Tian Meixiu was discharged from the hospital on the 3rd of January. She returned to school on the 6th and only attended classes for a few days. On the 11th, school started its winter vacation. They were prepared to leave for Chongming Island the next day. Yao Shunru, Shi Guangyao, Li Shaohua, Tian Meixiu, and Zhang Ruilian went with him.
Li Shaohua was going home, but only four people were actually there. Zhang Ruilian didn't want to go because her mother was sick. She even persuaded Tian Meixiu not to go. However, Tian Meixiu insisted on going and even dragged Zhang Ruilian along with her. Zhang Ruilian saw that it would only take three days to bring them back, so she couldn't resist everyone's persuasion and agreed to go.
Chongming Island was an island in the northern suburbs of Shanghai, opposite the Wusong River. It faced the river on three sides and the sea on one side. It was located near the Yangtze River.
The Yangtze River originated from the Tanggula Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It flowed from west to east through 11 provinces, with a total length of more than 3,000 kilometers. It carried a large amount of silt into the East China Sea. Due to the sudden slowing of the flow rate and the accumulation of silt, after thousands of years of ups and downs, it gradually formed such an estuarine sand island.
During the Tang Dynasty's Wansui Tongtian period, people began to live on the island. In the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the town was built and named "Chongming"."Chongming" meant high,"Ming" meant wide sky, and "Chongming" meant flat and wide flat land that was above the water.
Chongming Island had a picturesque natural landscape of jungles, reeds, beaches, and migrating birds. Later, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang gave Chongming Island the name " Yingzhou of the East Sea ", and Chongming Island gained the reputation of Ancient Yingzhou.
On the 12th, they ate breakfast and dragged their feet. When they arrived at the dock at Shiliupu, the ferry had already left. Everyone was at a loss. Shi Guangyao pointed at a speedboat parked by the dock and said proudly,"The speedboat of the Shanghai Garrison Command is waiting for you.”
This was the main reason why Shi Guangyao insisted on going to Chongming Island. Chongming Island was under the jurisdiction of his father, so he could show off. For this matter, he begged his mother to intercede with his father. Commander Shi was very happy when he heard that his son and future daughter-in-law were going to Chongming Island to play. He specially instructed the adjutant to transfer a speedboat to arrange the transportation.
When they boarded the speedboat, an officer wearing the rank of captain saluted them warmly. This person was in his thirties, of average height and talent, with many bumps on his bronze square face. He stepped forward and introduced himself,"Captain Liao Dajiang warmly welcomes you. May I ask if Young Master Shi is still waiting for someone?”
Liao Dajiang didn't know Shi Guangyao. He looked around with his goldfish eyes.
"Just call me Guang Yao. Our people are all here." Shi Guangyao smiled.”
Captain Liao strode forward and saluted him before ordering the captain and the sailors to set off.
When he entered the cabin, he found two young men in black tunic suits sitting inside. When he saw them enter, he stood up and greeted everyone.
The two of them were about the same height and age, but one was thin and the other was strong. One of them had a fair face and the other had a dark face. They introduced themselves and said that they were going to Chongming County on a business trip.
The speedboat had already set off and slowly left the dock. Captain Liao entered the cabin and told them that the speedboat was about to accelerate and would reach the South Gate Dock of Chongming Island in less than two hours. He told them to sit on both sides and not squeeze to one side to prevent the speedboat from losing its center of gravity.
Everyone was sitting by the window of the boat, wanting to look at the scenery on both sides of the river. The speedboat sped up like an arrow leaving the bow. The buildings on both sides flashed past, leaving many boats on the river behind. It gave people the feeling of " a thousand miles of Jiangling returned in a day ". In less than half an hour, it caught up with the liner that left from the 16th Shop.
Everyone wanted to slow down and take a good look at both sides of the Pujiang River, especially the scenery at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Unfortunately, Captain Liao had already entered the cockpit.
Their itinerary adopted Li Shaohua's suggestion: After going ashore from the south gate pier, they would enter the county town and hire a carriage. After leaving the west gate, they would first pass through Temple Town. If they were interested, they could get off and take a look at Wuwei Temple. Then, they would go to Sanguang Town. The whole journey was about 40 Chinese miles.
