Che Erku slapped Su Lu’ke back using his thick, large hands, and said, “Let’s have a bowl of wine.” Che Erku’s tent was neat and tidy. Woolen rugs with red flowers and green gra.s.s woven onto them were hung all around the tent. A slim girl carried wine out. Che Erku smiled and said, “A’man, this is Su Pu’s father. Are you afraid of him? This huge bearded man is very ferocious!” A’man’s blushing face was even more beautiful. Her eyes seemed to smile, as if saying, “I’m not afraid.” Su Lu’ke laughed heartily, “Old Che, I heard others saying that you have a daughter who is like a flower walking on the pastures. Yes, a walking flower, this description is extremely apt.” The two men, who had contended with each other for a decade, suddenly became close friends. You toast me, and I toast you. Su Lu’ke drank until he was drunk. With sleepy eyes he lay on the back of a horse, and returned home.

After a few days, Che Erku brought two fine woolen rugs. He said, “These were woven by A’man; one for the father, one for the son.” On one woolen rug was woven a large man holding a long blade. The man had killed a leopard, and a second leopard was running away with its tail between its hind legs. On the other rug was woven a boy who had stabbed a large grey wolf to death. Both of them looked majestic and heroic. Su Lu’ke was delighted, and praised, “Excellent skills, excellent skills!” There were few leopards in the Muslim Region, but one year two leopards appeared and harmed the livestock. Su Lu’ke pursued them into the snow-covered mountains, and killed a large leopard, while the other leopard escaped with injuries. A’man had woven the heroic achievement he was proudest of on the rug, and he was extremely pleased by this.

This time, the one who lay, drunk, on a horse’s back was Che Erku. Su Lu’ke asked his son to send him home. Inside Che Erku’s tent, Su Pu saw his wolfskin. While he was puzzling over the matter, a blushing A’man thanked him. Su Pu muttered something, but did not know what he was talking about. He did not dare ask how the wolfskin landed up with A’man. Early the next day, he went to the small hill where he had killed the wolf, hoping to meet Li Wenxiu so that he could ask her about it. But she did not turn up. He waited for two days but to no avail. On the third day, he mustered up his courage and went to the old man Ji’s hut. Li Wenxiu answered the door. When she saw him, she said, “I never want to see you again. “ Then she shut the door with a loud slam. Su Pu was stunned for a long time, and went home feeling bewildered. Listlessly, he mused, “Ai, a Han girl, who knows what she is thinking of?”

Of course, he did not know that Li Wenxiu hid behind the door, hiding her face in her hands and crying. She cried for a long time. She would have liked to play with Su Pu again, and tell him stories. But she knew if his father found out, Su Pu would have to suffer another round of whipping. He might even be whipped to death.

The days pa.s.sed, one by one. The three children were blown taller by the winds from the pastures, and grew bigger by the freezing snow at the foot of the mountains. The walking flower became more beautiful, the wolf-killing child became a handsome youth, while the Tianling bird in the pastures sang even more melodiously. But she hardly ever sang. Late at night when there was no one around, she would go to the small hill where Su Pu had killed the wolf and sing. She did not forget this childhood playmate for even a day, and often spotted him riding together with A’man. She also heard them singing those ‘question-and-answer’ love songs to each other.

When Li Wenxiu was young, she did not know what these songs meant, but now she understood them all too well. If she had continued to be ignorant of their meanings, would it not have spared her so much unhappiness? Spared her so many sleepless nights? But once she understood the things that she did not understand previously, she was unable to return to the childish puzzlement she had felt when young.

Late one spring night, Li Wenxiu rode the white horse to the little hill where the wolf had been killed. The white horse had shed the hair which had been dyed yellow a long time ago. And now its body was as white as the snow in the mountains.

She stood on the small hill. Far away, she could see a large bonfire burning in the middle of the Kazaks’ tents.

Li Wenxiu thought, “He and she must be feeling exceptionally happy today, for it is so lively, so joyous.” The ‘he’ in her heart, was of course none other than Su Pu; and the ‘she’ was of course A’man, the walking flower. She could hear the rising and falling sounds of music and merrymaking. This day was one of the Kazaks’ festivals. The young men and women gathered around the bonfire, dancing and singing, enjoying themselves thoroughly.

But this time Li Wenxiu did not guess correctly. Su Pu and A’man did not feel exceptionally happy, but felt exceptionally nervous. Near the bonfire, Su Pu was wrestling with a tall and thin youth. This was the most important component of the festival. The winner of the wrestling compet.i.tion won three prizes: a fine steed, a fat cow and a beautiful rug.

Su Pu had already defeated four strong youths in a row. The tall and thin youth was called Sang Si’er and was a good friend of Su Pu’s. Still, a victor had to be declared. Furthermore, he also loved that walking flower. Who wouldn’t love so pretty a face, so graceful a figure, so skilful two hands? Sang Si’er knew that Su Pu had been on good terms with A’man since childhood, but he was a stubborn and proud youth. On the pastures, whoever’s horse was fastest, whoever’s strength was greatest had an advantage over everyone else. He always thought, “If I defeat Su Pu in a publicized match, A’man will like me.” He diligently trained in wrestling and swordfighting for three years. His master was A’man’s father Che Erku.

Su Pu’s martial arts skills were pa.s.sed to him by his father.

The two youths were tangled up. Suddenly Sang Si’er suffered a hard punch in his shoulder. He staggered and toppled backwards. But as he fell, his right leg caught Su Pu who then fell too. Both of them leapt up simultaneously, and gazed at each other. They moved in a circular direction, each searching for the other’s weak spot. Neither dared to take the first strike.

Su Lu’ke sat in a corner watching, his palms full of sweat, calling out, “Too bad, too bad!” But Che Erku’s feelings were harder to describe. He knew how his daughter felt, and even if Sang Si’er won, she would still like Su Pu, perhaps even more intensely than before. But Sang Si’er was his disciple. This wrestling match was exactly like a compet.i.tion between himself and Su Lu’ke, the bravest Kazak warrior. Wouldn’t it be glorious if Che Erku’s disciple defeated Su Lu’ke’s son? This matter would spread throughout a thousand li of pastures. Of course, A’man would be unhappy for days, but this did not bother him. Thus, he still hoped that Sang Si’er would win, even though Su Pu was a good boy and he liked him.

The people gathered around the bonfire cheered the two youths on. This was a compet.i.tion between two evenly-matched youths. Su Pu was more powerful, but Sang Si’er was more agile. n.o.body could tell who would be the eventual winner.