Chapter 19 nineteen

The enemy plane was hardly visible anymore, and there was still a buzzing sound in the sky, sometimes far away, sometimes approaching. There are only a few white clouds in the bright blue sky, like fermented flour. Every time I look at it, I feel that it has grown bigger.The river bends across the tawny fields, and the water turns golden red in the sunset light. A dotted line of dots mottled with yellow and green followed a bend in the river to a cluster of white-headed reeds.The last point of this dotted line now gradually emerges from the middle of the snow-white reed flowers; it is a large wooden boat disguised as branches.Under the camouflage, there are two layers of wooden boxes stacked, but there is a three-foot-square gap in the middle. There is a cot and a stool. This is the "air-raid room" prepared by Yao Shaoguang for himself, but the people on the same boat call it the "air defense room". mouse hole.

When setting off in Shanghai, Yao Shaoguang strongly advocated that the ship should only sail at night to avoid enemy bombing.However, the result of Cai Yongliang asking Yan Zhongping for instructions is that it can be done as soon as it is feasible, and there is no difference between heaven and man, day and night, and Tang Liu Zongyuan's words.It means that heaven and man do not interfere with each other.Heaven and earth, arrive early and be safe, and strive to gain time.Yao Shaoguang had no choice but to use the wooden boxes containing the machines to form the "air defense room" on his own boat, which was also his "office room", where he hid all day long.Fortunately, there is a cot, and his only job is to sleep during the long days.

It was also a coincidence that after the departure, it was overcast for two consecutive days, and the enemy plane did not appear.The third day was a beautiful sunny day. Since the morning, Yao Shaoguang felt very uneasy. He ordered Zhou Ashou and Shi Quansheng to stand at the stern of the boat in turn, watching for enemy planes, and repeatedly told the boatman that if they saw enemy planes, they must berth the boat on the shore. In the nearby reeds, or under the big tree. The whole morning passed safely, and most of the afternoon also passed safely.Yao Shaoguang let go of half of his heart, went from his "air defense room" to the deck, looked left and right, admiring the autumn scenery of the field, and was planning how to enjoy the moon and drink tonight.

Unexpectedly, the roar of the plane came suddenly, and he got into his "air defense room" in a panic, concentrating all his attention on his ears.However, what surprised him and made him furious was that, beyond the buzzing of the plane, there was still the sound of oars and oars drawing water.Later Gong Zizhen and Zhang Binglin both advocated this theory. , - the boat is still going. "Bastard! Stop! You don't want your life?" He lay on his cot, tilted his head, and yelled loudly into the narrow gap between two rows of large wooden boxes.From that slit, he clearly saw the lower body of the boatman on the boat shed, and even saw a crooked face (it was Shi Quansheng), but no one heeded his orders.

He didn't dare to go out again, and he stopped shouting in anger, turned over and lay on his back, and said to himself, "Forget it, just let these bastards mess around! Anyway, my 'air defense room' is very solid. The result of activities, value, significance It is not given to people by objects, but by people, and enemy planes are not afraid of strafing them.” Before setting off, he consulted many authorities, and they all said that enemy planes “as a rule” do not drop bombs on ships in the river. Just machine gun fire.And his "air defense room" is not only composed of large wooden boxes, but the large wooden boxes are full of machines, which are all steel, and of course machine guns and the like are impenetrable.

He was almost completely relieved, but suddenly thought: the hull of the ship is not protected by iron armor. If the bullets penetrated the hull, wouldn't the ship sink?At that time, what can he do?This new "discovery" almost scared him half to death.He casually picked up the small wooden stool beside the bed, knocked on those wooden boxes desperately, and shouted in a trembling voice: "Stop-down-come on! Stop-up! Bastard!" Knocking and shouting like this, for a while, I felt really tired, so I held my breath and listened again, the sound of the paddle and scull dialing water was louder than before, which responded to atomic facts, that is, sense data, such as "this flower is red" . , and there were voices of talking and laughing, among which Zhang Qiaoling was of course particularly crisp. "Strange, they are happy! Maybe there is no enemy plane?" Yao Shaoguang turned over and got out of bed while thinking about it, walked to the "hole" with a bow, listened carefully, and then slowly poked his head out of the "hole" outside.The strong light made him close his eyes immediately, but at the same time he heard a burst of laughter, and a person in the middle said, "The turtle has got its head out!" This was probably Zhou Ashou.

