That night, the ship pulled into a dock at one of the towns. The owner of the ship was going to disembark and get some rest. Xiao Baoshan and Seven had been hired to sail with the ship, so they had to stay aboard and guard it. Dragon also planned to head off.
He had already sailed there on another boat, but when he and Xiao Baoshan were happily chatting the boatman secretly turned around and left. By the time Dragon had realized this the boatman had already sailed into the distance.
This was a long river. If it had not been very far away then he could have used his lightness kung fu to chase after it, however, by then it had been so far away that it would have been impossible to catch. Therefore, Dragon could only follow Xiao Baoshan the rest of the way to a strange place.
Dragon bid goodbye to Xiao Baoshan. “I’ll leave you for now. When I want to visit you again, I’ll go to the dock to meet you.”
“You didn’t kill me so don’t you have to go back and explain to Fang Shanding?” asked Xiao Baoshan.
“No need. If I go back to explain I have to return the money to him. I won’t return this money and will give part of it to you as an apology, as if from him.” Dragon then fished out his money bag, took five taels of silver from it and gave it to Xiao Baoshan.
Dragon was a wanderer in this world and his whereabouts were hard to predict, so Fang Shanding would not find him.
After Dragon left, Xiao Baoshan held the five taels of sliver and quietly put it into his pocket. What a windfall!
…
Fang Shanding waited more than ten days and did not hear from Dragon at all. He sent some people to wait at the dock and discovered that Xiao Baoshan had gone sailing with a ship. Fang Shanding thought to himself that Xiao Baoshan had not returned for quite some time, so he must have been killed on the voyage.
However, after a couple of days, Fang Shanding’s men at the dock suddenly went to inform him that Xiao Baoshan had returned in one piece.
How’s this possible?
Had Dragon been killed by Xiao Baoshan? But he had asked his men to check out Xiao Baoshan’s kung fu and knew that Xiao Baoshan was not that capable.
Furthermore, Dragon could slice a tree in half down the middle, so how could he not defeat Xiao Baoshan?
Fang Shanding immediately sent someone to look for Dragon but he could not be found anywhere. Had Xiao Baoshan actually killed him instead?
Even if he was not dead, as Dragon was a wanderer it would be extremely difficult to find him. The ten taels of silver seemed to have been wasted.
Fang Shanding clenched his fist so furiously that his nails cut into his flesh. He could not believe that he was unable to think up a plan to deal with them!
…
Ye Xiaoxian normally did not mind whether Xiao Baoshan was home or not but this time was an exception. Not knowing why, she felt really fidgety staying at home for more than ten days on her own and her eyelids were twitching (considered in China to be an omen of evil).
When Xiao Baoshan returned home he looked only a bit darker but otherwise had not changed much.
Ye Xiaoxian suddenly found Xiao Baoshan so endearing. He went to sail with ships all day long and was constantly exposed to the sun and the wind. He was dark originally and if he did this job for a few more years, he might become as dark as coal. Many modern sailors were that dark.
“Little Ye, I brought you some textiles. This is Xiangyun satin. When it’s made into clothes and you put them on, the clothes will make a noise while you are walking,” said Xiao Baoshan.
Ye Xiaoxian knew this kind of satin. In modern times, some people used it to make chi-pao (a traditional dress) and it looked very posh to wear.
Ye Xiaoxian did not accept the gift but just looked at Xiao Baoshan’s face, finding it so endearing. Being this dark he must have been sunburnt. It was summer now and the sun was fierce. They had no kind of sunscreen in this era.
“Little Ye, what’s wrong?” Xiao Baoshan did not know why Ye Xiaoxian was staring at him for such a long time. It must be that he had been gone for so long so she had missed him a lot.
“Baoshan, you go and take a rest in the bedroom. I’ll cook something for you.”
“I’ll look after the fire for you then,” said Xiao Baoshan.
“No need. You are either being exposed to the sun or roasted by the fire all day long. Don’t you think you’re dark enough?” Ye Xiaoxian said unpleasantly.
Ye Xiaoxian was about to go to the kitchen when Xiao Baoshan pulled her to stop.
Xiao Baoshan smiled. “So now my little wife finds me too dark to love?” He held her in his arms tightly and her face almost reached his chest.
“I didn’t mean that,” said Ye Xiaoxian. She merely thought that she found him endearing. “But you’re burned.”
“It’s okay for a man to be a bit dark,” said Xiao Baoshan as he looked at her. “And you’re just the opposite, you’re getting fairer and fairer. I like you this way.”
Ye Xiaoxian blushed and said, “Away with you. I’ll go and cook.”
“Little Ye.” Xiao Baoshan stopped her again.
“What?”
Xiao Baoshan looked at her with affection in his eyes. “I’ve been away for almost two weeks and missed the dishes you cook very much.”
Ye Xiaoxian blushed again. “Naughty!”
Ye Xiaoxian cooked three dishes and one soup for Xiao Baoshan. The dishes were steamed meat balls, red braised dried sausage and braised eggplants with an extra egg soup.
It did not take Xiao Baoshan long to finish the meal and he also ate a bowl of rice in the middle.
Ye Xiaoxian was exclaiming that it was hard for her to feed this guy when Xiao Baoshan suddenly took out several taels of silver from his bag and gave them to her. “This is the money earned from this sailing.”
“Twelve taels? Why this much?” Ye Xiaoxian asked in surprise.
“Seven of them is my wage for sailing with the ship and the other five is a gift from someone.”
“Who’s so generous as to give you money?” asked Ye Xiaoxian.
“Fang Shanding.”
“Huh?” Ye Xiaoxian was surprised.
Xiao Baoshan then told her the whole story. “He must know that I went to the provincial city to report him, so he hired a hit-man to kill me but it turned out that he knows me and doesn’t have the heart to kill me. He then shared Fang Shanding’s money with me.”
Ye Xiaoxian heard this and was stunned.
Although Xiao Baoshan told this story in a calm way and even made it sound a bit playful, Ye Xiaoxian did not find it amusing at all. She was worried sick. “Baoshan, this is too dangerous for you!”
He sailed with ships and a hired killer was after him. What if the killer had not known him and happened to be more capable? Then Xiao Baoshan would have long been dead.
Xiao Baoshan reached out his hand to stroke Ye Xiaoxian’s face and comforted her. “Don’t worry. Ordinary people can’t kill me. Now tell me about yourself. While I was away from home these past days, has anyone come to bully you?”
“No, nobody has,” said Ye Xiaoxian.
“You still have to be careful. I don’t think Fang Shanding will give up there,” said Xiao Baoshan.
Ye Xiaoxian felt a chill down her spine. Hiring an assassin to kill people was a big crime in modern times. What if she was really plotted against?
Ye Xiaoxian felt a chill in the soles of her feet.
Xiao Baoshan thought about it and said, “I can’t bear this. I have to go and warn Fang Shanding to keep away from you!”
“How will you warn him?” asked Ye Xiaoxian.
Xiao Baoshan said, “Naturally I will sneak into his house and teach him a lesson.”
Ye Xiaoxian said, “You want to beat him up?”
“He’ll have to bleed a little,” Xiao Baoshan said. “Otheriwse it won’t serve the purpose of frightening him. Of course, I will only do it to him and not harm his wives and children.”
Ye Xiaoxian then said in a loathing tone, “Such a bold guy, you don’t even know how to be flexible. Let me suggest a plan.”
“Oh? Little Ye, you have a plan?”
Ye Xiaoxian came close to his ear and told him what to do.
