Chapter 164: The Charm of a Bunk Bed
More and more fishermen joined Lu Lin's fleet. They all hanged the carp flag logo on their boats.
The carp on the flag looked so vivid that people who saw it were amazed.
Han Xiao Zhou sat on his father's boat, he looked at the carp flag flying in the wind and smiled.
"Xiao Zhou, you are back! Are you feeling better? Have you recovered?" Han Xiao Zhou's friend, Jiang Chuan'er, rowed a boat and said hi to Han Xiao Zhou.
Han Xiao Zhou nodded, "Yeah, I'm all better now!"
"They said that you were taken away by the County Magistrate, is it true?" Jiang Chuan'er asked worriedly.
Han Xiao Zhou shook his head. "It's nothing like that. We had no money to stay in the inn and we were chased out. The County Magistrate and his madam took us in and paid for my treatment fee."
"So that's the case! Knowing that you and your father were taken into the county yamen, everyone is very worried," Jiang Chuan'er said.
The fishermen usually avoided any contact with people living on shore, they were worried for the Hans when they heard they were taken into the county yamen.
"The new County Magistrate is really that good? He has sent for a doctor for you and treated you for free?"
Han Xiao Zhou shook his head and said, "It's not for free. Father is paying the debt slowly. Uncle Qin said the treatment fee plus the medicine fee was 400 cents, I think the doctor has charged less for the sake of Magistrate Lu."
Before this, his father had spent over two taels of silver to treat him, but he showed no sign of improvement, and he recovered fully after he was taken in by Magistrate Lu.
"Magistrate Lu really doesn't put on airs. When I was in the County Yamen, he even asked a chef to cook for father and I," thinking about the taste of the County Yamen dishes, Han Xiao Zhou subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
When Han Xiao Zhou and Han Feng were in the county yamen, they had their meals together with the servants.
Yun Niang's cooking skills were extraordinary, leaving Han Xiao Zhou constantly thinking of the taste.
Jiang Chuan'er blinked and said with a jealous tone, "That's great! Father bought me some grilled squid from the market several days ago, it was so yummy."
Then he raised his head and looked at the carp flag on Han Xiao Zhou's boat. "This flag is very beautiful!"
"That's right! This flag is designed by the County Magistrate. If you join the fleet, you can also have a flag on your boat."
Jiang Chuan'er blinked and said, "My mother is willing, but my father is not! My father said these officials were up to no good, he is not interested to work for officials for some petty gains."
"Look at the fish on this flag, it's a carp. It is said that it will bless us to fish more," Han Xiao Zhou said.
Jiang Chuan'er blinked. This fish was still relatively rare. The fishermen wouldn't eat them when they fished them, they would sell them to the wealthy families who liked to put them in a pond as ornamental fish.
"Xiao Zhou, why does the magistrate want to establish a fleet?" Jiang Chuan'er asked.
Han Xiao Zhou blinked and said, "I don't know! But father and I are very poor, I don't think he is ill-intentioned towards us."
"Are you living on the shore now? What kind of place is that?" Jiang Chuan'er asked curiously.
Han Xiao smiled and said, "Do you want to go take a look? I can take you there!"
Jiang Chuan'er asked curiously, "Can you?"
Han Xiao nodded and said, "Yes! Uncle Qin Ming said that I could take friends to the residence to have a look."
Han Xiao Zhou was currently sleeping on the upper bed of a bunk bed. Han Xiao Zhou was fascinated by the bed and he couldn't wait to show off.
......
Jiang Chuan'er's father, Jiang Xian, did not agree to join the fleet, but he allowed Han Xiao Zhou to follow Han Xiao Zhou and have a look at the residence.
Jiang Chuan'erHan Feng had also looked for Jiang Xian. Jiang Xian rejected Han Feng's invitation right away. Jiang Xian, a cautious and skeptical person by nature, did not believe that there was such good thins in this world.
However, Jiang Xian was very curious about the dormitory built by Lu Lin.
Jiang Xian also wanted to take a look, but he didn't want anyone to know he was interested. So he was actually very excited when his son told him he was going to take look, he secretly told his son to pay attention to the details.
At dusk, Jiang Chuan'er moored his father's boat by the shore. There were already three boats moored nearby and they all had a carp flag on, it looked rather impressive.
After Han Xiao Zhou tied the ship up, he and Jiang Chuan'er went ashore.
Soon what came to Jiang Chuan'er's sight was a row of wooden houses. When Han Xiao Zhou entered the gate, he happened to bump into Qin Ming who was walking out.
"Uncle Qin!"
"Uncle Qin?" Jiang Chuan'er asked curiously.
"Come, Chuan'er, this is Uncle Qin, he is the captain of the fleet, he is in charge of arranging our accommodation and stuff!"
Jiang Chuan'er was confused. "Is he also a fisher? I've never seen him before!"
Han Xiao Zhou shook his head. "No, he is Magistrate Lu's trusted subordinate."
