Chapter 171
The carriage went all the way to the dock of Hengyang Town. The noisy dock was bustling with people coming and going, and the fishy smell of the river hit us in the face. On the busy dock, many laborers were unloading goods with their bare chests, and the shouting voice of the manager filled the area.
Jiaojiao, who was visiting a place like the dock for the first time, stuck her head out of the carriage and looked at the scene in front of her with curiosity.
The people around couldn't help but look over. Horse-drawn carriages were not uncommon in the town, especially at the dock where people often came by carriage to take the boat.
Logically speaking, people around would not be attracted by such a simple carriage, but the problem was that there was a huge white deer following the carriage.
Deer are not uncommon in Hengyang Town. After all, it is close to the Wushan Mountains and there are many hunters in the surrounding villages. People often hunt deer and bring them to the town to sell, but such a big and white deer has never been seen before.
At first sight, I thought it was a mountain god and was inexplicably shocked. It attracted a lot of attention along the way. Many people followed Jiaojiao and his carriage from the city gate all the way to the dock, just to take a look at this rare giant deer.
Jiaojiao and Yin Zheng were very slow in some respects and did not realize that the people behind them were following them. They just thought that they were also coming to the dock to take a boat.
Jiaojiao, who was watching the dock curiously, saw a familiar figure among the workers moving goods. She immediately waved her little paws and called out in her childish voice, "Uncle Huaishan!"
After the busy farming season, villagers would come to the town to find work. Most of those without connections would work as laborers at the docks. Li Huaishan was one of them.
He had just moved two sacks weighing a total of 300 pounds when he heard someone calling him. He looked back in confusion and saw Jiaojiao sticking her little head out of the carriage.
"Jiaojiao?" He strode forward and asked, "Why are you here?"
Jiaojiao, who was lying by the window, took out her handkerchief and stretched out her hand to wipe his sweat, not forgetting to answer his question: "Jiaojiao, Daddy, and Mianmian are going to take a boat ride."
Li Huaishan moved forward and let him touch him. Feeling the gentle force of his hand rubbing his face, his heart softened.
I couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Yin Zheng was the one who picked up Jiaojiao. If he had picked her up, he would definitely have pampered her.
After talking with Jiaojiao, Li Huaishan was surprised to learn that they were going to the county town by boat. Then he came to his senses and looked around. He found a vendor selling candied haws not far away. He gritted his teeth, walked over, sold three strings of candied haws, and gave one string each to Jiaojiao, Qin Mianmian, and Shi'an.
"You are leaving, and uncle doesn't have anything to give you. This candied haws is delicious. Yesterday I saw several kids clamoring for it, so I thought of buying some for you to sweeten your mouths." Li Huaishan said with a smile.
"Thank you, uncle." After Jiaojiao took it, she took out a handful of candy from her pocket and gave it to Li Huaishan: "A thank you gift."
Li Huaishan grinned and waved his hand to refuse. What a young kid, but he still knows how to exchange courtesy!
"Uncle, come on!" Jiaojiao said as she tiptoed to look out the window again. Afraid that he would fall out, Yin Zheng, who was holding him, stretched out his arms and lightly hugged him.
Li Huaishan, who was also afraid that he would climb out of the window, quickly reached out and took the candy from him.
Jiaojiao's hands were small, and although she could only hold three, Li Huaishan took them without any burden, thinking of giving them to his own child to sweeten his mouth.
After talking to Yin Zheng for a few more words, Li Huaishan hurried back to move the goods.
The carriage moved forward for a while and then stopped at the passenger ship.
Shian and Qin Mianmian wrapped the uneaten candied haws in oil paper and got off the carriage to help Yin Zheng with his luggage. Jiaojiao also got off the carriage with his big milk bottle on his back and reached out to help Qin Mianmian hold the bottom of the luggage.
In fact, the bag Qin Mianmian was carrying was not heavy. It mostly contained his own clothes, shoes and socks, which were all light summer clothes. After all, winter clothes were thicker, and any three or four pieces added together would be quite heavy.
Yin Zheng took over all the heavy bags. He was fully capable of carrying the bag on Qin Mianmian's shoulders, but when he noticed that Jiaojiao was anxious to help, he pretended that he couldn't carry it and lowered the bag a little. Sure enough, when Jiaojiao saw that he couldn't carry it, she ran over and held the bottom of the bag for him.
After loading the luggage onto the boat, Qin Mianmian said as if she had been very helpful: "Thank you, Jiaojiao, you've been very helpful."
Jiaojiao waved her hands happily: "You're welcome."
After saying that, he was about to continue helping, but found that the luggage had already been moved onto the boat.
Jiaojiao sighed with a bit of regret.
Qin Mianmian, who was standing by, was very satisfied. He knew that Uncle Yin and Shi'an would take this opportunity to move all the luggage.
Yoyo also got on the boat. The boat they were on was very big, two stories high. Many passengers' horses also got on the boat. Although Yoyo was a deer, he could get on the boat as long as he paid enough money.
The wealthy people lived on the second floor, while Jiaojiao and the others lived on the first floor. One third of the floor was used as a stable, where Youyou stayed.
Because they were worried about Youyou, Jiaojiao, Qin Mianmian and others would come to see Youyou from time to time, and Yin Zheng would usually follow them at this time.
Yin Zheng couldn't swim, and was afraid that Jiaojiao would fall into the water accidentally, so he always kept Jiaojiao within his sight.
On the third day of sailing on the river, it began to drizzle, which prevented Jiaojiao, Qin Mianmian and others from playing on the deck. They could only stay in the house and play chess. Seeing this, Yin Zheng, who had been unconsciously tense, breathed a sigh of relief.
