After getting up in the morning and doing tai chi, and then washing his face with well water, Zhang Xiao walked out of the door of the No. 1 guest room of the guest house refreshed. This is said to be a guest house, but in fact, it is just a few small farm yards.

Seven or eight single-storey rooms, a firewood room, a kitchen and a pigsty are all the belongings of the guest house. The guest rooms are located in the south and face north, which is convenient for lighting and drying clothes; The firewood room, kitchen and pigsty are located on the west side of the room, facing east and west. These rooms are enclosed by a low wall, which divides the enclosed area into two courtyards.

The area of the front yard is about two or three hundred square meters, which is quite spacious, and the yard is relatively clean and tidy. A well, a few small lychee saplings transported from the East, two green vegetables and a few loofah shelves all reveal a breath of life. In the grass in the yard, some old hens were foraging in the grass with a large flock of chicks, and occasionally a fat green worm was pulled out and immediately robbed by several chicks; There were four or five fat pigs in the pigsty who were chirping, and it was probably time for the morning feeding, and they all barked very loudly.

A young Irish farmer carrying a large bucket of pig food scolded and walked over to feed it, and when he suddenly saw Zhang Xiao walking out of the guest room, he immediately showed a flattering smile: "Good morning, sir!" ”

"Hello." Zhang Xiao also smiled and nodded.

"Sir, how did you sleep last night? Everything is good here, but it's too hot and humid, and it's usually hard for first-time visitors to get used to it, and it took me a long time to get used to it. The young farmer continued. Maybe it's an honor to be able to talk to such a big person. He kept babbling: "The dry season here is actually okay." The maximum temperature during the day is only 30-31 degrees, and it may be even lower at night, and the cool sea breeze blows from time to time, which makes for a good night's sleep. But the rainy season is annoying, the sound of the rain can be heard to crumble, the foot of the wall is always covered with moss, the ground is full of puddles, and the pesky mosquitoes......"

Maybe this Irishman really needs someone to talk to him too much. In short, he kept talking while feeding the pigs. Zhang Xiao listened patiently, without any unpleasant look on his face, as if what was being said in the mouth of this Irish peasant was interesting. In fact, he was also interested in the Irish peasant, for in his previous experience, most of the immigrants he had encountered, whether from the East or the West, had either been out of language barrier or had been clumsy, and few had been able to speak such a large passage so fluently and logically.

This condition is more common among peasants, who are shy and conservative by nature, but not so much among industrial workers. There are very few such people among the military, thanks to the high degree of organization of the latter two lives and the various learning activities carried out from time to time. And this. In fact, it is also a significant difference between the common people in the industrial society and the common people in the agricultural society, that is, whether the people's wisdom has improved, whether the people are good at expressing their ideas, and so on.

"What did you do before? I mean, before you came to Fort Xinhua, I was very interested, and if you don't mind, you can tell me about it. Zhang Xiao picked up a wooden spoon, scooped a spoonful of sticky pig food from the bucket, and then poured it into the stone pig trough in front of him, which immediately caused several pigs to scramble. They ate so happily that their fat ears were covered with pig food.

"Sir, this is the job I should do, how can you ......" The Irish farmer looked at Zhang Xiao who was feeding the pigs with an embarrassed expression, and said a little confused.

"Hehe, it's nothing." Zhang Xiao finished feeding the last spoonful of pig food, and then said with a smile: "Almost ten years ago, I also fed pigs for more than half a year, and now I really miss that time." Labor is not good or bad, my friend, remember this phrase. Okay, why don't you tell me your story? ”

"Yes, sir." The Irishman blushed and said, "My name is Charles. McKinley, from Kinsale, oh, you probably haven't heard of that place. But it doesn't matter, I'm from the East Coast now, and my household registration is locally, yes, No. 12 Xinhuabao Jiazi is my home. My brother Harry and I – yes, he's now an honorable sergeant – fled to the East Coast a few years ago from the damned Good Hope Fort of England. During our year at Fort Good Hope, Harry and I were almost killed by the English......"

