101 Board the ship and set off
◎I wonder what the outcome of this trip to the capital will be...◎
Just when Ye Yunzhao was at a loss, a familiar, rough voice suddenly came from behind him: "Young lady! Young lady! Wait a minute..."
She looked in the direction of the voice and met the eyes of the captain who was chasing her. She pointed at herself and asked, "Are you calling me?"
The captain, who had been a bit rude just now, was now extremely gentle, his face full of smiles. "That's right! That's right! I didn't expect you to be so lucky. A merchant ship is leaving for the capital tonight. Would you like to board it?"
Seeing his attitude change so drastically, Ye Yunzhao was a little hesitant to believe it. How could there be no boat just now, but in the blink of an eye, there was one? A probing look fell on him.
Seeing this, the captain was relieved. Fortunately, the owner of Ruyi Tower had just given him some advice. He changed the subject and said, "But there are some things I must tell my wife first. Since this is a merchant ship and it's not even the end of the first lunar month, I'm afraid the owner has something urgent to do. The ship must be traveling very fast. If my wife gets seasick, I'm afraid she'll have a hard time on the journey."
Since it's a merchant ship, it mostly carries cargo. Although it's not as noisy as a passenger ship, the food and accommodation... I'm afraid it's far inferior."
This remark dispelled Ye Yunzhao's doubts. She didn't care about seasickness, food, or accommodations. She hurriedly said, "I'll sit down! When do we leave tonight?"
"Madam, are you sure?" the captain continued. "Once the dock takes the deposit, it's absolutely non-refundable."
Ye Yunzhao then took out a handful of copper coins from his purse, counted them for a long time, and handed them to him directly: "This one or two taels of silver is used as a deposit."
Seeing her like this, the captain shook the copper coins in his hand and said, "We will set off on time at 11:00 tonight. No one will wait for you after the time."
After resolving the big issue in her mind, she felt a little relieved and hurried towards the city gate. When she passed by the bun shop, she suddenly stopped.
The aunt selling buns saw her and said with a smile, "Did you go to the dock to broaden your horizons, ma'am?"
Ye Yunzhao showed a harmless smile and replied: "It is really as Auntie said, it is unparalleled and the price is fair, but..."
"Just what?" Aunt Baozi paused when she saw how adorable this little girl from another place was. She hurriedly asked, "Could it be that the captain forbade you to board the boat?"
She quickly shook her head, moved closer, and whispered everything that had happened: "Auntie, I'm a stranger after all. I'm a little scared when I encountered this..."
Aunt Baozi raised her eyes to look at Ye Yunzhao, and seeing her big wet eyes blinking, she smiled and said:
"Oh! I thought it was something! This kind of thing happens all the time. Just put your mind at ease. How about this, you wait for me at the dock at three o'clock in the afternoon. My man is a boatman. I'll talk to him then."
This was a pleasant surprise for Ye Yunzhao. She blushed and said, "Auntie, I'm sorry for wasting your time..."
Unexpectedly, Aunt Baozi waved her hand and said with a smile: "It's because you and I are destined to be together!"
In this case, she couldn't refuse any longer, so she smiled and said, "Thank you, Auntie."
When they arrived at the city gate, the Dongxiang man they had met this morning was already waiting at the place where they had agreed. Ye Yunzhao walked up quickly, apologized briefly, got on the ox cart, and staggered towards Lingnan County.
The sky was filled with rosy clouds. Perhaps because he was happy, Ye Yunzhao felt that the once bare mountains and forests had become lovely now.
She gave the three or five copper coins she had left to the Dongxiang man, and the two of them agreed that after dinner, he would take the trouble to send Ye Yunzhao to Yuezhou City.
But she had no time to rest, and hurried back to the county government office.
The little hens in the yard grew bigger and bigger, and she could pick up at least four or five eggs every day. She was very busy before the New Year, and there were about thirty eggs in the small ceramic jar in the kitchen.
Ye Yunzhao took out five first and was about to cover them with the bamboo basket when he paused. After thinking for a moment, he took out five more.
The well water was freezing cold in winter, so she quickly washed ten eggs and poured three bowls of well water into the pot. She hurriedly lit a fire and left it alone.
After the eggs were cooked, Ye Yunzhao returned to the house, packed two or three pieces of clothes, and wrapped two pieces of soap beans with rags. She prepared a bulging package with bits and pieces.
This was her first trip to the capital since her time travel. Although she said she wasn't afraid, she was still a little worried. She was afraid she would be short of money. She was afraid that she would have to eat and stay in a hotel in the capital, and the more she calculated the expenses, the more she added up...
Ye Yunzhao sighed and secretly made up his mind: Let’s get to the capital and solve all the problems in three days!
Just as she was about to stuff the money into the package, she suddenly remembered the most important thing!
Go to Xixiang and bring back the dried mushrooms that Aunt Wang took away this morning!
However, there was really no time left, so Ye Yunzhao entrusted the matter to the young yamen runner and repeatedly reminded him to come back quickly.
After finishing her work here, she ran to the kitchen. Guessing that the eggs were cooked, she scooped a bucket of water and turned off the fire.
Ye Yunzhao fished out the eggs, cleaned them one by one, put them into a small bag, and stuffed it into his arms. Suddenly, he felt warm all over.