Li Shaohua's house was about three miles away from Sanguang Town, so he slept at Li Shaohua's house at night. They could do sightseeing in the afternoon and the morning of the next day. The next day, after having lunch, he set off for the county town. When he had time, he would climb the Jinao Mountain Zhenhai Pagoda, visit Shouan Temple, stroll around Chongming County's downtown market, and sleep in the county town at night.
On the morning of the third day, he took a bus to Baozhen and went to Dongtan Reeds to watch the migrating birds. At five o'clock in the afternoon, he took a speedboat from Baozhen Pier back to Shanghai.
In less than two hours, the speedboat arrived at the South Gate Pier of Chongming County. After the speedboat stopped at the dock, they walked out of the cabin one by one and shook hands with Captain Liao. They agreed to meet at the dock at five in the afternoon the day after tomorrow.
As soon as he stepped onto the dock and walked to the levee, he saw the wide water surface with surging waves and the northern wind whistling. He suddenly felt very cold. Although the sun was high up in the sky and the sun was shining brightly, the cold wind drilled straight into his cotton clothes.
After entering the county town, they were not in the mood to browse the desolate market. After parting ways with the two young men who had come with them, they hired a carriage and left the Sea-suppressing Gate, heading straight for Temple Town.
The carriage ran across the plains. Although there was a hood to shelter it from the wind and rain, it was difficult to stop the northern wind from blowing into the carriage. Fortunately, the five of them were tightly huddled together for warmth and were well dressed. The three boys were all wearing cotton coats and trousers, student hats, and long scarves.
Tian Meixiu was wearing a sweater and trousers, a purplish-red soft satin down cheongsam, a dark green woolen coat, and a white cashmere scarf. Only Zhang Ruilian was wearing a short blue student uniform, and her body looked very weak.
Yao Shunru couldn't bear it and quickly took off her silver-gray scarf and wrapped it around her neck.
Zhang Ruilian was shocked. She pushed it left and right, refusing to accept it."I'm used to it. It's really not cold at all. It's hard to take off the scarf.”
Yao Shunru smiled and said," If you can't take it off, I'll give it to you. A scarf is worth a few dollars. It's not good to freeze your body."”"She's tender and protective of women. Aren't you going to accept her affection quickly?”Seeing that Zhang Ruilian was still refusing, Shi Guangyao smiled.
Zhang Ruilian's face turned red and she cursed angrily,"Young Master Shi, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I will expose you.”
Shi Tou repeatedly bowed and begged for forgiveness,"Please don't misunderstand. I'm just concerned about you.”
"What a good stone. What wicked thing did you do to let her catch you? Tell her honestly.”Yao Shunru pursued.
"Look, there are so many egrets!" Shi Guangyao pointed outside the car and exclaimed, cleverly changing his target.
Everyone looked out of the car and saw a dozen egrets looking for food in the paddy field beside the road. Looking into the distance, under the blue sky and white clouds, there was a wide expanse of flat land, crisscrossing paths, rivers and canals, and paddy fields and dry soil connected.
There were ponds and villages in the willows. Between the thatched cottages, there were occasionally large houses with white walls and black tiles. Most of the houses faced south, and there was a long snake extending further behind the houses. It might be a windbreak or a river embankment in the north. It was a desolate scene of Jiangnan.
As the carriage ran, it constantly encountered farmers pushing wooden wheelbarrows into the city. There were agricultural products in the sacks on the carts. Some of the carts were carrying goods and a woman was sitting on one side. Some of the women were carrying a child in their arms.
The carriage drove for more than an hour before arriving at Temple Town. Li Shaohua asked if everyone wanted to get off to visit Wuwei Temple. Yao Shunru replied,"Forget it, we are all Christian, so we won't worship Buddha."”
The coachman continued to drive forward. After passing the temple town, the road seemed even more desolate and barren. The scattered huts on the roadside also seemed even lower. After passing a cypress, poplar, and metasequoia forest, they saw another village in front of them. On a locust tree beside a pond, there was a very large magpie nest. There were a few chirps of magpies.
Yao Shunru smiled and said to Li Shaohua,"It seems that this magpie is going to fly to your house to report the good news."”
