Chapter 495: The Crack

The laborers didn't find potatoes half bad. This yellow "potato" not only filled you up fast, it kept hunger at bay — ranking right alongside sweet potatoes as a local crop.

Potatoes had another advantage: they could be cooked in all sorts of ways and paired with any seasoning. Someone had once eaten a roasted potato at the New District construction site — dusted with salt powder, it tasted pretty damn good, something sweet potatoes couldn't match.

The laborers discussing roasted potatoes over their meal had no idea that just these past two days, the first McDonald's Ancestral Fried Chicken shop in Guangzhou City, opened by the Xingang savages, had finished its Decoration.

The poor would soon discover that when potato strips were prepared a different way, they became so expensive it would leave them gasping for breath.

All in all, the lunch gathering's mood was quite good. As everyone ate their congee, they chatted, their Qi-Blood Spirit noticeably better than before.

Everyone present had, in recent days, directly or indirectly benefited from the New City — life had gotten just that One Point easier.

But when it came to the grand pattern of social transformation, these bottom-rung folk in the courtyard couldn't make heads or tails of it; they could only express a simple, happy sense of Blessing.

To put it in the words of Later Generations: after the Transmigrators' capital injection and the launch of primary industrialization, with Guangzhou as the center, employment rates among the surrounding populace rose, commodity prices fell, and the Ming economy — previously mired in stagflation — was straightened out, causing per capita disposable income to slowly climb and the people's sense of happiness to increase.

He Biandan's sense of happiness was also very strong today, because it was his turn to scrape the pot again. After eating an extra half-bowl of rice, He Biandan cheerfully went back to his room for a nap. In the afternoon, full of energy, he headed out again to find work.

Several days passed uneventfully like this. This morning, He Biandan was, as usual, at the tea stall where porters in this area always waited for work, a cup of cheap tea he'd paid two coppers for in front of him, his livelihood tools leaning beside the table, just waiting for a customer to show up.

In recent months, quite a bit more work seemed to have appeared in the city, so He Biandan was very confident today that he'd get a job. Sure enough, not long after, business came.

The job was simple: a customer had bought goods at South City Wharf, already loaded onto a boat, and needed men to accompany the boat and unload the goods along the way. The unloading points were on the opposite bank of the Pearl River, requiring scattering the goods all along the Dongjiang, with the final stop at Zengcheng County.

He Biandan was a bachelor, so this kind of job requiring several days away naturally suited him. After negotiating a price with the employer and receiving the deposit, he set off together with three other porters.

The employer, surnamed Wu, was a very amiable, skinny old man — the Shopkeeper of a chain general store in Zengcheng County.

He Biandan and his group first followed the Shopkeeper to a nearby medicine house, where they picked out several loads of medicinal goods: seahorse, musk, rhubarb, cinnabar, deer antler, and the like. Next, the party walked On Foot out Nanmen and carried the goods onto a cargo boat at the dock.

This cargo boat, called the Pingfu, was a common flat-bottomed riverboat of about 300-liao capacity, already stuffed full of goods. Once He Biandan and the others boarded, the boat weighed anchor and set sail.

After leaving Nanmen Dock, the Pingfu followed the broad Pearl River downstream, heading east. Since the Transmigrators had marked all the reefs and shoals with buoys along this route, the boat moved fast. Before noon, it had covered fifty li of waterway and reached Huangpu.

Passing by Huangpu, everyone on the Pingfu — the boat boss, the boatmen, the general store Shopkeeper, the clerks, and He Biandan's group — all rushed to the port side, craning their necks to stare at the port that had abruptly appeared on the Huangpu shore.

A great ship, blue-bottomed with gold trim, reflecting a blinding glare, was moored at the Huangpu Port dock. Its cloud-like White Sails towered high; at its feet, numerous small boats shuttled back and forth — the scale alone revealed this giant vessel's formidable majesty.

This was He Biandan's First Time seeing this Western-style great ship. Right now, his mouth was hanging wide open as he stared hard, all while listening to a boatman boast with spittle flying everywhere.

After listening with keen interest for a while, He Biandan learned two things. First: this great ship was surnamed Cao — the same Cao as General Cao who had brought him the salty vegetable congee.

Second: in the belly of this great ship were dozens of Cannons as thick as a man. In a pinch, the side gunports would swing open, and with a chain-shot volley, everything for dozens of li around would be blasted to ruin — any ship on the sea would be utterly pulverized!

When He Biandan heard such an explosive story, drool practically ran from his mouth. He immediately pestered the boatman, insisting he keep telling it. Seeing how eager his audience was, the boatman recounted in vivid detail the great ship's Bandit Suppression Campaign he'd witnessed at the Pearl River Estuary — inevitably embellishing it along the way. By the end, the boatman was gesticulating wildly, and the listeners were utterly spellbound.

During this process, the Pingfu rounded a bend along the riverbank and entered the Dongjiang watershed.

The Dongjiang originates in Jiangxi and ultimately merges into the Pearl River at Huangpu; it is a major trunk tributary of the Pearl River.

After entering the Dongjiang, the Pingfu began advancing steadily along the north bank. After traveling roughly twenty li of waterway, the Pingfu reached its first stop: Tangqiao Town.

The chain general store Shopkeeper Wu worked for had a branch in Tangqiao Town, so when the boat docked at Tangqiao Town's stone pier, He Biandan and the others got busy. Together with several clerks on the boat, everyone shouldered loads and carried goods by hand, taking turns unloading some of the cargo to the town's general store.

