161: The unruly little Xiba

Soon, the shuttle bus for the coconut boat tour arrived. The rear compartment was somewhat similar to the open-sided vans found in Thailand, looking cool and likely designed to save on air conditioning.

Everyone queued up orderly at the back of the vehicle. Li Qinghe was about to let Le Xuan Mai board first, but suddenly two figures pushed their way forward, attempting to get on ahead.

Le Xuan Mai, with one foot on the step, was jostled and let out a yelp, her body swayed, and she nearly fell.

Li Qinghe looked closely and saw it was the most arrogant Korean, pulling his girlfriend, desperately trying to push forward.

Li Qinghe frowned. All the other Koreans were so well-behaved, but this one was being arrogant right in front of him. If he backed down, the Korean would surely walk all over him.

He held Le Xuan Mai with one hand and reached out with the other, grabbing the Korean by the neck. He lifted the nearly 1.8-meter tall Korean off the vehicle like a small dog, and at the same time, he scolded in English, "Get to the back and queue up! Everyone else is queuing properly, why aren't you following the rules?"

Korean: "#￥@￥%@ %#% Ssi-bal!"

Korean's girlfriend: "Ya~~~%￥%...%...%#%￥# Ssi-bal!"

Li Qinghe didn't understand anything they said, but he did catch the word 'Ssi-bal'. He had thought the Korean's girlfriend was quite docile, but he didn't expect her to also put on a sour face. She was truly cut from the same cloth as the Korean, a troublemaker.

He pointed to the back of the line and repeated in English, "Go, queue up!"

The Korean was about to curse again, but Li Qinghe glared, flashed his two fists, and feigned a lunge forward.

Given his tall and robust physique, this action was very intimidating.

The Korean was startled, stumbled backward, and almost fell to the ground, but his girlfriend caught him in time. This scene was witnessed by tourists from various countries around them, eliciting a burst of laughter.

The Koreans who were already in line also joined in the laughter. A few Koreans rolled up their sleeves, ready to jump in and help, but their family members held them back.

The tall and powerful Li Qinghe clearly looked like someone not to be trifled with. Many Koreans also understood the wisdom of self-preservation, and more importantly, most of them were queuing up properly.

This particular Korean, however, tried to cut the line, which also caused dissatisfaction among the honest queuing Koreans.

Seeing that cutting the line was impossible and that moving forward might actually lead to a beating, the Korean and his girlfriend grumbled and cursed as they went to the back of the line.

Fortunately, another van arrived at that moment. The two followed the others onto the second van. The other people on the van seemed to avoid them, clearly showing some disdain.

Li Qinghe took Le Xuan Mai onto the first van. After boarding, the other tourists gave him thumbs up, clearly appreciating his act of maintaining order.

Le Xuan Mai also proudly held Li Qinghe's arm and sat in the van, her face beaming. In that moment, she felt Li Qinghe's full 'boyfriend power'.

This small incident did not affect everyone's mood for the tour.

The van quickly became lively. Whether Korean or European and American tourists, everyone was excitedly holding up their phones to capture the scenery along the way.

Although the tour vehicle was traveling on a dirt road, both sides were shaded by green trees and covered in flowers, offering a unique wild charm.

From the scenery, it was evident that some thought had gone into designing the route of the tour.

Soon, the tour vehicle stopped next to a pier. Dozens of coconut boats were densely moored below the pier, and the boatmen on them were smiling, awaiting the arrival of tourists.

The river water was yellowish-green, appearing somewhat murky, making it impossible to see the bottom.

Li Qinghe was the first to jump off the vehicle, reaching out to help Le Xuan Mai disembark. The other tourists also got off one after another.

The twenty or thirty people from the vehicle spread out, and under the direction of the pier staff, everyone put on life jackets and boarded the boats in groups of two or three.

These coconut boats used to carry tourists had wooden planks placed in the middle of the boat for the convenience of passengers.

About ten boats here were preparing to depart when the people from the next vehicle arrived.

