Time Travel: A Fisherwoman Goes to the Sea to Raise a Baby

The sea breeze, carrying a salty and fishy smell, blew in his face. Ah Da stood on the shaking deck, looking at the outline of the dock which was becoming clearer and clearer.

The blue-gray city wall of Lingxi County was looming, shadowy figures were seen on the dock, and the sounds of hawking and shouting could be faintly heard.

"arrive."

Mr. Xu walked up to him with a cane, his wrinkled face showing no emotion.

Behind Mr. Xu, the uncles and brothers of the Xu family came out of the cabin one after another, all with their brows twisted into knots, looking like they were not easy to mess with.

The boat shook slightly and finally reached the shore.

The sailors shouted and dropped the ropes and set up the gangplank.

Twelve or thirteen sturdy men rushed down the pier on the crooked gangplank, with the harpoons on their waists shining coldly.

"What do we do now? Go straight to that kid Xu Guining?"

Xu Yiyi's fifth uncle Xu Mingde patted the wrinkles on his sleeves and looked around at the unfamiliar street scenes with a confused look on his face.

Third Uncle Xu Mingyi scratched his head: "The question is... who knows where he lives?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Everyone looked at Grandpa Xu. The old man was squinting his eyes and looking at the people coming and going on the dock with a complicated expression.

"Grandpa..." Xu Mingde called softly.

"I remember……"

Ah Da scratched his head and suddenly remembered, "When that bastard Xu Guining got married, he came to the town dock to ask Uncle Ayong for money. I was processing the fish at the time and overheard it..."

"Xinghua Village?" Xu Mingde frowned. "Is it in the east or west of the city?"

"It's in the east of the city! The one in the west is called Xinglin Village."

Master Xu spoke and walked out of the dock first.

Outside the pier is a wide street with shops on both sides and a lot of pedestrians.

The hawker selling sugar figures, the fisherman carrying fresh fish, the cloth shop clerk shouting "high-quality silk"... all kinds of sounds mixed together, making everyone a little confused.

"Excuse me, old man, how do I get to Xinghua Village?"

Ada stopped an old man carrying a load and asked.

The old man put down his burden and wiped the sweat off his face. "Xinghua Village? That's far away. We have to go east, and it's still another seven or eight miles after we leave the city gate."

"Is there a family with the surname Xu in the village?" Xu Mingyi interrupted.

The old man shook his head: "I don't know about that. I'm not from there."

Mr. Xu gestured for someone to take out a few coins from his sleeve and give them to the old man. He turned to the crowd and said, "Let's go to Xinghua Village and ask around first."

Just as they were about to leave, a loud voice came from behind them: "Are you going to Xinghua Village?"

Everyone turned around and saw a dark-skinned, extremely thin old man dressed like a fisherman, looking at them curiously.

"My name is Zhou Minghan. I'm from Xinghua Village. I'm just about to go back."

He patted the fish basket hanging on his waist and said, "If it's on your way, I can show you the way."

Mr. Xu looked Old Man Zhou up and down, then bowed and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Zhou."

After the group passed through the East City Gate, the road became narrow and rugged.

Old man Zhou walked briskly, pointing out the scenery along the road from time to time.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, an apricot forest appeared in front of us, with the trees full of golden leaves.

"That's Xinghua Village."

Old Man Zhou pointed to the village behind the woods and said, "I haven't asked yet. Who are you looking for in Xinghua Village? Just tell me, I know them all..."

Old man Zhou patted his chest and spoke confidently.

Xu Mingde frowned: "Do you know Xu Guining?"

When Old Man Zhou heard this, the smile on his face disappeared instantly, and he looked at the people in front of him with disgust.

"Who is Xu Guining among you?"

Seeing this, Ada glanced at Xu Mingde. Seeing Old Man Zhou's reaction, it must be that Xu Guining was not doing his job again.

"We're here to collect a debt. We heard that Xu Guining's wife's family is from here..."

Before Xu Mingyi could finish his words, he was interrupted by Old Man Zhou.

"Bah! My daughter has nothing to do with that bastard anymore."

Old man Zhou spat without even turning his head.

"That bastard is either hanging out at a gambling den or on his way to one. Just ask around in any gambling den, there's bound to be someone who knows him!"

Helplessly, the group had to turn back to the county town.

As they passed a fork in the road, Xu Mingde suddenly stopped a young man passing by and asked, "Hey, young man, where is the biggest gambling house in the city?"

The young man glanced at him warily. "Qianjinfang, just follow this street to the end and turn right. But..."

He lowered his voice, "Things have been uneasy lately. The people from Qianjinfang are catching debtors everywhere. I heard they even beat someone up and crippled him yesterday."

"Qianjinfang" is located in a narrow alley in the west of the city. Its facade is inconspicuous, but there are many people coming in and out.

As soon as I reached the door, someone came forward to stop me.

Seeing that those people didn't look like they were there to play, the thugs naturally had to ask them clearly.

"What are you doing here?"

The thug looked at the people in front of him and his temper was not very good.

"Brothers, we are here to ask about someone. Does Xu Guining know him?"

Ada took a step forward with a smile.

The thugs at the door looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Why? He owes you money too?"

Ah Da nodded, and the scar-faced thug slapped his thigh and laughed.

Then he wiped away the tears of laughter.

"I advise you not to waste your energy on this. That grandson is already in debt. Even if you tear his bones apart and boil down his oil, you won't be able to squeeze out a single copper penny!"

The thugs waved their hands, saying that they had beaten the man so badly that he was half dead.

He still didn't pay, which showed that he really had no money left.

"Even if he can't pay, we have to find him."

Xu Mingyi choked.

They are not really here to ask for money. As long as they find the person, they don’t care whether he pays it back or not.

"Brothers, whether he can pay it back or not, we must find him and ask him about it. Please tell us his whereabouts."

Xu Mingde pulled Xu Mingyi behind him and spoke in a humble manner.

"If he hadn't left, he should still be in that dilapidated house on the outskirts of the city..."

Scarface stroked the stubble on his chin. "There are a lot of houses over there, but the door of the little house that bastard lives in has been kicked in. It probably hasn't been repaired yet. You'll know when you get there..."

"Thank you, brothers."

Ah Da bowed in thanks, and the group left the street where the gambling house was.

Follow the road to the outskirts of the city.

At that time, Xu Yiyi and Qingshan had just landed.

"The county is so big? Where can I ask?"

Qingshan glanced at the bustling street, and Xu Yiyi thought for a moment.

"Let's go to the big gambling house here first. That bastard loves to gamble, and he ran back to the island because he couldn't pay off his debts. If he comes back, the people in the gambling house should know something..."

Xu Yiyi said uncertainly.

The two of them asked all the way to Qianjinfang.

"Would you two like to go in and play a couple of rounds?"

Scarface greeted him with a smile, and Qingshan looked like a rich man by the way he was dressed.

"I'm asking you two about someone..."

As soon as Qing San opened his mouth, the smiles on the faces of the two thugs disappeared instantly.

"Go…"

Before he could finish his words, Scarface took the silver that Qingshan handed over.

"Speak now! There's no one in this county that Scar doesn't know!"

Scarface narrowed his eyes and looked at the two of them with a smile.

"This man is Xu Guining! Do you know him?"

"Looking for him again! How much money does that bastard owe?"

Scarface was speechless and pointed the way to the two of them.

When Xu Yiyi and Qingshan got the news, they ran quickly to the outskirts of the city.

"Grandpa and the others shouldn't have gone far, let's chase them."

Xu Yiyi's voice tightened and he quickly followed.