People who don't know how to swim will always be more nervous on the river than on land.
At night, the wind was howling fiercely. Apart from the candlelight emitted by the boats sailing on the river, the entire river was pitch black, with only the surging waves.
The river wind was howling outside the cabin, and Jiaojiao's little hand, who was sleeping soundly in her father's arms, suddenly clenched twice.
Jiaojiao's vision rose infinitely in her dream, and she saw some pictures. It was the river surface two days away from them.
There were men in the water holding scimitars who were silently approaching the bottom of the boat, and boats gradually gathered on the river. Then there were flames rising into the sky, heart-wrenching shouts, and blood that dyed the river red.
Jiaojiao kicked her legs in her sleep. Yin Zheng, who was woken up by the kick, looked down at Jiaojiao who was sleeping a little restlessly in his arms. He reached out and patted his back gently. Seeing that he gradually calmed down, he closed his eyes and soon fell asleep again.
The next day, Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian stood on the deck of the ship, pointing at the mountains and water in the distance, and described in detail to Shi'an, who couldn't see clearly. Although Shi'an couldn't see with his gray eyes, he listened carefully when Jiaojiao and the others described it to him, and his eyes would look in the direction Jiaojiao and the others pointed.
It was as if I really saw the mountains in the distance, the mountain walls as straight as swords, the monkeys running through the trees, and the birds making strange calls.
The boat cut through the emerald water and sailed forward. Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
That day, Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian finished their meal early and took Shi'an to see Yoyo, and Yin Zheng followed them as usual.
Yoyo, who had been cooped up in the stable for several days, cried out twice in grievance when he saw them, and nudged Jiaojiao's hand with his nose.
Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian took turns touching its lowered head to comfort it, and even Shi'an tried to touch its head.
After comforting Yoyo, Jiaojiao and the others went to the deck again to take a look. There were two sailors on the bow deck looking at the sky with sad faces.
Jiaojiao then looked up and saw thick dark clouds pressing down on the sky, giving people a stuffy and uneasy feeling.
Seeing Yin Zheng and the others also looking at the sky, one of the boatmen stepped forward and said, "Don't worry, we've been through thunderstorms many times before, so it's unlikely anything serious will happen."
"But you looked very worried just now?" Qin Mianmian asked doubtfully.
The boatman smiled bitterly, "When this thunderstorm arrives, the wind and waves on the river will be strong and rough. It will be very uncomfortable for the guests on the boat, and some of them may get angry. That's what we're worried about."
"Don't worry, uncle. Jiaojiao is not angry." Jiaojiao comforted.
When the boatman saw such a fair-skinned little kid calling him uncle and comforting himself that he was not angry, he immediately responded with a smile on his face.
After returning from the deck, Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian lay on the bed and played chess. Suddenly, Jiaojiao looked at her father and said, "Dad, let me teach you how to play chess."
Yin Zheng, who was watching the situation on the river outside through the window, came over when he heard the sound.
Jiaojiao placed a chess piece in her father's hand, then pointed at the chessboard and said, "Play it here."
Yin Zheng put the chess piece there as instructed, and Jiaojiao looked up and asked him, "Dad, do you know why it's placed here?"
Yin Zheng, who had never touched chess before, slowly lowered his head to look at him: "...?"
Shi'an, who was listening to their conversation, couldn't help but curl his lips. The way Qin Mianmian taught Jiaojiao to play chess was really peculiar. It was not easy for Jiaojiao to learn it. Now he used the method Qin Mianmian taught him to teach Uncle Yin, which made Uncle Yin confused.
Time passed as Shi'an sat quietly by and watched with a smile as Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian worked together to teach Yin Zheng how to play chess.
The wind was howling at night, the lights were out, and on the dark river surface, no one noticed that there were seven or eight small boats in the distance heading towards this direction.
A closer look revealed that there were five or six burly men on each boat, with a fierce aura about them, like sharks smelling blood and swooping down on their prey.
Jiaojiao saw this scene while she was sleeping. Knowing that these people were not good people, she subconsciously reached out to grab the tails of these boats.
Seven or eight small boats on the river that were about to approach the passenger ship suddenly stopped and could not move.
"What happened? Why did the boat stop?"
"Third brother, I don't know why the boat suddenly stopped moving. It seems like something is pulling it."
Suddenly, a trembling voice sounded: "Third brother, do you think it could be those people who died two days ago..."
"Die!" The man called Third Brother turned around and slapped the man. "Where do ghosts come from in this world? If ghosts really existed, those corrupt officials would have died countless times. I told you not to go to the teahouse to listen to those ghost stories, but you insisted on going. Besides, ghosts are afraid of bad people. If there really is a ghost, I can chop it up. Have someone go into the water to see if it's caught in the weeds."
After a while, several figures jumped into the river and swam into the water as smoothly as fish.
It didn't take long for someone to float up. Zhao Sanjin wiped the water off his face and said, "Third brother, it wasn't the water plants that got you stuck."
The man called Third Brother frowned fiercely and said decisively: "Abandon boat and swim across."
As soon as these words fell, several figures jumped into the water. For these pirates who made a living on the water, they felt more comfortable in the water than on land.
In the cabin, Jiaojiao, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly sat up from her father's arms in a daze, looking around subconsciously.
He was like a little animal that smelled danger, alert yet confused.
My fault. I was in a bad mood and wanted to delete it after writing it. But I was still not satisfied with the result and it was delayed until so late...
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