Song He'er happily held the money in her hands and waved it in front of everyone, "Look, with these fifteen strings of cash, we don't need to spend Nian'er's lock and Fourth Aunt's earrings!"

Chun Di stepped forward and advised, "I only have one earring left, it's no use keeping it. Let's just give it to them as collateral and see if we can save some money. We'll need to eat somewhere else."

Song He'er thought about it and realized that the style of the earring was indeed outdated, and there was only one left. It wouldn't be appropriate to wear it or not. It would be better to use it now and buy her another pair when she earned money in the Wilderness!

"Alright then, Fourth Aunt, when we get to the Wildlands, we'll find a craftsman to make you a nicer one!"

Chun Di smiled and didn't say anything more.

Song He'er glanced at Nian Jie'er beside her and put the lock around her neck again.

"Third Aunt, these children's things are for protection and safety, and shouldn't be sold off cheaply. I think we should keep them for Nian'er."

Zhang Xiue's eyes reddened slightly, and even her voice changed as she spoke, "He'er, we're so grateful to have you along the way, otherwise we would have died hundreds of times over... You're simply our lucky star!"

"Third Aunt is strong and has done a lot of work. As long as we stay united, we can survive well even if we go to Xinzhou."

"Um!"

The group smiled and began walking upstream.

This river is not an unknown stream. Since there are fishing boats, it means that it is navigable by water. If you go a little further ahead, there will definitely be a dock.

After walking for about three hours, they finally saw a small dock in the distance, with a few boats floating on the river and a man wearing a straw hat resting nearby.

Zhang Xiu'e stepped forward and gently patted his back. The man was so startled that he almost dropped his straw hat into the river.

She looked up at Zhang Xiue with displeasure and said, "What are you doing? Can't you see I'm sleeping? If you scare me into the river, what will I do if I lose my life?"

"If you fall into the river, I'll save you, is that alright?"

"Speak quickly, what is it!"

We would like to rent your boat.

The boatman looked Zhang Xiue up and down, somewhat incredulous. "Do you have money? Besides, there are so many of you. You'd have to rent my biggest boat. Including the boat rental fee and my labor fee, it'll cost at least this much!"

The boatman held up a five-finger mountain, meaning five strings of cash.

“We can afford it,” Zhang Xiue replied smugly.

This was already beyond their expectations. They always thought that renting a boat would cost at least ten strings of cash, but now the boatman only charged five strings, so they could use the remaining money to buy other things!

"Words are no proof; you need to let me see the money first."

Zhang Xiue laughed and said, "I'm afraid these five thousand copper coins will smash a hole in your head."

"Stop joking, hurry up and show it to me!"

Without saying a word, Zhang Xiue took out a plate-shaped silver ingot from her sleeve and waved it in her hand.

"See that? It's real money. If you keep talking nonsense, we'll wait for the next ship to come and rent someone else's."

Seeing that Zhang Xiue actually had silver in her hand, the boatman immediately changed his tune and fawned over her, saying, "Please, madam, this silver coin will be enough to take you from here to the furthest downstream area, which is the southern border dock!"

"Hmph! Is there any food on the ship?"

"Yes, yes, of course we have some. There's a pot on the boat; we can cook fish and steamed buns. It's just... all of these cost money..."

Song He'er stepped forward and said to the boatman, "Bring us whatever food you have, no price is too high, but you must guarantee our safety."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Qin Xiaoniang and Huan Ge'er's clothes hadn't been washed in a long time, especially Huan Ge'er's, whose skin was delicate and had started to break out in large patches of red rashes after being soaked in the rain.

"Mother, after we get on the boat, boil some hot water and wash Huan-ge'er. Add some clean, fine salt to kill any germs."

"Hmm... By the way, He'er, we can't waste food. I don't have to eat it, but we need to save some money. We still have a long way to go."

Song He'er smiled and said, "The boat rental cost five strings of cash, and even if we eat a hundred steamed buns, it will only cost one string of cash. That's enough. You don't need to worry about money. You just need to take care of yourself and Huan Ge'er's health."

After saying that, these people began to board the ship one after another.

A square table was placed at the bow of the boat, and a pot was set up at the corner. Grain and a small amount of vegetables were all placed at the stern, and there was a large shed in the middle for people to rest.

The entire boat had only one boatman who stayed at the stern, completely protecting people's privacy. Apart from meeting when collecting food, they would hardly interact at all during the day.

Song He'er first boiled a pot of water, then added some fine salt to it, and then used a basin to take river water, mixed them together, and gave Huan Ge'er a hot bath.

Chun Di gazed at the ripples on the water's surface, lost in thought. "Do you think there might be shrimp in there?"

Zhang Xiue shook her head: "No way, how could a shrimp be floating in such shallow water?"

"Third Sister-in-law, the shrimp are just active in the shallows!"

"Yeah?"

Qin Xiaoniang smiled and said, "Yes."

Chun Di borrowed a net from the boatman, lay down on the edge of the boat, and began to scoop up small shrimp from the river.

In no time at all, a small bowl was scooped up. Although it wasn't a lot, it could still be considered a dish!

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!