Di Ming

Chapter 8 Eat

The black tiger puppy in Zhu Yin's arms had not yet opened its eyes.

But when it heard the barking of its fellow dogs and smelled their scent, its furry body couldn't help but tremble.

It's so exciting!
It tried to open its eyes, but it was powerless to do so. It could only clumsily wag its little tail and whine "waa waa" in a babyish voice, like a baby crying.

In fact, it had lived for twenty years, making it one of the oldest living dogs.

Twenty years.

It followed its owner to school, to steal birds, to fight, to work... and was even sent to a military dog ​​training class to become a secret military dog ​​(a military dog ​​that hides its active duty identity).

What hasn't it seen? Its experience represents the pinnacle of its breed; its life is as lonely as snow, and it can only be accompanied by humans.

But now, it has become a tiny puppy with its eyes still closed, and it feels so close to the scent of its own kind.

Zhu Yin sensed Black Tiger's excitement and couldn't help but affectionately pat its little head.

He and Black Tiger shared a deep bond.

Without Black Tiger, he would not have had the opportunity to return to China or be selected by the Secret Service.

At this moment, the Jurchen women who had returned from rolling the ice were each surrounded by several dogs, and were fawned over by the dogs like stars around the moon, making the whole fence even more lively and vibrant.

“My home is over there,” said the Jurchen girl who had spoken to Ning Caiwei earlier.

She pointed to a simple wooden-fenced courtyard not far away, "You can come and play with me, my name is Galo (Swan)."

Jurchen women marry late. She was only a little over ten years old, not yet of marriageable age, so she still shaved her head and wore a braid, and did not start growing her hair long.

Like a tomboy.

Zhu Yin translated for Ning Caiwei: "Her name is Galo, and she wants to be your friend..."

Then, translating Ning Caiwei's words, he said, "Sister Galo, her name is Caiwei, and she also wants to be your friend..."

Galo was very happy. "Then I'll wait for her at home, and we'll go mushroom picking together tomorrow."

Then he waved and went back to his house.

Zhu Yin observed that the Jurchen huts were very low, yet different from the Mongol felt tents.

The Jurchens lived in huts, their wooden houses were low and spacious, mainly built of birch wood. The roofs were made of birch bark, and the windows were also made of birch bark.

Only relatively wealthy people used Korean paper for their windows.

In the old forests of Northeast China, birch trees are everywhere, making them easy to obtain.

Moreover, birch bark is more than an inch thick, sturdy and durable, thus becoming the most common building material among the Jurchen people.

These birch bark houses are warm in winter and cool in summer, and are simple to build, making them a unique feature of the Jurchen people.

The Jurchens used courtyard houses very early on. Each household had a small fence, which was a simple courtyard, truly a place with a thatched gate and bramble doors.

Inside the small courtyard are the main house to the north, the west wing to the west, and the east wing to the east. They are simple yet well-organized, and certainly not haphazardly built.

Outside the fence were pig pens and sheep pens.

The dogs don't live in the yard, but in their kennels inside the yard, which aren't called dog pens.

On the west side of each courtyard, there is a low wall, which is the screen wall.

A tall wooden pole stands in front of the screen wall; it is the Solo pole used for worshipping the gods.

Below the Solo pole is a stone shrine where wild dandelion (a type of incense) is burned.

At the top of the pole is a long banner, which depicts auspicious clouds, flying birds, and mythical beasts.

Behind the main house is a tall chimney.

"Guests have arrived! Good fortune has come with them!" the middle-aged woman exclaimed as she entered the courtyard. "Quickly throw away the ice and get the meat to entertain the guests! If you entertain them well, good fortune is sure to follow!"

“Okay, Mom!” A teenage Jurchen boy answered and rushed out of the house, swinging his two braids.

The Jurchen boy rushed to the east corner of the courtyard, lifted a piece of hemp cloth, and revealed a large block of ice, half a meter high.

Inside that large block of ice was frozen pork.

Almost every Jurchen family raised pigs. In the dead of winter, they would slaughter pigs to celebrate the New Year.

After slaughtering the pig, the pork was frozen in ice blocks, and every household had a large ice block.

The middle-aged woman hurriedly picked up a broom, swept the area in front of the house haphazardly a few times, and said to Zhu Yin:
"Little guest from afar, I have cleaned the house. Please bring good fortune into the house."

Zhu Yin saw that a red cloth was hanging on the wall outside the house.

This is also a Jurchen custom: for a newborn daughter, a red cloth is hung in the house; for a newborn boy, a small bow is hung in the house.

This means that her daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby girl.

Just as Zhu Yin was about to enter the house, the middle-aged woman excitedly called out into the house again:

"The birth attendant has arrived! The birth attendant has arrived! She's a clever and beautiful birth attendant! Our little princess is so lucky!"

She then smiled at Zhu Yin and said, "Niu Niu, you are the one who brought my granddaughter into this world. It's such a fate. May Buddha protect you."

The so-called "birth collector" is the first outsider a Jurchen child sees after birth.

The farther the person who picks the baby comes from, the farther and higher the child will go when they grow up.

The smarter the person who takes a child is, the smarter the child will be... In other words, the child will grow up to be very similar to the person who took the child.

