Tsubakioka is a long, narrow town sandwiched between the Seto Inland Sea and a hill covered with green bamboo and cedar trees. At its southern end, there is a protruding corner of the peninsula, which resembles a peninsula, on which the "Tsubakioka Choda Co., Ltd." was built. A series of four long cylindrical lime stoves, and a dozen chimneys painted with protective colors, made this beautiful town a miasma, and stood on the top of the hill and looked down, the mountains were like emeralds, and the inland sea was like crystal, but in the middle was a mess of smoking and burning garbage.

At six o'clock in the morning, with the sound of the whistle, the gray, ragged crowd, bowed down, holding lunch boxes, hurriedly answered the greetings of the elementary school students, and squeezed into the black factory gate and gathered in the square in front of the shrine. He did radio gymnastics, made "Oriental Worship", recited the "social motto", and bowed his head every eight days to listen to and read the "Edict of Declaration of War". Then they dispersed along the path full of pipes and cables in the factory to their respective workshops.

The "Pharmaceutical Department" is located in the southernmost part, and there are two workshops near the sea, one for "Gary Nitrate" and the other for "Magnesium Carbonate". The Chinese workers nicknamed it "The Two Prisons of Fire and Water". Most of the day is either watered and pumped with a rubber hose, or used a shovel and iron rake to stir water in the crystallization pool, and the two feet are soaked and peeled off and swollen; In the center of the "magnesium carbonate" workshop are two tunnel drying furnaces tens of meters long and a crusher, and the Chinese workers push a cart of magnesium carbonate crystals into the furnace and out of the furnace, and under the barbecue and hot wind blowing on the furnace wall, the skin is dry and shrunk, and the face is full of wrinkles, and people in their teens and twenties are like old men in their sixties and seventies. Magnesium carbonate ash clogs every pore, and it can't be removed by blowing with high-pressure air, soaking it in hot water, or rubbing it with soap. People folded towels in three folds, covering their noses and mouths, and coughed all day long, spitting out white sticky lumps like toothpaste.

The squad leader of the "magnesium carbonate" Chinese workers is Zhang Ju, and the squad leader of "Gary Nitricate" is Song Yuke.

Song Yuke is in his thirties, gentle and honest. He was always neat and tidy, and his face was never unshaven. Clothes are mended in a fair way. In a group of sloppy Chinese workers, he is particularly spiritual. He never participated in sectarian disputes between Chinese workers, but if he was asked to mediate, he would be dedicated. He did not contradict the Japanese dormitory chief and foreman, and did not violate discipline, so he was never beaten. However, he did not slap the Japanese on the back, did not report anything among the Chinese workers, and therefore did not invite Chinese scolding. People tell jokes and play nonsense, and he picks up the laughter, but he doesn't tell the main story. Because he was beautiful, he worked with the Japanese female workers, and they all laughed with him, and he was always social, but he was never serious. He is not close to anyone, and he is not far from anyone. If there is an exception, it is to take care of Huzi everywhere. But that doesn't cause criticism. Huzi was young, and he took care of him as a big brother, and people respected Lao Song for this.

The Chinese laborers were obtained from various locations by the Japanese by various methods of arresting, cheating, recruiting, and buying. Those who are arrested are only arrested, and those who sell are only sold, and they are transferred to the labor associations and the money is cleared according to the number of people. For the three generations of their ancestors, the family background is not a big question. The labor union sent the men to the door. Bathing and disinfecting. Line up bare-bottomed, this one goes to Akita, and that one goes to Yamaguchi...... Each was taken away by a Japanese leader, and it has nothing to do with the person who sent it. You don't need to ask who came from or where you came from, or what you used to do. When you arrive at the industrial and mining area, send a form to fill in your name, Zhang San Li Si, the age of your hometown, write it as you like. Anyway, it's a slave, there is a name to greet and drive, it's good to eat, it's hard to whip, what's the use of those idle people? Therefore, the Chinese workers do not know each other's true faces. For example, people only know that Song Yuke is a teacher in Jinan, and Huzi is a shepherd in the countryside, and no one knows that they had a friendship long before they came to Japan.

