At six o'clock in the morning, the construction workers living in the tents were woken up by the loud voice of the supervisor. After washing, they lined up to eat, and then went to work singing adapted slang songs.
The sun was shining in the sky, the flowers were smiling at me, and the bird said, early, early, early, why are you carrying your little schoolbag——
The last sentence is crossed out and repeated: The little bird said, "Big sand sculpture, why did you pick up the big shovel?"
This has an internal flavor.
Well, the content of the slang song is certainly easy to understand and enjoyable to listen to and listen to. Compared with the British soldiers who took to the battlefield singing "We are a bunch of old wretches" during the World War, the construction workers in St. Roch were not far behind.
Today, there are more than 20,000 construction workers working in Saint-Roch, of which more than 15,000 are African-American workers, and there are also several thousand French and Belgians.
Although the salary offered by St. Roch is not high, the food is good and the benefits are decent. In the current economic crisis, civilians who have lost their jobs do not have much choice. Working for St. Roch, at least they can eat well.
Dress warmly and buy high-quality and affordable southern African products at low prices. The last point is very important.
What can I say about Southern Africa? There is no need to emphasize the food aspect. It is delicious, cheap and plentiful, especially the various canned foods, which are very popular among Europeans.
In the past two years, more and more textiles from southern Africa have been sold in the European market, and they are also of high quality and low price. Especially the various woolen textiles, which have been shipped over the ocean, are actually cheaper than the local woolen textiles in Europe. It is simply
It's unbelievable.
This is normal for southern Africa. In recent years, the output of wool in southern Africa has become higher and higher. In order to pursue more profits, southern African businessmen simply process the wool on-site in southern Africa, making the wool into fabrics or garments, and directly
For sale to Europe.
Think about it, except for the southernmost Cape Town, other places in southern Africa are almost snow-free all year round. In places like Nyasaland with a warm and humid climate, many second-generation Chinese born in Nyasaland have grown up
We haven’t even seen snow, so there is basically no market for wool textiles in southern Africa, so the prices are naturally very cheap.
In June, Saint-Roch has entered the summer. These construction workers are all wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts. Many of them are farmers around Saint-Roch. After Belgium opened the floodgates and released water, seawater poured into Flanders, making the land unable to be cultivated.
Farmers were unemployed in large numbers, so working for Saint Roch became the best choice.
In order to get a job, many people voluntarily extend their working hours. 996 is nothing, 9127 is the norm. Just ask the social beasts, are you afraid?
"I really want to rest today, but when I think about today's 10 francs, I think I can still hold on -" Brown, wearing a woven rattan hat and a short-sleeved shirt and shorts uniform, has a good attitude. 10 francs is in the present moment when prices are soaring.
It's not much, but working in Saint-Roch, 10 francs can buy a kilogram of bread, 0.5 kilograms of meat, plus half a dozen eggs and two kilograms of fruit, which is enough for the Brown family to live for a day.
Before the World War, the standard line for Parisian families to have enough food and clothing was an annual income of 3,000 francs, equivalent to about 120 pounds in pounds.
Note that it is the annual household income, not the per capita income. If the per capita income is 3,000 francs, that is the standard of well-off society.
"Be content, look at those African workers, do you know how much they earn? I heard it's only 2 francs a day, and half of it is taken away by the damn intermediary company." Louis from Lille held a bottle of southern African product in his mouth.
The old fort cigarettes, this is a benefit of working in St. Roch, each worker has five cigarettes a day.
Don’t be too little, this is a benefit that only white people can enjoy, Africans can buy it themselves if they want to smoke.
"Then they are miserable. With thirty francs a month, I don't know what to do." Brown was in disbelief and couldn't understand why those Africans would accept such a low salary.
"Haha, this is already very good. You have to know that they are Africans, so only southern Africans will pay them. If it were a Belgian or a Portuguese - don't even think about it. If they dare to cause trouble, they will all be thrown into the sea.
, or hang them all—" Louis knew what was going on in the overseas colonies of these European countries, but young Brown was still inexperienced in the world.
"Okay, gentlemen, our job today is to throw all these stones into the sea, and clean up this area -" The supervisor is Howard from southern Africa. He is of Chinese descent and his name is Howard.
Not bad, much better than Ergouzi.
This is not a curse. My nephew’s nickname is Ergouzi. It’s hard to understand how disgusting it is that neither my sister nor my brother-in-law like dogs.
"God, it's these damn rocks again—"
"I suddenly feel unwell, can I take leave? I want to see a doctor-"
"Why not let those Africans move the rocks?"
The workers were complaining. The construction site in front of them was filled with large and small stones. The largest one weighed a hundred or two hundred pounds.
