novelraw Chapter 415: Are You Serious?
Chapter 415: Are You Serious?
Xing Honglang and Iron Bird Flies agreed on the guiding matter, but this wasn’t something one could set off on immediately after discussing. It wasn’t urgent yet. Just unloading all that grain from the cargo ships was a huge task.
Although foolish, Gao Chuwu was exceedingly familiar with Gaojia Village’s way of doing things. Raising his voice, he shouted toward the group of Dock Workers on the ancient ferry dock: “Brothers! Come help unload the goods! Take this grain off the ships! Find a dry place to pile it up! We’ll pay each of you three jin of flour as wages!”
That shout caused an astonishing commotion.
The Dock Workers surged and gathered all at once. Even some fishermen and farmers followed, instantly transforming into Dock Workers. Anyway, idle strength was wasted strength. Why not earn three jin of flour to take back?
They boarded the ships, lifted the bags, carried them off the ships, and stacked the flour bags where the Militia Soldiers directed. Their faces bore smiles.
Old Nan Feng climbed to higher ground. He looked all around at the terrain. He leaned close to Gao Chuwu and spoke softly: “From now on, we’ll have men permanently stationed at this dock. It’s our bridgehead—vital for strategic purposes—for shipping grain from Shaanxi here and salt back. We must manage it well. A few bamboo fences aren’t enough. We must feed these workers here, give them strength, and have them help us build simple defenses. We also need wooden houses built for our several hundred troops.”
Gao Chuwu grinned: “Good! Good!”
Seeing his agreement, Old Nan Feng immediately turned to give orders. Thus, some Militia Soldiers ran off to chat with the workers loading goods: “After you finish unloading today, take your pay home. Eat well and sleep soundly. Come back tomorrow. We need to build a wooden stockade here. You’ll work for us. We’ll provide full meals. On top of that, pay three jin of flour per day per man!”
Who wouldn’t jump at such work? The Dock Workers were delighted: “Okay!”
Old Nan Feng paced along the dock’s edge. From time to time, he drew a line on the ground: “Here… we’ll build a watchtower. At least three zhang tall!”He walked forward a few steps: “The stockade wall needs a gate here…”
“Put another watchtower opposite the gate.”
Soon, he sketched out a huge wooden stockade boundary along the dock. One side bordered the water, the other encircled by a wooden palisade. It looked quite convincing.
“Too few people at the ancient ferry dock,” Old Nan Feng returned to Gao Chuwu’s side, shaking his head. “All together—merchants, fishermen, farmers—only a few hundred. Fewer than our troops. Human power is critically insufficient to build this stockade.”
Gao Chuwu: “Our soldiers can build too!”
Old Nan Feng shook his head: “We’re not an army of tens of thousands. Cavalry and infantry combined are just a few hundred strong. If we all build the stockade and the Soldiers collapse exhausted, rogue bandits could strike suddenly. It’d be extremely dangerous!”
Gao Chuwu looked wide-eyed and innocent: “Then what do we do?”
Old Nan Feng pointed at Xing Honglang: “Have your wife figure it out! She’s the local power broker here—she can definitely scare up workers.”
Gao Chuwu beamed and ran toward Xing Honglang.
At this moment, Xing Honglang was deep in discussion with Iron Bird Flies about secretly reaching the south side of Jie Pond to contact the salt craftsmen. Suddenly, she saw Gao Chuwu racing over. He stopped about half a zhang away from her, stretched his arms forward: “Honglang!”
Xing Honglang spun around instantly, extending her arms too: “Gao Chuwu!”
Thump! They embraced each other.
Cold sweat instantly poured down Iron Bird Flies’ back: Terrifying! How could Boss Xing show such womanly affection? Terrifying! Far more terrifying than rogue bandits charging at them.
Xing Honglang: “Gao Chuwu, what brings you here? Something to say?”
Gao Chuwu nodded: “We need to build this dock into a stockade, but there’s not enough manpower.”
Xing Honglang nodded. She understood: “I see! I’ll ride a circle through surrounding villages and hamlets. I’ll scare up a crew.”
The area around this ancient town dock was, in fact, Yongji!
Yongji, at this time, was still a town under Puzhou. It wouldn’t become a county until the Qing Dynasty. Yet, it was already bustling and populous then.
The town center wasn’t far from the ancient ferry dock. The straight-line distance was over thirty li—about the same as Gaojia Village to Chengcheng County, or Qiachuan Port to Heyang County.
This was also Xing Honglang’s hometown.
Xing Honglang swung herself onto a fine horse. Zao Ying came alongside: “I’ll bring fifty cavalry escorts with you.”
“Good!”
Two robust women turned around together, smiling at Gao Chuwu and the others. “Guard the dock well. We’re going out for a quick look around and will be right back.”
Gao Chuwu waved his hand. “Stay safe!”
The two women, leading fifty cavalrymen, galloped off like the wind.
The moment they left, a large group of merchants led by Iron Bird Flies swiftly surrounded Gao Chuwu, eyeing him with peculiar expressions.
Gao Chuwu felt slightly flustered. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Iron Bird Flies asked, “Brother Big Fool, you… really married Boss Xing?”
Gao Chuwu grinned. “Oh, that! Could it be fake?”
Iron Bird Flies pressed, “If you were threatened, blink your eyes.”
Gao Chuwu immediately widened his eyes.
His eyes bulged like copper bells, radiating lightning-fast… brilliance!
The crowd exclaimed, “Wow, he didn’t blink! He really did marry her!”
Iron Bird Flies looked incredulous. “That’s just unbelievable, brother. What on earth did you see in Boss Xing?”
Gao Chuwu beamed. “Beauty! She’s the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Pfft!”
Everyone immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Iron Bird Flies wiped cold sweat from his forehead. “Brother, are you… alright?”
Gao Chuwu retorted, “Do I look like there’s anything wrong with me?”
Iron Bird Flies questioned, “You didn’t marry her under the threat of her fists because you couldn’t beat her, did you?”
Gao Chuwu grinned wider. “She married me after I beat her. On our wedding day, she was still complaining about me forcibly marrying a woman!”
The crowd gasped, “!!!”
The group instantly huddled together and whispered, “This guy seems serious.”
“Heavens above! What’s wrong with his eyes? Forcibly marrying a woman, and ending up forcing Boss Xing!”
“If he can beat Boss Xing, his kung fu must be truly formidable.”
“No, no, it’s hard to say. Boss Xing probably deliberately let him win. Otherwise, where would she ever find a man willing to marry her?”
“Then he must be marrying into her family! Absolutely!”
Iron Bird Flies turned back to Gao Chuwu and asked, “Brother, did you marry into Boss Xing’s family?”
Gao Chuwu laughed. “Marry in? No way! I’m the only son of a family with only one heir for three generations! I couldn’t possibly marry into another family. Honglang and I discussed it long ago: our sons will bear my surname. My house and farmlands must be passed down to my sons.”
The crowd grabbed their heads in disbelief. “This completely defies understanding! Impossible to comprehend.”