The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 353
"Mom, what kind of boat is this? It's colorful. Could it be from a theater?"

Pan Mei raised her hand to block the light, and looking from a distance, she saw colorful flags hung on both sides of the cruise ship.

"This is a painting boat. Look at the top of the mast. There seems to be a flag hanging there. I think it's the officials and officials nearby who are traveling."

Zhu Xiu frowned. The river was narrow, and the boat was huge, occupying almost two-thirds of the width of the river. The passenger ship they were on was forced to pull over and park slowly, letting the boat go first.

The most irritating thing is that the boatman on the boat saw another boat coming in the river early in the morning, but he didn't let anyone lower the sail and slow down, and just rushed straight towards it without any scruples.

The painting boat was going down the river. At this moment, the north wind happened to blow again. The wind and water helped it, and the speed was frightening. The water waves crushed by the bottom of the boat rushed straight to both banks. Before it could get close, the passenger ship moored on the shore was hit by the waves. The shot was shaking from side to side.

"What a bastard!" Pan Mei hugged the mast tightly with both hands, her face turned pale with fright, her legs were trembling, she felt weak under her feet, and she felt dizzy.

Zhu Xiu squatted down, lowered his center of gravity, and barely stabilized his legs and feet.

Hu Guangyue quickly pulled Zhu Liang and Zhu Fang into the cabin.

The boss of the ship and several sailors, carrying short knives and long sticks, angrily ran up to the bow of the ship. Just as they were about to yell at the approaching boat, they suddenly saw the flag hanging on the top of the mast of the boat. The curse words came to his lips and he swallowed them hard. .

This passenger ship was bought by the owner of the ship out of his family's savings. The whole family is counting on him to make money by running the ship. If the ship capsizes in the river and the hard-earned money is wasted, the whole family's life will be in jeopardy.

Only when the boat passes by the side of the passenger ship can the people on the passenger ship feel the difference in tonnage and size between the two.

The height of the passenger ship's mast can only reach the second floor of the boat.

Just in terms of the length of the deck, Huafang is five or six times as long as a passenger ship.

The boat sailed by, and the crushed water splashed onto the passenger ship. In the stern cabin of the boat, several boatmen in short coats leaned on the guard board, looking at the people on the passenger boat below with sneers on their faces.

Zhu Xiu looked up and saw a head peeking out from behind the three layers of fluttering gauze curtains on the boat. They were more than ten feet apart. The two looked at each other and were both stunned.

It was a girl with picturesque features. Her original charming smile froze when she saw Zhu Xiu, and two groups of blush appeared on her cheeks. She hurriedly retracted her head like a frightened deer.

The startling glance left a deep sense of amazement in Zhu Xiu's heart.

Different from Fu Jinzhan's heroic appearance, different from Fu Jinhuan's charming and playful, and different from Shi Lingyan's innocent and lively, this girl is like the kind of perfect Jiangnan woman in imagination, gentle, graceful, quiet and beautiful
The boat continued to sail toward Banqiao Store under the influence of the sails.

The river finally calmed down, the violently swaying passenger ship escaped the danger of capsizing, and the people on board breathed a long sigh of relief.

The boat boss wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cursed fiercely at the figure of the boat sailing away.

Pan Mei said angrily: "You coward, is there any point in yelling now? I tell you, you should have turned the boat sideways just now, and no one could even think of leaving!"

The boss of the ship spoke in Kaifeng Mandarin with a strong local accent and said with a wry smile: "Didn't the officials see the flag hanging on the big ship?"

"I saw it, it was embroidered with the character Zhou, so what?" Pan Mei spat into the river.

"Oh, that's the Zhou family's boat, who dares to mess with it?" the boat boss said with a sad face.

Pan Mei glared at her and scolded: "Zhou family? Which Zhou family? The boat just now was clearly not well-intentioned. Fortunately we docked in time, otherwise we would all have to go down to the river to feed the fish!"