The level of demolition in southern Africa is still very good. Many demolition workers at Christian Construction Company are veterans who retired after the World War. They are really good with explosives in their hands.
"African workers are moving to the cemetery, do you want to go?" Howard was rude, and he couldn't give a good look to these white workers. Many of them were arrogant, and were more difficult to manage than the Africans.
Although white people often say that Europe is a "civilized world", in fact, in an era when compulsory education was not universal, don't expect these low-class white people to have high quality, especially in the context of the economic crisis, the dark side of these low-class white people's hearts has been unlimited
Magnified, petty theft is no longer a big deal, and robbery becomes a general public security case.
Many soldiers of the Southern African Expeditionary Force who died in Flanders during the World War are buried around St. Roch. There was no unified planning before and the cemeteries were relatively scattered. Now a unified cemetery is planned and monuments need to be built. The relocation of the cemetery is in progress.
in progress.
"No, I'll just keep resisting the stone -"
"I'm full of energy now!"
"I can carry a ton at a time!"
The workers immediately accepted the reality. The one who could carry a ton must be bragging, but there were no one-ton rocks on site for him to try.
Hundreds of people worked together, and the efficiency was very high. Within four hours, the rubble was cleared away, and then the demolition team came in to continue working. After about two or three times, the mountain would be leveled.
Lunch is still the most popular beef stew with potatoes. After the meal, each person has a cup of coffee and a banana. Brown is lucky today. The rice cooker’s hands did not shake. There are five or six pieces of beef the size of eggs in the bowl. Brown is satisfied after eating
, looking at Howard not far away with fascination: "How high will that guy's salary be?"
Southern Africa is still quite mysterious in the minds of some Europeans. Legend has it that the African continent is full of gold and the grasslands are full of wild animals. Even if you don't work all day long, you will not go hungry.
Of course, it is not all advantages. Many Europeans still firmly believe that evil cannibals live in the jungles of southern Africa. They will rob people, roast them, eat them, and then make the skulls into necklaces and hang them on their chests, just like monsters.
Just as described in the novel.
"200 pounds, or 250 pounds - I don't know, but it must be higher than our salary anyway." In Louis' hometown of Lille, after the World War, many people chose to immigrate to Africa, most of them went to French North Africa, and some went to
of southern Africa.
Judging from the news coming back, those guys who immigrated to southern Africa are doing well, and Louis is also somewhat interested. Part of the reason why he came to work in St. Roch is to earn a boat ticket and take a boat to southern Africa to see what he has to offer.
Let’s see if southern Africa is as good as the legend says.
"That's quite a lot - my former neighbor was a lawyer and only earned 5,000 francs a year." Brown's face was full of envy. Lawyers are definitely a high-paying profession in France.
"You're a country bumpkin. People in southern Africa don't rely on salary. Every household has a farm. Even if they don't have a job, they can still live happily -" Harvey from Paris interjected.
"How do you know, you are not from southern Africa." Brown was unhappy. Parisians are so annoying and discriminate against all French people outside Paris. The internal discrimination in France is also very serious.
"I served in the army during the World War and fought side by side with the southern African troops. I became friends with many southern Africans. They are passionate about life, especially the Chinese like Howard. They are not as mysterious as some people say.
Evil is a group of people who are easy to get along with." Harvey has a very good impression of southern Africa. After the World War, the French veterans were not well resettled. Now Harvey still has not received his pension.
Can be forced to work on construction sites.
But compared with those French people who died on the battlefield during the World War, Harvey was undoubtedly lucky.
"Since southern Africa is so good, why don't you just immigrate to southern Africa?" Brown hit the nail on the head. Harvey always boasted about his experience during the World War. In fact, anyone who knows Harvey knows that Harvey was just
A soldier in the logistics unit did not really participate in the battle, let alone a combat hero.
"I'm ready to go. I've already contacted my friends. Soon I will take my children on a cruise ship bound for southern Africa -" Harvey said proudly, very proud of his friends.
.
"I'm bragging on you!"
"Why don't you go to heaven?"
"Mr. Howard is calling you—"
The co-workers laughed and laughed at Harvey's overestimation.
"I'm not bragging. When I get the telegram, you will know whether it is true or not -" Harvey tried to defend himself.
"Harvey, there's your telegram—" Howard was really calling Harvey.
Under the envious eyes of his co-workers, Harvey took the telegram from Howard. Yes, it was indeed sent to Harvey by his friends, but they did not suggest that Harvey go to southern Africa, but that he go to West Africa.
.
Now Harvey has a better chance of going to West Africa than to Southern Africa.