No one knows whether or not there is a ration of food for the Chinese workers, and no one dares to ask. From the day I arrived in Chungang, it was a flat bowl of rice for every meal, and a bowl of salt soup that I couldn't even see the vegetable leaves. I have never seen meat, I have never seen eggs, and I have eaten fish once in a while, but "Amonia" is so angry that the elephant is fished out of the urine bucket, and the smoker can't even open his eyes. In recent months, the food has been even worse. The rice is still a flat bowl per meal, but it has changed from all the rice to half a rice and half a vegetable, with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, radishes, and various leaves. After a bowl of rice is removed, there are less than two bites of rice left. At the same time, the food of Yamazaki and others was envied by even the police and gendarmes, and these people often came to "Xingyaliao" to inspect it, often just to have a meal here. In the name of the Labor Association, Yamazaki and others constantly brought canned food, bacon, peanuts, Fenjiu, and chestnut yokan from China, which they ate themselves and used to deal with the yamen bureaucrats. Yamazaki was just an ordinary employee in Japan, but his life was much better than that of senior engineers. There is a way to call him "make a fortune in China" behind his back.

Chiyoko came to the room and started to set the meal. The Chinese workers were already hungry around the canteen, and when they heard the bell ring, they immediately lined up to take their seats, began to read the precepts before the meal, and prayed silently.

Zhang Ju and his group entered the cafeteria, and when the precept was read to the end, they quickly stood down against the wall and followed: "Thank you for the food given by the emperor......

"Silent prayer!"

With his hands on his lap and his eyes closed, the conditioned reflex effect came, and the vitality of the stomach suddenly increased, and suddenly the whole body was tired and soft. Only the mouth, esophagus, these organs related to eating are particularly excited, the mouth is bitter and dry, the esophagus twitches for a while, and I want to swallow saliva but there is no saliva to swallow. Amitabha, I finally heard the command "Silent prayer is over". The whole room breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and at the same time reached out to grab their rice bowls and chopsticks. From the fast-moving people, there was already the sound of drinking soup. Zhang Ju and the others walked quickly to their positions, grabbing chopsticks while taking their seats. At this time, Chiyoko Watanabe came over with an empty tray and said in a low voice, "I'm really sorry......"

They asked, "What is it?" ”

"Mr. Yamazaki ordered your food to be brought back."

This sentence was like an electric whip, and the hand that stretched out to serve the bowl was beaten back, Zhang Ju snorted, stood up and said, "Go, go to sleep." The others also stood up, but Chiyoko whispered to the door with her hand and said, "Mr. Yamazaki ordered you to watch others eat here." Then clean up the dishes and chopsticks before going to rest. ”

Looking at it from afar, Yamazaki sneered and stared at this place, so he had to sit down again. Chiyoko's face was full of guilt, she lowered her head tightly, put the bowls of rice on the table into her tray, and kept whispering in her mouth: "I'm very sorry, I'm really sorry......" The rice was put on the plate. She pointed to the soup in front of everyone: "This, I'll just take the bowl and walk away for a while!" ”

"Dick" Zhang Ju opened his eyes like bells, picked up the soup bowl in front of him, and threw it towards the wall. There was a thud, which shook the whole room.

Huzi is angry and aggrieved. I thought of many ways to take revenge on Yamazaki, but it was estimated that it couldn't be realized, and he was saying fiercely to the door silently: "Anyway, I can't call you Ruyi, Lao Tzu didn't gamble!" Didn't you fight? Partial betting! Gambling! This bowl woke him up from his state of trance, and when he saw Yamazaki walking here in a rage, he raised his tone and asked, "Who?" What happened? ”

At this time, Chiyoko happened to walk in front of him, so she stood to the side and said, "I beg your pardon, I loaded too many bowls and fell to the ground!" ”

"!" Yamazaki grabbed Chiyoko's hair and dragged it back and forth a few times, "Dirty billet, traitor bones, little slut ......"

Chiyoko didn't make a sound, let him finish pulling, and waited for him to walk away before bowing his head and silently walking to the kitchen.

People put down their chopsticks one after another, waiting to hear the command to read the prayer after the meal. Sitting next to Zhang Ju was Song Yuke, a worker in the same department, the potassium nitrate workshop. This man was in his thirties, quiet and well-known among Chinese workers, and he pulled Zhang Ju's clothes and said, "Pay attention to the bowls in our class when you close the table!" Zhang Ju looked to the side, and several people were pouring the two mouthfuls of rice that were deliberately left over into the vegetable soup. He squeezed Song Yuke's hand gratefully.

Zhang Ju is ruthless in gambling and fighting, but he has other principles in these matters. When he was cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks, he said to the rest of the class: "The people in the old Song class are very righteous, you can eat." But he himself walked far away, went to other tables to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, and at the same time greedily put the rice grains scattered on the table and the soup base left in the bowl into his mouth. This little thing went down, not only did it not quench hunger, but aroused a stronger appetite. As soon as he returned to his room, he scolded Yamazaki's ancestor for taking off his Concord gown, holding it up on his head and saying, "Who has sweet potatoes and soybeans?" I'll change it, and I'll change it. ”

No one answered. He walked to Han Youfu's bed. Lifted his covers. Han Youfu really pretended to sleep and secretly ate soybeans under the covers. Zhang Ju said: "Talk about righteousness, and exchange it for a few combinations." ”

Han Youfu is short and looks like a monkey, but he doesn't know how to hook up with a widow. The widow always gave him food. And the people of this house often throw things away. Towels, soap, washed socks, patched but still wearable old pants, disappeared in a blink of an eye. After a few days they found it dyed black and wore it on the widow. The widow did not admit that Han had given it to her. Everyone hated Han Youfu and didn't treat him, so Zhang Ju knocked him on the bamboo pole, and no one came out to stop him.

