When they arrived at the excavation site, they found that a 10-meter-deep pit had been dug in the ground. Standing on the top of the pit, they could see the exposed cement slabs, which were probably the roof of the original warehouse building. The people below were speeding up their digging in that area.
Those on the side and those standing on the pit held their breath, staring intently at that spot, praying that it must be food.
As the first cement slab was lifted, the packaging bag inside was revealed. At this moment, Chief Kuang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but step forward to pull it, but it was probably being held down by the stones next to it, and he couldn't pull it off no matter what he did.
"Quickly dig around the edges some more!" Chief Kuang shouted as he reached out to feel the contents of the bag. But when he touched the soft, squishy material, his heart skipped a beat, and he prayed that it wasn't what he suspected.
The soldiers on the side were very helpful; they cleared the area around the bag in no time, and then the whole bag was pulled out.
Old Ma took out a military knife from the side of his trousers and handed it to Chief Kuang. Chief Kuang gently pried open the bag along the seal line. Even these kinds of bags are rare now, and he couldn't bear to damage even one.
After untying the seams, Commander Kuang forcefully ripped open the seal from both sides, revealing a collection of military-grade cotton quilts. Everyone was speechless; this was far from what they had expected.
Political Commissar Wang took out a list of the items from his bag, found the list containing the military quilts, and began to examine them one by one.
"Commander, look here!" Political Commissar Wang squeezed next to Commander Kuang, excitedly pointing to the catalog on the paper. "Quickly, let everyone keep digging. This isn't just for storing blankets; there are other supplies too."
"Where?" Chief Kuang snatched the document from his hand and began to examine it, but he couldn't find it anywhere.
Political Commissar Wang quickly found the items on the paper and pointed them out to him, saying, "Here, if we haven't gone to the wrong warehouse, these things should be here."
"That's great. How were they so clever to store all the supplies in a staggered manner? I wonder if the other warehouses are together." Chief Kuang then thought of the other warehouses that were not far away. He wondered if the tectonic movement had moved them as well. If not, then they should all be in this vicinity.
Although the warehouse was found, trouble soon followed.
The soldiers stationed there at the time also learned about this news. Although they agreed to lend the supplies to the soldiers once they found them, they felt quite bitter when they saw that their own team had been digging for so long without finding them.
Somehow the news reached the surrounding villages, and several villages quickly gathered around.
If it weren't for the soldiers surrounding them holding weapons, everyone might have tried to grab it.
"These are our local reserves; we can't let you just take them."
"Yes, these are all ours. Even if you dig them up, we'll give you some compensation for your trouble. You have no right to take them all away."
Soon, everyone started arguing about the ownership of these supplies, with most people even demanding that they be distributed equally among the people.
"Quiet," Chief Kuang shouted into the megaphone, "First of all, this batch of supplies does not belong to any individual. These are war reserves and will definitely be used for those who need them most. They are not something we can monopolize. We will make a list and distribute them publicly. If you need these quilts or cotton later, we welcome you to come and exchange them for supplies. We will definitely give you a fair exchange ratio."
"They actually expect us to exchange goods for this? What about the refugees? Are they allowed to receive the supplies that rightfully belong to us?"
"Why should we? Your local area should also have its own reserves of supplies. If we're going to allocate them, we should use your own."
"Although we may not need these things now, can you guarantee that we won't need them in the future? If you distribute them now, what will we do when we need them later?"
Most people still can't understand why their own things should be distributed by outsiders.
The refugees who arrived also began to refute this.
“These should belong to the country, not to any individual. Besides, we are going through a difficult time right now, shouldn’t they help us?”
"This is our hope. You already have houses and land here, why are you competing with us for these things?"
"You have to leave us a way to live, right? Are you just going to watch us starve to death like this?"
Seeing that the two sides were about to start arguing again, Chief Kuang picked up the megaphone and said, "Quiet down. No one can get these supplies for free now. As I said before, locals can bring goods to exchange for them. Anyone coming from outside who needs to take anything must write an IOU. They can pay for it with their work later, or when they have supplies. Of course, there is a time limit. If they don't repay on time, we will confiscate the equivalent value or drive them away."
Hearing this, the locals had no objections, but the migrants were somewhat disappointed.
"What will we use to repay them then? We don't even have a place to stay right now, so what's the point of talking about the future?"
"Then you need to give us a place to stay or help us integrate into the local community, otherwise we won't be able to repay you in the future."
Upon hearing this, someone immediately retorted, "So you still want to take it for free? This isn't a matter of who's weaker and who's right. Besides, given what you've done before, you think we'll take you in?"
"We had no choice back then. Do you think we wanted to do that?"
"What's done is done, and there's no way to undo it now."
Seeing that the two camps were about to start clashing again, Chief Kuang coughed heavily twice through the megaphone.
"You can borrow a batch of supplies first, and then find a new place here to build a new village. That's how we settled our team when we came here before." Chief Kuang never intended to distribute these supplies for nothing. They were borrowed from the locals, and what would they use to repay them later?
"Instead of making a scene here, you should hurry back and check what you need so you can get advance payments. Also, quickly find a suitable place for you to settle down. I will publish the list next, so everyone should take a look and see what you need, and then go to the front to register." Political Commissar Wang took the megaphone and began to read the list in his hand.
After reading it, he also called out to the nearby villages, "If you need anything, you can bring something over to exchange for it. Some items are limited, so it's first come, first served."
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