You are unlucky and I am tough

The three-story merchant ship, about to depart for Luohe Prefecture, was quietly anchored at the dock. The loaders were busy in an orderly manner, carrying boxes and bags of goods onto the gangway and transporting them to the cabin.

People will only be allowed to board after all the goods have been loaded.

Ordinary people lined up and boarded the boat one after another. Some carried simple bags, some carried shoulder poles, and some pushed carts loaded with goods.

The crew was maintaining order, shouting loudly and guiding those on board to the cabin.

Cheng Shuang and the other two boarded the boat and entered the cabin, only to find it was full of people, with some cargo that people had brought aboard also piled inside.

The boat fare of five hundred wen was not cheap, and Cheng Shuang thought that she would at least have a seat, but she miscalculated. Everyone was squeezed into the cabin, sitting on the floor and making a lot of noise.

There were also the sounds of children crying, as if we were in a vegetable market, and the cabin floor was extremely dirty.

This was not the first time Zhao Xiuwen went to the provincial capital, and he knew what the situation was like on the ship. He put down the bookcase on his back, naturally found a seat against the wall, wiped the dust off the ground and sat down, and gestured to Wei Qinglang next to him to hurry over and take a seat.

Wei Qinglang didn't expect the situation on the boat to be like this. They wouldn't arrive in the city until the next morning and would have to spend the night. So many people would be squeezed in such a space for such a long time, which made his scalp tingle just thinking about it.

He, as a grown man, could bear it, but Cheng Shuang would probably go crazy. After all, he knew that Cheng Shuang had a wealthy family and had never suffered any hardship in her previous life.

He looked at Cheng Shuang and saw that she looked a little hopeless.

An old man carrying a big sack passed by and almost bumped into them. Wei Qinglang quickly pulled Cheng Shuang and used his other hand to block her head.

The sack was filled with something hard, and it hurt a little when it hit me. The uncle realized he had bumped into someone and turned around to apologize, "Sorry, young man, I hope I didn't hurt you."

People were coming and going in the cabin, and when he turned his head, he bumped into another person, who cried out in pain.

The uncle continued to turn to apologize to that person, and then bumped into a third person.

Someone shouted, "Uncle, can't you put your things down?"

The uncle patted his shiny forehead, quickly put down the things on his shoulders and dragged them inside.

Cheng Shuang chuckled at what was happening before her eyes and asked Wei Qinglang, "Is your hand okay?"

Wei Qinglang shook his head, took down the backpack, put it next to Zhao Xiuwen to take a place, and then pulled Cheng Shuang to the deck.

"Five hundred wen is the lowest price for the fare. I guess that's all I can offer. If you can't bear it, I'll go ask if there are any available rooms on the ship."

The ship has three decks. The bottom deck is used to store cargo, and the first deck is packed with people, roughly estimated to be more than two hundred people.

The second floor is an ordinary single room, and there is also a dining area. People in the cabin can go upstairs to eat if they are hungry, but those people basically bring their own food and do not spend money on the ship.

The third floor is for wealthy people traveling to stay in the good rooms, and there are only a few rooms in total.

They didn't know that 500 wen meant that everyone had to squeeze into the cabin together. If they had known, they would have asked for a separate room when they paid. Now they don't know if there are any rooms left.

Cheng Shuang frowned, "Everything else is tolerable, but the smell of so many people crowded together is too bad."

"Then I'll go and ask if there are any rooms left."

Cheng Shuang nodded. After Wei Qinglang left, she walked to the railing, feeling the wind and looking at the bustling dock. After a while, a horn sounded outside, and the boat slowly sailed away from the dock, and the river became wider.

Wei Qinglang returned half a minute later and spread his hands helplessly. "I asked, and the rooms on the second and third floors are all occupied."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Just bear with it."

The two of them couldn't hide in the space. There were people walking around everywhere on the ship, and they wouldn't be able to stay there for long if they went in.

The scenery along the way was quite nice. I could start to see the village in the distance, with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys and people working hard in the fields.

As we continued walking, we saw rolling green hills, lush and verdant, with varying heights.

Cheng Shuang sat on the deck looking at the scenery along the coast, temporarily forgetting that she would have to squeeze into a cabin with more than 200 people at night. She felt so relaxed in this picturesque scenery that she wanted to have a drink.

But the wind was strong on the deck and she couldn't stay there all the time. Finally, Wei Qinglang called her back to the cabin.

Zhao Xiuwen reserved two seats for them against the wall, and the two of them sat down and leaned against it to rest.

Next to Cheng Shuang was a young couple with a two or three-year-old boy. The child was sitting on the ground playing. He got his hands dirty on the ground and wiped them on his face. His face was covered with dust and his nose was runny. He looked at Cheng Shuang with his big eyes.

