Signing in the Republic of China: starting from a foot patrol

Chapter 219

In the morning, the sky is slightly bright

A dozen women are already busy in the kitchen at the textile factory site.

The leader was a woman in her early forties. Because her husband's surname was Zeng and she was the third in the family, everyone called her Sansao Zeng. Now that she was getting older, some younger generations began to call her Third Grandma.

I saw Mrs. Zeng San stir the gruel in the pot with a scoop turned into a spoon, and said to the other women:

"This pot is ready, quickly bring the porridge bowl!"

Soon, a large wooden basin that could be used for bathing was brought in by the women, and they poured the gruel into the pan one by one.

Mrs. Zeng San turned around and went to the cage again, stepped on the high stool to lift the top layer, and a burst of white heat rose up.

But Mrs. Zeng San didn't seem to think it was hot, she reached out and grabbed a hot wild vegetable bun, squeezed it, and said in her mouth:

"This drawer is hot, bring a big dustpan!"

As buckets of porridge, wild vegetable dumplings, and bran buns were brought to the cooking counter, there were already captive workers from the shed not far away to cook, and then Mrs. Zeng found a Sit down on the bench.

"Sister-in-law three, drink some water!"

A daughter-in-law in her twenties came over and graciously brought a bowl of hot water.

Sansao Zeng took the hot water, looked at the young daughter-in-law in front of her with a smile and asked, "It's the first time doing this job for the Huaishu family, do you feel tired?"

The little daughter-in-law laughed and said, "What's so tiring, isn't it just getting up early and cooking, isn't it the same thing you do at home?"

Mrs. Zeng San nodded, and then said: "Then you have to work hard, the county magistrate is kind, you just cook, you can eat three meals a day of pure dry food, and you can still get 20 catties of sweet potatoes every month."

"If your man hadn't been stabbed by a prisoner when he was helping the county magistrate, and almost lost his life, would it be your turn for such a good job?"

The little daughter-in-law nodded repeatedly, saying that she would definitely do a good job, and then praised Zeng Sansao in turn:

"Third sister-in-law, it's your fate. Of the five sons, except for the youngest son who entered the foreign school run by the county magistrate, the remaining three sons joined the team, and one son went to the marine police."

"I heard that when you were looking for the head of the kitchen on the construction site, the county magistrate ordered you to be the head, saying that you would hand over all four sons to him, so he would take care of you more."

Zeng Sansao was also a little proud, but she still said modestly: "Haha, that's the county magistrate's benevolence, otherwise, will this good job be my turn?"

Zeng Sansao, who is the head of the kitchen at the construction site, can get 40 catties of sweet potatoes every month.

And the county magistrate also said that as long as he does a good job and the factory is completed in the future, he will let himself be the head of the factory kitchen, not only getting food every month, but also paying wages.

He also asked his husband to stop farming at home and go directly to work in the factory, where he would still be paid and given food every month.

As soon as this remark came out, not only Sansao Zeng was very excited, but even her four sons who joined the army vowed to give their lives to the county magistrate to repay the magistrate's kindness.

As she spoke, she pointed to the other women and said, "All of us, including the women in other construction site kitchens, are all in this good job because we have sons and husbands who carry guns for the county magistrate."

"The county magistrate is benevolent, and we also need to know how to repay the favor. If we are lazy, we will lose not only our own face, but also the face of our men."

The Huaishu family nodded quickly, seeing that many captive workers had come to eat, she quickly got up and went to help cook.

This group of captive workers was very honest and lined up one by one. No matter how hungry they were, they patiently followed the line and slowly moved forward.

Before, a few captives who were used to being arrogant on weekdays jumped into the line to eat, but they were beaten to death with sticks by the guards on the side.

Since then, everyone has a long memory, and they are honest in everything they do.

Among the team, a short stature, only about sixteen or seventeen years old, was slowly moving forward.

Liu Qizi, because his parents couldn't pay the rent owed to Hong Tianwu, sent his 13-year-old son to Hong Tianwu's house to work, which was regarded as paying off the interest on the rent.

The interest is gone, but the principal is still there. Liu Qizi's parents sold the house and still can't pay it back.

Therefore, Hong Tianwu threw Liu Qizi's father into the brick kiln of Hong's family as a slave laborer. After half a year, he vomited blood and died of exhaustion.

Liu Qizi's mother was sold to a human trafficker by Hong Tianwu, and her whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Meeting such a ruthless and ruthless person as Hong Tianwu, in the past three years, Liu Qizi's life can be imagined. At the age of 16, his weight is almost the same as when he was 13 years old.

But Liu Qizi didn't feel suffering, or rather, he no longer knew what suffering was. After all, he had lived in suffering since he was a child, and his nerves and thinking had long been numb.

Later, Hong Tianwu summoned troops to conquer Jiangdu County, and Liu Qizi was also dragged in in order to gather the number of people.

Pull it in, just pull it in, anyway, it's different everywhere, aren't they all hungry and being beaten and scolded!

Liu Qizi just followed the team to Jiangdu County in such a muddleheaded way, and saw the people in front of him fleeing in a daze. Although he didn't know why, he also fled with the big flow.

In the end, he was caught by several Jiangdu youths in a grain pile and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

Only at this time did he realize that Hong Tianwu, who was comparable to the emperor in his mind, had failed and was captured by the county magistrate Jiangdu.

Like Master Hong, he also became a prisoner of Jiangdu county magistrate.

If you are a prisoner, be a prisoner. Listen to the companions around you, being a prisoner will be miserable.

But how miserable can it be? Is it as miserable as it was before?

never mind.

