It was unclear whether little boss could actually herd, but Aunt Li enthusiastically agreed to it.
As mealtime approached, their children also returned home—a young man around eighteen and a girl around thirteen.
At first, the two were a bit reserved when facing Lin Zhen and Song Wei, but after just a few words, they quickly warmed up and became friendly.
The people here had darker skin, with highland redness on their cheeks, but they looked healthy and simple.
When they smiled, they revealed a set of white, neat teeth.
After a meal, everyone felt much closer.
Uncle Yu sent the two children outside to play with little boss and began talking to Song Wei and the others about Feng Tingxuan.
“You’ve come at just the right time. In a couple of days, he’ll be taking the cattle and sheep out to pasture. Watching over a hundred head of cattle and sheep alone is really tough. The environment here is unpredictable and dangerous. Sometimes, there are sandstorms, and even wolves. If any cattle or sheep are lost, he’ll suffer for it.”
“Luckily, your uncle is meticulous. Only once, when he was inexperienced, did he lose a ewe. After that, he couldn’t eat for two days and still had to do heavy work. Later, he learned seriously from the herders and managed to bring all the cattle and sheep back, though it was exhausting.”
Song Wei frowned, her tone a bit urgent: “When can we see him?”
“Tonight. Tonight, I’ll find an excuse to call him over.”
“Thank you, Uncle Yu.”
Song Wei rummaged through her bag and pulled out a packet of tea, placing it in front of him.
“This is tea we found in the mountains. We roasted it ourselves. Please try it.”
Tea.
This was a rare commodity here.
The northwest was mostly grasslands and Gobi Desert, with no conditions for tea trees to grow.
Eating meat might not be so difficult here—there were plenty of cattle and sheep on the ranches, and many wild animals on the grasslands. With a bit of luck, one could catch some game.
Therefore, the demand for plant-based foods and vegetables was quite high here.
Tea, being a precious item, had its price multiplied several times over here, making it unaffordable for ordinary families.
Hearing that they had found it in the mountains and roasted it themselves, Yu Wei accepted it without hesitation.
“Tonight, you’ll stay at my place.”
However, there were no extra rooms in their house, so Song Wei stayed with their daughter, while Lin Zhen stayed with their son.
Neither of them had any objections.
With nothing to do in the afternoon, Song Wei and Lin Zhen took little boss and followed Uncle Yu out for a stroll and to help out.
Most of the teams here mainly managed ranches, with some farming, though not as much as in Ping’an Brigade.
Working on the ranch was also exhausting. Cattle and sheep were prone to illness, and sometimes an illness could spread quickly.
At this time, veterinarians were scarce, and due to the lack of college entrance exams, there was no systematic training for veterinarians.
Therefore, everyone took great care in feeding and maintaining the hygiene of each cattle and sheep.
Preparing fodder, herding, and cleaning the cattle and sheep pens were all labor-intensive tasks.
In certain seasons, they even had to move all the livestock to different pastures, driving them to faraway places.
Song Wei and Lin Zhen’s arrival attracted a lot of attention in Nankang Brigade, and Yu Wei cheerfully introduced them.
“This is my former comrade-in-arms, also my nephew, and that’s my niece-in-law. They’ve come to visit me.”
Everyone was busy working, and Song Wei and Lin Zhen didn’t idle either, helping to clear weeds from the wheat fields.
“Old Yu, you’re really blessed. These two young people are hard workers.”
Yu Wei chuckled: “Yes, they certainly have strength.”
Song Wei, using her melon-eating spirit, quickly blended in with the locals.
Though… communication was a bit difficult.
The local language was truly challenging for her. Sometimes they spoke Mandarin, sometimes the local dialect, mixing the two languages together. She could barely understand some of it.
But their body language was quite expressive.
Fortunately, Song Wei soon found an aunt who spoke better Mandarin and discreetly inquired about herding.
“Herding? What’s so interesting about that? It’s too tiring.”
Song Wei: “But I think the scenery here is beautiful. The green grasslands and blue skies, and I heard the lakes here are especially beautiful this season, with many flowers blooming on the grasslands.”
The aunt laughed heartily: “It’s so pleasant to hear you educated folks talk. It is beautiful, but we’re used to it, so it’s just ordinary to us.”
“During this time, my partner and I want to explore the distant grasslands and take some photos. If we go with the herders, it shouldn’t be dangerous, right?”
“Take photos?!” The aunt was pleasantly surprised.
Song Wei nodded: “Yes, I’ve been to the seaside before and took many interesting photos. I even wrote an article that got published. I thought the grasslands here are so beautiful, maybe I could take some photos and write another article. I wonder if it’ll work out.”
She wasn’t boasting but finding a reasonable excuse to leave with her uncle later.
Their arrival couldn’t be kept secret, so it was better to be open than to hide.
Sometimes, the more you try to hide, the more suspicious you become. If they were found secretly contacting her uncle, it would be disastrous.
Given her uncle’s special status, they had to be very careful.
So, it was better to find an excuse to leave openly with her uncle later.
“You’ve even submitted articles to newspapers? You’re amazing, young lady.”
Song Wei modestly replied: “It’s nothing special, just luck.”
“Well, you should definitely take some good photos. Our scenery here is just as beautiful, not inferior to the ocean. Our grasslands, mountains, cattle, and sheep—if you’re lucky, you might even encounter wild horses, Tibetan foxes, or Pallas’s cats. There’s so much to photograph.”
Now, the aunt didn’t say the scenery was ordinary anymore. She enthusiastically introduced the area to Song Wei.
“But there are also wolves on the grasslands, so you really should go with the herders. And once you go out, it’ll be a long time before you return.”
“That’s okay, I can endure hardships.”
Her goal was achieved. Once the aunt spread the word, no one would suspect them when they openly left with her uncle.
After work, they returned to Uncle Yu’s house. As night fell, while Song Wei waited, Yu Wei brought in a thin man.
Seeing him, she immediately recognized him as her uncle from her memories.
Feng Tingxuan was stunned when he saw her, even doubting his own eyes.
He stood at the door, rubbing his eyes.
Song Wei looked at him and softly called out: “Uncle, you… you’ve gotten so thin.”
Seeing the hollow cheeks of the man before her, so different from the elegant and confident person in her memories, Song Wei felt a pang of sadness.
Feng Tingxuan’s face showed disbelief as he took a step forward.
“Weiwei, is that really you?”
His voice trembled.
Song Wei nodded.
“Uncle, it’s me, Weiwei.”
Feng Tingxuan, with red eyes, walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her up and down. Tears quietly fell from the corners of his eyes. He tried to contain his emotions, but his voice was choked with sobs.
“You’ve grown up. I’m glad you haven’t suffered.”
Leave a Reply