Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 75: Half a Pot of Rice Wine Into the Heart of the River

This kind of small boat, made entirely of wood, had a light hull, so when the waves were strong, it would feel as if it were swaying as it moved along the surface of the Xiaoshun River.

The places with the greatest degree of movement were at the bow and the stern, but Ji Yuan really enjoyed this sensation at the bow. Occasionally, he would put down his book and look at the scenery along both sides of the river bank, and watch other ships passing by.

Some time after traveling for a bit to leave the docks, the boat hoisted the sails. With the wind in his favor, the old boatman no longer rowed the boat, and merely needed to steer to control their direction. His fisherman’s song stopped.

The two boatmen, the old man and the youth, were indeed father and son. Their home was the village next to Laohua Mountain. Most people in this village made a living from this ferry port, and they fished when that business was not good enough, so there was no shortage of fishing gear on the boat. Ji Yuan considered borrowing some to go fishing if he had the chance.

About a quarter of an hour after the boat had set sail, Ji Yuan decided to leave the bow and went inside to sit.

The area of the boat under the arched black canvas awning was quite spacious. There was a wooden-framed cabin at the rear end for the boatmen’s miscellaneous items. The two rows of benches nailed to the hull were actually enough to seat more than a dozen people, but considering the space required to lay down to sleep at night, it was estimated that ten people at most could occupy it.

The other six passengers sat there separately. The two scholar companions occasionally chatted with each other in low voices. The little boy was leaning against his grandfather, drowsy.

Ji Yuan actually felt that there was something wrong with the atmosphere when he was outside just now. This feeling became more distinct when he approached the canopy. The reason should be the bearded man.

Although Ji Yuan’s vision always seemed as if it were covered by a thick frosted glass layer, he could see basic outlines, if not some less-detailed features. When the man had gotten on the boat before, Ji Yuan found that he was really burly, almost the same size as Wei Wuwei.

But the impression Wei Wuwei gave was that he was plump, while this man was merely strong, with a hint of alcohol on his body. Ji Yuan couldn’t tell whether or not his face looked fierce, but everyone else tried to keep their voices as low as possible.

If this man hadn’t been the last to board the ship, Ji Yuan really doubted that anyone else would have dared to board.

Anyway, if they had to spend three days together, this atmosphere was not good.

When Ji Yuan came in, several people subconsciously looked at him. Some people had thought that this person who had been reading books at the bow of the boat was a relative of the boatman’s.

Seeing that there was a large space on the bench to either side of the burly man, Ji Yuan casually sat down next to him.

“Did this brother just have a drink?”

The burly man looked at Ji Yuan in surprise, as if he wanted to confirm whether he was talking to him. Seeing that Ji Yuan’s face was indeed pointed towards him, he spoke in a rough voice.

“Before I left, my elders treated me to a banquet at the pier’s wine shop. I bought some home-brewed wine and drank a few bowls.”

“Oh, brother is from Jiudaokou County? You seem quite strong and muscular. Have you ever practiced martial arts?”

When Ji Yuan asked this, it seemed to stir the man’s interest, and his tone contained a hint of excitement.

“I, Li Daniu, am from Dongwei Village. I have had a strong physique since I was young. People in the village said that I could do as much farm work as an hard-working ox. Since I was a child, I have longed for a hero who could fly over the eaves and walls to take me in as a disciple, and teach me martial arts to protect good and eliminate evil… Unfortunately, this kind of encounter never occurred… and then…”

As he spoke of this story, the man became depressed.

“When I entered the county capital a few years ago, the old coach of the county’s martial arts regiment saw me and said that it was a pity; I was past the age of practicing martial arts and laying a foundation, and it would be difficult for me to obtain martial arts achievements in this life…”

The dream was shattered.

“Oh, oh, brother, don’t be discouraged. There is always a way out. As far as I know, there are still some martial arts techniques in this world that do not have age requirements. With brother’s innate conditions, you will not have to worry about being unable to achieve anything in the future.”

“Hehe, sir, there is no need to comfort me anymore. I have long since given up on this dream. At the moment, I am traveling to Chunhui Prefecture to visit my relatives. My uncle has a small business there and is in need of a strong man. I’ll save up some money, marry a wife, and live a peaceful life!”

