Qu Bao sighed, and said with a little sympathy on his face:

"You shouldn't lie to me, when I was recruiting in Nanjing, if you could have told me about these experiences earlier, I wouldn't have let you do a hard job.

In fact, when I recruited workers that day, I had already seen that there was a trace of coolie like the son of a rich family like you, but these days I have been a little wronged by you. ”

He looked at Xiao Jinxing's chapped white skin from head to toe, and he understood in his heart what Xiao Jinxing had suffered these days.

That's not something that ordinary people can bear.

Although it has now passed the beginning of spring, the north wind on the surface of the Xiashui River is still cold to the bone.

And this young man named Xiao Jinxing insisted on working as a coolie on the river boat in the cold wind for more than half a month, which also made Qu Bao a little admired, and at the same time he had a lot more good impression of Xiao Jinxing.

"I don't know a single word on the proclamation that those sailors took just now, and if it weren't for you, we would be in trouble today.

Brother Xiao, how many things are in your head, you can even understand such complex words, I really admire my brother. ”

Xiao Jinxing could see that this Qu Bao was speaking truthfully, so he gave birth to a smile and said:

"Brother Qu praised it falsely, and in the future, the eldest brother will naturally understand after walking on this route for a long time.

I've been learning the Chinese characters since I was a child, and I do know Shikoku and Wanggi characters, but today is the first time I've used them, so I'm actually quite nervous. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Jinxing looked at Qu Bao who opened his mouth wide and smiled, then Qu Bao patted his thigh, made a panicked look and said:

"Brother Xiao, you are really bold, you dare to try this kind of thing?

If this cargo is seized by those soldiers, how will you deal with me? ”

Xiao Jinxing smiled and replied: "If you want to avoid this kind of dangerous thing from happening again, the eldest brother must bring an official guide before going out of business next time." ”

Qu Bao glanced at Xiao Jinxing strangely when he heard this, and laughed.

It turned out that before these Chu merchants could do business, they had to obtain official citations from the county government as a guarantee of their identity before they could pass between the nations.

But at the same time, they also have to pay a certain commercial tax as a price for state guarantees.

Therefore, in order to avoid paying a lot of commercial taxes every time, most Chu merchants will not go to the county government for the record, because the transit of merchants is also conducive to the prosperity of local commerce, and the county governments and county offices on the road they originally took will not hinder their transit business, let alone check their road guides.

But this time he took a new road and passed through Wangji, so when those soldiers came to check in the morning, they immediately offered to let the caravan of Chu provide guidance.

Xiao Jinxing was afraid that the caravan would be caught and his whereabouts would be revealed, so he took the initiative to talk to those soldiers, saying that the road was accidentally lost, and then he was able to accurately provide the quantity and type of goods, which persuaded Zhou Bing to leave, and was also regarded as a savior by the helpless Qu Bao.

In the next few days, Qu Bao really let Xiao Jinxing be the bookkeeper of his merchant ship and lived in the cabin next door to him.

In addition to ordering the goods on the school ship every day, when passing through various prosperous places, Qu Bao will also lead Siu Kam Hong to the shore to appreciate the scenery of various places.

Siu Kam Hang understood that Qu Bao was going to observe the needs of various places along the road, so that he could do some business and make some money when he walked this road again in the future, so he also tried his best to help Qu Bao continue to record the local climate, abundant and missing things in detail.

Half a month down, two

The relationship gradually changed from master and slave to friend.

In Qu Bao's view, although Xiao Jinxing is not very old, he is extremely intelligent and can often observe businesses that he cannot observe.

But he is always silent on weekdays, and when he has the heart to put his heart into him, Xiao Jinxing is like an invisible wall in his heart, isolating the relationship between each other and unable to go further.

In his spare time every day, Qu Bao could always see Xiao Jinxing standing on the deck, in a daze at the mountains on both sides of the river, and secretly sad at the misty river.

Even so, in half a month, it made Qu Bao have some unexpected gains.

When Xiao Jinxing gave him a single book of the customs and customs along the way, the records of supply and demand for goods, his first feeling was to see the rolling silver money rushing in.

Qu Bao hugged Xiao Jinxing tightly to express his gratitude in his heart.

With this list, Qu Bao's business no longer needs to go to the front line of Qi to fight with others.

And in this summer water trade route, he will follow the advice given to him by Xiao Jinxing.

Maybe if it is done well, it can dominate the first-line trade.

Qu Bao, who has been traveling in business for a long time, naturally understands what this means.

When Qu Bao's caravan arrived in Xiazhong County, the people began to abandon ships and go ashore, and they rented dozens of carriages and embarked on the road to Xijing.

However, on the day he just landed on the shore, Xiao Jinxing disappeared overnight as if he had never appeared.

Qu Bao regretted that he suddenly remembered that he still owed Xiao Jinxing's wages.

……

After more than half a year, he returned to his home country, but Xiao Jin's heart ached like a knife, and he silently walked alone on the road from Xiazhong County to Xijing, recalling his ambitions when he left Qin.

At that time, he eloped with Zhao Qinger with joy, although he was nervous, he was sweet and happy.

