Proofread by Fu Tianying

Other boats rowed here gradually and people on the boat dived into water for bidding. It would be more difficult to find the bid as the competition went on, because the live bid could not stay in the same place. It became more difficult for the people who arrived late. When the seventh duck was caught, Ma Dacheng jumped half out of the water and held a big tortoise tied with a colored ribbon in his hand, swimming towards the bidding boat of Ma Tian’en with a smile. Ma Tian’en took the tortoise up happily. Ma Dacheng also climbed onto the bidding boat and stood in front of Ma Tian’en in excitement.

“Here is your bonus.” Ma Tian’en took a pouch of money and gave it to Ma Dacheng. Then he said: “You excel in swimming. But you are not as good as me. If I were you, it would not take me that long time.”

Someone who heard these words would praise Ma Tian’en for a while, and then everything would be settled. After all, Ma Tian’en was going to be the owner of Ma Family in the future. If he were narrow-minded, it was bad to annoy him with improper responses. But Ma Dacheng didn’t follow the common rules. Instead, he challenged Tian’an by saying, “Let’s have a competition.” Maybe it was just because he was so young, so energetic and he won the competition just now.

Ma Tian’en was stunned for a while, and then she threw the tortoise in her hand back into the water and claimed: “go!” Then she jumped into the water. Wu Zhong didn’t realize it. When he was intended to stop her, Ma Tian’en was already under the water. Ma Dacheng was not timid; he jumped into the water after Ma Tian’en.

They all saw the tortoise in the water and swam towards it at the same time. In the water, they began to fight. Eventually, the tortoise swam away. Ma Tian’en seldom met a person whose swimming skill was as good as hers. She became so excited that she ran after the tortoise deeper inside the water. Ma Dacheng hadn’t known that the master swam that well. He had thought that it was just flattery to say he swam well before. At present, it seemed that he was wrong, Ma Tian’en did do well in swimming. After the impulse of winning, he feared that Ma Tian’en may have some accidents, so he swam slowly. Ma Tian’en seemed to know what he was thinking about, and she turned around and showed a challenging sign to him. Then Ma Dacheng swam forward.

They competed in the water for a long time. Finally, Ma Dacheng reached the tortoise because of his long arm. He could win if he swam to the boat. He didn’t expect that Ma Tian’en held his leg tightly. They stayed in the water for a long while. Ma Dacheng held the tortoise tightly, and Ma Tian’en tried to prevent him from taking a breath. They got into a stalemate.

After a long time, the people on the boat became anxious when they didn’t come out. The men who were good at swimming began to search them. In addition, the ten ducks were caught. They all waited for Ma Tian’en to announce the results. Wu Zhong stared at the water. Although he came from a region of rivers and lakes, he spent all his time in studying and couldn’t swim. Otherwise, he couldn’t fall into the water and was saved by Ma Tian’en.

At this time, he saw a figure coming. Someone in the crowds shouted: “it’s Ma Dacheng……” But where was Ma Tian’en? Wu Zhong felt pain in his chest. Did he run into something unexpected? Thinking of this, Wu Zhong wanted to jump down but was pulled by the uncle.

The bystanders were talking about it. Among them, several men even argued.

“The master of Ma Family didn’t come out for such a long time. Did he drown himself? The youth shouldn’t flaunt superiority.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Master Ma is good at swimming.”

“See, Ma Dacheng has already come out. Is he better than Ma Dacheng?”

“I don’t think so.”

At this moment, when Ma Dacheng was approaching the bidding boat, there came out a man in front of the boat suddenly, screaming: “I win, I win!” If the man was not Ma Tian’en, who could he be? Wu Zhong felt faint and almost fell down.

Under the water, Ma Dacheng couldn’t hold breath longer than Ma Tian’en and needed to take breath. He had to let the tortoise go and swam to the surface. Ma Tian’en got the tortoise and swam to the bidding boat. Surly, she beat Ma Dacheng.

“Sir, am I great?” Ma Tian’en jumped to the boat, shaking the tortoise in front of Wu Zhong. Wu Zhong didn’t talk to her. Then Ma Tian’en realized that the teacher really got mad.

The uncle hurriedly broke the embarrassment, asking Ma Tian’en to announce the results. The ten men who caught the duck were designated as temporary chargers of dock (battalion commanders). Whether they could be permanent chargers or not would depend on their performance in leading the boats in the future.

