Chapter 358 Refugee Camp
Bohai County, at the foot of Boshan Mountain.
Heavy snow was falling in the dim sky. It had been snowing like goose feathers for five or six days in Bohai County.
The newly built refugee camp had already begun accepting refugees half a month ago, but even today, people are still arriving after hearing the news.
These newly arrived refugees must first register at the entrance and choose whether to work to pay for food and accommodation or pay in cash. They are then assigned to different rooms based on the type of refugee they are.
Yes, refugee camps are not free shelters, and refugees who come to live there have to pay.
Just like an inn, you have to pay for accommodation and meals.
However, the price is not high. Apart from the cost and labor, there is only a very small profit.
But even so, there are still many people who cannot pay.
Refugees who cannot pay their debts must work to pay off their debts, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the refugee camp.
These refugees who cannot pay will be assigned different jobs based on their physical fitness and abilities.
Those who have good physical fitness but no special skills will be assigned to sweep snow on roofs, clean streets, and do odd jobs.
Women who are skillful will be assigned to weaving work.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to knit, as knitting masters have already been arranged in the refugee camp.
The woven items are also very diverse, including baskets woven with bamboo strips and straw sandals woven with straw.
The most expensive work is weaving cloth and knitting sweaters.
The wool was the short-tailed sheep that Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan were looking for in Tianyin Mountain.
Although there has been a severe drought in the past two years, because Jiang Tangtang often adds some spiritual spring water to the livestock on the farm, and the workers on the farm are very dedicated and responsible, these short-tailed sheep have grown from a few at the beginning to hundreds.
Of course, Jiang Tangtang was not satisfied with the scale after such a long time.
However, given the special circumstances of the past two years, Jiang Tangtang felt that it was quite good that the short-tailed sheep on the farm had not died but continued to grow.
The drought of the past two years has severely affected both kudzu, hemp, cotton, and silkworms. Everyone is preoccupied with food, not clothing.
But in fact, in addition to food shortage, clothing was also in short supply.
After learning more about the situation, Jiang Tangtang discovered that the textile workers of this era had already mastered the techniques of spinning wool into yarn and then weaving it into cloth.
So workers were organized to process the wool.
The wool is processed into two types according to its quality: one is spun into yarn and woven into cloth, and the other is made into wool and woven into sweaters.
On this day, a new group of refugees arrived.
Most of these refugees are elderly, weak and young children. They cannot be arranged to sweep snow, and it seems that they are unable to do weaving work.
This gave the manager a headache.
Because we have been told by our superiors that we cannot keep idle people.
Of course, refugee camps have taken in many children and elderly people in the past, but these elderly people and children all have families, and their families can work to support these children and elderly people.
But you can imagine this, a group of dozens of people, all elderly and children, the manager has never encountered such a situation before, and has no idea how to deal with it.
Just as the steward was having a headache, he heard someone outside exclaim, "It's snowing so heavily, why is the Madam here?"
"They must have come specifically to check on the situation in the refugee camps. I heard that when she was in Lingnan, Madam Lu often went to the countryside to inspect the situation herself. The officials there never dared to commit corruption, and the people there lived a much better life."
Several refugees shoveling snow were extremely envious of the lives of the Lingnan people. But thinking that they could live in such warm houses just by clearing snow, they felt that they were not doing badly either.
Although this house is shared by many refugees, it is divided into rooms so that they can live in one room with their own family.
And the most amazing thing was that the room was extremely warm, warmer than any room they had ever lived in at home.
In the past, in the village, every winter there were several old people who froze to death.
Children at home often caught cold. Families with better conditions could see a doctor and get some medicine. Those with lesser conditions could only watch their children die of illness.
But after they came here, the child has never been sick.
And when they go out to work, they will be given clothes and shoes, which are called work clothes.
They didn't know what work clothes were, they just knew that these were the lucky days.
The workers all spoke well of Jiang Tangtang. The manager suddenly had an idea and quickly arranged these elderly people and children into the room. He then went to Jiang Tangtang to ask him how to solve this situation.
After the manager carefully reported the situation, he reflected on himself and said that he had not made preparations in advance, had not anticipated such a situation, and had not come up with a solution, and asked Jiang Tangtang to punish him.
From building the refugee camp to accommodating the refugees, everything was rushed. The staff were so busy they were like spinning tops, not thinking things through. Jiang Tangtang thought it was normal for some minor mistakes to occur.
She certainly wouldn't blame him for such a small mistake.
"Pick some literate refugees to be teachers and teach the children."
Jiang Tangtang believes that children are the hope of the country and should of course receive all the preferential treatment.
As for the elderly, who doesn’t grow old?
We cannot just take care of the children and ignore the elderly.
The manager said, "If this happens, I'm afraid some families will deliberately drive out their elderly and children in order to reduce their burden, and then leave them to enter the refugee camp as widows and widowers."
Jiang Tangtang couldn't help but take a closer look at the manager in front of her. She had to admit, she hadn't considered it carefully.
She nodded appreciatively. "Since you've thought of this, you should have figured out a solution, right?"
The steward was afraid Jiang Tangtang would misunderstand and think he was deliberately keeping it a secret in order to curry favor with her for a reward, so he carefully explained, "I just thought of it. I really hadn't thought of a solution before."
Jiang Tangtang said: "It's okay, tell me what you think."
The steward thought about it and said, “These children are charged for accommodation and food just like the elderly, but the repayment period is extended.
Due to limited space, the work that refugees in the refugee camps can do is also very limited.
But after the spring, these elderly people can do other work, and the children can extend their time to repay their debts. For example, I will register first, and when I turn 16, I will follow the government's arrangements and go to work to repay my debts."
Jiang Tangtang nodded, "Your idea is very good, let's do it as you say."
Thinking about what he had just said, which was mixed with many modern words, Jiang Tangtang asked about his name and origin.
Only then did they learn that this young steward was a refugee who had fled to Lingnan a few years ago. He was very fond of the new vernacular books that had been published in the Lingnan study, and had been preparing to take part in the government's talent selection examination.
As a result, due to drought, the government's selection examination was postponed again and again. Later, when Bohai County recruited people, they traveled thousands of miles from Lingnan to apply.
Jiang Tangtang encouraged: "Work hard and take the exam next year."
(I will start updating 6,000 words tomorrow and will continue until the 30th. I've updated less these days, sorry.)
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