Catkins flying, people on the water surface. Flying in the sky, fishing for fish and prawns. Branches swaying in the wind, geese and ducks are free.
"Dad, dad, come and see, a basket of prawns. Last night, brother fished all night and we got a basket of prawns. Dad, look."
Not far from the pier, in a family that treated boats as their home, a five-year-old girl with two horns on her head jumped into the cabin from outside. She pulled a middle-aged man whose exact age could not be determined from his face and walked inside.
"Be careful, don't fall and climb back up wet. Go, a basket of prawns can be exchanged for two buckets of rice. It can also be used to make clothes for Weiwei."
The middle-aged man touched the little girl's head lovingly and said as he walked. He was pulled by the little girl to the deck of the boat outside. At this time, there was a fifteen-year-old boy at the bow of the boat. He had already put away the line to catch prawns and was guarding beside a basket of prawns, grinning.
"Feng 'er, did you catch a lot yesterday?" The middle-aged man looked at his son and asked.
"Dad, look, we chose a good place last night. We can catch one in a while and fill a basket." The boy called Feng 'er happily pointed at the basket of prawns.
The middle-aged man walked closer and looked at the prawns jumping in the basket. He quickly took a large wooden basin, filled it with water, and poured the prawns in it.
"Dad, I just poured the prawns from the net into the basket. Why did you pour them out again? Aren't you going to sell them at the dock? "Feng 'er was a little distressed about the fruits of his labor just now.
The middle-aged man saw that only two prawns were dead and breathed a sigh of relief. "We are selling them, but not to the dock here. If we sell them here, we can only exchange for one bucket of rice. If we sell them at Between the Clouds and the Water, we will sell them at a high price. Feng 'er, go rest first. Dad and your mom will support us. We will reach there in half a day."
"Brother, go to sleep. Dad said that he will make clothes for me. He won't buy them here." The little girl also tried to persuade her brother. She ran in front of her brother, pulled his big hand, and dragged him into the cabin with all her strength.
With the combined efforts of the parents, the boat that was their home sailed upstream. They would wait until Between the Clouds and the Water to sell it for a higher price.
The people at the docks didn't stop them. The price they charged was indeed low. The restaurant wasn't finished yet, and they only had a simple house to cook for the people passing by. The food couldn't be sold at a high price. They could only learn from Between the Clouds and the Water in the future and buy some special seasonings from the Zhang family.
The pier on this side was indeed not far from Between the Clouds and the Water. If one were to row a boat from upstream, it would take less than four hours to get there. Sailing against the current would only take a little longer.
The husband and wife had a tacit understanding of each other as they rowed the boat forward. The speed of the boat was not considered slow as it faced the water. After sailing for nearly four hours, when they were about to reach their destination, the two of them began to rest while the other rowed. They would switch later.
At this moment, twenty people suddenly appeared on both sides of the river. Just like that day, a rope was thrown to the opposite side, blocking the boat.
A person on the right bank shouted, "People on the boat, throw twenty live fish over here. If you don't have any live fish, give us money. If you want to go over, give us ten coins."
The man who rowed the boat was stunned. He didn't expect these people to be so bold. Their family didn't go down because it wasn't safe. It was only a section of the road between the pier and Between the Clouds and the Water. Today, there were people who dared to block the boat at this place?
"I asked you to take the money, why are you in a daze? If you don't take it, don't blame the stones in our hands for not having eyes. "A person on the left bank threw a stone up and down and shouted at the middle-aged man who rowed the boat.
The middle-aged man looked at the wooden basin on the boat and sighed, "Everyone, do I have spare money? There is still a basin of prawns here. Why don't we take half of it and sell it? It won't be more than ten coins. "
"Move the boat over here, let me see." The person on the right bank heard that there were prawns and waved his hand. He had already made up his mind to take all of it.
Next to him, a person holding a stone started to flatter, "Boss is really amazing. These days, you found more than two hundred people. The night before yesterday, you also intercepted more than twenty boats. The goods on those boats were worth three hundred coins. The river that the boss chose is really profitable."
Since someone said it first, others followed suit. Flattering voices rang out from the shore on the right.
The middle-aged man rowed the boat slowly to the shore. Immediately, someone jumped onto the boat and looked down at the prawns in the basin. He shouted to the people below, "Another person, the prawns are good. Later, sell them to others and take away the basin."
"This little brother, you can't do it. Just now, you said that you would take half. Leave some for my family. You can't take away the basin." The middle-aged man didn't expect that they were going to take away the prawns along with the basin. He anxiously said.
"Do you want to die or live? If you want to live, don't move. " This person didn't care at all and shouted at the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was so scared that he took two steps back. His eyes were full of helplessness and fear.
"Do you want to die or live? If you want to live, don't move." Another voice sounded, the same as the person on the boat.