Jiang Chuan'er blinked and thought, 'So he is an amateur.'
Qin Ming glanced at Han Xiao Zhou and said, "Xiao Zhou, you're back!" Jiang Chuan'er was afraid of being kicked out, so he timidly hid behind Han Xiao Zhou.
"You brought a friend here!" Qin Ming asked with a warm smile.
Han Xiao Zhou nodded, "Yeah! This is my good friend Jiang Chuan'er."
"There's hot soup in the kitchen. Help yourself and your friend."
Han Xiao Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks, Uncle Qin, or should I call you Captain Qin now? Haha, it's getting a bit chilly at night, my friend and I will have some."
Qin Ming gave Han Xiao Zhou a doting smile.
Han Xiao Zhou took Jiang Chuan'er to the kitchen. There was a big pot of seaweed and egg soup in the kitchen.
Han Xiao Zhou served Jiang Chuan'er a bowl and another bowl for himself.
"Do you have to pay for the soup?" Jiang Chuan'er was a little confused.
Han Xiao Zhou shook his head and said, "Nah, there's always hot soup available in the kitchen."
Jiang Chuan'er blinked and thought, 'There is such a good thing in the world.'
Jiang Chuan'er didn't have dinner, so he had two blows of soup in a row.
Han Xiao Zhou then held Jiang Chuan'er's hand and said, "Let's go to my dormitory. I want to show you my bunk bed."
Jiang Chuan'er followed Han Xiao Zhou into the dormitory.
Along the way, they met a few fishermen. The fishermen had a tight circle, so they all knew Jiang Chuan'er. When they saw Jiang Chuan'er come over, they greeted him warmly, Jiang Chuan'er loved the atmosphere.
As soon as Han Xiao Zhou opened the door, Jiang Chuan'er saw the bunk bed.
Jiang Chuan'er looked at it and exclaimed in surprise, "So awesome! People can sleep on both beds!"
Han Xiao Zhou nodded and said, "That's right, you can sleep on either the upped bed or the lower bed!" I sleep on the upper bed, it's very comfortable."
Jiang Chuan'er turned around and saw another bunk bed, he said curiously, "How come there are two bunk beds in the room?"
Han Xiao Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, Uncle Qin said that one room can hold five to six people, father and I are sharing one room at the moment, but I think soon we need to share it with other people."
Jiang Chuan'er sat on the bunk bed and said, "Even if six people share this room, it still looks spacious. My family are living in one small boat, you know?"
Jiang Chuan'er then tried Han Xiao Zhou's upper bed, he was determined to convince his father to join the fleet.
There were a limited number of rooms in this building. People who came first got to have a private room, otherwise you had to share one room with others.
......
Jiang Chuan'er left the dormitory with reluctance.
"Father, you're back!" Han Xiao Zhou greeted Han Feng.
Han Feng nodded and said, "I heard that you brought Chuan'er here?"
Han Xiao nodded and said, "Yes! Uncle Qin was cool with it, he even asked me and Chuan'er to have some hot soup."
Han Feng had been busy teaching Qin Ming fishing these few days. He always came back home late.
"What did Chuan'er say? Let me guess, he must like it, right? But his father is very stubborn!"
Han Feng and Jiang Xian were really good friends, Jiang Xian was the first person he had approached after he heard Lu Lin was going to establish a fleet, but Jiang Xian turned him down right away.
"But wait a second, I think his father must have changed his mind, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed Chuan'er to follow you back to the dormitory," Han Feng laughed.
Recently, Han Feng had convinced more and more people to join the fleet. The dormitory had gained considerable fame thanks to the word of mouth.
"Father, I see there's a second building being built right now!" Han Xiao Zhou said.
Han Feng nodded and said, "Yeah!"
"Is this building not enough?" Han Xiao Zhou asked in confusion.
Han Feng frowned and said, "I think His Lordship is planning to establish a really large fleet."
Han Xiao Zhou blinked and said, "It costs a lot of money to build so many houses, right?"
Han Feng nodded and said, "I suppose so."
Han Xiao Zhou sighed, he suddenly felt sorry for his father who had worked so hard every single day yet they still had no savings.
"I heard that His Lordship was going to build a big pilot ship," said Han Feng.
Han Xiao Zhou asked excitedly, "Really? A big pilot ship?" Fishermen and fishermen kids harbored special feelings about boats and ships, Han Xiao Zhou's eyes sparkled on hearing the news.
Han Feng nodded and sighed, "Yeah! He has found a team to build the boat, Uncle Qin told me that it took at least a month to finish it even though the team toiled day and night."
"It must be a really big ship then, wow!" Han Xiao Zhou asked.
Han Feng smiled.
Han Xiao said excitedly, "Father, I hope you will be the captain of the pilot ship! You are the best fisherman!"
Han Feng rubbed Han Xiaozhou's head and said, "Thank you, my son! I wish I could have the opportunity to be the captain of the pilot ship as well, but I will work hard no matter I can make it or not!"