The Korean who had clashed with Li Qinghe also got off the vehicle, glaring fiercely at Li Qinghe with his eyes.

Li Qinghe had heard about the character of these Koreans, often described abroad as having a disgusting personality, sticking everywhere like chewing gum and refusing to let go.

He had made up his mind: if the Korean dared to provoke him again, he would let him taste the iron fist from his dragon country currency dad.

With a shout from the lead boatman of the coconut boats, all the boatmen on the coconut boats responded with a shout, and the first fleet of boats began to depart.

"Brother He, I studied in Da Nang for a few years, but this is my first time riding a coconut boat in Hoi An."

Le Xuan Mai affectionately hugged Li Qinghe's arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Because you were waiting for me."

Li Qinghe responded with a very sweet answer, making Le Xuan Mai's eyes curve into a smile.

"Oh, so both guests are Vietnamese..."

The boatman, hearing them chat in fluent Vietnamese, happily joined the conversation, apparently, his chances of encountering Vietnamese people were not high.

As the three chatted, the coconut boat fleet entered a lush water coconut forest.

Water coconut trees, over ten meters high, stood on both sides of the waterway, forming a green tunnel. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the sparkling water, and the surrounding scenery was very charming.

The tunnel-like water coconut forest.

Because he considered Li Qinghe and Le Xuan Mai to be 'his own people', the boatman was very talkative, introducing in great detail how, during the Vietnam War, the guerrillas hid in such water coconut forests to fight the American forces.

There was a strong sense of pride in his words.

Li Qinghe didn't correct anything and casually chatted, asking about the boatmen's income.

It turned out that for one trip, they earned 100,000 vietnamese dong, which was about 27 dragon country currency, less than 30.

During peak tourist season, when they were busy, with tips, they could earn over 1,000,000 vietnamese dong a day.

During normal times, they could still earn 500,000 to 600,000 vietnamese dong a day, totaling at least over 10,000,000 vietnamese dong a month, which converts to three to four thousand dragon country currency.

In Vietnam, this was definitely considered a relatively high-income bracket.

Therefore, the boatmen were very dedicated to their tourists. For example, for the European and American tourists on the boat in front of Li Qinghe's, the boatman, even with his stumbling English, tried to tell them the historical stories of the water coconut forest.

Of course, it wasn't as detailed as what the boatman on Li Qinghe's boat told them, but he could still convey the general idea.

Emerging from the water coconut forest, they entered a sizable reed marsh.

This was where the coconut boatmen heavily collected tips.

They would, according to the tourists' wishes, make the coconut boat spin rapidly. At such times, these 'spiraling to heaven' tourists didn't know that they themselves had become part of someone else's scenic attraction.

However, just as the guesthouse owner had said, if tourists didn't actively request it, the boatman wouldn't get angry; he would simply stop the boat steadily nearby, letting the tourists watch others being frantically tossed around.

According to the boatman on Li Qinghe's boat, the more tips given, the faster the boat would spin.

Li Qinghe watched the tourists being flung around, some even falling into the water, and developed a certain interest.

"Brother He, no! I don't want to fall into the water!"

Le Xuan Mai clung tightly to Li Qinghe's body. She certainly didn't want to return looking like a drowned rat.

"A Mei, don't worry..."

Li Qinghe looked around and discussed it with the boatman, first having Le Xuan Mai transfer to another spare empty boat following behind.

"Brother, can I try first?"

Seeing how other boatmen made their boats spin, Li Qinghe decided to try it himself.

"No problem, go ahead and try."

The boatman, with a smile on his face, encouraged him to try. Such a boat is difficult to balance on without several months of practice.

Li Qinghe picked up the oar and stood at the side of the boat, attempting to paddle a few times, making the boat spin. He was a bit unaccustomed at first, but with Li Qinghe's physical prowess, he quickly mastered the balance.

"Brother, let's have a competition. If you can throw me off, I'll give you 500,000 vietnamese dong."

Li Qinghe looked at the boatman opposite him with a 'Dragon King's smile' on his face.