Zheng Haizhu saw that their faces were all wet with sweat, but their lips were as chapped as drought-stricken land, so he did not immediately respond to their request, but only said in a friendly voice: "Sisters, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let's take a breath first.
May I ask you to moisten your throat and drink mung bean soup or sour plum soup?"
These women have never been treated so politely since they were born in their mothers' wombs. They said incoherently for a moment: "Everyone, everyone drinks. The noble man rewards you with anything."
Zheng Haizhu and Wu Bondang led them to sit down in the shade behind the tea stall, and asked the waiter to bring them drinks, plus the most common civilian snack in Zhenjiang: eight navels.
This baked pastry, which became an intangible cultural heritage of later generations, is called "Jingjiang Navel" by modern people. Because it has eight corners, the Zhenjiang people of this generation named it Ba Navel.
Later, when the Qing soldiers went south, they suspected that the Han people used "eat eight navels" to curse the Manchus' Eight Banners disciples, so they ordered the noodles to be changed to six corners and the name to "Jingjiang Navel", otherwise the shop owner would be beheaded.
.
Nowadays, this fragrant pancake still has eight corners and is still openly called "Eight Navels".
Zheng Haizhu quickly stuffed the noodles into the dirty hands of the women, picked up one himself, said, "Come on, let's eat up all the eight navels," and took a big bite first.
After most of the day, she, the talkative one, was all hungry and thirsty, not to mention the coolie. After a few women shrank for a while, they couldn't stand the salty smell of the eight navels, so they wolfed down the sour plum soup.
Zheng Haizhu caught a glimpse of Wu Bang Bang getting up to chat with the waiter, and occasionally cast his eyes blankly over him. Knowing that he was very smart, as a man, it was not easy for him to stare at these disheveled women at close range, so he stepped back and observed.
After everyone was satisfied, Zheng Haizhu asked: "How do you call these sisters?"
Everyone looked at the woman with a square face and big eyes, waiting for the leader to speak out.
Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, yes, a small group of just a few people also has strong organizational discipline.
The square-faced woman said: "Noble..."
"My surname is Zheng, just call me Miss Zheng."
"Zheng, Miss Zheng, my name is Mu Zaohua, her name is Wang Zhaodi, her name is Zhang Lingzhi, her name is Chen Sanni, her name is Li Heimo, and her name is Cui Yu'er."
Zheng Haizhu matched these down-to-earth names with each face, and then asked: "Why have I never seen you all these days?"
Mu Zaohua replied: "The men don't let us look for work here, so we all work at Guazhoudu."
"Guazhou Crossing?" Zheng Haizhu asked curiously, "Isn't it abandoned?"
"Cattle boats and ordinary passenger ships don't go there, but many scholars will ask the boatmen to sail over and let the women they bring sing songs, and sometimes they themselves sing."
Oh, that makes sense.
Zheng Haizhu understood that, like the internet celebrity check-in attraction of later generations, the deserted Guazhou Ferry is a place where today’s scholars go to reminisce about the past and chant the wind and moon.
Zheng Haizhu's eyes fell on the large piece of rough black skin next to Mu Zaohua's neck.
In the past few days, she had seen too many marks on men's shoulders worn by ropes. She thought about how difficult it would be if that process happened to her. Now that she saw the large calluses on the same-sex skin, she felt more immersed and felt more and more sad.
stand up.
"There are rocky beaches over there in Guazhou, and the waterways are unmanaged. You guys are really good at pulling fiber there."
Mu Zaohua listened to Zheng Haizhu not only not being pretentious, but also praising them sincerely. After she relaxed physically and mentally, Mu Zaohua's honest smile gained a bit of gossamer pride.
"Miss Zheng, our strength is really no less than that of men. If they can carry the rice bowl, we can also carry it."
"That's right," another woman finally dared to follow up what Zaohua said, "I escaped all the way here, and some men tried to capture me and cook me, but they all told me to run away."
Another woman said: "You have been practicing boxing with your concubine since you were a child. I don't have any skills yet. There was a man who wanted to eat meat on the way. He was not as strong as I was. Instead, he was pressed to the ground and slapped. But I didn't
Eat him, I'm a human being, I don't want to do what animals do."
Zheng Haizhu felt a lump in his throat and quickly looked over everyone's shoulders, looking at the roaring river and the passing ships, hoping to calm down his mood.
But he saw a woman, also in ragged clothes, walking quickly towards this side, with a baby bumping on her back.
"Uh, is that your sister too?" Zheng Haizhu asked.
Everyone turned around and greeted the woman with a smile.
Mu Zaohua said: "Miss Zheng, that is the youngest of our seven slender girls, her name is Dong Erya."
"Seven Fiber Girls..." Zheng Haizhu chanted the name of this group.
The girl named "Cui Yu'er" had a clever and playful look in her eyes, and said to Zheng Haizhu: "Yes, Miss Zheng, those of us who are born in hard times cannot be the seven fairies in the clouds, but we can be the seven slim girls in the human world."
Live."
While talking, Dong Erya had already arrived, bowed to Zheng Haizhu, and looked at the eight navels on the sisters' hands.
