Chapter 118: Martial Arts Competition
A fast horse would take half a month to travel the distance, but a boat took less than ten days to reach the middle of the river.
The pier in the river was much larger than the one they had boarded before. There was a constant stream of people and boats coming and going. They could already feel the prosperity of the river before even entering the city.
After the boat docked, He Zizhen was held by the hand by a woman, and looked at Xixi beside Zhou Yunshu, and Yuan Li, Yuan Yi and others beside Fang Huiwen with red eyes.
"You guys should come to my house to play with me, don't forget me!"
In just a few days, the little ones became good friends.
Yuan Li and Yuan Yi waved their hands repeatedly. If they ignored him, this little crybaby would definitely cry again.
As expected, He Zizhen's eyes were red and he kept looking back every few steps. He only calmed down after he got on the carriage.
The He family's wedding party, silently carrying things, followed behind He Zizhen's carriage without any joyful atmosphere.
"This doesn't look like marrying a wife, it looks more like secretly taking in a concubine."
Zhou Yunshu listened to the gossip of the people around her, adjusted the veil on her head, and then took Xixi's hand and followed Wu Gui, who was dressed in men's clothes, to walk down the boat.
Zhou Yunjia was carried off the boat by Hu Zi.
In just ten days, Zhou Yunjia lost nearly twelve kilograms, which made Wu Yue very distressed.
There were too many people at the dock, so Wu Gui considerately held Zhou Yunshu's arm and walked away from the crowd to a teahouse not far away. Their external identity was still a loving couple.
Wu Gui and the women and children in the team found two tables in the teahouse to rest for a while. Uncle He took Hu Zi and the other two to buy a carriage, while Manager Liang went to find an inn for them to stay temporarily or a courtyard suitable for short-term rental.
In the teahouse.
Zhou Yunshu looked at Zhou Yunjia, who had already slumped over the table without caring about his image, and said, "I ordered you a pot of black plum soup. You can drink a cup later to relax."
Zhou Yunjia raised his pale, thin, bloodless face, looked at Zhou Yunshu with bloodshot eyes and said, "I will never ride on a boat again, even if I die."
Although he felt a little better after taking the seasickness medicine given by Dr. Xue, he still felt that life was worse than death.
Zhou Yunshu looked at Zhou Yunjia's miserable appearance and said with a smile, "You'd better not say some things so early."
Zhou Yunjia shook her head, "Really, Third Sister, I almost died this time."
Wu Yue looked at her son distressedly, "Have you never been on a boat when you were studying abroad before?"
Zhou Yunjia shook his head honestly. They had always traveled by horse-drawn carriage.
"If you don't want to sit in the future, don't sit."
Watching her son lose his appetite and look like he was about to die on the boat these past two days, Wu Yue was so scared that she lost five or six kilograms.
Ginger honey water, black plum soup and hot tea were served, and red bean paste rolls, pineapple cakes, jujube paste cakes and pea yellow were placed on the table in order. When Zhou Yunshu ordered, she saw that there were also winter dates and tangerines, so she asked for two plates of each.
The children sat together at the innermost side of the two tables, while Zhou Yunshu and Li Jialan sat against the wall.
Originally, there were not enough seats at two tables. Coincidentally, when the pastries arrived, two tables diagonally opposite became empty, and Shopkeeper Liang and his family, Yan Shilei and others just sat down.
Zhou Yunshu and her friends' table was by the window. The two tables next to them were occupied by traveling merchants who had just disembarked from the passenger ship to rest, and another table was occupied by women who seemed to be locals in Jiangzhong.
As soon as she got off the boat, Zhou Yunshu discovered that there were many women shopping and setting up stalls in the river. They were unrestrained and the people around them were used to it.
On the contrary, those of them wearing veils looked like they had just come from other places, but they were not conspicuous.
Everyone can be seen at the dock. Zhou Yunshu even saw blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners communicating familiarly with the local people in the river.
"I heard that the third daughter of the He family's second branch is going to have a martial arts competition to find a husband. Is that true?"
Amidst the gossip and idle chatter, Zhou Yunshu accurately caught the sound while drinking black plum soup.
"Of course it's true. The He family will start the preliminary round tomorrow, and the competition stage has already been set up in the square in front of Yong'anfang."
