"Boom!"

A basket filled with stones, tied with a rope, was thrown into the water.

It stirred up a large splash of water and quickly sank to the bottom.

The newly arrived boat quickly stabilized itself and slowly stopped on the shore.

Liu Ashan looked away from the water splash, which was called "ding" by boatmen on the Xunyang River.

When mooring at the shore, throw it into the water and anchor the ship according to its weight.

The dull man who helped put down the rocks clapped his hands, raised his hands to the boatman, and muttered a thank you.

Before the boarding ladder of the ship was completely lowered, Liu Ashan quickly turned over on the deck and jumped off the ship.

Both feet stepped firmly on the familiar gray and black floor tiles of Penglangdu Wharf.

At the Penglang Ferry Pier, the early morning sun was warm on his skin. Liu Ashan raised his head and took a deep breath.

An indescribable feeling came over me.

It's like walking on a rickety tightrope for many years and suddenly feeling grounded and able to move around casually.

Peace of mind.

I looked left and right at the bustling streets of Dukou.

Liu Ashan was tired from traveling, and his dull face with slightly rimmed eyes could not help but reveal a smile as he murmured:

"Looking at the house, running with joy... The master said, this sentence means that when you see your humble home from a distance, you can't wait to run towards it.

"The master is worthy of being a scholar and a concubine. He occasionally whispers something, but it always makes sense."

Liu Ashan subconsciously imitated someone and rubbed his face, lowered his head and checked the moonlight sword on his waist.

He reached into his sleeve again and felt a cool touch of bronze metal on his fingertips.

After confirming that everything was brought, Liu Ashan turned his head, waved goodbye to the boatmen who were unloading the cargo on the boat, and left the dock.

As Liu Ashan passed through downtown streets and the Western Temple, he couldn't help but look around.

Before meeting the master, he worked as a porter at the dock, moving goods.

The steward took a nap under the huge old locust tree in front of him. He and his work companions once went to hide in the shade for a while. It was the only fishing spot during the day where they could take a breather.

Later, when I got older, my father died early, and there was a sudden flood that year, which destroyed the house and fields.

The family was so poor that they were registered as official slaves early in the disaster year and were mortgaged to Guyue Sword Shop. Later, he and his sister would come to the dock to cross the river every day to work on the west bank.

Liu Ashan was hard-working, and after finishing the fortification work at Guyue Sword Shop, he squeezed out some time to secretly do some odd jobs at the dock, secretly saving money, and wanted to redeem his sister and mother.

However, before the master came to Longcheng, the hard-earned money he had saved for seven or eight years was not enough to redeem half of my sister.

Not to mention building a new house, marrying a wife and having children, etc. It may be a normal trajectory. It takes a lifetime of hard work to save enough, and you have to avoid major disasters and illnesses.

Liu Ashan's expression was calm, the morning sun was setting behind him, and he was walking on the noisy streets in the early morning, looking back at the roadside from time to time.

At the corner, there is a stall selling oil and sesame cakes. The oil and sesame cakes are excellent.

I heard that the boss is from Guangzhou Prefecture on Lingnan Road and has a long-established craftsmanship: making glutinous rice flour dough, osmanthus sugar, and kumquat as filling, pouring hot oil and frying, "Zila", steaming hot, on the cake

Sesame seeds are golden and oily...

My sister and my mother love it most, but they never talk about it.

Liu Ashan used to take A-mei to the pier every morning to take a boat across the river. When passing by, A-mei often turned around and saw him.

Later, he silently bought a piece of oil and sesame cake for his sister to eat. She only took two small bites. After asking him not to eat it, she wrapped it in oil paper, stuffed it into her arms, and brought it to her mother in the evening, but was caught by the weaver.

The mother scolded her.

He also scolded him for wasting half a penny to buy a piece of oil-paper-wrapped cake, just picking a lotus leaf from a roadside pond and wrapping it in it. Isn't that good?

"Looking at the house, running with joy..."

Liu Ashan murmured.

It's really strange.

Why did he only leave a country like this that didn't hold many happy and happy memories for a short while, eating and drinking on the boat outside?

But once he came back, these things that he had regarded as normal, even suffering, became particularly kind in his eyes?

Speaking of which, this was the first time for Liu Ashan to leave Longcheng County, where he was born and raised. He had never gone as far as possible before, only when he was young and followed old fishermen to go fishing on the river.

But at this moment, stepping on this land again, Liu Ashan suddenly felt an urge to never leave home again.