Immediately, three or four hands stretched out in front of her: "I keep them for you. You are nursing the baby and you have a big appetite."
But Wu Bondang had already walked over and handed Dong Erya two hot navels. The waiter then brought a large bowl of mung bean soup.
Dong Erya thanked him repeatedly: "Master Bodhisattva, Grandma Bodhisattva."
She saw Zheng Haizhu wearing a bun and thought she was Wu Bond's daughter-in-law.
Wu Bondang smiled at her kindly: "This is Miss Zheng, and I am her friend."
After that, he walked away again.
Dong Erya stuck out his tongue in embarrassment.
Miss Zheng saw that although she was as dark as Zhang Fei, her face was very innocent and childish. She was estimated to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, about the same age as Fan Polu. She was actually breastfeeding her child and going out to have her hair tightened. She couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
She said softly: "Eat quickly, your baby, can I hold it for you?"
After all, Mu Zaohua had a sophisticated look in her eyes and saw that Zheng Haizhu really wanted to hold the baby. She hurriedly helped Dong Erya untie the baby and handed it to Zheng Haizhu. She said: "She is a girl. She is well-behaved and doesn't make trouble, girl."
Give me pain."
The baby's sitting bones are already very hard and its thighs are long. It is estimated to be eight or nine months old. Zheng Haizhu saw that the baby had sprouted two small teeth like corn kernels, and his wide eyes were staring at the eight-navel child in his hand.
, he broke off some dough and gave it to the baby.
The doll grinned and smiled at Zheng Haizhu, and a drop of saliva dripped onto the back of Zheng Haizhu's hand, which had healed well after being burned.
Dong Erya said: "Even though I'm young, I know what's good and what's bad. She will understand whoever treats her well."
She took a bite of the eight navel, and then she remembered that she was here to apply for a job, and she hurriedly told Zheng Haizhu her experience: "My man, in order to protect our two daughters from being caught and cooked,
If you fight with others, you will die."
She spoke very calmly, so calmly that she didn't even waste time eating the pancake.
Even after gnawing for a while and returning to the topic, she said, "The baby my man bought with his life, and I have provided him so well, is worthy of him." This girl, who was still a bit childish, still had no sadness in her tone.
.
The people in this land are so tolerant of suffering.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu felt that deep down in his heart, he could feel compassion for the common people, but if his face was too expressive, it would feel condescending and superior, which would make people uncomfortable.
She then asked in the same peaceful tone: "What will happen to the baby when you stretch?"
Dong Erya said: "Tie it to the tree stump at Guazhou Ferry, and a dog will watch it."
Mu Zaohua saw that Dong Erya had a mouth full of pancakes and added for her: "It was the dog that Erya picked up. At first we were worried that the dog would bite the baby. In fact, the dog was very reliable. Not only did it not bite the baby, it would also bite those who came close."
Wild dogs fight tooth and nail."
Cui Yu'er, who has a lively personality, interjected: "We all said that the dog was reincarnated by her man, so she should be very strict with her children."
Dong Erya did not feel offended at all, but said seriously to Zheng Haizhu: "Girl, my dog is really a kind dog. It has more conscience than many people."
Zheng Haizhu pursed her lips and smiled.
After a moment, he said: "Where is your dog? Go get it and I'll get it together."
Dong Erya still replied naively "Okay", Mu Zaohua had already realized the meaning of Zheng Haizhu's words. As soon as her butt left the wooden pier, she would pull the sisters to kowtow to Zheng Haizhu.
Zheng Haizhu supported her: "No need to be polite, I just want to ask you this leader: If you seven sisters are separated, some of you will go to Songjiang with me, and some of you will follow my friend and work in Zhenjiang."
Girl, can you?"
Mu Zaohua agreed: "Okay, okay, girl, I can do whatever I want."
"Okay, I'll discuss it with my friends."
Zheng Haizhu stood up and walked towards Wu Bondang.
Wu Bangde left the tea stall knowingly and stopped under the willow tree further away.
"How many women do you want to add to my team?"
"Well, women are only as good as women. What's more, it would be a pity not to recruit these capable people."
Wu Bondang nodded: "The leader has some courage and is shrewd, so he must be given to me. That Cui Yu'er talks too much, I don't want it. I don't want the one from Milkman either. You can take him to Songjiang..."
Just as he was talking, he saw a young man who looked like a young man wearing a short blue cloth, carrying a big baggage, walking towards here.
Mu Zaohua seemed to recognize him and went to greet him.
The boy gave the bundle to Mu Zaohua and said a few words. Mu Zaohua knelt down again. The boy waved his hands, turned around and left quickly.
Zheng Haizhu and Wu Bondang walked back and asked the reason.
Mu Zaohua said: "We are really blessed by God at this time, and we always meet noble people. These clothes were given by the lady who hired us to stretch clothes today. She went to Songjiang to visit relatives, and then turned to Guazhoudu to take a look and was anxious.
On his way."
Zheng Haizhu said: "Oh? What a kind-hearted person. Have you ever asked him which restaurant he belongs to?"
Mu Zaohua said: "I just asked that little brother, and the little brother only said that his girl's surname is Wang."