After saying what he wanted to say, Tarico rode away without looking back at Dati and Guri. The two women went back in a huff. Both of them looked unhappy.
“Why is Tarico always against us? If your father dislikes anything, Tarico will do it on purpose! Does he think all the people in our tribe owe him something?”
Guri remained silent. Her mind was all over the place. Tarico hadn’t looked at her once just now!
…
After going back, Guri hastened to find a local girl who lived near Tarico. This girl hadn’t followed the migration group and instead stayed in the tribe for a whole winter.
“Hey, I have something to ask you. Did you go skiing this winter?” Guri asked.
It was publicly known that Guri liked Tarico, so this girl understood her meaning at once.
“Yes,” she said. “You want to ask if Tarico went skiing, right?”
Guri replied indirectly, “Now that you know this, just tell me!”
The girl just giggled.
Guri could only take out a package of cheese prepared in advance and handed it to the girl. “Now you can tell me. What did he do this winter? Who did he mix with?”
The girl took the cheese and said with a grin, “I don’t know much. Except for fishing or riding, he also usually stayed at home. But one day, I saw him skiing with a refugee woman very happily.”
“Which woman?” Guri resisted the impulse to crack her whip.
“The one who asks Auntie Dilly questions all the time of course. Tarico likes Auntie Dilly. So does that woman. Maybe they often date in Auntie Dilly’s house secretly.”
Hearing that, Guri became even angrier. Needless to say, it must be Ye Xiaoxian.
Noticing Guri’s fury, the girl continued, “You like Tarico, right? But your parents don’t like him. Is there any future between you and him?”
“It’s none of your business!” Guri mounted the horse and rode away.
The girl held the cheese and cursed at Guri’s back. “Who do you think you are? A princess? How could Tarico like you?”
…
After Ye Xiaoxian returned from collecting potherbs, she heard about the Festival of Sacrifice and also how Tarico had embarrassed Dati by selling them a goat for only one silver tael. She couldn’t help laughing. This was indeed what a man like him would do.
She didn’t feel it strange for Tarico to do so, but Squire Liu asked her secretly, “In your opinion, why Tarico is so kind to us?”
She said, “He’s a nice guy. There’s always such a person wherever we go.”
“I don’t feel the same. He may have an intention, and that may be you.”
She shook her head immediately. “Squire Liu, please don’t think that way. Even if he’s helping me, that’s because we’re friends and have common topics to talk about, like the cooperation over the camel team. There’s nothing more.”
Squire Liu said, “All right, but have you ever thought of marrying a local man?”
“Marrying?” She shook her head again. “No, I’ve never thought about that.”
Squire Liu took on a serious tone. “After living together for so long, I know you’re a good woman. Your mother also supports you to remarry. If you want to marry, I think Tarico is a good choice as long as you like each other. He doesn’t have parents, so he can choose who he marries by himself.”
She declined resolutely, “Oh, please don’t joke. I don’t want to remarry. Please don’t talk about Tarico that way, or I couldn’t have normal contact with him anymore. No, not just him, I wouldn’t talk to any men in the tribe!”
Hearing that, Squire Liu could only shut his mouth.
…
The day before the Festival of Sacrifice, Li Chengru came to the tribe again. His entourage was the same as last time. He had come here this time just to have fun at the Festival of Sacrifice. So he also brought six goats over, three for the tribe and three for the two families.
Mahal felt fortunate that he hadn’t done anything to provoke the Seventh King. It was such a blessing that Tarico had stopped Dati and Guri from charging 10 silver taels, or Squire Liu would tell the Seventh King about his heartless exploitation. If so, the Seventh King would certainly fly into a rage again.
After an impatient meeting with Mahal, Li Chengru took his people to Ye Xiaoxian’s house. Seeing him, the Xiaos and the Lius became wild with joy. They hadn’t expected him to come again after a long cold winter. They had even been worried that he had returned to the capital and could no longer protect them.
So, they invited them into the yurt hospitably. Some went to chop firewood, some prepared the food and some poured tea for the guests.
On sitting down, Li Chengru said, “Little Ye, I miss the milk tea I drank last time. I could drink a huge pot of it this time.” He said this as if talking to a friend.
Ye Xiaoxian didn’t think in terms of hierarchy or consider him as a king. “I happened to have made milk tea last time, but now as you can see, there’s none. To cook milk tea, I have to buy milk and boil tea. It’s too troublesome.”
“But I don’t drink anything else except for that.”
She smiled. “Do you want to try some honey-jujube tea I newly made. The honey and jujubes were all collected from the mountain. I promise it tastes as good as milk tea.”
Everything she makes is delicious. I may as well try some, he thought.
After a sip of it, he felt fascinated and drank one after another cups of the new drink, relegating milk tea to the back of his mind.
Fengsheng was worried that his master would rush to the toilet after a while.
Learning that Li Chengru would give them three goats, Xiao Tieshu asked Squire Liu, “What about Tarico’s goat? Are we going to buy it or not?”
Squire Liu said resolutely, “No. We have goats now. It’s not a fair deal for him to sell the goat for only one silver tael.” Then, he turned to a servant and told him to inform Tarico that he didn’t need to bring a goat over tomorrow because they had goats now.
Li Chengru asked, “You have to buy a goat to join the festival? How much is a goat?”
Squire Liu replied, “A few days ago, the leader’s wife came here and said that if we want to join the festival, we have to pay money, sacrifice a goat or work for them. If we pay money, we have to give her 10 silver taels and will get two goats. If we don’t have money, we need to work for them. It’s a good choice to help with work, but some refugees don’t have a chance to join the ceremony at all. They say they have to feed goats on that day. But the goats eat grass, don’t they? They just herd the goats to the pasture in the morning and drive them back in the evening. They don’t need to watch the goats eat all day! It’s obvious that the leader doesn’t want their participation and the farmers don’t want to pay for them.”
Li Chengru’s face suddenly fell.