Fortunately, after Zhuang Xue married Doctor Li, she often came back. Sometimes she helped everyone in the county government prepare meals, and sometimes she brought some delicious food to Ye Yunzhao.
When I came back this time, I just caught her putting eggs into her arms.
Zhuang Xue was stunned: "County Magistrate Ye, what are you doing?"
Her voice suddenly rang out, and Ye Yunzhao was startled. Seeing that it was her, he felt like he had seen a savior. "Alas...it's a long story. I have to take a boat to the capital tonight, and I don't think I will be back for three or five days. Then I'll have to trouble you to come to the county government office to help me feed the chickens."
"It's not that hard, don't worry." Zhuang Xue asked curiously, "But it's not spring yet, why go to the capital? I'm afraid you'll be cold on the way."
Before Ye Yunzhao could answer, the young yamen runner he had just sent out came back panting, carrying dried mushrooms.
She hurriedly took it, guessing that Aunt Wang had smoked and roasted it during the day, so it felt harder when pinched than this morning. Perhaps it would not go bad during the journey to the capital.
Ye Yunzhao noticed Zhuang Xue's gaze and immediately held up the dried mushrooms, saying with a smile, "I went to the capital to sell these!"
*
As the night deepened, the wind began to pick up.
Sailing at night would inevitably be bitterly cold, so Ye Yunzhao deliberately wore thick clothes, tied the bulging package diagonally to his body, and carried a small bamboo basket on his arm.
The whole city was dark, with only the dock still lit. She hurried to the dock and saw the Baozi Auntie she had seen during the day standing there, with a muscular man standing next to her.
Ye Yunzhao greeted her with a smile: "Aunt, it's me."
Aunt Baozi also laughed and pointed at the burly man next to her and said, "Oh, this is my man, Danniu."
She then said to Daniu, "This is the little girl I met today. Her name is A Zhao. She's alone on the road, so you'd better be careful."
Daniu smiled innocently: "Okay, whatever my wife says is what I will do."
Ye Yunzhao bowed and said, "Thank you for your hard work along the way, Uncle Niu. I am very grateful to you."
As she spoke, she lifted the square towel from the small bamboo basket, revealing more than twenty eggs inside. Ye Yunzhao raised his hand to tie the four corners of the coarse cloth and handed it to Aunt Baozi: "Thank you, Auntie, and thank you, Uncle Daniu. I don't have anything else to give you. These are eggs laid by our own hens. They taste delicious. Take them back and eat them."
"What are you doing?" Seeing this, Aunt Baozi, who was cheerful all day, became a little angry. "I helped you because I like you, not because I thought you could give me something!"
Ye Yunzhao handed the rough cloth bag to her and said sincerely, "Aunt, I know you didn't do this for me, but you really helped me today. Uncle Da Niu has been taking care of me on the boat these days, and I really can't take it for granted. Besides, these eggs are not worth much. They are really a token of my love, so please accept them."
Seeing that she was still trying to refuse, Ye Yunzhao hurriedly said, "If you don't accept it, do you want me to take it with me on the boat? I don't know how much trouble these raw eggs will cause me along the way. Auntie, please accept it!"
Having said that, Aunt Baozi had no choice but to accept it. With a hint of reprimand in her tone, she whispered, "How can they be worthless? Two eggs cost a penny...Okay, I'll take these. When you come back from the capital, you must come and eat the buns. It's free!"
The two smiled at each other, and Uncle Da Niu said with a smile: "Look, look, I didn't know you were a family. Well, I see the time is almost up, let Ah... Ah..."
"A Zhao." Aunt Baozi added.
"Yes, let Zhao get on board first."
After saying goodbye to Aunt Baozi, Ye Yunzhao followed Uncle Danniu and hurriedly boarded the boat.
In Yuezhou City, at the Chen family residence, several oil lamps suddenly lit up.
In the past, when he went on a long journey, he would always be accompanied by a few servants, and his luggage would be packed into wooden boxes. But now Chen Jingshan was wrapped in cloth, not like the owner of Ruyi Tower, but more like he had in his early years traveling north and south to learn about local cuisines.
It was late at night and everyone was asleep, so he chose this time to go out.
She tiptoed all the way from her small courtyard to the gate, fearing that her silly and gossipy brother would discover her.
There was no one along the way, and Chen Jingshan gradually felt relieved. However, when he was one step away from the gate, he heard a familiar, gossipy, and speechless voice behind him: "Chen Jingshan... where are you going so late at night? Didn't you arrange for the shopkeeper to go to the capital a few days ago? Why did I hear him say that you suddenly changed your mind and said you wanted to go alone..."
Chen Jingshan, with his back to him, closed his eyes, made up his mind, suddenly opened the door, and rushed out like an arrow.
The servants who were going to the capital to purchase special spices had already boarded the ship, and the necessary wooden boxes were also carried on board.
The moon rises high, it is three quarters past midnight.
The captain of the boat shouted: "Ship——"
The night was as dark as ink, the moonlight as bright as a thread, and the river as clear as a mirror. Ye Yunzhao stood in Class A, his heart pounding like a drum, wondering what the outcome of this trip to the capital would be...
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