There were about 30 refugees who came to learn the dialect. Living far apart from each other, they had never met before. For one thing, the tribe was too vast. For another, the tribal leader didn’t want to see them make trouble together. So at this moment, they felt more than excited. They greeted each other and asked all kinds of questions like “where are you from”, “do you have any relatives”, “where are you living” “what do you do now”.
Dati and Guri were irritated by this harmonious sight. Guri cracked her whip at the ground, raising blades of grass, which gave the refugees quite a start.
“Don’t, talk!” Guri warned viciously.
There was a deafening silence. Satisfied with the effect, she revealed a triumphant smile.
Just then, the petite woman said, “Is everybody here? If so, let’s begin our class. First, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Dilly and I’m also from the southern area. You can call me Auntie Dilly or just Dilly.”
Compared with Dati and Guri, Dilly looked much gentler and kinder. For the refugees, it was rare to see a local who spoke their language so well. Attracted by her amiability, they listened to her carefully.
She continued, “Before we learn the language systematically, I’d like to introduce the tribe of Tianshan Mountains to you. As you can see, Tianshan is a series of lofty mountains in the distance. In the local dialect, it is called…”
While she introduced the tribe, she taught people how to pronounce the words correctly. Then, she taught them some useful expressions like how to greet the locals. After that, she also told them about the local customs and taboos.
The two-hour class turned out to be a fruitful start for the refugees. When it was over, they rigorously practiced the language with each other. Anyway, it was a long way back. Ye Xiaoxian and Squire Liu decided to have more contact with Dilly who might bring unexpected benefits to them.
…
Apart from making crisps, Ye Xiaoxian sometimes went to the market to observe the local habits and to seek out a business opportunity. After days of observation, she worked out a plan. But without enough money, she couldn’t execute it right away. The top priority was to solve their immediate problem of survival.
The weather became a little colder. The temperature here varied greatly between day and night and it was freezing cold in winter. The cloth shoes and the clothes they had bought were too thin to keep them warm. Only the local sheepskin coats and woolen boots would help.
Wong Mudan was the least afraid of the cold among these people. She had never worn cloth shoes or socks to keep warm in the south. A pair of straw sandals had been enough to get her through a whole year. But here, even she couldn’t bear the frost at night.
Ye Xiaoxian decided to buy some new clothes. She discussed with Squire Liu whether the two families would buy them together or separately. If together, the clothing style for all the people, including the servants, would be the same. If separately, she would only buy for her own family.
Squire Liu naturally agreed with the first plan. It would be more convenient and perhaps cheaper to buy in bulk. Besides, the servants had been protecting the two families the entire way. After settling down here, they were also the ones who worked the most. If given salaries, they might have earned the most money. So, it was reasonable to count them in.
One day, Ye Xiaoxian had a chat with Dilly after the language class. “Auntie Dilly, it’s getting colder now, but we’re lacking winter clothes. Could you tell me where to buy cheap fabric and wool?”
Dilly had a good impression of Ye Xiaoxian, as she was always ready to answer or ask questions in class and learned quickly. She said in a friendly tone, “Do you want to buy ready-made clothes or just materials?”
Ye Xiaoxian replied sheepishly, “It’s good to have ready-made ones if they are not so expensive. We need quite a lot, so we’d better buy fabric and sew them ourselves. After all, we have nothing but manpower.”
“Oh, you’re quite good at budgeting,” Dilly praised.
Guri had been watching the other refugees leave. When she turned around, she found Ye Xiaoxian was talking with Dilly alone, which annoyed her greatly, so she waved her whip and hit it loudly on the grass near Ye Xiaoxian.
Ye Xiaoxian was not scared at all. She turned around and asked calmly, “Is there a problem?”
Guri shouted ferociously, “What’s wrong with you? The class is over! Leave here now!”
Ye Xiaoxian said, “I have something to ask Auntie Dilly.”
“No, you can’t!” Guri then blurted out a stream of words in the local dialect, which confused Ye Xiaoxian a lot.
Dilly walked forward and said, “Let me talk to this girl. It’ll be fine.”
“The outsiders are very cunning.” Guri looked very alert.
“I was once also an outsider. Am I cunning?” Dilly refuted.
Rendered speechless, Guri could only step aside.
Dilly gave Ye Xiaoxian a complimentary smile. Almost everyone, especially the refugees, were afraid of Guri. But just now, Ye Xiaoxian had been cool and fearless, which Dilly admired very much.
Dilly said, “I can give you some wool which was dried last year. As for fabric, how much do you want? I can help you get some from Auntie Jill whose husband sells it. Perhaps they can give you a discount.”
Ye Xiaoxian beamed with joy. “Thank you! There are about 20 people in our two families. If the fabric has many colors, we can buy more for each.”
Dilly suggested, “You’ve been wearing the southern clothes. But now that you’re living in this tribe, you’d better make the new clothes into local styles. For one thing, it can show your sincerity in wishing to be a part of the tribe. For another, the local styles are more suitable for the climate here.”
Ye Xiaoxian agreed and asked, “But we’re not that familiar with the local fashion. Could you give us some guidance when we make our clothes?”
“Of course,” Dilly said without hesitation.
“…”
After this conversation, Dilly began helping with the fabric. At the same time, Ye Xiaoxian let Li Hongmei, Wong Mudan, Chen Ju, and Old Mrs. Jia to learn how to sew local-style clothes in Dilly’s home.
Guri was strongly opposed to this idea. She wanted the refugees to be slaves or tools for making money rather than friends of the tribe!
