"I started to go to sea very early," Jiang Lao Turtle sat on the wool felt, smoking a cigarette gun, and the red dots of the cigarette butts were extinguished: "Going to sea is a very painful thing, although now I am slowly getting used to it and numb, but in the early years, it was indeed a difficult thing." ”

"First of all, seasickness, don't think that we have lived by the sea for a long time fishermen are not afraid of seasickness, this boat in the wind and waves, the movement is not regular, like a sifting of things, shaking the head and tail, up and down, when the ship is sifting up, even if it is a sailor who has been sailing at sea for many years, it will be nauseous and dizzy, and some will even vomit. ”

"Actually, it's okay to be seasick, go to sea a few more times, and slowly get used to it, the most difficult thing to adapt to is actually-" Jiang Laojiao said this, and suddenly left a word: "Guess what?"

Wei Xiao remembered the record in the "Maritime Book": "Is it typhoid fever and scurvy caused by bad weather and lack of vegetables?"

Jiang Laojiao shook his head: "These rely on planting some bean sprouts on the boat and going to sea in good weather, which is not the worst." ”

Bai Qianyu thought for a while and said, "It's damp." Sailing on the sea all year round, not only the firewood is damp, but the tobacco is also damp, and the knee joints are also susceptible to dampness.

Jiang Lao Turtle smiled, knocked his cigarette gun on the deck, and knocked out some cigarette ash: "What the white girl said is right, for me Jiang Lao Turtle, if you can smoke a mouthful of dry tobacco that is not subject to moisture on this boat, it will really be a pleasure for the gods, but this humidity is not the most unbearable," he turned his head towards Jian Qi: "Do you know what is the most unbearable thing about sailing on the voyage?"

Jian Qi frowned and thought for a while: "In terms of my feelings when I go to sea, there is no good food on this boat, there is no fun, including seasickness, dampness, and the scenery between the sea and the sky that seems to be unchanged forever, it is not the most uncomfortable, what I feel the most uncomfortable is loneliness, loneliness, and boredom." ”

Jiang Laojiao took a puff of cigarette, and looked at him with a pair of cloudy old eyes with interest: "What a lonely and boring method?"

Jian Qidao: "Usually when I am on land, there are people talking to me all day and night, and I don't feel bored at all, but once I get on the ship, there are about twenty or thirty people on the ship, and everyone often performs their own duties, or takes shifts, and it is difficult to meet heads, so many times, I am alone." ”

He frowned and pondered: "When I am alone in the kitchen preparing meals for everyone, the surroundings are terribly silent, except for the sound of my own kitchen knife chopping on the cutting board, or the sound of oil smoke splashing under the pot, but in the blue scenery outside the window, these sounds make my work more lonely, I sometimes chop those fish pieces on the cutting board one by one, I will suddenly laugh coldly, even I don't know what it is for." ”

"I sometimes think that luckily going to sea is usually only ten days and half a month, but if it were longer, two or three months, or half a year, I would have to go crazy. ”

Bai Qianyu said: "If you really feel too lonely and boring, go out and walk around and chat with the sailors!"

Jian Qi laughed helplessly: " The faces on this ship, not to mention a few years, even a few months, we have long known each other, and each other's stories have long been familiar with each other, and it is said that those words are back and forth, so after a long time, the sailors have developed the habit of bragging, and the same words will be blown up once they say the same, such as the Alin on our ship, when he told us on the first day, he said that his house was a single-door courtyard, and there was a small piece of land, and his daughter-in-law was planting at home, and the next day he told us that his house had two entrances, one acre of land, and the family hired two long-term workers to farm, and waited until we stayed on the ship for half a month, when we saw him againHis house has become the size of the Admiral's Palace, with twelve acres of land, fifty or sixty long-term laborers, and twenty or thirty servants serving his wife and son at home. ”

He shook his head: "I've been on this ship for a long time, and people are prone to paranoia. ”

Bai Qianyu said curiously: "Xiao Qi, have you ever had paranoia?"