Cheng Shuang was so annoyed by the kid's insults that she squeezed closer to Wei Qinglang, turned her head, leaned her face on his arm, closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep. Everything would be fine once she fell asleep.

Wei Qinglang turned his head and looked at her, but didn't move.

"Isn't Madam Wei seasick?"

Zhao Xiuwen, who was sitting next to Wei Qinglang with a book in his hand, asked with concern.

Wei Qinglang shook his head. "There are too many people in the cabin. She's just not used to it."

"I wasn't used to it the first time either. I couldn't sleep at all at night, but now I'm used to it." Zhao Xiuwen said apologetically, "It's my negligence. I should have asked Brother Wei to book a room."

"Brother Zhao, you're too kind. You've already done us a favor by letting us jump the queue and get on the boat."

The two chatted for a few words, and Wei Qinglang took out a book from the backpack in front of him and handed it to him.

Zhao Xiuwen saw that it was the storybook Liangshan and asked in surprise, "Brother Wei, when did you buy it?"

"The shopkeeper gave it to me." Wei Qinglang whispered, "I copied books for Moxiang Bookstore, and I got along well with the shopkeeper, so he gave me a copy. Brother Zhao, aren't you interested? I'll show it to you first."

"Then I won't be polite."

Zhao Xiuwen took the book with a smile and began to read it.

Cheng Shuang did fall asleep, but she woke up after half an hour and sat there in a daze.

She thought she could endure it, until the afternoon when people in the cabin began to take out various foods to fill their stomachs. She really couldn't stand the smell and ran out to get some fresh air.

Then she thought of a new way and went to the dining area on the second floor to eat.

Zhao Xiuwen didn't want to go, so Cheng Shuang pulled Wei Qinglang over and ordered a few dishes to start eating. She planned to eat slowly, bit by bit, and sit there for a few hours with a thick face.

Wei Qinglang looked at Cheng Shuang who was almost counting the rice grains while eating, and he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Have a good time eating. The food will get cold soon. Finish your meal first and I'll talk to the boss here. If he gives you some money, we'll stay here."

Cheng Shuang thought about it and agreed. It was empty here at night anyway, so it would not be difficult to stay here for some money.

Then he lowered his head and started to eat rice in big mouthfuls.

The two chatted casually while eating, and gradually they were the only ones left at the table.

Speaking of the provincial capital, Wei Qinglang remembered that it was his original mother who told him about it. When he was a child, his mother had said several times that she would take him to the provincial capital and buy him delicious red date chestnut cakes.

But later she disappeared, and the villagers said that her original mother couldn't bear the hard life and abandoned her husband and children and ran away.

Cheng Shuang was already full, so she put down her chopsticks and said, "You have Wei Qinglang's memories from before. Do you think his mother really abandoned them and ran away?"

"What if she comes back later?"

Wei Qinglang shook his head. "Actually, I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" Cheng Shuang became interested.

"In the first few years after my mother married Wei Changgui, he treated her very well because she had money. But after a few years, the money ran out, and my mother was no longer as beautiful as before due to the daily hard work. Wei Changgui became an alcoholic, and when he had no money to buy alcohol, he would beat her. Especially after they gave birth to a daughter, the beatings became even more severe.

When the original body was ten years old, that is, the year she gave birth to Xinyi, one day she told the original body that she wanted to take him and his younger brothers and sisters away, and then agreed to leave secretly in the middle of the night so that they would not be caught if they were discovered the next day.

She lived in the same room with her daughter and Wei Changgui, and had to wait until Wei Changgui fell asleep before leaving, so she made an appointment with her son to meet under the big tree at the bridgehead.

Then, in the middle of the night, the original body carried his brother on his back and ran to the agreed tree at the village entrance to wait, but he didn't see anyone until dawn. When he returned home, he saw Wei Changgui holding Xinyi and sitting at the door crying, saying that his wife had abandoned him and their children and ran away.

Wei Qinglang sighed, "From then on, the original body became silent and taciturn. Wei Changgui called him a bastard all day long and beat him if he was not satisfied. He did not fight back or say anything in return. He chopped wood, carried water, and worked the land like a workhorse every day. He also went hunting in the mountains, and gave all the money from the hunting to Wei Changgui for drinking."

Cheng Shuang felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this. "He must really think his mother doesn't want him anymore!"

Wei Qinglang said, "But if his mother really didn't want him, she could have just run away secretly. Why would she tell him and make him run out in the middle of the night to wait?"

"It's a pity that a ten-year-old wouldn't think of this." Cheng Shuang sighed, "So? Where did his mother go?"

The two looked at each other and guessed a possibility in their hearts, but they didn't want to think about it and didn't say it out loud.