march to victory

"Old Luo, don't tell me, from your old Luo's point of view, you have not developed among these people, and you have not arranged some people to prepare for the future?"

"That's impossible...here we are."

While talking, he arrived at the front end of the pier.

On the river, there are many boats, connected everywhere, so that you can walk from the first boat to the last boat from the deck of each boat as if walking on the ground.

Luo Yingjie stopped talking, but took a serious look. After searching, he led Zhang Qingshan and the others directly onto a fishing boat, and shuttled across the decks of the ships...

"Old Luo, where is Boss Peng? There are [-] or [-] ships here, and they look similar. We are looking for it aimlessly. When will we find it? How about I go and find out?"

No boats at night, this is the rule—except for those who go to and from the other side of the river, there are also many prostitutes on fishing boats paddling the boats to solicit business.Therefore, there are many ships gathered on the pier now.But at a glance, almost all of them were fishing boats of similar size, but Lao Luo didn't ask others, so after seven or eight boats left, Zhou Baoyu couldn't help asking. ,

"Don't! Don't inquire about it. There are many rules here. If you inquire about it indiscriminately, there will be big problems."

Immediately, Luo Yingjie explained in a low voice as he walked.

There are indeed many rules here. For example, although the fishing boats here seem to be docked randomly, they are actually very particular. The closer to the big wharf, the manual laborers are at the front during the day, but at night, they are not. Quite the opposite.And the farther you go to the other side of the river, at night, the more prestigious the fishermen are, the further you go.For example, during the day, it can be a docking place for merchant ships, but at night, merchant ships have to berth to both sides, and the middle can only be a resting place for fishermen and ordinary people's fishing boats, which is expensive.

Also, don't look at them passing through the decks of various ships, even if they meet fishermen, the fishermen will at most just look at them and won't ask, but they will acquiesce in allowing them to pass through their own decks.Because there is an unspoken rule in it: those who know the rules will naturally know where the ship of the person they are looking for is. the wrist of.

That's why Luo Yingjie hurriedly stopped Zhou Baoyu from asking: Even if you said that this is the first time you came to talk to someone about business, why did you go back?Can't you go to those fishing boats near the pier to find people to talk business with?But if you want to say that you want to talk to an acquaintance, it is more troublesome and more likely to make people suspicious: He is an acquaintance with you, and he didn't tell you the rules?Anyway, there are many rules here, what you know is nothing, and what you don’t know don’t know.Now, listening to Luo Yingjie is absolutely right.

Hearing these rules, Zhou Baoyu became interested, walked up to him and asked in a low voice, "Brother Luo, how do you know which ship is the person you are looking for?"

"At this time, when we come here to look for people, they are all of status among the fishermen, so we can only go to the middle of the river. Therefore, when we passed the fishing boats near the pier just now, they didn't ask or stop them. When you get to the place, look at the lanterns hanging on the mast of the fishing boat."

"lantern?"

Zhou Baoyu looked up suspiciously, and as expected, he saw several lanterns hanging on the mast in the distance, swaying in the air with the wind.

Zhang Qingshan and the others also observed curiously. However, Zhang Qingshan very keenly discovered that although these lanterns are similar, they can be hung at different positions. Moreover, most of them glow yellowish in the dark. , but a few lanterns are covered with other colors, probably white, so they look brighter—here, the red lanterns are the signs of prostitutes picking up customers.

Immediately, he whispered these two doubts to Luo Yingjie for answers.

Only then did I learn that this is a method to distinguish the status of the leader and subordinates among the fishermen and a means of communication to convey messages... Luo Yingjie's method of using tree branches to convey messages was inspired by this.

Anyone who hangs lanterns on the mast has a status among the fishermen, and there is a difference among them. Those lanterns made of white paper are the fishing boats of the leader of the fishermen, and the leader's fishing boat Surrounded by his confidant's fishing boats, it's just a group, or it means to declare who is in charge of this water area now.Therefore, anyone who is familiar with the white lantern can be sure who the leader is if they see whether the people around the white lantern are familiar or not.Besides, when you get here, you can inquire about it.

The position of the lantern hanging is also particular: when there is nothing to do, hang the lantern on the highest point of the mast, but once something happens, such as a guest, hang the lantern in the middle of the mast.And once it is hung in the middle of the mast, the most important thing is to remind my men in the surrounding fishing boats that I have guests on board, and everyone should cheer up. If there is a fire, everyone should be prepared, right?And when the matter is over, if the lantern is not raised to the highest level in time, or the boss does not send the guests out, the subordinates will definitely check it out as soon as possible... Anyway, there are many detailed meanings in it, and I can't explain it clearly for a while.

Zhang Qingshan and the others were very lucky. No, although they couldn't remember exactly how many decks they passed through, when the number of fishing boats in front of them became less and less, and finally they could see the river, Luo Yingjie took a wide-eyed look. , and immediately walked towards a fishing boat with white lanterns seven or eight meters away.

