Chapter Eighteen: Arrival at the Mouth of the River

  A short and sharp whistle of the train's air horn sounded, and a rolling thick smoke burst out from the end of the railway at Kongjiacun Railway Station in the distance.

  "Wooooo... Wooooo... Wooooo..."

  A white mist-like vapor was emitted from the steam locomotive, dispersing into the sky with a gentle breeze. Accompanied by the whistle's wail and the rumbling sound of the train chugging along the steel tracks, a train pulled into Kongjiazhuang Railway Station.

  This is a train mainly for freight and coal transportation, with only a few passenger cars. Only a small number of people can afford to take such passenger cars.

  At least before the ninth year of the Republic, the Ministry of Communications of the Northern Government required the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway to reduce the ticket price by 40% for civilians going out to work or reclaim land. Before this, only businessmen who went out to purchase furs, camel hair, sheep's wool, licorice and other goods would spend a lot of money on this kind of passenger car.

  Most of the ordinary people who went to the Northeast were either stowaways on trains or bought a ticket for a freight car and squeezed in with hundreds of others.

  The excitement of taking the train for the first time had long been replaced by hunger and thirst. Squashed in this freight car, it was unthinkable to have someone push a cart with hot water like they did on passenger trains.

  Luckily, when we got on the train at Kouyuan, someone had two buckets of cool water sent into our car. Otherwise, the hundred or so people in this car would probably have died of thirst before we even left Kouyuan in this stifling train compartment.

  Although the train is moving and there will be wind blowing into the carriage, but in such a small carriage with more than 100 people squeezed inside, it can only make the air inside even more stuffy.

  Before boarding, the two buckets of water prepared by the tooth people had already been kicked over in the scramble several hours ago.

  Leaning against the side of the car, Wu Mantun and Mu Baixin moistened their dry, cracked lips due to thirst.

  Through the gap between the wooden boards of the carriage, Wu Mantun, who was already dizzy with thirst, saw that the toothed man, who had not squeezed in with these people, was talking to an old man outside the car.

  "Ah, sir, there are three of us in total. Each and every one of us is a robust young man in his twenties, not a single old, weak, sickly or disabled person among us. If there were, you can deduct the pay from me."

  The crowd of people stood with their waists bent, standing next to Gao Chuanliang and saying that although they weren't all in their twenties, these men were also in the prime of their lives.

  "Whoa..."

  With a creak, the tightly closed door of the stifling train car was pulled open from the outside. The people inside, who had long been accustomed to the dim light, were clearly unable to adapt to the sudden burst of sunlight and covered their eyes with their arms, peeking outside with squinted eyes.

  "Come! Come! We've arrived at our destination, get off the bus, get off the bus!"

  Uniformed railway staff, holding wooden sticks and banging on the carriage, shouting loudly, seeing people in the car, mostly without energy, just sitting there, using their arms to block the dazzling sunlight.

  "Kongtou, you're worrying too much. Just watch them get sprayed with a hose, they're all parched from the journey and still haven't come to their senses."

  When the train door opened, no one came out of the carriage. He naturally understood what was going on. On such a hot day, in this stuffy train car, enduring for so long, even with two buckets of water, people couldn't hold on. So he hurriedly ran over and whispered to the station staff, discreetly handing over several silver dollars.

  "Damn it, always causing trouble for us old men. And we still have to serve you bunch of good-for-nothings."

  The station staff took over the silver dollar, scolding and walking out of the platform, pulling a rubber hose from outside the platform to add water.

  "Old horse head, give me water and let it go."

  The station staff held a rubber hose with one hand, aiming at the inside of the tank car compartment, while turning his head and shouting loudly. The old horse didn't even blink.

  Wu Mantun, leaning against the carriage, was still in a daze, half-closing his eyes with some symptoms of intoxication, staring blankly at the person holding the pipe outside the carriage.

  "This..."

  As the fire hose sprayed a powerful jet of water, everyone in the car was suddenly drenched, and those who had not yet come to their senses were shocked awake by the sudden deluge.

  Wu Mantun, who had been thirsty for a long time, suddenly became sober and saw that there was still so much water in the carriage that he could only open his mouth to drink the accumulated water on the floor of the carriage.

  "Alright! Alright! This water is free, but if you want to drink it, get off the bus quickly. If you don't get off, I'll hit you with a stick!"

  The station staff saw that the people in the carriage had regained their strength, so they threw away the rubber hose and used sticks to beat the carriage while shouting loudly. Perhaps it was effective to be beaten with a stick, as more than 100 people jumped out of the carriage during the time it took to smoke a cigarette.

  "Hehe! Since everyone has come all the way here to make a living, I won't say much more. Whoever has a way out wouldn't have traveled so far to this place. Everyone can rest assured. Our young master will absolutely not treat you unfairly. First, let's have a bowl of noodles to refresh ourselves and then we'll continue on our journey north for another stage. Even if we arrive at the destination."

