Xiao Baoshan was lost in deep thought again. He kept asking himself, “Who am I? Who on earth am I? Who was the woman in my dream? Who is the woman in front of me?”
After a long while, he still didn’t answer Jin Xiaoyu’s question. She stroked his cheeks, patted them flirtatiously and asked in a soft voice, “You don’t want to tell me? Or can’t you remember anything?”
“I don’t remember who I am,” he replied.
“Don’t worry. There’s no hurry. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here. Take it easy. I won’t be hard on you.” She giggled.
“Where is this?” he asked.
She raised her brows. “This is Longmen Inn and I’m the owner here. You’re now in my bedroom, lying on my bed.”
He got up from the bed immediately and said, “I’m just an outsider. How can I live in your bedroom?”
She placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’ve been injured. It’s reasonable for you to stay here for a while.”
He pushed her hands aside and said resolutely, “Please arrange another room or a woodshed for me. I just need a small space. I’ll remember your kindness forever.”
“Do you really think so?” She gave him the glad eye. Almost all the male customers wanted to make a pass at her. Except for Mr. Li, who had come last month.
Xiao Baoshan avoided her enchanting gaze and replied firmly, “Yes, I mean what I say.”
…
The Tianshan Mountains.
Ye Xiaoxian’s crisps and chips were selling very well. The honeyed crisps were the most popular. Back from town, Xiao Tieshu and Jia Zhenbo said they had quite a few repeat customers who always bought a large packet of crisps at a time. The only trouble was that it was too far to go into town.
It had taken the two families a day and a night to come here by carriage. Without the heavy luggage, Xiao Tieshu and Jia Zhenbo still needed a day to ride downtown. Therefore, Ye Xiaoxian would prepare the snacks to sell for two days and also some naan to fill their bellies. At the same time, she arranged for Liu Qianqian and some servants to sell the snacks at the tribal market. Although this was not a very profitable business, the money they earned could more or less cover their daily expenses.
One day, Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baozhu went to the riverside to wash clothes as usual. There, they met a woman called Zhi who had also escaped here from the south.
“You’re so clever. You’ve not only broken free from the tribal leader’s manipulation but also earned money in your own way. When we’d just arrived here, we were totally at the mercy of the leader,” she said with envy as she washed the clothes.
Ye Xiaoxian asked, “What about now?”
“Well, it’s better now. As long as we’re obedient, the farm owner will give us extra food to eat. Several days ago, he even gave us a small plot to grow vegetables and potatoes. This way, we don’t need to eat naan every day. But anyway, I still envy you,” Zhi said.
Ye Xiaoxian replied with a smile, “Things will get better. Don’t worry.”
Zhi asked, “Where are you from? Oh, we’re from Hexin county. We escaped as soon as we heard the bad news. It was so lucky that we left early. I heard that many people have died on the run.”
“Yes, we saw bodies strewn about the whole way here.” Ye Xiaoxian sighed slightly.
“The war is over and we feel a little homesick. But we’ve lost everything, including our money. Besides, if we go back, we’d have to go the same way again. It’s too daunting. What about you? Do you want to go back?” Zhi was quite talkative because it was not easy to meet someone who spoke the same language there.
This time, Xiao Baozhu replied instantly and firmly, “I don’t want to go back.” For one thing, she had a bad reputation in Qinghe county. For another, Scholar Wong was still there. If she went back, she would be gossiped about for the rest of her life.
As for Ye Xiaoxian, she could survive anywhere. If she went back, she had a cozy house to live in. But she would live a life the same as before, selling snacks and feeling no passion. In the past, she could wait in her house for Xiao Baoshan. But now, he might have died. It made no sense for her to go back there. So she said, “The scenery here is very beautiful and I feel good living here. It doesn’t matter to me whether we go back or not.”
Xiao Baozhu gave her a grateful look.
Hearing this, Zhi murmured, “Alas, the scenery is indeed beautiful, but it’ll gradually become nothing fresh to you. Oh yes, since I came here early, I know a little local dialect. Yesterday, the farm owner said the tribal leader would ask you for money.”
“Money? What money?” Xiao Baozhu asked.
“It’s said you’re outsiders and have your own business. So you need to give some money to the tribe,” Zhi said.