When Yao Shaoguang's upper body was exposed on the deck, the stern was leaving the last cluster of reeds.Snow-white reeds fluttered down, and the camouflaged green branches on the deck seemed to be covered with a layer of snow.Shi Quansheng's youngest daughter, Ayin, was squatting on the left side, with a pair of black eyes wide open, looking at Yao Shaoguang as if she was spying on some strange animal.Not far from Ah Yin are the wives of Zhang Qiaoling, Zhou Ashou, and Shi Quansheng——when they saw Yao Shaoguang coming out, they all turned their heads away.Except for the sound of sculls and water, the deck was silent.

"Oh, very good!" Yao Shaoguang said accostingly, pretending to be very happy. "It's the first time I encountered an enemy plane, so it's safe and sound." Suddenly he frowned and called Zhou A-Shou: "Hey, A-Shou, why don't you go to watch? Are you sure that the enemy plane will never come back?" "It's not my class right now!" Zhou Ashou replied coldly, still not turning his face to look at the golden red river. "Oh! It's not your class." Yao Shaoguang stepped off the stage quickly after being bored.He turned around and looked at the stern, forced a smile and said, "It's Shi Quansheng's class now, very good." He moved his body, sat down next to Zhang Qiaoling, breathed a long sigh of relief, and then treated him with the most sincerity. Zhang Qiaoling said:

"Miss Zhang, next time you spot an enemy plane, I advise you to hide. My 'office room'—oh, it's the 'air defense room', although it's a little smaller, there is one more People are also very comfortable. Mi Sizhang, I am 120,000 sincere, and welcome you to enjoy this safe happiness together!" "Thanks. I like decks." Zhang Qiaoling replied.Her words were not lacking in politeness, but her tone was cold, but for some reason, she couldn't help smiling. This laugh made Yao Shaoguang dizzy.He said anxiously: "No! The deck is not safe!"

"On the same ship, if the deck isn't safe, your mouse—well, the air-raid shelter, isn't necessarily safe either?" "No, it's not! Hey, Miss Zhang, I swear by my personality that the deck is not safe. Why? Hey, look, these bamboo leaves and pine and cypress branches are useless and can be blocked Machine gun bullets?" Yao Shaoguang pointed and said, and at the same time moved his body to Zhang Qiaoling's side.Unexpectedly, Zhang Qiaoling stood up suddenly, startling Yao Shaoguang. Zhang Qiaoling didn't make a sound, just moved away a little bit, and then sat down again.

