Song Xiaoniu habitually placed the baggage on his back across his chest and clasped it tightly with his hands. After all, all his belongings were inside.

Soon, Danian came back with a big bag. He bought a lot of meat buns, steamed buns and braised vegetables.

Now that I have some money on hand, the food on the road is not just steamed buns, but a variety of food.

They were really hungry. They leaned against the pillar and swallowed a meat bun in two mouths. Then they were tearing into a steamed bun when they heard the dock staff shouting at the top of their lungs:

"The ship to Wuhu is about to leave, come and check in!"

The two of them had no choice but to put the leftover steamed buns into their bags, hold the bags tightly and move slowly to the ticket gate with the flow of people.

I waited in line for a long time before boarding the ship, and the crowd was mainly third-class passengers. There were no seat numbers, so whoever grabbed an empty seat would sit.

Second class cabins have seat numbers, so take your seat according to your number.

The two of them found a seat and sat down, then ate the other half of the bun with peace of mind.

The second-class seats were obviously much better and the seats were much cleaner. Song Xiaoniu sat in the window seat, while Gu Zhunian sat in the aisle seat, staring nervously at the people passing by in the aisle for fear of having their money stolen.

Seeing that Danian was so nervous, Song Xiaoniu couldn't help comforting him:

"New Year's Eve, look how nervous you are. Everyone here is sitting down, how can you still be robbed?"

Da Nian kept his mouth full and did not reply. He was still highly focused and stared at the aisle.

Seeing this, Song Xiaoniu smiled helplessly, and had no choice but to take out the half of the steamed bun and finish it, so as not to waste it.

Not long after, the seats were filled with guests one after another. As the huge liner started to roar, he had just finished eating half of the steamed buns, but he was just thirsty.

The passenger ship started at a slow speed and slowly increased its speed to a steady pace. Song Xiaoniu stared out the window at the scenery slowly retreating along the way, and couldn't help but mutter in his heart:

This ship is still slow and not as powerful as the train. I don’t know how long it will take to reach Wuhu.

He has not been home for nearly four years. The eldest young master rewarded him with 50 yuan, except for 20 yuan for Danian's family. The rest was sent back to Zuo Gang's home.

The small courtyard he bought in Meishan Town this year was his one-year military salary, plus the rest from the brothers such as Da Nian in the guard, as his new house.

The wedding expenses were paid by the eldest young master.

My mother-in-law fled from Huaibei, and her entire family is now settled in Meishan Town.

Although the ship was moving slowly, it was very steady. There was not much wind and waves on the Grand Canal. Song Xiaoniu was already sleepy. He got up early in the morning and hurried on. Not a drop of water came in along the way. He was really thirsty.

He wanted to find water to drink, but was told that there would be boiling water in the second-class cabin and the waiter would bring it.

After waiting for a while, I saw the waiter coming, and then I took out the jar and drank some water, which relieved my thirst and sleepiness.

The ship had been sailing for about half an hour, and there were more voices chattering in the cabin, with both southern and northern accents.

In the front row were two men talking. They seemed to be giving advice on some major events that had happened in Jiangnan recently.

Across the aisle is a mother and daughter. The girl looks about seventeen or eighteen years old, has short hair, has a handsome appearance, and doesn't talk much.

The girl's mother was sitting by the window. She was elegantly dressed. She leaned on her chin with her hand and stared out the window at first. Then she turned around and saw the girl spreading her notebook on her lap, writing and drawing, so she preached:

"When I get home, I never leave my pen. I write and draw all day long. Don't you know what to do?"

The girl ignored her and was busy writing something in her notebook. Then she heard her mother say again:

"Boss, I'm not young anymore. If you don't get married, you have to go to school. The neighbors in Ala Lane are gossiping."

The girl was probably upset by her mother's nagging, so she simply put her pen between her legs, closed her notebook, leaned back and closed her eyes, pretending not to hear.

"Hey, have you ever listened to gossip?"

"..."

After nagging for a while, the mother could only sigh when her daughter refused to pay attention to her, and then turned to look out the window, silently.

"Brother, if you're sleepy, go to sleep first. I'll take care of your luggage." Danian said when he saw Song Xiaoniu yawning profusely.

Their main luggage was the wild game they took home, which was rarely found along the Huaihe River.

"Okay, I'll take a nap first and I'll switch to you later."

"Um."

Song Xiaoniu leaned back on the hard seat, held his chin with his right hand, put his head against the window, closed his eyes and fell asleep unconsciously.

I don't know how long it took, but when the ship stopped and docked, Song Xiaoniu woke up. It was getting dark outside.

I exchanged places with Danian and let him sleep for a while.

…

The two brothers took turns resting on the ship. When they were hungry, they ate steamed buns and stewed vegetables, and kept the steamed buns.

The cabin was dim and dark, and they slept until the sun came out the next day. A slightly cold river breeze came from the north of the Yangtze River. Song Xiaoniu was very happy. He couldn't help but open his hands to embrace the weather, and took a deep breath to face the weather. The smell of hometown comes from here.

Wuhu has arrived.

Wuhu was an important city in Anhui Province during the late Qing Dynasty, an economic and cultural center, the land of four major granaries in the south of the Yangtze River, and the only inland water transport intersection city in Anhui Province.

This is where the three major water transport hubs of the Yangtze River, Grand Canal and Huaihe River meet.

Therefore, in the late Qing Dynasty, merchants gathered in Wuhu, and people came and went in various trading markets, especially grain and salt trading.

The water transport terminals here are extremely developed.

Of course, these also brought great prosperity to Wuhu.

…

Danian, who was in the next room, heard that there was no movement in Song Xiaoniu's room, so he waited outside the door for a while.

He was very respectful to this sworn brother.

This is an inn by the dock. Business is very good. The dining area downstairs is already full of people. Most of the guests come to Wuhu to do rice business.

Since the Jiangnan Rice Market in Zhenjiang moved to Wuhu, relying on its unique advantages, it has become the first among the four major rice markets in the country.

Wuhu can go down along the Yangtze River to Shanghai, to the south to Haidong, and to the north to Pingjin. In addition to the Huaihe River, there are also developed crisscrossing water systems such as Qingyi River, Shuiyang River, and Yuxi River.

Although I was mentally prepared, I was still exhausted physically and mentally when I got off the ship. I just wanted to find an inn to have a good rest before making other plans.

There is an inn next to the passenger terminal for tourists to rest, but unfortunately it is too expensive. I walked into the city despite being tired, and finally found a cheap inn next to the cargo terminal.

It was a good New Year, knowing that Song Xiaoniu didn't eat much on the ship. Maybe the braised vegetables and steamed buns were too dry.

So, he went to the street and bought two big bowls of wontons. When he came back, he found that his elder brother had not taken off his clothes and was lying on the bed snoring.
Chapter completed!