Chapter 333 The offspring of the boat master
The two ships found a sheltered place to berth.
At this time, it was already dark, and the lights on the bow, stern and deck were on.
Ten bodyguards had slept during the day, and when they docked at this time, they all held their waists and knives and were ready for battle. The tricks are very bright and piercing. Those who can be bodyguards are not night-blind, and they often fight at night. If a pair of tricks are blind at night, you can't be a bodyguard.
The bodyguards stood still on the deck, their tricks were set brightly, and they dared not relax at all.
Shen Qianzhong chatted with Cao Jin and his son on the deck. In the night breeze, they were making tea and eating snacks. They dared not drink wine for fear of causing trouble.
The sailors were still awake at this time, or they were doing boxing and guessing in the cabin, betting some small money to pass the time, or fishing on the deck with two bosses.
In addition to the monthly salary of the boatmen and sailors, the ship owner will usually allocate a sum of money to the boss of the ship when they leave the ship, as expenses along the way.
The boss of the ship arranges the purchase, food and other expenses for the sailors. If there is any left over, the ship owner will generally not take it back, and the ship owner will distribute the money to the sailors.
So if they have free time, all the sailors will catch some river fish, and the money saved is also a subsidy.
Huo Xi nestled in the cabin and did not go out. This time her parents and uncles didn't come along, which made her feel a lot lonely on the journey. As soon as it got dark, I would nestle in the cabin and read a book, in a daze.
When he was drowsy, he heard the bodyguards yelling: "Who is it!" and woke up suddenly.
Put the waist fan sent by Mu Yan on his waist, and then fire the earth-finding guns around, and move it to the door of the cabin, so that it can be used later. A water thief, getting more and more arrogant, it's already night, and he's coming to rob!
He hated it so much that he cursed secretly a few times. Knowing that his hands and feet were not good enough, he closed the cabin door and lay down on it to listen to the movement outside.
Waited for a long time, but did not hear the sound of fighting.
Feeling puzzled, he carefully opened the hatch, trying to find out. As soon as it was opened, Shen Qianzhong came over: "Is the boss surprised?"
Huo Xi hurriedly asked, "A water thief?"
"No. Do you want to go and see the boss?"
Not a water thief? Looking at Shen Qianzhong's expression, she seemed to be fine, so she followed him to the deck.
I saw several bodyguards surrounding a ten-year-old girl holding a package.
Seeing Huo Xi approaching, everyone stepped aside. Huo Xi looked at the little girl, and saw that she was holding the package in her arms tightly, scanning everyone one by one with a vigilant expression, with a nervous expression.
"Who are you?" Why did you come to the place where your boat was moored in the middle of the night.
Seeing Huo Xi, the little girl relaxed. Seeing Huo Xi's harmless face, she suddenly plopped on the ground and said, "Young master, please, let me avoid it."
"Let you avoid it? Did you escape from someone's house? Are you a runaway slave?"
"Running slave? Then let her go down quickly. We hope that the journey will be smooth, and we don't want to cause some trouble." All the sailors spoke out.
"No, I'm not a fugitive slave! I'm not a bad person. I escaped from my own home, so I want to borrow your boat and hide for a while. I'll leave when you get to the next stop. Or you can sail at dawn I'll leave."
Huo Xi looked at her: "You came here in such a panic, the family must come to look for you, we dare not touch these things."
"That is, in case your family members come after you and want to search on the boat, we don't want to be in such bad luck."
The little girl waved her hands in panic: "They dare not. If they can't find anyone, they will naturally leave, and they dare not come up to search. Please let me avoid it."
"If I don't escape, my stepmother will sell me. Young master, please be merciful, save me, just let me avoid it for a while, and I will leave when I get to the next place. I won't cause trouble for you of."
Seeing her kowtowing on the deck, Huo Xi couldn't bear it: "Why did your stepmother sell you?"
The girl burst into tears, talking about her inhuman life these years.
"My mother died a long time ago, and my father married a stepmother very soon. My grandfather took me by his side to live a life, but I didn't expect my grandfather to leave the year before last, so my father took me back. The stepmother is a bad Yes, ordered me to do this and that, and didn’t give me enough to eat. A few days ago, I took ten taels of silver from a widower in a neighboring village, and wanted to sell me to him. The widower was older than my father, and he was beaten to death. I had three wives. I was afraid, and told my father that I didn’t want to, but my father said that girls will marry when they grow up..."
Weeping while talking.
Those who had children present could not help feeling sympathetic.
"Is what you said true?"
The girl knelt and raised her head: "I swear to the sky, I swear on the reputation of my mother and grandfather, everything I said is true! If a word is false, the sky will be struck by lightning! You can also go to our village Inquire, if you walk here for less than half an hour, you will arrive at our village."
Huo Xi sighed: "Where can you go if you run like this? Anyone who has no household registration and no way to guide is a homeless person."
"It's better to be a refugee than to stay at home. I sell myself to others, wash clothes for the oars, even if I am a beggar, it is better than staying at home and being beaten by the stepmother! Look, young master..." Roll up your sleeves.
Huo Xi saw that her arms were covered with welts, all of which were new wounds.
"The stepmother told my father that you will be obedient if you fight. Please let me avoid it, please..." Weeping uncontrollably.
Seeing her bowing her head and tilting to the side, the boss of the boat hurried forward to check.
"what happened?"
"It should be fainted from hunger." The boss of the boat said something to Huo Xi. After pinching her, she quickly woke up and turned around.
Sailors will treat some minor illnesses. It takes a long time to get out of the ship, and there is no doctor on board. The sailors take care of some daily minor illnesses by themselves.
"My stepmother was afraid that I would run away, so she didn't even give me food, for fear that I would have the strength to run away when I was full." A look of grief was greater than heartbreak.
Huo Xi sighed: "Is your father just watching?"
"If there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. In my father's eyes, there are only those born by the stepmother. How can I be born before me?"
Kowtowed to Huo Xi with tears streaming down his face, "Young master, why don't you buy me. I can cook, take care of children, and I can do everything."
Boss of the ship and others all laughed: "You have to wait a few more years if you want to bring up a child for our ship owner."
Huo Xi was a little embarrassed, seeing a girl who was not a threat, turned around and told the boss to feed her some food, and let her stay on the boat for a while, and let her leave after dawn.
Just as he was about to move away, the girl crawled over and grabbed Huo Xi's clothes: "Young master, buy me, I can also watch the weather. Do you need someone who can watch the weather when you are out on a boat? I can watch the weather! Just let me eat It’s enough to have a place to live.”
Boss of the boat looked at her: "You are a girl in her teens, you come from a farming family, and you still know the weather?"
The girl saw what was going on, and nodded fiercely: "My grandfather is a boat master. He used to help people watch the weather on the boat. My grandfather taught me, and I can do it too."
As he spoke, he was afraid that Huo Xi and others would not believe him, so he hurriedly recited a few sentences.
"It's dark in the southeast in the morning, it's rainy before noon, it's dark in the northwest in the evening, and it's wind and rain in the middle of the night. It's red in the morning and evening, and the sand and rocks are flying, and the sun is dark red, and there will be wind without rain. mad…"
Huo Xi and the boss of the boat exchanged glances.
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(end of this chapter)