On December 3, it rained again.

Xiao Guang, who was fishing and releasing by the wild river ditch outside, fled back in embarrassment with a few leaves on his head. As soon as he entered the township government compound, the deputy township chief pulled him over, took him to the canteen, and then introduced several officials who were waiting for a meal here.

These are all officials from the State Development Administration, a total of nine people, six are clerks, two are section-level cadres, and one is a deputy director. Of course, it is definitely not enough to rely on these nine people to do things, in fact, they hired a lot of contract workers when they came, including dozens of people, some hired along the way, and some hired after arriving in Fangshan Township, to undertake guides, security guards, grooms and other miscellaneous work, which will live in the compound of the farm tool factory in the next township, and be on call at any time.

The deputy head of the township took out an official document to show Xiao Guang, which was brought by the deputy director of the team, Sun, who was the leader of this team, and was jointly named by the leaders of the Ministry of Geology and the State Development Administration, and the general righteousness was to ask Xiao Guang's team (there are still about a dozen people) to cooperate with Deputy Director Lin and them to enter the mountains together, and Fangshan Township will also send 30 militiamen (from the five counties on the other side of the river) to accompany them, forming a large team of more than 100 people, advancing along the Tuanjie River to find a suitable place to set up a settlement.

"Captain Xiao, I'm sorry for your trouble, my brother entered the mountain this time, and the time is tight and the task is heavy. I can't help but invite someone like you who is familiar with the situation out, I'm really sorry. Deputy Director Qian said with a smile, and handed over a cigarette as he spoke.

Xiao Guang was slightly displeased when he heard this, although the order given by the Ministry of War to him was to cooperate with the Ministry of Geology, and he did not say the deadline, but in the end, he was a person from the Army, an officer, why were the heads of the Ministry of Geology so embarrassed to call themselves? It's just a matter of supporting yourself to do things for the Ministry of Geology, and now you actually let yourself work with the guys of the State Development Administration, and the Ministry of Geology won't think of yourself as their people, right?

But then again, what else can he say if he Xiao someone was thrown into this place where birds don't? Those bastards at the War Department have probably forgotten about themselves, damn it, what is this hypocrisy? Keep a low profile and do things well, it's good for you. When I go back to the War Department later, I'll clean up those grandchildren. Therefore, he was only stunned for two seconds, then smiled, took the cigarette handed over by Deputy Director Qian, and said, "Yo, garden brand, high-end goods." It seems that the welfare of your department is good, and it is much stronger than our army system with little water. ”

"Wherever and wherever they are, they will all be stirred in the same pot in the future, and they will not be separated from each other." Deputy Director Qian beckoned Xiao Guang to sit down, and said with a smile: "Brother, I have it, and naturally I also have Brother Xiao's share." Xiao Huang, I'll go to my dormitory and get two cigarettes for Brother Xiao in a while. ”

The deputy township chief saw that the two sides were very harmonious, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled and beckoned the old horse in charge of the canteen to come over with food. Bread, the staple of dinner, is also a staple food for many new settlements on the East Coast, and is very popular because it is easy to make, shelf-stable and tastes good.

Lao Ma is a veteran, brave in battle, once expected to be promoted to a second lieutenant officer, but was wounded in the battle against the Indians of the Brazilian plateau, left a disability in his leg, had to be discharged from the army, was arranged to the Fangshan Township Government to manage logistics canteens and other miscellaneous matters, can be regarded as a unit-level cadre.

Lao Ma brought a few helpers up with three large pots of baked cakes. Most of them are vegetarian cakes, that is, there is no filling, the noodles are mixed with a little salt, and there are some sesame seeds on the surface of the cake, which looks pretty good. In addition, there is less oil cake, which has not only salt, but also chopped green onion and oil, and inside is ground beef, although it is marinated and reddened meat, but it is also quite good.

"Township chief, I haven't eaten this meal. Just now, for Curry's last fifty buckets of noodles, I made a thousand cakes for the brothers who were on the expedition. Although there were guests present, the old horse did not seem to give the deputy head of the township any face, and only listened to him continue: "I heard that the convoy of the National Reserve Grain Depot has been delayed due to heavy rain, and this is their messenger who came on a fast horse to report, and it will take about ten days before the grain can be delivered. Township Chief, you have to think about how to get it in the past ten days, you can't go hungry. ”

"Why is this food consumed so quickly?" The deputy township chief was also anxious when he heard this, and regardless of the presence of the guests, he asked: "I remember that there were many more at the beginning of last month, why are they empty all of a sudden." It's only a thousand loaves, not tens of thousands. ”

"Who let this wave of land come to our Fangshan Township?" Lao Ma glanced at the deputy township chief, and didn't seem to have much respect for him, so he continued: "Last month, a total of three groups of people came, a regional research team, a delegation from the Dongjin Corporation, and a staff officer from the War Department. It has only been three days this month, and there have already been two groups of people, one from the building materials company, and now another group of people from the State Development Administration. Township chief, every time this comes and goes, it consumes a lot of food from us, although they all give money, but who is scarce money, can't eat or wear, there is a bird. There are some people in the mining area in the north, you don't know, they are really hungry, and they can eat a bag of golden beans for a few cakes......"

