Pei Chu and William Johnson were in front of the grocery store, bolted their horses to the door, and walked in together.

The grocery store is very large, completely different from some of the stores that Pei Chu saw in Jinshan Port, which are cramped and dark, but bright and magnificent, with all kinds of dazzling goods on the cargo shelves, in the eyes of ordinary people in this era, it can already be said that they are a little dizzy.

There were no customers in the store at this time, and it seemed that someone was sorting out the goods on the shelves in the middle.

Only in front of the counter, a young white man with a book in his hand standing, who seemed to hear the bell after someone pushed the door in, and said casually without raising his head: "Welcome!" ”

"An apprentice at a grocery store who still wants to be a lawyer?"

William Johnson strode over to the clerk and reached out and tapped the wooden board on the counter.

The young white man put down the book in his hand, first looked at William Johnson standing in front of him suspiciously, and suddenly a hint of ecstasy appeared on his face.

"William!"

The young white man reached out and stretched out his hand on the counter and jumped out directly from behind the counter.

"Abraham!"

William Johnson also had a sincere smile on his face, and he hugged the young white man fiercely.

"I really didn't expect to see you again!"

The young white man named Abraham looked William Johnson up and down, his face uncontrollable with excitement.

"I didn't expect it either!" William Johnson, on the other hand, seemed to have tears in his eyes and a bright smile.

After Pei Chu entered the store, he didn't expect that William Johnson would find a friend who would be a white man.

From some of the books left by Mr. Lu, as well as his experience in Jinshan Port, he knew that the identity gap between whites and Negros in the Federation was a clear chasm, and it was not easy to break through this restriction and establish friendship in this era.

But think about it, it is also possible to make William Johnson understand some federal legal provisions, and it is conceivable that the identity of the other party is at least above the civilian class.

"Abraham, let me introduce you, this is a friend I met on the way, you can call him Pei or Chu."

After a short greeting between William Johnson and Abraham, he finally remembered Pei Chu next to him, and hurriedly pulled the other party towards Pei Chu.

Abraham looked past William Johnson, saw Pei Chu standing not far from the door, and took the initiative to come over, first seeing Pei Chu's appearance, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then smiled and enthusiastically stretched out his right hand, "Hello, I'm Abraham." ”

"Hello!" Pei Chu also shook hands with the other party, "I'm Pei Chu." ”

"Huh?"

At the moment when the two shook hands, Pei Chu suddenly felt that the other party's palm made him a little surprised.

Abraham standing in front of him was very tall, but his body was not strong, and he was even a little thin, but at the moment of shaking hands, Pei Chu could feel the strength of the muscles of the other party's palm, and the thick calluses were all over.

It's not like the hand of a grocery clerk reading a book at the counter.

However, Pei Chu didn't think too deeply, but faintly felt that the white man named Abraham in front of him had something unusual about ordinary people.

"Hey, the Negros and the Madi are not allowed to enter my shop, Abraham, get them out of here!"

A voice came from the shelves behind him, and a middle-aged man with long blond hair saw William Johnson and Pei Chu, and immediately shouted angrily.

"Let's go, let's leave first!"

Abraham heard a roar coming from behind him, and grabbed William Johnson and Pei Chu, "I'll find you a place to settle down first." ”

"Abraham, where are you going? Grocery stores don't run their own businesses. The shouts behind him rang out again.

Abraham seemed unaware of it, and led the two out of the grocery store.

First, I saw the horses carried by the two people at the door, and I was a little surprised, but I didn't say anything.

Soon the three of them crossed several streets to a small neighborhood in Springfield near the edge of the city, and stopped at the door of a small, somewhat dilapidated house.

"I'm staying here for the time being."

Abraham led Peichu and William Johnson into the small dilapidated house, "You can come with me now. ”

As he spoke, Abraham looked at William Johnson again, with the joy of reuniting old friends, "William, I'm really happy to see you again." ”

"Me too." William Johnson nodded, having escaped from the South, and said he had endured hardships along the way, and then asked, "By the way, Abraham, what about your parents, the elegant Lady Catherine, who taught me to read." ”

"They ......," Abraham's voice suddenly deepened, "they've been dead for a long time. ”

"I'm sorry, Abraham!" William Johnson looked sad, obviously not expecting to hear such news.

Abraham was silent for a while, and gently patted William Johnson's shoulder, "The past can already be passed, you guys have a good rest first, and I'll prepare something for you to eat." ”

"Thank you, Abraham!"

Pei Chu, who was standing not far from the two of them, didn't say much for a while, just carefully observed this city and ordinary people, and always felt that this place was completely different from Jinshan Port.

Jinshan Port may be because of the port, Xia Gong and the Negro and Madi people live together, although the status is low, but the discrimination is not so serious, but here, it seems that you can feel a strange vision anytime and anywhere.

The city seems to be prosperous, but there are some things hidden inside, which make Pei Chu seem to feel that he has once again known the country of the Federation.

Many things made Pei Chu feel that something was wrong, and it seemed that something had been hanging over the whole city.

There was also Abraham, who had just turned around to prepare food for the two, and Pei Chu stood next to him keenly saw that there was a flash of anger and hatred in the other party's eyes when he talked about the death of his parents.

……

Rumbling steam trains followed the tracks, crossing rivers and plains.

In a vast row of farmland, dozens of Negros are struggling to plough the land, and topless Negro men carry iron plows on their backs, like livestock, turning over the hard ground. The shabby-dressed Negro woman with her young children followed closely behind, sowing seeds on the open ground.

At this time, on a path at the edge of the farmland, a white man on horseback held a horsewhip in his hand, pointed to the large farmland in front of him, and shouted to a burly figure half-kneeling next to the path:

"Tomorrow, Mosa, tomorrow I will see my land turned over and my grain planted."

"But...... Sir, we don't have enough manpower to finish it today. ”

The burly figure half-kneeling replied respectfully, it was a Negro man who was also naked, with large scars on his bare skin, and although he was only half-kneeling, it was almost the height of the horse next to him.

"That's your business." The white man on the horse snorted coldly, "Tomorrow, if it can't be done tomorrow, I will sell your wife and children to the Chamber of Commerce." ”

As he spoke, the white man wrapped his legs between his legs and rode away along the path in the middle of the farmland.

The Negro man who was half-kneeling on the ground silently half-knelt for a while after the other party left, and then slowly stood up, his burly and strong body as if he was standing upright.

Without saying a word, he walked to the side of the road, grabbed an iron plow, and prepared to continue his labor.

"Favor of the sky and the earth, great son of the steppe, ruler of all beasts, fearless warrior of the tribe......"

A hoarse voice suddenly sounded.

The burly body trembled slightly, and Mosa turned his head slowly, and saw a very old Negro woman standing on the path at some point, hunched on her back and on crutches.

"Now, just a poor slave!"

"Who are you?"

Musa threw away the iron plough he was carrying, stared at the old woman who spoke, and walked towards each other step by step.