Chen Dong's later years were not very good. Due to illness, he had a foul odor, and people said he was an unlucky person.
He originally worked as a long-term laborer in the landlord's house, but because of other people's gossip, the landlord kicked him out.
Having no land or fields, he wanted to work for others, but no one wanted an old servant.
Forced by circumstances, he could only find a neglected piece of wasteland by the river, settle down there, and survive.
A dilapidated wooden hut, a fishing net, and a machete were all he had.
A wooden bowl and a ceramic jar were his only tools for eating.
He lived a hard life, had no neighbors, and had little food stored at home. Besides himself, he couldn't even afford to feed a mouse.
If you find a mouse in your house, you might as well consider it an extra treat.
Given his family's situation, even if bandits or brigands came, they wouldn't be able to plunder anything from him. Moreover, given his illness, the bandits wouldn't consider him as a source of food.
Chen Dong originally thought that he would live a lonely and miserable life, and that one day, he would lie on the wooden bed, close his eyes and never open them again, and then die in this thatched hut.
But life is unpredictable, and a major disaster completely disrupted his life.
The earthquake came very suddenly; he had just stepped out the door when his house was gone.
How could a haphazardly built thatched hut withstand such a natural disaster? It collapsed instantly.
Having narrowly escaped death, he watched the earth-shaking scene and didn't know what to do. He could only stay where he was and wait for the earthquake to pass.
"What's with the vibration? We're already starving, what's the point of the vibration?"
After the earthquake, he brushed the leaves off his clothes and prepared to rebuild his house.
At this moment, Bai Luoti arrived with his soldiers: "There is a water source here, it's perfect for us to settle the disaster victims nearby."
"Hey, there's a fellow villager building a house here."
"Fellow villager, have you also been affected by the disaster? Don't be afraid, we are the prince's troops."
“Your house is too close to the river, it’s not safe. Come to our place, it’s far from the river, it will be safer.”
"Do you still have family? Oh, no? Then would you like to come and work for us? We pay for work here."
Chen Dong didn't remember what Bai Luoti said. He only knew that this tall soldier asked him to help with chores, such as cooking and tending the fire, and he would receive one or two taels of silver a month.
If you perform well, you can become a full-time employee and earn more money.
Chen Dong, in a daze, started a fire.
He didn't come to his senses until the engine was turned off.
Looking at the steamed buns on the stove, the rice porridge and pickled vegetables in the bowl, he felt somewhat lost.
No matter how it was prepared, it was all for the officials to eat; there was nothing for the disaster victims.
He didn't recover until someone asked him to help get food.
Holding a ladle, standing in front of the rice porridge, looking at the disaster victims queuing up in front of him, he fell into deep thought.
"Sir, should we give this rice porridge to these people?"
"Nonsense, if we don't feed them, are we supposed to throw it away? Hurry up and get them some food, can't you see they're all hungry?"
Feng rolled his eyes and hurriedly tried to maintain order: "Don't fucking stand there, find a place to eat after you're done fighting, then line up and get your number tags."
Chen Dong looked at him busily and couldn't quite understand it.
When did the officials in Jiangnan become so kind-hearted that they would feed them rice porridge and pickled vegetables?
Aren't those officers and soldiers usually the ones who don't pay for meals and even rob people out of the blue?
He couldn't understand it, but he still had to keep working.
Watching the rice porridge disappear little by little, he felt a pang of heartache. He always felt that it was such a waste for people like them to eat such refined food.
After the disaster victims finished eating, the soldiers hastily built a shed on the wasteland and put the disaster victims inside to rest before they came over to eat and rest for a while.
"Damn, steel pipes are so much better. We used to build with wood, which was slow and not sturdy at all."
"Building it with steel pipes is much sturdier."
While munching on a steamed bun, Bai Luoti boasted to Ying Song beside him, "It's just that the prince always says these steel pipes are a bit improper, but I don't know what's wrong with them."
"Stop talking, I'm exhausted, let me rest."
Ying Song's eyelids drooped, and he didn't want to move a single finger. All he wanted to do right now was sleep.
He had run dozens of miles, helped rescue people and build shelters, and worked all day long; he was completely exhausted.
He had no appetite, even when it came to food. He was starving just now, but now he was so hungry that he didn't feel hungry at all.
He just wanted to lie on the ground and have a good sleep before thinking about anything else.
"I'm tired too, but there's nothing I can do."
Looking at his exhausted appearance, Bai Luoti said, "When you're tired, you can't rest. You have to get moving and get your energy back."
"Otherwise, once I sit down, I won't want to move at all."
"Hurry up, grab a bite and get the shed ready. At least these people should have a place to stay for the night."
"Where shall we stay?"
Ying Song glanced around and realized that the makeshift shelters were only enough for the common people to stay in; it seemed that there was nowhere for them to sleep.
"Sigh, we're all teenagers or in our twenties. We can just find a place, use the sky as our blanket and the ground as our bed, and that's it."
“These people are different. They are so hungry that they are skin and bones. If you leave them outside in the wind all night, I estimate that half of them will be gone the next day.”
“Let’s put up with this for a bit, brothers. We’ll suffer tonight and then talk about it after we’ve settled the disaster victims.”
Bai Luoti quickly finished the porridge in his bowl and then led his men to continue building the sheds. The rescue workers outside were still bringing disaster victims here in a steady stream.
We need to speed things up and properly resettle these disaster victims.
Li Chang'an's teaching methods gradually had some effect within the army.
At least, he instilled the belief in putting the people first in the hearts of these soldiers.
Chen Dong held his bowl, watching Bai Luoti's departing figure, and fell into deep thought.
In his bowl, besides rice porridge, there was also a bowl of sweet soup and a small dish of pickled vegetables.
These things were enough for him to experience the feeling of being full and satisfied.
Especially that bowl of sweet soup, it tasted so good, and I felt like I had inexhaustible energy.
Those soldiers ate about the same as him, at least they ate faster.
He thought he was already wolfing down his food, but the soldiers ate even faster. They would finish their food and then force-feed it to the soldiers, without even sitting down to rest, before rushing off to work.
Looking at these busy soldiers, Chen Dong felt that the world had changed somewhat.
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