Chapter 249 Container Camp
After eating the local high-end Western food, Lin Ruoyan couldn't wait to go and see the camp.
In Bolivia, the camps of large enterprises are built quite luxuriously. They are no longer temporary buildings, but permanent structures. After the construction projects are completed, those camps will be taken back by the local authorities and converted into other public buildings, such as schools, community centers or libraries.
This time their goal is to build a new city in a desolate inland area. Surrounded by endless grasslands, the population is very sparse. The camp that can accommodate large enterprises and small factories must appear more magnificent.
Their vehicle was an off-road vehicle. The first hour after leaving the city, the road was paved. After the second hour, it turned into a dirt road, which was still relatively flat and not too bumpy. After another hour, even the dirt road became potholed, and the food they had eaten was almost thrown out.
At this time, you can see some villages in the distance. The buildings are all characteristic huts made of mud with thatched roofs. A small village has only dozens of households.
Lin Ruoyan discovered that the locals were also reclaiming wasteland, and they were using the fire method.
They set fire to the weeds, and after turning the soil, the ash that seeped into the soil became a good fertilizer. However, they did not have more advanced farming tools, such as tractors, oxen, and iron plows. They only used primitive slash-and-burn farming, relying entirely on human labor.
Local women bent over their work, while small children who could not walk were put into the fields to play on the overgrown weeds. Some wizened old women carried huge water cans on their heads to irrigate the newly cultivated land.
"Why are there no men plowing the land?" Hua Mengmeng asked curiously.
Zhuo Yuan explained, "Men all go to the city to work, but they usually just earn their own money. It's easier to make money by working hard than by using your brain. If there's an industry nearby, like a large factory, many women don't farm and go work in the factory."
Lin Ruoyan had visited Mr. Yuan's agricultural project before and knew that the local farming was extremely backward. She couldn't help but feel a little worried: "But these people are farming so casually, the food they produce won't be enough to eat, right? If they can't make any money, will they starve if they rely solely on growing food?"
"The local climate and soil are quite good, much more fertile than the land back home. Even with such primitive farming, the yield is decent. Also, have you seen those trees? The fruit on them can be ground into flour. The local staple food, a kind of porridge, is made from the powder of those fruit. Before the arrival of modern civilization, the locals thrived for thousands of years, relying on the gifts of nature. Farming and growing crops weren't essential to their lives."
Lin Ruoyan wondered what modern civilization had brought to the local people. The country, which was rich in various mineral resources, was plundered, the ecology was destroyed, and the indigenous people had to change their lifestyle and participate in modern production.
Is this right or wrong? No one asked the locals if they wanted it, and they had no other choice. The colonists came and went, leaving behind ruins and scorched earth, and their wealth never remained on this continent.
At sunset, Lin Ruoyan could already see the outlines of a large group of square buildings not far away.
The houses weren't tall, but their layout was meticulous, a stark contrast to the local villages. Local villages didn't build walls, their mud houses and shacks scattered about haphazardly, without much planning. This place was clearly designed, protected by a massive, high wall. Watchtowers and weapon stations could be seen, like a large barracks.
At this moment, a car suddenly turned out from a fork in the road behind them, driving at an extremely fast speed, overtaking Zhuo Yuan's convoy of four cars, and sped towards the camp.
Zhuo Yuan looked at the unfamiliar vehicles and called the duty room at the camp. He asked, "Are there any strangers coming to the camp?"
The camp duty room was about to report the emergency to Zhuo Yuan, and quickly replied, "Yes, President Zhuo. They are armed, appear to be Chinese, and speak standard Mandarin. However, none of them have Chinese passports, and there is a seriously injured person in their car. We implore you to provide medical assistance first."
Zhuo Yuan replied, "Save the people first. If they are unwilling to hand over their weapons, they should stay in the designated area. Don't let them wander around the camp."
They look like Chinese people and speak standard Mandarin, but they can't produce a Chinese passport, which makes their identities very suspicious. This camp is newly built and the largest corporate camp in the area, so unidentified people are not allowed to enter.
Fortunately, the camp was designed with some options for dealing with armed invasions in mind. There are two medical rooms, one in the center of the camp and a temporary medical station at the main entrance.
When Zhuo Yuan and his team arrived, the car they had just taken was parked at a temporary medical station near the gate, and the wounded had already been taken in.
The three people who had come with us in the car, their guns still on their backs, didn't force their way into the camp. Instead, they stood to drink water, eat, and rest. They looked exhausted after the long journey and hadn't had time to eat or drink. They also had injuries, but they were simply bandaged and didn't request care from the camp doctors or nurses.
Zhuo Yuan asked his assistant to go over and inquire about the situation. He wanted to settle Lin Ruoyan and Hua Mengmeng first before dealing with this matter.
Unexpectedly, the tall, bearded young man on the other side seemed to know Zhuo Yuan. After seeing him get out of the car, he greeted him, "Is this Mr. Zhuo from Nanwai Construction?"
Zhuo Yuan had no choice but to stand beside the car and asked doubtfully, "Excuse me, who are you?"
The bearded man slung his gun across his shoulder, gave a standard military salute, and said, "Twelve years ago, we were in the same unit."
Zhuo Yuan took a closer look and said in surprise, "Old Xu? Squad Leader Xu, right?"
The bearded man nodded and said, "It's me."
"Why did you end up in Africa?" Zhuo Yuan was admitted to a military academy directly after taking the college entrance examination. He studied engineering and later gradually embarked on the path of engineering management.
He clearly remembered that Squad Leader Xu was exceptional in every way and had been selected for the special forces, but he had lost contact since then. He was already in his thirties, so why was he still on the front lines? Was his mercenary identity just a disguise?
"Where are you from? Did you lose your passport?" Zhuo Yuan asked again.
Old Xu didn't directly answer so many questions. He looked around and said subtly, "We came from another camp and are currently private mercenaries. We gave our passports to our superiors for safekeeping before we left on the mission."
Private mercenaries? Lin Ruoyan overheard a few words from their conversation, but she didn't dare to move forward to ask more questions. Her heartbeat suddenly quickened, and she felt an inexplicable unease lingering in her heart.
In Africa, even in the 21st century, many regions are still plagued by war and conflict. It's not that the locals don't value peace, but rather that they are guilty of possessing a treasure. There are always people in the Western world who don't want them to have peace.
The emergence of private mercenaries is a phenomenon where powerful individuals hire military forces for self-protection. These individuals can be local politicians or foreign businesses. Like Zhuo Yuan, they build their own camps and pay for armed forces for security.
These mercenaries fled here with the wounded. Did they get into trouble and were chased here for help?
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