At this time, the boat came to the bend of the river.The eight or nine boats walking in front seemed to be motionless, stretched into a very long dotted line, and the last one was about half a mile away from Yao Shaoguang and the others.As far as the eye could see, a cluster of houses appeared at the end of the river, which was of course a village: it seemed that the village blocked the river at once.A cloud shadow floats on the water, ahead of the boat.This cloud shadow seems to be racing against the boat, always advancing ten steps ahead of the bow of the boat. Yao Shaoguang looked at the racing cloud for a while, then he suddenly cheered up and coughed loudly, and said seriously to everyone on the deck: "Attention everyone! I have a few words to say to you. ——Hey, Shi Quansheng, come on! Come and listen to me. ——The enemy plane came just now. If you didn't stop the boat, it was a serious mistake. ...This is extremely dangerous. Didn't I warn you a long time ago, why did I forget it again!" "But," Crooked Face happened to come from the back cabin, hearing Yao Shaoguang blame them for being disobedient, he lazily replied: "The plane was very high just now! Mr. Tang also told us that there are camouflages on board, It seems that the goal is not clear, and it is so high, so don’t be afraid.” "Who says you're not afraid? There's a binoculars on the plane. Look at it, it's as big as a sesame seed. It looks at you. Hmph, it can see your crooked face clearly. Why aren't you afraid!" Yao Shaoguang said outrightly.They were all stunned with crooked faces, unable to answer for a while.Yao Shaoguang was very proud, and was about to continue to lecture them, when he heard a woman's voice whispering: "Stop still, isn't that waiting for it to explode?" This is the wife of the crooked face, and she secretly said to the crooked face. Yao Shaoguang glanced at her contemptuously, shook his head and said, "I have no knowledge! Hey, you have to pay attention! Not moving, of course, is a negative way; the best way is to be positive. The positive way is to push the boat into the reed pile quickly." Hide it. Hide it, understand?" No one said anything.It seems that everyone has not heard.The youngest daughter, Ah Yin, who had a distorted face, burst into tears.Her mother ran over in a panic, and the others turned their faces to see what was going on, and Ah Yin cried louder and yelled in pain.Suddenly she raised her arm, and everyone saw blood on her sleeve.Zhang Qiaoling pulled Ah Yin to look at her arm. There was a bloody scar, which was probably accidentally scratched by the nail head of the wooden box. It was about an inch long. Yao Shaoguang was completely left out in the cold.He had no choice but to go back to his "mouse hole" in a fit of anger. Zhang Qiaoling smeared a little red syrup on A Yin and wrapped it in a bandage, then went to prepare dinner with A Yin's mother.The sun had gone, and the color of the water had turned a deep purple. When the color of the water turned to silver gray again, the half moon had already risen quite high, and Yao Shaoguang's boat and other boats of his accomplices were moored near a village. Everyone has finished their dinner, but Yao Shaoguang is still drinking alone. There are two or three tallow trees by the bank, some of the leaves after the first frost have turned red, some have only turned yellow, while the largest part is still green.There is a graveyard on the other side of the tree, and a small piece of mulberry forest is farther away.And the village is behind the mulberry forest. Around the grave, there is a piece of decayed grass.People who have been bored all day on the boat stretch their legs here.However, Tang Jicheng led Xiao Changlin and other seven or eight people around the mulberry forest, intending to find some fresh green branches to repair the camouflage on the ship. After a whole day in the sun, the bamboo leaves were rolled into tubes, although the pine and cypress branches It is still green, but it is no longer enough to distribute. Yao Shaoguang's boat was facing the two or three black tallow trees.Front, back, left, and right are all "our own people".This time, the machines, raw materials, and semi-finished products of Guohua Factory were loaded into fourteen large and small wooden boats. The boat Yao Shaoguang sat on was a large one, numbered fifth.Next to it, there are two or three small boats, just packed with wooden boxes and no people on board. At this time, there are only one or two boatmen on the quiet boat, lying asleep in the shed. Only Shi Quansheng and his wife were on Yao Shaoguang's own boat, who never went ashore.Yao Shaoguang sipped his wine leisurely, chatting with the crooked couple. Gradually talking about food, the crooked-faced wife complained: "Mr. Yao, you can send someone else to do the cooking tomorrow! I can't do this kind of thankless job!" "What? Can't get it done?" Yao Shaoguang raised his wine glass and said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "This is embarrassing!" "Really, try another person." He said to his wife with a crooked face. "Mr. Cai's calculation is very good, this meal is not easy to manage." Yao Shaoguang put down his wine glass, nodded seriously, pretended to be very sympathetic, and replied in a low voice: "I don't look good either. In the past three days, everyone complained. The workers didn't understand the situation and thought it was the cook who made a mistake. Of course I am clear about this. However, Cai Yongliang, we have to