The water on the river was rippling. The fisherman in the distance rolled up his sleeves and tied up his trousers. He picked up his net and threw it into the river, preparing to catch fish.
On the boat, the boss of the boat was sitting on the boat, smoking a hookah. There was a bamboo tube half as tall as a man, with a mouthpiece underneath, with some tobacco shredded on it. The boss of the boat put his mouth on it, and took a hard puff, and saw the tobacco burning inside the chimney. There was a sound of gurgling water. This kind of pipe has water in it. The longer it is, the more flavorful it becomes. The boat boss stood up contentedly and stretched.
A man approached the boat. The boss of the boat didn't take it seriously at first, but he came to his senses when he got closer. He immediately stood up and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Xu, why do you have time to come here?"
Several people on the shore were watching and saw Pei Ziyun getting off the boat and disappearing in the distance. Mr. Xu came up and saw that there were not many people in the cabin on the passenger boat. There were only a few old and weak women and children waiting for the boat to sail. Mr. Xu's face darkened: "Go inside and talk!"
The ship is relatively large, and the cabin is a bit dark and the light is very dim. There is only an oil lamp lit on the table. For fear of catching fire, the lamp is not high enough, and the dim light is a bit eerie.
Mr. Xu sat down. Opposite him, the captain of the ship lowered his head in fear.
Mr. Xu stared at the ship boss, fanned twice, and said, "How is your business lately?"
"Thanks to Master Duo and you, I can make a living on the water and support my family."
Mr. Xu said "hee": "If your boat comes and goes in a year, if nothing else, you will definitely make two or three hundred taels."
The boss of the ship didn't know what to say. Seeing Mr. Xu's face tense, he said, "He Laosan, this is not why I came here. The helmsman has something to tell you."
The boss of the ship lowered his head and said, "You can tell me whatever you want, but I will listen."
Mr. Xu then explained what was going on and asked the boss of the ship to cooperate. As soon as he heard the words of the people on the helm, the boss of the ship was sweating profusely and waved his hands: "This can't be done. This man is a scholar at first sight. Go ahead." In the state, at least he is a scholar, and if something happens to him, he will be beheaded."
The smile on Mr. Xu's face faded, and his face turned sinister. He said impatiently: "I'm not asking you to kill anyone. I just want him to get on the boat. You cooperate and let him get off the boat, drink some water, and suffer in the river." A little injury, what are you afraid of?"
"And this is what the helmsman meant. You are the one on the helm. You know the rules. If you don't want to, the government won't arrest you, but the helmsman cannot spare you."
As soon as he heard this, the boat owner's thighs softened, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Most of the boat owners who made a living on the river joined the local river rudders.
When something happens, you have money and strength to help, and you have protection on weekdays. Now the helmsman has given an order. If the boss of the ship doesn't do it, he will be punished by the helm, which will inevitably be three swords and six holes. That's all. From now on, there will be no more chaos on this river. If you don't go on, if you continue to mess around, you will be like the boss of the boat who refuses to join. One day the boat will capsize and the whole family will have to feed the fish!
The captain's hands and feet were trembling a little, so he had to agree: "Yes, yes, I will obey, I will obey!"
He was just sweating coldly and had to wipe it off with his hands. Mr. Xu glanced at the boss of the boat, sneered a few times, went ashore and talked to a few people on the shore, then came back and said: "Just think of me as a boatman."
"How dare you do this, Mr. Xu!"
"Don't worry, I used to be a good boatman and I can't see any flaws." Mr. Xu sneered.
Having had enough wine and food, Pei Ziyun left the hotel. The sun was shining down, and there were a lot of shadows under the trees on both sides of the street.
When we got to the river side, we saw that there were many passengers on the boat. We thought they were almost there, so we got on the boardwalk.
As soon as he went up, he saw a boatman glance at him, and the flesh on his face trembled, looking fierce. Pei Ziyun felt strange, when did this boatman come, with a somewhat unkind expression
I looked again and saw that this boat was specially designed to transport people. It had two floors, front and rear cabins, and Xiang curtains were hung in the cabin. There were several boatmen on the boat, and I even saw a cook. Although this kind of boat is a mixed bag, it has been in business for a long time. Shouldn't it be a black ship
Just as he was hesitating, the boss of the boat held a hookah and said with a smile on his face: "Sir, please get on the boat. Everyone on the boat is almost here and we are about to set off."
Pei Ziyun smiled, stretched out his hand to press the hilt of his sword, and then followed the ship's boss onto the ship.
We went up to the deck of the ship, and a little ahead was the ship's building. This ship was not big, with only a two-story ship's building. We followed the ship's boss up, and when we passed the stairs, we saw people sitting in the cabin.
Seeing that Pei Ziyun was a little strange, the boss of the ship introduced: "Those are going to the mansion like my husband. They will arrive in the afternoon, and they will be in the cabin below the deck."
Pei Ziyun glanced at the cabin. There were some people sitting in the cabin, including poor students, old people, women, and children. It was not full, and there were still a lot of seats. He just glanced at it and continued with the boss of the ship. Toward the upper floors.
When we got upstairs, we saw a lot of rooms, but the rooms were very narrow.
The boss of the boat went to a room and took the key to open it. Pei Ziyun took a look and saw that the room was not big. There were two windows open. Looking out from the window, he could see the river outside. The river was sparkling, lapping against the ship, making a subtle lapping. Voice.
Looking around, there is a bed and a table.
The boss of the ship said: "Mr., this is the best room on the ship."
