His dark hands were directly inserted into the hot noodle soup. He did not scream or push away. Instead, he used his trembling hands to bring the noodles to his mouth.

The last glimmer of hope was shattered. An Jinhai was convinced that Xiao Yi was crazy. No one except a madman would be like this.

"I'll go outside and see if there's a carriage coming!" An Jinhai stood up and walked to the door.

"I'll go too!" Eunuch Gao didn't want to stay with Xiao Yi at all. He was afraid at first, but now he dislikes it.

Just when An Jinhai was about to despair, the sound of jingling bells was heard, and a carriage came from the direction of Jiangning City. A closer look revealed that it was an ox cart.

The driver of the cart was an old man, and what was pulled on the cart was a coffin. The cart was not very fast, and there was no shelter from the wind and snow on top, but it was still much more comfortable than driving on two legs.

"Hey, you two, why is this happening?" The old man saw someone blocking the road and immediately stopped the cart.

"This old man, I'm very polite. It's freezing cold today and I can't find a car. I and I have something urgent to go to the ferry. I wonder if I can give me a ride on the way?" An Jinhai lowered his attitude.

If they missed the train, they would have to spend the night in this teahouse. Not to mention the draft, it would be too dangerous.

"No, the master has told me that he must be sent to his hometown as soon as possible without any delay." The old man shook his head. He was waiting for burial at his hometown.

"It's perfectly normal to delay some time in this icy and snowy environment. I have some scattered silver here, so I treat my husband to a drink. Be sure to help me!" An Jinhai winked at Eunuch Gao and asked him to send the silver.

.

Eunuch Gao immediately came to his senses, took out a dime of silver, about one or two taels, from his pocket, and stuffed it directly into the old man's hand.

The old man wanted to refuse, but the money in his hand was really pleasing to the eye. It only took him more than half an hour to go around the ferry, so he made a decision.

"If you two don't mind, then you can go with me, old man, and I will bring you two to the ferry." If you can get a piece of silver, even if you are scolded by the master, it is still worth it.

"Thank you, father-in-law. Please wait a moment. I'll go in and settle the bill with the store." An Jinhai was overjoyed and motioned to Eunuch Gao to get in the car first. All the money was given to him, so nothing could go wrong.

An Jinhai took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, without counting them carefully, and stuffed them into the shopkeeper's hand.

"Sir, it can't be this much, much more!" The store owner didn't elaborate, but he knew that it must be more than thirty yuan.

"If you can, give him some food so that he can live a few more days." An Jinhai looked at Xiao Yi who had finished eating the noodles and was squatting in the corner. His heart was full of unbearability. He remembered that when they first met, he also

They took care of each other.

"I'm leaving. There are some steamed buns here. You put them away." An Jinhai took out the steamed buns from his backpack and stuffed them into Xiao Yi's hands, then turned around and walked away. Now he couldn't protect himself.

Xiao Yi tightened his grip on the steamed bun in his hand. Under the steamed bun, there was a small piece of silver. In order to fear that the store owner would take advantage of the money, An Jinhai kept it very hidden. If this was the case, Xiao Yi still couldn't keep it, so he deserved it.

Xiao Yi, who had been in a daze, suddenly stood up from the corner, walked to the door, and looked at the ox cart going away, with tears streaming down his face.

The ferry in winter was similarly depressed, and the two people shivering from the cold on the bullock cart finally arrived at their destination.

"Chizhou? I won't go, I won't go. Who would go that far in this kind of weather?" The boatman shook his head like a rattle. Chizhou was too far away. It would take five or six days to go back and forth. If there was a sudden snowstorm on the way, he would definitely have to stop.

Halfway through, I was faced with a dilemma.

"Shipman, I'm in a hurry to go back. Please think of something." An Jinhai was at a loss. Who knows when the storm will end?

The weather gets colder.

"Then you go find the mad cow. That kid is good at water and is not afraid of death, but the price is higher." The boatman rubbed his hands and went back to the cabin after saying that.

Mad Cow is a well-known name at this ferry. He is as strong as an ox and has excellent water qualities. No one dares to mess with him.

Speaking of which, I don’t know where this mad cow came from, so he started a business at this ferry. The boatman here had had several conflicts with the mad cow, but he could never take advantage, so he could only gradually acquiesce.

of his existence.

Mad Cow has a huge appetite. When An Jinhai asked him all the way to the front of his boat, he was eating from a big bowl. In the wind and snow, he was only wearing a tattered singlet. The thick arms in the singlet were full of intimidation.

"May I ask you, brave man, if you would give us a ride?" This man looked like he could fight. The oars were actually covered with iron sheets. If he was hit by one of the oars, he would either die or be disabled.

If it had been in the past and he had enough money, An Jinhai would have spent money to hire him as a guard no matter what, but now that he was short of money, he could only think about it.

"As long as you give money, I have no reason to extrapolate the door-to-door business. Where to go?" Mad Cow put down the big ocean bowl. The two of them were well dressed, but their bodies were covered with mud. For a moment, they didn't know what to do.

Asking for price.

"The two of us have been away from home for many years, and now we finally have some free time. We want to go back to our hometown of Chizhou." An Jinhai didn't know what kind of person the other party was, so he could only say tentatively.

"Chizhou? With this weather, I can't go if I don't have enough money." Mad Cow rolled his eyes and realized that it was actually a long-distance job. He wanted to run away, but if he accepted it directly, the price would not be negotiated.

Business will be hard to do in the second half of this year, and Mad Cow hasn't saved much money. If we don't find some ways, we will starve sooner or later.

"Strong man, we are short of money. Look..." An Jinhai pinched the scattered coins in his arms. The opportunity was right in front of him, but he must have enough.

