He Zhiran humbly answered, "I just learned a little bit by chance and can barely communicate."
Hu Cong was silent for a long time before speaking again.
"When I first arrived in the northwest, in order to make ends meet, I went to the dock to work as a laborer. My wife went to bring me food, and happened to be seen by a passing foreigner.
That foreigner used some kind of means and actually made my wife willing to leave with him..."
Over the years, Hu Cong had always regarded this matter as his own shame and had never mentioned it to anyone.
Perhaps it was because he saw the foreigners today that provoked the anger buried in his heart for many years, or maybe it was because he saw an acquaintance and wanted to pour out his sorrows.
In any case, he finally couldn't help but speak out.
Mo Jiuye knew a little bit about Hu Cong's situation. He had stepped by step to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Works through the imperial examination.
What's more, Hu Cong was an honest man. He had only married one wife and had no children even in his middle age.
Someone advised him to take a few more concubines to have children, but Hu Cong did not do so.
Hu Cong was exiled but did not implicate nine clans. So only he and his wife were sent here together.
For a wife who relied on each other for life to be taken away by foreigners, not to mention Hu Cong, any man would not be able to stand it.
Mo Jiuye reached out and patted Hu Cong's shoulder a few times, "Older brother Hu, it's all in the past."
Hu Cong nodded with difficulty, and his eyes fell on Henry again.
"Where is the ship? Take me to see it."
Because He Zhiran did not help translate Hu Cong's words to him in time, Henry still had a bewildered look on his face at this moment.
He Zhiran hurried to translate again.
First, she translated what Hu Cong had said earlier, and then told the story of Hu Cong's wife being taken away by foreigners.
Henry could only desperately defend himself.
"Miss He Zhiran, please help me convey that this is my first time here, and the person who did this kind of thing must not be me.
Also, there are good and bad people everywhere in the world. I must be one of the good guys from my country."
After hearing Henry's defense, He Zhiran laughed to herself as she translated his words to Hu Cong verbatim.
Hu Cong sighed, "I know, hatred should go to the debtor and grievances to the perpetrator. This matter wasn't done by him either, so I naturally shouldn't vent my anger on him."
With that said, Hu Cong was already standing up and beckoning Mo Jiuye and the others to go see Henry's ship together.
Only two people could sit inside the mule cart. This time Henry and Hu Cong sat in the carriage while He Zhiran sat outside with Mo Jiuye to drive the cart.
Following the coastline all the way, after walking out for about twenty minutes or so, they arrived at the dock.
It was called a dock, but it was completely different from the prosperous Salt Lake Port.
Here was on the border of the Da Shun Dynasty. Apart from a few cargo ships docking here from the coastal cities, there was nothing else.
Today there were only three cargo ships docked at the pier.
One of the cargo ships was quite far from the shore compared to the other two, and its appearance was very different from the other two Da Shun cargo ships.
This cargo ship was not only tall in hull, but also had a sail on it.
It was very obvious that the other two native Da Shun cargo ships did not have sails but relied entirely on manpower to move forward.
Without a doubt, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had already determined that the ship with the sail was Henry's.
The mule cart stopped and Henry impatiently lifted the curtain to look outside.
He pointed to his cargo ship and said, "That's my ship. That cargo ship is mine."
Following Henry, everyone came to the seaside. In an inconspicuous place, a small boat was docked.
It was obvious that with the cargo ship so far from shore, Henry had come ashore on this small boat.
He jumped onto the small boat first, then turned around and beckoned He Zhiran and the others to get on together.
Arriving safely under the cargo ship, Henry shouted a few words to the people on the ship, and someone lowered the ropes.
After all, the ship was too high. Henry was worried that they might be afraid and explained, "This rope is very strong, don't worry."
After saying that, Henry took the lead to prove that he was not lying by climbing up the rope first.
Mo Jiuye asked Hu Cong, "Older brother Hu, can you get on?"
Hu Cong nodded, "No problem." With that said, he also imitated Henry's style and started climbing.
Seeing that Hu Cong was safely standing on the deck, Mo Jiuye hugged He Zhiran by the waist and leapt lightly, landing right next to Henry.
This move left Henry and his companions dumbfounded.
In his cognition, he did not know that there were still people who could fly.
He looked at Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran with envy in his eyes.
"You guys are so awesome, you can actually fly."
He Zhiran just shook her head with a smile, but did not explain anything.
As for Hu Cong, he was quite used to this. When he was in the capital, he had also seen those guards running across roofs and walls.
How could Mo Jiuye, as a military commander, not be able to do such feats?
After the foreigners got over their amazement, He Zhiran urged,
"Henry, aren't you going to fix the ship?"
Henry collected his wandering thoughts and led everyone to the top of the cargo ship with his companions.
He Zhiran didn't know anything about ship repair, so all she could do now was to help Henry translate.
After an explanation, Hu Cong had roughly figured out where the malfunction was on the cargo ship and started checking it out by himself.
Henry left his assistant there to assist Hu Cong, and wanted to take Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran for a tour inside the cargo ship.
He Zhiran was not very interested in this kind of primitive cargo ship.
She knew that foreigners from this era sailed across the sea and came here for the sole purpose of making money.
When the foreigners came, they would fill the warehouses of their cargo ships with goods from their own country and sell them in Da Shun. Then they would take back some Da Shun specialties.
So what really interested her was the goods Henry had brought over.
"Henry, can you show me your goods?"
Although this was Henry's first time in Da Shun, during these past few days of looking for someone to repair ships in Yun City, he also discovered that whether people here lived wealthy lives could be seen from their attire.
He could confirm that He Zhiran and her husband were not rich people.
Therefore, he had never thought of doing business with them.
Even so, Henry readily agreed to He Zhiran's request.
He Zhiran had helped them so much that letting them broaden their horizons was good too.
Henry led the two into the cargo hold and uncovered the tarpaulin covering the goods.
The goods he had brought were now in full view of both.
Henry pointed proudly at the goods and said, "These are all good stuff from our country. Feel free to look around."
He Zhiran was not at all unfamiliar with these items.
Apart from some grains that the Da Shun Dynasty did not have, there were also porcelain tiles that did not look very finely crafted, fabrics spun by foreigners, sheet glass and glassware.
When He Zhiran saw the glass, she thought of her future need to build a house. This glass could definitely come in handy.
Moreover, openly obtaining them from the foreigners, there would absolutely not be any issue of forbidden dealings.
