Lu Xu was prepared to see a broken boat, but when he arrived at the dock, he saw a brand-new fishing boat.
The boat was painted red and hung with a flag of green mountains on a black background, all of which were brand new.
The boat has a thatched shed, and outside the cabin are coir raincoats and bamboo hats.
Lu Xu visually inspected that although the fishing boat was not as wide as the Song family's passenger ship, it was larger than the Song family's fishing boat.
He looked carefully at the entire dock. The area closest to the city gate was occupied by the Song family. Next to the Song family were the official boats, and after that were the Qiu family's fishing boats.
Although the fishing boat of the Qiu brothers was a little further from the city gate, it was located much closer to the center than the ordinary fishing boat that paid money to the Song family.
After Lu Xu made some observations, he became very curious about the family he knew least about - the Qiu brothers were trying to get a piece of the Song family's pie in the Song family's territory!
The big man and the honest man asked Lu Xu to wait at the pier while they asked which boat went to Yinma Town.
The man running the Qiu family's fish stall was also a big man with dark skin. He looked younger than the two brothers. He had big eyes and a sweet smile. Seeing that Lu Xu was brought in by the two of them, he gave Lu Xu a stool first. Xu sat down and took the initiative to chat with Lu Xu.
Hearing that Lu Xu is from Yinma Town, the child said, "It's no coincidence, my uncle and the others often go there to catch fish recently, and ask them to send you back later."
Lu Xu was curious: "I heard that the Qiu brothers are all mountain people. How come they catch fish?"
Child: "It's not that Song Sanye's people are busy dumping grain, and there are fewer fish sellers in the county. Brother Dahu asked us if we dared to go down the river. Why don't we dare? Why not do it, Dahu Brother Hu said, we will catch fish and sell them."
Good guy, take advantage of the emptiness behind the Song family, and copy Song's family background? !
Lu Xu: "Aren't you afraid that Song San will be unhappy when he comes back?"
Child: "What's there to be unhappy about? Brother Dahu and Mr. Song often drink together. Brother Dahu said that if Mr. Song won't let us take it, we will move aside."
Lu Xu: "..."
It turns out that this position belongs to the Song family! He said how could the boat gang give such a good position to the Qiu family.
What a tough head! Lu Xu was sour, this is what being a big brother should look like.
He was even more curious about this Qiu Hu.
Lu Xu asked: "Are you all named Qiu?"
The child shook his head, "My surname is Tan! Tan Shitou, Brother Shubao who brought you here, Brother Shanbao's surname is Liang. We are different from the Boat Gang. Only Brother Dahu's surname is Qiu. We lived a hard life in the mountains, but Brother Dahu broke out." , and brought us all out."
His eyes were bright and full of admiration. Lu Xu listened with longing in his eyes.
Tan Shitou talked to Lu Xu about Qiu Hu's heroic deeds.
When the big man Liang Shubao and the simple and thick-faced Liang Shanbao came to call Lu Xu, the two of them had already called each other brothers and cherished each other.
Before leaving, Tan Shitou insisted on giving Lu Xu two fish.
Lu Xu didn't want it, but Tan Touto threw it into his cart. "My uncle got it all from me. My brothers don't want any money!"
The boatman and the Liang family brothers also persuaded him to take it, with a threatening tone: "If you don't take the things that are caught for nothing in the river, you will look down on our brothers!"
Lu Xu stopped being polite and said, "I'll bring you something delicious tomorrow!"
Tan Shitou: "Okay! Uncle, please paddle more carefully!"
Uncle Tan Shitou was punting the boat, only in his thirties, whiter than Tan Shitou, with big eyes similar to him, high nose bridge, and shy smile, "I know, you sell fish well!"
After boarding the boat, Lu Xu knew why the Liang family brothers would show such terrified expressions when they heard that he was going to take the boat every day, and why they helped him carry the cart into the cabin and told him to sit firmly in the cabin and not come out. Shitou also told his uncle to be more careful.
This boat is going to capsize!
Where Lu Xu could still sit still, he hurriedly moved the things on the cart down, making the weight on both sides more even, and when the cabin was stable, he poked his head out of the cabin and saw Uncle Tan standing by the side of the boat struggling to row .
Lu Xu: "Uncle, stand in the middle!"
Uncle Tan: "I can't see the river when I'm standing in the middle! There's a lot of water and weeds, tripping the boat!"
Lu Xu: "Paddle to the middle of the river. The water is deep in the middle and the water plants cannot reach the boat!"
Uncle Tan: "I know, I know."
But he rowed back and forth, and the boat still scraped against the river.
