ps: Thank you Sanzi classmates from Samsara for your reward and support!
In the evening, the sun had just set, and the soldiers who had finished their training missions returned to the camp one after another and gathered with their families and relatives.
The torches were quickly lit, illuminating the thatched huts in the camp. The climate in Annan is hot, and the temperature in June is rising day by day. More than 10,000 Chinese refugees living in groups did not bother to build wooden huts.
Taking families and clans as a unit, a dozen young men spent two days building a wooden shed that could protect them from wind and rain. Then they added some weeds and leaves to the wooden frame, and a simple residence was built.
Thousands of wooden shacks are densely packed and scattered within a radius of ten miles. As the sun sets and night falls, the young Chinese people who have finished their work and their families line up to receive food.
"Those who are joining the army should line up here, and the young and old should go to the west." A cook with a towel around his waist shouted loudly in front of a large cooking pot.
Wang Gouchen smelled the aroma wafting from the iron pot and took a deep breath.
"Daddy, daddy, you two want to eat white rice." In Wang Goucheng's arms, a five or six-year-old girl clapped her little hands and said happily.
The little girl had two greasy pigtails on her head, and her thin black face was stained with some dust.
Not dissing his daughter's dirty little face, Wang Goucheng put his face against his daughter's and said lovingly: "Er darling, we will have rice porridge soon."
"Oh, Dad is lying. Erya wants to eat white rice." The little girl's face changed quickly. She looked happy just now, but she disappeared immediately after hearing her father's words.
"Woo hoo, Erya is hungry, Erya wants to eat white rice."
The little girl burst into tears instantly and kept patting her flat belly with her hands.
"Erya, be obedient. White rice is for soldiers who serve in the army. We only have porridge to drink at night."
Seeing his daughter who was so thin due to malnutrition, Wang Gousheng felt distressed for a while, but he didn't know how to comfort her.
More than 10,000 Chinese people flooded into the Halong camp within a month, which caused great difficulties for Sun Bin's logistical supplies. Within a month, he spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to purchase a batch of grain from surrounding merchants and people, but Annan
The civil war has been going on for years, and the local people don't have much food in stock, so the purchased food can only be distributed carefully.
More than a thousand young men recruited as soldiers train every day, which consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, the food supply for them is one meal of gruel in the morning and two meals of dry rice at noon and evening, while ordinary Chinese, old and young, can only have three meals of gruel a day to maintain their health.
Live a basic standard of living.
Wang Goucheng used to be a poor farmer, but later joined the peasant army when he could no longer survive. He was injured in a battle and one arm was completely disabled. He was abandoned by the original army and had no choice but to wander around with the Chinese refugees with his snatched Annan wife.
Wang Goucheng heard the news about Sun Bin recruiting Chinese in Hai Duong Province, and then followed a refugee team of more than 400 people to Ha Long. On the way, he was intercepted by Annan troops. He and Annan's wife were separated, so he could only take his wife with him.
My daughter came to Halong.
After comforting his daughter and no longer crying, Wang Goucheng came to the cook with two wooden bowls made of bamboo buckets, smiled and said to please: "Brother, the baby is very hungry. Please do a good job and give me more porridge."
"There are only so many wrinkles. If I give you more, it won't be enough for others." The cook complained, glanced at the little girl in Wang Goucheng's arms, and said in a gentle tone: "That's all, for the baby's sake, I'll give you more.
There won’t be any next time.”
The cook said as he put the spoon into the iron pot and added another half spoon into Wang Gou's wooden bowl.
"Oh, thank you, brother." Wang Goucheng smiled and thanked him, and hurriedly gave up his seat, fearing that the people behind him would be dissatisfied.
Carefully carrying the two wooden bowls back to the shack where they lived, Wang Goucheng took out another cracked porcelain bowl, poured the porridge water in the wooden bowl into the broken bowl, and then handed the wooden bowl to his daughter.
Ai Lian said: "Erya, here is your favorite millet, eat it quickly."
The little girl stared at the wooden bowl handed over by her father, and her stomach growled twice.
Wang Goucheng knew what his daughter was thinking. He touched the girl's little head and said with a smile: "Dad, there is still more in the bowl. Eat it quickly."
With her father's permission, the little girl picked up the wooden bowl and started eating.
"Eat slowly, don't choke, there's still some in the bowl."
First, Yatou finished one bowl of coarse porridge, and soon finished the dry food in another bowl of coarse porridge with her father's permission. Wang Goucheng drank the remaining porridge water after his daughter had finished eating.
Satisfy your hunger.
Generally, five or six families live in a shack in Halong Camp, and the more than ten people who live in the same shack with Wang Goucheng and his daughter are all refugees who fled together.
There were more than ten people sitting together in the dining room. One of them, a man about the same age as Wang Goucheng, saw that he left all the food for his daughter and reminded him: "Brother Goucheng, don't be offended if you say a word."
"We all fled together and came here. Brother Sun, just say whatever you want." Wang Gouchen responded casually.
"Then I'll tell you the truth." The thin man took two steps forward, sat next to Wang Goucheng, and said: "Brother Goucheng has trouble moving his right hand, and his wife was lost halfway, so I have to take care of him all by myself.
My daughter is working very hard, and in my opinion, it would be better for Brother Gou Sheng to find a suitable family to send Erya out to in advance, rather than suffer the hardships with you."
After the man finished speaking, Wang Goucheng immediately understood what the other party meant. He was planning to sell his daughter.
During the disaster season, it was common for poor people to sell their sons and daughters, but Wang Goucheng was different from others. Although he had no great skills for half his life and had a disabled arm, it was during the most difficult period of his life that Ye
I never thought about selling my daughter to anyone else.
"Brother, I was joking. Although life is a little harder in the camp, I still have three meals of porridge every day. Even though I have no abilities, I can still support Erya until she grows up. I won't sell her and push her into a pit of fire.
"
After girls from poor families are sold, they are either resold to brothels by traffickers, or sold to other families as child brides. Most people know what happens to girls sold to brothels, but working as child brides for other families, although on the surface it is
Being raised as a daughter-in-law is actually similar to being sold to others as a slave. The little girl who is sold not only has to do housework in the master's house, but may also be bullied by the master's family.
Wang Goucheng worked as a day laborer for a landlord and had seen the ugly way some gentry landlords treated their servants, so he would never sell his daughter.
"My daughter doesn't belong to someone else's family when she grows up. If she gives it away early, she can not only save a lot of food, but also get a lot of money. Why do brothers Gou Sheng have trouble with money..." The man here was still trying to persuade Erya at the exit.
Suddenly she burst into tears and threw herself into her father's arms: "Erya won't eat anymore. Dad, don't let Erya go."
Children of poor people have long been in charge of the family. The five or six-year-old girl already knows some things. When she heard the man's words, she was frightened and cried loudly, fearing that her father would sell her to others.
"Erya, don't be afraid. Dad still wants to find Erya's mother. He won't let Erya go." Wang Goucheng softly comforted his daughter who was crying in his arms, raised his head and said sternly: "Ding Fugui,
For the sake of us escaping together, I won’t argue with you this time. If you think of Erya in the future, be careful and I will fight you tooth and nail!"
After all, Wang Goucheng had killed someone when he joined the Peasant Army, and the fierce expression on his face when he was angry instantly frightened the other party.
"I don't know what to do for you. If you ask me to take care of you in the future, I won't take care of you." The thin man muttered in a low voice, stood up and ran behind, for fear that Wang Gou Sheng would get angry and hit someone.