Life in the world of film and television

The water flow in this section of the Jiangnan River is gentle, without the momentum of the Yangtze River. There are some villages, docks and fields scattered along the coast, and occasionally pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages passing by on the shore can be seen. Some places are even covered with large tracts of reeds, and water birds can be seen flying up and down from time to time.

There were many boats on this section of the river, and they were in no hurry to travel, so they traveled slowly and leisurely. It took a whole day to pass Danyang and reach Changzhou.

The pleasure boats sailing on the waterways form a sharp contrast with the large and small boats on the road, and are obviously much more comfortable than the merchant ships and passenger ships sailing on this waterway.

At this moment, Li Mu was half lying on a lounge chair on the third-floor deck, enjoying the warm breeze and looking at the scenery around him.

Beside her, Su Tan'er was sitting on an exquisite chair, wearing a goose yellow and moon white dress, a white waistcoat, and a small round fan in her hand, blowing the warm breeze as she looked at the flowing river.

Jiangnan River is an artificial canal with a shallow riverbed. Although it has been dug for many years, the water quality is still good. Looking from the boat, it is a sea of ​​green and you can occasionally see a few small fish jumping out of the water.

Such a quiet and peaceful picture makes people feel as if they are feeling the tenderness of the Jiangnan water town.

The two of them just sat there quietly, feeling the atmosphere silently. The weather in the south changes suddenly. Just now there was a gentle breeze and warm sunshine, but soon there was a strong wind, and dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a storm was coming.

The captain in charge of the ship came up to report: "Boss, looking at the weather, there may be a thunderstorm next. It is better to go into the cabin and rest."

Su Tan'er looked at the place where there was no village in front and no shop behind, and couldn't help asking: "If it rains later, can the boat still go? If there is a strong wind, there won't be any waves in the river!"

The captain patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, sir. If there is a strong wind on the Yangtze River, there will be some big waves. Our river is not big, so even if there is a strong wind, it won't cause much waves! The boatmen on the boat are all experienced, so this little bit of wind and rain is nothing. If you like to enjoy the scenery, sailing in the rain is actually quite interesting."

Su Tan'er nodded: "Please take more care of it. Let's see if we can get to Changzhou to anchor in the evening."

The boat captain said, "Don't worry, Boss. This stretch of the canal is nearly 200 miles long and is straight. There are almost no turns. We just go with the flow. It won't take too much time."

The captain went down to direct the ship, and several little girls worked busily to move things from the deck into the cabin.

Because they liked quietness, everyone else lived on the two lower floors. Only Li Mu, Su Tan'er, Chan'er and a few other maids, as well as two cooks, lived on the third floor of the houseboat. It was quite spacious and had a good view.

Not long after the captain went down, there was a loud thunder and heavy rain fell from the sky.

In the heavy rain and amidst thunder and lightning, the pleasure boat only slowed down slightly and continued to move forward.

Changzhou is also a big city on the canal route. The prosperity of the route has made the trade here quite prosperous. Although it is not as good as places like Jiangning, Suzhou and Hangzhou, it is still not small in scale.

Due to the sudden heavy rain, Changzhou Wharf became bustling with many ships passing by nearby rushing to dock.

There are also many cargo ships that are hurriedly unloading in the heavy rain. They are all merchants who have encountered accidents in the heavy rain and have spent a lot of money to hire people to unload goods here in the rain.

Among them was a large cargo ship owned by the Lou family in Hangzhou. It had just received cargo from the north and was heading south along the canal back to Hangzhou. Apparently something had gone wrong at this time, and it was hiring people at a high price to unload the cargo and reduce the weight of the ship.

In the warehouse on one side of the dock, a brightly dressed woman stood there with great imposing manner, watching the densely packed boatmen unloading the cargo.

Rain had been drifting in from the window, soaking her hair and clothes. The woman took the towel handed to her by the maid, wiped the water droplets off her face, turned around and asked, "We have unloaded so much cargo, how is the ship? It won't sink again, right?"

A middle-aged steward nearby replied, "Don't worry, young lady. The boat shouldn't sink. However, the weather is too bad and it's difficult to repair. We have to wait until the rain stops tomorrow. We will probably have to unload some of the cargo on the boat to reduce the draft." The woman nodded, "Then let's continue moving!"

As he was speaking, on the other side of the pier, where the passenger ships were moored, a large three-story pleasure boat was heading towards the shore in the heavy rain.

Given the bad weather these days, it is not uncommon to see passenger ships and pleasure boats moored at the pier, but such a large pleasure boat is rare in Changzhou and has attracted a lot of attention.

People speculated whether there was some noble person or important person here, after all, ordinary wealthy families don't have such a grand ceremony.

This speculation seemed to be answered when a passenger ship following closely behind the pleasure boat docked and the guards, who walked out of the cabin and onto the deck with a brave look, showed up.

After the pleasure boat docked, we looked at the heavy rain that was still going on outside and the dock full of ships. We also looked at the several inns with lights on a few hundred meters away. With so many passenger ships docked here, there were probably not many guest rooms left in the inns.

There were fifty or sixty people on the pleasure boat this time, plus more than fifty guards at the back, a total of more than a hundred people. If they really wanted to go ashore, they would not be able to find a suitable inn at this time.

Fortunately, this was the houseboat that Li Mu had carefully selected. Resting on the houseboat was not much different from resting in an inn, especially the third floor where they lived. After careful renovation, it was almost turned into a small suite with complete functions, which was incomparable to the rooms in ordinary inns.

The steward was arranged to get off the boat to purchase food and supplies. Seeing that the rain had finally subsided, Li Mu and Su Tan'er came to the deck holding an oil-paper umbrella. They looked at the huge dock and the berthing area for cargo ships on one side. There were still many boatmen unloading cargo in the heavy rain.

Li Mu looked over and saw a word "Lou" on the company's flag. Could it be the Lou family's cargo ship? What a coincidence.

Su Tan'er's attention was also attracted by the boatmen who were unloading goods in the heavy rain. Seeing the word "Lou" on the company's flag, she had some guesses in her mind. After looking around for a while, she saw the bright figure directing the boatmen to unload goods at the door of the warehouse. She felt more and more familiar with the figure. When she saw her appearance clearly, she suddenly recognized that it was Lou Shuwan from the Lou family. The Lou family and the Su family had some business dealings. The two had met a few years ago and had a very pleasant conversation.

When Su Tan'er looked over, Lou Shuwan seemed to have sensed something and also turned her head to look over. She had no internal strength and her eyesight was not as good as Su Tan'er's. In addition, the light on the deck was dim and she could not see clearly, so she gave up and did not pay too much attention to it. She continued to direct the boatmen to unload the cargo.

Li Mu said: "What are you looking at!"

Su Tan'er said, "It seems I saw an old friend."

Li Mu followed her gaze and saw a woman with bright and charming appearance.

Su Tan'er said, "It's Lou Shuwan from the Lou family, a famous wealthy businessman in Hangzhou. His background is even stronger than our Su family. I didn't expect to meet him here."

Li Mu said: "That's quite a coincidence, how about going over to say hello?"

Su Tan'er nodded: "Well, wait until the rain stops."

Li Mu said: "Given the current rain, let's go tomorrow. It's too late now."

Su Tan'er nodded: "Listen to my husband."

(End of this chapter)