Chapter 26
Everyone was chatting and laughing while eating, and Yao Chunnuan felt like a fish in water while hanging around.
Li Taohua felt so uncomfortable seeing the people around her complimenting Yao Chunnuan that even the rare food in her bowl lost its flavor.
When the atmosphere was cheerful, a sharp and piercing voice broke the harmonious atmosphere.
"Taking advantage of opportunities! Scamming and playing dirty! What's there to be proud of?!"
These words were like a drop of cold water dropped into a boiling hot pan of oil. With a sizzling sound, there was silence at first, and then as if there was a rebound, everyone started talking at once.
"Ms. Li, what do you mean? Do you think we don't deserve this kind of food?" If her words were heard by other teams or those above her, it would really cause a commotion. Now that they had been allocated good food, it was clearly a vested interest, and they really didn't want to take the risk of losing it.
"Now we do more work than you and it's easier than you, so if you're jealous, just say it!"
"Exactly. How can this be considered cheating? Did we fail to complete the task of ten baskets of sand per person or what?"
Li Taohua's face turned pale. Seeing that everyone was blaming her with every word, she felt both scared and angry. "That's not what I meant."
"So what do you mean? Why don't you think about yourself when you're scolding others for being cunning and sly?" Aunt Yun said with a stern face, "You still need men to help you. You can't bear to see us having it easy. You can't wait to see us working ourselves to death every day. That's how you feel superior, right?"
Aunt Yun's words were very harsh, but it was a fact that Li Taohua had incurred public anger.
"Stop talking." Boss Zeng pulled her.
Li Taohua was furious and shook off his hand, saying, "It's just a meal! Look how I bribed you!"
Her words made everyone even angrier.
"Ms. Li, how do you talk?"
"Yeah, can you speak properly? If not, please don't take the food you got by relying on others before you start spitting shit!"
"Ms. Li, you're right. It's just a meal, it's pretty easy. You can use it to bribe us."
"I'm sorry, everyone. She can't speak. Let's go over there and talk to her." Zeng Lao Da and Zeng Lao Er forcibly pulled Li Taohua away.
Everyone stopped talking and said, "Go, let's talk about her. She's acting like a spoiled little girl, oblivious to the world, in this border area."
Yao Chunnuan watched this farce of the majority bullying the minority with relish, enjoying the pleasure of everyone standing up for her and tearing Li Taohua apart, and was even more pleased that she won. Although this victory was a sure thing, there was no suspense, but who doesn't like to win?
After the three people left, many elderly people kept shaking their heads as they looked at their backs.
Aunt Yun was standing next to Yao Chunnuan at the moment. Seeing that she was silent, she thought she was still upset about what happened just now. She patted her hand and said soothingly, "Don't take her words to heart. Just let it go."
Yao Chunnuan chuckled, then said slowly, "Actually, she's right. It's just a meal."
Aunt Yun shook her head. "No, this isn't just a meal. She said that because she doesn't understand. This meal, to put it more seriously, is a life."
"Huh?" Yao Chunnuan's mouth opened slightly, and her surprised expression pleased Aunt Yun. She hadn't seen such a lively person in a long time. People who came here, even if they were lively at first, would become numb and lifeless later.
"You just came here and don't understand yet, but you will understand after a while." Aunt Yun said.
Seeing that Yao Chunnuan was curious and there was still some time before work, Aunt Yun simply went to the river with her to wash dishes while she talked to her in detail.
Border convicts endured a toilsome life. Here, regardless of gender, everyone had to work a full day's work, repairing the city walls and the surrounding rivers and canals. The relentless pace of border life seemed to sap the life out of the prisoners.
Border criminals rarely lived long. The workload was heavy, and the food wasn't good. While this was fine when they were young, as they aged, they became plagued by illness, and with a lack of medical care and medicine, they gradually lost their chance to survive. Many prisoners died, simply wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave. The imperial court had many such prisoners, and they were sent here every year.
They were better off in Yichun, where the higher-ups were relatively kind to those implicated criminals and didn't constantly mistreat them. Of course, the serious criminals who took human life were exceptions.
Health is a person's capital. Only when they are in good health can they live longer. To be in good health, they must have enough food. But these people, who are called the concentration camp for the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, are not an exaggeration at all. How can they earn enough to eat?
As for subsidies from other channels? They themselves were implicated. Their relatives and friends are either no longer around, or are suffering even more than they are, or have severed ties with them long ago.
In a word, these people live a hard life, and most of them haven't had any meat or oil for a long time.
