Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 272 - 270

Our return journey went smoothly.

The gentle sea breeze blew at night, with stars twinkling everywhere.

Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi sat shoulder to shoulder at the stern of the ship, each holding a pot of water.

The others gathered in a circle snacking on peanuts and drinking wine. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

The sun was too strong during the day, so everyone could only come out onto the deck at night to catch their breath.

The happiest person on the ship was Wan Fusheng. Why? Because so many people kept him company and chatted with him!

Wan Fusheng told the story of how Shangguan Xuanyi had saved him and of the life on the island.

Everyone sighed as they listened, and their admiration for Shangguan Xuanyi grew.

Several helmsmen also shared stories from their prior sea voyages, some were interesting, some were dangerous.

"On that island, there are all kinds of people who speak languages I can’t understand at all; they always seem to be saying shit this, shit that! The sentence I remember most is ’La Bali Tutu Mi Chou’! Can you guys guess what that means?" The main helmsman looked at everyone with a look of ’I bet you have no idea.’

Xiao’er, who was drinking water at the time, choked at the mention of this and started coughing violently.

Shangguan Xuanyi quickly patted her back to help.

’La Bali Tutu Mi Chou’? Isn’t it ’nice to meet you’?

"Is that a swear word? Does it mean go eat shit?" Someone guessed.

"Go, go, go! You go eat shit!" The main helmsman waved his hand dismissively.

"Does it mean the shit that comes out smells like vomited rice?"

"You’re all so disgusting! All wrong. Stop guessing, if you keep guessing, I might just throw up any wine I’ve drunk!"

"Then you better tell us! You find this disgusting too, don’t you! It is because you’re drunk, not because of our words!"

"Get out of here, I’m not drunk! There were some fellow countrymen on the island as well, and they told me that the person was saying to me: ’Nice to meet you.’"

"No way, that’s too far apart!"

"Yes! Who could guess that if no one explained it!"

The others were also shocked to hear this, their faces full of disbelief.

"Chief helmsman, did you misunderstand that they were insulting you?" Wan Fusheng curiously asked.

"It was my first time ferrying people to that island to do business, I thought he was cursing me, so I immediately retorted, ’You go eat shit!’"

"Haha... I knew it! You thought he was telling you to eat shit, right?"

Xiao’er had recovered her breath, laughed hearing this. Then remembering his mention of ferrying people there for trade, she asked, "What kind of trade is conducted on that island?"

"We take silk, screens, purses, handkerchiefs, tea leaves, sugar, porcelain, paper, etc. The barbarians sell mostly gems, coral, statues, amber, blankets, and so on. There are also many odd items that I can’t identify."

"Are there many people living on the island?"

"Not really, but you do get to see many different kinds of people. There are even blue-eyed, blonde-haired ones."

"Where is this island? Is it far from here?" Xiao’er was very curious and wanted to see what could be brought back as this sea voyage was a rare opportunity.

It was unexpected that there was such a trade platform in the vast sea. If the journey wasn’t too far, it might be worth taking a detour.

"If we depart from here, it may take three or four days." the helmsman replied.

After hearing this, Xiao’er hesitated, that was quite far!

Shangguan Xuanyi seeing Xiao’er’s hesitation said, "We might as well take a detour to take a look."

Before they set sail, she had already asked Shangguan Xuanhao to bring back some items for her. Now that they were already out at sea, they might as well go to the island to see if there were items she needed.

After spending so long at sea, a few more days wouldn’t make much difference.

"Okay! I’ll listen to you." Xiao’er replied with a smile.

With the orders from the boss, she could only comply.

She had struck a fantastic deal and yet was still acting coy!

Three more days of sailing and they finally docked at a port on an island. Several large ships were also stationed nearby.

"There should be many good items this time, so many ships have come." The chief helmsman said excitedly.

He had brought some silver along and managed to buy some handkerchiefs, purses, Xuan paper and other items before setting sail. If he had the chance to come to this island, he would trade them for some rare items to take back.

The goods brought from overseas could be sold at a good price back home.

Seeing the several ships, Xiao’er also felt that the island was bustling today.

"Once we’re on the island, we can see many big and small stalls. We can split up, and everyone can buy what they need. What do you think?" The chief helmsman asked.

Everyone naturally had no objection to this. After all, everyone had their little plans.

Shangguan Xuanyi took the bag from Xiao’er’s back, held her hand and walked towards the island.

Di Shaowei unhesitatingly walked on Xiao’er’s other side.

"Don’t follow us!" Shangguan Xuanyi was forthright and bluntly shooed him away.

Doesn’t he realise that he’s shining too brightly?

"No!" He only had silver banknotes and not silver coins. If he was alone and saw something he wanted to buy but didn’t have the silver to do so, what would he do?

"Little girl, is there anything you want to buy?" Di Shaowei asked, ignoring Shangguan Xuanyi’s murderous gaze.

"I don’t even know what they sell here." So how could she know what she wanted to buy.

The three walked onto the island together. There were many stalls, but not too many pedestrians.

They made their way from one stall to another, Xiao’er stopped at a stall selling Western clocks and asked, "How much does this clock cost?"

"500 taels." The foreigner held up five fingers and replied in English.

"What about this one?" Xiao’er pointed to a gold-plated copper clock with an embossed green jade bird and asked in standard British pronunciation.

The foreigner was taken aback at hearing Xiao’er speak English.

Not only was the foreigner stunned, but the two protectors beside her were also surprised and looked at her.

"How much for this clock?" Xiao’er repeated her question once more.

"1000 taels! The body of this clock is pure gold, and it’s studded with emeralds! The internal mechanism is made of pure copper. And most importantly, this clock was handcrafted by the famous Mr. William from our country, 1000 taels is a real bargain!" The foreigner, having recovered his senses, enthusiastically began to describe the clock.

"Pure gold? No, it’s not! It’s gold-plated copper! 200 taels each and I’ll take them all off your hands."

"200 taels? No, that’s too little!" The foreigner waved his hand while shaking his head.

Even if it was gold-plated copper, there was still real gold on it! At 200 taels each, he would be losing money!

Xiao’er took out the bag that Shangguan Xuanyi was carrying, opened it, and took out a round fan.

The fan was made of white silk and embroidered with a distinct, lush green pine tree. Beneath the tree was an embroidered peacock with its feathers spread out. The peacock looked lifelike, extremely vivid, and most importantly, each end of the green feathers on its tail was inlaid with an oval-shaped pink rhinestone. Next to the peacock was a blooming pink peony, if it could emit a sweet scent to attract butterflies, it would be truly realistic!-