7.

The group walked for seven or eight days and finally arrived at the mouth of the Yellow River. The port was bustling with people preparing to take a boat to Kanto. They were led onto a ship by two Russians, and although the ship was quite large, it couldn't hold up so many people that it couldn't fit it. The rest of the people were led to another boat, Zhao Shun looked around and said, "Don't wander around if it's okay for a while, don't move the place if you can." ”

"How?" Lin asked.

"This ship is loaded with too many people," Zhao Shun said, "and if it doesn't work well, it will have to be capsized." ”

"No, Uncle Zhao, such a big ship," Lin Hongming said.

"Look at it, this person is crowding everyone," Zhao Shun said, "be careful." ”

After speaking, he glanced at Lin Hongwen, and said in his heart that this kid was really carried on the boat, and he didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse. Zhao Shun thought about it, took out the half of the steamed bun that he had stolen before, and handed it to Lin Hongwen, while looking at Lin Shiingshen and Lin Hongming, and said, "His body is not as good as the two of you." ”

Lin Hongwen didn't reach out to pick it up, he turned his head to look at Lin Xingshen, Lin Xingshen nodded, and he took the steamed bun, "Thank you, Uncle Zhao." ”

"My younger brother has a good head since he was a child, and Mr. Nian Private School said that he was a good seedling for reading", Lin Hongming said, "Unlike me, I was beaten by Mr. Jing." ”

Zhao Shun looked at Lin Hongwen, who was eating steamed buns one bite at a time, and there was a terrifying blood scab on his pale lips, presumably because he was too uncomfortable to bite on the road.

"It's a pity", Zhao Shun looked at Lin Shiingshen and said, "Your son, if you have a good time, you can't be a lifter." ”

Lin Shiingshen also sighed, "Isn't it that I haven't caught up with that good year." ”

Lin Hongwen listened quietly and did not speak, he could hear the meaning of Zhao Shun's words. In fact, he himself has thought many times that even if he is allowed to go to Kanto, he may not be able to bear the heavy physical work of building roads. But what can you do if you don't go on? Staying there is only a dead end. Lin Hongwen swallowed the last bite of steamed buns, felt that he seemed to have some strength again, and clenched his fists with his hanging hands, but he still couldn't hold them tightly.

The four of them were talking in a whisper, and suddenly they heard Du Xinzhu's voice in the corner, and Lin Shiingshen listened carefully, and his face became gloomy.

Du Xinzhu said without hesitation over there, "The Treaty of Nanjing, the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and the cession of land and compensation, this Northeast wants to let Lao Maozi build the railway, look at it, the entire Northeast will have to become Lao Maozi in the future, how can the imperial court be like this?" ”

"Don't say it, let people listen, do you want to die?" Liu Lin whispered to advise.

"The country will not be a country, what if the life is gone?" Du Xinzhu said, "If you think that the official should go up to the king's loss, and admonish the ministers' mistakes, the big country is now ridden by foreigners, and the Manchu Dynasty really has no character at all, not to say that they are united in resisting the enemy, but learn those foreign devil words that are grunting, what's the use." ”

Lin Xingshen glanced at Zhao Shun, and said in his heart that this Du Xinzhu is enough for a white-eyed wolf, and someone had just saved his life, so he turned around and insinuated nonsense.

Zhao Shundi laughed, "Standing and talking doesn't hurt his back, if he really has a backbone, he would have gone into battle to kill the enemy, and it is estimated that he has to be reincarnated several times." ”

"That's it", Lin Hongming echoed, "Uncle Zhao, you saved him in vain, you should have known that you would have let Lao Maozi throw him on the side of the road." ”

"We can't do that," Zhao Shun said, "I can't be angry with this kind of person, I know what kind of virtue he has, and I just have less contact in the future."

8.

After going ashore and walking for more than 20 days, Lin and his party finally arrived at what the Russians called Harbin. Zhao Shun inquired with the locals and said that the place where they were located was called Tianjia Pot, which used to be a winery.

"Look at this, we are going to settle here for the time being," Zhao Shun said, "I heard that Lao Maozi has flickered more than 20,000 people from Shandong and Hebei this time. ”

"So many people," said Lim, "how long will this Ruth have to be built." ”

Zhao Shun smiled and said, "You don't understand this, these 20,000 people are just the beginning, and more people will have to come in the future." ”

"Is it because people keep dying?" Lin Hongwen suddenly burst out with a sentence.

"I want to be crooked, eldest nephew", Zhao Shun said, "I listen to Lao Maozi's meaning, I'm afraid this road will be repaired for a long time, it will have to be repaired for several years, more than 20,000 people are not enough at all, you point to their own domestic people to repair?" Don't be funny, they have to recruit Chinese to repair their domestic railways. ”

Along the way, Lin Hongwen has lost weight, and Zhao Shun sometimes wonders that his physique has fallen several times stronger than Lin Hongwen along the way. But this Lin Hongwen actually survived.

The Tian family's pot was converted into a temporary residence, and although the conditions were simple, they were much stronger than those on the road. The group finally slept soundly.

At dawn the next day, Lin Shiingshen and the others were called up to assign work, and after the Russians had spoken for a long time, no one understood. Lin Shiingshen secretly asked Zhao Shun, "What did they say?" ”

Zhao Shun said, "Let's work hard and have money." And also...... He said it was too fast, I didn't hear it. ”

“……”

Later, the translator said again, which roughly means that some people are going to build railways, and the other part is going to build streets. Because Zhao Shun can speak some Russian, he became a group leader. Zhao Shun said, "We are lucky, going to the city to build roads is much better than going to the barren mountains and mountains to build railways." ”

"Uncle, I don't think this place is as good as Yantai, why does Lao Maozi want to build a railway here." Lin Hongming asked.

