Chapter 218 What are you looking at?
Someone inside rushed towards the door; upon closer inspection, it was Taozi.
When Taozi saw me, he secretly smiled at me.
"Is the registration complete?"
Taozi asked the thin man who was taking notes.
The thin man lowered his hand from his sweaty mouth and answered briskly, "Alright, alright, you can go in now."
The door to the refugee camp was opened, and I entered without any problems.
As Taozi and I walked inside, the burly man's voice rang out from behind us: "Why did Taozi have to come and pick us up personally?"
You can guess, kid.
The refugee camp has two rows of houses on the left and right, which are no different from normal rural houses.
Looking at the house, I couldn't help but wonder, "Do they all live here? How many people live in one house?"
Taozi explained to me in a low voice: "Now seven or eight people live in one house. We try to arrange for the whole family to live together. There are still some empty houses. When other refugees come, the empty houses may be filled and people may have to squeeze into other houses."
I nodded without saying anything.
Taozi continued, "Sister, I've reserved a pretty good house for you. It's currently empty, but I'm worried that it might be too unusual and arouse suspicion. So, I'll find a few honest women to live with you later."
Taozi is very thoughtful, and I am very satisfied with his arrangements.
After walking for a short while, I arrived at the house I was going to stay in, which was the second to last one from the right.
Pushing open the door, the room was cold; it was clear that the fire hadn't been lit in a long time.
The room was fairly tidy and clean. I went to the bedroom with the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) and looked around. The room was empty, without any furniture, but the windows were intact.
I nodded in satisfaction. I was only staying for a few days anyway, so as long as the room wasn't too cold, it would be fine.
Taozi said apologetically, "Sister, the base provides them with a fixed amount of firewood every day so they can make their own fires for warmth. I'll have to trouble you to come and get it with them. I can't bring it to you for them."
I put the package on the kang (a heated brick bed) and shook my head: "It's nothing, it's nothing, it's a small matter."
Living alone in this house all day isn't good either, so I continued to ask Taozi, "What activities do you have every day that allow us to get together? I'm afraid I won't find out anything if I stay in this house all day."
"The base provides two meals a day, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The refugees will line up and gather together. They will also gather together when they collect firewood. In addition, the base will also call them together for meetings if they have something to say to them."
Taozi rattled off all the possibilities, and I took careful notes.
"I can't stay with you alone for too long, so I'll go now and find some people to move into your room."
As Taozi walked out, I nodded and instructed him, "Call a couple more people; the more people there are, the better you'll understand the situation."
Taozi left, and I looked around the room. I have to say, it felt like moving into a new house. I guess I'll just treat it as a vacation.
There's a straw mat on this kang (heated brick bed), but it's not the kind I have at home; it's made of woven straw.
I swept the heated brick bed clean, chose a spot right in the middle, put my quilt and clothes there, and then had nothing else to do.
I sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and swung my legs for a while, but I was so bored that I decided to go out and take a look.
I first peeked out through the crack in the door.
Perhaps because it was still quite cold, there were very few refugees to be seen outside; most of them were hiding indoors.
There are few people outside, so we probably won't get any useful information. Let's just forget about it.
I closed the door tightly and went back inside.
If you wander around aimlessly outside, looking like you have endless energy, people might become suspicious.
This was my first time going undercover, and I was far too cautious.
The house was colder and colder the longer I stayed inside, the colder it got. Just as I was about to decide to go out and get some firewood, the door creaked open.
Noisy footsteps came from outside. I had just turned around when several people appeared at the bedroom door.
One, two, three, four, five, there are five women in total.
Everyone remained silent, their expressions somewhat numb.
Their expressions are a little scary; they all look a bit like ghosts...
The woman at the front was very tall. She paused briefly at the door before entering and placing her luggage at the head of the kang (a heated brick bed).
The two women behind her followed closely, placing their packages next to the taller woman.
After all five women entered the house, I saw the burly man at the back, the same big guy who had been sitting at the door at the beginning, pretending to be recording files.
The burly man spoke in a muffled voice: "You'll be living in this room from now on. You can discuss things like how to start a fire yourselves, and make sure it's fair."
After saying that, he glanced at me subtly, then turned and left.
The door outside slammed shut, and after the burly man passed by the window, the woman inside was no longer as quiet as before.
"Tch, that's more like it. This room is much better than the one we stayed in before."
The woman next to the tall woman spoke, her tone sharp and sarcastic, a far cry from her previous pitiful and numb expression.
This is interesting; we've only just started meeting refugees and we've already run into people like this.
The arrangement on the heated kang is like this: the first one is the tall woman, the second one is the one who speaks with a sharp tongue, and the third one is with them.
The fourth one was me, the fifth one was a skinny girl, and the sixth one was a woman about the same age as Aunt Liu.
I looked around and got a general idea of what was going on.
The first three are a group and look quite formidable, while the last two are probably easy targets; they look pitiful and destined for misery.
I can even guess what will happen next: the formidable trio will definitely bully these two pushovers.
I had just finished analyzing it in my mind when I heard a voice in my ear.
"What are you looking at? If you have nothing to do, go and line up to get firewood to heat the kang (heated brick bed). Who gave you permission to keep looking back and forth?"
The woman sleeping in the second bunk stared at me with wide eyes and shouted orders.
Okay, besides bullying those two weaklings, he also bullies me.
"Alright, Hong, let's get things sorted out first."
The tall woman spoke up; it turned out that the woman in the second bunk was named Hong.
"Oh, Sister Bai, it's not that I'm saying anything, but we're new here, so we definitely need to set an example for you."
The woman named Hong reluctantly took off her shoes, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and began to pack her belongings.
I also learned that the tall woman's name was Sister Bai.
After the three women finished packing their things, they went straight into bed and lay down.
What kind of operation is this?
It left me completely stunned.
Looking at the two gigolos on the other side, he silently packed his luggage and crawled into bed.
Okay, looks like it's cold inside, so I'm burrowing under the covers to conserve my body heat.
I quietly took off my shoes and crawled into bed, but it was too cold in the room, about -20 degrees Celsius, just like outside.
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