Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

When the sun rises, the sea surface is golden and red, like boiling water.Dozens of seabirds sat on the sails at the pier, watching the people coming and going on the ground.

Today was the day of departure, Shao Ming stood on the deck and watched the golden red fade away, and the sea surface turned green. Rao this familiar scene was also gradually cast a layer of sadness due to the long journey.In the morning mist, it was difficult to tell where the lighthouse was, and I could vaguely hear the ringing of the bell. When I went to listen carefully, I could only hear the sound of the waves beating.

"Floating in the sky, the sea is far away, the journey is like a dream..."

He stood against the wind alone for a while, when the steward found him to report the matter, Shao Ming put away his worries, checked the goods carefully, and called the stewards to check again and again. At noon, the boatmen gathered the ropes and sang a familiar folk song.It is the nostalgia for the hometown of the people who left their hometown. As soon as the singing stopped, someone shouted: "Let's sail——"

This scene is very common in the harbor, and did not cause any alarm.However, many people recognized the new boat at the end of the fleet, which seemed to be made by craftsmen of the Shao family. For a while, the people who moved the goods looked up one after another, and someone said loudly: "It is the boat of the Shao family. The Shao family has gone to sea. !"

Only then did everyone see clearly that this was a large-scale fleet, slowly sailing out of the harbor and heading towards the deep sea.It has been 30 years since the last time the Shao family's fleet of this size went to sea. That voyage opened up the sea route between Dai and the countries in Southeast Asia, and sold the goods to farther places.

So where will they go when they go to sea this time?

This is a question in many people's minds, and some people find it wrong. Why did the Shao family go to sea this time, but there was no movement at all before? This does not seem to be in line with the style of the Shao family in Minzhou.

No matter how people talk about it, the fleet quietly sailed away from the shore amidst the noise. After a day and a night at sea, Shao Ming spoke to the list in the cabin, and a steward came in and said, "Master, people have brought gone."

Shao Ming put away the things and said, "Please come in."

A slim-fit woman in short clothes entered the room, and saluted him when she saw him, and said in a strange tone: "Hi, fourth young master."

Shao Ming sized her up and said, "You are recommended by Manager Zhang, so I have nothing to worry about."

The woman listened quietly, Shao Ming's eyes fell on the long rope wrapped around her hair, the rope was made of interlaced gold and silver, and a small flat fish hung from the end, he nodded and said: "So you It's Haitong, no wonder."

The woman grinned, revealing her white teeth.Some places in Fujian Province still retain the old barbarous customs. Some fishermen have children and cannot support them, so they can only bear to put their children in the water hole for picking snails. When the tide rises at night, the water hole will be submerged. , if the child is not there, then he is drowned; if the child is there, then God will open his eyes, and the child is Haitong.

Sea children can swim from birth, and they can play in deep water and play with fish schools when they are young. Even ferocious sea beasts regard them as their own kind.When they grow up, their parents will tie a long rope interlaced with gold and silver, with their parents' hair wrapped around it, and the small fish on the rope are made of special clay. These two things are intended to alert sea children. , she was born with her feet on the land, not the sea, and there will always be a time to return to the shore, and there are parents on the shore who are worried, don't forget your identity as a human, lest you swim too deep and too far in the sea, and finally get lost in the sea. lost the soul.

Shao Ming said: "Guard Zhang, have you told her about the boat?"

The steward replied, "Yes, she should write it down."

Shao Ming clapped his hands lightly, and a servant came out from behind the tent holding a wooden box. Shao Ming took the box, handed it to Hai Tong, and motioned for her to open it.

Haitong opened the lid, and there was a glittering pearl inside. The box was full of thumb-sized pearls, each one was like a full moon, and even the room was slightly illuminated.

The steward was also shocked, he didn't expect the young master to be so generous, Shao Ming said: "I have one more thing to ask you, you must listen carefully."

Under the steward's envious gaze, Haitong closed the wooden box and nodded solemnly.

Shao Ming twirled a small folding fan with three fingers, and said slowly: "When that boat sinks, some people will struggle to get onto other boats. You have to look for the one with blue eyes, and don't let her come up, you understand?"

That Haitong looked at him hesitantly, Shao Ming saw that she didn't seem to understand, thought for a while, put away his fan, made a gesture, and said: "It means, don't let her live, understand?"

Someone came in and took the child down, and the steward leaned over and asked, "Master, you have already given her a bounty before, why do you want to...?"

Shao Ming said meaningfully: "This is not something you should ask, it's better not to worry about it."

The steward was a smart man, so he resigned upon hearing this.After she left, Shao Ming took out a wooden boat from the box, if Qingping were here, he would find that this wooden boat was exactly the same as the one Shao Ming gave her before.

Shao Ming rubbed the hull of the boat, but his thoughts went back to a year ago. He was extremely astonished when he received the secret decree. There was only one line written on the secret decree: "If you do many injustices, you will die yourself." He immediately thought that the emperor The Shao family will not be let go, but the messenger said: "Your Majesty said that if you want to pardon the Shao family, you only need the Shao family to build a boat."

