Chapter 26

They had worked hard all day, and then performed until ten o’clock at night. Lin Shu Yin and the others were exhausted and wanted to lie down and sleep immediately.

While washing up, Sa Ren said, “I’ve already talked to my uncle. Tomorrow, the four of us will go herd cows. Don’t go to the fields.”

Lin Shu Yin, “Is that okay? Aren’t Ao Dun and the others herding the cows? Won’t it be too many people with us?”

San He Brigade had quite a few cows, over a hundred.

They were herded by Sa Ren’s brother, Ao Dun, her cousin, Dai Qing, her brother, Lin Jian She, and Shen Guan Nan’s cousin, Zhao Feng Nian.

Sa Ren, “Oh, it’s fine. More is better. Anyway, we can’t do much work in the fields. It’s better to herd cows.”

“Tomorrow morning, when we leave, bring your instruments.”

Li Jin Yue laughed and asked, “What, are you going to play while herding cows?”

Sa Ren, “Yeah, when I used to go out herding cows with my brother, I’d play the horsehead fiddle. It feels different playing in the wild, like a sense of freedom and wildness, haha.”

“And cows aren’t like sheep. They don’t run. They just eat grass in one place. Don’t worry.”

“By the way, have you ever ridden a horse? Tomorrow, we’ll ride horses to herd cows.”

The three of them looked at each other in confusion, “We’ve never ridden a horse.”

They were Sichuanese girls. How could they ride a horse? Lin Shu Yin had ridden a horse in her previous life, but it was at a racetrack, not the kind raised at home.

Sa Ren, “It’s okay. Ao Dun and the others know how to ride. I know how to ride too. You can sit behind us.”

“Okay.”

They were all very tired, but talking like this made them less sleepy. After washing up, they lay on the kang and chatted for a while before falling asleep.

The next day, the four of them told Deputy Head of the Troupe, Zhang Xia, and then came to the cow shed.

Lin Jian She was surprised, “Sister, you’re going to herd cows with us?”

Lin Shu Yin, “Yes. Do you know how to ride a horse?”

Lin Jian She stood up straight and said, “I do.” He had learned from Ao Dun.

Lin Shu Yin, “Okay, I’ll sit behind you.”

She didn’t bring her horsehead fiddle. She brought Sa Ren’s. They both knew how to play, so one was enough.

Whether it was a boy or a girl, knowing how to ride a horse was cool.

Zhao Feng Nian also knew how to ride a horse. He walked towards Lin Shu Yin, “Sister, why don’t you sit behind me?”

He was the same age as Lin Jian She, but he was born a few months later.

Lin Shu Yin laughed at his “sister,” “I’ll just sit behind Jian She.”

Zhao Feng Nian, “He’s not a steady rider. He fell off a horse before.”

“What?”

“Is he okay? Did he get hurt anywhere?”

Lin Shu Yin asked anxiously. She couldn’t help but care for her brother.

Lin Jian She glared at Zhao Feng Nian, “Sister, I’m fine. I fell when I first started riding. I’m steady now.”

Hearing this, Lin Shu Yin sighed in relief, “It’s good that you’re okay.”

Falling off a horse was no different from a car accident. If you fell off a horse in winter, you might break a bone.

“Sister, sit behind me. I’m a steady rider too.” Zhao Feng Nian wouldn’t give up.

Lin Shu Yin smiled, “No, no, I’ll just sit behind Jian She.”

“I’ll ask Sa Ren to teach me how to ride someday.”

Zhao Feng Nian, “Sister, I can teach you too.”

Lin Jian She, “You can teach me. I haven’t learned it completely yet.”

What was wrong with this guy? He was down yesterday,

But today he started flirting with his sister. He kept calling her “sister.” What’s wrong with him? Doesn’t he have a sister? Why call someone else “sister.”

In the end, Lin Shu Yin sat behind her brother, Lin Jian She, Su Xiang Wei sat behind Sa Ren, and Li Jin Yue sat behind Sa Ren’s brother, Ao Dun.

Zhao Feng Nian and Sa Ren’s cousin, Dai Qing, rode alone.

They couldn’t run fast while herding cows. The four of them walked slowly behind the cows.

Lin Shu Yin wanted to learn how to ride, so she said to Sa Ren, “Sa Ren, can you teach me how to ride later?”

“Okay.”

“Sa Ren, I want to learn too.”

“Yes, me too.” Li Jin Yue and Su Xiang Wei said.

Riding a horse was so cool. It would be even cooler if they ran. Su Xiang Wei and Li Jin Yue imagined ancient generals going to war.

It must have been like this.

Sa Ren, “Okay, I’ll teach you when we get there.”

“Sa Ren, do all Mongols know how to ride horses?” Su Xiang Wei was curious.

Sa Ren, “Not all. Some know how to ride, and some don’t. Like me, my parents were afraid I would fall, so I didn’t learn to ride until I was ten years old. My brother learned when he was seven or eight.”

