A knife in love

Chapter 1160

In the early morning of the next day, Li Qiufeng woke up from his dream.He put on his clothes, sat cross-legged on the bed, and according to the method taught by Liu Jun, sent the true energy from the dantian to the seven meridians and eight channels.When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the sky was already bright.The long shadow of the window was reflected in the center of the room, stretching all the way to the bed.

Li Qiufeng was about to get up when he heard footsteps approaching the door, and then he heard the butler of the Zhang family say outside the door: "Good morning, Mr. Zhu, my master invites you to have breakfast."

Li Qiufeng agreed, put the bag on his shoulders, glanced at the house again, and then went out the door, followed the housekeeper to the main hall in the backyard, but saw Zhang Shi standing in front of the main hall under the dripping eaves.Seeing that Li Qiufeng had arrived, Zhang Shi rushed forward to meet him, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Zhu, how did you rest last night?"

Li Qiufeng cupped his fists to return the salute, and said: "I am grateful for the care of Yuanwai and the brothers in the mansion these two days."

Zhang Shi led Li Qiufeng into the hall, and the two chatted while eating.After the meal, the housekeeper had already prepared the carriages and horses, and invited Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng to the pier.Zhang Shi's wife and children were sent all the way outside the mansion. Seeing the chariots and horses disappear outside the stone workshop, they returned in dismay.

Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng sat in the carriage, and after a stick of incense, they had already arrived at the pier.When the two arrived at Qinlaowuwuchuanwu, they saw shopkeeper Hu and others had already arrived and were chatting on the pier.Zhang Shi, Li Qiufeng, shopkeeper Hu and others greeted each other, but shopkeeper Hu said: "Mr. Zhang, Lao Qin said that the journey is too far, and the number of people on the big ship is limited. We are not allowed to take servants with us. But this trip is with the Fusang people. To do business, you must bring a shrewd accountant. We had a discussion last night, and the accountant of the shopkeeper Bai's house is the most shrewd. You might as well let him go with us. When the time comes to do the calculations, we will hand over He will do it. It's just that Lao Qin is too stubborn, even if we tell him, he won't agree. Zhang Yuanwai and Lao Qin have been friends for many years, so we want to ask Yuanwai to mediate and let the accountant Sir, go to sea with us."

Shopkeeper Hu said while pointing to a man in black standing behind everyone.I saw that this man was thin and about 40 years old, with a fair complexion and a bit of elegance.Zhang Shi looked him up and down, and said in his mouth: "This gentleman is really unfamiliar."

The man in black clasped his hands and said: "Student Xiao Dong, I have met Zhang Yuanwai. The student has been managing the accounts for the shopkeeper Bai, and rarely walks outside. Today is the first time I have come to Ningbo City. Please take care of Zhang Yuanwai."

Zhang Shi nodded, and said in his mouth: "It's easy to say, easy to say." But although he didn't refuse in his mouth, he showed a embarrassed look on his face.Shopkeeper Hu felt uneasy, glanced at Xiao Dong, and then said to Zhang Shi: "Mr. Zhang, is there something embarrassing?"

Zhang Shi pondered for a while, and then said: "Master Hu, Lao Qin didn't allow us to take the servants with us, but he didn't mean to make things difficult for us. This trip to Fusang is completely different from the business we did on the offshore islands before. I don't know. It takes thousands of miles to travel. In addition to loading goods, the ship must also carry enough water, rice, noodles and vegetables. If there are too many people, not only will the load increase, but the water and food consumed will also increase. In this way, on the sea , if there is an accident, everyone will have no reason to advance and retreat, and it will be inconvenient..."

Having said this, Zhang Shi looked at Xiao Dong again, and continued, "I tried my best to convince Lao Qin, but I'm not sure whether he will agree."

Seeing Zhang Shi's appearance, shopkeeper Hu thought to himself, damn it, it's just one more person, what's the problem?You are so pretentious, you just want to knock us a sum of money.Thinking of this, shopkeeper Hu took out a bank note from his pocket, handed it to Zhang Shi, and said, "Mr. Zhang, we know that if there is one more person, it will cost some money. You bring this bank note to Zhang Shi." Old Qin, it can be regarded as the cost of Mr. Xiao's boat trip. If it is not enough, let Lao Qin just say it."

Zhang Shi was very happy when he saw shopkeeper Hu handing over the 200 taels of silver bill, but he didn't reach out to take the silver bill right away, but frowned and said, "Treasurer Hu, what do you mean? I’m not asking everyone for money, it’s really difficult. This is different from renting a boat, and it can’t be settled by spending more money.”

