Chapter 347 Dinner
Area 23, Dormitory 013
While Li Ge and Ander were observing East Africa, the accompanying medical team was also busy. What they saw and heard in Dar es Salaam today really opened their eyes.
As Li Ji was making the bed, he said, "The court really didn't lie to us. This so-called East African Kingdom is indeed as good as they say. It has a lot of the feeling of Tao Yuanming's description of neat houses and interconnected roads. The city construction is really eye-opening and quite comforting."
"No, no! Brother Anren, in my opinion, most of the people in this East African kingdom are uncivilized and dressed in strange clothes. I don't know if you noticed during the day that there are many Chinese people in the streets and alleys. They even cut off their braids and kept short hair less than an inch long. They are just like monks. Aren't they afraid of going to hell and being ashamed of their ancestors?"
"Yuan Ye! I'm not saying anything bad about you. This is not the Far East, but an overseas country, a land of the Western Barbarians. The race is very different from that of our Celestial Empire. We are also short-sighted and don't know what the overseas people look like. Today I finally saw them. It's just as the rumors say. There are blonde hair and blue eyes that look like Rakshasas, and some are all black. The ancient Kunlun slaves also looked like Chinese people as you said, but they may not be people from the Central Plains! We have also seen many barbarians with similar appearances in the Strait of Malacca and Annan."
"Brother Anren, I definitely wouldn't be wrong. Although this German man speaks in a strange language, I happened to hear two people talking on the side of the road at the end of the team today. They were speaking Chinese, and it was the northern dialect. I, a person from a famous prefecture, would not misunderstand them!"
"My dear brothers, I may know the reason for this." A man on the side suddenly said, "You all know that I am from Jinan Prefecture. Although I rarely go outside Jinan City, I will go to the countryside to provide free medical services every once in a while. Coincidentally, one time when I was in the countryside, I happened to meet someone who was promoting the overseas paradise in the village where I provided free medical services. Many people were deceived by him. At that time, I thought he was a liar. Now that I have come to East Africa, I suddenly realized that the man's clothes and appearance are exactly the same as many residents of Da City today. It turns out that the so-called "overseas paradise" refers to the Kingdom of East Africa, and the place those people went to is also here!"
Yuan Ye: "In that case, those people are also my civilians!"
"It's almost certain. I think many people in this East African Kingdom are probably Chinese who moved overseas."
Yuan Ye: "If the Chinese people shave their heads, change their clothes, and learn from foreigners, it is simply... simply..."
"Brother Zheng Mu (Yuan Ye), you don't have to be too demanding. Maybe the barbarians forced them to do it. After all, this is their territory. Although the barbarians are uneducated, they have their own rules. Maybe they just don't like the pigtails of the Celestial Empire!"
Yuan Ye: "That's not possible... Hey! My body and hair are from my parents. It's a sin, a sin!"
Li Ji: "Yuan Ye, I have something to say about this. Although the Western barbarians are not good in many ways, they do have some advantages, such as their unique skills, which are much more advanced than ours. Moreover, over the years, everyone knows that the national situation is worrying! In front, there were the Taiping rebels, and later, the Nian bandits rose up. In addition, Western countries invaded from the sea from time to time. Natural disasters were even more frequent, with droughts and floods. It is not an exaggeration to say that the people are living in misery."
Yuan Ye: "Brother Anren, I admit that the Celestial Empire is having some difficulties now, but natural disasters and man-made disasters will eventually pass. The imperial court is now rebuilding its weapons, the civil unrest has subsided, and it will be just around the corner to keep foreign powers out of the country."
Li Ji: "That's true, but how long do you mean by 'just around the corner'? The imperial court can wait, but the common people can't. If they don't have food for a few days, they won't survive. Faced with the survival crisis, they don't care about ethics, integrity and righteousness, but want to survive first. This East African Kingdom, let alone solving most of their problems, I'm afraid many people are willing to die for it as long as they can get food."
"Oh, forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. As long as everyone knows what the country is like, it's good. But the Chinese spirit is indomitable and self-reliant. I believe that one day the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties will reappear."
"Well said!" said the other three people in the dormitory.
Knock knock knock... There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Someone's coming! I'll go open the door."
Li Ji opened the door and saw a young man standing in front of it. He was an employee of the East African Immigration Bureau.
"It's time for dinner, everyone! I'm taking you to the cafeteria for dinner."
"Oh, thank you, little brother. We'll be there soon. Please wait a moment." Li Ji said politely.
The four men put down their work and followed the young man to the public canteen of the Immigration Bureau.
On the way, Li Ji began to ask the immigration officer, "Little brother, what's your name?"
"My German name is Hans Zhou, and my Chinese name is Zhou Mo."
Li Ji: "Brother Zhou Mo, how come you have a foreign name?"
Hans Zhou: "What foreigner? I am German now."
Li Ji: "Okay, German, then how did you come to the East African Kingdom? And how did you become a German? Judging from your accent, you should be from Henan or Shandong!"
Hans Zhou: "My hometown is indeed Shandong, but I eventually immigrated to East Africa, so I naturally became a German."
Li Ji: "Uh... I mean, isn't there any threshold to becoming a German? They won't look down on you, will they?"
Hans Zhou: "What threshold? I automatically became a German when I came to East Africa! As for discrimination, why? We in the East African Kingdom believe in equality for all, not that."
Black people: "★※ァ(○Д○)"
Li Ji: "Then, there really won't be any disagreements due to living habits!"