Even if they lost their TOEFL meal today, it would still be enough to sustain them for a while. Li, devoted to the Zeng brothers, had a comfortable life, so how could she understand the hardships of others? Didn't they see that while she was whining, everyone else was rubbing their bulging bellies, not even bothering to glance at her?
There was another point Li didn't understand: since they'd already had their first meal today, how far could the second be? Their team had been stagnant for too long, and any changes, even if they didn't know if they could be sustained or how long they could last, were good. They would work tirelessly to maintain them and wouldn't let anyone disrupt them.
Thinking of this, Aunt Yun subconsciously glanced at Yao Chunnuan.
*******
After arriving in Yichun, not only Yao Chunnuan was trying to gain opportunities to show her abilities, but Wei Qiuyu was the same. She even gave the multiplication table and table organization method to Ning Zhen, the small leader who managed them, in the hope that they could live better in the days to come, and preferably get promoted and given some power.
She did this not because she had any far-reaching ideas or plans, but simply because life here was too hard.
Before reaching Yichun, she'd been experiencing hardships on the road, but she still had hopes. But once she finally arrived, she was bitterly disappointed. First, the house she lived in was a thatched hut, not to mention the tiles, which wasn't even as good as the worst wool felt in later generations. She could already imagine the rainy season, with heavy rain outside and light drizzles inside. She was on the verge of collapse! She began to yearn madly for the high beds, soft pillows, and delicious food of later generations...
In fact, she had a much harder time than Yao Chunnuan during this period.
Yao Chunnuan is a good cook after all. Although there is a shortage of ingredients, she can make her own cooking as long as the ingredients are available.
As an urbanite and an only child, she was practically indolent and uninitiated. This wasn't surprising; she didn't even have to wash dishes at home. As for cooking, she could only make instant noodles and juice. No, she could even bake some Western-style pastries. But none of this was currently useful to her.
In fact, not only is the food bad, but the clothes, housing and other necessities are almost like beggars!
She'd been regretting it lately, regretting that she shouldn't have let Xiaoying mess with Yao Chunnuan. If she had, the car accident wouldn't have happened. No, after all, Yao Chunnuan was to blame. If she hadn't used tricks to steal the technical director who was supposed to be hers, if she hadn't been so vengeful and dragged herself down with her, she wouldn't have gotten into this situation! It was all her fault. She'd made her suffer so much!
She also regretted being exiled with the Han family. She couldn't bear the thought that she would have to live like this for another ten or eight years.
She felt that it would have been better for her to not bother in the first place, just follow the plot and become the wife of a scholar, the mother of a future top scholar, and the old noble of a first-rank minister's family! Wouldn't that be good? At least she wouldn't have to endure all this hardship and suffering.
After Wei Qiuyu learned the multiplication table and the method of organizing tabular data, she was waiting for news. She now hoped that these two things could impress the people above and make her life better.
*******
The three city walls of Yichun needed to be repaired and reinforced. First, some preliminary work had to be done, such as collecting enough raw materials, such as stone and sand, as well as wood...
General Shao Zixi is in charge of this business. Today is the first day of work, so he needs to inspect it in person.
Zhao Hong and several other centurions were accompanying him on one side.
On the way to the military farm, Captain Li Xinchen jokingly said, "Yesterday, one of my men reported to me that he had the most arduous task of digging and transporting stones. I wonder how he's doing."
Hearing this, General Shao was very happy and interested. "Which soldier under your command is this? He sounds very dedicated."
"It's the guy named Ning Zhen who I mentioned to you last time."
As soon as this topic was brought up, the other two centurions winked at Zhao Hong. Here he comes again!
When Zhao Hong saw this, the corners of his mouth twitched.
"It's him. That young man is in good spirits." General Shao nodded, obviously still having some impression of the subordinate he mentioned.
"Yeah, I think so too." Li Xinchen spoke even more excitedly. "You don't know, he said it yesterday. He said he wanted to work hard and strive for first place. He even said he wanted to issue a military order. He was so competitive that I scolded him."
"Don't scold him. It's good that the young man is motivated." General Shao nodded repeatedly, then paused and said, "This is also your training. You taught him well. I am confident in your work."
After hearing General Shao's words, Li Xinchen looked at Zhao Hong proudly.
Zhao Hong really wanted to roll his eyes at him. This man really had ulterior motives. When he mentioned his subordinates' abilities, he was also indirectly praising his own ability to judge people, recognize people, and tolerate others.
Li Xinchen knew when to stop and didn't continue to offend his superiors. Instead, he started a conversation with his colleagues, "Brother Zhao, are you responsible for the supply of river sand this time?"
