With Ye Juncai's help, it was easy for Lin Guoqing to book a ship.
Wupeng boats are divided into Ming-tile boats and foot-rowed boats. Ming-tile boats are also divided into large and small sizes. The largest Siming-tile boats were used by dignitaries for pleasure boats in the past, and private individuals would not order them. Ordinary people with a little money would mostly order Sanming-tile boats.
Building a wupeng boat typically involves three steps: carpentry, plastering, and painting. After a fir tree is felled, the base is first made, and then the pieces are pieced together. Carpentry is the most time-consuming and challenging, so learning carpentry is essential before learning boatbuilding.
Then comes the plastering and painting. Actually, at this point the boat is ready and can be put on the river without the awning. The worst that can happen is that it will get soaked on a rainy day. It can also be cheaper.
There is also a semicircular awning between the front and rear tents. It is made of wooden lattices and inlaid with thin oyster shell pieces. The diameter is about one inch. It is quite transparent, slightly like glass but tough and durable. This is the Sanming tile.
Ming tiles can block light and keep out rain. In those days, Lu Xun took a boat with three Ming tile windows to watch the "community opera" in the countryside.
When Ye Juncai's uncle introduced it to Lin Guoqing, Lin Guoqing still felt that it was too big and expensive, and the price was comparable to the electric bicycle Ye Juncai had just mentioned.
Brother Xun rides on a Sanming tile because he is also a young master. Liang Shengdi is a fishmonger, why does he need such a big and high-end one?
A smaller boat is the "suofei." A boat with two shingles is called a "suofei," not an "ermingwa" boat. This name comes from the fact that a suofei boat is faster than a larger boat with three shingles. In the old days, a more sophisticated suofei would have a kitchen and stove in the fore cabin, stocked with tea, wine, and other delicacies. The mid-cabin was elegantly furnished with calligraphy, paintings, and antiques.
On the elegantly furnished shuttles, scholars would prepare wine, food, and tea, drink, visit prostitutes, play guessing games, and occasionally admire the scenery outside, listening to the gurgling water and watching the blue waves...
Rich people in feudal society knew how to have fun - Lin Guoqing.
"Isn't there a smaller one?" It's still a bit expensive.
Ye Juncai's uncle sighed. Every time someone came to order a boat, he would ask his son to go through the process all over again. He just hoped that someone would order a Mingwa boat. It had nothing to do with money. He was mainly afraid that his skills would become rusty over time.
Unfortunately, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were no landlords, and no one was willing to buy Ming tiles. He pointed helplessly at the half-built boat in front of him.
"Here, a foot-rowed boat, without tiles, only a black sail. 400 yuan each. Since you're a talented friend, I'll charge you 380 yuan. If you don't want the sail, I'll give you a discount of 50 yuan."
The awning of the black-sailed boat, which is not a Ming-tile boat, is made of semicircular bamboo strips with bamboo leaves sandwiched in the middle and painted with special black oil. It is a black-sailed boat, the simplest boat used by ordinary people.
It's about the same size as a shuttle, but without all the decorations. Its narrow hull allows for fast sailing, making it ideal for exploring the streets. While the two awnings aren't large or high, they can still accommodate a few small chairs, allowing three or four people to sit or lie down without any problems.
You can row with your hands, and when you get tired you can sit at the bow and row with your feet, so it's called foot rowing.
Lin Guoqing made up his mind in one second. This was it. How could he not have a canopy? Without a canopy, where would he put his mother’s things on rainy days? He also said he wanted to use a boat to pick up his eldest daughter from school, so it must have a canopy!
It’s just three hundred and eighty…it’s more expensive than a tricycle, and his heart aches.
It takes at least a week to build a boat from nothing. There were boats lined up ahead of him. My cousin's uncle said that for Ye Juncai's sake, he would let Lin Guoqing jump the queue and let him row the boat in two weeks. So Lin Guoqing paid a deposit of 180 yuan and went back first.
When the time comes, I have to ask the old lady to take a ride with me to get the boat, and then row it back. After all, no one in the family knows how to row a boat except her.
When Liang Shengdi heard that the boat had been ordered, she was extremely excited. She asked Chen Chunhua for some money, saying that she wanted to have someone make a fishing net.
To be honest, it had been a long time since Mrs. Liang had been so excited about planning her own affairs since the land was distributed to each household. Chen Chunhua gave the money very readily and even asked if it was enough.
"Enough, enough." Liang Shengdi grinned as she folded the money and put it in her pocket. The money seemed to be a lot. She planned to buy a fishing net tomorrow and then see if she could buy a few large plastic basins. The last time she saw people rowing a boat to sell goods at the edge of the village, there were those basins on the boat, which were just right for storing smuggled goods!
Chen Chunhua felt that her mother-in-law was becoming more and more like a child. She smiled and shook her head, asked Lin Guoqing to watch the children do their homework, and then she went out. They had eaten dinner early today, and it was not yet completely dark. She planned to go to the farm again.
In order to save enough money to build a house as soon as possible, she spent a lot of money to buy chicken, duck and goose chicks. The number of poultry that the farm can raise is already completely full, and if she wants to raise more, she may have to expand the farm.
The youngsters were in their most crucial growth phase recently, so Chen Chunhua would rush back to look after them after delivering the eggs during the day. Meanwhile, Wu Ni and Liu Ni, apart from attending school, were practically sleeping on the floor of the farm.
Just then, as she was walking on the road, she saw from afar that the big light bulb hanging under the eaves of the farm had lit up and was shining.
"Aunt! This one has grown feathers!" Wu Ni and Liu Ni were squatting there. When they saw Chen Chunhua come in, they quickly waved to greet her.
Chen Chunhua stepped forward with a smile, "Really? That means you guys raised them well. You're a great contributor!"
The two girls were only about thirteen or fifteen years old, and they couldn't suppress the smiles on their faces when they were praised.
"Aunt, I have signed up for night school in the village. Starting tomorrow night, my fifth sister will come here alone." Liu Ni suddenly told Chen Chunhua this, which surprised her.
"Are you going to night school too?" Chen Chunhua asked. She hadn't run into Sanni in the village these past two days, so she didn't ask her if she had signed up. Liuni's words reminded her of it.
"Where's your third sister?"
"It was my third sister who took us there." Liu Ni's smile was even bigger than when she was praised just now, and she said with sparkling eyes,
"Our school provides space for night school in the evening. Yesterday, Sunday, we didn't have classes. My third sister said she wanted to take my fourth sister to the night school, so we went along."
"Aunt! There's a class at night school teaching how to raise chickens and ducks. My fifth sister and I wanted to learn it, but only one of us needed to learn. Then we played rock-paper-scissors, and I won!"
"Yes, Liuni will be able to go to class starting tomorrow! But don't worry, auntie, I'll be watching over her and there will definitely be no omissions!"
"When she returns from her studies, maybe the chickens, ducks, and geese will lay a few more eggs every day!"
The two little girls chattered back and forth for a long time, the main idea of which was the bright future of the farm, which made Chen Chunhua laugh.
"Okay, okay, then whether our profits can double in the future depends on how well our little Liu Ni learns~" She then asked,
"So what did Sanni and Sini choose to study?"
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