Hans Zhou: "We all come from poor backgrounds, so we don't have the energy to think about these trivial things. Thanks to the great kindness of His Majesty Constantine and Crown Prince Ernst, we have a way to survive in East Africa. Naturally, we are united, friendly, and as close as a family."
They are really as close as a family. For example, Hans Zhou's wife is a Slavic girl. Hans Zhou has great confidence in saying this.
Hans Zhou asked: "By the way, uncle, you are also from the Far East, right? What do you do?"
Li Ji: "We are doctors from the Far East."
Hans Zhou: "So you are a doctor! No wonder the supervisor said to be polite to you. So that's why I said you are not ordinary immigrants."
Li Ji quickly explained: "We are not immigrants, we are sent by the Far East government to support the East African Kingdom."
Hans Zhou: "It's the same, it's the same. We in the East African Kingdom respect doctors and teachers very much, especially doctors, who are very rare in East Africa."
Li Ji: "Oh! Are there few doctors in your East African Kingdom? I know from my time in the capital that Western countries also have their own doctors, they seem to be called Western doctors, who are especially good at surgery."
Hans Zhou: "I haven't seen or heard of Western medicine. We in East Africa only have the term doctor. But I heard that the military doctors in the army are good at surgery. However, they can only perform simple operations such as disinfection and bandaging."
At this point, Li Ji became interested: "What is the difference between your doctors here and doctors in the Far East?"
Hans Zhou: "It seems that there is not much difference. The doctors in Dar es Salaam City Hospital are also immigrants from the Far East. They also boil medicine and prescribe medicine."
It turned out to be a colleague from the motherland, which made Li Ji a little disappointed: "Then there is no real Western medicine?"
Hans Zhou: "You are not referring to white doctors in Europe when you say Western medicine, are you?"
Li Ji: "It should be, no, it should be a white doctor."
Hans Zhou: "I have never seen this kind of doctor, but I heard that the doctors in the palace should be what you call Western medicine."
Li Ji: "Could this be the royal doctor of the East African Kingdom?"
Hans Zhou: "I don't know, I just heard about it. After all, I have only been to Dar es Salaam City Hospital."
Li Ji: "Does hospital mean medical clinic?"
Hans Zhou: "The hospital is where the doctors stay. It is much larger than the Far East Medical Center. It has three floors and hundreds of rooms."
Hundreds of rooms! Li Ji and others were a little surprised. How big is that? Perhaps only the Imperial Hospital in the Forbidden City can compare! However, Li Ji did not have time to think about it, because they had already arrived at the cafeteria.
There are four canteens in total at the immigration transition point, the smallest of which is the Immigration Bureau’s staff canteen.
The hall is right after the entrance. There are about a hundred dining tables in three rows. In order to provide catering services to the aid group, the meal time is specially set apart from that of the employees. It is now dark and everyone in the aid group is already starving.
"Everyone needs to line up first, then get tableware, and then choose dishes and staple foods..." the staff arranged.
However, there was one person who had already started getting food. It was none other than Aryan, the translator of the East African Embassy's ration aid group.
After all, Aryan was a student of Hechingen School and had eaten in the cafeteria for several months, so he was very familiar with the process.
Aryan: "Hey, can I choose my own food? I thought it was directly allocated!"
"At first, it was distributed, but now conditions are better! So there are more types of food."
Aryan: "I see. Then give me two pieces of bread and a portion of shredded pork with green peppers. What's that soup over there?"
“Beef soup with tomatoes and onions.”
“Italian way?”
"You guessed it right. A new Italian chef came a few days ago, and he made this soup."
"Haha, I've seen it in Trieste, but I've never eaten it. Give me a small bowl."
"Okay!"
After Aryan selected his dishes, he took his food tray and sat down at the table to enjoy his dinner. What he did set an example for the aid group members, who also took their food trays and started to eat.
Liger: "The food that ordinary people in this East African kingdom eat is really good! There are many varieties, and there is meat."
Ander: "Yes! Back then, when I was studying, my family was not poor at all. We only had two pickles and a bowl of millet porridge, and occasionally two eggs during festivals. Later, I passed the imperial examination and my family's conditions began to improve. Only when I passed the imperial examination did I have the opportunity to enjoy life."
Li Ge: "Alas, who says it is not true? Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best."
In front of the table in the corner.
Li Ji said to his three roommates, "The food in the East African Kingdom is too good! I think I have a high income in the Far East, but I don't dare to be so lavish on food. I usually manage my household frugally. Ordinary people in the East African Kingdom can eat delicious food."
Doctors have always had a good income, so Li Ji said that. However, Li Ji's financial situation does not allow him to eat lavish meals every day. He usually adds some lard for seasoning.
The living standards of East Africans are certainly not so exaggerated, but because of the special nature of the aid mission, they have such rich meals. As for medical talents, naturally the treatment is different.
As for why Aryan, a foodie, didn't notice it, it was entirely because of his life experience. When he was studying in Hechingen, Ernst would naturally not treat them badly in terms of food, but the Hechingen School imitated the Hechingen School, and in order to maintain discipline, students were generally not allowed to choose their own food. They would eat whatever was cooked that day, but it was a combination of meat and vegetables, and nutritionally complete.
Later, as soon as Aryan graduated, he was sent to work at the East African Embassy in the Far East because of his excellent grades. The food at the East African Embassy was absolutely first-class. Diplomats were already officials, so their treatment was naturally not bad.
(End of this chapter)
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