Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 9 Haystacks

After leaving Tadianzi, the raft drifted downstream for several days, passing many checkpoints of various sizes.

That morning, the raft moved forward about thirty or forty miles, and in the distance, a huge rock suddenly stood in the center of the river.

"We've reached the haystacks ahead. Everyone, pay attention. The front row should follow the Wenshui River, and the back row should follow the Wushui River." The old crow in the lead row turned his head and shouted loudly to the back.

When raftsmen look at the river water, they must be able to distinguish between the upper and lower water, the clear water and the muddy water, and the civil and military water.

Up and down water refers to the fact that when the raft turns, the river water is tilted, flowing forward with the left being up and the right being down.

When encountering water going up or down, the right oar must be moved urgently.

Clear and turbid water means there are objects under the water. Clear water is water that is neither deep nor shallow, while water with a whirlpool is both deep and turbid.

The oarsman has to avoid the rocks, so he is asked to see the muddy water clearly.

Wenwu Water refers to the fast water and slow water in a river.

On the upper reaches of a river, near the bend, the upper water is called Wu Shui. Wu Shui is powerful, with choking waves and bulging drums.

The lower water is Wenshui, which is often deep. Let the back row take Wushui, mainly to choke the waves and slow down.

Qu Shaoyang jumped and shouted as he walked, passing a message to the people in the back row. "We have reached the haystack. The back row will go to Wushui."

As the name suggests, there is a large rock that looks like a haystack in the middle of the river, and the water flows away from both sides of it.

When the raft reaches this point, it depends on the season, weather, water level and time of day.

If you don't master these four aspects well and go in the wrong direction, you will be destroyed and killed immediately.

Therefore, the workers often say, "Haystacks, haystacks!" Everyone is so scared that their hearts are turning upside down.

The water crow was experienced and directed the raft to pass the sentry post carefully.

The seventh row at the back made a "clicking" sound when passing the whistle.

That's because the poles or ropes connecting the wood were scraped off by the rocks at the bottom of the river. If it's not remedied in time, the raft will fall apart.

"Bian Zhao, quickly bring eight rivets." The guy on the seventh row noticed something was wrong and shouted immediately.

The first requirement for being a rower is to have good footwork. If your footwork is not good, it is easy to slip off the raft and fall into the river.

When lifting your legs, your eyes should be fixed on the landing point, and your feet and eyes should coordinate without any error.

Qu Shaoyang was seen holding an axe and eight rivets in his hands, and moving as lightly as a monkey, jumping and running to the seventh row.

Following the direction of the waiter's direction, he immediately saw the place where the rope had come loose, so he swung the eight rivets in his hand and fixed them exactly at the place where the rope had come loose.

This action is easy to say, but it actually tests Bian Zhao's ability very much.

If you move too slowly, the cracks between the raft and the windings will become bigger and harder to repair, eventually leading to the raft falling apart.

If you don't throw it accurately, the waves will hit the rod into the waves.

Qu Shaoyang came forward with an axe and nailed the eight bolts to the ground with one blow.

"This job is done neatly. Really great." The two guys in the seventh row gave Qu Shaoyang a thumbs up.

The job of rowing is not something that ordinary people can do. When it comes to moving the row, nailing the row, and threading the rope, you have to find the right time difference and your movements must be accurate, steady, and ruthless.

It is for this reason that Bian Zao is the most likely candidate to be promoted to the second or first rower.

The raft passed the haystack and went forward for a while, then passed several checkpoints such as Quail Lazi and Shanggongquan, and rested at a raft resting place in the evening.

It was still Qu Shaoyang who led the two little kids to cook. After dinner, everyone gathered together to brag and talk.

After resting for a while, everyone went back to the flower shed to sleep.

The stars are cold and the moon is dim at night. The trees on the river bank are swaying, and from time to time, rustling sounds can be heard in the grass between the trees.

Everyone was exhausted after a day of work, so they slept soundly at night, snoring loudly. Suddenly, someone screamed, waking everyone up. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I, I don't know what's in my bed, it's icy cold."

A guy rushed out of the shed, his face pale with fear, and pointed at his bedding in the shed and said.

Qu Shaoyang was not far away, so he lit a piece of candle to illuminate the area and went into the shed to look for it.

Finally, a two-foot-long snake was pulled out from the quilt of that row of guys.

"It was a money snake that ran into Brother Lin's bed." Qu Shaoyang came out of the flower shed holding the snake.

The Pai Gang has many taboos. "Snake" and "fold" have the same pronunciation, which has a bad meaning, so they are called "money strings".

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they heard this, "It's okay, it's okay, the money has gone into the bed, Xiao Lin is going to get rich.

Lenghu'er, take the string of money and put it in the bushes by the river. Don't hurt it. As for the rest of you, it's time to go to sleep.

Don't keep shouting in the middle of the night. I thought something had happened." Touzhao waved his hand and went back to the flower shed to sleep.

Qu Shaoyang carried the snake for a distance and threw it into the grass.

The snake regained its freedom and quickly dived into the grass, disappearing without a trace.

The others yawned, lay back in bed and continued to sleep.

"Today we have to cross the big threshold, Jiguanlazi, and the starry sky whistle gate.

These three places are close to each other and it is not easy to walk. We must be alert and no one should be fooling around."

The next day after breakfast before boarding the raft, the boatswain gave specific instructions to everyone.

The rehearsal had been going on for a while, and everyone knew the importance of the matter. After they got on the rehearsal, no one laughed or made any noise.

Even Zhao Da Kui, who usually talks a lot, shut up and remained quiet.

Jiang Pai walked forward for less than twenty miles and saw the gate post in front of him.

I saw a stone dragon extending from each side of the river, which broke off in the middle of the river, forming a narrow waterway exit.

This exit was another high beam. Jiang Zhengliu plunged down from the beam like a waterfall, with a drop of four or five meters.

The river water rose and fell, the white waves rolled, and it roared like thunder, as if a monster was roaring. I don't know how many people lost their lives here.

The raftingmen couldn't help but frown when they raised the threshold signal.

"Crossing the threshold is a worry for both the old and the young. When the water rises, the waves are high; when the water falls, the threshold is high."

To pass this checkpoint, the people and the platoon must work together to control the speed and timing.

The moment the raft is washed away by the waves, people must also jump up.

If you jump too early, or the raft slows down a bit, the people on the raft will fall into the rolling waves.

If you jump too late, the row will rush over and you will fall behind and lose control of the row.

For each of the ten platoons, there is an experienced captain who leads one or two newcomers.

The foreman had explained to everyone in advance the key points of passing the threshold checkpoint. When the raft reached the checkpoint, it was suddenly lifted up by the waves.

The loggers found the right opportunity, jumped with the raft, dived into the water, and were washed far away by the river.

Qu Shaoyang was on the last raft this time. He saw the nine rafts in front of him being washed up high by the river water and then falling heavily. Qu Shaoyang's heart was in his throat.

When the last platoon arrived near the threshold, the raft was swaying left and right due to the river water.

Several people in the platoon stood in the front, trying their best to steady their bodies. When the time was right, they took a deep breath, leaped forward, and then plunged into the icy river together with the platoon.

(End of this chapter)