Xiao Baozhu frowned. “That’s impossible. We won’t pay anything, especially not before he gives us flour.”
Zhi explained, “In this tribe, most people are kind to us. Only a family is an exception. The tribal leader and his wife and daughter are always arrogant and bullying.”
…
Mahal’s wife Dati and daughter Guri paid a “visit” to them by riding there that afternoon. The two women had swarthy faces and hefty bodies. Dati, especially, had a thick waist and a swollen belly which made her look rather fierce on the horse. According to Zhi, many people were afraid of her. Dati and Guri could speak a little common language, though not as good as Mahal.
After they dismounted the horses, they asked, “Who is the…boss?” They intended to talk to the head of these two families.
Squire Liu walked up to them and greeted them with a smile. “Good afternoon. How can I help you?”
Guri asked, “You…earn money?”
He pretended to be puzzled. “Huh? What money?”
Just then, Ye Xiaoxian was baking crisps. Guri pointed at the crisps and asked, “Earn money…by these?”
Squire Liu understood her meaning, but he acted like he was perplexed. In fact, Ye Xiaoxian had told him what she had heard from Zhi and asked him to muddle through it. Then, he gave some crisps to Dati and Guri and said with laughter, “I see. You want to eat some crisps, right? No problem. You can have some here or take some away.”
Dati explained, “No, no crisps. Money.”
Squire Liu waved his hands hurriedly. “No, no, no! We can’t take your money. You’re Mahal’s wife and daughter. How can we take your money? Please don’t persuade me. That’s my principle.”
Dati and Guri grew irritated after several attempts to convey their meaning. Finally, they left, muttering and swearing.
If Mahal hadn’t gone downtown for business, they wouldn’t have had a chance to do this.
…
Mahal returned from his journey the next afternoon. On seeing him, Dati and Guri complained at once that the new refugees didn’t cooperate with them and that they had pretended to be ignorant when they needed to pay up.
Mahal said, “Perhaps they really didn’t get your meaning?” He was keenly aware of how heavy Dati’s and Guri’s accents were. It was reasonable if one couldn’t understand what they said.
Guri replied, “Who knows? We gestured to them and they gestured back. They even gave us a packet of crisps somewhat hospitably.”
Guri had almost finished the crisps. They were the most delicious snacks she had ever eaten. She was itching to get another packet!
Mahal stroked his beard, thinking about how to collect money from the refugees. He was too busy to handle such a trivial matter. Since he let Ye Xiaoxian and her companions settle down in a remote place, he had to ride over there and waste a lot of time.
Apart from them, other refugees were also difficult to communicate with. It was said that a new batch of refugees would arrive in two days. At that time, he would also spend a lot of time getting them to understand his meaning.
All right. Now that they’ve just begun their business, they won’t have much money now. I should solve the language problem first.
In the tribe, there was a woman called Dilly who knew both the local dialect and the common language. Born in the south, she had married a local man 20 years ago. Being half-local, she was now excellent in the dialect. It was also she who taught Mahal to speak the common language.
So Mahal said to Dati, “Go and visit Dilly tomorrow and persuade her to teach the refugees our dialect. All the refugees should learn our language well so that they can integrate into our tribe faster. It’ll also be convenient for us to manage these people.”
Dati and Guri nodded in approval. Guri offered to be a supervisor, to urge the refugees to study by beating anyone disobedient with a whip. Mahal was a man who always danced to his daughter’s tune. Considering the necessity of her role, he agreed immediately.
…
Soon, Ye Xiaoxian and her companions were informed that everybody had to learn the local dialect. The study time was set in the early morning so that it wouldn’t delay the farm work. So all the refugees began to learn the dialect, except for Xiao Tieshu and Jia Zhenbo who had to do business downtown. However, these two men also learned a little of the language while selling snacks to the local people. In fact, they learned faster than the refugees in the tribe.
As for the three kids of the Xiao family, they had many chances to speak dialect when playing with the local children. Xiao Baoyang, especially, could say many dialect words now. By comparison, the adults really had to struggle to learn.
When they arrived at the site in the morning, they found a middle-aged woman waiting there. Unlike the locals, she was petite and comely in her 40s, just like a lady from the south. Both her appearance and her manner gave people a feeling of elegance and refinement.
