Chapter 4 Troubled Times

After two hours of rest, it was already noon.

Fang Zhixing felt his body and found that his strength had almost recovered.

Humph, he was worthy of being an 18-year-old body, and his physical strength recovered quickly.

"Let's go to the river to catch some more to make sure we have something for lunch." He picked up the broken bamboo basket and walked back to the river.

The thin dog followed closely, wagging its tail and running in small and cheerful steps.

Soon, Fang Zhixing entered the turbid river again and groped along the weedy shore. The thin dog ran in front to find out the situation.

One clam, another clam...

Fang Zhixing soon discovered that there were actually quite a few clams in the mud, and they were all relatively large. It seemed that no one usually caught them.

After thinking carefully, Fang Zhixing found that in the memory of his original body, Daniu, he had never eaten clams, nor had he seen anyone else eat clams.

"Don't people in this world know that clams can be eaten?" Fang Zhixing pondered.

In this way, more than half an hour passed in a flash.

Fang Zhixing had a good harvest, catching more than 20 clams and snails, filling half a basket. During this period, he also dug three holes, but unfortunately all of them were empty.

"I can't continue to catch them. I can't lift them."

Fang Zhixing used all his strength to pull the broken bamboo basket ashore, looking at the harvest with joy on his face. It was enough for him to have a good meal.

Before, he thought that it would be extremely difficult to find food in a year of famine, and he might have to eat grass and tree bark. He never expected that there would be so many ingredients in the river.

But why didn't other villagers come to fish, and all ran to the mountains?

Just as he was thinking, the dog came up and looked inside the broken bamboo basket. He said with satisfaction: "We did a good job and had a pleasant cooperation."

Fang Zhixing said contemptuously: "With or without you, the result is the same."

The dog immediately shouted: "What are you talking about? Didn't I help you find a few holes? Didn't I help you keep watch? You are turning your back on me. If you continue like this, your conscience will turn black sooner or later, and even dogs won't eat."

"Haha, with your eyesight, you found three holes in total, and there is nothing in the holes. You still have the nerve to say that, you are so shameless!"

Fang Zhixing looked down on him.

The man and the dog quarreled until noon, and then they made a fire and barbecued again, and had a delicious meal.

It is very rare to eat two meals in a row.

Fang Zhixing was full of energy. At three quarters in the afternoon, he went to the river to fish again, with a clear goal, to touch clams.

Time passed little by little, watching the sun set in the west and the sun gradually turned dark.

"Hey, what is that?"

The dog suddenly raised his head and looked at the upstream river surface. Amid the rolling waves, there was a vague black shadow undulating.

Hearing this, Fang Zhixing also looked up and squinted his eyes slightly.

The dog's eyesight is much weaker than that of a human. The dog only saw a black shadow, but Fang Zhixing clearly saw a big ship swimming downstream.

It looked very far away at first, but the big ship soon arrived.

The waves became bigger and hit the river bank.

Fang Zhixing hurriedly climbed ashore.

"Hey, the young man on the shore!"

Someone on the deck waved and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Excuse me, is Funiu Village ahead?"

Fang Zhixing quickly looked at the boatman, who was very strong, dark-skinned, and had a big beard, and replied: "Yes."

"How far is it?"

"Not far, two miles downstream."

"Okay, thank you!"

The boatman made a gesture of bowing.

Fang Zhixing watched the big ship passing by and saw two tall figures on the other side of the deck. They were about 1.8 to 1.9 meters tall, bare-chested, muscular, bronze-skinned, sharp-eyed, with protruding cheekbones and thick veins around the temples.

On the waist, a knife!

A flag was hung on the mast, with a word or symbol written on it with a silver hook and iron pen.

Unfortunately, the big cow was illiterate, and Fang Zhixing had never seen such a text and could not understand it.

At this time, Xigou sent a message: "What is such a big ship doing in Funiu Village?"

Fang Zhixing was silent for a moment and whispered: "Let's go back and take a look."

Xigou was also very curious, so it was okay.

Fang Zhixing first found a hidden place to hide the broken bamboo basket, and then took a shortcut back to the village.

As soon as the man and the dog returned to the village, they saw that the big ship had docked and three people came down from the deck.

The man in the middle was a middle-aged man with a mustache, a big belly, and a greasy face. Although he looked a little wretched, the clothes he wore were very gorgeous, inlaid with gold and jade, and he looked like a wealthy man who had no worries about food and drink.

He was playing with two iron lumps in his hands, making a creaking sound.

The other two followed behind him. They were the two strong men Fang Zhixing had seen before.

Under the dim sky, the three of them went straight to the east end of the village.

"Oh, Boss Qian, you are here!"

Under the crooked tree at the east end of the village, a white-bearded uncle smoking a dry pipe stood up and nodded. Who else could it be but the old village chief.

"Village Chief Zhao, right?"

The greasy uncle looked at people with his nose and said with his hands behind his back: "How is it, are you ready?"

"Ready, everything is settled!"

The old village chief was full of smiles, turned around, and shouted to the village: "Everyone come out, Boss Qian is here."

In this situation, Fang Zhixing's eyes flickered slightly, a little confused.

Obviously, the old village chief had not told Daniu that Boss Qian was coming.

Not long after, Fang Zhixing saw Grandpa Song leading his two granddaughters out of the house. The two granddaughters were less than ten years old and sobbed with their heads down.

Then, Aunt Wang pulled her daughter out and walked out. The mother and daughter looked stiff and their eyes were extremely cold.

And Uncle Li, Uncle Bai...

There were about a hundred households in Funiu Village, and more than forty households suddenly ran out, all of them elders with their girls.

At this moment, Fang Zhixing vaguely guessed what was about to happen.

"Get in line and come over one by one." Boss Qian rolled up his sleeves and looked at the little girls with a smile.

Then he first walked up to Uncle Song's two granddaughters, touched their heads, touched their arms and fingers, asked them their ages, and then asked them to open their mouths and check their teeth.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with these two children, and they look good. I think it's not easy for you to raise them, so I'll bid you a higher price. How about thirty kilograms of rice each?" Boss Qian said with a smile.

Uncle Song didn't have much expression on his face. He just raised five fingers and gritted his teeth and said: "With this number, I won't sell it for a penny less."

Boss Qian's face immediately turned down and he snorted coldly: "This year has been very difficult. The autumn harvest will definitely be yellow. Without food, how will your family survive the cold winter?"

He glanced at the villagers and shouted plausibly: "Do you know what is going on outside now? There is a war outside, the war is chaotic, the plague is widespread, and bandits are rampant. Maybe one day your Funiu Village will be overrun by evil bandits. Served.”

After a pause, Boss Qian softened his tone again and said with a smile: "I'm here to buy your daughters and granddaughters and send them to work as maids in rich families so that they can have food to eat. I am doing good deeds and helping Do you understand?"

The scene was completely silent, everyone was starving, and they had no energy to argue, and no culture to speak out.

After Boss Qian made the output, he looked at Uncle Song again and said with a smile: "Well, I'll add more, and each person can exchange for thirty-five kilograms of rice."

Uncle Song nodded painfully and let out a long sigh.