Chapter 3: .Feiyuan from the South (modified)

Flying kite from the south
The weather at the end of September is still sultry with endless heat.
At noon, the scorching sun was proudly basking on the embankment, and there was silence behind the high grass slopes, and even the noise of cicadas could not be heard. The wide river surface of the Yongguang River is extremely lively, and waves of water vapor are swept up by merchant ships and cruise ships coming and going, making people feel refreshed.
In this hustle and bustle of boats, FeiYuan was eagerly moving forward along the river bank. This is a medium-sized brig, which looks quite old, and the light brown waterproof paint has faint traces of repairs. The bright yellow deck is newly paved teak, still leaving a faint fragrance, the white canvas on the high mast is blown up by the river breeze, and a huge silver kite bird is inlaid at the bow of the ship.
Below the main mast, the novice captain Angri is sitting on the deck with a serious expression, interspersing his hands, staring at the front without moving his eyes. The wide-brimmed dark blue captain's hat was randomly thrown aside by him, showing a dazzling head. Flaming short hair.
He is wearing a gray-blue striped short sailor suit. He is about 30 years old. Because of his running around all the year round, his skin has long been tanned into a deep bronze color. His forehead is wide, his eyebrows are short and stubby, his amber eyes are big and energetic, and a delicate mustache is kept under the slightly collapsed bridge of his nose, which adds a touch of elegance to him.
Opposite him are two rude, dark-skinned middle-aged men, the first mate Thaler and the second mate Cooper brothers. At this moment, these two black carbon-like left and right lieutenants are also looking at the deck with the same stiff expression. Some dignified.
Captain Angri was silent for a long time like meditation, and finally sighed helplessly. He looked up at his left and right deputies, pursed his mouth, and asked dryly, "Really not?"
"What are you kidding? It's all here, do you want to go back?" How could the first officer Thale let him shame, wide-eyed, and put on a posture of uncompromising.
Seeing that he refused to agree, the captain can only droop his eyebrows and play his emotional card in a low voice: "Look at what you said, everyone has been a good brother for so many years, don't be so unfeeling...".
"Boss, one yard is one yard, although we are good brothers... this shiny silver coin does not recognize people!" The second officer interrupted him with a grin and a grin.
"X's, really unlucky! This road is another storm, and again... I must be cursed!" Angri could only curse a few loudly, and threw one bitterly. Card, "Marshal!"
"Haha! Phoenix!" Tale laughed from ear to ear, and quickly pressed the last card in his hand on the deck, and by the way, he grabbed all the chips beside Angri.
"Don't fight, don't fight!" Angrily stood up and patted his pants, buckled the captain's cap on his head, and took out a small mahogany pipe from his waist skin. He took his pipe in his trousers pocket, and then digs into his underwear. Nothing was found. He had to take off the pipe with a black face, then turned his head and shouted at the cabin: "Ahai! Ahai! Get some for me quickly. Tobacco come here, want the kind of red silk!"
"Okay! Here comes!" The young clear response came from the cabin immediately.
This small cabin was a little dark, and beside the wooden flower windows, the bright light was divided into blocks of different sizes, with flying dust. Jie Hai replied without raising his head, hurriedly folded the letter in his hand and stuffed it into the envelope, applied glue, and then carefully put it into the backpack. He turned around and took out a glass bottle of shredded tobacco from the wooden cabinet by the table, poured some red shredded tobacco leaves into his hand, clenched his fists and ran out quickly along the stairs.
The sunlight outside the cabin was extremely dazzling, and Jie Hai raised his arm to cover his eyes. After a few seconds, he adjusted to the transient light. He blinked and lowered his arm and walked towards Captain Angri with a smile. The 17-year-old boy is not tall and slender. He wears a white shirt on his upper body, gray-green burlap trousers on his lower body, cowhide sandals on his feet, and a short light linen hair that looks messy after a long boat trip. Unruly flutter around.
His facial features are not outstanding, but his skin is white and even translucent. It is hard to believe his nationality when compared with the traditional southerners next to him. However, the first thing everyone who sees him for the first time will see, it must be his beautiful pupils: the sea-blue pupils are dizzy with a circle of extremely shallow bright lines, dotted with subtle stars, The smart room surrounds the entire universe.
In all, this is the third time he has traveled to the capital of Takiguo-Jingcheng as a high school exchange student. In the first two times, he followed the rules to take the ferry at the nearest port of Ferrence. This time, due to the ostentation of his elder brother Angri from his hometown, and the consideration of saving money, he finally set foot here. A medium-sized sailing boat that is not too spacious.