Su Xiang Wei, “Oh, I see.”

Ao Dun, “If you have a horse at home, children usually learn.”

Li Jin Yue, “I’m so envious of you. You have horses at home.”

Sa Ren’s cousin, Dai Qing, said, “We’re from the village. We raise animals in the village. You’re not allowed to raise animals in the city.”

Li Jin Yue, “That’s right. We’re not even allowed to raise chickens. We don’t have the space, haha.”

They chatted and laughed, herding the cows to their grazing area, which was a grassland, a wide and flat area.

“Ah!”

Su Xiang Wei suddenly shouted towards the horizon after getting off the horse.

She startled everyone present.

Su Xiang Wei laughed, “I was so stuffy. I suddenly felt like shouting.”

Li Jin Yue, “I want to shout too!”

She ran over and shouted, “Aaaaaah!” She shouted several times in a row.

Lin Shu Yin, “I can’t shout.” She had to protect her voice for singing.

Lin Jian She, “Sister, I’ll shout for you.”

“Aaaaah!”

Then Zhao Feng Nian went over and shouted too. Like Li Jin Yue, he shouted several times in a row.

“Stop shouting. You’ll scare the cows.” Sa Ren told her two brothers.

Ao Dun and Dai Qing, “We weren’t going to shout.”

The people from the city were seeing the grassland for the first time. They saw it every day, so they didn’t feel like shouting.

“Let’s rest here for a while. Let the horses eat some grass. I’ll teach you how to ride later.” Sa Ren said.

Everyone agreed.

They found a place with a lot of rocks to sit down.

“Sister, you brought your horsehead fiddles and all that. Are you going to sing and play for us?” Sa Ren’s cousin, Dai Qing, asked with a smile.

Sa Ren, “Yeah, we’re just sitting here doing nothing, so we might as well sing and play some music.”

“But if you want to hear songs, find your sister, Shu Yin. She’s a professional.”

Lin Shu Yin nodded, “Okay, you play, and I’ll sing.”

She was a singer, after all.

Sa Ren’s cousin, Dai Qing, “Sister Shu Yin, what was the name of the song you sang in the trio yesterday? It was so beautiful.” He scratched his head, a little shy.

Lin Shu Yin, “I Love My Country’s Blue Sky. Do you like it?”

Dai Qing nodded like a little chick pecking at rice.

Zhao Feng Nian, “Sister, I like it too.”

Lin Jian She, “That’s my sister. I like it too, sister.”

Lin Shu Yin couldn’t handle all the “sister” calls.

She said, “If you like it, I’ll sing it again.”

Su Xiang Wei, Li Jin Yue, and Sa Ren, “We’ll accompany you.”

Lin Shu Yin liked singing this song too. It was easy to sing, and she loved the melody.

After she finished singing.

Sa Ren’s brother, Ao Dun, asked, “Sister Shu Yin, do you know how to sing ‘Meeting at the Obo’?”

“Meeting at the Obo? I do. Your sister taught me.”

“Really? Can you sing ‘Meeting at the Obo’?”

Zhao Feng Nian asked Lin Jian She, “Is ‘Meeting at the Obo’ the song that Ao Dun hums all the time?”

Lin Jian She, “I think so. I think I’ve heard that song.”

There were two versions, one in Mongolian and one in Chinese.

Ao Dun sang the Mongolian version, and he heard the Chinese version.

In her previous life, Lin Shu Yin had sung “Meeting at the Obo” countless times. She sang it at school and at home.

After coming to the army, Sa Ren had taught her the Mongolian version.

They had also sung this song during their performance at the company, but it was a duet by Li Ting and Cha Su.

Lin Shu Yin, “Then I’ll sing it.”

Everyone nodded with a smile.

“The fifteenth moon has risen into the sky,

Why are there no clouds beside it?

I wait for my beautiful girl,

Why haven’t you come yet? Oh…”

As soon as Lin Shu Yin opened her mouth, Lin Jian She was shocked again. No, what were the lyrics she was singing? No, what language was she singing in? Mongolian?

Did his sister know Mongolian?

Lin Jian She whispered to Zhao Feng Nian, “My sister knows Mongolian!”

Zhao Feng Nian, “Probably Sa Ren taught her.”

Lin Jian She, “My sister is so smart. Ao Dun has been teaching me Mongolian every day, and I haven’t learned a few sentences.”

Minority groups are all good at singing and dancing. Sa Ren was too.

Lin Shu Yin sang “Meeting at the Obo” in Mongolian. It resonated with her heart. She got up and danced as she sang.

There were two songs. The first one was sung in Mongolian, and the second one was sung in Chinese.

“As long as you wait patiently, brother,

The girl you love will come running. Oh…”

Lin Shu Yin sang with emotion, not in a mechanical way. When she sang this line, she looked at the audience, her eyes full of affection.

The breeze blew, moving the wind and moving hearts.

Zhao Fengnian’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Lin Shuyin looking at him.