The boatman and his wife sit one after the other with their feet pedaling the oars, the husband has a rowing in his hand, adjust the direction of navigation at any time, the water flow of the Xixing Canal is gentle, although it is a boat against the current, the boat is not slow, it is estimated that an hour can travel more than 20 miles - near noon, the boat lady burned hot soup, brought some cakes to let Zhang Yuan and others fill their hunger, everyone ate casually, continued to sail in the afternoon, the scenery on both sides of the strait was also a little tired at this time, Zhang Yuan took a volume of "Surname Li Daquan" to see, this is also the official designated imperial examination must read, a total of 70 volumes, Zhang Yuan has read the first forty-five volumes, this time he will bring the last twenty-five volumes, ready to read them on the way back and forth - after reading a few pages carefully, he felt that he still didn't feel comfortable listening to the book, so he asked Wu Ling to read it to him, Wu Ling stumbled and read half a page, Zhang Yuan sighed and said: "Oh, forget it, or I will see it myself, Xiao Wu, you will not grow." He stopped reading, honed his ink and practiced calligraphy, and Mu Zhenzhen knelt on the side and watched.

In the evening, two white canopy boats arrived at Qianqing Town, Qianqing Town is located in the middle of the Xixing Canal, convenient water and land transportation, and it is also a rich town, when Zhang Yuan's boat docked, under the sunset, I saw that Jinglan and Jinghui little sisters were already standing on the shore and looking at them with a smile.

Zhang Yuan jumped ashore, and Xiao Jinghui stepped forward and asked, "Brother Zhang Gongzi, what did you wear on your nose before, which is also a telescope?" ”

Zhang Yuan showed Xiao Jinghui the pair of crystal glasses, Xiao Jinghui also had to wear them, put them on, his eyes were spent, and his head was dizzy, so he quickly took them off, shook his head and said: "This mirror is not good, not as good as a telescope." ”

Shang Jinglan also came to try, looked left and right while wearing glasses, and quickly took them off, saying with a smile that she was dizzy.

Shang Zhoude came over and asked, "Jie Zi, should we go to the town to have a restaurant, or do we buy some cooked food and use it casually on the boat when we come back?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Let's dine on the boat." ”

Shang Zhoude then instructed the servants to go to the town to buy cooked food, the boat lady has been cooking on the fire in the small tent, it does not take half an hour, the meal is ready, Shang Zhoude invited Zhang Yuan to eat together in his cabin, Xiao Jinghui came over and said: "Brother Zhang Gongzi, don't go back to that ship, just talk to us here." He begged Shang Zhou Deyang again: "Uncle, is it okay?" ”

It's always not convenient at night, Shang Zhoude smiled and said: "Tomorrow, let Zhang Gongzi come here tomorrow, you two sisters read to him, Zhang Gongzi will never forget, you can test him." ”

One hundred and five miles from Huiji to Qianqingshui Road, sixty miles from Qianqing to Xiaoshan Xiling, there are many night ships on this waterway, when the twilight is sinking, the two white-canopy boats of the Shang family also set sail again, cross the Qianqing weir, and sail to Xiling, the starting point of the Xixing Canal, and the ships are endless.

The weather is fine, and the stars come out as soon as the sky is dark, and the white canopy boat under the starlight night is like a big white fish skimming the water, which seems to be faster than the day.

Zhang Yuan opened the canopy window and looked at the night scene for a while, and felt that the wind was blowing a little cold, so he closed the canopy window, looked back at the iron lamp hanging on the bulkhead, Wu Ling sat on the side and yawned, Mu Zhenzhen was in good spirits, sitting there with a small waist, seeing Zhang Yuan looking over, he hurriedly asked: "What does the young master command?" ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "The night ship is to tell a story, otherwise it will be boring, really tell me a story." ”

Wu Ling drove away the sleepiness and said, "Yes, Sister Zhenzhen told me a story." ”

Mu Zhenzhen said abruptly: "The little maid can't tell stories. ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Say whatever you want, you say one and I will say one to pass the time." ”

Mu Zhenzhen thought about it for a while, and said shyly: "That maid said one, my mother used to tell me - there is an old man who grows eggplants to sell, and every time the eggplant is ripe, it is stolen and picked by hundreds of them, and it has been like this for several years, the old man is very angry, so he went to the criminal department to complain there, and the history teaches this old man to say that when the eggplant will be ripe next year, more than 100 bamboo needles will be pierced into the belly of the eggplant, if it is still stolen, come and tell him, sure enough, when the eggplant is ripe in the next year, it was stolen again, and the history of the book sent a few servants to the stall in the city to sell eggplants to check, Sure enough, I found out that there were bamboo needles in the eggplant sold by a family, and called the old man to confront him, and found that the one who sold the eggplant was the old man's neighbor - the young master, the maid finished speaking, and said it badly. ”

Zhang Yuan praised: "It's really very good, this is a smart classic history - Xiao Wu, you can also say one." When he looked sideways, he found that Wu Ling had fallen asleep on the mattress, chuckled, got up and pulled the quilt on him.

Mu Zhenzhen's face turned red and said, "Does the young master also want to rest?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "It's still early, I can't sleep, I'll tell you a story, I don't know what's going on, I want to tell stories and listen to stories on this night boat." The eldest brother Zhang Dai later compiled an encyclopedia-like collection, called "Night Sailing Boat", which covers astronomy and geography, birds, beasts, insects and fish, character stories, and rules and regulations.

