldn’t have cared about us if we hadn’t shared such difficulties together. Now he has more to talk about with Little Ye just because he likes the dishes she makes. As you can see, he loves the milk tea very much.”
Outspoken by Li Hongmei, Wong Mudan didn’t say anything.
Li Hongmei crawled under the covers, lost in thought.
Little Ye is young. Now that Baoshan is dead, I can’t keep her with me all her life. We owe her too much.
…
Li Chengru and his entourage left early the next morning. Ye Xiaoxian also got up early to make breakfast and prepare some naans for them to eat on the road.
After Li Chengru mounted the horse, he looked over his shoulder for a second.
…
In Mahal’s house.
After seeing Li Chengru off, Mahal went back to his yurt.
Dati hurried over to him and asked, “Has the king gone?”
Mahal waved his hand and replied, “Yes.”
Dati said angrily, “Finally! Because of him, we’ve lost many things like yurts and flour. The refugees are happy this time!”
Mahal said, “These are theirs after all. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? We could have kept them for ourselves or sold them in the market to earn lots of money. It’s such a pity that he came before we could get rid of them.”
“Sell them?” Mahal said. “If we had sold them, I would no longer be the tribal leader!”
“What should we do then? Shall we take it all back?” Dati asked.
“No! Do you want me to be arrested by the government? You don’t know how angry the Seventh King was when he looked at me! Don’t act rashly now. We can talk about it later.”
Dati gnashed her teeth. “Then we’re just going to let the refugees off like this, especially those two families? They’re the king’s friends and will surely take advantage of us in future!”