"Okay old horse, don't talk about it." When the deputy township chief heard this, he immediately interrupted him, and then turned to Qian Jin, the deputy director of the General Bureau of Exploration (the grandson of Qian Hao, an early high-ranking official on the East Coast, 35 years old this year), and Xiao Guang, the leader of the expedition team, smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, let you see the laughter." Lao Ma has such a temper and a straight temperament, but he doesn't have any opinions about you. Everyone can eat with peace of mind and don't worry about anything else. There are still a few grain shops in the township, and I will write a few notes later, and let the old horse borrow grain, and turn it around temporarily, which is not a big problem. ”

The old horse snorted when he heard this, turned around and went to the door, and after a while he came back, with two helpers, and brought some dishes to everyone: two large plates of fragrant roasted dried meat, a pot of stewed potatoes, a few pickles, plus some fruit, and two bottles of white wine. It can be seen that although Lao Ma has a lot of complaints about the arrival of groups of expedition teams, expedition teams, research teams, etc., his work is still relatively conscientious, for example, this will be arranged for everyone clearly, which is very good.

"It's all local products, so hurry up and eat it while it's hot. Especially this crocodile meat, which Lao Ma personally roasted, his skills are good, everyone tastes it. The deputy township chief said as he poured wine for everyone.

After nearly 60 years of development, the East Coast has become larger and larger, and the population, especially from all over the world, has become more and more numerous, and the differences in folk customs and culture have gradually become apparent. Taking diet as an example, except for baked cakes and steamed cakes, which are popular throughout the country and are one of the staple foods of people in most areas, the others are very different. For example, Fangshan Township is not close to the sea and has poor transportation facilities, so it can basically only dig in the local area, with many animals in the nearby forests as the main source of meat, and occasionally some high-priced cured meat and salted fish transported from other places, but not too much. After all, after unloading from the port of Changshun, it has to be transported by mule and horse teams over long distances (the Bac Ninh railway is still under construction), which is naturally not much cheaper.

Compared with them, the inhabitants of the steppes on the east coast, which was the first to develop, ate much more elaborately. Tea, coffee, cocoa, and all kinds of spices and seasonings were cheap enough for ordinary workers to consume, and beef and salted fish were available on the streets. The city has also seen the emergence of a variety of high-end restaurants aimed at the high-end consumer, offering a variety of fine food, high-end liquors and a variety of seafood that people in the interior have never seen, but the difference is not ordinary.

And apart from the food, there are also very big differences. Like the canteen where they eat now, the bottom is still muddy and potholes. Every spring, there will even be a few bamboo shoots transplanted from other places by old horses on the ground, and they are also drunk. The furnishings in the house are also very simple, there are no curtains, curtains, tapestries, and murals, which is really low-end.

Xiao Guang, Qian Jin and others are all located in the big coastal cities, similar to many wealthy houses, their houses have bright windows, and the walls are usually covered with tapestries imported from Persia or Turkey, curtains made by the country, and sometimes some paintings bought from the art market, which is very pleasant to look at.

Their furniture is also very nice. Compared with the simple (or crude) furniture of Europe, the furniture style of the people of the East Coast is much more beautiful. For example, because the local and overseas colonies are rich in high-quality wood, the first material used for the bed is very exquisite, and very little cheap pine is used, which is generally tropical hardwood, which looks very luxurious, but in fact it is not expensive.

The carving of the bed is also very particular. There are carvings of various mythological stories, carvings of religious themes, carvings of various landscapes, and so on, which is very time-consuming and very exquisite. Xiao Guang's home is in Qingdao County, the largest city on the east coast, and some of his beds are even made of ivory, which is jaw-dropping.

And such extravagant furniture is naturally impossible to be popular in the poor inland areas. The inhabitants here make too many beds out of a few planks, a broken reed mat in the summer, a mattress in the fall, and a blanket in the winter (because the weather is not cold enough to get through), which is very shabby, but practical enough.

Of course, the wealthy eastern regions are leading not only in food, housing and transportation, but also in clothing, they are even more ahead. Because of the relatively developed industry and commerce, these regions have long passed the arduous stage of primitive accumulation, and can comfortably exploit foreign countries, backward regions of their own countries, and overseas colonies through trade, so that the income level of the people is higher.

The increase in income level naturally makes them willing to spend money to improve the quality of life and taste. For example, in the inland areas, people mainly wear durable clothing, usually denim or other thick cloth clothes, and sometimes there are patches on the crotch, knees, and elbows, which looks like the simple appearance of working people. But in the eastern cities of Dongfang, Ping'an, and Qingdao, the clothes of the residents are very different. Among them, men may be relatively simple in the style of clothes, at most the materials are exquisite, but women are very good, silk as the material, professionally sewn silk silk (cape, shawl style), skirt and other clothing is very popular, not only shows the development of the East Coast textile, printing and dyeing industry, so that the cost of various materials is reduced, but also reflects the wealth of the East Coast coastal residents.

Compared to them, this inland region is indeed very different. The wilderness is not called for nothing!