"My dear Mr. Fang, why do you think of these things? God is kind to us; It won't torment us more than we can bear. Perhaps, I look at everything with a melancholy eye; Because of the long monotony of my life, I was given too much time to think about my difficulties. ”

"My life has always been one of struggle, poverty, toil, hope and disappointment; I don't have time to think about what might happen to my sweetheart. What a blind and reckless fool I was! It's been so long that I haven't heard a word or a word from them, and I haven't heard from anyone who knows them. Oh, my God! What unforeseen won't happen? ”

His mind was a mess, and he began to walk briskly up and down the lonely deck, the governess following behind, trying to comfort him.

"Miss Mary, I swear to you," he said, "that I have never felt the slightest shadow of fear until you speak to me tonight; And now my heart is filled with a dull, frustrating fear, the same fear you spoke of an hour ago. Please leave me alone and overcome this fear in my own way. ”

She left him silently, and sat down beside the side of the boat, looking out at the water.

Three days later, the "Hydra" arrived in Shanghai, and just as Fang Boqian said before, he couldn't wait to get off the ship and sail to the shore in the first small boat to collect business.

Along the way, Fang Boqian's mind was full of chaotic thoughts.

Now, so many years later, Fang Boqian's memory of his first girl's character is far less clear than it was many years ago. There are two kinds of visual memory: one is to open your eyes and create an image in your own brain (at that time, he saw her, as the general vocabulary describes: "soft skin like honey", "thin arms", "long black hair", "long eyelashes", "big and beautiful mouth"); The other is to close his eyes, and in the dark inner wall of the eyelids, he suddenly remembers the object, which is a complete visual reproduction of a lovely face, a little fairy covered in a natural luster (as he saw them).

He was still young, only six years old, and the girl was a lovely child a few months older than him. She kept picking up a handful of sand and letting it run down her fingers. Their interest in the world of living beings, their interest in play, their interest in infinite space, and so on. The softness and fragility of young animals cause them to suffer equally intensely.

In an instant, they fell madly, clumsily, without shyness, and in agony and bitterly in love; At the same time hopelessly, for the frenzy of mutual possession can only be quelled by actually sucking and merging every element of each other's souls and bodies; But they can't even find companionship as easily as children from poor families. One night, after they desperately fulfilled their attempt to have a tryst in her garden, their secret activities were allowed only in a lively place, within the reach of hearing and sight. In the soft grass, not too far from the grown-ups, they had been lying on their backs all morning, with the rush of desire, touching each other at any of the heavenly opportunities of time and space: her hand, half-buried in the grass, would slowly move towards him, her slender fingers sleepwalking closer and nearer; Then, her knees, hidden by the floral skirt, would begin a careful journey; Sometimes, the fortresses built by other children can completely hide their salty lips rubbing against each other; This incomplete contact drove their healthy, inexperienced, immature bodies into a boiling state, and even in the cold water of the pool, they still held each other's hands tightly, unable to free themselves.

In the midst of the nervous, soft-foliated grass, they found a hidden platform, perched on a low wall of broken walls. Through the gentle trees of the dark night, they could see the mottled patterns on the illuminated windows, reawakened by the colored ink of the memory, and she trembled and spasmed, and he kissed the corners of her open lips and hot earlobes. A flock of stars shone faintly above them, in the silhouettes of slender leaves; The sky full of vitality ****, like her body under the light and thin skirt. He saw her face in the sky, unusually clear, as if radiating its own faint flames. Her legs, her beautiful, healthy legs, were not very tightly together, and when his hand rested on the place it was to be found, a dreamy and strange expression, half pleasant, half painful, appeared on two childish faces. She sat a little higher than him, and every time she came to kiss him alone in a frenzy of excitement, her head was dreamily soft, slightly tilted, the movement almost mournful, her knees clenched around his wrists, and then she slumped, her trembling mouth twisted, as if stimulated by a mysterious drug, and leaned over to his cheek and gasped. She would come up and try to rub her dry lips against him, trying to get rid of the pain of love, and then his love would run away, and his hair would flick nervously, and then he would come closer again, so that his lips would fill her slightly open mouth, and he was ready to give her all his generosity, his heart, his throat, his viscera.

