Chapter 20 [Preparing to Enter the City]
That evening, a sumptuous welcome dinner dispelled all the fatigue of the journey, especially when Master Belsinger took out two bottles of Maotai, a wine recognized by the whole world. The brothers-in-law were very happy. Of course, eating meat and drinking wine was so happy. As the land of singing and dancing, how could India be without singing and dancing at the bonfire party? Especially his little wife Lina, who was only a little over 13 years old.
But she was particularly good at singing and dancing after being instructed by a famous teacher since she was a child. Her singing was as beautiful as a lark, and her best dance was the peacock dance. In addition, she had been practicing yoga since she was a child, and her body flexibility was particularly good. Some difficult movements made people feel very scared. The exquisite food and wine, plus the singing and dancing, helped to cheer people up.
Everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves. They went back to the room to rest until the early morning of the next day. They got up from the bed at around 11 o'clock in the morning, and after having breakfast, all the relatives, led by the brother-in-law, said goodbye to Master Belsinger.
Unexpectedly, Lina was left behind. The little girl was on vacation now. She had grown up and had been separated from her husband, Master Singh, for so long that she would not leave. If she didn't want to leave, she would. With the little girl accompanying Singh, she felt that life had become more colorful. After all, a Chinese could not watch TV. It was good enough that he did not go crazy in such a remote mountain village without being able to play the Internet or even make phone calls.
After sending off his brother-in-law and his party, Master Bel Singh gave an order to the old housekeeper Jamal to start preparing a large number of supplies. Prepare the harvested grain this season and then select two hundred mutton sheep that can be sold in the mountains to be taken to Sinjar Town for disposal. By the way, I will investigate the business situation in Sinjar Town to see if there are any good businesses to do and increase the income of the Singh family.
The entire Lagar Valley has three crops a year, and a batch of mutton sheep will come out every eight months, so there will be a big move in Lagar Village every six months. Transporting the harvested grain and mutton sheep to the town is the happiest and happiest time for the whole village.
Each household will leave four months of food, and then pack the unhusked rice, wheat, and corn into bags and transport them to the town for disposal. This is also a great income opportunity for these ordinary families. So Master Bel Singh ordered the entire Lagar Village to take action.
Because the mountain road is rugged and there is no road leading to Lagar Village, the only way to transport things is to rely on large carts. Such a cart can carry about 1,000 kilograms, and an adult can pull it and run. But when going uphill or downhill or crossing a river, it takes four or five adults to safely cross these obstacles.
Of course, these villagers not only have to bear the weight of their own food, but also transport food for Master Bel Singh. Therefore, all men over 13 years old and under 70 years old in each household will participate in this transportation work. This has become a normal situation, and everyone will abide by it and take action every six months.
With Master Singh's order, Butler Jamal opened the warehouse and took out all the parts of the load-bearing carts stored in the warehouse. Carry out maintenance work, overhaul the two belts and then fill them with air, apply some lubricating butter to the bearings, and then check whether the cart is intact. Then put a ton of weight on it to see if the cart can withstand the bumps in the mountains. If it breaks down on the way out of the mountain, it will be very time-consuming.
After all the carts have been checked, they will start preparing the harvested grain this season, and then go to the back mountain to select two hundred mutton sheep. A shepherd is assigned to be responsible for the transportation of these mutton sheep. Jamal, the housekeeper, has been busy these days, and even his little follower Jamal has been with his grandfather to deal with various things.
The most leisurely person in the whole village is Master Belsinger, but Belsinger also has his own work to do. He took a few people to the bamboo forest on the mountain to select some relatively strong bamboos that meet his requirements and sent them back to the castle. Then they processed all the bamboos and dried them over fire, and then called the only villager who knew some carpentry work in the village to come over and direct this villager to make three sets of bamboo sedan chairs, which are the most common in the southern mountainous areas of China.
What is a sedan chair? It is a bamboo sedan chair without a frame. A bamboo chair is inserted between two long bamboo poles. Then two people carry it in front and behind to walk in the mountains. It is very convenient and much more comfortable than carrying it on someone's back. If conditions permit, a parasol can be clamped on it. If the bamboo chair in the middle is lengthened and widened, you can lie on it and let someone carry you.
It is much more comfortable than using a human mule. It is really uncomfortable for two people to stick together in the hot weather. In addition, it takes a day to get to the town on such a long journey. It is really unbearable to be carried by someone every day. So for the sake of your own health, don't cover up the heat rash. Only making two sedan chairs can meet your needs to go to the town.
Why make three sets? That's because one set is prepared for his concubine Lina. I can't leave my wife at home to suffer when I go to town to have fun. This kind of slide is comfortable, safe and very cool to sit on, so of course I want to let my wife use it. As for the other set, it was prepared by an older housekeeper named Jamal.
Although the three sets of slides were very simple, they were very practical. Even Master Singh had the ingenuity to place a bamboo storage box on the backrest behind the active seat, which could hold some drinks and accessories.
In addition to these, Master Singh also came to the underground vault, put some cash in his briefcase, and took out several men's gemstone gold rings from the jewelry box with great pain. These gold rings are very luxurious and valuable even in India. They are used to bribe officials in the town. After all, if you want to open a store or a factory, you must have a good relationship with these officials.
Three days after everything was ready, the whole Lagar Village was bustling with people, and more than two hundred carts were piled with full. All of them were filled with bags of food, and then there was a group of two hundred goats. How could they walk behind these vehicles? Finally, there were Master Singh's entourage, especially Lina who was sitting on the slide. The old butler Jamal kept praising Master Bel Singh for being so smart. Sitting on the sedan chair, the view was wide, very cool, swaying, and very comfortable.
Two strong men could carry it easily and walk like flying in the mountains. It was much more comfortable than being a human mule or a bicycle. Master Singh just smiled and said nothing. Carefully observe the route out of the mountain to see if there is any possibility of building a road. After a morning, Master Singh's desire to build a road was completely broken. All the way was up and down the mountain.
Although the mountain is not high, the slope is very steep. It is impossible to build a simple road, not to mention that it is necessary to cross two rivers with a surface of more than 30 meters. The cost of building roads and bridges on rivers with sufficient river banks is tens of thousands of dollars, and the Singh family cannot afford such expenses.