This man, despite looking quite fierce and speaking in a loud voice, revealed a sense of simplicity and restraint. He was by no means a bad person, but rather a true and simple countryman who felt uneasy in the big city and longed for peace.

“Okay, may you find happiness!”¹

Ji Yuan smiled, bowed slightly, and turned towards everyone else under the canopy.

“I plan to go to Chunhui Mansion to visit. We will all be in the same boat for the next three days!”²

Seeing Ji Yuan’s straightforward and calm demeanor, the slight fear of the burly man disappeared. The others also introduced themselves, and the atmosphere on the boat became a lot warmer as everyone began to chat with one another.

The two scholars were traveling for their studies. The old man and young child were going to attend the funeral of a relative who had passed away, and the thin middle-aged man only said that he had something to do in Chunhui Prefecture.

The old boatman’s son also came over to chat and listen to new things sometimes.

As the boat sailed on into the evening, the estuary³ of the river was within reach, and the much wider Chunmu River could be seen in the distance.

“Zhuangzi, get ready to lower the net!”

“Okay!”

Everyone sitting in the cabin could hear the boatmen shouting to each other. Several of the passengers came out to take a look with great interest, and saw that the younger boatman had already taken a net and brought it out to the side of the boat, near the bow.

“It’s easiest to catch big fish at the river mouth. Just wait, everyone, I’ll let you a delicious feast tonight!”

The old boatman steadied the boat from the stern, and shouted to the passengers with a smile, furling the sails.

The young boatman grabbed the large net in his hand, twisted his body at an angle, then suddenly exerted force and skillfully threw the net forward. It flew out and expanded into a large circle, covering the surface of the river.

“Crash…”

The sound of the net entering the water was very pleasant. Moments after the net sank, the boatman began to pull up the net rope with all his might.

“Clap pah pah… clap clap…”

The net was still only halfway drawn when the fish caught in it were already splashing around in the water.

“Wow! I’m really lucky today, there are several big fish! Who can give me a hand?”

The young boatman happily called out to the passengers on the boat. Ji Yuan, who was already very interested, walked straight up to him. The burly man Li Daniu also quickly stepped forward to help.

“Clatter…”

“Patter patter… Patter patter…”

After the net was pulled in, the fish on the front deck of the boat jumped about noisily.

“Hahahaha, a good harvest!”

“Everyone, just wait for my father’s specialty, fish head soup and steamed fish with dried vegetables!”

“Oh, that’s great, that’s great! There is fish to eat, some big fish to eat!”

The exclamations of the adults mixed with the cheers of the children.

A big black carp weighing more than 20 catties,⁴ a grass carp weighing 10 catties,⁵ as well as two bighead carp⁶ and some river prawns jumped around, making everyone on the boat excited. If they had chosen a large ship, there most likely would not have been such a scene.

A clay stove was lit at the stern of the boat to steam rice and fish, and make soup. Not long after sailing into the Chunmu River, the small passenger boat dropped anchor and began cooking dinner while the river was calm in the nighttime.

At this time, there was another large ship anchored at the edge of the river. Compared to the small boat, it was brightly lit, with constant noise and laughter. The faint sound of zithers and musical instruments could be heard, as if there were a party on the ship, with singing and dancing.

Although the boat on which Ji Yuan was located was simple, it still had a rear cabin. The black canvas tent was not transparent, and the front curtain could not block the wind. The light of the lanterns in the cabin swayed along with the river surface. The group of people who had been clearly separated during the day now ate at the same table in harmony.

The old boatman’s craftsmanship perfectly presented the delicious taste of the river seafood, particularly the steamed fish with black mustard greens, which did not require any ginger or green onions, only a little salt. Accompanied by home-brewed rice wine, it was delicious and not fishy, ​and the group of people enjoyed it very enthusiastically .

“Sploosh~”

There was an indistinct sound of water splashing. The others continued eating, but Ji Yuan turned his head towards the outside.