Everyone was amazed by Ma Tian’en’s skills in swimming. This young master gave them, especially Ma Dacheng, so much surprise. He originally thought in terms of swimming no one from Er Zha could compete with him. Today, he lost against Ma Tian’en and he thought Ma Tian’en deserved it. Now his eyes were full of respect when looking at Ma Tian’en.

If she could forget Wu Zhong’s angry face, today was truely a day that made Ma Tian’en happy and proud. Back to Ma Family, she exhorted others not to tell her parents that she jumped into water and competed with others. She changed for dry clothes and then told her parents about choosing the chargers today.

Ma Chaosheng felt so proud when looking at his daughter. He didn’t expect that young as she was, she could shoulder the responsibility of Ma Family. Maybe the ancestors of Ma Family worked.

“Why is your hair wet?” Madam Ma noticed that the clothes on Ma Tian’en were dry, but the hair was wet. Suddenly, it aroused her suspicion.

“I am very happy today, so I swam several rounds. Don’t you know my swimming skill? Don’t worry.” Ma Tian’en said carelessly.

“Recently our family has experienced a lot. You should behave yourself. You are not allowed to swim recently.” Madam Ma said worriedly. She feared that if something happened to her daughter, the whole family would be broken.

“If I don’t jump into the water, how can I be the master of Ma Family? Right, dad?”

“Emmm…there is exception!” Ma Chaosheng said with no confidence. The successive masters of Ma Family were all good at swimming skills, except for Ma Chaosheng.

Ma Tian’en hit her father’s nerve, so she felt a little guilty: “dad, I am not saying that you can’t swim.”

“Emmm…” Ma Chaosheng had an urge to hit this naughty girl.

“Oh, dad, when do you recover? I see you are getting better, so how about you charging Ma Family and me studying with my teacher?” Ma Tian’en suspected that her father pretended to be ill because of laziness. Ma Tian’en found him talking and laughing with her mother just now. But when Ma Tian’en came in, he leaned onto the pillow and pretended to be weak.

“Coughing…” Ma Chaosheng began to cough. Then Madam Ma delivered him water sweetly and drove Ma Tian’en out.

“Your dad is tired, you should go.”

“Fine, I will go and don’t bother you.”

Ma Tian’en walked out of her parents’ room and sighed greatly. This trouble had been solved with her parents. However, the teacher got a cold face all day. She needed to cheer him up!

Ma Tian’en took a bottle of liquor to the study room of Wu Zhong, but didn’t find him. How strange! The teacher didn’t study.

Ma Tian’en walked towards the garden. It was early winter, so the flowers in the garden had withered. The trees and the leaves were rustling; only a bright moon hung in the sky. A scholar in a dark-blue robe walked around with his hands at the back, absorbed in wandering and meditating.

“Sir!” A joyful voice broke the silence. Wu Zhong turned round and saw Ma Tian’en running to him with a big smile. That smile seemed to warm the cold winter and lighten the dark night.

“Sir, why don’t you have liquor against such a bright moon? I would like to be totally drunk with you.”

“Do you recite the book? Do you practice handwriting?”

“Sir, sir……”

In Tian Family, Tian Ronghua ran to the room of the housekeeper angrily, but found him drinking leisurely.

“You are still in a relaxed mood. Today, Ma Tian’en enjoyed great popularity. People all said that we buy the workers that Ma Family doesn’t want. Now Ma Family selected the qualified workers. Mr. Guo, what do you think?”

Tain Ronghua felt down in the dumps; of course, his mood didn’t show any kindness. However, Guo Qi, standing opposite him, was not anxious at all. He poured another cup of liquor for himself and then stood up. He greeted Tian Ronghua to sit down, then prepared him a cup of liquor, too.

“Ma Tian’en was indeed smarter than I imagined. But because of it, the game is more interesting. Or if the rival were so weak that he fell down easily, we have no opportunity to play later.”

“Game? Your game is at the cost of real money.” Tian Ronghua said angrily. He didn’t know what feud Guo Qi had with Ma Family. He was almost driven insane. What Tian Ronghua wanted was money, but Guo Qi seemed to risk his life to fight with Ma Family.

“Don’t worry. Ma Family will pay back double the amount of our losses soon.” In the light, Guo Qi took the cup and drank the liquor up. The tension of killing suddenly arose.