"That's still far away," said Li Shaohua.”
Shi Guangyao asked curiously,"Why can't I hear the crows after running so far?"”
Zhang Ruilian joked,"You want to learn crow's call with your stinky mouth?"”It made everyone laugh.
Li Shaohua smiled and said," The crows have long been chased away. I'm telling the truth. In the 10th year of the Republic of China, there was a " crow hunt " here. Since then, crows have rarely been seen on this island.”
He was talking about the riot of the people in Xisha in the 1920s. At that time, almost all the land in Xisha was occupied by the landlord. It happened that this year, there was a series of wind, rain, and tide attacks, and the disaster was serious. Some of the surviving crops and cotton were moldy, and the rice had also sprouted. The harvest was only 20 to 30 percent of what it was usually.
However, the landlord forced the tenant farmers to pay the rent as usual, forcing the tenant farmers to fight back against the rent. Thousands of tenant farmers rose up in unison. They called the big landlord "crow" and beat up the bully landlord until they reached the county town. This was the widely circulated "crow beating" incident on Chongming Island.
As they chatted and laughed, the carriage arrived at Li Jia Wei. Li Shaohua instructed the coachman to stop the carriage in front of the three tile-roofed houses. The carriage had already stopped in front of Li Shaohua's house. Everyone jumped out of the carriage and stretched their numb legs. Yao Shunru paid the fare, and the coachman drove the carriage away.
When Li Shaohua's parents saw that their son had brought so many guests, they hurriedly came out of the hall to welcome him.
His father was tall and thin, while his mother was short and fat. This was a typical match that complemented each other. Li Shaohua was neither tall nor short, and he looked like his mother. The thin eyebrows and eyes on his clear square face were a little like his father's.
The old couple warmly welcomed the guests into the main room and sat down around the brazier. His sister-in-law and sister were busy serving tea and even prepared some dried fruits such as melon seeds and dried sweet potatoes to entertain the guests.
The mother complained to her son affectionately," You didn't send a message in advance. You suddenly brought so many distinguished guests back. The family didn't make any preparations. You neglected the guests and made a fool of yourself. Let's see how you can face others in the future."”
Yao Shunru smiled and replied," We're not honored guests. We're all Li Shaohua's good classmates. We suddenly wanted to come to the island to play after our vacation, so we followed Li Shaohua here. We've troubled you, but we brought a little gift to show our respect."”
As Yao Shunru spoke, he took out a pair of Huadiao wine and four snacks from his bag and presented them to the square table.
Li Shaohua's three-year-old nephew had a fat head and big eyes. He ran up curiously to open the paper bags, but his sister-in-law quickly stopped him. The sister-in-law was petite and beautiful. She scolded her son with a red face,"You only know how to talk. You haven't called me uncle and auntie yet.”
Li Shaohua stepped forward and kissed his nephew's hand.""You don't even know me, call me uncle.”
His nephew obediently called him uncle. Li Shaohua guided his nephew to call the four new uncles and aunties. He opened a package and grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it into his nephew's pocket. His nephew ran into the room with the candy.
His father said," You are all distinguished guests that are hard to come by. Your arrival has brought glory to my humble abode. I really don't dare to ask you to spend money. I'm sure you haven't eaten yet. I'll tell them to cook immediately.”
After he finished speaking, he stood up and nodded to leave. He arranged for someone to cook.
She heard him shouting from the back room,"Juxiang! Go and get some crabs from the pond.”
Ju Xiang was not tall and looked like her mother. Her fat body dragged a long and thick braid as she ran out of the hall. She heard the cries of chickens and ducks in the backyard.
Li Shaohua's ancestors came from northern Jiangsu. They were forced to make a living and drifted to Chongming Xisha to fish for a living. Later, he rented a few acres of barren land. After several generations of frugality and hard work, he finally accumulated 3,000 steps of land and built three tile-roofed houses and five or six thatched cottages. He became a small landlord.
Chongming people used to measure the soil with their feet. One thousand steps was equivalent to four acres of land. In his father's generation, his mother gave birth to three siblings. His brother got married, his sister-in-law gave birth to two sons, his eldest nephew went to primary school, and his younger sister was engaged. Now, they could be considered a happy family.
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