Chapter 413: Seems Like a Fool
Gudu Ferry.
Tie Niaofei sat in a ramshackle thatched hut by the ferry. Behind him, sacks of salt were piled high. Each sack was ingeniously sized, roughly the dimensions of a human head, making them convenient for individual transport. This ensured that his salt smugglers could each sling a bag onto their backs and still move with fleet-footed agility, evading the authorities' hot pursuit.
These sacks of salt had only just been delivered to the ferry yesterday afternoon.
No mean feat, indeed!
Shanxi had been plunged into utter disarray.
The last time Old Zhang Fei, who had dared to attack Gudu Ferry, was blasted into retreat by Xing Honglang's cannons, he hadn't fled far. He still lurked, rampaging through Puzhou and the Hedong Circuit, and roaming marauders could be seen in the nearby villages at any given moment.
Some were vast hordes, hundreds, even thousands strong, while others were smaller bands, ranging from tens to a hundred. They dispersed into various villages, pillaging, burning, and killing, forcing common folk into their ranks.
Tie Niaofei, skillfully skirting the larger bands of marauders and neutralizing the smaller ones, had sold all the grain Xing Honglang entrusted to him to the beleaguered people of Hedong Circuit. He then slipped away to the shores of Xie Lake, amassed a substantial supply of salt, and returned to Gudu Ferry, anxiously awaiting Xing Honglang's next arrival.
A dockworker slipped in from outside, bowing respectfully to Tie Niaofei. "Boss Tie," he asked, "do you still have any grain? I'd like to buy some more."
The dockworker's face crumpled into a distraught expression. "That's truly terrible," he murmured. "My wife is with child right now. We cannot possibly be without food at a time like this."
Tie Niaofei urged, "Just wait a little longer. Boss Xing said she'd be bringing more grain."
The dockworker whispered, "Shaanxi and Shanxi are both gripped by severe drought right now. Even if Boss Xing possessed the power of a god, how could she conjure up much grain?"
Tie Niaofei furrowed his brow. "Sigh! In short," he conceded, "we can't rely solely on Boss Xing to save us. We must also find ways to fend for ourselves. Go try your luck fishing in the river for now!"
The dockworker sighed, then turned and trudged out.
Tie Niaofei followed him out of the thatched hut and gazed towards the ferry. A throng of laborers and farmers were frantically reinforcing the Gudu Ferry's wooden palisade. They did their best to scavenge for sturdy timbers, driving them deep into the earth...
Yet, these people were weakened by hunger, their strength severely depleted. The timbers they managed to scrounge were far from massive; they lacked the brute strength to fell entire large trees, and even if they could, they wouldn't have the energy to drag them back for the laborious task. Thus, the palisade would remain tragically low.
Tie Niaofei murmured inwardly, "The next time Old Zhang Fei attacks Gudu Ferry, this place won't stand a chance."
Sigh!
Boss Xing, when will you return?
Just then, a dockworker on lookout duty by the ferry suddenly erupted in a shout, "They're here, they're here! Boats approaching on the river!"
Tie Niaofei's spirits soared. "Here? Excellent! Is it Boss Xing's fleet?"
"N-not certain... this time there are three ships!"
"Three?"
Tie Niaofei was momentarily stunned, then scrambled to a higher vantage point, straining his eyes towards the river.
On the northern stretch of the river, three large vessels loomed into view. They were still distant, barely discernible, but from their direction, he surmised it was almost certainly Xing Honglang. The local naval forces on the Yellow River simply didn't possess ships of that size.
The three ships drew closer, their forms sharpening into focus. One of them, bristling with cannon barrels, looked quite striking—it was unmistakably Xing Honglang's warship from her last visit, wasn't it?
This time, a large flag fluttered from the mast, emblazoned with the single character "Wolf."
The other two ships were somewhat peculiar, with unusually flat decks. One was packed with warhorses, hundreds, perhaps. The other appeared to be laden with cargo, shrouded from view by a heavy tarpaulin, but Tie Niaofei conjectured it to be grain.
Tie Niaofei's spirits lifted even further. "Boss Xing has arrived!"
A multitude on the ferry thronged the banks, erupting in cheers towards the river. "Boss Xing!" they cried.
"Xing Honglang of Yongji!"
The poorer folk shouted with desperate urgency, for starvation loomed, and their grain supplies had long run dry.
Especially the dockworker whose wife was pregnant; he beheld the three ships as if divine salvation had arrived, and tears streamed down his face as he cried out, "My wife and child are saved at last!"
Xing Honglang stood on the cargo ship's deck, observing the cheering crowd on the shore, and sighed softly. "Our people back home are truly suffering," she murmured.
On another ship, Gao Chuwu poked his head out to observe the scene on shore, a spark of surprise in his eyes. "My wife is held in such high regard here," he exclaimed.
A grenadier sidled up, a grin on his face. "Commander," he chuckled, "you're visiting the madam's hometown this time, meeting her family. You absolutely must be on your best behavior, otherwise, people will laugh at you, and it would reflect poorly on Madame Xing as well."
Gao Chuwu, hearing this, realized the truth of it. Indeed! This was like a clumsy son-in-law bringing his wife home to visit her family. At such a moment, he couldn't afford to make a single misstep, or he'd surely earn the scorn of his wife's family.
Gao Chuwu ruffled his hair. "Do I look presentable?" he asked.
The grenadier replied, "Commander, you look majestic and imposing!"
Gao Chuwu guffawed. "Hahaha! Excellent! Let the folk from my wife's hometown see that their son-in-law is a true man of valor!"
Gao Chuwu, determined to make an impression, perched himself right on the sharpest point of the warship's prow. His lofty and formidable frame stood proudly against the wind, which whipped his hair into a noisy frenzy behind his head.
The onlookers on the shore immediately spotted a burly figure on the opposing warship: a man with thick brows, piercing eyes, and a powerful physique. His imposing presence at the prow was akin to a celestial general, and they were genuinely taken aback by his god-like bearing.
The grenadier called out, "Commander, a true hero bares his chest to the wind; it makes you look even more formidable!"
Gao Chuwu blinked. "Oh? Is that right?"
He grasped his tunic with both hands and tore outwards, expecting his clothes to effortlessly rip apart, exposing his formidable pectorals. To his surprise, the cotton fabric was of such a sturdy weave that it held fast. He'd misjudged his strength, and instead of tearing the fabric to show off, he merely wrenched his body.
His body staggered, he lost his footing, and plunged over the side of the ship.
Fortunately for him, he was one of those quirky prodigies: a man who scored zero in liberal arts but a hundred in athletics. In the very instant he began to fall, he miraculously reacted, reaching out to clamp onto the ship's rail. His entire body dangled precariously outside the bow.
He couldn't swim; if he fell into the river, he would be utterly doomed. He quickly began a frantic, undignified scramble to climb back up, his movements in his panic as ungainly as could be.
The people on shore stared in stunned silence.
"What on earth is that man doing?"
"Is he an idiot?"
"Seems like a fool!"
Gao Chuwu scrambled onto the ship's rail and settled down, his face a mask of mortified chagrin. "Damn it! I've utterly botched it," he muttered. "Now my wife's family will certainly despise me."
The three ships successively pulled alongside the bank.
Xing Honglang was the first to leap ashore.
The moment she appeared, the people on shore let out a collective gasp. They noticed that Xing Honglang was wearing a distinctive married woman's bun, clearly signaling her new marital status. A mere days ago, when she had last visited, she hadn't worn her hair in such a style.
In a matter of days, she had actually taken a husband!
The dockworkers exchanged bewildered glances. "What? No, really?"
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