On the water of Poyang Lake, a small fishing boat slowly rowed by. Boss Wu, with wrinkles on his face, was sitting at the bow of the boat, holding a small medicine bag in his hand. These were the few medicines he had received after fishing for a day. There was no way, the woman in the house was sick again, and in the small bucket under his feet, there were some small fish that had not been sold, which was also the supper for their family today.

"Dad, the salt at home is gone. The girl has grown up, but she doesn't even have a set of her own clothes. She can only wear the same clothes as her mother. It's not a solution to continue like this!" At this moment, a black boy standing at the stern of the boat suddenly spoke.

This black boy is the son of Boss Wu. He originally had four sons, but unfortunately the first three either died young or died in an accident. Now there is only one son and one daughter left. The son is called Heitou. Heitou is also a very ferocious fish in Poyang Lake. This boy has a very good water quality. A fierce boy can swim under the water for hundreds of steps, which is very rare in fishermen's homes.

"What do you want to say?" Boss Wu, who was full of worries, suddenly heard something in his son's words, and immediately turned around and asked.

I saw the blackhead grinning and revealing two rows of yellow teeth and saying, "Dad, the elder brother of the He family has found me. I think what he said makes sense. We can't survive by fishing alone. The government's skins and asks us to go to labor service from time to time. Every time, a few people have to die. My mother is in poor health and often needs medicine. Our family is almost unable to get rid of the pot now. Instead of waiting to starve to death, it's better to fight..."

"Shut up! You forgot your second brother, how did the third brother die!" Before his son finished speaking, Boss Wu yelled angrily and interrupted.

Among the first three sons of Wu, except for the eldest who died young, the second and third brothers all died suddenly. To be precise, they were killed by the government because they disobeyed the ban of the court, secretly went ashore to trade with others, and even bought and sold private salt because these fishermen were too poor and could not afford to eat official salt at all. Unfortunately, they were caught by the government, which resulted in his two sons being sentenced to death.

When my father mentioned his two brothers, Heitou didn't dare to say anything else, but his dark face was still a little dissatisfied. After all, people couldn't survive anymore, so of course they had to find a way out.

Seeing his son's dissatisfaction, Boss Wu couldn't help but sigh. Of course, he knew that the fishermen's life was too hard and he was almost unable to survive. However, Blackhead was already the last bit of incense in their Wu family. He also wanted to marry him a wife as soon as possible and have a few fat grandchildren, so that he would have the attitude to meet his ancestors.

Thinking of his ancestors, Boss Wu thought of his father who had been dead for several years. Although he looked old, he was actually less than forty years old, and his family was not so poor. His father was once a general under Chen Youliang, so Boss Wu also lived a wealthy life.

Unfortunately, for Boss Wu, his wealth when he was young, was like a big dream. Looking back, it was still so unreal. Since he was exiled to Poyang Lake with his father, the life of the family has become more and more difficult. His parents died of illness after they were less than fifty years old, and most of his own children have died. Now his wife is also sick. If she can't survive, I'm afraid...

Thinking of the hardships at home, Boss Wu felt like a knife. Since they were demoted to fishermen and exiled to live in the lake, the government has suppressed them everywhere. Not only do they often call them for labor, but even the fish they beat had to pay heavy taxes. The fishermen all said that even if they only caught one fish, the government would cut off the fat body and leave them with only the head and tail.

In addition, the government also stipulated that they were prohibited from trading privately with people on the shore. All daily necessities needed could only be purchased from several merchants designated by the government. These merchants colluded with the government to increase the price of goods several times. For example, such as salt, official salt was already expensive enough, but fishermen wanted to buy it, but the price of official salt was several times more expensive than that of official salt. Selling private salt was a death sentence, and his two sons died because of this.

It is also the exploitation of the government, so no matter how hard Boss Wu and his friends try to fish, they cannot solve the problem of food and clothing. Most people are short of food and clothing, and even young people are half shorter than the elderly.

Just as Boss Wu was pondering, a messy water village suddenly appeared on the water surface in front of him, which made him finally stop thinking, stood up and helped his son to rock the boat, and entered the village along the entrance of the water village.

Fishermen such as Boss Wu were not allowed to live ashore, but they could not live in the boat all the time, so they found some shallow places in the lake and fixed some broken boats, wooden boards, etc., thus forming water villages. Each water village has different sizes. Some large ones can accommodate thousands of people, while others may only live dozens of people.

Boss Wu walked along the waterway in the village. When he met acquaintances on both sides, he would say hello and soon came to his home. To be precise, it should be half a broken boat, and the remaining half was sunk in the water. Although only half was left, the cabin exposed to the water could still be occupied. It is said that this boat was once a warship under Chen Youliang, but now it is impossible to see what it originally looks like.

