Chapter 16: Outsiders in the eyes of indigenous people
Yu Xiaobao is sixteen years old this year and is a native of Yulin. His mother fell ill and died when he was two years old. After that, his father Yu Dashan slowly raised him by fishing. A few days ago, Yu Xiaobao followed his father to Yazhou City. He sold the seven or eight pearls he picked out from the catch in the previous two months to merchants, and then returned in exchange for some food and daily necessities. Although the merchants kept the price very low, the Yu family and his son had no choice, otherwise they would have to go to Qiongzhou Fucheng on the other side of Qiongzhou Island, or even Guangzhou City on the mainland to sell it.
Before the two father and son could figure out what was going on when they returned to the empty village, they were surrounded by a few weird outsiders wearing colorful clothes. Yu Xiaobao was young and impulsive and wanted to resist, but his father noticed that these people had knives more than a foot long hanging on their waists, and quickly grabbed Yu Xiaobao tightly. According to Yu Dashan's opinion, this group of people should be bandits from the South China Sea. They came to the village to plunder supplies as before. As long as they don't resist, they shouldn't be killed.
But this time it seemed a little unusual. These outsiders didn't seem to be interested in their food and property, but were eager to ask them something. However, due to the language barrier, the two parties argued for a long time but still came to the wrong conclusion. Finally, the other party finally lost patience and asked the Yu family and his son to follow them. When Yu Xiaobao saw the big ships docked in the harbor, he felt his heartbeat almost stopped - there were such big ships in the world! And it doesn’t look like it’s made of wood, and there are no masts or sails on the ship. Are these people really coming on this weird ship?
Even if Yu Xiaobao didn't know much, when he arrived at the headquarters, he could tell that these short-haired barbarians planned to set up camp here, and even the docks had been repaired. Although these shorthairs claim that they are not pirates, but are descendants of Han people from thousands of miles away, and are ready to settle here, Yu Xiaobao still doesn't quite believe it - this place has inconvenient transportation and no city walls, so why do they really want to settle here? Don’t want to go to Yacheng or Qiongzhou Fucheng?
But they didn't expect that after the other party asked them questions, they actually gave them food and salt and let the father and son go home. The two father and son returned to the village in a daze, and finally the father made the decision and asked Yu Xiaobao to go into the mountains and tell the villagers who were hiding from the banditry about what he saw. In the end, as expected, a few bold young men who had a good relationship with the Yu family came back with Yu Xiaobao, saying they wanted to see the "big short-haired ship".
So when these people saw the ships moored on the shore, they were frightened without any surprise. These were not the shabby pirate ships that came to Yulin to rob before. The largest ship's side was even thicker than the Yazhou city wall. high!
To Yu Xiaobao's disappointment, the short-haired leader didn't seem to be very interested in the catch they brought, and the short-haired one who could speak Yazhou dialect told them that they must take the short-haired boat to catch fish. Only by fishing or working on construction sites can they get the grain and refined salt they want.
Well, this sounds fair, and Yu Xiaobao really wants to see what the short-haired fishing boat is about. So three young people, including Yu Xiaobao, boarded Short Hair's fishing boat, while Yu Dashan took the other two young men to work on Short Hair's construction site.
The short-haired fishing boat was completely different from the boats Yu Xiaobao had seen before. It had a blue hull and a white top. The visible part on the water was wide and flat, about seven feet long and three feet wide. There is a mast in the middle of the ship, which is eight or nine feet high, with two huge white sails hanging in front and behind. And the sail is not the hard sail used on Chinese sailboats, it looks more like a white cloth. There were also some zigzag patterns painted on the sails, so Yu Xiaobao and others naturally couldn't understand that they were the English name of this catamaran sailboat.
After boarding the ship, Yu Xiaobao discovered that except for the deck, the ship was made of wood. The hull was neither gold nor wood. It was smooth and solid, and he didn't know what it was made of. Just as he was looking at it, a tall man with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin suddenly emerged from the cabin. The friend behind Yu Xiaobao screamed and took two steps back, almost falling over the side of the ship into the sea. Yu Xiaobao was much calmer, holding on to the guardrail of the ship's side with his hands, but his face was already pale with fear.
The man was quick and grabbed the collar of the boy who was about to fall into the water and pulled him back. The interpreter who was traveling with him came forward and chatted with the man for a few words. The man looked at Yu Xiaobao and the others, nodded and went to the mast to sort out the rigging. Yu Xiaobao let out a sigh of relief. He didn't expect that among these short-haired people who looked similar to himself, there was actually a living ghost-like Yiren hidden among them.
The translator prohibited Yu Xiaobao and the others from entering the cabin, so the three of them could only walk back and forth on the deck and the side of the ship, watching the shorthairs squatting together to sort out the fishing nets. Yu Xiaobao noticed that these people all wore strange little round hats on their heads. The shape fit their heads, but there was a strange arched brim sticking out from their foreheads. He didn't know why. Some people's eyes were covered by two shiny black things, which looked very strange.
One of Yu Xiaobao's companions got bored of waiting, so he also squatted down to help organize the fishing nets, but he quickly pulled Yu Xiaobao's hand and pointed to the fishing nets spread on the nail plate. Only then did Yu Xiaobao notice that the fishing net used by Short Hair was completely different from the ones they usually used. It was not only large but also tough. It was not made of linen or coarse cloth. The mesh size was the same. Yu Xiaobao had never seen such a finely crafted fishing net before. .
