Lingnan Road, Anqing Mansion, Heyang County.

Canal Pier.

A team of mules pulled wooden carts full of sacks slowly walked to the canal docks where merchant ships were parked, the mules were panting with exhaustion, and the wooden wheels made an overwhelming 'squeak' sound.

A group of shirtless footmen carried sacks onto the merchant ships parked by the docks, and after seeing off a few merchant ships, they gathered together in groups to cool off, or chatted about their parents' shortcomings, or muttered about whether there was meat for dinner.

Liu Shen, who is only seventeen years old, is also among them...

It's just that he is sitting alone in the shade, wiping the sweat mixed with mud and dust on his face with his eyebrows lowered, and there is an indescribable tension and expectation in his expression.

And in his view, there was a gear-like thing spinning rapidly......

It doesn't matter if you borrow a corpse to return your soul, or if you awaken Su Hui.

When Liu Shen was thirteen years old, there was a flood in his hometown, and I don't know how many houses were collapsed and how many people were drowned.

And he lost his memory in the flood, but he unexpectedly awakened Su Hui.

He fled all the way to Anqing Mansion, almost starved to death on the way, and also saw how heavy the words 'Yi Zi and eat' in the history books were.

Because he had no memories of before he was thirteen years old, and there was no acquaintance around, Liu Shen didn't know who his 'parents' were, and he didn't even know where his household registration was.

I don't know the place well, I have no relatives...

It was as if he had been forgotten by the world, and he had become a refugee, or a black refugee.

Liu Shen was not only hungry and cold, but also dizzy from the impact of the cognitive difference between the two worlds, hovering on the verge of collapse for several days, and could only survive on the gruel for disaster relief every day.

However, the amount of gruel provided for disaster relief is limited, and refugees starve to death every day without receiving it.

The little official who counted the household registration saw that he was young and quite strong, so he gave him an idea - to sell himself.

That's right, sold yourself ...

A deed of sale sold himself to the Cao Gang as a porter, and he relied on selling coolies to make ends meet.

Cao Gang is a general term, 'Cao' represents Cao Yun, and 'Gang' represents Jianghu gangs.

Whether it is the government's south-to-north grain transfer or the transportation of goods by merchants, they are inseparable from waterways, and they can't bypass the big and small gangs along the canal...

The canal links the two rivers and three rivers in the territory of Daqian, passing through eight provinces and thirteen prefectures, and the soldiers, sailors, slender men, porters, etc. along the coast, these low-level people who eat Cao Gang's food, there are hundreds of thousands of people!

Although the porter's monthly money is only seven cents of silver, the monthly money falls into his hand and he has to pay two cents of 'tax' to the Cao Gang before he gets hot, and when converted, the daily salary is less than 20 cents.

At today's price of three cents for a bun, this salary is particularly pitiful outside.

But because the Cao Gang provides two big pot meals in the afternoon and evening, there are many people like Liu Shen who make a living from this.

On the bright side, it was precisely because of this job that he was not starved to death during the strong period of 'half the size of the child eating the poor old man'......

'Oh my destiny gears...'

Liu Shen saw that the rotating gear slowly stopped, and the joints of his nervous fists were faintly white...

When he awakened Su Hui, he could see something called the 'Gear of Destiny' in his eyes.

This thing seems to be hidden in the depths of his soul, he can see it, but he can't touch it, and it has a very metaphysical effect - change luck!

The 'Gears of Destiny' will rotate rapidly every other year, and then randomly change the course of fortune for the following year...

In the past four years, the 'Gear of Destiny' has changed Liu Shen's fortune three times, and this is now the fourth time.

The first time was when he just woke up to Su Hui, he fled in the flood, and the gear of fate turned quickly and stopped, and the words "Tiansha Lone Star" appeared on it, and there was a sentence of "Tiansha Lone Star is unstoppable, and Lone Ke's six relatives died of his father".

At the beginning, Liu Shen fled all the way to Anqing Mansion, and he still didn't believe in the evil of this 'Heavenly Evil Lone Star'...

After realizing that the people who had come into contact with him were more or less unlucky, he obediently recognized the reality, and only filled his stomach with a muffled voice, and did not dare to communicate with others more;

In September of the following year, the gears of fate stopped after a rapid turn, and the words 'late bloomer' appeared on it, as well as the sentence 'ambition is two grand, who says that middle-aged ambition is not successful'.

At that time, Liu Shenxu was only fifteen years old, and he looked at the words 'late bloomer' and 'middle-aged' and fell into deep thought;

In September of the third year, the gears of fate turned rapidly and stopped, and the words 'IKEA IKEA' appeared on it, as well as the phrase 'everything is not sought by heaven, and children and grandchildren will be far away'.

At that time, Liu Shen looked at the fortune of the Nawang family and was silent for a long time, and he saw the word 'useless' in it...

He has changed his fortune three times in three years, and the change cannot be said to be bad, but it can only be said that it is not helpful to him at all.

After three years of stagnation, he changed his fortune three times, and this fourth time, he couldn't help but be nervous!

Liu Shen looked at the gears of fate that gradually stopped, and muttered in his heart: "Come to a good fortune, come to a lucky star, come to a prosperous fortune, come to ......"

Suddenly, he breathed for a while, and watched as the rotating gears of fate stopped, and the words 'Peach Blossom' appeared on it...

Immediately afterwards, there was a horizontal criticism of 'I am both charming and pleasing to me'......

"Fate... Violate... Peach... Flower ......"

Liu Shen's face was twisted, he looked around the dock, and when he saw that there were shirtless old men working around him, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart...

I have been in this place for a long time, not to mention women, even when I see a female donkey, I feel that my eyebrows are clear, what is the meaning of this 'fateful peach blossom'?

