More than a week later, Chen Jianqiu arrived in Kaben County with dozens of people.

They didn't take the train directly to Stone Springs.

Because the goal of dozens of people is too big, in a small town, it will inevitably cause unnecessary trouble.

Chen Jianqiu asked Li Sifu and Asuka to stay in Kaben County with the Longxiang group, while he and Sean changed into cowboy clothes and went to Shiquan Town to find out the news first.

Compared to four years ago, Shiquan Town is still the same, and there are almost no changes.

The same mess and mud, the same air filled with dust, shrouded the whole town in a haze.

Chen Jianqiu and Sean walked along the road in the town.

It was daytime and the workers were working in the mines, so the town was empty.

"Sean, we haven't returned the saddle you stole later?" Chen Jianqiu asked suddenly.

The blacks were speechless for a moment.

"I should, return it, the horses we got should have run back on their own."

"Oh, I hope so, you'd better wear your hat, the saddle owner with the pitchfork should be very impressed with you."

Chen Jianqiu said as he walked forward.

The blacks are far more conspicuous in this town than the Chinese.

When the two of them passed by the security station, they found that it was empty.

Chen Jianqiu stopped.

He glanced at the bounty bar outside the door and saw that there was no bounty order for himself and Sean on it.

It's been four years, and maybe their few tickets have long been covered under other thick bounties.

However, what made Chen Jianqiu strange was that in addition to the bounty order, some strange things were also posted there.

A gust of wind blew.

Directly blew one of them down, and was blown by the wind and rolled on the road.

Chen Jianqiu walked up quickly, bent down and picked it up.

is a flyer:

Chinese, the end of your life is coming.

It's a threat.

He looked up and found another one on the wall of the grocery store next to him.

What is written above, it is more straightforward:

Yellow Dog! Hurry up and get out of Shiquan Town!

The two continued on their way.

More and more leaflets caught Chen Jianqiu's eyes:

On the walls of the house, on the trunks of trees, on the fences

He frowned.

It seems that his worries have become a reality.

In the west, strikes generally coincide with PAI-Chinese violence, with the former often becoming the trigger for the latter.

"Let's go, do you want to take you to see my house?" Chen Jianqiu said to Sean.

He took the black man and walked towards the Chinese residential area of Shiquan Town.

The residential area is located in the vicinity of Mine No. 3.

The first batch of Chinese workers who came to Shiquan Town dug coal here.

In order to get closer, they set up simple tents and wooden houses by the Bit River.

Later Chinese workers also settled here.

Over time, it became a gathering area for Chinese workers in Shiquan Town.

Chen Jianqiu also lived here four years ago.

They walked across the wooden bridge over the Bit River.

On the bridge, Chen Jianqiu saw a familiar figure from a distance.

An old man was squatting by the river to wash his face.

"New Jackie!"

The old man heard someone calling him, straightened up with difficulty, and turned around.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the two cowboy-dressed men on the bridge.

The distance was a bit far, and he could only roughly see the skin color of the two.

One Chinese, one black.

The two men soon came to him.

"New Jeffer, didn't you go down the well today?" Chen Jianqiu looked at the old man with a grin.

He took off his hat.

The old man looked at Chen Jianqiu's face repeatedly.

His eyes widened suddenly, and he slapped his thigh, overjoyed but trying to suppress his voice:

"It's you! Jianqiu! ”

Chen Jianqiu smiled and nodded.

The old man glanced left and right, and after making sure that there was no one else, he pulled Chen Jianqiu and Sean into a small cabin by the river.

"I've had a back problem." The old man sighed, "Rest for a while, and I'll be over later." ”

"By the way, Jianqiu, why are you back again?" He glanced at Chen Jianqiu, and then at the black man beside Chen Jianqiu.

"We went to San Francisco, and we happened to pass by, and we heard that the limelight was over, so we came back to have a look."

Chen Jianqiu originally wanted to find a place to sit down.

But the room was too small, and there was no stool to sit on.

So he squatted down with the old man at the door.

The four-year incident caused quite a stir in Shiquan Town.

But as time went on, people began to forget about it.

After the death of the old mine owner, Robert, the Pacific Coal Mine Consortium took over the mine.

They took another pay cut.

"After the salary is reduced, is it enough to live?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"It's enough to tighten your belt, at least a lot more than in your hometown." The old man lit his dry tobacco pot, "The biggest problem is safety. ”

Ironically, Pacific Coal Mines Combine may have been one of the first companies outside of New Mexico to ignore the bill.

Because the bosses of the coal mining companies intend to replace the white workers who are unwilling to continue working because of the reduced wages with Chinese workers.

This makes the contradiction between the two deeper.

Chinese workers are harassed from time to time, and they are now afraid to leave the ghetto alone.

"I've heard that since last month, the road from Livingstone to Stone Springs has been plastered with leaflets saying they want to evict us."

So said the old man.

"Since it's so dangerous, haven't you considered changing places?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"Where are you going? Everyone is spreading that there is a boss in the south who is also surnamed Chen, and the business is very big. The old man tapped the pot on his hand, "and said that there is a large Chinese town there." ”

"How is this possible?" He shook his head, "I've heard that a lot of people are going to be thrown on the ship back home when they are caught. ”

"If it's true, how capable that boss must be! Anyway, I've lived such an old bone, and I've never seen anyone like this. ”

Sean glanced at Chen Jianqiu, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Chen Jianqiu's cough.

"By the way, Jianqiu, where do you work now?" The old man looked at Chen Jianqiu with a little worry.

"Oh, we're herding cattle for a ranch owner in Kansas." Chen Jianqiu patted the cowboy hat in his hand and said.

The two of them talked about the past again.

Including how the old man found Chen Jianqiu on the mine bucket of the train, and also Chen Jianqiu's astonishing act in the tavern.

"Jianqiu, did you really kill the old mine chief?" The old man asked suddenly.

He stared at Chen Jianqiu's eyes, trying to find out the answer from the young man's eyes.

"I said no, do you believe it?" Chen Jianqiu said with a smile.

The sheriff and the rest of the law enforcement officers died at the hands of his gun, but he really didn't do the death of the old mine chief.

"It's good if it's not, it's good if it's not." The old man took another puff of the dry smoke pot and muttered to himself.

"Have any people from the trade union recently approached you?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"What is a union?" The old man looked dazed, "What are they looking for us?" ”

"Well, are there any white workers who have come to you to talk about the strike?" Chen Jianqiu put it more simply.

"It seems that there were, and they seem to be coming later." The old man sighed.

"But Jianqiu, in the end, what are we doing if we have nothing to do, we have nothing here, what do we eat if we don't work? What are we doing here? ”

"If you have to endure hardship, you will become a master, Jianqiu."

Chen Jianqiu was silent for a while and did not speak.

Suffering has never been worthy of being celebrated, let alone an anesthetic of universal value.

It's two different levels of hard work.

But now the crux of the matter, I'm afraid, is no longer there.

He said to the old man:

"Tell me the next time they come."

(End of chapter)