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Chapter 19: 商船 (Merchant Ship)
Translator: LittleYen
Zhong Ziqi looked anxious so he asked Zhao Zheng’an what was wrong.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll ignore you!”
This tactic worked 100times effectively, Zhao Zheng’an looked panic-stricken, his hand clutching the corner of his sleeve, afraid that Zhong Ziqi would leave him behind.
Zhong Ziqi said slowly, “Tell me, what’s wrong? Who is bullying you? Wife will vent it out for you.”
“No one is bullying me, but bullying you.” Zhao Zheng’an suddenly spoke, his voice still tinged with anger and annoyance.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t think it was about himself so he froze for a moment, thus he asked curiously, “Who bullied me? Did someone say something to you?”
Zhao Zheng’an, who could not hide anything, told Zhong Ziqi what he had heard, at the end he said in really serious tone “My wife is not that kind of person.”
Although Zhong Ziqi was angry at the village people’s shabby mouth, he was also attracted by Zhao Zheng’an’s trusting and serious look, “Then, what am I like?”
Zhao Zheng’an tilted his head, thinking: “My wife is the best wife in the whole world.” Zhao Zheng’an only felt that this description was the best, the most suitable for his wife so he couldn’t help but grin happily.
Zhong Ziqi also did not know whether to laugh or cry but at the same time his heart was touched by the fact that it was not necessary to do anything.Just a word of support, a word of comfort, is the best superglue to make him heal quickly.
“All right! Let’s not be angry, they can say what they like, we won’t lose a piece of meat anyway.”
“Why would they say that?” This was what Zhao Zheng’an didn’t understand.
Zhong Ziqi pondered for a moment and said, “Because, ah, they are jealous!”
“What is ‘jealous’?”
“Because there are some things we have and they don’t, and they get jealous and unhappy.”
Zhao Zheng’an seemed to understand but also not, “So we could just give it to them? That way they’ll be happy.”
“That’s ours, if we give it to them, then we have nothing, what will you do?” Zhong Ziqi threw the question back
“Well …… then don’t give it to them yet, Wife,don’t be unhappy!” Zhao Zheng’an didn’t even think about it, before he made his answer.
Zhong Ziqi was satisfied, not that he was stingy, he wanted to prevent someone from making a bad move from Zhao Zheng’an in the future therefore he took precautions in advance.
“Okay, don’t think about it! You go and fetch water for me! Carry it to the back of the house.” Zhong Ziqi handed him the wooden bucket.
With his problem solved, Zhao Zheng’an was happy again, carrying the bucket, skipping and jumping, to the well.
Zhong Ziqi put his mind at ease as he returned to the courtyard, where the three children were still honestly staying, calling out obediently when they saw him coming, “Brother Ziqi”.
Zhong Ziqi had nothing to eat at home, only some fruit left, so he picked out some good-looking ones to give to them: “Take them and eat! Brother Zheng’an can’t play with you anymore for today. If you guys have time, please come back again later, okay?”
The three children took one fruit in each hand, thanked Zhong Ziqi happily, then ran away one after another.
After locking the door, Zhong Ziqi took his tools and went to the vegetable garden, digging a hole, sowing seeds, watering and burying the soil,these four steps. By the time they were done, it was already dark.
When the vegetables were ready, Zhong Ziqi was relieved, but it was his first time planting and he was looking forward to the results.
In the evening, Zhong Ziqi stir-fried pork sausage and cucumber, there was still some bone broth left over from the morning.The bone broth soup was warmed up, so it was just right for one dish and one soup.Zhong Ziqi was very satisfied with the balance of nutrition while Zhao Zheng’an ate very full!
The two of them took turns to take a bath after dinner then went to bed early, there was no entertainment in ancient times so early to bed at night, early to rise in the morning, that was the rule. So after a long day’s work, they were already tired. There was no such thing as modern insomnia.
The two of them fell asleep almost immediately once they touched the bed, so they didn’t have the heart to think about anything.
……
The Grand Canal is a large river that runs between the north and the south,although it is not particularly wide, it is particularly long. Many ships from the north would take goods from the north to the south by water, while the south did the same, bringing local products to the north and selling them at high prices.As long as you can do business, then more trips to the waterways to make money is certain,as long as you didn’t encounter pirate and stormy sea, you were sure to make a fortune.
It was a beautiful day without a breeze and the heat that was stifling to the chest.
A large ship came slowly from the south, a large flag with the word “High”(高)on it,the banner was flying high, fluttering, signalling that this was not an ordinary cargo ship.
“Young master, there is a small town ahead, do you want to take a rest?”
At the bow of the ship, two men stood, the one who spoke was a sturdy man with large eyebrows, he was bowing slightly and said respectfully.
The man called the young master, leaning lazily against the railing, his black ink-ish hair hanging down over his shoulder, his skin snow-white, his appearance feminine with a touch of heroism, in short,he looked ‘too weak to stand up to the wind’. Hearing the question, the man answered languidly, “Then pull toward shore! It’s been a long day’s journey, so let’s go down and rest! By the way, also take some goods down.”
