Chapter 382: The Women on the Xiaocang, Part II

“That’s not difficult. You can ask Uncle Lin to take you.”

“He doesn’t have time. The factory can’t spare him for a day. He had promised to take me on a trip around the island to collect some rare plant specimens.” Sonia idly twirled a lock of her golden hair. “I’ve only participated in a few expeditions to the savage mountains, and I’ve also been to Dongsha Island by boat once.”

“It’s called the Li area, okay? You shouldn’t just call people savages…”

“Is that so? I don’t think they can be considered civilized people from any perspective.” Sonia was completely indifferent to this, not at all as “politically correct” as her descendants in another time and space.

“It would be great if the long-range exploration team could recruit you,” Qian Duoduo said. “But you’d have to get Uncle Lin’s consent for that.”

“What’s the long-range exploration team?”

“They are always out in the wild, collecting specimens from the three realms. It would definitely suit your interests.”

“Hmm,” Sonia was very interested. “I know, but one of them is a man who commits sins. To work with him…” She didn’t finish, probably feeling that it was inappropriate for someone of her status to comment on a Senator like that.

Lin Ziqi was a little confused. What did “commits sins” mean? Qian Duoduo knew. She was talking about Cui Yunhong in the exploration team. He kept three or four male personal secretaries, one of whom was a stunningly handsome Caucasian boy that Quark Qiong had bought from Basra. He was living a very comfortable life.

“You like science, don’t you? He likes it too. And the natural history knowledge he has is far more than your master’s,” Qian Duoduo said. “What does it matter if he likes men or women?”

“No, this is something God does not approve of…” Sonia was still very firm in her faith.

The conversation once again fell into a cold silence. Lin Ziqi decided to change the subject. “Sonia, you’re Portuguese, right?”

“Yes. My hometown is Cascais, just outside of Lisbon. My father is a respectable gentleman, and my family can be traced back to the time when the Crusaders recaptured Lisbon in the year of our Lord 1147. My ancestor was a knight from the Basque Country. As for my mother, she is from the English nobility.”

Lin Ziqi was not interested in her family history. She asked, “I just find it a little strange. I have the impression that Portuguese and Spanish people have black hair and black eyes. How come you have blonde hair and blue eyes?”

Sonia looked at her strangely. “Honorable young lady, have you seen many people from the peninsula?”

“I’ve seen a few,” Lin Ziqi said vaguely. To be honest, her impression was also from watching television. In Lingao, besides Mendoza, there were a few other Spanish naturalized citizens.

“Your impression is very accurate. But I inherited my hair color from my mother. As I said, my mother is from the English nobility. She has beautiful blonde hair.”

“I see.” Lin Ziqi thought that she was also quite pitiful. She had been abducted thousands of miles away to be Uncle Lin’s concubine. She couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for her. “Is she well?”

“She was called by the Lord a long time ago.” Sonia showed no sadness when she said this. Life in this time and space was very fragile, and everyone was used to death from a young age.

“What about your father?” Lin Ziqi’s gossip-loving heart became very active.

“He’s probably running a plantation in some general’s jurisdiction in Brazil, or maybe on a galleon crossing the Atlantic,” Sonia frowned and made the sign of the cross. “Perhaps he’s already by God’s side—we haven’t seen each other for many years. The last time I received a letter from him, he was in Brazil.”

Lin Ziqi’s sympathy was once again aroused. This Portuguese young lady, although she had become a slave, spoke of her family history with great pride, with an air of arrogance that she could not hide. However, her family was already broken.

“You said you were captured while on a sea expedition. Didn’t your father try to stop you? A girl going out to sea alone is too dangerous.”

“Oh, he doesn’t care about that. First of all, I have many brothers and sisters, maybe ten if you don’t count my father’s illegitimate children,” Sonia said nonchalantly. “Secondly, our family has been sailors since the time of Prince Henry the Navigator. There is an inscription on our family tomb in the church: The sea is our grave.”

Lin Ziqi was speechless. She really couldn’t understand the people of this time and space, who were so indifferent to death and family affection.

Suddenly, she saw a bicycle slowly approaching on the small path in the distance. The person on the bicycle was Zhang Yunmi.

She was not riding fast, but slowly, as if she was enjoying the sea breeze and sunshine. Her white shirt fluttered in the sea breeze, and her dark blue short skirt lifted from time to time with the pedaling, revealing a little bit of her thigh… The bicycle passed through the coconut grove, with the sea and beach next to it, looking like a scene from a youth movie.

Lin Ziqi sighed slightly. Although she was a woman, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration in her chest. She quickly stood up and waved vigorously at Zhang Yunmi.