Shopkeeper Hu approached Zhang Shi, stuffed the money into Zhang Shi's hand, and said with a smile: "For others, this matter may be a bit difficult. But isn't it a piece of cake for you, Mr. Zhang, to go out? I also ask Zhang Yuanwai to do what he can't do, and do us a favor."

Shopkeeper Hu said while stuffing the banknote into Zhang Shi's hand.Zhang Shi took the bank note and pretended to be helpless and said, "Okay, then I'll be cheeky and go to the ring with Lao Qin."

Having said this, Zhang Shi turned his head and looked towards the bow of the ship.But there was no one on the boat, but a square table could be seen on the bow of the boat, and three sacrifices were placed on the table.Shopkeeper Hu said: "Old Qin hasn't shown up yet, just a few boatmen put out the sacrifices. Our luggage is placed on the pier, and we can just move it up later."

Zhang Shidao: "Old Qin is the most polite person, and the storekeepers have worked hard to wait here for a while. When the time comes, he will naturally let us board the boat."

Shopkeeper Song said at the side: "The rules of the boatmen who sail on the sea are completely different from those on the river. But these people are living on the cusp of the storm, and they all rely on the Dragon King for their food. It is not surprising that there are more rules. A few days ago In [-], I went to south of the Five Ridges to traffic medicinal materials, and I came to a place called Lu Gongling. There was a stream there, leading to the inside of the mountain. In the remote mountain, there was a strange herb called dragon head grass, which had a miraculous effect of stopping bleeding. But if you want to go to To collect medicine in the deep mountains, you can only take a small boat along the stream into the mountain. The stream looks soothing, but the undercurrent is turbulent. If you are not careful, you will be sucked into the bottom by the undercurrent. No matter how good the water quality is, you can’t escape It's just that dragon head grass is a rare and rare herb in the world, and one plant can be sold for five taels of silver. Therefore, although the risk is extremely high, there is an endless stream of people looking for dragon head grass. The local natives also know that dragon head grass can be sold for a large amount. The price, I don’t know where I learned the magic. Whenever I want to go into the deep mountains to dig dragon head grass, I will kill a person by the stream to sacrifice to the water god, and then put the boat into the stream, and I can often return safely. It’s just that they don’t kill people. The clansmen sacrificed to the gods, but sneaked out of the mountains, taking advantage of people's unsuspecting, abducting and kidnapping children to come back as living animals for sacrifices to the heavens. Alas, I don't know whether these rules are true or not, but it is true that they harm the common people."

Shopkeeper Song's voice fell, while Shopkeeper Yin sneered and said, "Old Song, don't say this to Lao Qin. Otherwise, he will definitely think you are sarcasm. Hurry up and get off the boat, you won't be able to make this deal!"

When everyone was talking, they saw Qin Lao Wu walking up to the bow of the boat, bowing his hands to everyone, and said: "I kept you waiting for a long time. Let's put down the planks of the boat right now, and invite all shopkeepers to board the boat."

After Qin Laowu finished speaking, he immediately stepped aside.Several boatmen carried the long boards on the pier.Zhang Shi asked shopkeeper Hu to get on the boat first, but shopkeeper Hu gave way: "I have to trouble Yuanwai and Lao Qin to talk about Mr. Xiao, so please ask Yuanwai Zhang to get on the boat first."

Zhang Shi didn't refuse anymore, he greeted Li Qiufeng, and immediately stepped onto the board.Li Qiufeng followed behind him and stepped onto the big boat step by step.After boarding the deck, Zhang Shi pulled Qin Lao Wu aside and said in a low voice, "Old Qin, Shopkeeper Hu and the others are going to take one more person to Fusang."

Qin Laowu was stunned, and said: "We all have a fixed amount of water and food, and if there is one more person, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient."

Zhang Shi sneered, and said: "The old nonsense said that the man is the accountant of the shopkeeper Bai's house. In fact, I recognize this person. He is the person who works in the Firearms Bureau that Lao Hu and others have been secretly dealing with these days. This person is hiding his identity If he wants to walk with us, there must be another purpose. He is determined to walk with us, and we will definitely not be able to stop him. Maybe he is the cargo owner behind Lao Hu and others, and he wants to follow us specially to monitor our every move However, it is good that this person is with us, Lao Hu and the others dare not take our ideas. Just now, Lao Hu has an extra 200 taels of silver, which is counted as this person’s boat fare. If you don’t take this money for nothing, we two One addition makes five, and each gets 100 taels. I don't know what you want?"

Seeing that shopkeeper Hu and the others were about to board the boat, Qin Laowu nodded and said, "Since Mr. Zhang said something, I have no choice but to agree to come down. It's just that people have to get off the boat to buy some rice noodles, just in case. .”

(End of this chapter)