forgive him Hey, think about it. He is used to being comfortable in Shanghai. Now Boss Yan appointed him as an escort. He is really a dumb man who eats Coptis chinensis, and he can’t tell the hardships! I can't help myself. Haha!" "But it's too cruel." The crooked-faced wife said angrily. "Yes, yes! Do the math, how much did he take? Thirty percent?" "If it's 30%, it's called a robber showing kindness!" He said with a crooked face, "Rice and oil, he bought them in bulk in Shanghai. We don't know how he billed them. But the daily vegetables, Everyone saw it with their own eyes, how much is it worth? Hehe, for this item alone, he doesn’t have half of the benefits, so my surname is not Shi.” "Oh! More than half!" Yao Shaoguang murmured, raised his glass and took a hasty sip.He never imagined that there would be so much "oil and water" for Cai Yongliang.He remembered again: before leaving, he had asked to keep the 20 yuan subsidy he gave to the factory every month, but Boss Yan refused;He put down his wine glass and looked at the people walking around the graveyard behind the tallow tree, but he was calculating in his heart: one person is two cents, fifty-seven people is eleven yuan and four cents, half of it is five yuan and seven cents, and one month is one cent. One hundred and seventy-one yuan.Ah, one hundred and seventy-one dollars!This large amount made Yao Shaoguang angry! "It's just out of words!" Yao Shaoguang looked at the couple with crooked faces in a blink of an eye, and said every word in a dignified manner. "Such unconscionable things, I can't take my eyes off them! Shi Quansheng," he lifted the wine bottle beside him and shook it, "You know, I paid for this bottle of wine myself," pointing to the deck again Five-spice dried tofu and beef jerky on the table, "I bought this myself. I even sacrificed the public dishes! Oh, Cai Yongliang, he has no conscience! The workers are too easy to talk, just look at him lawless, no scruples." there is none left!" "On the second ship, you have spoken—" He said hesitantly with a crooked face, but Yao Shaoguang immediately interrupted him and asked anxiously: "What? Why don't I know? Who's on the second boat?" "Zhou Amei and his wife, Mr. Tang, the newly invited doctor Lu Jiren, and..." "There is no need to report the name of the person!" Yao Shaoguang interrupted the crooked face again, "They opened their mouths, what happened afterwards? How did Cai Yongliang answer?" "There is no negotiation with Cai Yongliang. Mr. Tang persuaded me!" "Oh!" Yao Shaoguang was startled, but immediately grimaced and smiled, "Tang Jicheng persuaded him! Oh, no wonder! Hey, Shi Quansheng, do you know that the new Dr. Lu is Tang Jicheng's relative! What kind of doctor do you need on board? It’s not about personal care! Naturally, Tang Jicheng wants to help Cai Yongliang! He doesn’t have too much, and he can always get 10%.” "Mr. Tang is not such a person." The crooked-faced wife couldn't bear to listen, and couldn't help interjecting. "Mr. Tang persuaded Zhou Amei and the others to be patient this time, because they are on the way." The crooked face also said to clean up for Tang Jicheng. "How's the road going?" Yao Shaoguang retorted abruptly and righteously, and his voice also raised a bit. "Should everyone be silent and listen to people's exploitation on the road? This is not three days or two days! On the road, it may take a month or two months, it may not be fixed; with this kind of food, when we arrive in Hankou, everyone will make a mess. It's strange to be sick!" The couple with crooked faces fell silent.Yao Shaoguang knew that his words had already had an impact, so he pulled his face further and whispered many methods in his ear.At the end, he exhorted again and again: "Take care of everyone, but don't let Tang Jicheng know. He is Cai Yongliang's accomplice!" Yao Shaoguang picked up his wine bottle and took a picture under the moonlight, and there was only half of the wine in the bottle.He looked and looked, shook it a few times, and finally poured one-third of it into his pointed-bottomed small wine cup, intending to give it to the crooked face to drink, just like the generalissimo who wants his subordinates to go out to charge, he must give three glasses of wine; He picked up the wine cup, looked at the crooked face, suddenly couldn't bear it anymore, gently put down the wine cup, looked sideways at the two drinks, finally smiled, and said to the crooked face: "But don't mention me first! When it comes to critical moments, I will come forward to support everyone!" He hastily picked up the cup, raised his neck and drank it up, then hastily cleaned up the rest of the drink, and lying down on the deck while enjoying the seven-point drink, he hummed the incoherent Huagu tune. The moon had already hung on the top of the tallow tree, and Tang Jicheng, who had gone out to gather green branches, happily returned with a lot of holly branches on their backs, and immediately distributed them to the ships to repair the camouflage throughout the night.A dozen or so people were talking and laughing loudly on the other side of the grave.Several others squatted under the tallow tree, smoking. With a crooked face, he walked slowly to the shore, first he found the two most acquainted sand-turning workers, and then went to the graveyard together.The food is so bad that everyone is already dissatisfied.With crooked faces, they managed to connect all the people on the Jiutiao boat with little effort.But they kept it from Zhang