Chapter 213: Tianshan Mountains
Translator: Fan Translation Studio
Mahal looked Ye Xiaoxian and her companions up and down and found that they had carriages and worn fine clothes. Then, he said, “Our tribe is a big one in Baoning city. The other tribes are either too dry or too cold. Have you heard about the Flaming Mountains? The tribe there is too hot for anyone to bear. Besides, it is mostly desert, so n.o.body will expect a good life there.”
Hearing that, they felt nervous and also fortunate that they didn’t choose the Flaming Mountains.
But Ye Xiaoxian had learned from the doc.u.mentary that it had enough water and fertile soil to grow grapes. In summer, the locals there usually slept on the roofs.
She suspected that Mahal had other intentions.
As she had expected, Mahal said, “Not anyone could be accepted by our tribe. Although we live separately in family units, each family should donate money to the tribe. If you have money, you also need to contribute to our tribal development.”
Squire Liu retorted, “But we are refugees and we don’t even have enough food to eat. How could we have extra money to pay for that?”
Mahal replied, “There’s no hurry. You can pay when you have money. If you want to settle down here, you have to work for the tribe. We have farms here, so you can help us herd goats if you want. But we don’t have money to pay for you. We can only provide you with two meals a day.”
Squire Liu asked, “What can we eat then?”
“A naan for a meal,” Mahal said. “The previous two batches of refugees are also herding goats here. Although this is the best tribe, we can’t provide you with good living conditions like the downtown. If you herd goats, you can at least fill your bellies.”
They exchanged a sad look at each other, feeling pessimistic about their future lives.
Squire Liu went on asking, “We have men to herd goats, but what about women and children? They also need food.”
Mahal said, “They can help milk or shear goats and will also get two naans each day.”
Two naans were only enough to keep them alive.
Ye Xiaoxian also thought of a question. “Mr. Mahal, what about our land? I heard that each family can get a yurt and 10 kilograms of flour.”
Mahal replied, “Yes. But we don’t have flour now, so you have to wait for several days. As for the yurts, you can follow me to fetch them now.”
Ye Xiaoxian liked the scenery here very much. The tribe was so large that the yurts dotted the plains spa.r.s.ely. Each family had about two yurts, one for dining and the other for sleeping. The windows were wide open to the blue sky, soft clouds and expansive gra.s.slands.
If this was a prosperous dynasty, Ye Xiaoxian could spend a whole day appreciating the scenery.
She was looking forward to settling down soon.。
The young men from the two families all followed Mahal to get the yurts.
When they went back, Ye Xiaoxian found the yurts were worn-out with holes all over. Clearly, they were what their previous owners had abandoned.
Squire Liu, who also saw the holes, was so shrewd that he didn’t complain about them.
…
But Ye Xiaoxian said, “Mr. Mahal, I heard that the yurts for refugees are new. The government has promised to subsidize them.”
Squire Liu pretended to cough, hinting her to mind her words. After all, refugees usually had the lowest status in a strange land.
After a sneer, Mahal answered with an affectedly puzzled look, “Really? But we don’t obtain any subsidies from the government. The yurts are indeed old, but they are still usable. Or you can ask Mr. Qiao about this if he hasn’t gone too far.”
Without doubt, Qiao Hu had gone for so long that they couldn’t catch up with him.
Ye Xiaoxian had no choices but to swallow her anger.
Mahal pointed at a hill and said, “You can settle down there. Look, near that tree.”
She protested, “Why can’t we settle down right here?”
Mahal stroked his beard and smirked. “Although you are arranged here, you are not the locals. If you live too close to us, I’m afraid you will disturb our lives. After all, our living styles are very different, right?”
She sighed slightly.
Anti-foreignism was an inherent weakness for a nation and it was too ubiquitous to avoid. But from another angle, anyone would be annoyed if his or her peaceful life was disturbed by strangers.
All right, just keep a safe distance with them.
Ye Xiaoxian suggested, “Squire Liu, it’s getting dark. Let’s set up the yurts now. I hope we can settle down earlier.”
Squire Liu agreed at once.
Mahal laughed and said, “You can have a discussion tonight. If you want to herd goats, give me a name list so that I can arrange work for you.”