These few people on the boat are all veterans of businessmen all year round. Apart from teasing him with some nasty jokes and making him blush, they also went smoothly. I just didn't expect that I was almost reaching the end, and I encountered this rare super storm, which caused the boat trip time to be delayed for several days. Fortunately, no one was injured, and it was a god's favor.
Jie Hai quickly walked to the captain's side, spreading his palms to reveal the bunch of red tobacco with a smile: "Brother Angri, here!"
"...Why is this so? It's not enough for me to smoke." Angeli glanced at the poorly small shredded tobacco in the young man's hand, and curled his lips in disgust, as if a little displeased.
"Slower smoking is enough for you to hold on for a while. The book says that tobacco contains many harmful things. You should smoke less, otherwise it will not be good for your body!" Jie Hai pretended not to see his discomfort and skillfully rolled the tobacco. It was stuffed together, and at the end he gave him a standard eight-tooth smile.
"You little bookworm, you know to go against the truth and bully us rough people..." Angeli has never been to school since he was a child. He has always been in awe of the dogma of "books" and dare not make any arrogance. He dangled his pipe and complained vaguely, then ignited the tobacco and took a few sips before leaning on the ship's side contentedly.
Jie Hai was very clear about the weakness of this big brother who had been acquainted since childhood. Seeing that he muffled and stopped talking, he chuckled and looked around. First officer Tuller was still counting today's seizures enthusiastically, while the second officer Cooper was lying on the deck with his feet up boringly, humming a mess. Only the helmsman Phil was still loyal to his position. Holding the wood, staring at the channel ahead.
The time waiting to enter the port is always the best time to be lazy and fish. The boy stretched his waist, holding on to the warm wooden railing, looking at the undulating green hills in the distance and exclaimed: "Today is really It’s a good weather, so I don’t have to rain anymore!"
"What a fart!" The red-haired captain gave him a bad look while holding the pipe. "If it gets hotter, the sails will burn! Hmph! I don't know how your kid grows, but he is not afraid of heat. Not black!"
"I'm so talented!" Jie Hai saw the other person's stinky expression, of course he knew it well, and smiled and winked at him. "Why is your temper so bad? How many losses did you lose today?"
The captain, who was really lucky, turned away, looked melancholy at the calm surface of the river, pretending to hear nothing, and didn't want to mention this sad thing at all.
The crew members who beg for life at sea have little hobbies for gambling, but like the red-haired captain, who almost always loses in the gambling, but still can't help itching, they are really the best. The young man knew that he had lost money and had a bad temper. He didn't care about his cold reaction. Just as he wanted to comfort him, he heard the first officer's frivolous laughter from behind.
"Hey! Little Haier, come and play two?" Taler had just finished counting the money and was interested again, showing a smirk that didn't match his thick black face, and pointed at Jie Hai and said, "There is nothing to do anyway. , Let’s just have fun, it’s up to you."
"Don't! I don't gamble, if I let my mother know that, it will be acceptable!" Jie Hai shook his head and refused. He never gambled, on the one hand because of his mother's instructions, on the other hand, he I also don't like the feeling of taking away the hard work of others easily.
"It's okay. If you don't bet, we can bet on other things, washing and cooking, cleaning the deck, whatever." The first officer waved his hand disapprovingly, and teased the captain. "Keep the account on your brother Angri. It's okay on his body, anyway, he can't even turn a copper plate out of his body now!"
what? How could you lose all your money? Jie Hai was suddenly startled. He looked back at the captain who was still leaning on the railing and facing the sea with a sad face. He was anxious, and whispered in his ear, "What happened... Did you lose so much today?"
"It's not too much to lose... It just happened to lose money..." Angeli took a breath and sighed faintly, frustrated for his stinky hand who couldn't get a good hand.
The boy frowned when he heard it. He knew that it was not easy for the seafarers to make some hard money from the island and the land. The prodigal captain actually gambled all the money, which really made him annoyed and heartache: "You are too insignificant! Now gamble all the money, how can you buy the goods when you get to the capital? You are...really..."
The captain was confused when he was scolded, and he was even more surprised when he was sulky and speechless: "What are you talking about? The money for the goods has already been set, how could I use that money to gamble?! "
"...How much did you lose this way?"
"Total, probably...10 silvers."
10 silver, that is 1000 copper coins, for ordinary people, this is just a week or two of daily expenses, barely considered pocket money. Jie Hai was speechless for a while. It was the first time he had boarded this big brother's boat, so naturally he didn't understand the contract rules between them. He glanced at the captain who had been wronged by his side, and then looked at the evil-eyed first mate who sat aside tossing silver coins, and was embarrassed in his heart, and decided to teach him a little lesson.
