After boarding the boat, Captain Du quickly came over and said earnestly: "Master Chai, you have come back at the right time. The river fresh food I bought in the morning has been taken care of by the kitchen cabin. When you want to eat,
It can be done at any time, very soon..."
Chai Yan nodded and said in an easy-going manner: "Okay, let's make more while it's fresh and let everyone have lunch so they can weigh anchor."
Captain Du immediately agreed and ran to the kitchen cabin to make arrangements.
Chai Yan was tired after working all morning. After asking Guan Maochun to make a pot of tea, he went up to the cabin on the second floor, intending to sit down, read a book and take a rest.
Not long after I picked my book and sat down, there was a loud noise from the shore outside.
Chai Yan was sitting not far from the window. When he heard the sound, he turned around and looked out. He suddenly found that there was a commotion at the gambling booth where the skinny man was. Many people were gathering over there, not knowing what was going on.
What's the situation?
While watching, Guan Maochun entered the cabin with hot tea: "Sir, the tea is ready."
Chai Yan turned around and took a look and said, "Maochun, go to the pier and see what's going on there?"
Guan Maochun put down the tea, then came to the window, looked at the pier and shouted: "Sir, isn't that the gambling stall?"
"Nonsense, of course I know where it is. I wanted to go see what happened!" Chai Yan said.
Guan Maochun nodded quickly: "I understand, sir, I will go right away."
With that said, Guan Maochun ran out of the cabin.
Then, Chai Yan, who was standing by the window, saw Guan Maochun hurriedly ashore and ran towards where the crowd was gathering.
After a while, Chai Yan suddenly saw someone in the crowd who seemed to be fighting. Although the distance was a bit far, Chai Yan could still tell that one of the people fighting was Maochun.
Chai Yan frowned and said to himself: "What is this kid doing? I asked him to check the situation. Why did he start fighting?"
Shaking his head, Chai Yan turned around and left the cabin, preparing to go to the dock.
When Hang Baiqiu came out, he happened to see Chai Yan and asked, "When did you come back?"
"Oh, I just got back." Chai Yan responded, walked down the stairs and walked to the shore.
When Hang Baiqiu saw this, he asked, "Where are you going again?"
Chai Yan pointed to the shore and said: "Guan Maochun got into a fight with someone, I have to go and see."
Hang Baiqiu turned around and saw that there was indeed someone fighting on the pier.
"I'll go with you." Hang Baiqiu immediately volunteered and quickly followed Chai Yan ashore.
The two of them trotted all the way to the outside of the fighting crowd. At this time, the battle was coming to an end. Guan Maochun was still standing well, but three of his opponents had already fallen to the ground. The other two were frightened by Guan Maochun, who could fight.
I was trembling and didn't dare to step forward.
"Everyone stop it!" Chai Yan shouted, pushing aside the crowd and stepping forward.
Hang Baiqiu followed closely behind, looking very majestic.
Because both of them were wearing military attaché uniforms and official boots, the noisy and chaotic scene instantly became quiet.
Guan Maochun hurriedly turned around and said, "Sir."
"I asked you to come over and see what's going on. Why did they start fighting?" Chai Yan asked with a straight face.
Guan Maochun immediately pointed at the two people opposite and said confidently: "Sir, when I came here just now, I only gave you a few words of advice, and these people can't get past me!"
Chai Yan just glanced at the two people opposite him. Before he could ask any questions, they turned around and ran away. In a flash, no one was around.
As for the three people who were knocked to the ground by Guan Maochun, they all got up one after another when they saw their companions running away, and fled in despair.
Chai Yan turned around and asked Guan Maochun: "Why are we fighting?"
Guan Maochun said: "Sir, these guys are taking advantage of one of my own and bullying one more person. I can't stand it!"
"Who did they bully?" Chai Yan asked.
Guan Maochun looked around, pointed at a person and said: "He!"
Chai Yan followed what he was pointing at and found out that Guan Maochun was talking about the skinny man who set up the gambling stall.
When the skinny man saw Chai Yan and the others looking over, he immediately trotted over with his waist hunched over, bowing and nodding timidly.
"What happened?" Chai Yan asked.
The skinny man said weakly: "Hui Da... Hui Da, they said this is their territory, no no... I'm not allowed to set up a stall, and I have to hand over...
..pay the protection fee, but then I...I agreed to pay it, but they still wanted to take away all the money I earned today, saying it was a punishment for not knowing the rules...
."
Guan Maochun immediately answered: "Yes, sir, it was just after I saw this scene that I spoke out to persuade you, but who knew that these guys not only scolded me, but also wanted to attack me, and then I couldn't bear it anymore,
Beat them..."
At first, Chai Yan thought that the skinny man often lived on this dock, but now he realized that it was his first time here.
Chai Yan said to the skinny man: "Go back quickly and don't set up a stall here during this period, lest those people come back to trouble you."
The skinny man said helplessly: "Sir, actually I don't want this either, but my mother is sick, so I want to collect some money to take a boat so that I can go home quickly, but I didn't expect that I ran into this guy
people......."
"Take a boat?" Chai Yan asked: "Where is your hometown?"
The skinny man said: "Back to you, sir, in Kuiyang County..."
Chai Yan had never heard of this place name, so he turned to Hang Baiqiu and asked, "Where is Kuiyang?"
Hang Baiqiu thought for a while and said: "If you take a boat from here, it will take about two or three days! If you take the land route, it will take at least... at least seven or eight days."
"Oh..." Chai Yan nodded to show that he understood, and then asked the skinny man: "Have you collected enough money for the boat trip?"
"Not even close..." the skinny man said sadly.
Chai Yan then looked at Guan Maochun and said: "Since you have become a good person, you should be a good person to the end. How about you help him make up the difference in shipping fare?"
"Ah?" Guan Maochun was stunned.
Chai Yan frowned immediately: "Is there a problem?"
"No, no, no problem..." Guan Maochun shook his head quickly.
Then, Chai Yan said to Hang Baiqiu: "Let's get on the boat..."
Hang Baiqiu didn't say much, nodded slightly and followed Chai Yan.
Guan Maochun then asked the skinny man: "Uncle, which boat do you want to take?"
The skinny man hurriedly pointed to a passenger ship docked on the river: "That's the one, sir..."
"Don't call me that, I'm not an adult."
After Guan Maochun finished speaking, he took out the piece of silver that he had not bet on and went out to smash it, and asked: "Uncle, this is for you to take a boat."
"Oh my, my little brother, this is too much, this is too much..." The skinny man shook his head quickly.
Guan Maochun stuffed the broken silver into the skinny man's hand and said with a smile: "Uncle, keep the extra money with you. You always have to spend money on the road, so why don't you buy some medicine for your mother?"
"
After saying that, Guan Maochun turned around and strode away. The skinny man behind him was very grateful and bowed to Guan Maochun continuously to thank him. Guan Maochun couldn't help but feel a little happy when he heard this.