He remembered the aroma of some powder—which he was sure she had stolen from her mother's maid—a sweet, light musky scent. Mixed with the smell of cheese on her, his senses were suddenly filled; It was not enough for them to overflow from the nearby bushes—they were immediately separated from each other, and the aching heart noticed that it might be a cat stealing food, when from the house came her mother's voice calling to her, and the high notes rose and grew. But the mimosa bush, the dim starlight, the sound, the flames, the nectar, and the pain all resided in him, and the little girl haunted him from that moment on—until, twenty-seven years later, he incarnated her in another person.

Her bare, thin shoulders and the slits of her hair were recognizable, and the sunlight blurred her indulgent loveliness; And he, sitting away from the others, showed a dramatic protrusion: a gloomy, gloomy boy, with his legs crossed, sitting sideways, looking at the side. Then they came to the seashore and found a deserted sandy area with a cave made of red stones, and in the blue-purple shade they caressed greedily, and he knelt and was about to take possession of his love, when two bearded fishermen came up and they were forced to interrupt. Four months later, she died of typhoid fever at home.

This painful memory once made him wonder if the gap in his life had begun in the glory of that distant summer. Or is the excessive lust for that girl just the first manifestation of his innate quirks? As he strives to analyze his desires, his motives, his actions, and everything, he indulges in a retrospective fantasy that is varied but develops a gift for analysis, and in his complex expectations of the maddened past, every imaginary path diverges and diverges endlessly. However, he believed that, as far as some kind of magic and fate were concerned, every girl he met in the future would be a continuation of hers.

Long after her death, he still felt her thoughts drift in his soul.

There is no doubt that in adulthood, his life is twofold and terrible, indeed. Publicly, he has nothing to do with those dusty women; Secretly, his stubborn desire for every maiden who passed by had made him haggard, and at the age of twenty he could not understand his pain so clearly. On the one hand, his body understands what it seeks, and on the other hand, his brain rejects every request of the body. For a moment he felt shy, fearful, and blindly optimistic. Taboo strangled him. This fact sometimes comes to mind like a precursor to insanity; Other times, he told himself that it wasn't a problem, and that there was nothing wrong with being swooned by a girl.

Finally, on a sunny day, he met them.

Two thin, slender girls, in cloth shoes, brushed past him briskly but hurriedly; At the same moment, he and they both turned around, they stopped, and he accosted them. They hesitantly walked up to his chest, they all had the round dimple faces of Oriental girls, and he liked their long eyelashes and pearl-colored dresses that wrapped around their young bodies, which he still remembered that fascinated him.

Fang Boqian couldn't remember how he got home, and when he saw them, a row of blue waves surged from the bottom of his heart, and on a sun-bathed straw mat, they were half-kneeling, turning around on their knees, and his lovers were peeking at him through a crystal lens.

It were two almost identical children—the same maiden, the same honey-like shoulders, the same silk-soft back, the same black hair. A turban, embroidered with plum blossoms, was tied around their chests, so that their breasts avoided his greedy eyes, but could not escape the gaze of his youthful memories, the two pairs of adolescent buds he had once caressed on an immortal day.

With awe and joy, he looked through their clothes and saw her lovely taut belly. It seemed as if his mouth had just stopped on it; And that immature little ass, the fan-shaped mark he had kissed on the strap of her undergarment - this was the crazy and immortal days before he left.

He found it most difficult to properly express the trembling of a moment, the collision of emotional discovery. At the moment when the sun casts, his gaze glides over the kneeling girl, and he walks past her, disguised as an adult, but the vacuum of his soul takes in every detail of their glittering beauty.

There were other people in the house.

