Even though her eldest brother Song Chenghou reminded her, Wen Shishi still saw her brothers' amused expressions when she got up.
Although Wen Shishi is young, she is quick-witted.
When I woke up, I found that I had been dressed in different clothes and that I had been sleeping in a different place...
The blankets and sheets from where I slept yesterday were all gone. I immediately realized I had wet the bed...
The other brothers chuckled to themselves, but the tenth brother, of all people, brought up the very thing he shouldn't have: hearing the commotion, he knew Wen Shishi had woken up...
He stepped forward, grabbed Wen Shishi's face with both hands, and managed to stretch her chubby oval face into a flat pancake...
He muttered to himself, "What grudge does your tenth brother have? He peed all over me in the middle of the night..."
He spoke with a smile, showing no anger whatsoever.
Wen Shishi blushed, after all, she was just a young girl, and her face turned bright red.
Suddenly, the tenth brother was lightly kicked by someone. He looked up and saw that it was his second brother.
Song Chengjian squatted down in front of Wen Shishi, but spoke to Lao Shi, "Is it really necessary? So stingy..."
Even a child's urine is priceless! Shishi is still growing!
When you were this age, did you not wet the bed?
"Would you like me to tell you about your 'glorious deeds' from when you were little, so you can remember them?"
Song Chengxin said with a forced smile, "Second brother, I was just teasing my sister. Besides, that boy's urine is from a boy, and Shishi is a girl..."
Before he could finish speaking, Song Chengjian struck again, aiming a blow at Song Chengxin's head, which Song Chengxin narrowly avoided.
Song Chengxin knew that his second brother was letting him off the hook; if his brother had really wanted to beat him, he wouldn't have been able to escape.
"You even know Shishi is a girl, yet you speak without any tact!"
Song Chengjian said solemnly, looking down at Wen Shishi in his arms. His expression changed instantly, and his voice softened ten degrees.
"Be good, Shishi, let's ignore him!"
Next time she bullies you, your second brother will beat her up for you!
Wen Shishi obediently raised her little face and tentatively asked, "Will you protect me?"
Surprisingly, his expression revealed unease and fear for the first time in three days.
Song Chengjian's heart melted instantly.
He pulled Wen Shishi into his arms, his voice unusually gentle, "Of course I will! Second brother will protect you!"
The people nearby felt their teeth ache just hearing that.
Second brother is biased!
When were I ever saying such tender words to them when they were little?!
All they'll do is intimidate and use their fists!
Everyone got up, and Lao Liu came out of the back kitchen with a pot of porridge and two stacks of bowls, letting everyone serve themselves.
Seeing how hard his fourth brother, Song Chengliang, had worked yesterday, Song Chengfeng got up the earliest this morning and cooked porridge with the sweet potatoes the fisherwomen had given him the night before...
So that if I oversleep, my senior cook won't have to worry about food...
After everyone finished eating, the eldest brother was left behind to take care of Wen Shishi...
The seventh brother, being frail and weak, was also left behind to help the fisherwomen gather seafood and prepare meals for everyone at noon and in the evening...
The rest of the group, along with the second and fifth brothers, collected stones and wood along the coast, carrying stones back from the demolished stone houses...
Everyone worked very quickly and didn't slack off at all.
The abbot reminded us that the previous typhoon had just passed...
If they were to build a house, they could do so precisely between two typhoons.
Based on the timeline, they have more than twenty days left, but no one can predict how the typhoon will change...
Therefore, Song Chengjian planned to build the structure of the house within five days, not wanting to cause too much trouble for the temple.
As soon as the tide receded, Xiao Bao's mother took Xiao Bao to the temple to find the Song brothers, intending to invite them to go beachcombing.
When they arrived, Xiao Bao was holding two big sweet potatoes, grinning, ready to stuff them into Wen Shishi's hands.
Wen Shishi had met Xiao Bao a few times, but she still didn't dare to accept his things. She put her hands behind her back, hid them, and looked up at her older brother...
Looking at her obedient appearance, Song Chenghou's heart softened, and he gently stroked Wen Shishi's head.
She said gratefully to Xiaobao's mother, "Thank you so much, sister-in-law! We shared some seaweed yesterday, but we haven't finished eating it yet."
You can keep it for yourselves!
Xiao Bao's mother was quick-witted. Seeing that Song Chenghou was embarrassed to accept the gift, she bent down and instructed Xiao Bao, "Go and take it to the kitchen in the back room for the cook!"
Xiao Bao grabbed two big sweet potatoes and ran off quickly.
Xiao Bao's mother looked away and said with a smile, "You're all at the age where you're growing, things from the sea won't keep you full!"
Don't worry, I'm just doing what I can. In a few days, Xiao Bao's father will be back, he'll settle the wages, and when the merchant ship docks, we can exchange them for some grain..."
From their previous conversation, Song Chenghou learned that the Yazhou Wharf receives passengers twice a month.
One instance was when a pearl-diving boat organized by wealthy households docked at the shore.
One instance was when merchant ships from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian docked.
Although the imperial court had limited control over Hainan Island, it could not turn a blind eye to the treasure hidden deep in the sea—the Bright Moon Pearl—and allow it to be harvested by others.
Organizing troops to fish in Hainan Island would not only encounter resistance from the local Li people, but also suffer losses such as the miasma of Lingnan and falling into the sea while attempting to reach the island...
It's not worth the risk.
This situation has thus created a breeding ground for these middleman businesses.
They were responsible for organizing the Hainan Island Tanka people and fishermen to conduct deep-sea fishing...
All the Bright Moon Pearls were presented as tribute to the imperial court.
In compensation, the imperial court tacitly approved their fishing rights, and all the rare and precious items such as agarwood and coral caught at sea belonged to the middleman.
After deducting the manpower and material costs for the Tanka people, fishermen, and fishing boats, appropriate funds should be allocated to bribe government officials, the Li people of Limu Mountain, and surrounding forces...
These middlemen can accumulate unimaginable wealth in a single trip.
To put it in perspective, a single piece of top-quality agarwood, no bigger than the palm of your hand, could buy a four-courtyard mansion on the Dayin Plain...
For the Tanka people and fishermen, a trip to sea was fraught with peril, and the wages they earned were barely enough to buy a basket of coarse grain.
Furthermore, the imperial court did not send troops to Hainan Island, and the harvested Bright Moon Pearls were used as compensation for the taxes levied on Hainan Island, in order to secure a moment of peace.
As for the cargo ships, they were used to transport daily necessities to ensure the livelihood of officials and wealthy households in Hainan Island.
They are generally transported from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places.
The prefect appointed in Qiongzhou on Hainan Island was in charge of four prefectures and was usually a member of the Da Yin people.
The people of Dayin preferred to eat rice and millet, as well as vegetables. They were not used to seafood. The rice and vegetables provided to the officials in the county government were supplied by cargo ships once a month.
Although Leizhou is located on the opposite bank of Qiongzhou, the gorge between the two banks is narrow and the waves are turbulent, so of the cargo ships that used to be there, only one in ten remains...
Therefore, the refugees exiled to Hainan Island faced a life-or-death situation when passing through Lingnan...
Even after reaching Leizhou, the other side of Hainan Island, it's just a short distance away, accessible by boat...
The absence of a safe stop on Hainan Island does not guarantee safety.
Because the boat could capsize at any moment while crossing the strait...
Therefore, unless transporting exiled criminals, the movement of people and goods from Hainan Island bypassed Wan'an Prefecture and went directly to Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.
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