"Damn it, let's not talk about how the third daughter of the He family's second branch looks, but if she becomes the son-in-law of the He family, she can walk sideways in Haizhou!"
The fact that Miss He was holding a martial arts competition to find a husband quickly attracted the attention of everyone present, so much so that those who were originally chatting about other things stopped talking and looked at the three people who were gossiping about the martial arts competition.
The guests nearby who had also heard about this incident also joined in the heated conversation.
"There are five branches in the He family, and the second branch doesn't have much say in the He family."
"Yes, everyone knows that the He family is now ruled by the eldest son of the main branch, He Nianzhang. The other four branches follow the eldest son's lead."
"The eldest young master has the final say, so let him have the final say. Since this is a martial arts competition to find a bride, whoever has the stronger fist will win the bride. Who knows, maybe I will be the He family's son-in-law!"
That person has the capital to say so.
He was eight feet tall and muscular, but the beard on his face and the greasy elbows on his hands made him look unpleasant.
"Dream on!"
The woman sitting at the table next to Zhou Yunshu and the others slammed her hands on the table and stood up, "Why don't you look in the mirror? A filthy country boy like you can't even pass the first level!"
The man who was scolded was originally very angry, but when he saw that the one scolding him was a pretty young lady, he looked at her with his piercing tiger eyes and bit his elbow fiercely. Then he said to the young lady with his greasy mouth: "You are not attracted to me, so you don't want me to go to the martial arts competition to win a hand in marriage!"
"Bullshit!" The young lady was enraged by the man and grabbed the teapot on the table and threw it at him.
The man was hit on the head without warning, and he was furious. "Fuck you little bitch, you have no shame!"
"I'll give you face!" The young lady drew the sword from her waist and rushed forward.
Originally, a man and a woman were fighting, but the flying dishes affected others. When the man grabbed a stool and threw it towards the young lady, she bent down to avoid it, and the stool hit Zhou Yunshu and Li Jialan behind her.
Li Jialan subconsciously protected Zhou Yunshu in her arms, and Chunque kicked the stool away before it hit her. It happened to hit the big man who threw it, knocking him to the ground.
The young lady who had just dodged the attack curled up the corners of her mouth when she saw this. She raised the sword in her hand and was about to stab the man on the ground, but Wu Gui clamped her arms and shoulders and pressed her against the pillar next to her.
"stop."
"Let go!" The young lady struggled. "How dare you be rude to me? Do you know who I am?"
"I don't give a damn who you are!" The big man on the ground also lifted up the stool and stood up with a frown on his face. "You two are in the same group!"
Chunque stood in front of Zhou Yunshu and Li Jialan, looked at the big man who was looking at her gloomily, and kicked the thick wooden stool in front of her, and the wooden stool fell apart in front of everyone.
The originally noisy lobby was instantly quieted by Chunque's move, and the big man was so frightened by Chunque's strength that he swallowed his saliva.
Wu Gui released the young lady in his hand and said coldly: "If you want to fight, go outside and don't hurt innocent people."
Chunque turned around after Wu Gui finished speaking, "Master, are you okay?"
Zhou Yunshu looked at her hand which was tightly held by Li Jialan, and then looked at Xixi and the others who were sitting next to her.
Yuan Ruo was so scared that he shrank into Ansheng's arms. Yuan Li grabbed Yuan Yi, who was holding a piece of pea yellow in his hand. Xixi sat between them, and the melon seeds in her hand never stopped from the beginning to the end of the fight.
Xixi saw her mother looking at her and gave Zhou Yunshu a big smile.
"It's okay."
Zhou Yunshu sometimes looks at her fearless daughter and wonders if she is too young and thus fearless, or if she is simply not afraid.
"Erlang, the carriage has been found."
Yan Shilei and his group came to Zhou Yunshu and the others without knowing when, and looked warily at the few people on the opposite side who had temporarily stopped fighting and said to Wu Gui.
Wu Gui nodded, looked at the mess in front of him, and said to Zhou Yunshu behind him: "Madam, let's go."
"good."
As soon as Zhou Yunshu stood up, the young lady who had been pressed against the pillar by Wu Gui waved her sword and blocked Wu Gui and the other man.
"Don't leave!"
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