While sorting the fishing nets, another sloop with a similar shape slowly pulled up next to it. Yu Xiaobao noticed that the new ship was one size larger than the one he was on, and there were also barbarians on the ship with tall noses and deep eyes. Move around. Occasionally, these people would hold a lit white stick in their mouths and puff out smoke, seemingly enjoying themselves. This seemed to be the case when Yu Xiaobao saw some gentlemen who smoked cigarettes in Yazhou City. However, the gentlemen used cigarette sticks, not short-haired sticks that were held directly in their mouths. In addition, the short-haired fire box used to light fires is also quite exquisite. It is a small copper box no bigger than the palm of your hand. When you open it with a "ding", flames will come out. After use, you can press the lid and put it into your pocket. It is very convenient. convenient.
As soon as Yu Xiaobao learned to walk, he followed his father on the fishing boat. After more than ten years, he became very familiar with the fishing conditions in this bay, and the other two friends were in a similar situation to him. The three people quickly brought the two boats to a sea surface only two or three miles away from the port, and pointedly asked the short hair to lower the net. Yu Xiaobao discovered that the short-haired fishing method was different from theirs. The two boats were several feet apart. They connected the fishing nets between the two boats and dragged them. They turned in a big circle and sailed back. The short-haired boats on the boat were The Mao people seemed to have no intention of checking the harvest in the net.
"Is this enough?" Yu Xiaobao's eyes almost bulged out of his head. Isn't this too hasty? If I didn't catch any fish, would I be beaten up by these short hairs? When the boat arrived at the shore and set up the net, Yu Xiaobao was really shocked. It turned out that one net could catch so many fish! This is at least two hundred... no, three hundred... no, at least it is almost five hundred kilograms!
Of course, Yu Xiaobao was shocked and quickly thought that even if he used the same method, he would not be able to catch so many fish with a small boat and a small net. A slightly larger fish could even break through the fishing net and escape. How could it be like this? These short-haired fishing nets are just as strong!
The catch of this net was also far beyond the crew's expectations. Wang Tom immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and asked for help from the command center. So the people who were unloading the cargo at the dock had to temporarily stop their work and help the crew with cooking first. The class worked together to process the hundreds of kilograms of catch.
When this net was pulled up, there were all kinds of fish, shrimps and crabs, which was an eye-opener for some traversers who had been living in inland areas. The cooking team even brought seasonings from the kitchen of the "New World", selected seven or eight snappers and bonito of suitable size, and cooked sashimi on the spot at the port. Everyone who came to help with the catch was very excited. Those who see it have a share. Naturally, this kind of purely natural and pollution-free food was immediately sought after by the crowd. A plate of fish fillets was finished within a few seconds of being cut and brought out. In order for everyone to enjoy the fresh catch, the executive committee had to notify the cooking team to prepare more and send a vehicle to the construction site of Base No. 1 later.
Yu Xiaobao was so greedy that he also squeezed into the crowd and took two slices to eat. Sashimi is actually nothing unusual. Yu Xiaobao has eaten a lot of it since he was a child. However, the way he used to eat it was usually to dip it in a little home-made coarse salt. There are not as many seasonings as these short hairs.
At some point, Tao Donglai also came to the port to help sort the catch. While working, he was still cursing: "What the hell, I dared to sell such random things from the sea for hundreds or even thousands before." … When I came to Sanya before, I couldn’t eat without being cheated by profiteers! Now it’s great, no one cares about eating a lot!”
"Comrade Tao Donglai, don't waste food! You must know that everything in the sea is valuable to us. Even fish bones can be ground into powder and used as feed additives."
Tao Donglai turned around and saw that it was Mr. Yuan from the Ministry of Agriculture. He immediately greeted him: "Who is that! Hurry up and bring a chair to the old man!"
"No need to bother, Mr. Tao, I just have something to tell you." Yuan Ruoxiu waved his hand.
"Just call me Xiao Tao. Please tell me if you have anything, old man!" Tao Donglai's attitude was very humble. After all, Yuan Ruoxiu is the oldest member of the entire time travel team, and he is also the chief expert of the Ministry of Agriculture. Regardless of personal or political reasons, Duke, Tao Donglai must respect him enough.
Yuan Ruoxiu pointed to Yu Xiaobao, who was licking his fingers next to him: "Now everyone is on the construction site, and there is nothing to do at the agricultural entrance for the time being. I heard that fields have been reclaimed where this child lives, and I plan to go and see the situation. What do you think? ”
Tao Donglai hesitated for a moment and then agreed, but he also put forward a condition: "Old man, you can go, but you must have someone from the Military and Police Department go with you. At least there will be someone to take care of you."
Yu Xiaobao got a new task from the translator, taking a short-haired old man to the village to see the land cultivated by the villagers. Yu Xiaobao didn't understand what was there about the few acres of land cultivated by the villagers that these short-haired men came to see. Could it be that there was some treasure buried in the ground? However, seeing that the reward for this task was as high as ten kilograms of rice, Yu Xiaobao immediately agreed, making his other two friends envious.
(End of chapter)