Chapter 9 - Sailor

"Miss, have you chosen a sailor?" After walking in silence for a while, Zheng Xi couldn't help but ask. "No." Ling Qingyu answered simply, turned to Zheng Xi, smiled, and said, "Tomorrow, we will go to the streets to find someone."

"Go to the streets to look for them?" Zheng Xi was a little dazed. Although there were sailors walking around on the streets of Quanzhou, could the eldest lady be planning to arrest them? Catch one and the other?

"When I went to the shipyard a few days ago, I saw a lot of people looking for work at Yongding Bridge." Qingyu shared her idea to Zheng Xi.

He clarified, "Yongding Bridge? Isn't that a place to find day laborers? Aren't we looking for sailors?"

Qingyu answered, "Didn't you say that as long as the paddlers have the strength to obey, it's fine? We pay wages, so isn't it the same as part-time labor?"

Early the next morning, Ling Qingyu and Zheng Xi arrived at Yongding Bridge. The summer in Quanzhou is very hot. Most of the people gathered at the bridge have their clothes casually draped over their shoulders, and some are simply shirtless. Some of these people are local proletarians who make a living by doing day labor, and more of them come from the north. They are refugees.

The Henan Road area in the north has been experiencing drought for three consecutive years. In some places, there is no harvest, and a large number of people have fled. However, the Fujian Road area was originally too mountainous and sparse to accommodate so many people, so most of them became refugees.

When Ling Qingyu arrived at the shipyard, he saw that Wu Da hired many carpenters from the north. They were cheap and hardworking, and he had already always considered hiring these cheap labor forces.

The next moment, the area was filled with people showing off their skills to be hired.

"Master, do you want a day laborer? Choose me. I'm strong enough! It only costs 20 cents a day."

"My boss chose me. You can see that I'm much stronger than him. It's right to choose me."

"My boss, I know my craftsmanship, do you need a plasterer at home?"

When they saw someone coming, people who had been lying down or just hanging out together rushed up and tried their best to recommend themselves to the people who came, so that they could get a job that could guarantee the family's daily rations.

"Don't be anxious!" Zheng Xi blocked the hands that were crawling on his body. His boss was a woman so it was really not good if she gets squeezed and grabbed by men so he pulled her aside.

He couldn't stop the anxious people so he yelled, "Stop it! Our boss wants a lot of people this time. We need twenty strong laborers. The pay is one hundred cents a day to be sailors on sea ships!"

The murmur of laughter suddenly fell silent, and then various whispers started again.

"It's going to sea. It's dangerous. Maybe you won't be able to come back."

"My family has a lot of members. If I die, it will be over."

"But it's a hundred cents a day. How can you find such a good job?"

"We don't know how to swim at all. Wouldn't we die if we get on the boat?"

Ling Qingyu listened to the small voices in the crowd, but no one stood up and accept the job. She waved for Zheng Xi to come over and whispered a few words in his ear. Zheng Xi nodded.

He walked to a stone in the middle, and said: "My boss said that this trip will take more than three months. If you are willing to sign, you will be given a one-time advance payment of ten taels of silver. If you perform well, you can double your wages when you get back. We only need twenty people. You have to be healthy and strong enough."

The chatter in the crowd became louder but Qingyu was not in a hurry. She simply found a big tree nearby and sat down on the stone under it. There is a bridge hole just past the end of Yongding Bridge. You can't see inside from the outside but you can see the movement outside from the hole.

There were several big men sitting in twos and threes in the cave. The leader was naked, leaning against the stone wall with a piece of thatch in his mouth. His eyes looked at Zheng Xi who was standing on the stone in the middle, and then turned to look at the man's boss.

Sitting under the tree, he looked at the scenery and the play in a leisurely and elegant manner. He saw a woman who was wearing a blue men's gown seemingly pretending to be a man. Her hair was tied up in a bun on the top of her head with a wooden hairpin. She had a big face with a lot of freckles and pimples. Her figure was not as delicate as an ordinary girl's but tall and strong. If it weren't for the two slightly bulging lumps on the chest under the summer green shirt, it wouldn't be so easy to tell whether he was a boy or a girl.

"It seems that the ship Lao Dan and the others were repairing during this period was owned by a woman?" Gu Sui spit out the thatch root and asked Zhang Dahu next to him.