Do not know why.

The words that the master said are also recurring in my mind.

He is not a person who likes to write and write, but he just thinks that this sentence "It is a good idea to look at the home and carry the happiness and run with it", which is very good.

Liu Ashan got off the boat from Penglangdu and went straight back to Luming Street without any delay. He chewed and pondered this sentence all the way.

But before leaving the West Market, Liu Ashan went to the sesame cake stall at the corner of the busy street, silently took out six copper coins and delivered them to the boss.

By the way, I added half a penny later.

Liu Ashan stuffed the two hot sesame cakes tightly wrapped in oil paper into his arms, and with his chest feeling warm, he returned to the county government office on Luming Street.

Although lotus leaves are cheap and easy to use, my sister likes origami. After eating the cake, I can use the oil paper to make origami flowers.

The tired and dull man put his hand on his chest and nodded.

This time he turned around and returned to Longcheng. Before leaving Miss Ye and the official ship in Jiangzhou, Miss Ye tearfully gave him a lot of money for traveling expenses.

Liu Ashan must return to Longcheng as soon as possible to stop Ouyang Rong.

But Liu Ashan didn't spend much. He just endured the pain and found a cargo ship on Xunyang Ferry that would take him back to Longcheng County. As for the food and drink along the way, Liu Ashan squatted on the deck with the boatmen.

Serve food.

He originally planned to buy some gifts for his sister and grandma when he arrived in Nanlong, but now it seemed that it was too late, so he could only bring two pieces of sesame cakes back nearby.

As for the remaining money, I will return it to Miss Ye later.

The dull man was thoughtful and thoughtful. After he silently sorted things out, he arrived at the intersection of Luming Street and could see the familiar gate of the county government in the distance.

"At this time in the past, I have already come to the county government office for duty. Unless it is true as Miss Ye said... wait, why are there so many people at the door."

Liu Ashan's eyes widened as he muttered to himself.

In front of me, I saw all kinds of officials coming in and out at the gate of the county government office, walking in a panic; on the street in front of the gate, carriages or fast horses were parked, almost blocking the Luming Street entrance.

There was a vague tendency to be noisy and chaotic.

Liu Ashan had a good memory. He saw some familiar clothes in the hurried flow of people entering and exiting the gate in front of him, and he immediately recalled:

"Aren't those officers stationed at the Shuize Monument at the ferry crossings upstream? Why did they come back? Why did they come to the county government office to find someone from the Ming Dynasty?"

Liu Ashan frowned, as if he had realized something, and suddenly looked up at the sky.

It's a hot summer day and the sun is shining brightly.

"How is it possible in this season... In the past, the upper reaches of the river have never seen a flood during this season."

Liu Ashan shook his head with an incredulous look on his face. He quickly ran forward, rushed into the crowd, and entered the county government office.

But very quickly.

The firmness of the dull man was destroyed by the confusing news and flustered conversations he heard from left and right.

With his eyes widened, he quickly summarized the information in his ears:

At the summer solstice, it is true that there has been no rain for half a day upstream and downstream of Yunmengze.

but,

This morning, at the beginning of the morning,

The water level in Yunmengze near Digong Gate has started to rise unreasonably!

An official came staggering over and shouted anxiously:

"Where is Mingfu? Where is Mingfu? Go and inform Mingfu. The water level is rising too fast! We, we can't find the reason at all.

"The water level rose during the last heavy rain. The water level rose in one day and one night. Now it has reached the same level in less than two hours. This speed is too terrifying..."

An official who was left behind at the county government office was dumbfounded and stammered: "Ming... Ming Mansion is not here to take leave, so Master Diao will take care of it on his behalf..."

"As for the other adults, where is Master Diao? Where are the people? Go and report to Master Diao and ask what we should do now? My colleagues upstream are very panicked and need instructions from the county government..."

"President Diao County did not come on duty this morning. He took half of his colleagues to the Zheyi Canal to attend a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the canal..."

"Now let me tell you, it will take at least an hour to come and go. The day lilies are already cold. Why are the two adults not here at such a critical time!"

"Brother, come this way and find Mr. Yan. The two adults are not here for the time being. Mr. Yan has the highest authority. He is summoning all emergency colleagues at the county government hall."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

On the corridor, officials who were hurrying up on horseback were directed and ran towards the county government hall.

Liu Ashan walked slowly from behind and looked in the direction where the former left.
To be continued...