"Cough cough cough~" As soon as Boss Wu parked the boat, he heard the heart-wrenching cough from his wife at home. Although he was used to it, he didn't know why today, and he always felt uncomfortable.

Boss Wu pushed the door and entered the house. The so-called home was actually a messy cabin. A fire pit was pasted with mud at the door, and three small rooms were separated from the back, barely allowing the whole family to live in.

"Dad, you are back!" A dark-skinned girl immediately stepped forward happily when she saw Boss Wu and took the medicine bag and small bucket from him. The girl was Boss Wu's daughter and had no official name. She usually called her girl.

"Girl, I'll boil this medicine for your mother, and I'll cook the fish too!" Boss Wu felt very guilty as he looked at his daughter wearing clothes full of patches but still very unfit.

The girl agreed and quickly poured the medicine into the medicine jar and raised the fire to boil the medicine. Hei Tou also walked in and helped the girl cook together. In fact, it was just cooking the mixed fish into fish soup, which was also the most common thing they ate in the family.

After a while, the medicine was boiled. The girl brought it into it and fed a gray-haired woman to take medicine. She was the girl's mother's wife, her surname was Ye. Like Boss Wu, her mother's family was once a general under Chen Youliang, but unfortunately she has fallen to this point now.

After feeding her mother medicine, the girl gave her a bowl of fish soup to her. Because the mother and daughter only had one piece of clothing, her mother could only sit in the quilt and eat.

There is no seasoning added to the fish soup, and there is not even salt, so the fish soup is also fishy, ​​let alone the taste.

However, Mr. Wu's family had long been used to it. Each of them picked up their own fish soup and drank it silently. However, at this moment, the girl suddenly saw that she hesitated for a while, as if she was worried. Finally, she looked up and said, "Dad, I...I want to go to Aunt Xu's boat..."

"Shut up! If you dare to go, I will break your legs!" When Boss Wu heard the three words "Aunt Xu", he immediately shouted furiously, "Aunt Xu is doing a flower boat business. The women in the village can't survive anymore, so he followed her to sell his flesh. Boss Wu would never let his daughter do such a thing no matter what.

"Dad! My mother is so sick. After taking a few medications, she hasn't recovered. The family has lost a penny. If I follow Aunt Xu, I can earn some money to change my mother to a doctor..."

"Ba~" Before the girl finished speaking, she was slapped in the face by Boss Wu. Then Boss Wu said with red eyes and sternly, "Remember to me, even if our Wu family starves to death, they will not do such a nasty thing!"

The girl covered her face and felt aggrieved, and tears kept pouring out. How could she betray her dignity? But she could not support her family by relying on her father and brother to fish. The only one who could exchange some money was the only one in the whole family.

"Girl, don't say this. Even if I'm exhausted, I won't let you go!" Heitou said quietly. When he said this, some words from the He family's elder brother flashed in his heart again. As the saying goes, wealth and honor are in danger. If he wants to keep his family alive, he can only take a risk.

"Okay, eat, Heitou and I will go out early tomorrow. Maybe we can catch some good fish. Then we sell more money to treat your mother!" Boss Wu also knew that his daughter was thinking about the family, and at this time he regretted the impulse just now, but he was embarrassed to apologize to his daughter, so he could only drink fish soup silently again.

In the early morning of the next morning, before dawn, Wu Boss took his son Blackhead and shook his boat out of the water camp. After finding a suitable water area, he began to cast a net to catch fish. Originally, there were still many fish in Poyang Lake, but after their fishing over the years, the fish in the water became more and more cunning, and sometimes even a single fish could not be caught by a few nets.

Today, the father and son Wu were particularly lucky. They were busy all morning and didn’t catch a few fish. At noon, the father and son took a break and ate a few dried fish smoked by the girl. Then they decided to change places and try their luck.

However, just as the eldest son and his son were rowing forward, they suddenly heard someone shouting on the shore in the distance. They turned their heads and looked, but found that someone on the shore was waving to them, as if they wanted to take a boat, which made both father and son lit up their eyes. In addition to fishing, they would occasionally carry guests, and of course they had to charge some shipments. Compared to their fishing, the income from carrying passengers was much better, but such guests were not common.

Immediately, the father and son rowed the boat to the shore, and then they found that the person who waved to them was several monks, but no matter who they were, they could just give money. So Boss Wu immediately rushed to the monks on the shore and shouted, "Are you going to take a boat?"

"Yes, please ask the boatman to take us for a ride. We are willing to pay the ship!" The old monk in the leader replied.
Chapter completed!