An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

To go to Jian'an County, we had to sail south along the river. Even with a favorable wind and favorable flow, the boat was not going very fast.

The boat moved slowly across the water, the waves gently lapping against the hull, making a subtle sound. From the boat, the verdant waters and green mountains on either side slowly receded, as if the boat were leisurely strolling across the water. Jing Chunxi finally understood why it had taken over ten days to reach Jian'an County.

Isn’t it just slow!

The first two days of the trip went very smoothly.

Every evening, the boat would dock in a leeward location. Then, they would eat, recharge their batteries, and rest early. At daybreak, the boat would set off again.

On the third night, the ship docked at the shore as usual.

After dinner, the old captain and a boatman came to see Ah Qi. Today, the old captain looked a little serious, a little different from usual, which made Ah Qi feel strange.

He said, "If we continue walking for another half a day tomorrow, we will no longer be in Jiujiang County after passing Jianning County."

Ah Qi was a little confused and wanted him to continue.

Seeing this, the old captain continued, "In the past, when we came here, we had to pass three checkpoints. But this time, it seems that all the checkpoints on the water have been removed." Ah Qi frowned. He vaguely felt that something was wrong.

After a while, the old captain continued, "But those checkpoints are only for checking other passing ships. They know the official ships of Jiujiang Prefecture and won't check them."

When the guards disguised themselves as soldiers and delivered the notice opening the city, they hadn't anticipated the checkpoints on the river, so the notice wasn't delivered. But along the way, the Jiujiang County section of the Xunyang River was unobstructed, with no checkpoints or obstacles in sight, a fact that even the old captain found surprising.

The old captain sighed and said, "But once you leave the Jiujiang County section of the river, they won't recognize you. You'll definitely need a pass to pass through. The inspections in Jian'an County are even stricter than those in Jiujiang County."

When Ah Qi heard this, he was shocked and finally understood why the old captain was looking for him.

He secretly blamed himself for being careless. When he asked Master Liu to help find a boatman, he hadn't asked what they would need along the way. Now they had been out for three days, where could they find a pass? And would they be able to deal with the authorities?

"Passage?"

Ah Qi's heart tightened, and an anxious expression appeared on his face. He hurriedly said, "Hurry up and find the young lady."

Ah Qi got anxious and immediately became unhappy, and slapped the bed behind him with his big hand. He wanted Xiao Man to go and call the lady, but he didn't expect to miss the target.

Xiao Man peeked out from the back with a sly look on his face. He often went to the first floor to slack off and play with Uncle Chong San and Uncle Qi. He had just been hiding in the quilt and had already overheard the conversation between the three of them.

Xiao Man knew this was a serious matter and didn't dare to act naughty anymore. He quickly got up, dodged Uncle Qi's clutches, and ran out without even putting on his shoes.

second floor,

"Miss, the old captain said that only with a pass can you enter Jian'an County. Uncle Qi asked you to go down and discuss it quickly."

Jing Chunxi, who had just taken a hot bath and was about to go to bed, felt unwell when he heard it.

She cursed herself for being so careless. She should have thought of this earlier. There were so many checkpoints on land, so how could there be none on the waterway? However, a pass wasn't required to travel on land. What exactly was a pass?

She felt a little bad. Since the old captain had said so, there would definitely be many checkpoints requiring passes. They were already over 200 miles away from Xunyang City. What should they do?

Oh, Brother Xiaokang was the same. He had clearly suggested that she take the water route, but why didn't he explain it to her clearly? The secret letter only had a few lines, and she felt a little angry just thinking about it.

By the time she put on her thick cotton coat again and went down to the first floor where Ah Qi and the others were staying, almost half a cup of tea had passed.

The boatman had already left, but the old captain, unfazed by the cold, refused to come in and continued smoking his water pipe in the hallway. Ah Qi, wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket, stood at the door, chatting with him in a disjointed manner.

Seeing the young lady and Xiao Man coming down, Ah Qi quickly leaned over to let Jing Chunxi in. Jing Chunxi had just taken two steps inside when he frowned: "Why is there such a strong smell of smoke? It stinks."

When she changed everyone's bedding, the stagnant air in the compartments had clearly been replaced with air from the outer space, and all the filth had been emptied out and thrown away. Why was the smell of smoke still so strong now?

"Oh, there are two troublemakers who imitate the boatmen to smoke water pipes." Ah Qi said embarrassedly.

Knowing that the lady was coming down, he had just opened the windows and doors to get rid of the smell, for he was worried that the lady would not be able to bear it after coming in.

Jing Chunxi was so angry that he couldn't stand the smell, so he simply walked out the door and held the railing in the aisle.

The cold wind was blowing, and it felt a bit biting on my face, but compared to the smell of smoke in the house, it was much better here.

"Xiaoman, you'd better learn it too!" Jing Chunxi's voice was filled with a hint of dissatisfaction.

With so many people living in one cubicle, wouldn't the non-smokers suffer from the polluted air? She was speaking up for the non-smokers and was glad she had chosen to live on the second floor, otherwise she would have suffered even if she lived next door.

When Xiao Man was mentioned, she immediately jumped up and down, arguing, "I'm only a child, I don't smoke!"

Jing Chunxi really wanted to say: You don’t smoke, but you do, and you don’t feel any pain at all, and you still go down there every day.

Ah Qi quickly followed him out and stood in the aisle, explaining, "I chased them away and told them to sleep with the boatmen from now on."

Actually, Ah Qi wanted to say that after hearing the captain talk about the pass, he suddenly felt that they knew nothing about the current situation in Jian'an County during their journey, and knew even less than the boatmen. So, he had the idea to plant two people among the boatmen.

It’s not that he was worried about the boatman and the old captain, but he wanted to learn some things they didn’t know through their daily words and actions and daily conversations.

You don't need to try hard to understand or ask questions indirectly. Just blend in and you will be able to get a general idea through daily communication.