On the day Huzi was arrested, he was locked up in the Guandi Temple outside the train station. The temple is not big, and the people who caught it keep sending it in, and it doesn't take much effort to squeeze it and can't sit open. The Japanese devils told everyone to stand up, and the arrested people were probably either going to be shot or arrested. There are also those who cry for their fathers and mothers, those who shout for the heavens and the earth, and the tigers also cry with a whining. The man standing next to him said, "It's all caught, what's the use of crying." The white devil was happy to hear it! ”

Huzi said: "What you said is light, I have been playing for a few days, I haven't eaten for a day today, this soft leg is like cotton, I can't stand up for trembling, I want to be as strong as you, whoever cries is a bad seed." ”

The man sighed, stretched out his hand and hugged Huzi and said, "Do you feel better like this?" ”

Huzi felt much better, but he couldn't stop crying, but he didn't say anything more. Got on the train in the middle of the night, and he was still next to this man. The stuffy tanker was more crowded than the Guandi Temple, and it was darker than the Guandi Temple, and Huzi never saw the appearance of this person clearly. After dawn, I went to Dagang Station in Qingdao to open the door and let them out, Huzi saw him clearly, and couldn't help but scream: "Mom, you're not ......"

Song Yuke squeezed his hand. "Remember, we don't know anyone." ”

Huzi understood, swallowed the words back, and never even spoke to Song Yuke in front of people from now on. But I wondered in my heart: "The song is sung, 'The martial arts team members are all racing tigers', why did this tiger fall into the cage?" This is the man who talked to "Comrade Devil" in the oil room that night.

got on the boat, the guard was loose, and Song Yuke told him. The martial arts team thought that the Japanese devils were arresting people and wanted to repair a stronghold nearby, so they sent him in to get information, but they couldn't get out as soon as they came. Song Yuke clapped his hands and said, "It's broken, isn't it!" It's time for us to stay in the ocean! ”

Song Yuke turned out to be a teacher, and the Japanese army burned down the elementary school, and he stamped his feet to join the guerrillas. He also worked as a cultural teacher. He is applying to join the party. The branch secretary said to him: "First of all, we must join the party ideologically, and we must consciously demand ourselves according to the standards of party members, regardless of whether they are before or after, whether they act collectively or fight alone." These words gave him the basic principles of being a human being. Gave him a spiritual pillar in times of difficulty. He thought: The farther away from the motherland and the organization, the more important it is to remember this sentence, otherwise people will degenerate into inferior animals under high pressure. However, he did not participate in the revolution for a long time, he had never studied Marxism-Leninism in a book and a half, and he could not distinguish between a Communist Party member and a good person, and he was often just seriously doing a good job.

Soon after arriving in Chungang, he made two secret covenants with Huzi: first, not to reveal his true identity under any circumstances; Second, under no circumstances should we forget that we came from the base areas and were educated by the Communist Party. There are three religions and nine streams in the Chinese workers, and everyone has them. The conditions do not allow propaganda and education work, and it is possible not to do it, but it is always necessary to keep oneself clean and maintain one's innocence.

Song Yuke colluded with people to leave food for Zhang Ju and them, Zhang Ju felt that he was not a gentleman if he received a favor, and he brought the condolence bag of rice into the factory when he went to work that morning. said to Song Yuke: "Dude, let's get together for lunch today, I'll treat you." ”

Zhang Ju and the others walked into the workshop, and before the small objects in their hands were put down, the big tooth pulled the electric bell to notify the release.

The big tooth was in his thirties and had a strong physique, but half a leg was missing. It was the Battle of Taierzhuang that called the Chinese soldiers to take big blades and cut them down. He remembered a grudge against this matter, and scolded the Chinese for being bad when he had the opportunity. Naturally, the Chinese workers did not have a good face for him. scolded him for being Koyamazaki. In fact, he is different from Yamazaki, he is just babbling, there are not many things that really beat people, Yamazaki has a set of systematic militarist ideas, national oppression concepts. Big Tooth doesn't have these, he just screams for his legs. In fact, Daya's life is very hard, his clothes are not covered, and his food is better than that of Chinese workers, and he can't do heavy work on one leg, and the factory doesn't treat him as a garlic.