The people on both banks looked in the direction of the voice and saw that there were nearly a hundred horses on both sides of the river Between the Clouds and the Water. The bailiffs of Sanshui County were sitting on the horses. In the distance, they could vaguely see a few boats sailing down the river.
The bailiffs of Sanshui County pulled their bows and pointed the cold arrows at the robbers on both sides of the river.
The robbers really didn't dare to move. Some people wanted to jump into the river to escape, but when they saw the boats getting closer and closer, they gave up the idea.
"You have guts. A few days ago, you just stopped the boats and asked for less money. I thought you couldn't find a way to live, so I didn't have time to deal with you. I didn't expect that when there are more people, you dare to rob and come here. You've grown up."
A bailiff rushed out and sneered at the people on both sides of the river.
They received the news the night before yesterday. Yesterday, they came to Between the Clouds and the Water from the Yamen. Today, they wanted to patrol here, but they met the robbers as soon as they arrived.
Being pointed at by the bows and arrows, the robbers didn't dare to move. The leader's expression changed. He was unwilling to be caught, so he said, "You are bailiffs of Sanshui County. You have guts to do things in Huayuan County. Did you forget what happened to the bailiffs of Huayuan County who went to Sanshui County?"
"Hahahaha." All the bailiffs laughed at the same time. The bailiff who shouted before said to the leader of the robbers, "You know a lot. You still remember what happened in the past. Then why don't you know who the county magistrate of Huayuan County is? Are you pretending to be confused with us? Tie them up. If anyone dares to resist, kill them! "
"Yes." All the bailiffs put down their bows and took out their knives. They rushed forward and beat those who still dared to stand on the ground with the backs of their knives.
The robbers didn't dare to resist, but it seemed that they were not too scared. They were tied together with ropes. They stood there and looked up at the bailiffs who got on their horses again.
"Tell me, who else? Where are they? We can solve them all at once. No one is allowed to make trouble on this river."
The leader of the bailiffs put his knife on the head of the robbers and asked.
"If you want to catch them, come with me. Let me tell you, it won't do you any good to catch us. It will bring you trouble." The robbers' leader said with a gloomy face. He led the way and walked downstream. For the convenience of guarding, the bailiffs' patrol boats came and sent the robbers from the left bank to the right bank. They guarded the robbers from the left bank together.
"Brother, please go ahead. We won't stay with you." The last bailiff said to the middle-aged man on the boat and rode away.
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the departing figures, he shouted to the cabin, "It's okay. The bailiffs of Sanshui County are really powerful. They look mighty. In the future, we won't go anywhere else. With their protection, we won't be afraid."
A small head with two horns on its head popped out of the cabin. It looked around and then jumped out. It patted its chest with its small hands and said to the middle-aged man, "Dad, it was so scary just now. I thought my prawns would be snatched away."
"Don't be afraid. The bailiffs are coming. When we get to Between the Clouds and the Water, it will be safer. I want to send you to the school in Zhangjia Zhuangzi. You can learn something in the future. You can be better than others. I will go there every day when I sell things and give them some money. You can eat and live there."
The middle-aged man thought of the bailiffs of Sanshui County and thought of Zhangjia Zhuangzi. He felt that his daughter should also go there to learn so that she could marry into a good family in the future.
The little girl blinked her big eyes and nodded. She didn't know about the future. She only thought that there would be many children playing together. When she learned something, she would teach it to her brother. It was said that if she learned well there, she would be given some things that could be used in daily life.
When the bailiffs escorted the gang of bandits to the dock, Zhang Zhong also came here. When he heard that a merchant ship was robbed the night before, he wanted to send people from the county to take a look. However, he was afraid that the bailiffs in the county were not well trained, so he had to send people to Sanshui County. The bailiffs there were much better than those in Huayuan County.
Today, before dawn, he set off from the foot of the mountain to see for himself. Unexpectedly, when he just arrived at the dock, he saw the bailiffs of Sanshui County catch some people first.
Under the protection of the guards, he walked forward and looked at them one by one.
"Sir, this is their leader. It seems that he was ordered to come here by someone. When I asked him, he didn't say anything." The leader of the bailiffs was Chen Dong. When he saw Zhang Zhong coming, he respectfully went forward and pointed at the bandit leader and said.
Zhang Zhong was now somewhat accustomed to his official position. Since he dealt with Xiao Chi the day before yesterday, he also became ruthless. He looked at the bandit leader and said to the guards, "You guys ask him. If he really doesn't say that he was killed, just say that he tried to assassinate an imperial court official and was killed on the spot."
"Yes." The two guards untied the bandit leader's head. At the same time, they pulled the bandit leader's shoulder and twisted it hard. When the bandit leader screamed and the clear sound of molars breaking sounded at the same time, his arm was already broken and he was dragged to the side by the two guards.
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