"Okay, okay, we're going to quarrel as soon as this matter comes up. Let's think about how to get back to Tudong Town." Lan Ruling turned to Ren Peacock: "Sister Ren, what do you think?"
"We plan to dress up as salt merchants and go to Tudong by water. What do you think?" When Lan Ruling heard that we were pretending to be salt merchants, she immediately retorted: "Strictly arrest the salt merchants in the mountainous area. If you really dress up as them, Dou Even if you don't have a grain of salt, you have to be taken in and served. You might as well change your identity, like a salesman."
"Okay!" When Ren Peacock came, he didn't know that many of these salt collectors had been arrested. Now he could only change his mind temporarily. Fortunately, he hadn't left Yueyang City yet, so he had plenty of opportunities to change his disguise and pretend to be a salesman: "Then let's get everything ready this afternoon, rent a boat, and we'll set off tomorrow." At this time, it was almost noon, and the spring sunshine shone on the window sill, evaporating countless dense fogs. Dongting Lake began to become clearer, and the light of the lake met the sky. , the water is green and the sky is bright, and the flowing silver light can be seen in the lake light.
A few people took advantage of the fine weather to have a rough meal at the inn, followed the road outside the inn to a nearby pier, and took a closer look. Numerous ships and ferries were moored at the pier with their white sails raised, and they were dimly visible. The White Tower was no longer visible in the distance.
"It is not profitable for a few people like us to go back home alone on a boat. Most boatmen are not willing to make the trip. We are afraid that we will have to rent a boat and follow them." After saying that, Ren Peacock looked towards a strange-looking boat in the distance. After shouting, the boatman noticed someone calling them and sailed towards the lake tremblingly.
When we got close, there was a boatman in gray clothes and gray trousers wearing a coir raincoat and bamboo hat standing on the boat. He seemed to be middle-aged. He carefully observed the people on the dock and said in a Huxiang accent: "Yaomei'er, it's your name." For us? You have to go there to take the ferry. This is our Dongting ferry boat and does not accept foreigners."
"Daguo, you are the one we are looking for. We want to go to Tudong. Can you rent a boat for us?" When the boatman heard that we were going to Tudong, he quickly waved his hands and declined: "Tudong? Don't dare, don't dare, there are many in the three nearby counties. There are bandits, but if we go there, we can still come back alive."
"Brother, how about we give you double the money?" Ren Peacock knew that although this kind of raft is a domestic boat, it also carries passengers, so he had to give him twice the money. The boatman was really moved after hearing this, but he was afraid of the bandits and refused to comply. , hesitated and stopped in place, feeling uncomfortable if I agreed, and feeling uncomfortable if I didn't agree.
"Brother, how about we also give you a share? How about giving you three times the money, taking us to Tudong, and then taking the Sichuan-Sichuan River when we come back?" Seeing the boatman's hesitation, Song Siyuan must still care about the money, so she hurriedly Also giving a share of money can be considered as a contribution to Ren Peacock.
The cost of chartering a ship is one yuan per person, plus three yuan for benefits. If the voyage is far, there is still money to maintain the ship. The total cost of these people is at least twelve yuan, and a round trip is at least forty yuan based on triple the price. This But a few months of rowing on Dongting Lake is enough.
While the boatman brother was still hesitating, a woman behind him pushed him away and agreed: "Okay, Yaomei'er, we'll just take a trip, but it's three times the ocean." Everyone looked at each other intently. Look, the boatman woman is wearing a bright red floral gown, black bloomers on her legs, and her waist is tied tightly to show her plump curves. Her face is dark and rosy, her braids are tied behind her head, and there is a fishbone hairpin on her apron. The scales on the fish were dirty, probably from the boatman's mouth.
"Sister-in-law, it's a deal, we are the only ones, no more people are allowed to be brought with us." Ren Peacock was afraid that these boatmen would think they were making less money and would recruit more people while they were back in the cave, so that they could return to the cave. Even if the boat is chartered, some boatmen will stop the boat and ask people to board the boat when they meet guests who are willing to ride on the boat. They call it a ride, but they only get slightly less money. .
The boatman's woman nodded honestly: "Young sister, don't worry. We have to consider your openness and openness, so we plan to take this boat. Let's not talk about anything else. When do you plan to go back?" Ren Peacock was originally scheduled to go back tomorrow. Simply tell them: "Tomorrow, we will sail tomorrow morning. Do you have time?"
"Yes, yes, you can come to this dock then. We will definitely be here, but we need to cancel tomorrow's work. According to the rules, we have to give a deposit first." The boatwoman said while rubbing her hands, probably because she was too embarrassed to directly withdraw the money. .
"Okay, I should get it, I should!" After saying that, Ren Peacock counted three oceans and handed them to her. The boatwoman quickly took out a note from her apron and stuffed it into her, and the deal was concluded.
After the matter was settled, several people left from the pier and walked past the antique Yueyang Tower to Meixi Bridge Street. This is the most prosperous commercial street in Yueyang during the Republic of China!
Since the opening of Yueyang as a port, Dongting Lake has become the hub of southwest inland shipping. Long-distance freighters and passenger ships have been flowing all year round. The commercial port market has experienced explosive prosperity. The originally silent economy is now prosperous and has no decadence.
Countless foreign businessmen came here to set up businesses and establish foreign companies, bringing gauze, kerosene, sugar, pigments, hardware and other foreign goods. Domestic businessmen from the Shanghai and Han provinces also set up serial shops in Yueyang City, transporting tung oil, rice, tea. , fresh fish, medicinal materials, raw cowhide and other local specialties.
Meixi Street is very close to the port pier. Due to its geographical advantage, it has become a gathering place for shops and businesses, such as Baili Yilao Goods Yard, Wanshun Old Medicine Store, Xie Wenji Pharmacy, Yukang Silk Cloth Store, Fubi Silk Duan Pitou No. Xianghe Cloth Shop, Jinyuzhuangyin Building, Wuqing Sauce Garden, Weizi Restaurant... Here is an overview of hotel foreign goods, needles, threads, food, drinks and entertainment.
Ren Peacock took them to Meixi Bridge and went straight to the old goods yard, which was a square, concave stilted building. It used to be an inner canal port, but was later squeezed out by the new canal after the port was opened. Some merchants built stilted buildings here. Countless bamboo bridges were built over the canal to connect the stilted buildings, forming a bustling department store.
Walking among the bamboo bridges in the old warehouse, you can see people in short clothes walking and stopping everywhere. The lake water is drawn from the canal, and the moist smell of fish and shrimps spreads up, mixing with the aroma of the food stalls, the taste is very strange.
Ren Peacock introduced the situation of the old goods yard as he walked: "There are many defective foreign goods here. The prices are cheap and ordinary people can afford them. It is even more affordable if you buy them at wholesale prices. The salesmen who go to the southwest mountainous area probably wholesale things here. Go into the mountains and sell them.”
"If we want to pretend to be salesmen, we have to buy a batch of foreign lamps, yarn, soap, hairpins, hairbands, sugar, kerosene, etc. here so that we can sell them and put on a show when we get there."
"Sister Ren, are those stray boats just now really the boatsman's home?" Song Siyuan recalled the hull of the boat. The boat was about thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide, with a pointed nose and tail, a half-drainage cabin, and three groups of boats at the front and rear. Aluminum was raised on the poles, and wooden boathouses were erected on the boats. Seven or eight cabins were arranged in pairs, and a lot of debris was piled behind the boats.