Another Japanese worker in this workshop, surnamed Muraoka, was about twenty years old, full of sturdy and strong, but I don't know why he didn't go to military service. He does not have the boundary between Chinese and Japanese, and he makes friends and quarrels with Chinese workers, so he gets up and walks with you on his arm, and wrestles when he turns his face. But you don't sue when you are beaten, you beat him today, and tomorrow he jokes with you again, and he never holds a grudge.

He hated Han Youfu the most, and as soon as they met, he sandwiched his thumb between his index and middle fingers and stretched Han Youfu's nose up. He saw that Han Youfu was always lazy and slippery when he worked with others, so he deliberately asked Lu Huzi to shirk a car with him, and said to Huzi: "You kid, it's okay to do less, tell him to do more!" ”

Recently, there has been a shortage of coal. The voltage fluctuates and the furnace temperature is unstable. The semi-finished products that should have been produced in the previous furnace did not come out on time, so the two furnaces were squeezed together. It's like a car the size of a small room, and twelve cars come out at a time. Each car has more than 100 plates of dried magnesium carbonate hard blocks. Seven Chinese workers and one Japanese worker pushed the thousands of plates of dry material out of the furnace and transported them to the crushing chamber, where they were pulled out and unloaded. The car pushes the filter chamber, stacks the plates, and then loads the wet material and pushes it back into the furnace. The hot wind was billowing and the dust was flying, and it was as if people were being punished in the "whirlwind hell" described in the Divine Comedy. Big Tooth grabbed a shovel and kept shouting:

"Hurry, hurry! Want to get a stick? ”

Even Muraoka was indignant, saying, "You Chinese should be unlucky, why didn't you cut off his other leg in the first place?" ”

Huzi had just finished paying off Han Youfu's five-bowl gambling account, and Han Youfu asked him to play "half past ten". Huzi was so busy that he lost five bowls again, so he was determined to pay off the account in one go and stop gambling until he died. happened to be rationed tobacco, he gave Han Youfu a pack of cigarettes and a cigarette paper to carry three bowls of rice, he didn't eat a mouthful of rice last night and this morning, he paid off the debt, and then his body was soft, and he had to take a few breaths when he unloaded a sheet. Han Youfu complained: "It's really unlucky to work with you, I have to do half of it for you!" ”

"You fart, I have an empty stomach today, how much slower, do you usually do less than you?"

The Chinese workers said that Han Youfu: "They are all Chinese, he is a child, and the rice is coaxed to eat by you, what is it to do less than you?" ”

"I won the rice, and if I lose, won't I give it to him?"

At this time, someone whistled lightly to inform the people of the "Ministry of Diligence" that they had arrived. Suddenly, there was no sound, only the sound of ping-pong unloading trucks, and the whole room was filled with white dust, and I couldn't open my eyes. The "Ministry of Diligence" is the department of the military stationed in the factory to monitor the workers, and has the power to detain and torture the workers. From time to time, they rode on bicycles to inspect the places where the Chinese workers worked. Han Youfu intuitively felt that the man was walking behind him, so he took off his jacket and unloaded it two boards at a time, and after a while, his body was covered with white powder, like a monkey with white hair. The inspector of the "Industrious Department" ignored him, patted Huzi on the shoulder, and called him outside the house.

"Kid, do you watch the news every day?"

"Look, but I can't read, I just look at paintings."

"Meet, did you see the picture of Tokyo being bombed?"

"See."

"What do you think? Rejoice? Not happy? ”

"I guess the bomb doesn't fall on my head!"

"Did you hear what they said?"

"Who?"

"Chinese, your partners."

"They say they're hungry, but it's good to find something to eat!"

"No, it's about bombing!"

"Didn't hear me!"

"Do you say Chiang Kai-shek is good, Wang Jingwei is good, or is the Communist Party better?"

