When Chen Daming and his team were planning to go to Lin County to bring the things that the relatives of the river workers had asked him to bring, Gu Yu'an and Gu Yanzhang, the father and son who had been carrying mud and sand back and forth on the river bank, were on the verge of collapse.

Of course, they felt that they really couldn't bear it, not only the two of them, but everyone else felt that they were really about to go on. They

had to carry hundreds of kilograms of mud and sand

every time. Moreover, on average, each person had to run back and forth dozens of times every day.

In this way, they were all very hard-working.

In addition, when they ate, they could only eat the dry food they brought with them. The court did not distribute food, and it was impossible for them to cook for them. Therefore, some of them had not eaten for a day or two because of insufficient food.

They had not eaten, or they had not eaten enough, which could not provide them with enough energy and calories. They needed to do so much heavy physical work. Many people collapsed in the river while digging mud and sand because they were not in good health.

The supervisors, including the yamen runners in the government office, would think that anyone who collapsed or was working a little slowly was being lazy and slacking

off. So, in full view of the public, they would whip them with their whips.

After a whip hit their backs, everyone saw that the clothes of those unlucky people were not only torn, but their backs, arms, and faces were covered with blood and flesh.

Seeing their miserable state, everyone was like quails in winter, shrinking their necks tightly, not daring to stand out, not daring to speak for these people, and not daring to unite to stop such behavior.

No one helped those poor people.

Even though they knew that these people were fierce and dangerous, those river workers who were still working, under the threat of those people's whips, carried countless mud and sand, and walked forward with numb faces.

...

Finally, when they could rest and eat at noon, the older Gu Yu'an couldn't help but sigh.

He was very reluctant to take out the last spicy hotpot from his pocket, put it to his mouth and chewed it vigorously.

Every time he saw those who had no strength to work being yelled at and whipped by the group of people in the yamen, Gu Yu'an felt sorry for them and couldn't help but feel a little lucky in his heart.

Fortunately, when they came out, their daughter-in-law stuffed a bag of spicy hotpot into their arms, as well as the barbecue they were most reluctant to eat.

Spicy hotpot is spicy and numbing.

It is layered with chili peppers and contains a lot of salt. It

is spicy and salty. After eating such a piece, their bodies will become abnormally hot. After eating more salt, their strength came back.

And this barbecue has not been moldy even after being left for a long time. Although there is no fire here and no hot water to drink, they feel that their stomachs are not so empty if they eat it directly.

"Brother Yan, when we went out, we were lucky to get a lot of delicious food from your wife. Otherwise, we, father and son, would be severely whipped by those people like last year..."

Last year, Gu Yu'an fell ill after serving his labor service. The main reason was that he had to work a lot regardless of the wind or rain, and the food he ate was very bad. Apart from a few hard black steamed buns that were as hard as stones, he could not eat anything good.

More importantly, during that period, the imperial court investigated private salt very strictly.

Official salt was very expensive.

Their family did not have much money at that time. If they really bought a pound of official salt, their family would be emptied immediately.

At that time, he was reluctant to spend the money. He felt that he was in good health and could still survive the dozens of days of labor service by gritting his teeth. Therefore, when he brought his son here, he only brought about thirty black steamed buns!

Thinking of those black steamed buns that he couldn't bite no matter how hard he tried, and looking down carefully at the bright red spicy hot pot in his hand, Gu Yu'an smiled and said to Gu Yanzhang happily.

"Brother Yan, your wife's cooking skills are now good enough. In previous years, her cooking was not as delicious as this..."

Gu Yanzhang heard it and responded happily. "Dad, was my brother-in-law so generous in previous years?"

"..."

"My wife doesn't have any good ingredients or seasonings, so she can only stew the coarse grains in a pot and cook them into a paste. How can such a paste taste good?"

Gu Yanzhang said, and quickly finished the pot in his hand.

After eating the pot, he stuffed a large piece of barbecue into his mouth.

Because he remembered that his wife always said that you must not drink raw water after eating meat, Gu Yanzhang resisted his thirst and pursed his lips slightly.

"……"

While the father and son were whispering, Chen Daming, who had rented an ox cart from the village and brought a small pot, had already slowly driven over here.

When Chen Daming arrived at the place and found the people he was going to see, he greeted the yamen runners and supervisors who were guarding the place in a very experienced manner.

Those people in the yamen wanted to do well in the county. First of all, they had to get to know all kinds of people.

For example, the head of the yamen runners in the yamen, Captain Huang, everyone knew that he had a adopted son named Chen Daming.

Every time Chen Daming got something good, he would give a portion to Captain Huang.

Captain Huang would also ask his men from time to time to look after his adopted son.

Therefore, Chen Daming had been dealing with these yamen runners in the yamen for a long time.

They were all familiar faces, and when they were greeting each other, the yamen runners who were more familiar with Chen Daming couldn't help but smile.

"Chen Daming, why are you here now?"

Chen Daming said politely to the yamen runner holding a whip more than three meters long in his hand, "It turns out to be Brother Liu. I haven't seen you for a long time. You seem to be getting healthier!"

"It's not a big deal for me to come here now. I just heard that several of my good brothers are here."