In the afterglow of the setting sun...

The mule pulled the cart and left the dock.

And Xu Bantou, who was in charge of the laborers at the wharf, walked out of the canteen lazily, holding a whip in one hand and picking his teeth with his fingernails in the other, shouting as if calling for livestock: "The long-term worker of the Chishui Gang, it's time to eat." ”

The appearance of the team leader also means that most of the day's work at the dock has been completed, if there is no night work, the laborers who rely on the dock to make a living can also eat a stable meal and sleep peacefully.

A group of long-term workers of the Chishui Gang called friends to the dining hall, and Liu Shen was among them...

Xu Bantou was about forty years old, standing at the door of the canteen with a whip in his hand, and he had both a kind of treacherous philistine unique to businessmen and a kind of gangsterism unique to people in the rivers and lakes...

He glanced around, and saw that most of the long-term workers at the dock had already come, and called: "Don't leave after eating, I have something to explain." ”

“……”

The long-term workers outside the canteen were silent, just nodding their heads in understanding, but no one dared to answer.

Xu Bantou is the small leader of the Chishui Gang, responsible for supervising the laborers on this dock.

But when he is caught stealing and slippery while working hard, the whip in his hand will be drawn mercilessly.

Therefore, the laborers on the docks were very afraid of him.

And Xu Bantou also knew this, and when he saw the laborers nodding to show their understanding, he smiled slightly, and then turned sideways and waved his hand: "Let's go in and eat, there is braised pork today." ”

Hearing that there was braised pork in the canteen today, the eyes of all the laborers lit up a little, and the bees crowded into the canteen.

The staple food is several large buckets of rice, eat as much as you want, and in addition to the fish, crab, and boiled vegetables that are often eaten, there is indeed a pot of oily braised pork.

There are eight rivers in Anqing Prefecture, and they are begging for a living by the wharf, and fish and crabs are cheaper than rice...

Eat fish, crab and river fresh all year round, and all the laborers eat it to their stomachs, and pork is 20 yuan a catty, and sometimes you can't eat it once a month.

Therefore, no one took the fish and crabs, and the pot of braised pork was crowded with people.

If it weren't for the people in the dining hall watching in person, each person was only allowed to make a spoonful of braised pork, I'm afraid that even the basin would be taken away...

Liu Shen held the bowl with a large basin, packed the rice, and sat directly next to the fish and crabs to eat and drink.

The strong food period of the teenager is the time to grow the body, and the amount of food is already amazing, and the work is all physical work, physical consumption is large, and the amount of food is also large.

Others use bowls for eating, he uses basins...

He is also often glad that he is making a living at the Anqing Fu Wharf where there are enough fish and crab meat, although he is tired of eating, but he is rich in nutrition, at least his body is long and strong;

If it were somewhere else, it would be a question of whether his small body would be able to grow open...

A pot of braised pork was quickly divided, and even the gravy at the bottom of the pot was about to be soaked in rice.

Hu Dahai, who was also a porter, sat next to Liu Shen with a bowl, and when he saw that there was no braised pork in his bowl, he raised his eyebrows and quipped: "What's the matter?" Brother Shen has no appetite today? ”

"Not really."

Liu Shen took care of himself and muttered: "There are too many people, and the meat is not enough, so we won't join in the fun." ”

"Brother Shen, I have meat here, you can eat some."

Another porter, Wei Dafu, also came over with a bowl, and thoughtfully put a few pieces of braised pork that he had just received into Liu Shen's bowl.

“……”

Liu Shen glanced at him in surprise.

Although they have worked in this wharf for four years, everyone is a bottom mud leg, and they come here to work to make a living.

Liu Shen looked at the braised pork in the bowl and asked, "Brother Rich, if you have anything to say, you might as well say it directly." ”

"It's something."

Wei Dafu scratched his head and said a little shyly: "A few days ago, my daughter-in-law wrote a letter and sent it over, I heard that Brother Shen is literate, can you help me read it?" ”

As he spoke, he pulled out a crumpled piece of stationery from his body.

"Okay..."

Liu Shen nodded, and did not shirk this trivial matter.

He worked as a porter on the dock for four years, and after solving the problem of food and clothing, he used his spare money to buy some books on human geography, travelogues, or wild history books, and read them in his spare time.

Not for merit, not for fame, just to better understand and integrate into this so-called big dry...

After all, he doesn't want to be a porter for the rest of his life...

Liu Shen took the letter and looked at it, and said, "The letter said that your daughter-in-law gave birth to a big fat boy for you, so that you have time to go home and have a look." ”

"My daughter-in-law gave birth to a big fat boy for me?"

Wei Dafu was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then seemed to react, and stood up excitedly, muttering with joy on his face: "I have a son?" ”

Liu Shen nodded, "That's what the letter says." ”

"Hahahaha, good, good!"

Wei Dafu was overjoyed, but he didn't eat anything, and when he ran out to meet people, he said, 'My daughter-in-law gave birth to a son for me', 'I have a son'...

“……”

Liu Shen watched him run out of the door laughing, as if he had thought of something, and asked Hu Dahai on the side softly: "I remember that Brother Dafu hasn't been home for almost a year, right?" ”

"It's been a year..."

Hu Dahai nodded with some envy, and said matter-of-factly: "This guy is so blessed, he didn't go home this year, and his daughter-in-law gave birth to a son for him." ”

“……”

Liu Shen opened his mouth, not knowing how to speak for a while.

Seeing that Hu Dahai couldn't hide his envy in his expression, he didn't have much to say, so he could only bow his head and plane.

After eating, he glanced back and saw Xu Bantou enjoying the cool air at the door, he asked softly: "The team leader just said that there is something to explain to our porter after dinner, do you old brothers know what is going on?" ”