Mrs. Sha said: "The next morning, after breakfast, Daddy will say goodbye to Uncle Lu. Uncle Lu said that he had arranged for the boat to go to Huangshi by water, and then land at the Huangshi Wharf, and then go north by land, passing through Xingyang to enter the capital. While he was talking, Uncle Lu's eldest son hurried back. It turned out that he had been sent by Uncle Lu to rent a boat early in the morning, and he rushed back at this time, saying that the boat in the morning had been rented and that he could only leave by boat in the afternoon.

"Although Daddy was anxious, there was nothing he could do. Uncle Lu smiled and said, "It's just half a day late, Brother Fang doesn't need to be anxious." The nephews and nieces are still children, so they just need to rest for half a day, otherwise they will rush down this way, and they will not arrive in the capital yet, but I am afraid that a few children will be tired first. ’

On that day, my father seemed to be quite anxious, and walked up and down the house, constantly looking out. My two brothers and I saw that my father's face was sinking like water, but we didn't dare to speak, we didn't even dare to breathe, we just sat quietly. At noon, Uncle Lu came to us for dinner again. Daddy said, 'After two days of bothering, I don't want to go, so this meal will be spared.' Uncle Lu said, "Brother Fang is going to travel far away in the afternoon, and this send-off wine cannot be drunk." Daddy had no choice but to take us to the lobby for dinner.

"This time only Uncle Lu accompanied us to dinner, and Daddy asked where his eldest son had gone. Uncle Lu smiled and said, "This kid didn't rent a boat this morning, and I scolded him severely." Now he was afraid that something would go wrong, so he personally guarded the docks, and as long as there was a boat, he would rent it first. When Dad heard what Uncle Lu said, he was even more reluctant in his heart, and apologized to Uncle Lu again and again.

While he was talking, he saw a servant of the Lu family hurriedly running in, saying that the eldest prince had sent him back to report the news, everything was arranged on the dock, and Master Fang's family could set off at any time. When Dad heard this, he immediately stood up and said goodbye to Uncle Lu. Uncle Lu said that there was no need to worry, since the boat had been rented, it would not be in the way to have a few more drinks. Daddy insisted on setting off immediately, but Uncle Lu had no choice, so he left Beiwu Village with us and went straight to the dock.

"The Jiujiang wharf is quite lively, Uncle Lu's eldest son has been waiting at the wharf for a long time, and when he saw us arriving, he came forward and led us to a canopy boat, and said to my father: 'Uncle Fang, do you still like this boat?' Dad saw that the canopy boat was a big ship, and the rent was quite high, so he was a little hesitant. He has no other income in the Fang family except for the monthly silver, and the monthly silver is only a few dollars, and he has to support our three brothers and sisters, and he has always been very short of money. This time, in order to escape from the Fang family, he had already taken out all the taels of silver that he had accumulated for many years. I'm afraid that if I take the clothes, it won't be enough to pay the boat boss's fare. He said to Uncle Lu's eldest son, "We are only four of us, so we don't need such a big boat, let's change to a small boat." ’

"Uncle Lu had already seen his father's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Brother Fang, you are bringing your nephews and nieces with you this time. The niece is already a big girl, and it is quite inconvenient to huddle together. The rent of this ship has been paid, and Brother Fang does not need to be anxious. ’

I looked at my father's expression very embarrassed, and knew that he was embarrassed, but at this moment, I couldn't shirk it. He thanked Uncle Lu, and Uncle Lu smiled and said, "Brother Fang, you are in a hurry, but now you are verbose, aren't you in a hurry to leave?" Brother Lu, after Fang Mou arrives in the capital, settle down, and invite Brother Lu to the capital as a guest, let's drink and talk happily. ’

"When Daddy took us aboard, the boss pulled anchor and set sail. As soon as the canopy boat left the shore, Uncle Lu threw a burden into the cabin and said to his father: "Brother Fang, you have come and gone in a hurry this time, and my brother has nothing to give to you. ’

Daddy took the burden and thanked him repeatedly. The canopy boat was blown by the river wind, and it walked five or six feet away in an instant. Daddy stood at the bow of the boat and waved goodbye to Uncle Lu. It wasn't until the canopy boat left the dock and turned into the river that Uncle Lu and the others could no longer be seen, that he returned to the cabin.

