Of the three ships, only Guangfengshui was hacked several times by the water pirate boss.
Fortunately, the cargo was wrapped in linen and oilcloth, and the ship was loaded with lumber, so there was no loss.
Huo Xi, Yang Fu and others were greatly relieved.
After discussing it together, they felt that the fellows who followed him this time performed well, were not afraid of life and death, and did not run away in the face of battle, so they decided to reward each of them with ten taels of silver.
Bao Xia's family was rewarded ten more taels. His family received a total of forty taels and initially refused to accept it. Seeing that Huo Xi insisted on giving it, Zuo happily accepted it at Bao Xia's suggestion.
All the workers also thanked them profusely. They already had subsidies with the ship, and this time they received another reward, which was several months' wages. They were very happy.
"Thank you, boss!" "We are on board and on board!"
"From now on, if everyone works together and the Guangfeng water is restored, we will get more year-end bonuses." Yang Fu encouraged everyone.
"Yes, I will definitely try my best!"
Huo Erhuai breathed a sigh of relief. If he was robbed by water thieves this time, it would be a trivial matter if the goods were lost. If something happened to someone, the compensation would be small. How could he deal with the matter of human life?
These guys all have small families. Which family should not be heartbroken if someone dies?
After more than ten years of living in the water, Huo Erhuai felt for the first time that the path Huo Xi took was full of dangers.
He pulled Huo Xi and said, "Xi'er, next time we go out on the boat, don't follow me. Just ask your uncle to bring more men. You and your mother stay at home."
Huo Xi hugged his arm and glanced at Yang Fu: "Dad, aren't you worried about uncle?"
Huo Erhuai also looked at Yang Fu: "Why aren't you worried? But your uncle is a man, different from you. If your uncle wants to be successful, you can't keep him in the house. Whenever you walk outside, there will be dangers of one kind or another.
, he just needs to be more careful. But you, you are older now, almost twelve years old, why don’t you just stay at home?"
Huo Erhuai looked at her dress. He saw her dressing up like a daughter so few times over the years that he felt sad.
"I heard that there are some academies in the city specifically for girls. How about Dad send you to study for a few years? We can also learn some music, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc.?"
This child has grown up by his side from that little to now, and in a few years he will be a child.
If I follow him and his mother, I don’t know what kind of family they will find in the future. If they follow them and wrong the child, maybe they can go to a women’s school and be gilded. They will know a lot of people. In the future, they can marry into a high-ranking family.
?
Huo Xi smiled: "Dad, I don't want to go to that academy. I'm not illiterate, and I've read a lot of books. It's enough. For people like us, how can we learn chess, calligraphy, and painting to earn more money?
In the future, I will buy more property and have money with me. Who dares to look down on me?"
Huo Erhuai was not comforted. He looked at her and sighed with sadness.
Yang Fu sat aside and watched with a smile: "Brother-in-law, what are you worried about? Let's help Xi'er earn more money and give her a bigger dowry in the future. Who dares to look down on her? If you dare to bully her, I will lead someone to beat her.
Come to the door."
Huo Xi smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
When Huo Erhuai saw it, he sighed and said nothing. The child had ideas, but he couldn't convince them.
It was already dark outside, and the three boats found a shelter from the wind and stopped.
Huo Erhuai came out of the cabin and helped to tie up the boat. He turned around and saw that there were many boats parked far and near, and he was so frightened that he trembled.
"Xi'er, Fu'er!"
Huo Xi and Yang Fu trembled when they heard his voice and hurriedly came out of the cabin. Huo Erhuai pointed to the nearby boats: "Look, why are there so many boats around us?"
There was a big battle not long ago. If another wave of water thieves comes, I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand it.
Huo Xi hurriedly raised the monocular and looked at the nearby ships.
After a long while, he put it down and comforted Huo Erhuai: "Dad, don't worry, they are all passenger ships and merchant ships. It must be that we had a big fight with the water pirates just now, and these ships are following us to seek protection."
"Ask for shelter?"
Huo Xi nodded: "Well, I'm afraid someone will see us if we show such a trick. It's okay. Let's get together. If there are water thieves again, we can help each other."
Then he turned to discuss with Yang Fu: "Uncle, tell the crews of those two boats to have them keep vigil tonight in groups. They work in pairs and must be alert."
Yang Fu nodded in agreement.
Bao Xia listened on the sidelines and said: "I will guard our ship. The wave of water thieves did not go back, just because they would be aware of it internally, and for fear that they would send out more water thieves to retaliate. Let's keep an eye on it tonight.
some."
Huo Erhuai nodded repeatedly: "That's right, I'm afraid they'll wake up and be in trouble when they come out. I'll switch guard with you."
Yang Fu also gathered the guys together and arranged the vigil.
Huo Xi helped Zuo prepare dinner for everyone, eat early and rest early, and also kept vigil at night.
Everyone usually prepares dry food when they go out on the boat, but when the Huo family's boat follows them, the boat is fully equipped with everything, so everyone always prepares a hot soup to eat.
On the Huo family's boat, there is no shortage of rice, grains, oil, salt, etc., and there is also a lot of various meats, fresh eggs, salted eggs, and dry river fresh food.
Huo Erhuai also took Bao Kang to cast a net nearby and caught a lot of fish and shrimp. After a while, the aroma of hot food wafted far away.
Attracting a boat to approach.
Huo Xi and others were busy standing on the deck on guard.
A young man stood on the bow of the ship and bowed his hands to Huo Xi and others: "I, Wen Xingning, come from Yuezhou, and my family is a porcelain maker. Thanks to you, we were able to fight off the water thieves just now, saving us merchant ships from being robbed."
Fan, I came here to say thank you."
Huo Xi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Yang Fu.
Yang Fu then said: "You're welcome. We are just protecting ourselves."
Wen Xingning smiled and said: "When I came out for the first time, I encountered something like this. I was so scared that my hands and feet were weak. I always thought that Haiyanheqing was not prepared at all. If I was robbed by water thieves, I would lose my property.
It’s a small thing, but I’m afraid that a whole boatload of people will never be able to go back.”
"I'm worried that the water thief will come back to his senses tonight and send more troops over. I came here to let you know. I hope everyone will watch and help each other. If you are in need, we can help each other."
Yang Fu also bowed his hands to the other party: "Thank you. We have made some preparations. We also hope that you will be more alert tonight and arrange for someone to be on duty at night. If there is any movement, please shout out the warning."
Wen Xingning nodded towards Yang Fu, admiring him in his heart for his young age and thoughtful behavior.
Seeing that he hadn't left yet, Huo Xi looked towards the bow of her boat and smiled: "Do you need hot food? One tael of silver a portion."
The man came back to his senses, looked a little shy, and nodded: "Yes, if it's not troublesome, please prepare two copies for me."
Huo Xi nodded and asked Zuo to give him two portions from his family's food.
Ask him: "Are you from Yuezhou kiln? Do you produce celadon?"
Wen Xingning nodded: "Yes. In the Yuezhou area, celadon is mainly fired. But white porcelain, blue and white porcelain, and colored porcelain are also fired."
Huo Xi asked him again: "You seem to be coming from the direction of Songjiang Mansion?"