During this process, He Biandan's skilled technique, lack of slacking, and hard work earned him Shopkeeper Wu's appreciation. When mealtime came, a beaming Shopkeeper Wu had the cook add a bowl of chicken-offal noodles with a bit of meat for this pleasing young man, and even gave Biandan a chicken leg from his own bowl.

He Biandan's IQ always dropped at mealtime; this time, not only did he avoid a beating but got extra food — Shopkeeper Wu's One Unit of tactics instantly conquered the young man.

In the afternoon, the Pingfu resumed its voyage, tracing up the Dongjiang. By late afternoon, when the boat reached the junction of the Dongjiang and the Zeng River, the second unloading point was reached.

It was another town, and once again, One Quarter of the cargo on the boat had to be unloaded. This batch of goods included all the medicinal materials, which Shopkeeper Wu had brought along for the town's herbal medicine shop.

Having eaten well at noon, He Biandan worked even harder this time, doing the work of two men single-handedly. Finally, after the boat weighed anchor, the smiling Shopkeeper Wu pulled him aside privately and asked him all about his family background.

Upon learning that He Biandan was a bachelor, Shopkeeper Wu made a promise on the spot: once they returned to Zengcheng from this trip, he'd take him on as a formal employee of the chain store. From then on, he'd specifically accompany the boat to escort goods; after a few more years, he could even be promoted to Steward.

He Biandan, Of Course, couldn't have wished for anything better. A formal employee had guaranteed income rain or shine, not like his current life of feast or famine. The employer would provide food and lodging, and if he later learned some bookkeeping skills, when he was middle-aged and could no longer do physical labor, he'd even be promoted to Store Manager or even Shopkeeper — this was a very bright road for a poor man.

And so, in this happy atmosphere, the Pingfu turned into the Zeng River.

Unlike the Dongjiang, the Zeng River was a tributary originating in the Yuedong Mountains. So from the entry point onward, entering the north-south running Zeng River was tantamount to entering the mountains. From here heading north, after another forty li of waterway, lay the final stop: Zengcheng County.

However, the Pingfu wouldn't reach Zengcheng County today, because there wasn't enough time. It was already getting dark, and the boat would have to spend the night en route.

So the boat boss steered the boat into a branching river, heading for a village where boats often rested. This village was called Shitan, a large settlement of over a thousand people, where boats frequently anchored.

Unexpectedly, at the next moment, an accident occurred.

With a grating "Crack—", the Pingfu suddenly shuddered, then its speed dropped sharply.

"Damn, we've struck a reef!" The experienced boat boss went below deck at the First Moment. Soon he ran back up, shouting, "We're leaking! Get down there and plug the crack!"

Hearing the boss's order, some men immediately ran down to the bottom hold. The boat boss then began directing the boatmen on deck to turn the rudder and trim the sails, and the Pingfu slowly steered toward the Shore.

In just that short time, a lot of water had already gushed into the bottom hold. Before long, a soaking-wet boatman ran up: "Boss, two planks are busted — can't plug it!"

The boat boss swore a curse at this, then could only order the helmsman to yank the tiller sideways. The next moment, the Pingfu rammed bow-first into the sandy ground of the riverbank.

"Probably mountain floods a few days back — a boulder washed down in the river gashed the bottom. Damned bad luck." After going down to inspect once more, the boat boss made his judgment.

By this point, everyone on the boat was dumbfounded. Fortunately, Shopkeeper Wu was experienced. He first ordered the hired laborers to go down to the hold and move the cargo.

So He Biandan and the others hurried below and transferred the goods stored at the bottom one by one to the upper deck cabins. They were lucky more than half the cargo had already been unloaded earlier; otherwise, there wouldn't have been anywhere to move it.

By now, it had grown completely dark. The boat boss lit an Oil Lamp and led men down to the bottom hold to repair the boat. But the hold was now half-flooded with water, and a long gash had been torn open — it certainly couldn't be fixed in a short while.

After learning the situation in the bottom hold, Shopkeeper Wu, his face grim, summoned two clerks and ordered them to go deliver word overnight.

The Fuping's current position was terrible: seven or eight li from the nearest village of Shitan, and even farther from Zengcheng to the north and the town where they'd unloaded earlier. So Shopkeeper Wu could only order one clerk to head north and the other south, to deliver word to distant places.

He Biandan, standing nearby, didn't understand this move: the boat was damaged — just wait patiently for it to be fixed, and that's that, right? Why send people to deliver word overnight?

After he quietly voiced his question, Shopkeeper Wu looked at this naive young man and couldn't help but give a bitter laugh. He then pulled He Biandan aside and privately explained: sending word was a precaution. In this desolate wilderness, miles from any village, with a broken boat, the fear was encountering bandits. So they absolutely had to notify their own people to come provide support.

Only then did He Biandan understand. It wasn't his fault for being inexperienced — he'd always done porter work inside Guangzhou City, rarely ventured outside, and didn't know much about wilderness survival.

The Shopkeeper then instructed He Biandan to stay extra vigilant tonight and notify him immediately of any developments.

The young man quickly nodded his agreement.

After this step, there was nothing more anyone could do. Shopkeeper Wu's face remained dark the whole time; he could only silently pray the boat would be repaired quickly.

The only one in a good mood was He Biandan, who took this opportunity to wolf down a lot of dry rations and even devoured two Salted Fish. By the time the moon was high in the sky, this fellow had also drunk two bowls of watery gruel.

However, not long after he finished the gruel, a boatman on the ship suddenly shouted: "Who goes there?!"

Under the bright moonlight, a human figure appeared on the sandbank not far away, then vanished into the reeds as the shout rang out.