"No, no, no, I think you're mistaken." Zhang Xiao said with a smile on his face, "I'm more interested in what you did before you arrived at Good Hope Fort?" You seem to have been to many places and seen a lot of things? ”

"Yes, wise sir." McKinley was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Harry and I have been sailors on a Dutch merchant ship for a long time, and we have been to many places, the Caribbean, Brazil, Guinea, Luanda, and many other places. Our merchant ship was captured by English pirates, and my brother and I were sold to the British East India Company before arriving at Fort Good Hope. Before I became a sailor, when I was young, I worked in a coal mine for a few years to make ends meet. ”

"Well, what a tortuous experience." Zhang Xiao commented, "These will become your precious treasures in the future." How is your brother Harry doing now? ”

"Harry is my pride." Speaking of this, McKinley's chest suddenly straightened, "Harry was a sergeant on the battleship 'Free Trade', he worked very hard and he was very good. His comrades-in-arms were very kind to him, especially his captain, who cared for him and was said to be promoted to midshipman, and he taught Harry a lot of things, and Harry respected him very much. ”

"Well, wonderful young man." Zhang Xiao praised, "I believe that Harry will grow into an excellent naval officer." Does he usually have any problems? ”

"He was all right, except that he couldn't always listen to God's will, which was painful for him." McKinley said sadly, "Harry is more religious than I am, and he is a good child. He had complained to me more than once that there was not even a priest on the warship who could confess, and that it was the Oriental monks who had replaced him. Harry was sad and angry, but even his beloved Captain Guo was so respectful of the monks that he had to calm down and take a fresh look at the priests from the East. ”

"You're so straightforward, so straightforward and cute." Zhang Xiao laughed, and then asked, "Then do you also think that a church should be built in Xinhua Fort?" But I think the Berbers, Maghreb or Tatars in the city would have disagreed. Well, this issue is a sensitive issue, and we won't discuss it for now. So, how about I treat you to breakfast as a reward for your straightforwardness? After speaking, Zhang Xiao took out two meal coupons from his pocket and smiled at McKinley.

"I'm honored, sir." McKinley nervously wiped his hands over his dirty apron.

Breakfast is also prepared in the guest house canteen. Since the status of the guests is generally not low, the dishes seem to be quite hearty: sweet potato porridge, boiled corn on the cob, pickles, fried poached eggs, sauced beef, grilled barracuda, and cold sea cucumber. McKinley has been coming to Xinhua Fort for more than half a year, but he has never eaten such a hearty breakfast.

Zhang Xiao ate three bowls of sweet potato porridge with delicious pickles in one go, and then said with a smile: "I'm full, and the rest is all yours." ”

McKinley's mouth was stuffed with food, and he nodded at Zhang Xiao with eyes as big as cows.

Zhang Xiao laughed again and said, "Eat slowly, don't rush!" Do you still have work to do? ”

McKinley swallowed the food in his mouth at this point, nodded violently, and said, "Yes, I'm going to go to the backyard to crush those coals later." ”

"Huh? Coal? Hearing this, Zhang Xiao's expression moved, and then asked, "Are you talking about the kind of coal used to burn the fire?" ”

"Yes, sir." McKinley nodded as he ate and replied, "It's the kind of coal that burns the fire." The Bezimisaraka we found in the south knew how to use it as fuel for fires. A while ago, Chief Xu led his troops to the south several times, and the farthest one even reached the cape in the south. They captured a lot of natives there, and of course a lot of these coals. According to the interrogation, the natives picked up this lump of coal near the promontory, where I think there may be a natural open-pit coal mine. ”

"What about the quality of the coal?" Zhang Xiao stood up with some excitement and asked.

"From my experience working in the coal mines for many years, the quality of the coal is quite good, at least much better than the coal that we dig locally." McKinley said without hesitation, "The fire is often stronger and longer than the coal we bring from home." There is no doubt that this is a fine coal, no worse than the coal I have dug in the mines of England. ”

"It's amazing!" Zhang Xiao paced around the room with some excitement.

McKinley looked at him for some reason, then continued to eat the breakfast on the table with his head down.

"I need to see the coals!" Zhang Xiao suddenly walked to McKinley's side and said with some eagerness: "McKinley, take me to have a look, quick!" ”

"As you wish, my sir." McKinley shoved a handful of beef sauce into his mouth, wiped his mouth vigorously with his dirty cuffs, then stood up and said, "Sir, please come along, and the coals are piled up in the backyard." (To be continued......)