Mu Zhen was really happy and said: "Okay, the maid likes to listen to stories the most." ”

Zhang Yuan took a sip of tea and was about to tell a story, but he saw that the boat was shaking gently, and the tin paper on the wall was also shaken, and he heard the boatman shouting: "Zhang Gongzi, be careful of the candle flame, this section of the water is more turbulent." ”

Zhang Yuan responded: "Got it." So he went to blow out the lights and said to Mu Zhenzhen: "You can tell stories even if you are blind with a black light." ”

In the darkness, Mu Zhenzhen let out a low "um".

Zhang Yuan opened the canopy window a little more, there was starlight outside, and the half-moon moon also rose, and the faint light entered the cabin, making people feel that the cabin seemed to be very clean, and Mu Zhenzhen, who was kneeling on the mattress, was also refreshing.

Zhang Yuan said: "I told a story about Xiucai, saying that the instructor of a certain school department is very strict, and the students of the county school have to hit the board if they have committed a small crime, and the instructor has a heavy authority at that time, and he can't control Xiucai like the instructor now——"

Mu Zhenzhen in the light and shadow of the stars and moon said "um" again, indicating that she was listening.

Zhang Yuan continued: "This time, there is another Xiucai who has violated the school rules, and the instructor is anxious to spread the word that this Xiucai has come to Minglun Hall, and he is waiting angrily, the board is ready, and when this Xiucai comes, he will be beaten, and the Xiucai will come in a hurry, and as soon as he arrives in the hall, he will give a gift and say that the student has just happened to have a windfall, which is worth about a thousand taels of silver, and is disposing of this silver, so it is late, please forgive me——"

As soon as the instructor heard that there was such a thing, he forgot to make a board and asked where did the money come from? Xiucai said that his back garden was dug up, and the instructor asked what to do with such a windfall? Xiucai said that the students have always been poor, and when they use nine hundred taels of silver to buy fields, houses, fixtures, and concubines, half of the remaining one hundred taels of silver is used to study hard, and the other half is given to Mr. to thank Mr. Ping for the grace of education - the instructor is very happy, and politely said how to afford such a generous gift, so he ordered the school department to treat the wine and food to entertain this Xiucai, talking and laughing, not at all like the usual stern look, drinking and half-drunk, the instructor remembered something, and asked Xiucai to hurry to the school department to hide the silver, but not to be stolen, This Xiucai said that the student had just arranged the use of the silver, and the clumsy Jing pushed the student, and when he woke up, the silver was gone——"

Mu Zhenzhen covered his mouth and smiled, but asked, "Young Master, did the instructor get angry and beat Xiucai?" ”

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "The instructor is also a Sven person, he is so good at wine, good food, good words, and so hospitality, and it is not easy to turn his face at once, as for what will happen in the future, I don't know, listen to the story and don't ask the bottom of it, otherwise there will be no aftertaste." ”

Mu Zhenzhen replied with a smile: "Yes, young master." ”

Zhang Yuan also yawned at this time and said, "I'm also sleepy, let's rest." ”

There are exactly three bunks in this cabin, and Wu Ling just slept on the bunk on the outside, Zhang Yuan asked, "Zhenzhen, which side do you sleep on?" ”

Mu Zhenzhen's voice trembled slightly: "Let's sleep on the side, the young master will sleep first." ”

Zhang Yuan went to the bow of the boat to relieve himself, came back and lay down in the middle bunk to sleep, and after a while, he saw Mu Zhenzhen bow down from the side of his feet to the middle bunk, and soon got into the bed, as if he was afraid of being caught.

Zhang Yuan smiled secretly and said in his heart: "I'm not so anxious, Mu Zhenzhen's father is in the cabin next door, so he can't bully people too much." He thought again: "If I were the third brother Zhang Cao, I was afraid that I would pull Mu Zhenzhen into my bed, and the third brother is sometimes an enviable person-"

Thinking about it for a while, the enemy can't be sleepy, the night boat is swaying slowly, it is a good sleep, and when I wake up, I have already arrived at Xiaoshan Xiling.

The next time, Zhang Yuan went to Shang Zhoude's boat, and asked Jinglan and Jinghui sisters to read the "Surname Li Quanshu" to him, the seven-year-old Jinghui characters are more than Wuling, and the reading is very smooth, and after reading a few pages, Zhang Yuan will be tested for Zhang Yuan, let Zhang Yuan recite, Zhang Yuan recited wrongly, and Xiao Jinghui "Gege" smiled and corrected - this evening, the boat crossed the Qiantang River, and the north bank of the Qiantang River is Hangzhou, also known as Wulin, Jinglan and Jinghui sisters are the first time to see such a vast river, standing on the bow of the boat to see the slanting sun and the river, the two maidservants tightly hold the hands of the little sisters- Qiantang River has a canal weir to communicate with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, when Shang's two white-canopy boats sailed into the canal port to anchor, the Wumingwa boat and a nearby red-headed camphor boat lightly touched, there are many ships on the dock, in and out of such a slight touch is very common, Shang's boatmen do not care, they take care of the boat to anchor, but see the red-headed camphor boat jumped out of a strangely dressed teenager, loudly asked: "Who is going to hit my boat again!" ”

Zhang Yuan saw that this young man was about twelve or thirteen years old, jumping and jumping energetically, his head was wrapped in a green silk handkerchief, but he was wearing a student shirt, this young man could not have a student reputation, and he didn't wear a square scarf but wrapped his head in a green silk handkerchief, what kind of outfit is this, and the shirt can be worn casually?

Before Shang Zhoude could speak, another woman on the red-headed camphor boat shouted in a clear voice: "Lin'er, don't make trouble, come back to the cabin." ”

The young man paused and said: "We were bullied and ruthless, my father is still in prison, and I am always hit on a boat, I am really angry." ”

Zhang Yuan's heart moved: "Who is this young man?" ”

(To be continued)