He was full of confidence that he could get ahead in the Qi Kingdom, and he also wanted to make a career for Zhao Zhihai to see.

He never thought that he would fail, because at that time he believed in Xiao Zishuo so much, and believed that through his own efforts, he helped Xiao Zishuo become the monarch and then receive a knighthood.

That title is a letter of appointment for him to marry Zhao Qing'er, which represents the end of his status as a commoner, even if it is just a small doctor.

It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven in the end, Xiao Jin thought of everything at that time, and planned everything, but he never thought that when he was involved in the whirlpool of power, he could no longer control the arrangement of fate.

When he understood this, everything dissipated like a cloud of smoke.

In the past six months or so in the Chu State, Xiao Jin has thought about how to die, how to live, and even more about revenge, but he also feels depressedly that Qing'er is gone, what is the point of his revenge.

But in the end, he didn't make any decisions, and the only thing he wanted to do was to leave Chu and return to Qin.

He didn't want to get involved in the power struggle anymore, even though he once thought about leading the soldiers and horses of Chu to kill Xiao Zishuo to avenge after making a career in Chu.

He also thought about using the power of Mi Xiao to cultivate the next Mi Zhu, to cause trouble to the Qi Dynasty, and let Xiao Zishuo taste the bitter fruits of the country's ruin.

But after all, he did nothing, just silently left the foreign land and returned to his hometown.

He wanted to go to Suibei City to have a look, because he had heard from Mi Xiao that Qing'er was buried by his father

At the foot of Nanhua Mountain on the bank of Lushui.

I remember that there used to be beautiful mountains and rivers, and the mountains were full of ancient willow trees and towering aspen trees that several people could not hold.

In the place where the willows are still there, as soon as spring comes, there are willow catkins flying in the sky like the heavy snow of the wax moon to dress up the mountains and rivers, wrapped in silver, like a fairyland on earth.

On the banks of the Lushui River, he and Qing'er used to sing the piano every day under the thickest weeping willows, from winter to spring, from spring to summer, and finally eloped away from there together when the summer came.

Qing'er once said that the most beautiful season in Lushui is the day when the lotus flowers are in full bloom in summer.

The lotus flowers of that night seemed to have been discussed, and they would bloom at the same time, and the lotus flowers would huddle each other on the surface of the river.

That night, Suibei City will be covered by an indescribable fragrance of fragrance, only until the sunrise in the morning, will gradually dissipate with the exposure of the morning sun.

That day, when Xiao Jin left Suibei City with Zhao Qing'er, Zhao Qing'er once said to Xiao Jin with a look of regret:

"It's a pity that we missed the most beautiful day in Suibei City, Qing'er really wants you to see the magnificence of Wanhe in full bloom with your own eyes, that is the gift Qing'er wants to give you the most."

Xiao Jin, who couldn't help but think about the past, lowered his head and walked on the official road, and the thick pond soil on the road in early spring was dusty with the speeding of vehicles and the cold wind.

In the pale yellow, turbid air, Xiao Jin walked silently without being affected at all, but the two lines of tears on his dusty face left a deep imprint as if a mountain stream was flowing through the streambed.

Another gust of north wind suddenly rose, and the dust swept from the sky rose in all directions again, and the tears left on Xiao Jin's face were instantly covered by the dust that came to his face.

Xiao Jin raised his head, looked at the magnificent city that greeted him in the distance with his red eyes, and walked straight over.

The grandeur of Xijing City is different from the vastness of Tokyo City, and it is even more different from the magnificence of Nanjing City surrounded by mountains and rivers.

He is more like an indomitable warrior, holding a long ge, looking at the sky sinking and floating.

According to legend, Yao Jun's Yongshang was defended in this city with 8,000 men and horses, resisting the siege of 80,000 barbarians for two years, and when Yao Jun exterminated all the barbarians in Qi to rescue the city, only 800 warriors remained in the 8,000 lone army.

At that time, Xijing, which was still called the Sheep City, had also been broken by the barbarian army and was eight out of tenth.

It was such a lonely city, but it resisted barbarian reinforcements from the west for Yao Jun.

Back then, he was the hope of all the people of the Xia people, and that defense battle was also a turning point for the Xia people to regain Shenzhou.

More than 500 years have passed, and with the increase in population in Xijing, the area is no longer comparable to that of Yanggu City. Although it is far less than the size of Tokyo, it is also the largest land of Qin.

It's a pity that Xiao Jin didn't have the heart to comprehend this magnificent capital, this was just a place for him to settle in Suibei City in the north.

"What's your name? What for? Where did you come from? ”

On the official road, a group of officers and soldiers stared at Xiao Jin, who was alone, and saw that he was wearing Chu people's clothes but he didn't look like a businessman, so these officers and soldiers ran to Xiao Jin's approach and asked him about him.

Seeing the official army walking towards him, Xiao Jin secretly screamed badly, and felt a little remorse in his heart, he could have bypassed it, but he lost his mind and walked to Anjung's door.

How could he not attract the attention of the officers and soldiers in this way?