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

After making the decision, Zhang Ping'an quickly walked down to the first floor along the railing, stood by the railing and jumped into the water.

The river water was still a little cold at the end of May, and Zhang Pingan shivered with cold. As a "splash" sound of falling into the water was heard, he could faintly hear the sound of "someone ran away" coming from the pleasure boat in the water.

Zhang Ping'an could only try his best to swim quickly towards the depths. Thanks to the environment where he grew up, Zhangjia Village was backed by mountains and backed by water, so Zhang Ping'an was not a landlubber and was quite good at swimming.

Zhang Ping'an swam far away until he was almost out of breath, then he opened his nostrils to breathe and then dived into the water again.

He swam back and forth, not knowing how long he had been swimming. When Zhang Pingan felt that he could not hold on any longer, he looked up and saw that he was already far away from the gathering place of the pleasure boats. He could only vaguely see some lights, and he had no idea what had happened to the other people on the boats.

Looking at the dark water nearby, Zhang Pingan wiped his face, thinking he had escaped.

This place is far away from the small pier of the pleasure boat. The embankments on both sides are high, and I don’t have any suitable tools, so I can’t climb up. I can only find a boatman to take me to the pier.

Zhang Ping'an floated on the water and looked around. He noticed that there was a small boat moored at the embankment not far away. A dim light could be seen from the cabin. He could not see the specific appearance of the cabin clearly, but there was definitely someone in it, most likely a nearby fisherman.

He had heard from Zhang Laoer before that some fishermen lived in poverty and did not rent houses in the city, but slept directly on the boat and regarded the boat as their home.

With a target in mind, Zhang Ping'an took a breath and rested, then swam straight towards the boat.

When I got near the boat, I could hear low conversations in the cabin, still in Beijing dialect, but I couldn't make out the specific content.

As they swam forward, the sound of water probably startled the people in the cabin, and the conversation immediately stopped.

Zhang Pingan approached the boat, gently knocked on the hull, and asked tremblingly, "Is the boatman here?"

I couldn't help but pray in my heart, hoping that it was just an ordinary boatman. He no longer had the strength to swim, and if he didn't go ashore he would either die of exhaustion or freeze to death!

There was no movement on the boat for a while. If he hadn't seen the lights and heard the conversation just now, he would have thought there was no one inside!

It would be fine if there was really no one there, he could just go up directly, Zhang Pingan joked in his heart.

A moment later, the cabin curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man in plain cloth walked out. He had sharp eyes and muscular body. He was obviously a martial artist. At this moment, he was staring at Zhang Pingan with a bad look and did not say a word.

Zhang Pingan explained half-seriously, "Brother, I just fell into the water from the boat in front of me. I lost my way in the water and swam all the way here, only to find that I was quite far away from the original boat. I wonder if you can take me to the nearest dock? I can pay double the boat fare!"

He opened his eyes as wide as possible while speaking, trying to appear more convincing.

The muscular man was unmoved, and said woodenly with his arms folded across his chest: "I'm busy, I won't see you off!"

"How about we discuss it again? Can you ask your host to come out and talk?" Zhang Ping'an was not giving up.

There were no other boats within two or three miles, so getting on this boat was the best option.

Zhang Ping'an saw that although there was murderous intent in this man's eyes and it was obvious that he had seen blood, there was not much malice in his eyes towards him at the moment, so he had no choice but to give it a try with a thick face.

As the two were entangled, a deep and pleasant male voice came from the cabin: "Xiao San, let him come up!"

The voice was neither hurried nor slow, steady and powerful. It was obvious that he was not very old. There was a sense of authority in his words, and they sounded somewhat familiar.

While Zhang Ping'an was recalling the past, the attendant named Xiao San had already reached out and pulled Zhang Ping'an onto the boat's yoke with great force. Before Zhang Ping'an could react, he was thrown to the bow of the boat like a dead fish.

At this time, the person in the cabin also came out, wearing a dark brocade robe and black official boots. Zhang Ping'an looked up along the soles of the shoes and found that it was Lord Zhou who had helped him at Quzhou Wharf.

After half a year, you are still as charming as ever!

At this moment, he had his hands behind his back, looking down at Zhang Pingan with a faint look.

"I'm honored to meet Lord Zhou," Zhang Ping'an quickly stood up and saluted. He was also surprised in his heart. He really didn't expect to meet Lord Zhou again on this ordinary little boat.

Lord Zhou was a little surprised to see Zhang Pingan soaking wet, but he remained calm and asked calmly, "Mr. Zhang, it's been a long time since we last met. How come you look so miserable in the middle of the night?"

Zhang Ping'an hesitated for a moment, but still briefly recounted what happened on the pleasure boat and how he was forced to jump off the boat.

Lord Zhou frowned upon hearing this. "Is that so? I see. Please go into the cabin first!"

Today's situation was a little unusual. After weighing it over and over again in his mind, Zhang Pingan still entered the cabin with gratitude on his face.

Sure enough, after entering the cabin, he found that there was another person inside. He was about thirty years old, with regular features, fair skin and no beard, and was well maintained. However, the look he gave Zhang Ping'an was as cold as a poisonous snake, which made Zhang Ping'an feel breathless.

I was so nervous for a moment, was this just like escaping a wolf's den and walking into a tiger's den?!

Lord Zhou asked his attendants to take out a set of clean clothes for Zhang Ping'an to change into. He then put a few pieces of charcoal into the stove, fanned the flames a little, and boiled a pot of hot tea.

After changing his clothes, Zhang Ping'an took the hot tea handed to him by Lord Zhou but did not dare to drink it. He just touched the corner of his mouth lightly.

Lord Zhou watched quietly, then suddenly said casually, "You're very smart. You should know exactly how to say and do some things!"

"I understand, kid," Zhang Pingan responded quickly.

"Hmm," Lord Zhou said calmly, then ordered his followers, "Xiao San, row the boat back!"

Upon hearing this, the muscular man named Xiao San sat at the bow of the boat and rowed.

After this sound, no one spoke on the boat.

Mr. Zhou was leaning against the cabin and dozing off, while a pale-faced, beardless man was sitting beside him, drinking tea by himself.

Zhang Ping'an felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

After finally enduring for half an hour, the boat finally stopped at a pier that Zhang Ping'an didn't recognize. The white-faced, beardless man put down his teacup, stood up, and got off the boat in three or two steps.

Before leaving, he turned back and pointed towards the cabin and said meaningfully: "Don't forget where you came from!"

The voice was much shriller than that of an ordinary middle-aged man. Looking at the way this person walked, and thinking of what Xiao Yifei had gossiped with him, Zhang Pingan widened his eyes. Is this man a eunuch?

No one cared what he was thinking. After the white-faced, beardless man left, the boat continued to move forward for another quarter of an hour before gradually approaching the pier that everyone used.

It was not too late yet, and there were stalls selling flowers and food near the small pier, which was very popular.

Lord Zhou reminded him, "We're here, get off now!"

Zhang Ping'an quickly stood up and thanked him again before getting off the boat. Lord Zhou and his servant had no intention of getting up, obviously having other arrangements. Zhang Ping'an was tactful and didn't ask.

Standing at the small pier, looking at the boat going further away, Zhang Pingan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He was lucky to have saved his life today!