Zhang Yunmi also waved back at her, pedaled a few times, and then coasted over. The tires slid lightly over the cinder road, with the crunching sound of sand. The bicycle stopped just as the wheels were about to run off the road. She jumped off the bicycle lightly and walked over, holding the handlebars.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m late,” Zhang Yunmi said with a smile, propping up her bicycle. “This is Sonia, right?”

Sonia didn’t expect the other person to know her and quickly curtsied again.

“Don’t be so polite. I’m Zhang Yunmi,” Zhang Yunmi waved her hand. “Duoduo, I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we start now?”

“There’s no need to be in such a hurry. Have a drink first,” Qian Duoduo took out a bottle of kvass, and the girls gathered together and started chatting.

Zhang Yunmi was a particularly enthusiastic and infectious person. She had a fresh and pure look, was 160cm tall, not too tall or too short, with a well-proportioned figure and long black hair. In the old time and space, she would have been considered a beauty.

Seeing her cheerful appearance, it didn’t seem like she had any family troubles. Was her father exaggerating? As she was lost in thought, Qian Duoduo had already started to prepare for the launch.

This kind of small boat was very light. In the United States, it was usually loaded directly onto a trailer and could be pushed into the sea with a slipway at the beach. To load it onto a vehicle, you would use a vehicle-mounted winch—if you were strong enough, you could also load it by hand.

Qian Duoduo’s method was similar. There were wheels under the boat rack. She had everyone pull out the surrounding fixing piles one by one and remove the anti-slip blocks under the wheels.

“Let’s all push together!” With Qian Duoduo’s shout, the five girls pushed together, and the boat rack, carrying the small boat, began to roll forward on the cinder road.

Although the wheels were wooden, the bearings were iron and used ball bearings. Qian Duoduo had lubricated them well beforehand. Except for a little effort at the start, it was effortless to push it once it got going.

“Don’t push too hard, just use a steady force!” Qian Duoduo commanded as she pushed.

The boat rack rolled steadily and evenly, and soon reached the planned launching point: a beach. Qian Duoduo had already made preparations here: a wooden platform, two long pieces of wood to serve as a slipway, and a bucket of tar.

After the boat rack was parked, everyone was busy again, installing the fixing piles and anti-slip blocks one by one. Lin Ziqi wanted to be lazy and suggested just installing the anti-slip blocks, but Qian Duoduo rejected it.

“The safety procedures cannot be changed casually. Otherwise, there will be an accident.”

“You’re just a little kid with big ideas,” Zhang Yunmi said.

“Who are you calling a little kid with big ideas!” Qian Duoduo was very dissatisfied. “I’m not a kid!”

“Alright, you’re very much like a leader…”

“Shouldn’t you say I have leadership skills?”

Following Qian Duoduo’s instructions, they placed the two slipway woods diagonally on the boat rack and fixed them, with one end inserted into the shallow water. Seeing Qian Duoduo and Zhong Xiao Ying running back and forth between the beach and the shallow water, busy as bees, Lin Ziqi quickly said, “Let me help.” She was about to take off her shoes, and Sonia also wanted to follow.

“Don’t worry, you’re dressed so beautifully. If you get tar on you, it will be ruined!” Qian Duoduo said with her hands on her hips. “We’ll be done in a minute.”

But Zhang Yunmi said, “I’ll do it.”

Before Qian Duoduo could object, she had already taken off her skirt, which almost made Lin Ziqi scream. Fortunately, she was wearing a swimsuit underneath.

“What’s with that expression?” Zhang Yunmi smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, I’m not that bold.” She then took off her shirt, stuffed it into Lin Ziqi’s hands, and ran down to set up the slipway herself.

After the slipway was set up, Qian Duoduo and Zhong Xiao Ying smeared it with tar before running up. “Untie the straps! In order, starting from number one!”

The small boat was fixed to the boat rack with ropes. To prevent it from accidentally falling and injuring people during transportation and setting up the slipway, it was only untied at the last step.

The untied small boat still rested steadily on the boat rack. Qian Duoduo had everyone insert crowbars on the side, one for each person. Just as they were about to use force, Qian Duoduo suddenly remembered something.

“Wait, I forgot!”

“Forgot what?”

“The naming ceremony!” With that, she ran under the shed and brought back a coconut and a colored ball. She hung the colored ball on the bow of the boat. Then, imitating what she had read in a book, she held up the coconut and said loudly:

“Unclassified sailing boat Xiaocang / construction started on April 1, 1633 / now completed / hereby named / May 10, 1634 / Captain Qian Duoduo.”

After speaking, she threw the coconut hard at the bow of the boat. The coconut hit the iron-plated bow, cracked into several pieces, and the fragments flew directly into the hair of Lin Ziqi and the others, causing them to scream in surprise.