Chapter 382 Sugar-coated Bullet (Second update, please subscribe)
The train was running through the vast jungle. In this primitive jungle, this railway and the rumbling train symbolized civilization and progress. This nearly 400-kilometer-long railway was the first railway in Central Africa and was also the guarantee for Nanhua to go deep into the heart of the Congo River.
It was this railway that brought modern civilization into the heart of Africa, which had not changed much in the past million years, and allowed the local people to feel the breath of modern civilization.
Of course, it is also this railway that enables Nanhua to obtain a steady stream of wealth from Congo and the basin.
Captain Wesley could see the vast jungle outside the carriage through the gap. Like everyone else, he was full of worries about the future.
What will be waiting for them in the future?
In this way, with everyone feeling uneasy, the train traveled for more than twenty hours until the evening of the next day, when it stopped. As before, they were not given any time to rest. Soon, the prisoners were driven onto several steamers, and for the next few days, the ships sailed along the Congo River.
That night, Wesley, like everyone else, had a simple dinner and then fell into a deep sleep. In the following voyage, they went upstream. Every few hours, captives were sent off the boat. Sometimes, they saw some indigenous tribes. The black people lived in grass houses by the river. They crawled like ants, and their clothes were half-naked.
Looking at the black village by the river through the iron bars of the window, Wesley finally figured out where he was.
"Fernando, it looks like we are really in Africa."
"Ah...Africa? Why did they send us here?"
Fernando looked at the rain forest outside the window in confusion.
"What do they want us to do? Live with these niggers?"
…
Two days later, Wesley finally got off the ship. When he walked onto the pier with Fernando and more than a hundred other prisoners, he was unexpectedly greeted by a European, who was probably of Indian descent.
“You are from Buenos Aires.”
Justo, standing on the pier, took the initiative to introduce himself.
"I'm Justo, Chilean, but of course, as you know, in their context, Chile has disappeared..."
"You are Chilean? How did you get here?"
Wesley was surprised.
At this moment, he seemed to know the other party's identity. There are many Chilean exiles in Buenos Aires, and they often talk about those who were arrested at midnight and their whereabouts are unknown.
Where did they go? Were they killed or imprisoned? This has always been a mystery.
Now, looking at the Chilean man in front of him, the mystery was finally solved. They were not killed or imprisoned, but sent to Africa!
"Like you, I am also a prisoner of war. God can testify that I am just a reporter. But, you know, they definitely don't care. There are even priests who were sent here as prisoners. But that's all in the past."
Justo's tone was full of resignation. Even if he didn't accept his fate, what would happen? After all, there was no sign of release. If he wanted to survive, he had to accept his fate.
Justo, who was leading the way, introduced the situation here to them as they walked.
"This is Plantation No. 75. The company's naming rules for plantations are very simple, which is to use numbers. If one day the population here exceeds 1,000, they may build a town here. However, this 1,000 people refers to them, the South Chinese, and possibly some naturalized citizens..."
Justo said quickly when he saw a uniformed supervisor approaching.
"Bow with me!"
At his request, everyone stood on the roadside and bowed to the oncoming supervisor.
"Hello, Mr. Tian."
Justo greeted in Chinese.
"Yeah! Hello."
The supervisor nodded slightly in return.
Justo spoke only after the man left.
"Remember that the Central African Company's plantations are divided into four classes. The South Chinese, I mean the real South Chinese, are the first class. The second class is the short supervisors, they are Japanese, they may be supervisors, or they may be the company's mercenaries, and they are also loyal to the company... well, running dogs. They are all born as samurai. Although they are short, each of them is very powerful and extremely cruel. Forget it, you will know later. And what about us? We are the third class here. When we see them, we have to bow and salute to show respect and obedience."
"Sir, we are prisoners of war, not..."
Wesley stopped talking before he could finish. He thought of the officers or soldiers who were executed for disobeying orders in the prisoner-of-war camps. In order to maintain order, those people did not mind using bullets to speak.
Seeing this, Justo said.
"It seems that you have also had similar surprises. Here, we are nothing. If we want to survive, we must learn to obey and respect. Do you understand?"
Seeing that Wesley didn't say anything, Justo continued to introduce the situation in the plantation. Seeing that Wesley's eyes were looking at the rainforest on both sides of the road from time to time, he shrugged his shoulders and said.
