Since Downing had been in contact by phone when he had been looking for machinery and equipment, and had been in Tokyo since he arrived in Japan, he didn't know much about the current situation in Japan.

In this era, people who traveled a little farther were by train, and Downing took the so-called "special train", that is, the special carriage for the occupation army, which was not only clean and tidy, beautifully decorated, but also could not be appropriated no matter how tight the capacity was. Even after the tragic death of a baby strapped to a mother's back in December 1945 due to the crowding of the carriage, the situation in the special carriage remained unchanged. The Americans pretended not to know about this kind of thing, and the Japanese did not dare to resist even if they knew, and our lovely Captain Downing really knew about it for the first time.

Therefore, when he saw the crowded ordinary carriage like a canned sardine, he couldn't help but ask Higashino beside him: "Higashino, since the current train is so crowded and the living conditions of the people are not very good, why do so many people still have to travel?" ”

Higashino replied with a complicated expression: "Everyone can't help it, because now there is less and less food in the city, the government quota is often interrupted, and the price of the black market is getting higher and higher, so many people have to go to the countryside to buy food."

And there are a lot of things to do with this kind of car, first of all, you have to be able to squeeze on the train, you think there are enough people now, in fact, this is not the most time, it is difficult to squeeze in without adequate preparation and the help of friends. However, because there is no toilet on the train, and the journey time is several hours, it is necessary to eat modestly on the train, and even some masters are able to control their intestines and bladder, which is said to be only possible by special forces kings like Shimada-kun. ”

Tang Ning was a little embarrassed at this time, his question just now seemed to be a bit of a "why not eat minced meat", fortunately, at this time, Shimada, who was ridiculed by Higashino, began to fight back: "Squeezing in the car is squeezing for a while, like Higashino-kun, a dozen or so people are squeezed in a small house, that's a matter of squeezing for a lifetime, the space between the husband and wife is only the size of two tatami mats, and there are relatives next to them, if you don't dare to say it out loud, you have to hide good things from relatives to see, it is said that the two of you once hid a piece of chocolate and hid it has melted." , and if you want to make out for it, you have to go to a small hotel on the weekend. ”

Tang Ning couldn't help but be shocked when he heard this: "Dongye, you live in such a poor place, why didn't you say it earlier, when the factory is built, you will move to the factory dormitory." ”

Higashino gave a bow and thanked, "Thank you, sir." Alas, in fact, most places in Tokyo are like this now, firstly because many places have been bombed, and secondly, because the number of demobilized soldiers and returnees from overseas has caused the housing in the city to be insufficient. It sounds terrible, but it's a shelter from the elements, and it's really miserable when you have time to visit the bomb shelters and Ueno Park, where there are more wanderers, and almost every day the dead are brought out of it from starvation or disease! ”

The atmosphere of Higashino's words was a little heavy, and Ono, the youngest in the team, suddenly spoke: "My lord, anyway, there are only a few of us in our carriage, and there are so many places, why don't we just let a few people in the ordinary carriage come over." ”

Tang Ning frowned and was about to refuse Ono's request, but Chichuan beside Ono slapped Ono and scolded: "Baga, you stupid, you don't want to think about it, there are so many people in the ordinary carriage, who do you let in and who doesn't come in?" As long as someone is let in, then other people who don't come in will definitely not want to, are you accumulating virtue for adults or are you looking for trouble for adults? And what if too many people come in and bump into adults? It's a blessing to be blessed to be able to follow adults, and don't always think about those useless things. The adults are about to open a factory, and this is the real salvation of our people, which is much more useful than you think of putting a few people into the carriage. ”

Tang Ning felt a little funny about Chichuan's words, he didn't think about saving the Japanese by opening a factory at all, he just wanted to use the relatively high education level and cheap labor of the Japanese to work for himself, but such a beautiful misunderstanding can be vigorously promoted and publicized in the future, and it is much more convenient to do a lot of things with the image of such a good person.

When he arrived at the destination, Tang Ning saw the real machine, and the Japanese factory owner on the phone really did not deceive himself, of course, it is estimated that he did not dare to deceive himself, and the quality and maintenance of the machine are very good, basically no need for maintenance. Since Tang Ning was temporarily borrowed by the military, he only gave a symbolic little rent, although the factory owner was dissatisfied, he could only agree with a smiling face, and kept saying that he couldn't use these machines now anyway, and it was his blessing that the captain could see it. Tang Ning saw the pitiful appearance of the factory owner, so he relieved himself and agreed to the request of the factory owner's two sons to come to work in the factory.

On the way back, Tang Ning saw a lot of Japanese crying and walking with food, and couldn't help but wonder: "Didn't they get food?" Why are you still crying so sadly? ”

"It's not uncommon for this to happen, and now there's a new term in Tokyo and Osaka called bamboo shoot life, which refers to people from the city who go to the countryside in droves to exchange their treasures for food, such as kimonos, watches, jewelry, or other valuable things," Higashino explained. Because bamboo shoots can be peeled off layer by layer, and people in the city doing this is equivalent to taking off their clothes layer by layer in exchange for survival, so it is called bamboo shoot life. There is also an onion-style life, just like tears in the eyes when peeling an onion, and people in the city will also shed tears when they strip their belongings. ”

Tang Ning sighed after hearing this: "In this way, it is better to farm in the countryside, at least you don't have to worry about food." ”

Ono, who was reprimanded before, explained in a low voice: "My lord, in fact, it is not as you said, in the past few years, there have been disasters year after year, grain production has been greatly reduced, and there is not much surplus grain in the hands of farmers, and the government and violent associations have sent people to collect money from house to house in three days, and many farmers' grain has been snatched away, and there are often hungry crazy people in the field who come to steal food, and they can't prevent it at all, and sometimes they can't bear to chase them, so in fact, there is not much food in the countryside. Today, these people should be content to be able to exchange for food, and now there are fewer and fewer farmers who are willing to exchange food, after all, farmers are not stupid, although these watches and kimonos are good, but after all, they can't fill their stomachs, and it's okay to change two pieces occasionally, and no one will change them if they have more. ”