Han Youfu turned around and said, "Don't make trouble, I've worked all night, I want to sleep." ”

"What do you do! you Japanese twit! Take the soybeans, Sihe, and the garment will be yours. Take it to honor your little mother! ”

"I didn't."

"Don't feel uncomfortable."

"I don't want your clothes, can I lend you a one? Just be polite to your brothers! ”

"Dick, no one has upside down Lao Tzu, and he can't afford to borrow it. It's okay if you don't change it, let's roll a dice, and if you win, you give me soybeans. If you lose, the gown will be yours! After speaking, Zhang Ju returned to his bed, lifted the straw mat, found a small dice that he had ground with a toothbrush, and stuffed it into Han Youfu's hand and said, "Throw, hurry up, a handful of soybeans." ”

"Look ......"

"Hurry up, if you don't throw, I'll find someone else to throw it for you, and if you lose, you will take soybeans."

"Whoever you like to find, I won't throw it anyway!"

"Huzi, you throw it for him!"

Huzi was hating to participate in the gambling, so he immediately got up and grabbed the dice and said, "I will also count one." ”

Zhang Ju slapped him and said, "What are you kid betting on?" Throw for Han Youfu. At this time, several onlookers had gathered, and they all gloated and said: "Don't gamble, just throw for Han Youfu, if you win, Zhang Ju will win, and Han Youfu will be blessed if you lose!" Huzi couldn't, grabbed the dice and threw it, it was an "eye" [note 1]. Everyone clapped and laughed. Tell Han Youfu to take out the soybeans.

"I didn't say it, take the soybeans!" Zhang Ju didn't wait for Han Youfu to make a move, stood on the bed, reached out and took off the satchel he hung on the bedpost, took the small white porcelain tea bowl from the bed frame, scooped a handful of fried soybeans and poured them into his pocket, pinched a few grains and gave them to Huzi and said:

"You're happy!"

Han Youfu snatched back the satchel and covered his head with the quilt again. Everyone laughed again, and then a gentle cough was given at the door, and people immediately covered their mouths and crawled back to their beds. When I heard that there was no movement, I walked in, patted him on the side of the giant bed, and said, "Mr. Yamazaki told you to go." ”

Zhang Ju hurriedly got up and walked with Youdao.

Han Youfu stretched out his hand and touched the dice that Zhang Ju dropped. He changed his mind, pushed the tiger next to him, put his head close to his pillow and said, "Hey, you lost this soybean." It's better for you to lend me a pair of soybeans. ”

"I threw it for you!"

"That's Zhang Ju said, I don't approve of it, why should I ask you to throw when I gamble!"

"I don't have soybeans, what will I pay you back?"

"It's okay to return my rice, a bowl of rice. Give it to me in the evening. ”

"I didn't eat at noon today, and if I give it to you in the evening, can I still go to work?"

"Return half a bowl first, and then half a bowl for midnight dinner."

"No!"

"Otherwise, the two of us will roll two more handfuls, and you will be tied if you win! I'm out of luck today, and I'm going to lose out of 10! ”

Torako was about to take revenge on Yamazaki and immediately recognized it. The two covered their heads with quilts, quietly lying on the pillow and throwing dice, Han Youfu bullied Huzi is chick and made some tricks, and when Zhang Ju came back, Huzi had lost five bowls of rice to him. Han Youfu used the excuse that he was afraid that Zhang Ju would see the trouble, so he refused to gamble anymore.

Zhang Ju didn't bother to pay attention to them. Yamazaki called him to go, saying that he was being punished for his work, but in fact he was sending him to bring rice to his mistress. It was a North Korean woman whose husband had served in the same unit as Yamazaki. It is said that he was killed in battle. Yamazaki was wounded and discharged from the army, under the pretext of taking care of the families of his comrades-in-arms, and lived with her concubine in the open and secret. He and some people withheld the Chinese workers' rations semi-publicly, and most of the food was sent home, and a portion of it was given to the woman. Zhang Ju carried half a bale of rice on his back and went there, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. You beat me up, and you want me to send private goods to your wild wife, it's too much to ride people's necks and. As you have blatantly deprived me of my rations, I secretly asked for it back, and when I was halfway there, I tore open the bales of straw, took off my socks, filled two socks, and hid the rice in the grass. Hide the rice, and feel that it is not possible to get a guy who packs rice, the sock has long worn off the heel, and it is not easy to use it to bring the rice back to Xingyaliao. When I went to the North Korean woman, I happened to see a half-made condolence bag at the door of her kitchen. Zhang Ju unceremoniously took it into his arms, poured the rice in his socks into the bag halfway, sent it to the bottom of the bamboo fence wall behind the room first, and then went to the office empty-handed to hand over the card. handed over the card, pretended to be relieved, and went around to the back of the room to drag the bag of rice from under the wall, and brought it back to the living room with a bag of clothes.