After starving for several days, Liu Qizi was escorted to the construction site of the textile factory, where the officers of the Jiangdu Army announced that letting them work here would be atonement.

Dare to feel the misery of this prisoner, is it just work?

It's not too bad!

On the contrary, Liu Qizi became a little happy.

After finishing the morning's work, Liu Qizi put down the hoe in his hand and went to the kitchen to eat under the leadership of the guards. On the way, everyone was given a rough bowl.

Liu Qizi secretly enjoyed himself again, working in the morning and eating at noon, just like when he was a long-term worker in the Hong family.

One rough porcelain bowl for each person, drink a bowl of porridge at that time, and continue working in the afternoon.

It seems that the so-called captives came from the Hong family to work as a long-term laborer in the Jiangdu county magistrate's house, and the days are exactly the same.

With this in mind, Liu Qizi came to the counter in the kitchen, stretched out the rough porcelain bowl, and a fair-looking young woman made herself a bowl of gruel.

Liu Qizi was about to leave with the porridge in his hand. After all, when he was in Hong's house, his lunch was just a bowl of porridge.

However, just as he was about to turn around, he heard the young woman shout: "Hey, you, have you taken your dry food and left!"

As she said that, the young woman put four steaming wild vegetable dumplings on the counter. Seeing that Liu Qizi didn't move, she frowned:

"Why are you so dazed, child, hurry up and leave with the dry food, don't delay the people behind."

"Is there any dry food?"

This was the only thought in Liu Qizi's mind at the time.

At this time, a guard next to him saw Liu Qizi whimpering, so he walked over and stuffed four wild vegetable dumplings into his arms, and then pulled him away.

Liu Qizi went to a corner, sat on a rock, looked at the four wild vegetable dumplings in his arms, and was in a daze.

On weekdays at Hong's house, it would be nice if I could eat one wild vegetable dumpling every day, but now, I only give four in one meal.

Is this working as a long-term worker for the county magistrate?

Is this punishment?

Liu Qizi didn't understand.

But hunger made him not think about it so much. He ate four wild vegetable dumplings in three or five mouthfuls. After eating a bowl of gruel, Liu Qizi felt a strange sense of comfort.

That feeling is called being full.

But after eating, Liu Qizi regretted it, because he saw that some prisoners next to him deliberately left two vegetable dumplings without eating.

In their words, they had such a good lunch, they would definitely not eat at night, and the remaining two were just enough to fill their stomachs.

Liu Qizi was filled with remorse, he suddenly had the urge to shut his throat and spit out the wild vegetable dumpling.

After lunch, they took a short rest for an hour, and then everyone started working in the afternoon again. The guards did not give an order to rest until the sun was about to set.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and planned to go back to the shed to sleep, but what the guard said made everyone dumbfounded.

"Line up and go to the kitchen for dinner!"

And dinner?

Liu Qizi looked surprised, when he came to the kitchen, sure enough, there was another bowl full of gruel and four bran nests.

It's solid dry food again!

It was the first time in his life that he had three meals a day with dry food.

Is the magistrate really punishing himself?

impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

I have never heard of anyone's punishment, which is to give dry food three times a day.

Maybe it's only today, maybe tomorrow will be the same as the Hong family.

With this in mind, Liu Qizi waited until the next day's breakfast.

Then, it was still a bowl of gruel and four pieces of dry food.

Same lunch, same dinner.

It was like this for days and days.

Liu Qizi felt that he was not being punished, but enjoying a blessing.

That county magistrate is too benevolent!

Everyone is against others, and he is so kind to everyone.

Liu Qizi was suddenly moved.

Therefore, when he was doing heavy work, he spared no effort. He felt that he wanted to repay his kindness by giving him three full meals a day.

And there are many people who have the same idea as Liu Qizi. For these poor children who have lived in hardship since birth, a full meal is enough to make them pay any price.

Of course, not everyone is like Liu Qizi.

Some people think that the county magistrate is a soft-hearted person, so they can be lazy and slippery.

Then, they found out they were wrong, and very wrong.

Seven or eight captives who refused to mend their ways and were lazy and slippery were stuffed into sacks and hung up. Then, in front of everyone, they were beaten to death with sticks by the guards.

Everyone understood in their hearts that the county magistrate was kind, but that didn't mean the county magistrate was not ruthless.

Such a tyrannical method, on the contrary, had the effect of giving both grace and power, and the prisoners worked harder when they worked.

Up to now, Liu Qizi has been working here for quite a long time.

Although the daily work is very tiring, Liu Qizi has gained a little weight, and even seems to be getting taller.

The age of sixteen or seventeen is the time for growth. Before, I couldn't even eat enough. Where did I get the nutrition to grow up?

Nowadays, although the food is poor, it can fill the belly, and the body will naturally respond positively.

Liu Qizi now feels that life is good and happy.

Of course, it would be even better if the mother who had been separated for many years could be found.

Moreover, I heard that Hong Tianwu died, and was sent to Hong Tianwu's enemies by the county magistrate, tortured alive for three days, and finally thrown into a pit and buried alive.

The county magistrate avenged his father's revenge.

Liu Qizi was very lucky, he was glad that he was a prisoner of the county magistrate.

After wolfing down his breakfast, Liu Qizi followed the prisoners and started working on the construction site.

Today, the foundation of the textile factory has basically been laid, and there is still some finishing work. Liu Qizi is working very hard, and soon sweat is pouring out of his forehead.

Just as Liu Qizi got up to wipe off his sweat, he heard someone beside him say, "Look, the county magistrate is here!"