[弱不禁風 : ruò bù jīn fēng
too weak to stand up to the wind (idiom); extremely delicate / fragile state of health]
“Yes.” The burly man clasped his fist as he went off to give orders, leaving the man alone at the prow of the boat, his eyes looking into the distance, if one looked closely, one would see that his eyes were vacant, obviously lost in thought.
Business at Zhong Ziqi’s stall was as good as ever, but he knew that it would only be for this season. After the summer,business would cool off.
So then, he should sell something else.
Nowadays, the only way to make quick money is to buy and sell,since it’s too slow to stick to one mu of land or work for someone else, neither he nor Zhao Zheng’an are suitable for this, so he has decided to go all the way down this road.
In the future, when you have enough money, you can build a big house in the countryside, keep a few servants, and live a leisurely life.
“Go, go! It’ll be too late.”
“I didn’t expect it so soon!”
There was a confusion of voices, from far away to near, Zhong Ziqi saw many people running towards the pier.Some people at the noodle stall who were eating noodles were also puzzled then he grabbed one of the people who had just run over and asked, “What’s going on? What’s the hurry?”
The man was in a hurry so when he was pulled impatiently, he shook it off then ran on immediately, leaving the words echoing through the stall, “There’s a big merchant ship coming.”
The words were like a depth charge, blowing up the docks, no — it was the men who worked there that did it.They knew it meant big business was coming so they didn’t even eat their noodles, they all ran to the pier.
In an instant, there were only a few scattered people left in all the stalls. Half of the people who ran to the pier were workers and half were spectators, not even bothering to eat what they had paid for.
Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Ning, the four of them were facing the street, which was a bit empty and quiet for a while, they were a bit overwhelmed by the contrast which was too great.
A peek to the left, you can see the pier, which is surrounded by a lot of noise.
“Isn’t that a bit frightening ? Just get used to it.” Uncle Song laughed when he saw the four of them dumbfounded, he wouldn’t admit that he, too, had once been this dumbfounded.
Zhao Sheng scratched his head and asked, “Uncle Song, is it often like this?”
Seeing that the four people’s eyes were all focused on him at once, Uncle Song cleared his throat, said with the look of a man who had been there before, “Not often, but if there is such a big effect, then it must be those rich and powerful big merchant ships coming, these people, all of them just want to go and see what big people are coming.”
“Oh, is that so!”
“Well, it’s none of our business, let’s clean up the dishes!” Zhong Ziqi was surprised, but soon calmed down.
Although Zhao Zheng’an was also curious and looked over to the crowd, he was not going to leave Zhong Ziqi alone, after he heard Zhong Ziqi’s words, he took the lead to start cleaning up the dishes on the stall.
On the other side of the dock, the originally noisy crowd suddenly fell silent for a while, all eyes staring straight at the man that was coming down from the boat.
It was rare for them, the common people of these small places, to have seen such a good-looking person, moreover he is a man. Although there were good-looking caravans passing by, they were just not as good-looking and dignified as this man.
Gao Hanjin raised his eyebrows at the scene in front of him, and appreciated the vision of this group of rustics, so he was generous enough to ignore their disgusting eyes. “Swish” He opened the paper fan in his hand and gestured to the men standing behind him, “Come on, let’s go out for a stroll! After eating dry food for so long, it’s finally time for a change of taste.”
Gao Hanjin, as the owner of the ship, had a high status, but this was the first time he had taken a merchant ship to sea, even though he was arrogant and disdainful, he was still a man with a brain. So, nothing should be special. This is a way to win people’s hearts and minds.It was not for nothing that he ate the dry food for nearly half a month.At the very least, the men of the caravan no longer looked at him with the same disdain they had when they first arrived.
The man behind him was ordered to lead the way, while Gao Hanjin walked behind, shaking his paper fan.
As he walked through the crowd, he paused for a moment. His thin lips curled up to a young ger next to him, revealing a charming smile: “This pretty ger, may I ask if there is any delicious food around here?”
The young ger was immediately charmed, confused and disoriented,wearing romance on his face, he uncomfortably replied: “In front… in front, there is a cold noodle stall.”
“Thank you.” Gao Hanjin ‘waved his sleeve, not taking a cloud with him’ (挥一挥衣袖，不带走一片云彩).
[我挥一挥衣袖，不带走一片云彩;
“Quietly I left, just as I came quietly; I waved my sleeves without taking away a cloud”, from Xu Zhimo’s poem: “Farewell to Cambridge”. It roughly means “come quietly, walk quietly, and don’t take away anything.” “Cloud” has a symbolic meaning: The cloud represents a rainbow-like dream, which is reflected in the water, but not taken away.]
Until the handsome guy was far away, the ger still looked like a love-struck fool, which made people shake their heads in disbelief and secretly stay away from him.
Who would dare to marry such a ger?