"There is no one with this name in Xingyaliao? Is it Japanese? I don't know. ”

"No, the Communist Party is not a one-man ......"

"Sir, I don't understand such complicated Japanese."

The inspector picked up a piece of magnesium carbonate and wrote the words "Communist Party" on the concrete floor, "Huh? ”

"I can't read, draw a picture! What are they? ”

The patrol thought about it for a long time, and drew an axe and sickle pattern on the ground.

"Understood?"

Huzi nodded and said, "Understood!" It's a hook for a dry car, right? It's not good to make it, but it's good to make it square......"

"Bastard, fuck off, pig! Stinky shit! "The patrol kicked the tiger in the ass. drove him away and called Han Youfu over. Handing him a cigarette: "Han, you are doing a good job." "I lit him a cigarette with a lighter.

"Thank you, sir." Han Youfu pondered what kind of he was going to pull.

"I'm happy to hear you have a girlfriend, right?"

Han Youfu's legs trembled. He tried his best to put on a smile and said, "I have a lot of friends, both men and women!" ”

"Don't be afraid, you just need to work well and be pure-minded, and I don't care about idle things."

“……”

"The battle hasn't been going well lately!" The inspector sighed and said, "Saipan is broken, Tokyo is bombed, and American planes often come!" ”

"Sir, 100 million hearts, the holy war will be won!" Han Youfu thought to himself as he spoke: "You kid is also afraid of something, let's know it in our hearts!" ”

"That's right, Japan will win, our kamikaze special attack team, one person and one plane can fight an American warship, the United States has a limited number of warships, and our samurai are innumerable."

"I totally believe it."

"But do you all believe? Well? Didn't anyone say anything bad? ”

"I didn't hear it."

"You pay attention, report it to me, it's okay about your girlfriend. It's too hard to work right now, and the tool warehouse needs people, and I can help you transfer there. ”

"I'll do my best."

Han Youfu said, you made the wrong decision again, my old Han is a little slippery, but he will not betray the Chinese, this point can still be grasped.

Han Youfu returned to the workshop, the goods had been unloaded, and people were pushing the cart to the filtration room. When he saw that the car had been pushed through the discharge port, and no one saw him come back, he grabbed his jacket and hurriedly slipped out of the workshop and walked to the beach. When loading wet materials, everyone shared a car, one more person and one less person is not easy to find, found that it can be said that the patrol to find him did not finish talking, happy to seize this gap to go to the beach to take a nap. It just so happens that you can also get a flower branch. Hua Zhizi pushed his horses on the small railroad by the sea, and every night shift, he had a tryst with him in those waste pipes. Han Youfu is clever in other aspects, but he can't learn Japanese well, and he can't remember anything else except for a few necessary words in production. Hua Zhizi also didn't want to learn Chinese, and the word "talking" about love didn't apply to either of them. Fortunately, in order to meet the needs of human nature, it is not the key to talk about it or not. Our ancestors did not learn to speak first and then pass on to future generations. So until now, Han Youfu doesn't know where Hua Zhizi's family lives, and there are several people. His husband died in the islands of the South Seas, or in Aleutian. The flower branch was as hot as a pot of fire for him, and buried her head in his chest and wept, saving food from between her teeth and giving it to him. He just thinks it's a fool not to pick up the cheap ones sent to the door, she thinks that men are crazy, and she is willing to post them upside down, why not do it. Among the Chinese workers, he did not hide this matter very much, and sometimes deliberately talked about them to show off. The Chinese workers also said a few funny words in person: "Peach blossom luck!" "It doesn't matter if you return home or not, someone in Japan hurts anyway!" There are very few people who don't scold him behind his back, and they feel that he has disgraced the Chinese. Someone even pointed to his nose and said, "It's the same as a wild prostitute, it's just a flip." Song Yuke never talked nonsense, and once said with a straight face: "I feel sad for that Japanese woman." It's been good to you, you should be a little sincere, right? How to tell her infatuation as a joke? "Han Youfu was born in business, and he has been to all obscene places. Listening to Song Yuke's discussion, he secretly laughed, and felt that this was really the insight of a poor nerd.

