Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 10 Starry sky

The raft was swept far away by the huge force of the river water. When everyone reappeared, they were all soaked.

The river water was icy cold in the spring, and everyone was shivering with cold.

But there was no time to pack up now, because the Jiguanalazi sentry post was not far ahead.

Jiguanalazi, as the name suggests, is a row of pointed peaks standing on the river bank.

Mountains of all sizes rise and fall like the comb of a rooster, stretching into the river.

This place would be a very good tourist attraction if it were to become a tourist attraction in the future.

In spring, the Shilazi is covered with rhododendrons, and in autumn, there are many lichens hanging on the trees, which is very beautiful.

But for the raftsmen, this place is not a beautiful place.

The river is blocked by several mountain peaks and the current is narrow and fast. When rafting on it, one must be careful to avoid rocks. If one is not careful, the raft will hit the rocks.

"Lenghu'er, you and Lao Zhang, Lao Sun and the others come to the front. The raft at the back should move to the riverside first and wait.

The water here is a little low this year, and the river is too narrow to cross. We have to go slowly in rows."

When the leading oarsman, the old crow, saw the situation ahead, he immediately shouted loudly to Qu Shaoyang and others.

The river is too narrow. If the water level is high, it would be okay. If we are careful, ten platoons can slowly cross together.

But the water level this year is lower than in previous years, and the ten rows of wood they have are quite thick, so it is obviously not easy to pass the checkpoint at once.

The thousands of miles of rafting journey has just begun, and the water crow does not want to create any unnecessary trouble. It is better to spend a little more effort than to make mistakes.

That's why he suggested that they should go through each row individually.

As soon as the raft passed the threshold, Qu Shaoyang ran from the back row to the front. Now he was in the third row.

When he heard the foreman calling him, Qu Shaoyang ran and jumped to pass on the message.

"The rafts at the back should move to the river bank and wait for a while. Uncle Zhang, Uncle Sun, the boatswain is asking you to move to the front."

On the raft, everything had to be done under the command of the foreman. Everyone hurriedly moved the oars and moved the raft closer to the shallow water of the river.

The few old masters who were named followed Qu Shaoyang to the front row.

"Er Zhao and I will be at the helm, Lao Zhang, you will be at the rear, Lao Sun and Leng Hu'er, you will watch over the left and right sides.

Always be careful not to let the raft hit the rocks." The old man assigned tasks to everyone.

Everyone was not brave enough to delay and they all pulled themselves together, manipulating the oars in their hands and trying to steer the raft forward along the current.

Except for Qu Shaoyang, all of these people are veterans. Although Qu Shaoyang has no experience in rafting, he is smart and strong, so he is more useful than others.

Several people worked together, and the raft carefully rubbed past the rocks.

After the raft passes the sentry post, find a place where the river current is calm, moor the raft to the shore, and tie it with a rope.

The head oarsman then leads the group along the narrow path beside the stone cliff, returns to the upstream, and unloads the rafts one by one.

After going back and forth for more than ten times, we finally got all the rafts safely past the checkpoint, and by this time, it was already afternoon.

"I'm too tired today, let's not go forward and rest here.

Let’s go to the Starry Sky Post tomorrow morning. It’s just right, and the sun won’t be so dazzling in the morning.”

All ten platoons had passed the sentry post, and Shui Laowu and the others were exhausted, so the foreman waved his hand, signaling everyone to rest on the spot.

Qu Shaoyang led Dazhuizi, Ermaozi and others to set up a stove on a flat place by the river, then collected firewood and prepared to make a fire to cook.

Others took out the bedding from the flower shed and spread it on the rocks and trees on the shore to dry. When they passed the threshold, the river water flooded the flower shed and the food stored inside was also wet.

Fortunately, when leaving Tadianzi, Qu Shaoyang did not buy cornmeal, but mostly corn grits and sorghum rice.

Don’t worry even if some of it gets wet, you’ll finish it in a few days anyway, so you can go to the market town ahead to buy more.

So, Qu Shaoyang cooked two pots of rice with grits in a big pot. There were also some potatoes, dried vegetables, pickles and so on in the flower shed, so he just made it up casually.

Everyone is not picky and will eat whatever is available as long as it fills their stomach.

This place is not a sleeper house and it is quite far from the market town, so there is nothing to do.

So after dinner, everyone chatted for a while, and then went back to the flower shed to sleep when it got dark.

Fortunately, the night was relatively peaceful without any unexpected incidents, and everyone slept soundly.

After breakfast, the raft continued to move forward. After a few miles, the Starry Sky Sentry Post was in the front.

Glancing from a distance, you can see sparkling dots on the river water, just like the twinkling stars in the night sky, filling the center of the river, so it is called a sky full of stars.

In fact, it is the broken stones in the river that make the water ripple, and when the sun shines on it, it looks like a sky full of stars.

As soon as the raft arrived at the Starry Sky Outpost, it seemed as if day and night were reversed.

When the water is high, it is difficult to see the current and it is easy to lose control and crash into rocks.

When the water is low, it is difficult to go upstream and it is easy to run aground, so when the raft arrives here, you must be careful.

Baby's breath, baby's breath, nine people out of ten rows are confused, this is what I am talking about.

Fortunately, it was morning, the sun was in the east, and the water surface was not so dazzling.

If you come here in the afternoon, the sunlight will make you dizzy and it will be even more difficult to get through.

Under the command of the foreman, the raft passed the Starry Sky smoothly and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lenghu'er, what are you thinking about? Our raft is moving forward, what's the point of you looking back?"

Someone saw Qu Shaoyang staring blankly behind him, very confused, so he asked.

“I think the rocks at the bottom of the river are strange. Why are the rocks here different from those elsewhere?

There are rocks at the bottom of the river elsewhere, but they are not so shaky, right?" Qu Shaoyang said, frowning.

He pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Could it be that there was something special about those stones? What was so special about them?
Suddenly, Qu Shaoyang remembered something. In his previous life, he traveled along National Highway G331 from Dandong to Changbai.

It seemed like it was on the road from Linjiang to Changbai, I saw someone digging something in the river.

After asking the locals, I learned that the North Koreans on the other side of the river would pan for gold in the river.

Could it be that the stone at the starry sky whistle post just now is related to this?
"Young man, what's the point of just thinking about it all day? Why don't you go to the bottom of the river and fish out a stone to have a look?"

Er Zhao happened to pass by Qu Shaoyang and was delighted when he heard it.

"Don't worry about it, there's a checkpoint ahead, so cheer up.

We were delayed yesterday, so we need to hurry up today, or we won’t be able to catch the berth.”

When rafting, there are fixed places for resting, either in the rafting station or in the towns and villages along the river.

It's not just a matter of accommodation, but we also have to buy food and vegetables to ensure everyone has enough to eat.

(End of this chapter)