"I have!" Jian Qi immediately said with certainty.

"Then what are you delusional?" Bai Qianyu said.

"I have delusional thoughts about countless pearls, countless gold and silver treasures, eating and drinking spicy food every day, going in and out of Changle Gambling House every day, and all kinds of beauties throwing hugs to me," the corners of Jian Qi's mouth hooked up a smile, held his head, and fell into deep thought: "Of course, what I am most delusional about is that there is a merman beauty with big breasts and a thin waist who falls in love with me and pesters me every day......"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly slapped Jiang Laojiao on the head.

Jian Qi held his head in one hand: "Uncle Turtle, why are you beating me?"

"Wake you up early, so that you don't dream anymore!" Jiang Lao said very calmly.

Jian Qi continued to hold his head in one hand and looked at him with slanted eyes: "Uncle Turtle, do you dare to say that you never dreamed that a merman beauty with big breasts and a thin waist fell in love with you and pestered you every day?"

"Anyone who goes to sea, how many people don't have the dream of meeting a mermaid beauty?" Jiang Laojiao smoked a cigarette gun, his voice suddenly became softer, and it became a little unreal: "But no one thought that I would have a chance to make my dream come true......"

"A dream come true?" Jian Qi said in a lost voice, forgetting even the pain in his head: "Uncle Turtle, did you really meet a mermaid beauty?"

Jiang Lao Turtle didn't answer, just took a few puffs of cigarette, and the light blue smoke floated up, curling and scattering under the snowy night sky.

"Life, sometimes it's really lonely like snow!" Jiang Lao Turtle let out a faint sigh.

"Uncle Turtle, this is a critical juncture, don't worry about us any troubles," Jian Qi hurriedly said: "Tell us quickly, how did you meet the mermaid beauty, and how did she fall in love with you?"

"I have two hobbies, one is growing flowers and the other is catching flies. Jiang Lao Turtle smoked a cigarette, and suddenly said without a head: "Do you know why?"

Bai Qianyu and Wei Xiao looked at each other, they were waiting for Jiang Laoyu's own answer.

Sure enough, without waiting for them to answer, Jiang Laojiao had already said to himself: "These two hobbies have one thing in common, that is, they can pass the time, and they can pass the long lonely, lonely, and boring time on the boat. Actually, I didn't like to grow flowers or hunt flies. ”

Jiang Laojiao's brows furrowed deeply, as if he remembered something from the past: "It was in the seventh year of my voyage, when I was twenty-six years old, and I already had one of the best big sea ships in Dongyao Town at that time- The Ubud boat also has the best fleet in Dongyao Town, and the chef on the ship at that time, Brother Niu, was my best friend, and his cooking was even better than the cooks in the local restaurant, and for this reason, plus my boat was running steadily, and the guests were willing to take my boat, so we spent most of the year going to sea and making a lot of money. ”

At that time, he had just been newly married, and married a young and beautiful daughter-in-law, and the sailors who accompanied him were envious of him, but he himself was often worried, and he only told me later that he was worried that he would run at sea all day and night, and his daughter-in-law would not be able to keep at home. But at that time, we were too profitable, Ah Niu thought that he would work hard now and make more money, so that his daughter-in-law and his children could live a good life in the future, so he washed his hands and didn't dry them, so he still ran out day by day, although his young and beautiful daughter-in-law also complained to him. ”

"Then one day, what Ah Niu was worried about still happened," Jiang Lao Turtle said in a deep voice: "His daughter-in-law and a person who often come to his house to help repair the house, repair the wellhead, The tall and thin man who repaired the fence of the stove ran away, and Ah Niu also inquired about it, and the man was not very handsome, and he didn't have much money, but when his daughter-in-law eloped, she told the neighbor that as a woman, she didn't want a lot of money, because money can't be earned, she just wanted a man who could always be by her side, when she was thirsty, the man could hand her a glass of water, when she was sick, the man could take care of her, and when she was lonely, the man could chat with her. So, it's such an inconspicuous man who spent a lot of time hooking up with his daughter-in-law while he was not at home. ”

"Ah Niu smashed the well, smashed the stove, tore down the fence, sold the house, and then returned to the boat alone, saying that he had no home, and that the ship would be his home from now on. ”

Jiang Lao's voice became heavy: "I comforted him at that time, don't be afraid, this ship is the home of our brothers." ”

Bai Qianyu said: "What about Brother Niu, what did he say?"

