Chapter 22: Sheep Shearing.
Song Huan vocalized some food calls, as she dragged a white-fleeced ewe from its flock to the empty stable. She dropped into a low wood stool made out of unpolished bare logs, and looked at the girl following behind her. "Diu, help me flip her." She untied the noose hanging around the ewe's neck.
"Okay, Mother." Li Diu employed every scrap of her strength and helped flip the ewe so its feet were facing skyward in the air and back was propped up against her mother-in-law's thighs. She then tied the ewe's legs with a rope, handling it manually. Despite this, they were being as gentle as possible, as it would lamb in that spring — four weeks from then.
Grasping the ewe's coat, Song Huan began singing to the animal, conforming to their age-old tradition while her hands were cutting the wools with a hand shear. Li Diu gave her voice to the local song as well. Even a few years ago, the villagers used their bare hands in order to pull the coat off the sheeps until Mu Yunsheng learned about iron shears in books and introduced it to their village as well as to the neighboring ones.
People rejoiced at the new method, as not only did it reduce their efforts but also took the edge off animal's pain. Song Huan's heart swelled with pride, reminiscing about that year.
Coming to the backyard, Tang Yu's attention was immediately hijacked by the melodious lyrics flowing around in the air. Abandoning her initial agenda, she was about to make her way to the stable instead.
Mu Hien, on the contrary, went inside the cowshed with no fuss. Being accustomed to the ritual, she wasn't attracted to the song nor the scene. "Sister-in-law, this way…" She called out, causing the culprit to gear her feet to the right direction… albeit reluctantly. "Why are they singing?" Tang Yu asked, stopping by the door.
"Mother is shearing the sheep." Mu Hien said. Then, taking in Tang Yu's oblivious expression, she elaborated, "The shearer needs to sing in order to coax the sheep into calmness."
Tang Yu nodded her head, understanding the logic. She craned her neck, trying to see into the stable. But, she couldn't. Song Huan's back was facing her. She already expressed her desire to learn wall coating to which Mu Hien agreed. If she excused herself for five minutes to clap her eyes on the sheep shearing, would it not "false" speak volumes of her lack of interest in the mud painting?
Mu Hien read the conflict on Tang Yu's face, and her next words broke the latter's dilemma. "Mother just started today. We have ten sheeps and five ewes. It'll take close to four days to finish shearing them all."
Tang Yu smiled brightly. "Got it." She wanted to enter inside the cowshed, then stared at the cow dung pensively and held her breath against the smells of it.
Scooping some fresh cow dung up with her both hands, Mu Hien commenced filling a rattan basket. "You need to be vigilant here when the bulls are in the cowshed. Last year, an ox gored big sister-in-law's father to death when he was trying to put a yoke on two of them. Not to mention, he was a seasoned farmer…"
"Oh my goodness!" Tang Yu moved further away from the entrance, eyeing the cows fearfully.
"Both bulls are now out, hitched with a wagon, transporting goods." Mu Hien stopped briefly, as she looked over her shoulder at Tang Yu. "Don't worry, nobody will ask you to tend to the bulls. In fact, only males pasture them and herd them back into the cowshed. At most, you'll be asked to round up the cows and milk them, like any other female." A heifer calf which had been hanging out loose in the cowshed leaped, before running to the front and nudging Mu Hien's pale wrist. She smiled generously, pulling a fist of hay from the stack, and feeding it.
Soon, Tang Yu's fear was gone, and sympathy took over. The cows there, three in number, were warding the flies off by flicking their tails. One stamped her cloven hoof, while rippling her white skin. Well, in this era, these were the most effective defense against pesky flies. One of them mooed. Perhaps, irritated.
Poor thing, can't even grimace.
"Let's go, sister-in-law." Mu Hien walked back into the front yard. She got down to mix the greenish cow dung with mire and a little bit of water. Tang Yu observed the process and noted some points. The mixture wasn't like solid dough which would stay in one lump. Instead, it was rather lequidy, but not too thick or overly runny.
After drenching the wall, Mu Hien scooped a handful of slush up, then started to spread the soft mud over the wall. Tang Yu was amazed. Not only did the girl fill up all the tiny dents on that place but also left a beautiful horizontal stripe pattern there.
"Should I try?" Tang Yu asked eagerly.
"Yes, sure." Mu Hien replied.
A big smile quickly blossomed on Tang Yu's pink lips. Without suppressing it, she followed her sister-in-law's suit. After maneuvering her hand left to right and vice versa a few times, she paused to take a look at her artwork. Albeit, her plaster did as well cover the miniscule dents, her stripes came out rather thick.
"You did very well for a first timer." Mu Hien complimented, smiling gently.
"Really?"
"Um-hm. Keep it up."
Just then, Mu Jiayi strode out of the main abode, huffing and puffing. "Sis!" A two year old toddler sat straddled on her waist, smacking her lips, and making the 'before crying' face. "Little Jun Hie woke up! He is crying in his crib. Go feed him something immediately."
Wah.
Wah.
Wah.
A low-pitched, rhythmic, repetitive cry flew out from inside.
"Jiayi... why didn't you feed him something? I'm in the middle of something. Where is the second sister-in-law? Let her breastfeed Little Jun Hie." Mu Hien's soft voice was drowned in the loud cry of the toddler.
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