"Yes, I heard that she was the only daughter of a merchant named Lin who died at sea earlier. She came out to set up a female household and changed her surname to Ling. Lao Dan and the others came back last night and said that she was the one who led the ship out to sea. Boss Ding was plotted and had his leg broken. Most of the sailors were afraid and canceled the contract. They didn't know whether the ship could go out. Fortunately, the owner was kind and the money was settled every day and the payment was good. The boss, the others and even I saved some money," Zhang Dahu said.

"I heard Lao Dan that the boat was very good, right?" Gu Sui asked.

"That's right! Lao Dan has been bragging, saying that although he has never built a boat, the materials used in this boat and the workmanship are good. It is a top-notch boat. It is big and is not afraid no matter how big the waves are. It's okay even if you don't know how to swim. If Boss Ding and the others hadn't already had their own sailors, I would have wanted to go out to sea with them.

"Hey boss, what do you need?" Gu Sui stood up, lowered his head and walked out of the bridge. He patted the dirt on his body. After thinking about it, he put on his jacket that was almost torn into strips and walked towards Ling Qingyu.

"Master Ling?" Gu Sui called again. Qingyu was stunned for a moment and then finally realized that he was calling her.

When she turned around, she only saw a pair of mud legs, with the trouser legs rolled up to his knees, and a pair of old straw sandals on his muddy feet. She looked up slowly. She felt a little strain on her neck and then finally, she saw a face.

Because Gu Sui lowered his head, the sun shone slantly from the top of his head, and his face was hidden in the shadow. Even in this way, his face with sharp edges and strong, manly features still made Ling Qingyu blind.

Qingyu stood up unconsciously, but after standing up, she found that she still had to raise her head until her neck hurt. This man must be 1.9 meters tall, right?!

When Gu Sui saw Ling Qingyu raising her head like a cockfighting about to end, he smiled and said, "What's wrong with Master Ling?"

Ling Qingyu coughed and thought to herself, "Qingyu, you are not a little girl, you could be his aunt, what kind of man have you never seen before, it's not the same if you take off your clothes!"

Thinking of taking off his clothes, her eyes flickered to the naked body of the man in front of her. This man was tall and had a good figure. There was not a trace of fat anywhere exposed. His brown skin had bulging muscles and graceful stripes. Ling Qingyu unconsciously thought of the famous statue, "Doscobolus".

"Sit." Ling Qingyu calmed down and sat down on the stone again. At the same time, she patted the stone next to her and motioned for the other party to sit down. Gu Sui did not sit down on the stone, but sat directly on the ground.

Qingyu secretly felt satisfaction in her heart that the two of them could finally look directly at each other. She smiled and said, "I wonder how many people this eldest brother can bring on board?"

"There are nine of us brothers, and three of them are repairing your boat in the shipyard. However, when we board the ship, we hope to get six taels of silver for one month's wages. Please give us a deposit of twenty taels of silver before boarding the ship." Gu Sui said casually.

Pulling out a stick of grass and holding it in her mouth, the woman named Ling looked young, but she seemed to be a smart person. It would always be easier to work with smart people.

After watching Qingyu look at him, she looked at the brothers scattered around again. In her eyes, none of them were wrong. Unconsciously, her smile became a little deeper.

Ling Qingyu touched her chin. This big man, and the few around him, were all tall and strong. They seemed to have good strength, but their faces looked malnourished. Although they were all in rags with barely no clothes on their bodies, they still have a certain aura. These people are not ordinary. She was not sure whether these people would do anything wrong when they went to sea in the future but judging from the current situation, these people were the best oarsmen. They were strong, and they seemed to be well-trained.

"Okay, big brother, if you like, I want to hire you as a shift leader. In addition to wages, you can also get dividends after the ship comes back. Well?" Ling Qingyu took out three hundred-tael silver notes from his wallet and handed them to Gu Sui.

She said, "In addition to the deposit, I will lend you these one hundred taels. You can buy some goods by yourself and take them overseas to sell."

Gu Sui was stunned, holding the banknote in his hand, and said with a slight smile: "Master Ling, aren't you afraid that I will run away with the banknote?"