  He nodded to the number of people, Lao Gao stood in front of this group of strong men from Guannei and said that this is the first batch of strong men from Guannei, and there will be several batches coming next. The young master instructed that once the people arrive, they should be sent directly to the ground.

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble"

  The entire platform was filled with hundreds of people hastily drinking noodles, creating a spectacular scene. The sound of slurping noodles covered up all other noises. Although it was just a bowl of plain noodle soup, to those who had been starving for half a day, this delicately cooked and slightly salty noodle soup was probably more delicious than any other dish.

  The refugees who came from outside the province would first drink a bowl of fine noodles as soon as they arrived, which was the rule for recruiting laborers from outside. Once these refugees arrived at their destination, it was considered a handover, and the host family had to pay according to the number of people. At this time, giving the refugees a bowl of salty noodles was also a way to supplement their energy and prevent any accidents, otherwise the host family would have given money to the laborers for nothing.

  "Brother! If I can drink a few bowls of noodles every day in the future, that would be great!"

  After finishing the thick noodles in the bowl, Mu Bai even added more from the remaining noodles in the large sea bowl to his own bowl. He said to Wu Mantun, who had only drunk half a bowl, that since birth, he had never eaten such white noodles made into noodle soup, let alone eating so much at once. Now he couldn't think of anything else and could only wish that he could eat several bowls a day, then this life would not be lived in vain.

  "Hmm! Brother, let me tell you something, don't daydream, this plain noodle soup, even if a rich family drank it every day, they'd still go bankrupt. We're here to do hard labor, and we still want to drink this every day?"

  Wu Mantun poured the remaining half bowl of noodles into Mu Bai's bowl while saying, "This big sea bowl of noodles, if placed at home, mixed with some wild vegetables and leaves, and added with a ladle of water, should be enough for the whole family to eat."

  If it were really like what brother said, coming to have a big bowl of salty noodles every day, even if not using white flour, but using sorghum flour or something else, that would be the life...

  When people from the Yima Ridge area stood on the open gravel ground outside, they were all stunned by the scenery in front of them. The yellow soil was mixed with dark red gravel, and the sparse weeds were scattered on the ground. If it weren't for what they saw with their own eyes, these people from near the Taihang Mountains wouldn't have believed that there would be such a stony ground in this world.

  "Big brother, what are we doing here? We're not farming on this, are we?"

  Wu Mantun looked at the land in front of him, which was clearly barren and unable to grow anything, and asked the middle-aged man beside him, who was obviously more than a decade older than himself.

  "I don't know either, I guess we'll find out when the boss comes later."

  A middle-aged man picked up a handful of soil mixed with a lot of gravel from the ground. He, who had been engaged in farming since he was born, knew that it was impossible to make a living by farming on such land. It seemed that the host had brought people from thousands of miles away from Guannei not for farming. Then why did he recruit so many people?

  "Ladies and gentlemen, quiet down! This is the situation. The boss has invited everyone here to build a factory. Once the factory is built, those who are willing to work in the factory can do so. Don't worry, you will definitely not be shortchanged on your pay - three big dollars per month. You'll get two meals of dry rice every day, and an extra bag of flour at the end of each month."

  Gao Chuanliang stood on the wooden box, shouting loudly with his own family's servants. Gao Chuanliang now felt more and more like he was the steward of the Sima young master in this foreign land. The young master didn't know what he was busy with every day, even when he was busiest, he could only see him for a few hours each day. Most of the time, no one knew where he was or what he was doing.

  There were many times when even Huan Yu suspected that this young master Sima was hiding in the brothel at Zhangjiakou, otherwise how could it be that most of the time nobody knew where he was. Even who could not tell where he came from each time he appeared, and where he went when he left?

  "Everyone, listen up! Since we've started this, let's do it well and finish strong! Our young master will reward us all. Let's put the ugly words out first: if anyone slacks off or is lazy when the time comes, we'll all have to follow the rules outside, and when the whip is cracked, I hope everyone can bear with me."

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao Chuanliang first explained things according to the rules.

  "Yes! The little ones understand."

  The people standing below, although they don't know what the rules are, still understand from his tone that it's time to move forward. In this unfamiliar place, no one dares to say anything else, but instead says yes in unison, while hoping that their future lives won't be so difficult.

  These people who have left their homes hundreds of miles away, on the first day they arrived at this desolate and barren land, did not see their masters, and no one knew what their future would be like.

  In their hearts, if it weren't for the fact that they couldn't make a living at home due to poverty, who would come to this kind of place to work? For them, the biggest attraction is still the monthly income of three hundred yuan, which includes food and accommodation. As for the leftovers, even if they can't eat them themselves, they can save them up to sell, anyway, here they get two meals a day.

  People from Yamahata Ridge, like those who have been living on the outskirts for generations, came with nothing but themselves. They even had to build their own homes, carrying brand new iron shovels without handles.

  Divided into several people according to their relationships, everyone followed the style of the cave that Old Wang had said, and dug their own "house" there. Digging a hole in this rocky ground was absolutely not an easy task, but who would be willing to live in the open wilderness?