On the water surface of Poyang Lake, a small fishing boat slowly rowed by, and the wrinkled Wu Boss sat on the bow of the boat, holding a small medicine bag in his hand, which was a few medicines he had only obtained after a day of fishing, no way, the mother-in-law in the house was sick again, and in the small bucket at his feet, there were some small trash fish that had not been sold, and it was also their family's dinner today.

"Dad, the salt in the house is gone, and the sisters have grown up, but they don't even have a set of their own clothes, so they can only wear a set of clothes with their mother, and it's not a way to go on like this!" At this moment, a black boy standing at the stern of the boat suddenly spoke.

This black boy is the son of Wu Boss, originally he had four sons, but unfortunately the first three either died young, or died in an accident, and now there is only one son and one daughter left, the son is called Heitou, and the black head is also a very fierce fish in Poyang Lake, this kid has excellent water nature, a fierce man can swim out of the water for hundreds of steps, which is also very rare in the fisherman's house.

"What do you want to say?" Boss Wu, who was full of worries, suddenly heard what his son had said, and immediately turned his head and asked.

I saw the black head grinning, revealing two rows of yellow plate teeth and said: "Dad, the eldest brother of the He family has found me, I think what he said makes sense, we can't survive just by fishing, the government gang of peeling skin and from time to time want us to serve in the conscription, every time we have to die a few people, my mother is not in good health, often have to take medicine, our family is almost unable to open the pot now, rather than waiting to starve to death, it is better to fight ......"

"Shut up! You forgot how your second brother and third brother died! Before his son finished speaking, Boss Wu interrupted with an angry roar.

Among the first three sons of Boss Wu, except for the eldest who died young, the second and third were all killed by the government, to be precise, because they disobeyed the ban of the imperial court, secretly went ashore to trade with others, and even bought and sold illegal salt, because these fishermen were too poor to afford to eat official salt, but unfortunately they were later caught by the government, resulting in his two sons were all sentenced to death.

As soon as he heard his father mention his two elder brothers, the black head didn't dare to say anything, but his swarthy face was still a little unconvinced, after all, people can't live anymore, of course these young people have to find a way out.

Seeing his son's unconvinced appearance, Boss Wu couldn't help but sigh, of course he knew that the fishermen's life was too hard, and he was even about to be unable to live, but the black head was already the last bit of incense in their Wu family, and he also wanted to marry him a daughter-in-law as soon as possible and have a few more fat grandchildren, so that he could have the face to meet his ancestors and ancestors.

Thinking of his ancestors, Boss Wu thought of his father who had been dead for a few years, although he looked old, he was actually less than forty years old, and his family was not always so poor, his father used to be a general under Chen Youliang, so Boss Wu also went through a rich life.

It's a pity that for the current Wu boss, the wealth when he was young was like a big dream, and now it is still so unreal in retrospect, since he was exiled to Poyang Lake with his father, the life of the family has become more and more miserable, his father and mother died of illness before the age of fifty, and most of his own children have died, and now the mother-in-law is also sick, if you can't survive, I'm afraid ......

Thinking of the hardships of the family, Boss Wu also felt like a knife, since they were demoted to fishermen, and exiled to live in the lake, the government has suppressed them everywhere, not only often conscripted them to do labor, even the fish they catch, they have to pay heavy taxes, fishermen say, even if they only catch a fish, the government will cut off the fat fish, leaving only the head and tail of the fish for them.

In addition, the government also stipulates that it is forbidden for them to trade privately with people on the shore, and all the daily necessities they need can only be purchased from a few merchants designated by the government, and these merchants collude with the government to increase the price of goods several times, such as salt, which is a necessity, and official salt is already expensive enough, but they fishermen want to buy it, but it is several times more expensive than the price of official salt, and selling illegal salt is a capital crime, and his two sons died because of this.

It is also the exploitation of the government, so no matter how hard Boss Wu and his wife fish, they can't solve the problem of food and clothing, most of them lack food and clothing, and even the young people are half a head shorter than the elderly.

Just when Boss Wu was pondering, a chaotic water village suddenly appeared on the water in front of him, which made him finally stop thinking, stood up and helped his son rock the boat, and entered the village along the entrance of the water village.

Wu Laoda, these fishermen are not allowed to live ashore, but they can't live in the boat all the time, so they found some shallow places in the lake, and fixed some broken boats, wooden planks and the like, so as to form a water village, each water village is different in size, some large ones can live thousands of people, and some may only live a few dozen people.

Boss Wu walked along the waterway in the village, and when he met acquaintances on both sides, he would say hello, and soon came to his home, to be exact, it should be half a broken boat, and the remaining half sank in the water, although only half was left, but the cabin exposed to the water can still live in people, it is said that this boat was once a warship under Chen Youliang, but now it is completely impossible to see its original appearance.

