Children of Loulan

In the kitchen, Maimaiti was listlessly helping his sister light the fire. He stared at the flickering flames, feeling extremely depressed. He couldn't figure out why his father was unhappy.

He looked up at his busy sister and asked blankly, "Sister, why does Dad seem unhappy? We finally managed to pay off our debts, and he won't have to work so hard in the future. The herbs we grow can support our family, isn't this a good life?"

After hearing what her brother said, Hanguli was also curious about why her father reacted like this, but she couldn't show it in front of her brother. She could only smile gently and say to her brother:

"Dad may be too tired, or too happy, and he doesn't know what to do for a moment!"

Mamtim said: "But I always feel that Dad seems to be dissatisfied with Uncle Kuturuk."

Hanguli said, "Don't talk nonsense. How could that be? Didn't Dad tell us before that we should remember Uncle Kuturuk's kindness?"

After hearing what his sister said, Maimaiti lowered his head again and continued, "But Dad..."

Hanguli comforted him: "Don't worry, Dad will be fine."

Although Hanguli comforted her brother, she thought the same as her brother in her heart. It seemed that Dad was not dissatisfied with Uncle Kuturuk, but was hostile to him.

Yes, there is hostility, and this hostility is very obvious. There must be something behind this.

While thinking about these things, she and Maimaiti took out the prepared dinner. After dinner, she took her brother to rest.

In the dark night, the moonlight shone into the bed from the window. Han's mother looked at the two sleeping children on the bed. The moonlight shone on them, making them look particularly quiet and elegant. Then she quietly closed the door.

Because ordinary people's homes did not have so many rooms, the brother and sister, one eight years old and the other thirteen, still slept in the same bed. However, their houses were all earthen walls that were most resistant to wind and sand, and their beds were also earthen beds, similar to the earthen kangs in Northeast China today. So although the brother and sister slept in the same bed, they had their own quilts.

After she closed the door, she walked out and saw her husband sitting with his back to the door, smoking a pipe. The moonlight shone on his thin body, making him look particularly lonely.

She thought of her husband a few years ago. Although he was also very thin, he was energetic and his eyes were bright. He looked like an energetic and motivated man who could take on any burden.

But now, now she looked at her husband's back, so depressed, hunched over, with legs crossed, head lowered, sitting on a small stool, smoking his pipe with puffs.

His shoulders and back seemed to be crushed, not as straight as before, and he was smoking a pipe as if to smoke away the endless sorrow.

Thinking of this, her eyes turned slightly red. She turned around and quietly wiped her tears, walked to her husband, slowly squatted down, held her husband's hands with both hands, and asked softly:

“Mohammed, can you tell me about it?”

They have been married for more than ten years and know each other very well. Her husband used to be silent sometimes, but today, she clearly felt that he was worried.

Mohammed looked at his wife, who was full of worry, and said, "Oh, I'm worried about Hanguli. This child is so sensible. I feel bad for her."

Han's mother asked in confusion: "Why?"

She didn't understand why her husband was worried about Hanguli. Hanguli was doing well by their side. The child had indeed had a hard time in the past few years, but she and her husband had always loved her very much, so why was he so worried?

Seeing his wife's confusion, Muhammad touched her head and asked:

"Zena, have you ever heard of Kuturuk being so kind to anyone besides our family? He... is a very kind person?"

Han's mother was slightly stunned after hearing this, as if she remembered something. Yes, although Kuturuk was not a bad person, he was definitely not a good person, especially for helping their family like this. He sent ginseng at the beginning, and later he brought a lot of good medicinal materials for her and her son. Although he owed money, he did not charge interest. You know, there are many people who borrow money from his family, even if they only borrow for ten days, half a month, or even one day, they will charge interest.

Over the years, their family has never received a penny of interest, and their daughter still helps out in his pharmacy. Although there is no salary, the inferior herbs that his daughter occasionally brings back can also be sold for some money.

What could he want from his family? There were no valuable things in the family, no inherited craftsmanship, and only these few people. People? Could it be people? Who could he want? She was sick, her husband was incompetent, her son was young and ignorant, and her daughter...

Wait, a daughter? A daughter? It's a daughter! He's after a daughter? Thinking of this, her heart instantly became nervous.

She stared at her husband and asked anxiously, "Is it Hanguli?"

Mohammed looked at her and said nothing, which was considered as his consent. When she saw her husband's attitude, her heart sank and tears flowed down her cheeks.

She was so stupid before. She had never thought about these issues carefully, nor had she tried to guess what other people were thinking.

With tears in her eyes, she looked at her husband and asked, "Why? Hanguli is still so young, how could he..."

By this time, she was already sobbing so hard that she couldn't speak. However, she didn't dare to cry out loud, for fear of waking up the two children sleeping in the room. She could only cover her mouth tightly to reduce the sound of her crying!

Seeing his wife like this, Muhammad knew that she was overthinking, so he started to explain:

"At first, when he came to help our family, I didn't take it seriously. I just thought he must want a high interest rate. But later I found out that not only did he not want interest, he also didn't ask for repayment. I was a little puzzled and couldn't understand why he helped us. After all, Hanguli was still young at that time.

Later, in order to repay her kindness, Hanguli went to his pharmacy to help for free, but he actually gave her inferior medicinal materials as payment. I knew he must have some intention.

Later, I noticed that there was something strange in his expression when he looked at Hanguli, so I guessed that he wanted to make Hanguli his concubine.

I was also very angry at the time, because I had worked in other wealthy families in the countryside, and I knew how humble those concubines were. The clansmen of those families fought fiercely for the position of head of the family, and some even killed the concubines and their children.

During that time, I was always trying to find a solution, and secretly found a man for Hanguli, hoping to arrange a marriage for her as soon as possible. It was not until last year when I went to work at his house that I saw that he had a little daughter, the same age as Hanguli. He doted on this daughter, and he only had this one. Only then did I understand what he was after.”

Han's mother's eyes were filled with tears. She asked in confusion, "What do you want?"

Mohammed glanced at his wife, knocked his pipe on the ground to knock out the ashes, then turned around and hugged his wife in his arms, and spoke slowly while leaning against her head:

"He wants our daughter to replace his daughter and participate in the draft."

Han's mother was startled at first, then looked at her husband with a little surprise and said, "Have you found a suitable family for your daughter? Hurry up and arrange a marriage for her, so that she doesn't have to go to the beauty pageant."

Yes, she didn't want her daughter to participate in the selection. Just like her husband said, ordinary wealthy families would fight to the death for their property, and the fight in the palace of Loulan must be even more fierce, so she really didn't want her daughter to go. Even if her daughter married an ordinary family and became an ordinary citizen like them, although she would not be rich, she could still live a peaceful life.

She was just an ordinary woman, without any big ambitions. She did not expect her children to be rich and powerful, but only hoped that they would live a safe and smooth life.