“Someone fell into the water! Someone fell into the water!!!”⁷

There were screams outside, and the other people under the black awning also heard it. They all went out of the cabin to see what was going on.

“It seems like someone fell into the water from that large ship?”

“Yeah, seems like it.”

“Oh, has that person been rescued?”

The large ship was about 100 zhang⁸ away from them. It was hard to see it clearly from a distance. All they knew was that it was chaos over there. In particular, Ji Yuan’s eyesight was truly terrible from so far away, all he could hear were shouts and screams.

However, because of his excellent hearing, he could clearly tell that the man who had fallen into the water had not been rescued yet. It seemed that he was a drunk young man from a wealthy family, and he didn’t know how to swim.

“Splash~”

“Splash~”

“Splash~”

…

In the distance, someone on the ship stripped off his clothes and jumped into the river to save the person in the water. However, the river surface was far from the deck of the ship and could not be seen clearly, and the range of the light from the lanterns of the people on the ship was limited.

“Oh my, a few more people jumped down, it seems that they truly haven’t been rescued yet!”

“Yes…”

He fell into the water while drunk and didn’t know how to swim. Ji Yuan shook his head. The man was out of luck, he was afraid that it would be difficult to save him. Unfortunately Ji Yuan was not an immortal with magical powers. Even if he used a small water control technique and jumped into the water to look for him, he would not be more helpful than a few boatmen who were good at swimming.

“Huh!?”

Suddenly, Ji Yuan’s eyes widened, and he stared at the river surface in the distance.

“The young master is there! The young master is there! He’s floating there, go and save him! Can’t that idiot see him? He’s right there!”

Someone on the boat screamed excitedly, and the boatmen in the water had to turn and swim back in the direction they had just passed. They actually saw the young man dressed in white floating face up in the water, so they hurriedly kicked their legs and swam towards him together, brining him over to the side of the ship.

Hearing the faint cheers coming from the big ship, the group of people on the small boat also breathed sighs of relief.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, the person was rescued!”

“It shouldn’t be possible to drown in such a short time.”

“That’s good, that’s good!”

“Well, let’s go back to dinner.”

“That’s right, let’s eat!”

Ji Yuan also returned to the cabin with them, but came back outside again under the pretext of needing to relieve himself.

In the cabin, the old boatman had just lifted the small rice wine bottle to add more wine to his bowl, but found that no wine came out, even after tipping it twice.

“Strange, did you finish drinking it all?”

“Ah? It’s gone, how much did you drink!”

“No worries, no worries, I still have some. Just go get some from the jar!”

……

The evening breeze was gentle. Ji Yuan came to the bow alone with a sphere of rice wine hidden in his sleeve. He waved his right hand forward, and the sphere of wine fell silently into the center of the river like a winding, tiny water dragon.

“I hope you will accept half a pot of fisherman’s rice wine!”

After speaking, Ji Yuan went straight back to the cabin and picked up wine jug, and poured himself some rice wine that the old boatman had brought out, as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, a large black carp swam happily under the river surface, in the spot where the wine had been dropped.

1. 知足常乐 (zhīzúchánglè): to be satisfied with what one has (idiom) ↩︎
2. Yes, the idiom is the same in Chinese and in English. 😀 It’s fun since they’re all literally in the same boat crossing the river, and figuratively in the same boat since they’re all in the same situation of traveling to Chunhui with strangers ↩︎
3. The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream. See also: mouth of the river. ↩︎
4. 1 catty = 500g, so about 10kg/22lbs. Black carp weigh on average 15kg/33lbs, but that’s nowadays… Still a decent sized-fish. Note that the translation 青鱼 (qīngyú) could be black carp, herring, or mackerel, but judging from the geographical location and the weight of the different fish I kept it as black carp ↩︎
5. Grass carp on average weigh 25kg/55lbs, 10 catties = ~5kg preeeetty sure this is a mistake and should be 50 catties instead… that would make ~25kg… or it could just be a really small fish ↩︎
6. Bighead Carp ↩︎
7. T/n: you don’t know just how tempted I was to put “MAN OVERBOARD!!!” here ↩︎
8. 1000ft/330m ↩︎