Lu Xu climbed out and took another oar, "I'll help you, let's paddle together."
But there was no tacit understanding between the two of them, and the result was that the boat spun around in circles for no apparent reason.
Lu Xu himself was happy, "Uncle, please don't paddle, I'll try it myself."
Uncle Tan: "Okay, try it."
Lu Xu could only slide the boat near the center of the river, but he could not move it closer to the center.
He thought for a while, then asked Uncle Tan's oar to come over, and used both oars simultaneously, exerting force while relaxing, slowly finding balance, and rowed the boat to the center.
Fortunately, the current was smooth, so it was not too tiring for him to hold two oars at the same time.
He rowed steadily, and Uncle Tan took over for him and shamelessly praised him, "You are still smart."
Lu Xu: "I grew up by the water. I often see other people rowing boats, and I can imitate them after seeing them too much. How different is it from you, who obviously came down from the mountain, and dare to row a boat when you say rowing. I heard Shitou say, there are many of you If you don’t know how to swim, you dare to row!”
Uncle Tan: “I can’t swim!”
Lu Xu: "It's really amazing. If it were me, I wouldn't dare!"
Uncle Tan cheered up, and smiled sheepishly, "The landlubber rowing a boat is making you laugh."
Lu Xu also praised: "What a joke, no one has ever learned to learn. There are advantages to not knowing how to swim. Those who can't swim must be more careful than those who can. Haven't you heard that most people drown?" Someone who can swim.”
Uncle Tan laughed, "You can really talk, people in your county are smart."
Lu Xu: "I'm not from the county. I was also born in a small village on the mountainside. My family suffered a disaster, so I had no choice but to go to Guanyang to do some small business. Besides, heroes don't care about their origins. Uncle Qiu just made his own way." Start a career?"
Uncle Tan was even happier, his big eyes were bent into crescent moons, "You are so good, no wonder you can do business in the county at a young age, unlike our brothers, who can't help Dahu, just rely on Dahu to take care of him ."
Lu Xu disagreed: "You can't say that. Uncle Qiu supports you, and you are also his confidence. Without you, he would be bullied by himself no matter how powerful he is. Look at me, my brothers are small, I just arrived in Guanyang and I didn’t know what was going on, but I offended Song Liu. If I had a group of brothers like you, would I still be afraid of Song Liu?"
Uncle Tan laughed heartily and said proudly: "Shu Bao told me, it doesn't matter, you will ride on my boat from now on!"
Lu Xu: "Okay, uncle, you can practice rowing well."
Uncle Tan smiled even more heartily and said proudly: "Just sit back and relax. I've been rowing for several days and I haven't turned over once!"
Lu Xu laughed, "Uncle, your requirements are too low!"
They chatted and paddled, and gradually reached the edge of Lu's Village.
Lu Xu asked Uncle Tan to stop the boat at the shore and make an appointment with Uncle Tan to set off tomorrow morning.
Lu Xu: "Nowadays, prices are high. I don't know how much the price has gone up for the boat owners. I'll give you a hundred cash for one trip and two hundred cash for a round trip. Do you think you'll agree with that?"
Uncle Tan: "No, I usually catch fish in your town to the east. I always pass by your village when I go to the county seat. How much do I charge for stopping for a while!"
Lu Xu: "That can't be done. This is not a stopover. I have already offended the boat gang by taking your boat. We met by chance, and you are willing to fight for righteousness. I am grateful in my heart, and we are on the same page. Let alone make friends suffer. We are different from the Song family. We all earn hard money. We all come out out of necessity. Isn’t it just to make a living? Two hundred cash is worthless now. We can buy some salt and sugar and go home It’s also good to coax the children. If you don’t accept me, I won’t dare to take your boat in the future.”
Uncle Tan couldn't keep up with what he said, so he insisted on forgetting it today, "We'll talk about the shipping fee tomorrow. I'll ask about it when I get back, and I won't let you suffer."
"What loss have I suffered? I have made a net profit. Look at my car. Brother Liang gave me more scales, and Shitou gave me two big fish for free!"
Lu Xu stopped being polite and said goodbye to him by the river. After Uncle Tan's boat had rowed far away, he pushed the stroller home.
Uncle Tan is not good at rowing, but he has good luck in fishing. All the fish sold at the stone stall are big fish, and these two were especially big for him.
Lu Xu scraped off the scales to remove the internal organs, and left the swim bladder for Lu Rui to step on to play with. One was made into soup and the other was braised in soy sauce.
