Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Mother, There’s Meat!
Seeing her being so mysterious, Xie Changqing was somewhat puzzled: “What is it?”
“It’s about Qiqige… My abu said to let her stay with me.” Nuomin said somewhat hesitantly: “You only set up one yurt, and he’s worried you won’t have enough room.”
Indeed, there wasn’t enough room. In total, there was only one yurt with two sleeping areas.
The sleeping areas were actually just thick sheep felt laid on the ground with bedding on top.
One area was for Xie Changqing and Batu to sleep in, the other for Tana and her two daughters.
Their conditions were just like this, so there was no other way.
If they really added Qiqige, it would indeed be inconvenient.
“That’s fine.” Xie Changqing nodded, saying somewhat apologetically: “It’ll just make things inconvenient for you…”
“Oh, I’m fine with it.” Nuomin smiled and waved her hand: “It’s perfect—sleeping alone in winter isn’t warm enough! Having one more person will be warmer!”
This was naturally just polite talk, since any yurt would be warm inside.
If it were even slightly cold, they wouldn’t be able to get through this harsh winter at all.
Xie Changqing appreciated her kindness and asked: “Is that all?”
“No.” Nuomin smiled and shook her head: “That was just something I mentioned in passing, so I wouldn’t forget—what I wanted to tell you is that last night someone passed by, and I heard them saying they were preparing to hunt the wild horse king.”
The wild horse king!?
Xie Changqing’s eyes immediately lit up, asking somewhat excitedly: “It appeared? Where? Who passed by?”
“I’m not sure.” Nuomin thought for a moment, saying hesitantly: “I happened to be walking back from your place at the time…”
Those people passed by quickly, the light was dim so she couldn’t see clearly, and their voices were quite muffled too.
“And I think this might be a trap.”
How could it be such a coincidence?
They just happened to pass by her, just happened to be discussing the wild horse king, and she just happened to overhear it.
Xie Changqing’s smile faded slightly as he fell into thought.
Indeed, this approach was very much like the Sixth Pasture’s style…
But Agula had been provoking the wolf pack just last night, catching the Tenth Pasture completely off guard.
And after they set out last night, they went straight ahead without encountering anyone else on the road.
That meant if those people were really doing it on purpose, they were already near the pasture yesterday!
“Where’s Uncle Qiaoba?” Xie Changqing frowned, saying somewhat seriously: “I suspect these people weren’t targeting you, and they weren’t targeting me either.”
“Then who?”
Xie Changqing looked at her with a grave expression: “They were targeting our pasture.”
“How is that possible!?” Nuomin was startled and nearly stood up straight, almost bumping into Xie Changqing: “We were the first to stake out the area that Aotel marked!”
It had always been this way before—once you staked your claim, no one would dispute it.
Because of fighting over territory, there had once been a fierce battle where both pastures suffered heavy losses, and nothing like that had happened since.
“You said it yourself—that was before.” Xie Changqing straightened up, musing: “Think about it, our pasture has significantly fewer people this time, yet we got the best location…”
Not only did they arrive earliest, but under the current conditions of non-stop heavy snow, they had every advantage.
What about the other pastures?
The Seventh Pasture was relatively well off—they had listened to their advice and moved efficiently, getting a decent location.
But the Tenth Pasture’s terrible situation last night… not to mention the Sixth Pasture.
“You should know that the wolf pack attacked the Sixth Pasture first, then attacked the Tenth Pasture.”
Nuomin felt overwhelmed, looking worried: “Then… what should we do? If it comes to it, let’s just strike first!”
As she spoke, she looked murderous: “I’ll go back and get my gun right now!”
“Hey!” Xie Changqing helplessly stopped her, shaking his head: “Nothing will happen today, don’t worry about it for now.”
Today both the Sixth and Tenth Pastures would pass by their pasture with large numbers of people, and given the terrible weather, they might even need to borrow passage through their pasture.
Under these circumstances, whoever made the first move would be an idiot.
“But what about tomorrow, the day after!?”
Xie Changqing yawned—he was really exhausted: “No rush, let me sleep first. After lunch, I’ll go discuss it with Uncle Qiaoba.”
There was still a whole afternoon—enough time for them to make full preparations.
“Oh, alright.” Nuomin nodded, only then remembering he hadn’t slept last night: “Then sleep quickly, sleep quickly!”
She was about to take Qiqige back with her, but when she reached the door, she turned back: “Oh, by the way.”
She took a cloth bundle from the end of the sleeping area and handed it to him: “This is what Haierte and the others earned from selling the ointment—it’s all here.”
“Good, let me see.”
“No rush, sleep first!” Nuomin was already lifting the curtain as she spoke.
Xie Changqing undressed while casually opening the cloth bundle.
To his surprise, it was packed full of various things.
There was jerky, bags of flour, white sugar, and some salt…
All sorts of things, quite miscellaneous.
Xie Changqing laughed and helplessly picked them up to look at them before putting them back.
“What’s this?” Tana walked over.
“Oh, this is from the ointment I made last time…” Xie Changqing briefly explained, taking out a few items and wrapping the rest back up: “I’ll share these with Nuomin and Haierte later.”
For their first collaboration, he needed to show his sincerity.
Besides, Haierte had even gotten injured and was bedridden because of this.
“That’s right…” Tana nodded and put away the flour and other items: “Just right, you’ve taken off your clothes, so come try this on.”
Hm?
Xie Changqing looked back in confusion, only to see Tana holding a new Mongolian robe in front of him: “Come on, put it on and see how it fits!”
It was completely tailored to his measurements, made from the wolf pelts Qiaoba had given him last time.
“This color is darker and lighter to wear, with thick fur. Try it on quickly!”
Urged by Tana, Xie Changqing put it on as she requested.
“Mm, not bad.” Tana smiled with satisfaction, patting it all over: “How is it? Warm enough?”
“It’s very warm indeed.” Xie Changqing was delighted as he raised his arms and bent over to test it out.
The key was that it was light. After wearing those heavy Mongolian robes for so long, wearing this new one felt like wearing nothing at all.
Not only did it fit perfectly, but it didn’t restrict his movement at all.
This was so comfortable—completely different from what he’d worn before!
Tana was also very happy. It hadn’t been in vain that she’d rushed to finish it for him: “Good, you’ll wear this one from now on. I’ll take that fox fur coat and wash it in the snow.”
That’s how they washed clothes at this time—scrubbing with snow, which could get them very clean.
But for now, sleep came first. Xie Changqing lay down and fell asleep immediately—he was just too tired.
Even Batu and Xie Duoduo were being very careful, afraid of waking him up.
Batu went to feed the horses and found a large piece of beef in the basket: “Mother, there’s meat!”
His eyes lit up with excitement.
“Good, I’ll cut some off later to stew.” Tana felt sorry for Xie Changqing and wanted to give him extra nutrition: “Your aha is going out later, so make sure to feed Lightning plenty.”
Hearing there would be meat to eat, Batu excitedly jumped around and immediately ran to feed Lightning: “Great! After I feed the horses, I’ll go collect cow dung!”