The boss of the boat smiled bitterly: "Several officials are from other places and don't know how powerful the Zhou family is. The head of the Zhou family is a high-ranking official in the imperial court and a founding hero who followed the late emperor. The Zhou family is also the boss of thirteen shipping companies in Jiangning City. Lord, who among those running boats in the south of the Yangtze River dares to disrespect the Zhou family?

They are gods in the sky, and we are just fish in the mud. Even if the boat capsizes, we can only consider ourselves unlucky."

Zhu Xiu's heart was moved and she asked hurriedly: "Is this the head of the Zhou family, the current Grand Master Zhou Zong?"

The boss of the boat thought for a while and said, "That's the name, but the villain doesn't know what kind of official Zhou Patriarch is."

Zhu Xiu and Pan Mei looked at each other. After arguing for a long time, they met the Zhou family in the canal.

Zhu Xiu thought for a moment and said decisively: "Boss, please let someone put down the boat and send us to the shore."

The boss of the ship was surprised and said: "The officials are not going to Jiangning?" "No, it's a bit urgent. If we go in two days, we will find you again."

The boss of the boat hesitated and said: "This boat money"

Zhu Xiu smiled and said: "There is no need to refund the boat money, just send someone to take us ashore as soon as possible."

The boss of the boat bowed happily: "Thank you for the reward! I will let my brothers punt the boat to take you ashore."

Having said that, the captain of the ship quickly went down to give instructions.

Pan Mei said in surprise: "You don't want to go back to the Banqiao store to find the Zhou family on the boat, do you?"

Zhu Xiu smiled strangely: "Come over here."

Pan Mei leaned over and Zhu Xiu whispered in his ear.

Pan Mei's eyes lit up and she grinned ferociously: "What a great idea, I like it!"

But after thinking about it, Pan Mei asked strangely: "How can you be sure that the woman on the boat is from the Zhou family? Can holding her threaten the Zhou family?"

Zhu Xiu smiled slightly and shook the folding fan: "Intuition!"

Pan Mei looked suspicious, feeling that Zhu Xiu had something else she hadn't told him.

Half an hour later, a group of people landed ashore and walked for a while. They met a group of merchants on their way to the Banqiao store. Pan Mei spent ten guan on three mules and drove a few people to the Banqiao store. .

~~~
Cha Hui, the waiter at the "Ying Ke Lai" restaurant in the Banqiao store, is on a holiday today. The owner has not taken a break for a whole month, so he specifically asked him to rest at home today and not have to go to the restaurant to help.

Zha Hui lived east of Banqiaodian. His parents died early, and the only ancestral property left to him was this small two-story house located in the "rich area" of Banqiaodian.

Zha Hui had already planned his life. He planned to work in a restaurant to earn money first, then buy this house in two years and go to Jiangning to make a living.

Zha Hui's dream is to own a shop of his own in Jiangning City.

Today, Zha Hui slept until the afternoon and didn't wake up until the afternoon. He got up and fetched water to wash his face. He planned to go out to buy two taels of rice wine and buy some cooked meat on the way to satisfy his craving.

"Bang bang bang~"

As soon as I put on my shoes and socks, there was a knock on the courtyard door.

"Who is it~"

Cha Hui grumbled, and hurried out of the room to open the door.

The courtyard door was opened through a narrow crack. Through the crack, Zha Hui saw several strangers standing outside the door. Their faces looked familiar.

"Who are you?~" Zha Hui asked confused.

Pan Mei smiled and said: "The waiter, you don't recognize us after not seeing us for two days? You will recognize the money I reward you with, right?"

Zha Hui remembered it. Aren't these the wealthy people who ate in the restaurant a few days ago and rewarded him with a small piece of broken silver?

"Oh~ It turns out they are some officials from the north!" Zha Hui quickly changed his face to a flattering smile, "I wonder how these officials ended up at the villain's house?"

"Of course I have something to come to you for!" Pan Mei pushed open the door and stepped into the yard. Zhu Xiu followed behind, swinging the folding fan unhurriedly.

Hu Guangyue entered the hospital last with the two babies, not forgetting to close the door and bolt it.

Zha Huishan stepped back with a smile, an ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

(End of this chapter)