The filter chamber was very busy at this time. Because there are two trains at once, it can't be produced as usual. Only three people were responsible for loading a car and pushing the drying furnace. The other three loaded another cart while they were in the furnace. Two people should be at the filter outlet to sort out the material and push it onto the belt conveyor, and the other should place a pallet on the outlet. But Han Youfu is gone. No matter how it is arranged, there is one less manpower. Daya didn't dare to stop working to find Han Youfu, so he had to put the pallet himself. Before he finished a car of work, his good leg was too tired to support his whole body, and his broken leg was painful and he grinned, so he cursed and scolded Chinese for being bastards, lazy worms, and should be killed. Everyone was already tired enough, and when they heard him scold, they were all angry, and they quarreled with him. As soon as the quarrel slowed down, dozens of plates of magnesium carbonate rolled down from the belt conveyor and piled up. Big Tooth was angry, stopped the machine, picked up the shovel handle to beat someone, Zhang Juyuan didn't participate in the scolding, he was also scolding Han Youfu for soaking mushrooms in his heart, seeing that Big Tooth was going to use force, Zhang Ju was annoyed, and picked up an iron pipe to stop Big Tooth.

Although Big Tooth is also scared of Zhang Ju on weekdays, but he doesn't dare to do it, he raises the stick and hits Zhang Ju, Zhang Ju uses an iron pipe to block, sweeps it with his hand, and hits the good leg of Big Tooth, Big Tooth suddenly fell into the watery magnesium carbonate pile, although Muraoka usually does not distinguish between China and Japan, he also hates Big Tooth, and now at the juncture, the national concept has prevailed, and he pounced on Zhang Ju from behind him to snatch his iron pipe. When the Chinese workers saw him doing it, they hugged him together with a shout, and knocked Muraoka to the ground with all hands and feet. Listening to Lu Huzi's breathless explanation, several people from Gary Ninitrate didn't wait for Song Yuke to speak, each took a shovel and went straight to the "magnesium carbonate". There was only one Japanese worker in the "Gary Nitrate", an old man in his fifties, who was usually silent and lukewarm to the Chinese workers, but at this time he grabbed Song Yuke's hand and said: "Song, listen to my advice and don't make a big fuss." ”

Song Yuke shook the old worker's hand and said, "Thank you!" ”

Song Yuke rushed to the "magnesium carbonate" workshop, and the battle was over. Big Tooth and Muraoka were watched in the corner of the break room. Big Tooth was lying on the ground, already only **, and his face was covered with blood. Muraoka sat with his face against the wall, his shirt torn into shreds, and he didn't say a word. Song Yuke pulled Zhang Ju aside and asked in a whisper. Zhang Julian said with a scolding: "It's enough to be a slave in the dead country." One person does the work and one person is responsible, and I will never affect you, so I simply killed the big tooth and went to turn myself in. ”

Song Yuke said: "You have this backbone, enough to be a man." But you can't give up this life until you have to. Japan is almost finished, and the idea is to hold on until the victory returns home, which is the right way. Can you listen to me? ”

Zhang Ju has always been bold, and there is no one he can afford among the Chinese workers, so for some reason he stands with Song Yuke, and he feels half a head shorter in his heart.

Zhang Ju asked, "What do you say?" ”

Song Yuke said: "Invite Muraoka out first." ”

Zhang Ju called for someone to pull Muraoka out, and Muraoka turned his face away with a snort. Song Yuke said to Muraoka: "I'm sorry that I'm late for the fight." You've always been friendly with us, and it was a misunderstanding that you were hit by mistake. Zhang Ju, make amends to Mr. Muraoka! ”

Zhang Ju glared at Song Yuke and shouted, "Call me to come to this set? ”

Song Yuke squeezed his eyes: "Listen to my brother!" ”

Zhang Juchong Lao Song was affectionate, and he didn't stop doing anything, so he simply took off his shirt, draped it on Muraoka, and said loudly: "Mr. Muraoka, I didn't have a holiday with you, I missed, I'm sorry, please forgive me!" I'll pay you for this shirt. ”

Muraoka was still a little dumbfounded, but reluctantly said, "What a pity! ”

Song Yuke said to Zhang Ju: "All assemble, go to the Ministry of Diligence and surrender!" ”

Zhang Ju said: "If you want to go, I will go alone, and I would rather call one person to ...... alone."