Qiaoling and Xiao Changlin.They also presumed that Shi Quansheng's wife was in charge of inquiring about prices in the towns along the way, and they settled accounts with Cai Yongliang when they got real evidence. Early the next morning, fourteen boats set off one after another.Cai Yongliang was on the No. 7 ship, which was also a large ship. It was loaded with semi-finished products and was only half-loaded, so it was the fastest to go. As usual, it was the leader of the team.Different from Yao Shaoguang's style, Cai Yongliang did not prepare an "air defense room" for himself, but he left a spacious and comfortable middle cabin for himself, and covered the roof of his middle cabin with steel plates from the factory. On top of that is camouflage.There are no workers in his boat, except for four strong boatmen, that is, the mouthless Si, a veteran cadre who has worked under Cai Yongliang for four or five years.The daily vegetables and vegetables of each ship were bought by Ah Si who was short of mouth. Of course, Ah Si knew the most about Cai Yongliang's muddled account. There was a light drizzle on the river.The rain started at dawn, and it hasn't stopped for several hours, but it hasn't gotten bigger either.The rain is like a veil covering the trees and villages.The bright colors of the field seem to have been dampened, and they are a little diffuse. Cai Yongliang sat cross-legged in the middle cabin, with a cigarette sticking to his lips, the ash was half an inch long, and it hadn't fallen down yet.He is calculating the distance, and also calculating the income he may increase.Everyone was dissatisfied with the food he provided, and he knew it.But he himself was not satisfied.On that day, on the second ship, Tang Jicheng persuaded Zhou Amei and the others on the one hand, and on the other hand asked Mrs. Tang to find a chance to give Cai Yongliang a hint.Mrs. Tang has taught elementary schools for many years, and she is the most gentle person. She doesn't talk about the food on board, but only describes the difficulty in buying vegetables during the "war and chaos".But Cai Yongliang had already guessed her reason for coming, so he generously said something like this: "Everyone always thinks that I have made a lot of money from this meal. To be honest, all the pockets are only about ten yuan. When I was playing small mahjong in Shanghai, when I was unlucky, ten yuan was not enough for eight rounds of cards. Besides , I arrived at the port in ten days and eight days. Is the oil and water in these ten days and eight days enough for a lifetime? To be honest, I don’t need to take care of such a matter, but Boss Yan ordered it to come down, so I have to accept it Ah! If anyone is willing to carry this stick in my place, I will be very happy." Cai Yongliang's remarks are not all lies.To be fair and honest, he didn't intend to make too much of the amount of 20 cents per person per day, and he was "a lot of money" in getting money.He himself ate "special dishes" these days, and he didn't quite understand what everyone was eating; but he didn't believe that Quakzui Ah Si's hands and feet would be clean. "This lack of mouth is really a greedy dog!" Cai Yongliang scolded in his heart, a little angry.The long ash from the cigarette fell on his lap where he was sitting cross-legged.He flicked it casually, only then did he feel a little soreness in the tailbone.This is where his style differs from that of Yao Shaoguang: he respects the customs and sleeps on the deck on the boat, but the padding is thicker. He lay flat on his back and looked around.Near the starboard side, on a low tea table, there are two plates, one is candy and the other is melon seeds.He stretched out his upper body to grab a handful of melon seeds and ate a few. Feeling bored, he rolled over to the side of the low tea table and peeped at the scenery outside the boat from under the bamboo canopy on the side. Mengmengyu still maintains the density of the past.The leaves, which act as camouflage, are now saturated with water.A bunch of pine branches hanging obliquely beside the bamboo canopy is dazzling green, and drops of water are dripping from the tips of the pine needles.Suddenly the bunch of pine needles trembled, and then Cai Yongliang felt his eyes go dark, and heard Susu rubbing.From the rear pier came the slogan of the boatman greeting the boat again.Cai Yongliang looked under the bamboo canopy, and saw a series of wooden boats coming from the opposite side, passing by.The boats were also camouflaged, and all flew a small flag. "It's another mission ship. I don't know if it's loaded with soldiers or ammunition?" Cai Yongliang thought so, and called out: "Ah Si!" There was no response. He opened the curtain and looked in the forward cabin, but there was no one.Ah Si's gray cloth jacket was thrown on the deck, and there was a half pack of cigarettes beside it.This is not the "Red Golden Dragon" that Ah Si always smokes, but the "Three Fortresses" that Cai Yongliang smokes. Cai Yongliang couldn't help being angry, he called again sharply: "Ah Si!" This time, the answer came, behind the boat.Cai Yongliang jumped up, and as soon as he stretched out his hand, he lifted the reed separating the middle cabin and the rear cabin. He saw that Ah Si was also jumping up in a panic. The boatman also seemed to be taken aback, looking at each other in blank dismay, holding the cards in his hands. Cai Yongliang didn't say a word, put down the reed mat, and sat cross-legged again. Card fighting