Afraid that Lu Rui and La Yue would accidentally swallow the thorns while drinking the soup, Lu Xu picked out the fish meat, chopped it into minced meat and rolled it into balls, and stewed the soup with only the fish heads and bones. Serve the fish meatballs.
The fish was big, and Lu Xu added a lot of water. When it was ready, there was a big pot. Lu Xu asked Lu Zhou to bring a pot to each of the third and fourth aunts, and also scooped up two small pots for the Yan family and the third grandma. Send home.
Braised fish is only shared by them and their grandparents.
When Lu Zhou returned from delivering the fish soup, Grandpa Lu also gave four freshly baked sesame seed cakes.
The thick sesame seed cakes were chewy and perfect for soaking in fish soup. Each of them had one, and La Yue and Lu Rui shared one.
After Lu Xu had eaten and drank enough, he packed up the ingredients and walked to Yan Junqi's study to gossip with him about what he had seen today.
"...There is no reason to just take advantage. If I never pay the fare, I will feel indebted and others will feel uncomfortable. That will make it difficult to be a good friend. What do you think?"
Yan Junqi agreed, "This is the right thing to do. We are not familiar with each other, so we can only benefit from each other."
"Yeah! I think so too!" Lu Xu felt comfortable and immediately no longer worried about his ship money.
He chatted with Yan Junqi about the Qiu family again with great interest.
"I heard that Qiu Hu went down the mountain alone to break into the **, and he brought out all the people in the village. I think Qiu Hu has a tough temper, and his brothers are all on the same page with him, and sooner or later they will start a fight with the boat gang. !”
His eyes were bright and eager to try.
Yan Junqi reminded him, "Fighting is not a trick, and if you don't do it well, you will go to jail. You must not act recklessly."
Lu Xu pouted, "I know. If a fight could solve the problem, I would have beaten Song Liu's grandson long ago. I really want to put a sack on him and beat him up."
Yan Junqi smiled: "You can think of making friends with the Qiu family and fighting against the boat gang, which is very powerful."
Lu Xu's attention shifted in an instant, and he slapped his head on the table cheerfully, "Really! I still have a second hand!"
"If only the Qiu brothers are not enough, I can also look for Luo Shen and Xiao Ma. You don't know, the boat helpers are too shady. Not only do they occupy the river transportation, all fishing boats have to pay protection fees to their family, and they bully the county. , took in a group of gangsters and gangsters, and even beggars had to listen to them. I saw that Luo Shen had wanted to deal with them for a long time, but Luo Shen's family didn't have as many people named Song. Song Da and Song Er had some reputation in the state capital, Luo Shen He's also on duty at the Yamen, so it's hard for him to take action. As long as I find enough excuses, Luo Shen will definitely beat him!"
Yan Junqi smiled as he listened to him, "Brother Xu is the smartest."
Lu Xu drank tea, "Hey, I'm not as smart as you. You're smart, I'm smart."
Yan Junqi gave him some tea.
Lu Xu bought this tea for him from the county.
Lu Xu thought the tea he drank earlier was too bitter, so he changed it to a mid-range tea that was said to be the most cost-effective. As Yan Junqi drank, he was indeed happier than before.
Yan Junqi: "Speaking of which, I did see a few unfamiliar fishing boats at the wharf of Yinma Town recently. The black flag is painted with green mountains, and the accent sounds unfamiliar. It should be the boat of the Qiu family."
Lu Xu looked at him and stared in surprise: "Are you going to Yinma Town?"
Yan Junqi: "Well, buy tofu."
Lu Xu silently recalled the layout of the shops in Yinma Town. No matter which tofu shop he went to, Yan Junqi never had to cross the pier!
He sat more seriously and said to Yan Junqi: "Junqi, I am not as good as you. Even if I go to buy tofu a hundred times, I may not even think of coming to the pier to take a look. Even if I go to the pier, I may not notice these things." .”
Yan Junqi: "If you go, you will definitely pay more attention than me."
Lu Xu shook his head repeatedly.
He held his chin and thought and thought, and suddenly an idea came to him, "Jun Qi, what if I suggested that the Qiu family transport things from the county to do business in Yinma Town and Lujia Village?"
Yan Junqi laughed, "I just said Brother Xu is the smartest."
Lujia Village can do it, Yinma Town can do it, but which village or town along the Guanyang River can’t do it?
Isn’t this how the Song family got started?
It's just that they are now so powerful that they look down on these small businesses and have turned to collecting protection fees for passing ships.
If the Qiu family is willing to pay, the Song family may not be willing to do so, but once time goes by, will the Qiu family, which has a large family and a large business and a large number of people, be willing to pay the Song family?
They looked at each other and laughed in unison.
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