"Cough cough cough~" As soon as Boss Wu parked the boat, he heard the heart-rending cough of his mother-in-law at home, although he was used to it, but today he didn't know why, he always felt uncomfortable in his heart.

Boss Wu pushed the door into the house, the so-called home is actually a messy cabin, the door is made of mud a fire pit, and the back is divided into three small rooms, barely enough for the family to live.

"Dad, you're back!" A dark-skinned girl immediately stepped forward happily when she saw Boss Wu, and took the medicine bag and keg in his hand, this girl is the daughter of Boss Wu, and she doesn't have an official name, she is usually called a girl.

"Girl, boil this medicine for your mother, and cook the fish too!" Boss Wu looked at his daughter wearing a dress full of patches, but it was still very ill-fitting, and he felt very guilty.

The girl agreed, poured the medicine into the medicine jar neatly, and lit the fire to boil the medicine, and the black head also walked in at this time, helping the girl cook together, in fact, it is to cook the trash fish into fish soup, which is also the most common thing in their family.

After a while, the medicine was boiled, the girl took it inside, and fed a gray-haired woman the medicine, she was the mother-in-law of the girl's mother, surnamed Ye, like Boss Wu, her mother's family used to be a general under Chen Youliang, but unfortunately it has also fallen to the current situation.

After feeding her mother medicine, the girl gave her a bowl of fish soup and served it to her mother, because the mother and daughter only had one set of clothes, so her mother could only sit on the bed to eat.

There are no seasonings added to the fish soup, not even salt, so the fish soup is also fishy, not to mention the taste.

However, Boss Wu's family has long been used to it, and everyone picked up their own fish soup and drank it silently, but at this moment, suddenly saw the girl hesitate for a while, as if she had something on her mind, and finally raised her head and said, "Dad, I'm ...... I want to go to the boat ...... Aunt Xu."

"Shut up! If you dare to go, I'll break your legs! As soon as Boss Wu heard the words "Aunt Xu", he immediately roared like thunder, the so-called Aunt Xu is doing a boat business, and the women in the village can't survive, so they follow her to sell their flesh and skin, Boss Wu will not let his daughter do this kind of thing anyway.

"Daddy! My mother is so sick, I haven't gotten better after taking a few pills, and my family has no money, if I follow Aunt Xu, I can earn some money for my mother to change doctors......"

"Smack~" Before the girl finished speaking, she was slapped in the face by Boss Wu, and then she saw Boss Wu with red eyes and said sharply, "You remember for me, even if our Wu family starves to death, we will not do that kind of shitty thing!" ”

The girl covered her face full of grievances, and tears kept pouring out, how could she sell her dignity, but her father and brother couldn't support the family at all by fishing, and the only one who could exchange some money was only her in the whole family.

"Sister, don't say this kind of thing, even if my brother is tired to death, he won't let you go!" At this time, the black head also said in a muffled voice, when he said this, some words of the eldest brother of the He family flashed in his heart again, as the so-called wealth and wealth are in danger, and if he wants his family to live, he can only take a risk.

"Okay, eat, I'll go out early tomorrow with the black head, maybe I can catch some good fish, and sell more money to treat your mother!" Boss Wu also knew that his daughter was thinking about the family, and he was also regretting the impulse just now, but he was embarrassed to apologize to his daughter, so he could only drink the fish soup silently again.

In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, Wu Boss took his son to shake the boat out of the water village, found a suitable water area, and began to cast nets to fish, originally there were still a lot of fish in Poyang Lake, but after these years of fishing, the fish in the water are becoming more and more cunning, and sometimes a few nets can not catch a fish.

Today, the luck of Boss Wu's father and son is also very bad, they were busy all morning, and they didn't catch a few fish, and at noon the father and son took a break, and ate a few dried fish smoked by a few girls, and then decided to try their luck in another place.

However, when the father and son rowed forward, they suddenly heard someone shouting on the shore in the distance, and the two turned their heads to look, but found that someone on the shore waved to them, as if they wanted to take a boat, which made the father and son both eyes brighten, in addition to fishing, they occasionally carry guests, of course, they have to charge some fares, compared to their fishing, the income of carrying passengers is much better, but such guests are not common.

Immediately, the father and son rowed the boat to the shore, only to find that the people who were waving to them were a few monks, but no matter who they were, as long as they gave money, so Boss Wu immediately shouted at the monks on the shore: "Do you want to take a boat?" ”

"Yes, please give us a ride, we are willing to pay the fare!" I saw a kind-eyed old monk at the head reply.

This made Boss Wu also happy, and he was about to row the boat over, but at this moment, Boss Wu looked at the appearance of the old monk but was stunned, and after a while, he suddenly pointed at the old monk excitedly and said, "You...... You are Captain Zhang! ”