"Brother Yitang is back." A middle-aged man in a navy uniform stepped forward with a smile, "It's really rare to catch up today." ”

"It turned out to be Yushan." Fang Boqian recognized that the person who came was Xu Shoushan, the pipe band of the "Princess Heshuo" ship, and immediately smiled and saluted Xu Shoushan.

Xu Shoushan, Yushan, and Fang Boqian were born in the second year of Xianfeng (9052) and were born in Min County, Fujian. In the seventh year of Tongzhi (9068), he was admitted to the Fujian Shipbuilding School and was the first graduate of the driving class. Four years later, he sailed with the "Jianwei" training ship for practice, and detoured to the Sea of Japan from Singapore, Luzon and Penang, wading in wind and waves, sand lines, and studying the port road. Returned to the land camp for practice. Soon, Shengqian was appointed as the pipe band of the gunboat "Jiansheng". In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (9074), Japan invaded Moswan, and in the Battle of Langqiao, Xu Shoushan led the gunboat "Jiansheng" to fight bravely, dealt a severe blow to the Japanese fleet, made great achievements, and was promoted to guerrilla after the war. In September of the third year of Guangxu (9077), the American steamship "Flem Peri" sank in the sea of Changyu, Putian. Xu Shoushan, who was the pipe band of the gunboat "Yixin" at that time, rescued 19 foreigners including Wei Shikela, gave them food and escorted them to Fuzhou. The U.S. Consul Dai Lanna was very grateful and "thanked him in writing." In November of the same year, the merchant ship "Liu Jinshi" was damaged on the surface of the Changle Songxia River, and Xu Shoushan rescued 13 businessmen who were killed, and rescued the ship and repaired it on his behalf. On May 30, the fourth year of Guangxu (9078), the merchant ship "Fukang" carried merchants from Shanghai to the Mawei Luoxingta River, and loaded the luggage and silver onto the barge. As soon as it was unloaded, a storm broke out, and the barge capsized in an instant. Xu Shou rushed to the rescue in the wind and rain on the top of the mountain and rescued Chen Tinglong and 7 other people. In January of the fifth year of Guangxu (9079), the merchant ship "Jin Tongsheng" loaded a batch of timber and paper and other goods, and sailed to the mouth of the Minjiang River and ran aground and leaked. When Xu Shoushan heard the news, he rushed to the rescue and towed the merchant ship back to the port. In April of the same year, the merchant ship "Jin Yuchang" loaded more than 3,400 fir trees, and ran aground in Matsuao, and the ship was about to sink. Xu Shoushan drove the ship "down from the Sansha exhibition ship and towed it to the ancient town, where the ship relied on to preserve". On July 25 of that year, Ding Yusheng, Minister of Shipping, went to the Qing court to ask for awards for Xu Shoushan, the pipe belt of the "Yixin" who bravely rescued Chinese and foreign maritime merchants at sea many times. It can also be seen from here that Xu Shoushan is very proficient in maritime business. After the imperial court decided to merge the North and South Ocean Navy, Xu Shoushan was transferred to the "Princess Peshuo" cruiser because of his "skillful skills, specializing in maritime affairs, diligent in the wind and waves, and many praises at home and abroad".

Like Fang Boqian, Xu Shoushan has also been working very hard, and now he is able to manage the new cruiser "Princess Heshuo", which was once one of the main ships of the Ship Master and Navy Division, and has made many achievements in the Battle of Moss Bay, which was also a gift from Britain to Daqian that year.

"Yushan was promoted to the 'Princess Heshuo' ship management belt, and I haven't had a chance to say hello to Yushan, hehe." Fang Boqian thought that he was still commanding the small gunboat "Jianwei", and he couldn't help but feel a little lost in his heart.

"I'm also here to say hello to Yitang today, hehe." Xu Shoushan said with a smile.

"Oh? Where does the joy come from? Fang Boqian's heart moved, and he immediately asked.