So he walked up to Taler's face and sat down, patted the deck lightly, pretending to be an old-fashioned gesture: "Uncle Taler, let's gamble."
"Oh, really?" The first officer smiled and narrowed his eyes, as if there was a kind of satisfaction of trickery, "How do you want to bet?"
"Just bet 10 silver." Jiehai was full of confidence and wanted to win back all the money the captain lost at once.
Tale raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, looked at each other with the second mate, then looked at the captain who was so surprised that he opened his mouth with a pipe beside the railing, rolled his eyes and smiled: "Well, it's rare that Xiao Haier is so domineering. Let's play with you."
Hearing that he agreed, the young man turned the corner of his mouth silently, and watched the two hands and feet quickly close the cards and shuffle them, and then hand them out one by one. He suggested that this gambling fight is not trying to be strong. Although he never gambles, he is very familiar with this army card. It is not that he boasted. In the game, he is so lucky that he has never lost!
Cooper quickly finished the cards, and Jiehai took the lead to play the cards. He looked at the deck in his hand calmly, sure in his heart, and glanced back and forth at the faces of the two who seemed to be unchanged, and threw them out with a smile. Three cards: "Three pawns."
"Three lieutenants." Taler followed.
"Three schools." Cooper continued.
"Three generals." Jie Hai took the initiative again.
"Over..."
"Three scholars plus illusionist." Cooper launched a bomb.
"Three Illusion Masters and Kings" Jie Hai used a super bomb.
"...Over."
"...X's, pass!" Taler couldn't help but cursed with a twitch of his mouth.
"Airship formation... Soldiers and Lieutenants Colonel."
"Artillery!" Tal decisively took control.
"Marshal!" However, it was taken away by Cooper in an instant.
"Well...it seems that this round can only end here." Jie Hai frowned and shook his head as he looked at the two remaining cards in his hand, as if he had nothing to do.
"Hey! Little Haier, when playing cards, the most important thing is to never cover your head and make a mess. You have to stay behind! You, you are still tender!" Taler seemed to be holding the winning ticket and triumphantly played a king. The card crushed Cooper to death, and then he played the Physician card and drew another card from the deck.
Angri took a few headshots behind Jiehai, his expression turned very weird, and turned his face to laugh, but he abruptly suffocated him.
"Hey! I haven't played the cards yet, Uncle Tale, there is an old Tara Kook saying: You can't eat hot tofu if you are impatient!" Jie Hai smiled slyly and placed the last two cards in his hand on the deck. Phoenix plus priests, collect all, double the points!"
"Wh...what!?" Taler stared at the two cards with wide eyes, with a look of disbelief. He never expected that he would lose to this little guy with no gambling experience.
"Oh hello! I said Xiao Haier, you are so lucky!" Cooper laughed and patted Jie Hai's back. Although he lost the money, he was not unhappy. On the contrary, it is a rare sight to see this pair. Good cards are greatly appreciated.
"Haha! 20 silver ah 20 silver! Oh! Praise the beauty god!" Angri threw the captain's hat high and danced around happily, as if the money had already gone to his pocket.
When these monsters, ghosts, and snakes were playing the show of pretending to be pigs and tigers, the helmsman Phil finally couldn't stand it. He turned his head blankly and shouted at the crowd: "Guys, we will arrive in Hong Kong soon! Give me a quick fix. stand up!"
Hearing this, Jie Hai hurriedly avoided the "Encouragement of Love" of several people frolicking, got up and ran to the bow of the ship, holding the wooden fence and looking forward.
Under the blue clear sky, a double-layered iron-framed bridge spans the river surface of the Yongguang River like a rainbow. The bridge was officially put into use in just a few years, but it has become a must-see landmark for tourism in Beijing one.
The slightly arched bridge body is covered with brown waterproof paint, the lower layer is a closed glass pipe, and the upper layer is a pedestrian passage paved with blue bricks. On the towering gallery more than six meters high on the top of the bridge, a sightseeing platform has been specially opened. Xia Feng made a soft noise.
"Covered Bridge..." Jie Hai stared at the majestic and beautiful bridge, with an impulse inexplicably. He took a deep breath, and shouted forward with his hands as a trumpet: "Hello! Capital! I'm back! I'm back!"
The crisp voice of the young man drifted along the river around the embankment, as if in response, a low hum came from the bridge, and a row of silver-white rail cars passed under the bridge with a neat roar. The long flute sounded intermittently, as the train disappeared into the heaven and earth nurtured by the flying rainbow.