"You are not this kind of person." Ling Qingyu looked directly at him and said, then shrugged and said, "If you run away, it means that I am not good at recognizing people. I have no discernment, so I have no choice but to admit it."

"Hahaha!" Gu Sui laughed and said, "The young miss is pretty good. Okay! I, Gu Sui, will write sign a contract with you right now."

Zheng Xi came with a ready-made contract in hand, but when he heard the wages reported by Gu Sui, he looked at Qingyu with complaint, but saw that no one else came up except Gu Sui's group.

Everyone in this group seemed to be tall and powerful. One person was worth two, so he had to reluctantly change the salary amount on the deed, and then asked Gu Sui and others to put their fingerprints to complete the hiring process.

"Master Ling." Gu Sui wiped the ink pad on his hand, handed the one hundred taels of silver notes back to Ling Qingyu and said, "Gu Sui is a rough man and he doesn't know how to make money with goods. Why don't Master Ling help me buy them together?"

Ling Qingyu was speechless. If the goods worth a hundred taels were sold and became a thousand taels of silver, this was a great benefit for the sailor. Not to mention that she had lent him the money, does she have to do the shopping for him? Isn't this a big mistake?

However, after his eyes swept over Gu Sui and others, Ling Qingyu fell silent again. In this world, people are most contemptuous. With their status, even if they buy with money, people will probably treat them bad.

"Okay," Ling Qingyu took the banknote and said, "I'll ask Zheng Xi to exchange it for you for a small-value banknote or cash?"

"Then I'll trouble Headmaster Ling." Gu Sui gave a formal salute. Qingyu saw that his saluting posture was upright and his manners were upright, he smiled softly and left with Zheng Xi.

"Brother Gu" a girl called out to him and hurried over. When she saw the contract in Gu Sui's hand, she said anxiously, "Brother Gu, please pay me back. How can you go to sea? It takes a long time before you can come back. How can you do such a dangerous thing? What will happen tk me and my mother if something happens to you?"

"Miss Mei," Gu Sui stopped her words, blocked the girl's lunging body with his hand, and said calmly, "This time the deposit from our wage will be enough for both of us. I think Brother Mei will be able to find the necessities of life in a few days, and then your family will naturally be reunited."

After Gu Sui finished speaking, he walked away minding his own business. Mei Hong wanted to catch up and persuade her again, but was blocked by Zhang Dahu. He smiled and said: "Miss Mei, please return. This place is too dirty, so don't dirty your eyes."

Mei Hong stamped her feet and said, "I'll talk to my mother." When Mei Hong's figure ran away, Zhang Dahu spat and said, "Who does she think she is?"

"Three hundred taels!" Zheng Xi was heartbroken and muttered unconsciously. He the scolded Qiuying, "Miss, you are too generous. Even if they are strong enough, they can't really hold up two taels each. You have improved the ship and now you need thirty employees. If you take away most of the budget for employees' wages for these nine people, what will you do with the twenty one people left?"

LQingyu suddenly stopped and let Zheng Xi bump into her without checking. He said hurriedly: "Miss, are you okay?"

Qingyu glared at him, "I'm wearing men's clothes. Why are you calling me miss?" but she didn't have time to argue with him. She pointed in front and said, "Who are those people?"

Not far from the Yongding Bridge is the seawall. At this time, there are some people in twos and threes with shackles and covered in mud under the embankment. They all have sallow faces and thin muscles. If Gu Sui's group is malnourished, then these people seem to have only skeletons. There were scars all over their bodies. Looking at them suddenly, you may think they were piles of corpses.

Zheng Xi's brows furrowed and he muttered, "I'm afraid they are criminals. I heard that a group of serious criminals were assigned to Quanzhou City. Because there was a shortage of manpower to build the seawall this year, they were transferred here."

After hearing this, Qingyu lowered her head and walked quickly with Zheng Xi. However, he glanced over again out of the corner of his eyes and saw two teenagers inside. He thought to himself, What kind of felony can such a young man commit?

Two government servants walked towards Qingyu, holding a knife in one hand and picking their teeth with the other. As they walked, she heard them say: "Finally the dam has been repaired, and now we can do business."

The second government servant asked, "What to do with those prisoners? There are only more than 20 people left alive."

"Throw them to the sea. If they stay, you have to take care of their food and shelter. I don't know if these people have offended someone above but the boss said not to leave a single person alive."

