Chapter 255 Tea Tree Township
On the second day, Chun Niang went to the dock early to check, and until noon, there was still no sign of Xiao Chengjun's ship.
By this time, she had understood that the young master of the Xiao family had really left her mother and daughter here.
Chun Niang was angry, but for now she had to find a way to get home.
Ying Bao was not in a hurry and went to the market leisurely with Chen Zhao, eating, drinking and shopping along the way.
Not only did she buy a small charcoal stove and a basket of charcoal, she also bought a lot of local vegetables. At a market, she met a man carrying a load selling mandarin oranges, so she picked out the ones with ripe yellow skin and bought a large bamboo basket.
Satsuma mandarin is indeed a satsuma mandarin, sweet and sour, with a fragrant fragrance.
She collected all the peeled mandarin orange peels and secretly put them in the cave to dry before going back to steam the tangerine peels.
Chun Niang was anxious and wanted to go to the county town to hire a carriage to return to her hometown, but Ying Bao stopped her.
"Don't worry, Mom. This is a dock for ships. There are many merchant ships coming and going. We just need to catch a ship to Qinchuan County. At the most, we can pay them for the ship." Ying Bao said.
Chun Niang sighed and nodded in agreement, but she would go to the dock every day to stay on guard. Whenever a large merchant ship approached, she would ask if it was passing through Qinchuan County.
I stayed there for several days, but I didn't see a merchant ship passing through Qinchuan County, but I saw an acquaintance.
The thin scholar Li Xu came to the pier carrying a bookshelf on his back. When he saw Chun Niang sitting under a big tree, he was startled and hurriedly came over to greet her.
"Xiaosheng has met Aunt Jiang, why are you here alone?"
Chun Niang returned the gift and said with a wry smile: "To be honest, the ship that originally carried us has sailed away. I am here to find a merchant ship going to Qinchuan County to take us back."
Li Xu frowned: "Aunt Jiang, there are very few long-distance large merchant ships berthed at the dock here. Why don't you follow Xiaosheng and take the ship from my house."
Chun Niang was shocked: "There are very few large merchant ships anchored here?"
Li Xu nodded: "This is a small wharf. It is good if two or three long-distance merchant ships dock within a month. Most of them are short-distance ships carrying passengers here. Xiaosheng's hometown is close to Mingjiang River, and there are quite a few. You may encounter large merchant ships passing by that go directly to Qinchuan County."
Chun Niang frowned and thought for a while, then said, "I'll go back and discuss it with my daughter."
For the first time in her life, she was alone outside. She was completely blind to the things around her. She didn't know what to do. Now she could only seek advice from her daughter.
Li Xu nodded: "Xiaosheng is waiting for Aunt Jiang here."
Chun Niang responded and hurried to the inn to find her daughter.
Ying Bao and Chen Zhao also just came back from the market. Seeing Chun Niang's anxious face, they quickly asked: "Aniang, what's wrong?"
Chun Niang told her about her encounter with Li Xu.
"Li Xiucai said that there are very few long-distance large ships docking here. He asked us to follow him to his house and look for a transfer ship."
Yingbao thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Then let's go with him."
It would definitely be the safest for a group of people walking with Li Xiucai, a man of great fame.
Chen Zhao quickly packed his things when he heard this: "Then let's leave quickly."
She was tired of staying here and wanted to change places.
So Chun Niang and Chen Zhao each carried a basket filled with groceries they purchased one after another.
When he arrived at the dock, he saw that Li Xiucai had found a fishing boat and was negotiating the price with the fisherman.
"To go to Chashu Township in Anyang County, there are too many boats. The boat Xiaosheng hired last time is just one boat."
"We are more than a hundred miles away from the tea tree town, and the waterway is more than a hundred miles away. How can there be more?" The boatman said unconvinced: "Go and ask elsewhere. Is there any price that is more fair than what I am asking?"
Li Xu thought for a moment and turned around to ask other fishing boats.
Seeing that the business was about to run away, the boatman became anxious and jumped ashore. He grabbed Li Xu's back and said, "Hey, hey, don't go. I haven't finished speaking yet. Let's do this. At least it's always eight. You can't." Nothing less.”
Li Xu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's good, but Xiaosheng still has three companions, so you have to wait a moment."
"What? Is there anyone else?" The boatman felt that he was at a disadvantage, but he was afraid that the scholar would go to other boats to inquire, so he had to agree: "Okay, okay, I'll make it clear first, I'll only wait for an hour."
As soon as he finished speaking, a girl's voice was heard: "Li Langjun, we are here!"
Li Xu was very happy to see Ying Bao and saluted her respectfully: "Little doctor."
Yingbao also returned the greeting: "Thank you, Mr. Li."
"Wherever, let's get on the boat."
Li Xu got on the boat first, put down the carrier on his back, and went to help Ying Bao and the others.
After everyone was on board, the fishing boat poled away from the pier and sailed down the river.
Ying Bao sat on the fishing boat and kept observing Li Xu. Seeing that he was still very weak, he coughed from time to time and asked, "Li Langjun, are you feeling better?"
Li Xu said softly: "It's much better, thanks to the doctor's medicine."
"Since you're feeling much better, why don't you go and take the exam?"
This year is the year of the provincial examination, which is held every three years. As long as Li Xu rushes to the state capital, he should still be able to catch up with the examination in August.
Li Xu shook his head: "The young doctor doesn't know something. He has been ill for several months. Not only has his body been exhausted, but his homework has also been delayed, so he thinks about it before he ends in a few years."
In fact, there was another important reason. His travel expenses to the state capital were gone.
The reason why he had money to hire a boat to go home today was because he sold two pills given by the young man and got four coins.
When he did this, he was quite ashamed. After all, the pills were given to him by a young man, but he doubled the pills and sold them to outsiders to earn money.
But if I don’t sell it, I won’t have the money to return to my hometown, so…
Li Xu glanced at Ying Bao guiltily, covered his mouth and coughed a few times.
"Oh." Ying Bao nodded, seeming to understand.
The fishing boat went with the wind, hung its sail again, and traveled very fast.
The waterway of more than a hundred miles was covered in just one day.
Li Xu took Ying Bao and others ashore, and it was getting late.
So a few people went to find an inn nearby to stay.
A night of silence.
He checked out of the room before dawn in the early morning, and Li Xu hired an ox cart to take the three of them back to his hometown.
He wanted to go home and see his old mother first, and then personally send them to the big dock on the other side of Mingjiang River.
When he was ill in Anping County, he also sent a letter back to his hometown, but no one came to pick him up, and he didn't know if something happened at home.
A few hours later, the ox cart finally arrived at a small village in Tea Tree Township.
As soon as he entered the village, someone recognized Li Xu and shouted loudly: "Hey! Isn't this the scholar of our village? Did you go to Fucheng to finish the exam? Did you win the imperial examination?"
Li Xu cupped his hands towards the man and said, "Fourth uncle, I didn't go to Fucheng."
"Didn't you go to Fucheng? Where have you been for so long?"
The middle-aged man who was called Fourth Uncle glanced at the bullock cart and said in a fuss: "Hey, why did you bring a wife back? Are you getting married outside?"
Ying Bao said to this person coldly: "We are doctors passing by here. Uncle, please don't talk nonsense."
Chun Niang also had a dark face and quickly picked up the bamboo hat and put it on.