The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

In this way, in the end everyone got on the boat carrying a small bag. Seeing the village chief and others happily packing up the luggage that fell on the river bank, the women felt heartbroken, because it was all money!

For people who can't swim, riding on a sheepskin raft is really unsafe. There is no shelter around and you can touch the water with your hands.

Xu insisted on riding in the same boat with her son and his wife. Now she was nervously holding the hemp rope that tied the boat tightly with her hands. The backs of her hands were white, which was enough to show how much strength she was using.

Although Zhang Ping'an can swim, he is not very good at it. He felt a little nervous and could only pretend to be calm.

The village chief was not exaggerating. The boatman in their village was indeed skilled. Although the hardware facilities were not good, the speed was not slow. After half an hour, he had rowed out of the ferry and was heading towards the river.

Zhang Ping'an was worried that his clothes and shoes would get wet if he encountered a rapid, but the boatman rowed very steadily.

The river was wide and the villages on both sides could be vaguely seen. It was finally not so eerily quiet anymore.

Everyone started to have some free time to talk.

Xu also relaxed a lot and said with a smile, "I never thought that a sheepskin raft could reach the provincial capital."

Zhang Pingan smiled and said, "If you live by the mountain, you can eat by the mountain; if you live by the water, you can eat by the water. There is always a way."

Miraculously, he didn't get seasick this time. Zhang Pingan thought that it was probably because this was not a proper boat!

The boatman said proudly, "Forget about having a sheepskin raft. Even if I don't have one, I can still get to the provincial capital by tying a raft. The people in my village are all good at swimming. I've been picking up passengers for so many years and have never had any accidents."

Then he said angrily, "If our village wasn't in a bad location, at the very top of the river, and the people at the ferry crossings below us often slandered us, saying our boats were bad and dangerous, no one would come here. Otherwise, with this skill, we wouldn't be so poor. In fact, our boat fares are the cheapest, and it's the ferry crossings below that are the ones who are smearing us!"

Zhang Pingan smiled and didn't respond. To be honest, if he had a choice, he wouldn't have come to Heifeng Ferry to take a boat. Putting aside whether the boat was good or not, the ferry terminal alone looked too creepy.

After the boatman finished speaking, seeing that the others didn't respond, he continued, "If you guys go back to the city later, you can come back to us and we'll give you a cheaper boat fare."

"There are so many of us taking the boat, and the fare is paid for by mule cart and luggage. I'm afraid it will be difficult to divide it when you go back," Zhang Pingan asked curiously.

The boatman, who was in his early twenties and seemed talkative, replied, "The mules and cows can be kept in the village. They won't be divided now. When the weather is good, we can drive them to the surrounding areas of the prefecture to help others transport goods or passengers. The profits will be divided equally among the adult males, and the same goes for clothes and luggage."

"What if some people are lazy and don't work, while others do more? Wouldn't it be unfair to share equally?" asked Xu.

"Well, there are no lazy people in our village. Even lazy people have to be trained to be hardworking. It is the village chief who arranges our work and the money we earn is divided equally. Our village chief has always been fair in his work and no one disagrees. Besides, our village is so poor, how can we be lazy? Lazy people cannot survive," replied the boatman.

On the boat next to them sat cousin Dazhu and old man Zhang. None of them were talkative. The boatman, probably feeling suffocated, said, "I'm not trying to brag, but the people in our village are the most hardworking in this area. Unfortunately, our ancestors didn't choose the right place to settle down, so we're all risking our lives to make money. Take your business, for example. The journey is long and dangerous, and we're all risking our lives."

"That's right. If it weren't for the fact that you guys are offering so much, the village chief wouldn't have accepted it. It's far away and the weather is bad. If we get caught by the people from the Hebo Division, we'll have to go to jail." Another boatman continued.

"Can't you smooth things over with them? I heard from people in Tangjiadu that they all have ways to rescue people," Qian Yongde interrupted.

"Who can compare with them? They are all smugglers. They have someone protecting them from the higher-ups and they make more money." Zhang Ping'an's boatman said with some disdain. "At most, we are just making a small profit. They will be beheaded for doing that."

The people at Heifengdu were very experienced in rowing. When it was completely dark, they arrived at a reed marsh in the middle of the river.

"Okay, let's get off first," the boatmen shouted.

"Are we going to rest here?" Ma couldn't help complaining. They had to sleep in the open air all the way, which was a world of difference compared to life at home.

An elderly boatman leading the group explained, "You were the ones who told the village chief that we were in a hurry and needed to leave as soon as possible. It's already past noon when you set out, so you definitely won't arrive. You can only rest here for the night and leave again at dawn tomorrow. You'll arrive by morning."

The reed marsh in the middle of the river is quite large and the soil is very moist, but it is obvious that not only the people from Heifengdu will spend the night here, but others will too. Walking forward to the center of the reed marsh, Zhang Pingan found that there were many hay mats on the ground, which could barely prevent moisture.

"Sometimes when we're halfway through the journey and it gets dark and we have nowhere to go, we just spend the night here," said the leading boatman.

After that, he picked up the hatchet he had brought with him and went around to cut a lot of dry reeds. He said, "Use this to cover yourself at night. It's better than nothing. If you have hats, put them on quickly. As long as your head is not in the wind, it's okay."

No wonder every boatman wears a dog-skin hat!