On both sides of the closed cabin door of the fishing boat, there are two people sitting: on the left is a girl who is rubbing the thread with her hands, with her head lowered, she is doing it very seriously, but she keeps chattering to the boy with the flat head on the right. wearing something.It's the end of autumn now, but the young man on the right is only wearing a vest, showing his strong muscles, letting the autumn wind caress him.He held a whetstone in his left hand, and a machete in his right hand, sharpening the blade one after another.Obviously, this young man was not talkative, he listened quietly to the girl's nagging, and only occasionally replied when he was asked urgently, with a demeanor of cherishing words like gold.

Seeing two people who didn't look like they were running the pier boarded the boat, and there were five people behind them waiting on guard, with their weapons exposed, which immediately aroused the vigilance of the girl and the boy.

"Who are you looking for?"

The girl's question was normal, but the problem was that she put down the sewing basket in her left hand, but put her right hand on her back waist. After she stood up and asked a few words, she looked at Zhang Qingshan and Luo Yingjie calmly. , but it gives people an aura of fighting if they don't agree with each other.And that young man just took a look at Zhang Qingshan and the others, and then continued to sharpen his knife, but Zhang Qingshan and Luo Yingjie clearly felt the murderous aura on his body, that this person was very confident in his martial arts... Women dare to fight people with knives. As Luo Yingjie said, the fishermen are really tough.

"Xiao Yingzi, when will you get rid of your aggressiveness? Otherwise, if you continue to be so aggressive, how will you get married in the future? I'm really worried about your future husband."

"You are?" Peng Cuiying was obviously confused by Luo Yingjie's jokes that would only be made by someone who is very familiar with him. He changed his previous white face into an uncle with a bushy beard, maybe to make fun of the siblings, he even changed his voice on purpose, it's normal if the other party didn't recognize him for a while.

Even the acquaintances didn't recognize him for a while, Luo Yingjie was obviously satisfied with his makeup, and then he smiled at the young man who had stopped sharpening his knife and was looking over in surprise: "God, if you dare to play with you again With a broken knife, what I promised you will be gone~!"

Gouzi's jaw was about to drop in shock, and he looked at Luo Yingjie with a frown. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he jumped up and rushed towards Luo Yingjie, shouting: "You are Uncle Luo. Ha! Ha! Are you Uncle Luo."

The sincere welcome and warm welcome are clear at a glance, which is a world of difference from the previous vigilance.

Peng Cuiying on the side also immediately showed a flowery smile, ran over, and said with a smile: "Brother Luo, why are you making up like this? We couldn't recognize it, and we thought there was a villain here."

One of the brothers and sisters is called Uncle Luo, and the other is Big Brother Luo. These names really make people dizzy. At least, Zhang Qingshan glanced between the three of them with very puzzled eyes, looking like a curious baby.

Before Luo Yingjie could speak, Xiaoyingzi reached out and took off the thick beard on his face mischievously, making Luo Yingjie scold her "naughty!", then handed the gift in his hand to Xiaoying. Yingzi said, "What's it like to be called uncle or elder brother?"

"You are only 11 years older than me, less than one round, why should I call you uncle?"

Probably because the two of them often bickered like this, after Luo Yingjie said something, he didn't bother to argue with her on this issue, and instead smiled at Gouzi: "Is big brother there?"

"Yes! I drank some wine and just fell asleep."

In this regard, Luo Yingjie knew that Boss Peng had arthritis, so he developed the habit of drinking a few sips of wine before going to bed, so he didn't think it was strange: People who run boats, especially those who have lived on fishing boats all their lives, are generally prone to arthritis.Drink some wine before going to bed to keep you warm.

"Brother Luo, have you promised me something?"

Seeing Xiaoyingzi pulling his sleeve with his left hand and stretching out his right hand in front of his eyes, Luo Yingjie had no choice but to take out a box cannon from behind, and then took out two magazines from his pocket, handed them to her together, and said: "Xiaoyingzi Yingzi, it's not good for a girl to get married when playing with guns, so if you play in secret, don't let your father see, otherwise, he will scold me and say that I have led you to ruin."

"I know, I promise not to tell him." As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes and looked at his brother beside him.

Although Gouzi doesn't like to talk, he is not stupid. No, when he saw this threatening look, he immediately shook his head and said, "Don't say anything."

Only then did Xiao Yingzi laugh.After nodding to Zhang Qingshan, she entered the cabin with the gift Luo Yingjie gave her.

At this time, Gouzi said secretly: "Brother Luo, my one..."

Luo Yingjie immediately looked around seriously, then quickly took out four magazines from his pocket, and secretly stuffed them to him while telling him in a low voice: "Be economical."

Gouzi nodded, and after Luo Yingjie and Zhang Qingshan entered the cabin, he lowered the white lantern halfway from the mast, and he also nodded to the vigilant Xiang Tao and others outside, and smiled...