"All gone!" Song Yuke said, "The people of 'Gary Nitric Acid' also go, and the law does not blame the public!" ”

When people gathered, Song Yuke whispered to Huzi: "Send a letter to the people of the lime furnace and sodium carbonate, so ......."

Fifteen people from the pharmaceutical department ran neatly and came to the outside of the industrious department. Yamazaki was summoned to a meeting by the Ministry of Labor. Immediately pushed the door out and asked, "What are you doing here when you are at work?" Zhang Ju said: "We are here to ask for punishment!" Yamazaki asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"We got into a fight with Big Tooth! When he was working, he deceived people so much that we beat him! ”

When Yamazaki heard this, he was furious, and he usually dared to contradict the Japanese and would be punished, but today he actually started fighting, and stepped forward and asked, "Who did it?" Take a step forward! ”

All the Chinese workers have taken a step forward.

Yamazaki was even more furious, went into the house and brought a wooden war knife, and asked loudly:

"The hand that moves first, hands up!"

All the Chinese workers raised their hands!

Yamazaki didn't expect this. In a fit of rage, he wanted to punch a few wooden knives at everyone's heads. Who expected the sound of running around. Composed of sodium carbonate, lime furnace, silicate Caoda...... Hundreds of Chinese laborers came. The formation stood at the entrance of the industrious department. The industrious minister himself came out to see the momentum and called Yamazaki into the house. Then he asked with a smile: "What's the matter?" ”

The squad leaders of various departments reported one after another: "According to the regulations of the Ministry of Diligence, we took the initiative to report mistakes and asked for punishment!" ”

"What mistakes did you guys make?"

"The code of requisition stipulates that we should monitor each other: if someone in the drug department makes a mistake, we are not responsible for monitoring."

"Very well, everyone take a break." He paced back and forth a few steps backwards and then stood on his feet and said, "It's good to turn yourself in if you make a mistake." In that case, I have decided not to punish you. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Minister. Will it not be punished in the future? ”

"Now the soldiers in front are fighting bloodily. We have to work hard to produce, these small things, don't pay too much attention, and if we don't make trouble again in the future, of course we won't be punished. Go back to work. ”

Seeing that there was nothing left to insist on, the Chinese workers shouted: "Stand upright, salute." The team also dispersed.

When the minister returned to the house, all the workshops were calling to ask for the Chinese workers to be put back into production first. The machine is still running, there is no one to take care of it, and there is about to have an accident. Everyone complimented the Minister for his timely and proper handling.

The minister lit a cigarette, took a few deep breaths, and said to the whole house: "Recently, there was a riot among Chinese workers in Akita Prefecture and several supervisors who were too strict with them were killed. He glanced at Yamazaki, who immediately stood upright, and he made a gesture for him to sit down.

"The Chinese workers seized the guns from the police station and pulled them up the mountain to fight guerrilla warfare for several days. wanted to get close to the American prisoner camp, but fortunately the army arrived to eliminate them. ”

The crowd shouted in unison, "Hooray! ”

"But mine production has stopped!" The hardworking minister threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray, rubbed his hands and said: "To generate electricity for heating, you need to burn coal, and it is not a matter of burning the corpses of Chinese." ”

"Yes."

"Check it out, if there is no political background to today's events, let it go. It's beef cattle that are going to be killed. Cattle farmers who plough the fields do not kill. Mr. Yamazaki, I hope you will listen to the opinions of our Labor Department more in the future. ”

Yamazaki agreed with a "yes" word.

The minister added: "Mr. Yamazaki has done a great job, we have always worked well together, and there is no difference in our goals. ”

Yamazaki said: "Although the Labor Association has sent me to manage the Chinese workers, the minister is a superior, and I will definitely follow your instructions." ”