novelden Chapter 127 Ship
Chapter 127 Ship
The sky is bright.
Lin Jiaojiao stood up and walked out of the boat house, shaking her sore arms. She saw Aya and Pullman had already gotten up and were sitting by the boat, chewing on the dried fish in their hands.
"Wake up, would you like some dried fish?"
She shook her head, "Thanks, I've already eaten. When are we leaving?"
They had already eaten steamed buns in the boat house, and they didn't eat meat buns mainly because they were afraid of the strong smell.
"It's OK now, Puman, let's go."
After eating the last bit of dried fish, Pullman stood up, untied the boat rope from the reef, and took the lead to row forward.
She followed their boat and rowed for two hours. She took a break and ate something to replenish her energy, then continued rowing for another two hours before she saw Jinwan Port.
But she did not rush to go ashore. Instead, she went back to the boathouse and changed her wet clothes into Chaoqi clothes.
Fu Qi also changed his clothes early. He was still a little uncomfortable with the new clothes and felt stuffy even sitting quietly in the boat.
She exchanged two large boxes to pack things that would attract attention. One box contained dried fish, and the other contained potatoes and some vegetable seeds.
On the other side, Aya went ashore first and went to the port ship to inquire for her. After getting the news, she ran back quickly.
"Ah Jiao, you guys need to hurry up, there's a ship heading back to Chaoqi right now."
"Great! Could you help me move my stuff?"
"Row."
Lin Jiaojiao handed over the box, picked up the durians that Puman had given her, and took a box for herself, leaving Puman to guard the things.
The three of them came to the side of the ship. This ship was not as big as the Yuanfan, but after asking, they found out that there was still space. Then they took out her sea contract and personal identification document.
As for Fu Qi, he had nothing, so she had to lie that he was her slave pet. Then she took out the contract of selling her body from her arms. In fact, it was a contract of a slave she had bought before, of an older man who matched her age.
After the captain checked that the contract was fine, he asked him to lift the veil for inspection.
Fu Qi had no choice but to lift her veil. Fortunately, Lin Jiaojiao had put makeup on him before he came. She applied foundation of a color similar to her skin tone, drew Crayon Shin-chan eyebrows on him, and applied thick makeup on his lips.
The captain took a look and left after confirming that there was no problem. She gave a total of two hundred taels of silver to the registered crew members. It was clear that he was taking advantage of the situation, so she could only accept it silently and took the cabin key.
After Aya saw that the work was done and was about to leave, she remembered the fishing boat on the shore.
"By the way, what about your fishing boat?"
She told her what she was thinking: "Aya, I can help with the goods in your village. It may take a month or two for a ship to arrive. We need a lot of coconut oil and palm oil, as well as kelp and kelp seedlings, seaweed, and all kinds of dried shellfish and snails."
Aya was shocked. They had already given up hope. After all, they had asked many foreign businessmen, but no one was willing. Not only was transportation troublesome, but each place produced its own oil. So they couldn't sell the oil except for their own consumption.
"really?"
She answered seriously, "It's true. We still have some time. Bring two baskets of fish and a barrel of oil each. As for the money, I'll give you the fishing boat and two pieces of cloth on it. Have you seen enough?"
"Enough! This is too much! Isn't this taking advantage of you?"
"Don't worry about whether it's cheap or not. Hurry up and bring it here, otherwise I won't get a single basket when the boat leaves."
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away."
Lin Jiaojiao took this opportunity to move the boxes and backpacks onto the deck. At this time, Aya came running over with a basket of things on her back and another basket in her arms. After putting the things down, she immediately went back to fetch the oil barrel.
Aya panted as she lifted the oil barrel onto the deck and put it away. "Puman asked me to thank you. Thank you so much, Ajiao. You are truly the benefactor of our Yuxi Village!"
"No need to thank me, this is just a mutually beneficial cooperation. Hurry up and get off the boat. We are urging you to do so."
Aya reluctantly got off the ship at the urging of the crew. She looked at the pedals being slowly retracted, and she did not take her eyes off the ship until it disappeared over the sea. This was the ship carrying the hope of their village.
Lin Jiaojiao moved the things back to the cabin after several trips. Unexpectedly, this room was even narrower than that of Yuanfan. The bed was only big enough for one person to sleep on. Except for the oil and durian that she put into her backpack, she stuffed all the other things into the cabinet under the bed.
"Sister Jiaojiao, I want to change into a short-sleeved shirt."
"Okay, wash your face."
Fu Qi then remembered the makeup on her face and quickly lowered her head again. Although she had done it herself, she still didn't want her to see his ugly appearance.
She first exchanged for a small table and placed it next to the bed, took out the washbasin, face towel and clothes, and also exchanged for a makeup remover oil for him.
After wiping herself clean, she changed into a short-sleeved shirt, leaned back in the boat, exchanged for a big meat bun and started eating. She was really starving.
After Fu Qi washed and changed, she sat beside her, took the meat bun handed to her and started eating it in small bites.
"Sister Jiaojiao, do we still have about 20 days to reach Zhouzhou?"
She counted on her fingers and said, "It seems so. It took us about nineteen days to get to Jinwan Port. It should take about the same to go back."
"That means we'll be home in about a month."
She also noticed his worry, so she took his hand and comforted him, "Don't worry, I'll ask for marriage from my aunt when I get back."
He held her hand back and rested his head on her shoulder. He wanted to be with her no matter what.
...
Fifteen days later, Zhouzhou Port.
Lin Jiaojiao moved all the boxes and bamboo baskets downstairs, and lined up with Fu Qi to have their identities checked by officials and to collect taxes on the goods.
When it was her turn, she took out all the things. The official looked at the pile of dried fish and other goods with disgust. How could someone go out to sea and bring back these things that were everywhere?
"What are these things in this box?"
She followed the official's gaze and quickly explained, "Oh, these are some food and seeds I found on an island. I boiled them and they tasted good and non-toxic, so I brought them back to see if they can survive. If they can, I can sell them later."
The official was skeptical and said, "Okay, I won't take the other ones, but I'll take 20% of this one."
"Okay, it's all up to you."
Afterwards, professional collection officials took 20% of the items in the boxes. After stamping their documents with the official seal, Lin Jiaojiao and Fu Qi packed everything back into the boxes and baskets and moved them out.
Fu Qi was waiting outside. After she moved all the things out, she called a solicitor to help her load the things onto the cart and walked towards the inn.
She didn't expect to come back so soon. She only stayed in Punili for one night. Sleeping on the floor every day and not being able to turn over was really uncomfortable for her. She was very happy to be able to come back early!
They booked a guest room and asked Fu Qi to wash up first. After he finished, she would go and wash herself.
After she washed, changed her clothes and dried her hair, she was ready to take him out to eat something. But when she opened the door and went out, she realized she had forgotten her purse, so she had to go back to the door and take out the purse from her backpack and hang it up.
Just as she was about to go out, she found Fu Qi standing at the door without moving. She looked up in confusion.