Since it wasn't about asking for crimes and ransacking the house, everything was easy to talk about, so Shao Ming asked cautiously, "What kind of boat?"

The man said: "A ship that is bound to sink."

The sea breeze is humid and salty, which is different from the warm and peaceful summer wind at the foot of Wulan Mountain. At least until winter, the wind is always so pleasant.

Bi Shu watched from the stern of the ship. After a day and a night of sailing, she could no longer see a bank. At the end of the horizon, the water and the sky meet. The water mist and clouds change into various strange shapes, which reminds her of the grassland sky. It is also so blue and clear.

Thinking of this, she felt a little pity that she couldn't see the chaos in Dai Kingdom today.It must be very interesting if you can go deep into Zhongzhou and see how busy His Majesty is.

She sat cross-legged and hid in the shade to meditate.No matter what, at least she is always slightly better. Abandoning the bored elders and the waste of the scriptures, the prospects suddenly become brighter, and no one will stand in the way.With one hand, she unconsciously changed the magic knots while meditating, which is what she used to do when listening to scriptures.Finally, Bi Shu squeezed his fingers, the boards of the boat had just been washed with water, and under the hot sun, they had a bright copper color.She firmly thought that as for this fleet, it would also belong to her in the future.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Bi Shu put one hand on the ground and stood up immediately.A young woman walked towards her, her long braids twinkling in the light.Bi Shu narrowed his eyes slightly, and when she walked in, he realized that her braids were wrapped with gold and silver hair ropes. This was the one that flashed just now, and a gray fish was hanging from the tail of the braids. Bi Shu didn't know what it was, so he looked at it. Look away.The woman just passed by, took a few glances at her and turned back.

Bi Shu's subordinates were assigned to work in the bilge by the steward, and there was a lot of news in crowded places. She wanted to wait until the night was quiet before going down to connect. Come on, everyone run away!"

This ship was a cargo ship, and there were not many people on board. Hearing someone say that the ship was going to sink, a group of people fled and jumped into the water one after another. The big ship not far away also lowered several small boats after hearing the news, apparently to respond they.

Bi Shu saw that his subordinates came up from the cabin, and jumped into the water together. A small boat came slowly, and she was just about to climb up, when suddenly something grabbed her ankle. go.Bi Shu secretly thought that it was not good, so he pulled out his dagger and stabbed at the thing, only to find that it was a woman.The woman looked at her fixedly, her facial features could not be seen clearly, but her eyes were extremely bright in the hazy sea water, her braids that should have been floating in the water were down, she did not look like a stranger at all.Bi Shu floated up in horror, the woman watched her rise up, grabbed her ankle again, and dragged her into the water.

This time she swam extremely fast, like a swift and fierce sea beast. After a while, Bi Shu was in the dark green water. Looking for an opportunity, she got close to the woman's body and stabbed it with the dagger forcefully. There was a lot of blood, and the woman was stabbed in the shoulder by her, and she pushed her away in pain.Bi Shu took the opportunity to kick her away and go upstream. A small boat was floating on the surface of the water. She jumped out of the water, took a few breaths, and was about to climb onto the boat, but she didn't notice that the water behind her was dizzy. Red, her figure froze, the surrounding sea water was already stained red with blood, she looked down at her chest, the sword was sharp, it was the fish knife that ordinary fishermen used to scrape scales and pry shells.She threw her head back to the surface of the sea, and reluctantly let go of the hand she was holding tightly. At this moment, a person emerged from the sea, watching her calmly.

In the distance, her subordinates seemed to have boarded a small boat and were looking for her everywhere, but she could only let her strength run out little by little, and she couldn't even shout.After sinking into the water, she saw clearly the little fish hanging from the woman's braided tail. In the blink of an eye, she finally understood that she hadn't won after all, and had lost completely.

On the third day of the winter month, due to the urgent call of the imperial court, Qingping embarked on the return journey again.Passing through Le'an, Hezhou, it is still the appearance in memory, the old place is safe, but the old man is no longer there.

Walking in the busy city, she heard the hustle and bustle outside, and couldn't help but lift the curtain to look out. At this time, dusk was approaching, and the whole city was full of nostalgic atmosphere. The tea stand for the book is still there, and the story is over when the storyteller Xingmu pats it.All the audience applauded or cursed, and dispersed in a hurry.

At this time, there was a person walking by the carriage with a piano on his back, but Qingping felt very familiar with his back. Before she could take a closer look, the person had gone far away, and his figure was not clearly visible in the afterglow. She wanted to take another look. But it's gone.

Qing Ping lowered the car curtain, but still couldn't think of a reason.She suddenly felt a little funny, she couldn't protect herself, yet she still had the leisure to care about passers-by.Laughing at himself like this, but for some reason, he was full of regret.