Ye Xiaoxian didn’t answer. Neither did the others.
Who would want to tire himself out for only two naans a day? The Xiaos wouldn’t debase themselves, let alone Squire Liu who had been living in clover.
…
They paid much effort to drag the yurts and their luggage up the hill. When they unfolded the yurts, they found the wooden pillars were also broken.
No one had set up a yurt before. Even if the yurts were good ones, these people would also need a long time to handle them.
They began cursing loudly.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d! He’s just bullying us!”
“He doesn’t give us flour or new yurts but such broken stuff! He is forcing us to be his slaves!”
“How can we live in this stuff? Can we cut down the trees nearby? With the wood, we can build a house by ourselves.”
“…”
Almost all the people stared at the trees greedily.
But Ye Xiaoxian said calmly, “It’s good to have a wooden house in the southern areas. But it’s very cold here in winter and wood can’t provide shelter from the freezing wind. Besides, it is so hot in summer that a wooden house may burn under the sun.”
“What should we do then?” They looked at her helplessly.
She proposed, “We have no choices but to set up the yurts now. Tomorrow, we can cut some wood in the nearby forest to replace these broken pillars.”
This was the only solution in this situation.
They put down the luggage and began to work. The men rolled up their sleeves and tried setting up the yurts clumsily. At the same time, the women built an oven to cook dinner under Ye Xiaoxian’s instruction. While the adults were busy, the children also went to pick firewood nearby.
When the smoke rose into the sky, all the people sighed with relief.
Where there was smoke, there was life and hope.
Through the smoke, Ye Xiaoxian gazed at the expansive plains, magnificent snow mountains, lush forests and meandering rivers. The beauty gradually soothed her restless heart.
Despite the annoying leader and anti-foreign locals, the scenery here was very charming. As long as they had patience and avoided conflicts with the locals, they would live a steady life sooner or later.
The delicious smell of food soon attracted some boys over. Judging by their clothes, they were likely to be the locals.
Thanks to the good environment, the local children were quite st.u.r.dy. It was said that they learned to ride horses at three or four and followed adults to herd the flocks at five or six.
Perhaps influenced by the anti-foreign adults, these boys’ eyes were full of hostility. Ye Xiaoxian thought the adults must have told them that refugees were slaves with the lowest status.
At this moment, she was baking pancakes which were similar to naans, the local specialties. The difference was that naans could be stored for longer while baked pancakes tasted fresher. She added some minced bacon bought from Baoning city, making the pancakes even more appetizing.
The mouth-watering smell defused the ferocity in the boys’ eyes. They stared at the food longingly and kept swallowing.
She beckoned them over.
They believed she was inviting them to eat pancakes and ran over immediately.
The Xiaos also thought she wanted to share the food. “Little Ye, do you want to give the pancakes to them? They just take us as slaves. We don’t need to ingratiate ourselves with them.”
However, she didn’t answer or give the pancakes to the boys. Instead, she pointed at the men who were b.u.mbling with the yurts. “If you help them, I can then give you pancakes.”
But the boys didn’t understand her language. After gesturing for a while, she finally managed to convey her meaning.
It was an easy job for them to set up the yurts. They were usually required to help adults do such work, just as the southern children were asked to transplant rice seedlings. After getting Ye Xiaoxian’s meaning, the boys ran over to offer help instantly.
Before that, the men had been in a muddle. They didn’t know where to start and were about to quarrel. But with the boys’ help, they soon set up the yurts successfully.
The broken pillars had been tied up by these children. A little boy pointed at the forest and gestured for the adults to cut some wood to make new pillars.
Another boy pointed at the holes on the yurts and then the tribe, telling them where to buy good felt.
Ye Xiaoxian was very satisfied with the result and gave the boys some pancakes in return. After eating the food, they ran away instantly.
Squire Liu couldn’t help praising her, “Little Ye, you’re so smart to get their help with pancakes. I thought you just wanted to ingratiate them.”
She replied with a smile and continued backing the pancakes.
They had five yurts in total. To make good use of s.p.a.ce, men and women had to sleep separately for the time being. One yurt was left for public use, such as holding a meeting, dining, and other collective activities.