"I don't know about this," Zhao Shun said, "but this place must have been chosen by them, and when they were building railways in Siberia before, I heard that the route was also determined by the people of the royal family and the courtyard after repeated measurements." ”

"What, what?"

"I can't remember exactly, anyway, they have to go first to build railways, bridges, or anything."

"Just like our Ministry of Works?"

"Almost", Zhao Shun said, "Okay, old and young masters, come all the way to Kanto, this errand is not bad, we all pick up and pick up, we will have to go to work soon." ”

The moment he was brought to the construction site, Zhao Shun was stupid.

"Uncle, didn't you say that we are building roads in the city?" Lin Hongming asked.

Lin Hongwen looked into the distance, there were no people everywhere he could see, the terrain was undulating, very desolate, and there were only a few thatched houses.

"What is this place?" Lin asked.

"You can stop me from asking", Zhao Shun said, "There is no ghost, and I don't know who to ask if I want to ask." ”

9.

At dusk, Sister-in-law Tian stood tremblingly next to the food stall, looking at the two Russian soldiers who were stuffing buns into their mouths not far away. These two men looked to be in their twenties, tall, blond with blue hair, with high eyebrows, and could not speak a word of Chinese. Sister-in-law Tian also watched them compare for a long time, and half-guessed that she brought buns and porridge. Ding Si'er and Chen Loach on the opposite side also kept looking this way, making gestures to let Sister-in-law Tian not be afraid.

After eating a dozen buns, the two Russian soldiers left a few coins behind. Sister-in-law Tian took the coin and looked at it for a long time, and beckoned Chen Loach and Ding Si'er to come over, "Look, how much is this worth?" ”

"Who knows how much this old man's money is worth?" Ding Si'er said, "Take it, it's better to give it left and right than to pull it out at all." ”

"There must be very little," Chen Loach said, "you see they just took it out and threw it on the table without even looking at it." If you have a lot of money, you don't have to look at it carefully! ”

"Have you heard", Ding Si'er bumped Chen Loach with his elbow, "Lao Maozi recruited a lot of people to repair the railway, and many people went to Qinjiagang today." ”

"What are you doing there?" Sister-in-law Tian asked, "Didn't they buy the Tian family's pot?" ”

"Look at this meaning, Lao Maozi is planning to build a road over there", Chen Loach said, "A group of soldiers have come before, and another team has come in the past two days, and it is estimated that there will be more in the future." ”

"That's right, I don't know what year and month this railway will be built," Ding Si'er said, "I hope they only build roads, and don't bother us." ”

"Who knows for sure?"

As he was talking, a middle-aged man in a torn robe walked in the distance, looking around as he walked, his face was very raw. This person is Zhao Shun, who bribed the foreman to inquire after finishing work, and heard that Fu's shop was more lively, so he came over.

As soon as Zhao Shun saw the miscellaneous market, his eyes were about to light up. From the mouth of the Yellow River to the present, I haven't had a good meal, but now I have found it with the fragrance.

"Sister-in-law", Zhao Shun touched the copper coin in his pocket, and said in his heart that he didn't know what the price of this place was, so it was better to inquire, "How do you sell buns?" ”

"Vegetarian 3 yuan a piece, pork 5 yuan a piece", Sister-in-law Tian said, looking at Zhao Shun, and said in her heart that this person is thin and thin, and he looks dark, looking older than himself, but listening to the voice, he doesn't seem to be that old.

"Then let's have two pork," Zhao Shun said, finding a bench and sitting down. As a result, before he could sit down, Chen Loach came over, "I said this brother, you look at the eyes, where did you come from?" ”

Zhao Shunxin said that he was looking for someone to explore the way, but someone sent it to the door, "I came from Yantai, and Lao Maozi went there to recruit people to repair the railway, and I followed." ”

"I heard that your group went to Qinjiagang today", Ding Si'er also came over, "Is Lao Maozi going to build the railway there?" ”

"You mean there's no place where there's no shadow?" Zhao Shun said, "That place is called Qinjiagang." ”

"Yes", Ding Si'er said, "it can't be regarded as not even a shadow, there is still a village, but it is not as lively as here." ”

"It may be that we didn't go to the village," Zhao Shun said, "and I didn't see a single person after a day's work today." ”

"Railroad?"

"That's not it, Lao Maozi's engineer asked us to build a road over there, and it is said that we will build a church in the future," Zhao Shun said.

"Church? Is there still those gods babbling? ”

"It's like we believe in Bodhisattvas," Zhao Shun said, "and they believe in God." ”

"If you build a railway, you will build a railway, why do you still build this mess?"

"You don't understand this," Zhao Shun said, "and if some of them come, the church must follow." On the fifteenth day of the first month, we have good men and women here, and if they don't make incense, they feel that there is something missing, and they are the same. ”

Sister-in-law Tian walked over with a bowl of porridge in one hand and two steamed buns in the other, "It's easy to choke just by eating steamed buns, drink some porridge." ”

"Thank you", Zhao Shun said, "I just came, I couldn't find it anywhere, I came to smell the fragrance, I was hungry enough, and I came to find it along with the smell." ”