When Zheng Xi heard what the two government officials said, he secretly thought that it was not good. Sure enough, he saw his young miss stop in her tracks, come up to the two government officials, with an innocent smile on her face, and said: "Hello, two officials. "

The two county magistrate servants were stunned for a moment. When they saw the ingot of silver that Qingyu pushed over, their expressions immediately improved and they said with a smile: "Brother, what's the matter?"

"When I first arrived in Quanzhou, I heard that Quanzhou was profitable by shipping, so I rented a small boat with others. There were only a few people on the boat. I wanted to buy something useful, as long as I could row the oar. I don't know if there are any. Are you ready to introduce me?"

Qingyu bent down slightly and smiled in a humble manner. "Oh? You also want to do shipping?" The officer looked Qingyu up and down, weighed the heavy silver ingots, and said with a smile: "This shipping business is not that easy. It's a near-death business. Brother, do you need sailors on board?"

"This is also the first time for me. My ship captain first found some people to work the ship. For some reason, he later said that the Xie family fleet was going to go, so he was helpless. I found out that everything in his body was broken and he tried to run away. I got a lot of profit from the last trip." Ling Qingyu said, bending even lower.

The two officials looked at each other and understood that this was just a newbie. I heard that the second master of the Xie family wanted to monopolize Quanzhou's shipping. Yesterday, he got rid of Ding Budong's gang. The Xie family is only afraid of a skilled one. This ship have no skilled sailors on board.

An unreliable ship is doomed to have an accident. It will either get lost or die in the wind and waves. It's just that this little brother is too selfish and still wants to go to sea. I'm afraid no one will get on his ship in Quanzhou City. It's no wonder that he is hungry for these prisoners who are about to die. Anyway, if they arw bound to die, might as well get some money out of them.

"There are twenty people here. If you want it, little brother, take them all away for one hundred taels of silver." The yamen servant waved his hand and said proudly.

"Can I buy these prisoners?" Ling Qingyu asked doubtfully as he slowly took out the banknotes from his wallet.

"Haha, these are migrant prisoners. They can be sentenced to death, but they have to go to the Yamen to go through the formalities. However..." the Yamen servant paused and looked at Ling Qingyu with a knowing look.

Ling Qingyu nodded repeatedly, handed over the banknote, and then said to Zheng Xi: "Follow the official to go through the formalities. You must not lose a penny of the money that should be handed over to the county magistrate office."

Zheng Xi looked at Qingyu with a bitter look on his face, and then followed one of the county magistrate servants to look at their office.

The other official said to Qingyu: "If you can come back safely this time, you will definitely be rich. Congratulations to you in advance."

Qingyu bent down again and nodded and said: "As the official said, why don't I count one hundred taels as the official's reward for the goods this time, and we will settle the settlement with the official when I come back."

The county magistrate servant laughed and said to himself, this young man looks like a young man, but he is a very understanding person. It's just that if he go on this boat, they will not be able to come back. However, he does not tell the truth and just says, "Thank you so much, brother. I will help you."

He introduced himself, "I am the subordinate of the magistrate of Quanzhou, named Zhou Zhou. I am the one you need to talk to in the office to find thr magistrate. How are you going to deal with these people? I suggest you not to untie the shackles and not to let them eat until they are starved to death. If you want them to be obedient, you must not be soft-hearted. I give you this gift, my brother."

As he spoke, he pulled out a long whip from his waist, with barbs shining with dark black blood. When Ling Qingyu saw the whip, he felt a chill. It was really enchanting just by looking at it. Seeing her appearance, Zhou Zhou laughed, flicked his hand, and cracked the whip, hitting a man next to him, leaving a dazzling blood mark.

As soon as the whip sounded, the people on the ground trembled unconsciously, and then some struggled to get up. Qingyu suppressed the shaking of her hands and took the whip that Zhou Zhou handed over. The whip was very heavy. When she took it, her hand sank and she almost dropped it, causing Zhou Zhou to laugh again.

Seeing that Qingyu's face was a little pale, Zhou Zhou waved his hand and said, "Brother, go back first and ask your servants to come and fetch people."

He gave the whip but did not mention the key to the shackles. Qingyu called out repeatedly, dragged the whip and headed towards his yard.