But before I could take a good look around, the bearded man shoved me aside: “I’ve seen plenty of scoundrels like you. I’m warning you, don’t try any tricks here. If you don’t have money, get lost.”

Hearing this, my heart sank halfway. The bearded man saw I wasn’t moving and impatiently waved to the people beside him, clearly about to throw me off the boat. The people around, annoyed that I was wasting their time, started jeering as well. Just then, a pale hand reached out from behind me, holding a handful of silver dollars: “Here, this is for the two of us.”

I hesitantly turned my head and saw that Cheongsam Woman gave me a smile. After speaking, she pointed at me specifically for the bearded man to see. For a moment, my mind couldn’t process it all, and my first reaction was: this woman really is rich, just casually handing out ten silver dollars.

“For both of you?” The bearded man was clearly surprised too. He gave me a wicked grin, grabbed the woman’s fair, slender hand, and while looking her up and down, kneaded it, mimicking Cheongsam Woman’s sweet, soft tone: “But no matter how I look at it, you two don’t seem like a couple, huh? Hahaha!” Instantly, the sea scavengers and the passengers in front burst into raucous laughter.

The Woman in the red qipao waited for them to finish laughing, then glanced at the bearded man with a flushed face and spat: “Pah, don’t talk nonsense. He’s my cousin.”

“Cousin?” The bearded man sneered, “Women these days are getting bolder and bolder. A pretty boy just crooks his finger and you follow him obediently. When you’re sold off as a ‘qibi’, then you’ll know just how much your cousin cares for you…” Another round of laughter erupted from the sea scavengers on the boat.

I felt my blood rush to my head and was about to charge forward with a punch, but Cheongsam Woman widened her eyes at me, raised her eyebrows and subtly signaled me to shake my head, then said to the bearded man: “Don’t joke around. My cousin hasn’t seen much of the world, don’t scare him.”

The bearded man looked at me and gestured for me to board the boat. I breathed a sigh of relief, but then heard him say ominously, “There’s a road to heaven you don’t take, but you barge into hell where there’s no door.”

Chapter Seven: Conspiracy and Framing

Suddenly, I felt something was off. Those two sentences didn’t sound right. I looked up at him and saw his expression was a bit strange, but before I could think more, I was already pulled onto the boat.

Behind us, a fat man boarded, sniffling and crying as he pulled out a dirty handkerchief, unfolding it layer by layer until he finally revealed a bundle of silver dollars. The bearded man nearby rushed over, snatched the handkerchief, grabbed the fat man by the collar with his other hand, and casually tossed him onto the deck with a thud. After counting a few silver dollars, he balled up the remaining handkerchief and threw it at the fat man’s head. The fat man, who had been playing dead on the deck, immediately scrambled up, crying and chasing after the scattered silver dollars. The sea scavengers burst into laughter again.

More people boarded the boat one after another. Cheongsam Woman pulled me back to the edge of the deck. Not even the time it takes to burn an incense stick had passed since I last stood here, leisurely and complicatedly surveying below, looking forward to the start of a new journey. Now, standing here again, I just felt a wave of disgust.

I was a bit out of breath, not sure if it was from anger or because I hadn’t recovered my strength from earlier. I never expected that in just a dozen minutes, I would go through so much. Only now did I finally have a chance to settle down and look at Cheongsam Woman behind me.

She was also panting, and we exchanged a smile. Thinking of the chaos and all the twists just now, we couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Thank you,” she said. “You really are a good person.”

I gave an awkward smile. Although there were plenty of women coming to the pharmacy to get medicine, most were servant women from various households. Proper young ladies rarely left their homes, so I seldom had the chance to see such a beautiful and wealthy Woman.

“I should be the one thanking you, miss,” I replied. “If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get on the boat.”

“If you couldn’t get on the boat, it would have been because of me, so it’s only right that I pay your fare,” she said with a smile.

I couldn’t deny her words. I’d almost gotten myself into real trouble just now. Although it was my own impulsiveness that led me to save her, so I couldn’t blame anyone else, spending a few of her silver dollars didn’t make me feel too guilty. We both smiled at each other, and I felt even more awkward. We had been complete strangers before—I’d just grabbed her and run. Now that things had calmed down, I didn’t know what to say. In fact, we didn’t know each other at all.

Seeing her blush, I scratched my head and said, “Let’s go into the cabin. It’s a mixed crowd here, and those two scoundrels will definitely board soon. We’d better find a good spot with plenty of people and fresh air, so we can avoid them as much as possible.”

She nodded, but as she looked down at the river, a trace of worry appeared on her face. I was about to lead her inside, but she waved her hand: “No, we should look around this boat first.” With that, she took my arm: “Know first, then hide—only then can we stand undefeated.”

I looked at Cheongsam Woman’s expression. There was a calm light in her eyes that startled me.

Many people might wonder why I found this strange. It’s because, in that era, it was extremely rare to see such a look in a woman’s eyes. This feeling gave me certainty in my heart, and I suddenly realized that for Woman to escape here from northern Jiangsu all alone, maybe she wasn’t what I thought—she was no weakling.