When Daddy opened the baggage, he saw four new sets of clothes in it, and four ingots of silver, each of which weighed five taels. The largest piece of silver my two brothers and I had ever seen was the size of a fingernail, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these four ingots of silver. Daddy sighed and said, "This Brother Lu is very thoughtful. He was afraid of embarrassing me, so he didn't throw the burden into the cabin until I got on board. Speaking of this, he turned to the three of us and said, "If there is a chance in the future, Uncle Lu's kindness, you should not forget it." ’

"I sat in the cabin, watching the river rolling, and all kinds of thoughts came to my mind. The boss of this canopy boat is a man in his forties, with a black cloth on his head and a dark face. Sitting at the stern of the boat was a man in his twenties, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt on his upper body, revealing his thick and powerful arms.

"Although the canopy boat is going against the current, the river wind is very strong, and the white sails are full of the wind, so that the canopy boat runs fast on the river. In less than an hour, it had left the boundary of Jiujiang and entered a gentle river. There are not as many boats here as on the Jiujiang River, and only one or two boats can be seen after walking for half a day. As far as the eye can see, in addition to the trees along the river, there are mountains in the distance.

"I looked at the river view for a long time, but my eyes were a little dry, so I leaned on the wall of the cabin and rested with my eyes closed. When I was in a daze, I suddenly heard my father say, 'Hey, why is the boat about to dock?' I was overjoyed, thinking that I had arrived at Yellowstone, and hurriedly opened my eyes, only to see that there was still water all around, but the awning boat was approaching the shore on the right.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Daddy immediately rushed out of the cabin, only to see the captain of the ship standing at the bow of the ship. He said loudly, "Boatman, why is the ship docking?"

The captain of the ship had his back to the cabin and was looking from the shore. But he did not look back, but said, 'You have paid enough for the boat to get here.' I'll send you ashore, and you will go along the shore. ’

"Daddy already knew that the situation was different at this time, but he was on the river, and with the three of us, he couldn't easily turn his face with the boss of the boat. He took out the twenty taels of silver that Uncle Lu had just given him from his arms, and said to the boss of the boat, "Boatman, I still have twenty taels of silver, you can take them all, just send us to the Huangshi Pier." ’

"The boss of the boat said coldly: 'Someone has paid two hundred taels of silver to rent Lao Tzu's boat, if you still want to take the boat, you must pay at least four hundred taels!' Father was shocked, knowing that the boss of the boat had evil intentions, maybe he was a robber in the rivers and lakes, and he was specially robbing money and killing people on this big river. Just as he was about to speak again, he saw more than a dozen people standing high and low on the shore, and more than a dozen fast horses were rushing towards him from the downstream direction.

"When Daddy saw that the situation was not good, he turned to me and my two brothers and shouted, 'Get out of the cabin, beware of deceit!' We already knew by this time that the captain was making trouble, and we grabbed the bow of the boat before Daddy's words fell. Only then did the boat boss turn around, and his already dark face was even more hideous. He smiled at his father and said, "I advise the four of you not to waste your efforts, but to go on the road honestly, and we will give you a good one, so as not to suffer from the sword, isn't it happy?!"

At this time, there were still more than 20 zhang from the shore, and the more than ten horses had also arrived at the shore, and immediately the passengers dismounted, and gathered together with more than ten people who stood on the shore first, and were looking at the river. Seeing that the situation was not good, my father shouted to the boss of the boat, 'Don't let the boat dock, or you won't blame me for being polite!' The boss of the boat sneered, 'On this big river, do you dare to do anything with me?'

Seeing that the canopy boat was still approaching the shore, in a hurry, how could he have time to talk to the boss of the boat, and when he made a mistake with his palms, he hit the boss of the boat. The boss of the boat was not afraid, waved his palms to greet him, and the two of them moved on the bow of the boat. Although I know that my father knows martial arts, I have never seen him shoot in front of me since I was a child. At this critical moment, I saw that my father's action was both steady and ruthless, and his martial arts were many times higher than the master of the clan who taught us women. After only fighting for more than ten moves, the left shoulder of the boat boss was slapped by his father, and he immediately took a few steps back, his face became pale, his left arm hung down weakly, and he was powerless to fight again for a while. Daddy shouted to him, 'You are badly wounded, and if you don't listen to me, this arm will be ruined!'

The captain of the boat was so pained that the sweat on his forehead trickled down, and he gritted his teeth, and shouted to the young man who stood at the stern of the boat, 'The wind is tight, and the wind is tight!' I saw a splash on the river, and the boat boss disappeared after entering the water. At the same time, the man at the helm of the stern flipped out one by one, but disappeared into the river. The awning boat was only five or six zhang away from the shore at this time, and although the river was not as turbulent as the river's heart, there was no one at the helm, and it immediately turned around in the river and drifted downstream. The four of us stood at the bow of the boat, but we were cold and the awning boat came sideways, only to feel a violent earthquake under our feet, and when we boarded, we were unstable on our feet, and we fell on the board of the boat. ”

(End of chapter)