"Captain, I know what you are thinking, you must be thinking about that, but I advise you not to do that,"
"Why?"
"Because you are safe in the plantation. Here we are workers in the plantation. The locals will take care of our daily lives. But once we leave the plantation area, we are prey. The prey of the locals. In the mouths of the locals, we are called "* (—"!"
Justo spoke something in the language of the natives.
"What do you mean?"
"It's the same as rubber. We are equivalent to the same weight of rubber. Once a white man leaves the plantation, he will be hunted by all tribes. One hundred kilograms of rubber is enough to make any tribe crazy. After all, they all have rubber quotas."
"What does this mean?"
"It's the quota. According to the treaty signed between the company and the chiefs, each person has to hand in 9 kilograms of rubber per month. In order to make them meet the quota, they used a lot of means. The female workers in the plantation are not only female workers, but also hostages, forced to work. These words cannot be explained in a few words. You will know later."
Justo did not explain what the rubber quota was and changed the subject.
Soon, Justo led them into the plantation. On both sides of the path on both sides of the road, wooden houses were neatly arranged. On the grass in front of the wooden houses, children of different ages were playing under the care of indigenous women. They all seemed to be mixed-race.
“Dad, Dad…”
Hearing the shouting in the distance, Justo waved to the child who called him.
"Baby, I'll be home soon, you stay with mom first."
After greeting his daughter, Justo introduced.
"She is my daughter, and the one next to her is my..."
After thinking about it, Hu Shituo said.
"My wife, my wife in Africa."
When saying this, Justo thought of his wife, his wife and children far away in San Diego. Are they doing well now?
Half an hour later, Captain Wesley, who was standing in several rows in front of a white wooden building, met the manager of the plantation.
"Well, gentlemen, I believe that through Justo's introduction, you have a certain understanding of this place."
Hu Mingkui, who was standing in front of the corridor, looked at the prisoners and said.
"For you, the war is over. You should enjoy a peaceful life. If you follow the rules here, I believe your life will be very easy. If you violate them... I think you will understand when the time comes. I hope you can live here peacefully."
To survive, as a prisoner of war or as a coolie?
When can we go home?
No one would answer Wesley's question, but Wesley soon discovered that everything seemed a little different from what he had imagined.
Wesley, standing in front of the row of wooden houses, holding clothes in his hands, looked at them in surprise like everyone else. In the corridor of the wooden house opposite, there stood a group of indigenous women with dark skin. They looked at the newcomers with smiles on their faces.
"Who are these people?"
"They are female workers of the plantation. Your dormitory is across from the female workers' dormitory. You just arrived here, if you need anything, you can ask them for help. They are all very enthusiastic. They can clean the room, wash clothes, and... they can meet almost any request you have."
Although Justo only smiled mysteriously, everyone who understood understood. At this moment, the eyes of the prisoners who didn't know what the future would be like changed when they stared at the female workers. Facing their gazes, the group of female workers also responded boldly, facing the gazes of the men...
This night was destined to be a restless night for the plantation.
Listening to the heavy breathing and the woman's unrestrained screams coming from the next room.
Wesley, who couldn't fall asleep after tossing and turning, started to curse.
"Damn it, this must be a damn conspiracy. ..."
Although Wesley had the same desire in his heart, as long as he thought of Justo's black wife and the mixed-race children running around in the camp, he felt that everything was not that simple.
This must be a conspiracy!
It was a conspiracy by the South Chinese people to destroy their will. If he compromised, if he ran into a black female worker's room, he would soon sink into it and sink into the passion of those black women.
Then what?
Then he would give up his desire to go home. In the end, he would even forget his family completely like Justo, and start a new family here with a black man. Then he would work hard and live the rest of his life like a slave on this plantation...
Actually, Wesley guessed correctly.
This is exactly why they are allowed to live together with the female workers in the same dormitory. This arrangement is not intended to allow the female workers to comfort the lonely hearts of the fermented bean curd workers.
It was to paralyze them, to make them accept their fate, to make them give up the past, and to burn out their lives for South China's colonial cause in this colony.
Not only theirs, but also the children they had with local women workers. They are just consumables for a great cause!
"No, I want to go home..."
At this moment, Wesley's mind once again appeared his wife's beautiful face.
"Amisia..."
(End of this chapter)
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