What does this mean?
This shows that the aunt really likes me and thinks I would be a good baby-rearing person, which is why she invited me into the house to see the children.

Zhu Yin followed him into the house and the first thing he saw was a long heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed) that surrounded the room. The room was warm and cozy. To the east of the kang sat a young Jurchen woman dressed in a single layer of clothing, her arms open as she breastfed her child.

"Come and see, Niu Niu!" The hostess pulled Zhu Yin and pointed to the baby girl. "Her name is Zhenge. You are the first outsider she has ever met. You are the one who gave birth to her."

After saying this, he went to the shrine on the west kang (heated brick bed), knelt down, and said:
“Foduo Mama, Cuoha Zhanye. My little Zhenge has met her birth man.”

"This person who came from afar to collect animals is a clever and beautiful child. He is holding a dog and is a sensible and auspicious person..."

The Jurchen young woman glanced at Zhu Yin and also felt a fondness for this young concubine.

There's no other reason than that Zhu Yin was incredibly handsome and a very lovable child.

And he was holding a dog.

"It must be cold outside, right? Please, have a seat, Master Caisheng! I'm so sorry for being so rude!"

The Jurchen young woman spoke on the kang (a heated brick bed), while slightly raising her right hand and touching her temples with a somewhat charming gesture.

Touched three times in a row.

This is a unique Jurchen woman's gesture of touching her temples, usually used when greeting foreign guests of high status.

Although Zhu Yin was very young, he was the one who had given birth to her daughter, so she naturally had to perform the "touching the temples ceremony".

Zhu Yingan quickly crossed his hands in a salute, using the Han etiquette.

"Oh my! Auspicious little guest from afar, you've finally arrived! No wonder the magpies have been chirping all day!"

A Jurchen man in his early twenties strode in and said with a smile.

He slightly shifted his body to the side, squatted down, and gently bumped into Zhu Yin's shoulder.

Knowing what was going on, Zhu Yin also slightly shifted his body and bumped into the other person's shoulder.

The two touched shoulders and then stepped back.

This is called a shoulder bump greeting, which is less intimate than a head bump or a hug.

Then, the other two men in the house greeted Zhu Yin with a shoulder bump, signifying their welcome to the guest.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei were busy socializing with their master, but Ning Qingchen was happy to be idle, as she only cared about breastfeeding.

As soon as her sister carried her in, her pair of dark, innocent eyes immediately locked onto the Jurchen woman breastfeeding on the east kang (heated brick bed).

Her little nose immediately started twitching.

I can smell it, it smells like milk!
Damn, it smells so good!

The baby girl in the arms of the Jurchen woman was nursing, her eyes closed, her little mouth gurgling like a fish, completely absorbed in the moment.

Ning Qingchen had lived for twenty years, yet at this moment she was so envious of this Jurchen baby.

Bubbles kept coming out of her mouth.

"Haha, poor little princess, she's hungry." The warm and kind hostess laughed. "She wants to nurse. Gilan, why don't you feed this little princess from afar?"

After saying this, she picked up the baby girl from her daughter-in-law's arms and handed her to Zhu Yin, saying:
"Here, hold her! Her name is Zhenge (Beautiful), and you are her birth man!"

Zhu Yin carefully held the Jurchen baby and found that she was less than a month old, her fists were not yet open, and she was even smaller than Ning Qingchen was now.

The mistress took Ning Qingchen from Ning Caiwei's arms and placed her in her daughter-in-law's arms.

“Jilan, your breast milk is as plentiful as a spring, my granddaughter can’t even finish it all. Why don’t you be this child’s wet nurse and feed her?”

Jilan hugged Ning Qingchen and gave her a shake as usual. "What a beautiful little princess! She's even prettier than our Zhenge! Okay, I'll be Zhenge's wet nurse for a few days, and she'll be Zhenge's wet nurse sister."

She felt ashamed that she still needed to nurse.

However, her childlike mindset made it impossible for her to resist the temptation of breast milk.

She ate very greedily, perhaps because she was really starving.

"Hahaha!" The Jurchen woman couldn't help but laugh, patting Ning Qingchen as she said:
"You're really strong, like a little tiger. You're pulling so hard that my breasts are sore."

Upon hearing this, her father-in-law coughed and couldn't help but glance at his daughter-in-law's chest.

"Get out! Go start the fire!" the woman said in a low voice, glaring at her husband with a fierce look in her eyes.

Zhu Yin chuckled inwardly, but pretended not to see it.

The wives of the Jurchens were no joke. Otherwise, how did they get the title "Manchu Grandmother"? They were tigers at home, and even more so when they returned to their parents' home.

The man didn't say a word, turned around and walked out of the house.

This rugged and fierce hunter could only back down when faced with his own wife.

Ning Caiwei breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her younger sister finally get to nurse.

Breast milk is extremely important for an infant's development.

The younger sister was reborn as an infant, her life force extremely fragile. Without breastfeeding, her development might not be as good as in her previous life.

Ning Qingchen quickly finished eating, her little belly round and plump, like a small ball.

It was still burping.

That's good. After eating and drinking her fill, she actually fell asleep.

She slept very soundly.

She also has a unique baby-scented smell that she didn't have before!
(End of this chapter)