on board is very common.Not only Ah Si, but most of the workers also like this dish.If it wasn't about his status, why would Cai Yongliang not want to be a protagonist.If Tang Jicheng and his wife were not so stubborn, Zhang Qiaoling was not so restrained, and Yao Shaoguang's gambling skills were a little bit better, then Cai Yongliang would have been ready to dedicate his spacious middle cabin to the "colleagues" for fun.However, now he feels that Ah Si, who is short-mouthed, shouldn't bet. Hearing soft rustling noises in the front cabin, Cai Yongliang knew that it was Ah Si who had returned.He leaned back against the stack of quilts, half lying and half sitting, thinking of the "Three Fortress" cigarettes he saw just now, and felt that his dignity had been insulted. Quezui Ah Si crawled to the cloth curtain and coughed lightly, indicating that he was waiting. After waiting for a long time, I heard Cai Yongliang draw the tone, imitating the tone that Yan Zhongping sometimes spoke to Cai Yongliang, and said slowly: "Okay, you have made a fortune in the past few days, and you have become richer, hey hey!" Quezui Ah Si lifted the curtain, half squatted and half knelt, lowered his head to Cai Yongliang, answered a few "yes" in a low voice, but didn't speak. Suddenly Cai Yongliang's tone changed - it was no longer imitating Yan Zhongping's tone, but his own: "People say you are too full, I'm making a name for you!" The mouthless Ah Si was stunned, and suddenly couldn't understand what was going on.However, he immediately came to his senses and let go of his heart. He calmly replied: "Return to the section chief! How dare you be presumptuous when you are short-mouthed. Those people's words are like building bridges in white water. I have an account for all the money I handle. " Cai Yongliang's eyes widened, noncommittal. Quezui Ah Si touched the small leather bag attached to the belt of his leather trousers, pulled the button, picked out a piece of paper, and presented it with both hands. As soon as Cai Yongliang took the paper and glanced at it, his face changed a little.If just now he was only angry because of the lack of mouth Si "really a greedy dog", then now he is even more angry because this dog is not only greedy but dares to confess that it is not too greedy.According to the accounts on this paper, of the daily vegetable expenses of eleven yuan and four cents, Cai Yongliang's "special dishes" alone cost one yuan, "Three Fortress" cigarettes three yuan and two cents, fruits, pastries, candies, Melon seeds and the like went to another one yuan—and what was especially hateful was that there was still two yuan dangling in the account, with "refreshment fee" and the date marked below it. Cai Yongliang threw the piece of paper at Quakzui Ah Si face to face, cursing: "See your mother's tea fee!" The mouthless Ah Si hurriedly explained: "This is the day before yesterday, when the section chief had a drink with the mayor in that town, he called a singer..." "Bastard!" Cai Yongliang roared, "Who wants you to talk too much! See your mother's tea fee!" The mouthless Ah Si didn't dare to speak anymore, and was dejected, ready to be scolded.The more Cai Yongliang thought about it, the angrier he became, pointing at Ah Si's nose, he asked sharply: "Can I eat more than one yuan a day alone? Can I smoke so many cigarettes? You stole it all! Fruits, melon seeds, and snacks are all one yuan a day, fart, nonsense! You stupid thief! You don’t even know how to make money, you still have to learn!” "Back to the section chief! I'm learning from the section chief every day!" This time, Cai Yongliang really couldn't speak out in anger. After being frozen for a long time, Cai Yongliang suddenly picked up the plate of melon seeds on the low coffee table and threw it at Quezui Ah Si without thinking. The last plate he threw was caught by Quezui Ah Si with one hand. "Asshole! Remember!" Cai Yongliang said bitterly, then lay flat on his body, and didn't speak anymore. While this live drama was going on, the long line of mission boats on the river had already passed by, but another group of boats appeared ahead.This group is very similar to the refugee groups that appear in big cities. It can be seen from their attire that they have different identities, and they would never mix together in normal times, but now they have crowded this rather wide river.This group, still far apart, seemed to be heading in the same direction. It was not until a black cluster of houses appeared in front of them that they were not moving.But they got bigger little by little. After half an hour the group of ships became more clearly visible.It turns out that this is an out-and-out motley crew: from gorgeous flower boats to "bare-chested boats" carrying dung by farmers; some are also camouflaged, and some don't even have a mat; and stuff. And they are not crowded together, but connected into a long line, with the black clusters of houses at the head. Now I can see clearly that this is a town, and the tail is a stone's throw away from Cai Yongliang's boat. Loud voices can also be heard.Cai Yongliang, who was lying on the reed mat and humming Peking opera, turned over and pushed aside the bamboo canopy to see that the boat was crowded.The two wooden boats, one big and one small, in deep water, just passed by the starboard side, the hull shook, and then stopped. Quezui Ah Si poked his head into the curtain and said in a low voice: "Section Chief! What is the level here? It needs to be checked!"