Jiang Laojiao shook his head: "He didn't say anything, he just hugged me and nodded, he was a taciturn man who was not very good at words, and since then, he has been even more silent." ”

Bai Qianyu said: "What about later?"

"Later," Jiang Lao Turtle took a puff of cigarette and said slowly: "Ah Niu jumped into the sea when he went to sea once." ”

"Jumping into the sea?" all three of them were taken aback.

Jiang Laojiao took the cigarette stick and pointed to his feet: "It's almost here." ”

"Here?" Bai Qianyu said: "Uncle Turtle, didn't you say that you have never sailed so far, and this place has exceeded your previous voyages." ”

"I think that's right here. Jiang Lao Turtle sighed, his eyes moistened: "At that time, our Ubu boat didn't sail so far, but Ah Niu put down a small boat from under the boat and said that he wanted to take a look nearby, I heard that along this sea current, you can see the three lives of people, I thought that he couldn't go far, so I let him go." ”

"I didn't expect this current to be the legendary Kuroshio, even a big ship like ours was caught in the Kuroshio, we could only follow it, and the boat was even more out of control, I watched the boat flow to the end of the sky, and the figure of Ah Niu jumped up from the boat, and jumped into the sea in an arc. ”

Bai Qianyu lost his voice and said: "Did he want to die a long time ago?

Jiang Laojiao held the cigarette stick and nodded for a while: "I think he thinks that there is no warmth in the world, and it is too hard for people to live in the world, so he chose a place far away and buried himself, because his heart is dead, even if this cold current is cold, he will no longer feel the cold." ”

Bai Qianyu's heart was cold when he heard this, and he couldn't help but say: "In fact, it takes more courage to live than to die, if he can survive that hurdle......"

Wei Xiao said in a low voice: "Mourning is greater than heart death, if a person's heart is dead, he can't live anymore." ”

Bai Qianyu fell silent.

Thinking that their boat was running quietly, there was a man named Ah Niu who was sleeping, his whole body was cold, and even his heart was cold, and several people couldn't help but sigh.

Jiang Laojiao took a deep breath and said slowly: "So I summed up this matter, the person who runs the boat must have a cheerful personality and learn to be alone, otherwise, sooner or later there will be a mental problem, even if there is no mental problem, once something goes wrong in life, people will become very fragile." For example, Ah Niu, even if he didn't end his life by luck, his sailing career came to an end. ”

Wei Xiao and Bai Qianyu nodded silently.

Jiang Lao Turtle said gloomily: "So since then, I have learned two hobbies - planting flowers and fighting flies, these two things are not big hobbies, but at least they can help me pass the time, but unfortunately, flowers do not bloom all year round, and flies are not available all year round, so there are many times, I am still lonely." ”

He sighed deeply.

The night snow was falling, and no one interrupted him.

At the end, Jian Qi asked: "Uncle Turtle, I still have one more question, that is, after Ah Niu dies, who will cook on the boat?"

Wei Xiao and Bai Qianyu looked at him strangely.

Jian Qi hurriedly said: "I'm asking a very important question! Do you think that if there is no cook on this ship, who will a large boatload of people rely on to eat?"

Jiang Laojiao nodded and said, "You are right, once Ah Niu dies, no matter how sad I am, I must first solve the problem of eating this big boat." ”

"But then I suddenly realized that it was a big problem—because there were all kinds of people in my boat, but none of them could cook. ”