Noon, Dragon Head Town’s dock.
Yuan Zhaodi sat under the shade of a tree, holding a straw hat in his hand, fanning himself to cool off.
It wasn’t summer yet, but the weather had already warmed up.
Logically, being near the water, the weather at the dock shouldn’t be that hot. Unfortunately, things were just that unusual.
"Damn it, could it be a major drought this year?"
Looking at the unseasonably bright sun, Yuan Zhaodi couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.
If there’s a major drought, it’d be wise to store grain early.
Their household had many mouths to feed, especially a lot of boys.
As the saying goes, ’a growing boy eats his father poor.’
The Yuan Family had more than a dozen boys, with appetites to match.
"Manager Yuan, a ship’s coming!"
Before Yuan Zhaodi could finish thinking things through, shouts came from the dock area.
A ship coming meant work coming.
Although Yuan Zhaodi didn’t need to exert much physical effort, he had to organize the dockworkers efficiently.
This wasn’t a simple task.
A ship’s cargo had to be unloaded quickly and efficiently. After all, no one knew when the next ship would come; if too many arrived at once and cargo wasn’t swiftly unloaded, crowding at the dock could easily lead to problems.
With Dragon Head Town’s dock being just a small dock,
small docks shouldn’t have frequent ship traffic. Yet, every year there were periods when traffic would get quite heavy.
In such cases, expanding the dock seemed inappropriate.
After all, expanding the dock would require not an insignificant amount of silver, and who knows when the money spent would be recouped. A smart person wouldn’t spend so recklessly.
Yuan Zhaodi quickly called a group of laborers, organized them, lined them up, and prepared to board the ship.
When it came to such matters, Yuan Zhaodi was already experienced.
Before long, the cargo ship docked steadily, and after the handover, the laborers went to work.
Yuan Zhaodi stayed by the jetty, leading them to tally and register all the goods.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Then, more ships were seen slowly approaching the river’s surface.
The lookout immediately informed Yuan Zhaodi.
Yuan Zhaodi quickly summoned another team of laborers and had them ready to board.
Only what no one expected was, the newly arrived ship wasn’t a cargo ship at all.
As soon as this ship docked, people on board rushed down wielding knives, guns, and clubs.
"Water Thieves are here!"
In an instant, chaos erupted on the dock.
This sudden change was something nobody anticipated.
Initially ready to meet the arriving ship, when Yuan Zhaodi realized they were water thieves, he immediately shouted and turned to flee.
With water thieves here, not running meant death!
At that moment, no one pondered why the water thieves had the audacity to attack Dragon Head Town’s dock; survival was the priority.
Yuan Zhaodi ran fast, but the mass of laborers fleeing blocked his path.
By this time, the water thieves had landed on the dock.
Seeing the dense crowd in front of him, Yuan Zhaodi understood that at this pace, he wouldn’t escape the thieves’ blades.
With a quick thought, Yuan Zhaodi made a decision. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
He suddenly stumbled as he ran forward, falling off the jetty into the water.
At this time, many had already fallen into the water.
With so many people at the dock, escape was limited; jumping into the water seemed like a way out.
However, on the water thieves’ ship, there were people with bows and arrows, continuously shooting at those jumping into the water.