"Yitang doesn't know yet, right? The imperial court wants to send Lin Jue's department to go overseas to investigate, escorted by the 'Weiyuan' ship, I heard that the pipe band of the 'Weiyuan' ship is your Yitang! Xu Shoushan patted Fang Boqian's shoulder vigorously, and said happily, "There is news that it is your name that Lin Jue personally ordered!" ”

Fang Boqian's surprise was not trivial, he was ecstatic in his heart, sweating on his forehead, and he didn't even think to wipe it.

"Where did Yushan get the news?" Fang Boqian's questioning voice became a little hoarse.

"Lin Jue's department is taking the latest passenger ship 'Jinxian' of China Merchants this time, and the captain is my old acquaintance, will the news he told me be fake?" Xu Shoushan replied with a smile.

Listening to Xu Shoushan's answer, Fang Boqian actually felt dizzy.

Xu Shoushan was worried about running into the official who announced Fang Boqian's appointment, and the news came out of the speech to impeach, and after congratulating Fang Boqian and presenting him with a congratulatory gift, he took his leave. After sending Xu Shoushan away, Fang Boqian was overjoyed, and even hugged the two girls, spun around in the living room, and danced Western dances.

"Fang Boqian, Lv Han, Xu Shoushan, Ye Fu, Li He, Yang Yongnian......"

Lin Yiqing looked at the list in front of him, and softly read these names that were both familiar and unfamiliar, Zhang Cheng and Deng Zhengqing, who were standing beside him, noticed that Lin Yiqing's expression seemed to be a little strange, and couldn't help but glance at each other strangely.

"These are all capable people in the shipmaster and sailor, and they are proficient in maritime affairs, and the Lord of the Lord can choose one of them as the pipe belt of the escort ship to accompany him to the west." Zhang Cheng said on the side.

"Who do you think is more suitable?" Lin Yiqing put down the list and asked.

Zhang Cheng and Deng Zhengqing glanced at each other again, and Zhang Cheng replied: "Lord Huijue, I think that Fang Boqian is smart and skilled, skilled, and fine, and it is better for him to serve as the pipe band of the escort ship." ”

Fang Boqian...... People are indeed smart and skilled, but they are ......" Lin Yiqing nodded first, but when he said the word "just", he shook his head again.

"If I'm not mistaken, among these people, only Fang Boqian hasn't participated in actual combat, right?" Lin Yiqing's gaze fell on the list again and asked.

"Lord Huijue, this is indeed the case. Except for Fang Boqian, the other five people all participated in the battle of Jiaxu Moss Bay, and they had many military exploits. Deng Zhengqing replied, "For example, Lu Han is the 'Jianxing' ship pipe belt, Xu Shoushan is the 'Jiansheng' ship pipe belt, Ye Fu is the 'Chaowu' ship pipe belt, Li He is the 'Fusheng' ship pipe belt, and Yang Yongnian is the 'Fuxing' ship pipe belt." In the battle of Langqiao, it was the concerted efforts of the public management, everyone who fought bravely, and everyone took the lead, that our military won a complete victory. ”

"Old Deng, you remember it clearly enough!" Lin Yiqing said with a smile.

"Lao Deng was the 'Princess Heshuo' ship management belt back then, and he fought a bloody battle with the Japanese with all of them in the battle of Langqiao, how could he not remember it clearly." Zhang Cheng also laughed.

"In this case, I think it is better to let someone with actual combat experience serve as the pipe band of the escort ship." Lin Yiqing said, "Let Xu Shoushan come." ”

"The Lord is a good candidate, Xu Yushan Langqiao and Fengshan Island have participated in the second battle, superb combat skills, and diligent in maritime affairs, after the war, when he served as the 'Yixin' pipe belt, he has repeatedly rescued Chinese and foreign merchant ships in distress at sea, and is familiar with the sea conditions, so it is also very good for him to serve as the escort ship pipe belt." Zhang Cheng said with a smile. (To be continued.) )