Second Brother, Third Sister, this is where we part ways. Your big brother can’t watch over you every day anymore! You must grow up well and be filial to our parents on my behalf.

Ethan Brooks’s childish little face could not hide his sadness. After finishing his bows, he stood up, his frostbitten little hands struggling to prop up the icy bamboo pole, slowly gliding toward the distant river.

……

“Splash~!”

Mr. Brooks seemed to faintly hear the sound of water outside the old fishing boat’s shack. At first, he didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was just other fishermen heading out early to fish in the big lake, splashing water as they passed by the old boat.

Suddenly, he remembered that the eldest child had gone out at night to fish in the small river, and usually by this time he would be back. Could that be the sound of the eldest’s bamboo raft?!

Mr. Brooks’s expression changed. He hurriedly lifted the tattered curtain of the fishing boat and rushed outside the shack.

He saw, right at the bow of the old fishing boat, a fishing basket filled with fish and shrimp, neatly placed, with the eldest’s small cloth money pouch on top, arranged perfectly without a single wrinkle.

Mr. Brooks’s wrinkled old face was full of shock.

These were the eldest’s things, but the person was nowhere to be seen.

Could it be that the eldest heard what his mother said just now?

Don’t be fooled by how calm and sensible the eldest has been since childhood, never acting rashly. But deep down, he is extremely stubborn—he’d rather swallow his broken teeth with blood than utter a word, the kind of obstinate youth who keeps everything inside.

If the eldest heard that he was to be sold, he surely couldn’t bear such a blow—who knows what foolish thing he might do.

“Eldest~~ come back!”

Mr. Brooks couldn’t help but panic.

“Child! Mother was wrong, come back!”

Mrs. Brooks was flustered too, stumbling out of the cabin, her heart-wrenching cries echoing across the river.

But in the dark night along the river, the world was shrouded in gray mist, and there was no sign of Ethan Brooks’s lonely little bamboo raft.

Chapter 003: Ximen Wharf

The Su River was like a mirror, reflecting the beautiful green mountains and clear waters on both banks. Ripples spread across the emerald waves, swaying patches of withered yellow reeds.

A small cold raft drifted along the river toward Gusu County. Along the way, quiet rural villages occasionally appeared, but in the depths of winter, the vast fields were frozen and desolate.

Ethan Brooks felt hungry and ate the remaining half of his coarse grain bun, barely filling his stomach. When thirsty, he scooped up two handfuls of icy river water with his little hands, warmed it in his mouth, and then swallowed it to quench his thirst.

He didn’t mind getting tired from rowing the bamboo pole—he would rest a bit and then continue on. As long as he didn’t let the raft drift ashore or crash into other boats, it was fine. Ethan Brooks had traveled this waterway many times before and was very familiar with it.

After several hours, the scenery along the way gradually became more bustling. Around noon, Ethan Brooks paddled his little bamboo raft to the Ximen Wharf of Gusu County.

At noon, Ximen Wharf was crowded with all kinds of cargo ships and fishing boats, bustling with activity.

Ethan Brooks didn’t know much about Gusu County, only what he’d heard from the fishermen’s idle chats while fishing or at mealtimes. He knew that Gusu County was the largest of the thirteen counties in Wu Prefecture, with a territory spanning over a thousand li, home to a hundred thousand households, and was the most prosperous and splendid in Wu Prefecture.

Because the waterways and canals were extremely developed, Gusu County was the river transport hub among the thirteen counties of Wu Prefecture. Many fishing boats from neighboring counties and rural towns, and even large merchant ships traveling south from the north or north from the southern prefectures, often docked at the wharves outside Gusu County to load and unload goods.

Even in the depths of winter, when the weather was bitterly cold, Gusu County remained extremely busy. Many locals and outsiders arrived at the Ximen Wharf via merchant ships.

There were traveling merchants with hurried expressions and luggage, heroic wanderers with blades at their waists, and all kinds of opera performers and street entertainers.

Other vendors included fishermen selling fish, farmers selling melons, fruits, and vegetables, woodcutters selling firewood, hunters selling wild game and mountain delicacies, and peddlers carrying goods through the streets and alleys—coming and going without end.

Outside the west city gate was a stone slab Maple Bridge, and beside the bridge at the wharf were many stalls, forming a marketplace outside the west city gate.

Coming ashore from the wharf beside the stone bridge, one could see not far away the thousand-year-old ancient temple—Gusu County’s famous Hanshan Daoist Temple.

Many porters with shoulder poles waited by the wharf before dawn, hunched over, bitterly waiting for cargo ships to dock and unload so they could get some heavy work.

Not far away, sedan chair bearers and footmen eagerly watched the passenger boats, waiting for wealthy families to hire their services.

Ethan Brooks had been paddling his little bamboo raft for half a day, and his hands and feet were already weak. When he saw the stone Maple Bridge ahead, he was overjoyed and quickly docked at the wharf, jumping ashore.

“Steaming hot buns, piping hot mantou~! One wen per basket, all you can eat!”

“Come and try, the freshest fruits, just picked from the fields!”

“Top-quality dry firewood, five wen per load!”

At the Ximen market, there were breakfast stalls selling mantou, hot soy milk, and osmanthus pastries, as well as fishermen selling fish, farmers with baskets of vegetables and fruits, and woodcutters selling firewood—all loudly hawking their wares.

Ethan Brooks walked along the wharf, looking around, his childish face full of confusion and uncertainty.

He had finally made up his mind to run away from home, planning to find work in the county to support himself. But upon arriving at the bustling and lively area outside the west gate, he felt anxious and didn’t know where to start looking for work.