Faintly hearing the sound of reading next door, the boat boss added: "This is a single room, and there are a few people around who are also husband-in-law, preparing to go to the state to take the exam, so there is the sound of reading, but it's just a room for four people."
Pei Ziyun saw that it was quite clean inside. Although the place was smaller, it was nice to have this space on the ship. It was crowded below, and the scenery outside the window was pretty good, so he said, "Okay, just focus on this one."
As he spoke, he threw out a tael of silver. The boss of the ship weighed it and immediately said with a smile on his face: "Okay, sir, please come to the hall for three meals a day."
Pei Ziyun nodded. At this time, the boat started. There were already twenty or thirty guests on the boat. There were businessmen rushing to take the exams for scholars, as well as merchants and common people on the boat. There was a mixture of people from all walks of life. At this moment, a scholar in green shirt made Yi: "My friend, Yu Guangmao, is going to Qiuwei, the provincial capital. It's a real honor to be on the same boat with Brother Pei."
Pei Ziyun raised his hand in return: "Brother Yu, you're welcome. We have all met before."
Listening to the sound next door, three scholars came out. They were in their late twenties, late twenties, late thirties, and early thirties. They were also the same people I had met at the last scholar gathering.
Pei Ziyun was overjoyed when these people came out and came up to greet him. Pei Ziyun said, "So it's brothers, Brother Li, Brother Wang, and Brother Yi. It turns out that we are all on the same boat for the exam?"
There was something to say among the scholars, and they started chatting in the aisle. It was about the state examination. These scholars had been there several times or once, and they were all very familiar with it.
Pei Ziyun saw that there were several beds in the cabin and there was no space left. He felt strange that these scholars should not be so poor.
Yu Guangmao smiled and said: "The state examination is held every three years. It is a long way and it is not easy for me to go there once. We are familiar with each other, so we agreed to live in the same room, so we followed the captain's advice and added an extra bed. We just live in the same room, so we have someone to take care of us, and we can exchange knowledge!"
When Pei Ziyun saw the four people saying this, he saw that the four people were sleeping in the crowd. He knew that the four people had not told the truth or did not have much money, so he made this decision. However, he could not lose the face of these people, so he had to praise: "Brothers, you are really good." Work hard, it seems I have to learn from a few of you."
After he finished speaking, several scholars smiled bitterly.
The boss of the boat didn't go far. When he saw it, he was secretly shocked. He was a scholar, and he met a group of people in a blink of an eye. The helmsman could harm this scholar. According to the helmsman's wishes, he would get sick if he pushed into the water, but the river was short of breath. Urgent, I fell down, who knows what will happen, I want this husband to die in the river, just alone, all these scholars are here, if they clamor to report for the official, I will be unable to eat and carry around, I feel so As soon as I thought about it, I felt cold sweat on my forehead. I stretched out my hand to wipe it and said, "My dear sirs, the ship has successfully left the county. Without any accident, we can reach the provincial capital in three days."
After saying that, the boss of the boat left, and everyone didn't take it seriously. After this small talk, the five of them gradually became familiar with each other, and said to Pei Ziyun: "This state examination is full of talented people. Among you and me, I don't know who can succeed in high school. The ancestors are honored."
After saying this, several scholars sighed, and the atmosphere became a little lonely. Pei Ziyun wanted to persuade him, but found that he had no way to persuade him, so he had to resign and go back to his room to study.
The sky was dark, and there was someone knocking on the door. When Pei Ziyun opened the door, he saw that it was a boatman who said he had a meal, so he went there and found that the food on the boat was quite good. There were fish, vegetables, eggs, melons and fruits, and the fish was selected on the spot. The chef's skills Yes, Pei Ziyun ordered three or four dishes, which tasted pretty good. After a while, someone came down. When Pei Ziyun finished eating, he didn't see the four scholars coming down. He felt strange.
Nothing happened at night, there was the sound of reading next door, but as the night got deeper, the sound of reading gradually stopped, and the boat fell silent, so I went to bed early.
"Hey, is there any crying?"
In the middle of the night, Pei Ziyun was suddenly woken up by the sound next door, and he was crying a little. If he listened carefully, he could see several people comforting him: "Brother Yi, why is this happening?"
"... I come from a poor family, and I only eat small dishes every day. I eat meat and fish two or three times a year. Even so, my mother and wife still saved money and paid for me to take the exam. But I am already thirty-three years old. How can I bear to fail this time? , I can only find a library to teach and earn more than ten taels of silver every year."
"I can't help but think about it at night. I hope you don't mind it." As he said this, the man lowered his voice. Gradually, there was silence, and there was only tossing and turning. It was obvious that no one in the next room could sleep.
Pei Ziyun couldn't sleep, and didn't want to disturb these people, so he put on his clothes and went on the deck, looked up at the sky, it was a clear night, full of stars, and thought to himself: "How many people can achieve success in studying in reality?"
"Most people work hard and end up with gray hair and a sad end."
"So I know how precious plum blossoms are, and I also know that the original owner is so unbearable that he gave this life-changing weapon to others. It doesn't matter, the young man is always full of passion and an idiot. Only those in their thirties and forties, who have been in poverty all their lives, will understand this. How valuable.”
I was pacing thoughtfully, and unknowingly, I reached a corner and suddenly heard someone talking in a low voice. I had heard these two voices during the day. One was the boss of the boat and the other was the boatman. The boss's voice was a little trembling: "I really want to be right." Is the scholar taking action?"
(End of chapter)