Hearing this, the two centurions who had just made faces at Zhao Hong were shocked. Here it comes, after pulling themselves up, the scene of stepping on others finally appeared!
Zhao Hong didn't want to pay attention to him.
Li Xinchen seemed oblivious to his indifference and continued, "Actually, I think this mission is not bad. It's not as strenuous as digging and transporting stones, and it's suitable for your people."
Is he suitable for his subordinates or for him? Zhao Hong didn't even want to say anything. This person is so annoying! It's always like this. It's not enough to use words to elevate himself, but he also belittles others!
"Brother Zhao, I'm not saying anything bad, but your personal guard named Chen isn't very capable. No matter what mission he's assigned, he always completes it so poorly that it's hard to say what to do. Could he be the last one to come in last again this time?"
If you don't know what to say, then just shut up. Zhao Hong pulled the corners of his mouth and gave him a forced smile.
"As the saying goes, the capable are promoted and the incompetent are demoted. Subordinates like this always bring shame to you. If it really doesn't work out, remove him and replace him with someone more suitable. Listen to me, brother. If you don't have anyone suitable, I can introduce you to a few who are guaranteed to be more useful than Chen Jin!"
"That's not the case. Chen Jin is a good person, but everyone has their own expertise. Maybe he is just not good at this aspect. Besides, when there is comparison, there will be strengths and weaknesses. The first and the last place must be claimed by someone." The latter sentence was Zhao Hong's self-deprecating remark.
After hearing his half-surrender words, Li Xinchen was finally satisfied and calmed down.
General Shao, who was walking in the front, couldn't help but shake his head. This little Li...
As they were talking, they arrived at the main gate of the military farm. As soon as they arrived, a small leader in uniform came to greet them.
Li Xinchen's eyes lit up, "Oh, it's Ning Zhen, you're here to greet us."
Ning Zhen grabbed the sharp weapon in his hand, took a deep breath, and jogged forward with firm steps.
Before he trotted over to them, Li Xinchen said to his left and right, "This kid is quite sensible, isn't he?"
Ning Zhen came up to General Shao and saluted solemnly, "Report—I have something to report to General Shao!"
Li Xinchen's smile froze.
Everyone else looked at each other, what was going on?
Wow, this is so exciting now? Zhao Hong's eyes lit up.
Normally, reporting to a higher level is a serious mistake, but now, Ning Zhen did it.
General Shao was also taken aback. He glanced at Li Xinchen before saying, "Okay, let's report as we go."
Zhao Hong glanced at his colleague, whose face had darkened, and laughed heartily. He was only a centurion, yet Li Xinchen had always considered him a formidable rival. Ning Zhen was a capable and capable officer under his command, often praised by him. Meanwhile, he would occasionally criticize his personal guards, such as Chen Jin, to rub him in the face.
Ning Zhen was capable as a subordinate, but he was too active and not calm enough. He was not the kind of person who would be willing to be inferior to others. Now he had kicked him to climb up.
Zhao Hong patted Li Xinchen on the shoulder, motioning him to follow. "Come on, this guy's quite sensible, right?" He wondered if he'd recalled his earlier statement, "The capable rise, the incompetent fall," as he truly embodied the situation before him.
Li Xinchen was choked by being slapped in the face. He was so angry that he hated Zhao Hong for bringing up such a matter. He hated Ning Zhen even more for causing him to be slapped in the face.
In an instant, he stared at Ning Zhen's back viciously, as if he wanted to eat him.
Unfortunately, Ning Zhen ignored him and only focused on dealing with General Shao. "No need to elaborate, General, please read——"
Huh? No need to report, but need him to see it with his own eyes? General Shao also knew that if Ning Zhen dared to report to him over his head, he must have something on his hands, so he looked over at what he said.
"Huh?" He stopped in his tracks when he saw this.
"General, this is a new accounting method I've discovered. It allows you to design tables and fill in all kinds of data, and it's intuitive, concise, and clear. General, I think this accounting method is very suitable for logistics and military supplies."
"Great! This method of accounting is unprecedented! And you're right, it's called a spreadsheet, right? It's useful, very useful!"
Hearing this, Ning Zhen, who had been holding his breath, suddenly relaxed.
After General Shao praised highly, he looked at Li Xinchen and then at Ning Zhen, frowning as if he was thinking and looking a little embarrassed.
Ning Zhen's heart was lifted again.
General Shao pondered for a moment and said, "Well, you will be transferred to my command and serve under me. Your position will be temporarily designated as Centurion."
Sure enough, his bet was right. Ning Zhen heaved a long sigh of relief this time, then kowtowed and said gratefully, "Thank you, General, for the promotion!"
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