"Well, I am not an unreasonable person. How about eight taels of silver for a flat price?" Usually a trip to Chizhou only costs two or three taels of silver. He asked for a higher price. In this weather, double the price.

It's pretty common.

"Strong man, can it be cheaper?" An Jinhai showed a hint of embarrassment. Together, he and Eunuch Gao still had more than twelve taels. If only eight taels of silver were lost, what should we do next?

If they were ordinary people, they could still help others to earn some money, but with their status, they could only spend money.

"There are very few people bargaining with me, old cow. Why? Are you looking for entertainment?" Mad Cow put down the finished bowl of sea food and stood up. The huge pressure made An Jinhai and Eunuch Gao couldn't help but take two steps back.

"No, the strong man misunderstood..." Eunuch Gao was also afraid, but still got ahead of An Jinhai and faced the mad cow alone.

"Are you two from the palace?" Mad Cow hadn't paid attention before, but now he realized that these two people were both fair-faced and beardless, unlike ordinary men.

"It makes the strong man laugh, we are both really hard-working, and we finally made it to the day when we can return to our hometown." When Eunuch Gao saw that the other party's mood softened, he immediately gave up.

"Okay, okay, okay, put that set away, six taels of silver, and you two will be responsible for cooking and cleaning along the way." Mad Cow waved his hand, he couldn't stand this, he was not afraid of the aggressive ones, he was afraid of the soft ones.

"Sure, let's just follow the strong man, we will take care of these things." An Jinhai hurriedly agreed, saving two taels of silver. Where could they earn so much money?

Eunuch Gao twitched his mouth. It was freezing cold and it was hard to work. How could his white and tender hands withstand the ravages of the river?

As for An Jinhai, he hasn't done such chores in years, so he can't count on it.

"Where's the money?" Mad Cow stretched out his hand and saw the price.

It's actually a bit low-key, and the tone can't be said to be very good.

"This hasn't arrived yet?" Eunuch Gao was unhappy. How could anyone ask for money before setting off?

"Both of you, if you can't trust me, you'd better choose Gaoming. Otherwise, on the river, the sky will not respond to you, and the earth will not respond." Mad Cow spread his hands and said that the opponent's small body was not enough.

He hit him with one punch.

In the past, Mad Cow would not have been so eager to ask for money. The weather is bad now, and there is not much food on the ship. If you are delayed on the road, you have to eat.

"What the strong man said is true." An Jinhai quickly took out all the scattered silver coins from his pocket, counted them, and handed them to Mad Cow. As a result, there was basically nothing left on him, and Eunuch Gao still had some left on him.

Some of them will be their next journey.

"Wait here, I, Old Niu, will go buy some food." Mad Niu weighed the money in his hands and walked towards the ferry market.

I stayed in An Jinhai with Eunuch Gao, his face confused and messy in the wind.

In less than two sticks of incense, the mad cow came back, carrying a bag of rice on his shoulder and a leg of lamb in his hand. He walked in the wind, having not eaten meat for a long time.

"Let's get on the boat!" Mad Cow was in a good mood and asked the two of them to clean up and have a good meal.

On the river surface, the snowflakes were a little smaller. The mad cow was wearing a bamboo hat and vigorously swinging its oars. The boat left the shore and sailed upstream.

An Jinhai was sitting in the cabin. Compared with the severe cold outside, after the curtains were lowered, it was much warmer inside. As for Eunuch Gao, he was sticking his buttocks out, cooking and eating at the bow of the boat.

"I don't know what a strong man is called?" An Jinhai had nothing to do and couldn't sleep, so he could just have a friendly relationship with this man.

"A certain family's surname is Niu, and his only name is Zhao. Those who beg for food at the ferry call me Mad Cow. You can just call me Lao Niu." Niu Zhao shook his oars and sweat appeared on his forehead. No matter how strong he was, he was as strong as an ox.

It is not easy to go upstream.

"Old Niu, I don't think you are a boat racer." An Jinhai has seen a lot of people in his life. A person who is used to boat racing will definitely be much smoother and not so sharp-edged.

"You have good eyesight. I, Old Niu, also worked in the army before." Niu Zhao grinned. He didn't talk to others much on weekdays, but these two are going to Chizhou and will not come back in the future.

It doesn’t hurt to know something.

"I'm a clumsy old man. Do you think you have received military pay in the Song Dynasty?" An Jinhai was startled. If he had served in the Southern Tang Army, he would not be like this even if he went to Fukou to make a living.

"Your eyes are worth mentioning. Before Lao Niu, you served in the Navy of the Song Dynasty." Niu Zhao was really impressed. It turns out that Jiang is very old.

"I wonder why you left the Song Dynasty, Lao Niu? The Song Dynasty is currently short of personnel in the navy." The Song Dynasty has been vigorously developing the navy in the past two years, and it is supposed to be a good time for promotion.

"It's so difficult to be like me, with no background and no ability to flatter." Niu Zhao shook his head. At first, he thought so too, but the world is so unsatisfactory.

"Then it doesn't have to be like this, right?" An Jinhai was puzzled. This was almost like a gangster. Even if he couldn't bear the grievance, he would probably do something else to make a living.

"I killed that bastard who took the credit for me. He had a father who was a third-grade senior general. Of course I had to run away." Niu Zhao grinned. No matter how hard your relationship is or how arrogant you are on weekdays, you only have one life. I

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.

An Jinhai pondered in his mind whether he could recommend this person to Sun Yu. He was familiar with the navy of the Song Dynasty and was capable of fighting. The most important thing was that there was no need to worry about him defecting to the Song Dynasty. He was a very suitable candidate.
Chapter completed!