Dignity or survival.

That's a problem.

Wiltord, a glorious colonel in the U.S. Federal Army, a white supremacist racist, is at war with heaven and man at this time, and he is very entangled.

Going to Roswell to buy food from the Chinese is tantamount to a slap in the face.

In the future, every time I eat and see the bread in my hand, I will think that I bought it from those Chinese people who I look down on.

Wiltord didn't know if he would be able to eat in the future.

At least on the border line, he is afraid that he will never have the face to raise the bar with Chen Jianqiu again.

But if he didn't buy it, he knew very well what his soldiers would do when the food stocks were exhausted.

I'm afraid that even the barracks will be lifted for him at that time.

Don't talk about the bullet pressure, I'm afraid that I will be lifted directly and split and hit the tree.

The colonel was very entangled, and his brow twisted into a twist.

The quartermaster on the side saw the chief like this, and came up:

"Sir, I have a solution."

Those who can become quartermasters in the army are either cronies of the commander, or they are all human spirits, how can they not see what their leaders are thinking?

"If you really can't get rid of it, I'll take someone to pretend to be a caravan, and just say it's a Texas grain merchant." Said the quartermaster.

"Does that make a difference?" The colonel glanced at the quartermaster, "Don't you still have to buy it from those Chinese in the end?" Besides, hasn't the military pay arrived this month? Where do we get the money? ”

The colonel didn't know exactly how much money was on the army's books, but he knew that many soldiers were still owed last month's salary.

The quartermaster smiled:

"If you don't give money, won't you not buy it?"

Wiltord's eyes lit up, but then he shook his head:

"No, no, we had a reconnaissance with Roswell, and the defense there is too solid, and in addition to the militia stationed, there are also heavy weapons, otherwise I would have lifted them up a long time ago."

Wiltord shook his head.

The quartermaster's idea was quite to his liking, but it still seemed to be flawed.

"We don't have to go to Roswell." The quartermaster lowered his voice and said, although there was no one in the warehouse, "There is a farm five kilometers south of town, where they usually trade grain. ”

"I have dealt with Chinese people, and Chinese people are very polite in doing business, they will look at you with a smile, and most of the time they will adhere to the principles of 'suffering is a blessing' and 'peace of mind'." The quartermaster added.

Wiltord nodded, but then felt that something was wrong.

He glanced at the quartermaster:

"How do you know so well?"

"Ah, this, sir, when do you think we're going to go?" The quartermaster was in a position to talk about him.

Wiltord didn't continue to dwell on this matter:

"You guys set off quickly, if it's any later, I'm afraid that the food in the barracks will run out."

Early the next morning, a convoy disguised as a caravan drove out of the barracks.

The soldiers in the convoy changed into peasant civilian clothes, while the quartermaster at the head wore a cowboy hat and brown suspenders, dressed like a grain merchant.

"Sir, is it the same destination as last time? Roswell Farmstead? The quartermaster whispered behind the quartermaster.

"Well, ah, shut up, when have we been to the farmstead?" The quartermaster glanced at his confidant.

The soldier understood and immediately shut his mouth.

It was not far from the border barracks to Roswell, and after five or six hours of advance, the team saw a touch of green on the distant horizon.

Thanks to the efforts of agriculturists from the Roswell Scientists Association and engineers at the fertilizer plant, a large tract of land south of Roswell has been turned into a farmstead.

Drought-tolerant plants such as peanuts, potatoes, and corn are grown here.

The Grande's river flows along a canal into the ravines of the farmland, irrigating the once barren land.

The quartermaster led the team along the road through a beautiful sunflower field.

"Sir, what do you think that's there?" A soldier pointed to a steel behemoth in a field not far away.

It looked like a king-sized carriage, or a smaller locomotive, with large, wide wheels, moving slowly forward, and the iron chimney standing next to it was smoking and floating into the air.

Behind this behemoth was an equally massive harvester, harvesting the wheat in the field.

The quartermaster was dumbfounded.

"Probably, maybe a steam engine, or."

He hadn't seen anything like this, so he couldn't tell why.

"It's a tractor, gasoline powered."

A Chinese farmer sitting on a ridge with a cigarette in his mouth suddenly stood up, patted the ash on his buttocks, and said in standard English,

"Mr. Ford's invention is still in the experimental stage, and it is worth a dozen cows."

The surprise on the quartermaster's face remained.

He looked at the Chinese peasants:

"Do you understand me? Do you know modern agricultural technology? ”

The Chinese peasant looked at him like a dumpling:

"I just went to Stanford University's Adult College for half a year to study agricultural technology science, and now I am studying soil improvement here.

The quartermaster immediately shut up.

Strictly speaking, he was half illiterate.

The team continued along the road in the direction of Roswell Farmstead.

Soon, they saw the gate of the farmstead.

There is a trading market in the open space to the south of the farm, and it is very lively.

Because it's not far from Roswell's train station, many Texas farmers come here to trade grain.

The quartermaster led the convoy into the gate.

He parked the convoy outside the warehouse.

He walked into the warehouse with ease.

"Get the potatoes out, Mr. Derek needs some potatoes, he came yesterday, we can't keep him waiting too long!"

A middle-aged Chinese man with his back to the quartermaster directs the busy people in the warehouse.

His name is Xu Youcai, he is the person in charge here, he wears a white sleeveless coat and a towel around his neck to wipe his sweat.

The quartermaster walked up and patted him on the shoulder:

"Hey, are you busy? Composed? ”

It's a very Chinese way of greeting.

The man surnamed Xu turned his head and saw that it was the quartermaster, and he also smiled:

"Ah, hello, Mr. Jefferson, long time no see. Why, are you here to sell grain today? ”

The quartermaster's expression was a little unnatural.

"Jefferson" was, of course, the pseudonym he used.

And this name, there is not a single Chinese guy on Roswell Farm who does not know.

Because every once in a while, the quartermaster would sneak here to resell the rations.

And that's why he's so familiar with this place.

"Well, this time I'm not here to sell grain, I'm here to buy grain." The quartermaster gestured.

He gestured to his own wagon outside the warehouse.

"I need to buy some potatoes and flour, and carrots and some vegetables or something."

Xu Youcai looked at the quartermaster with a puzzled expression:

"I don't think you're short of these things, and every time you tell us that the supply is sufficient."

"This year is relatively dry, and the subsequent harvest may not be very good. The quartermaster hurriedly explained.

"We don't have flour for the time being, if you need it, we can have the flour mill on the other side of town do it." Xu Youcai said.

"Well, then don't have flour, just potatoes." The quartermaster hurriedly said, "I'm still short on time. ”

Xu Youcai wiped the sweat on his forehead with a towel:

"But like you said, it's hot this year, and the price of vegetables and carrots is not cheap."

"No problem, the price is easy to say." The quartermaster said yes.

Xu Youcai looked at the quartermaster suspiciously.

The goods in front of me came here to sell grain before, and the price alone had to rise for half a day, so why is it so refreshing to buy today?

Seeing this, the quartermaster took out a stack of bills from his pocket and began to count them.

These are his private money, which will not be easily seen, and now he is fighting for the implementation of the plan.

"We're going to stay here for the night and leave tomorrow morning." The quartermaster said to Xu Youcai while counting the money.

"Okay, park your car here, I'll arrange for someone to load the goods for you."

Xu Youcai walked into the warehouse.

A few strong men were resting with their waists crossed.

There was a large fan standing next to them, blowing wind on them.

This is also one of Chen Jianqiu's masterpieces.

In fact, this thing was tried in the United States as early as 1880, but it was not popularized due to various problems.

The reason that prompted Chen Jianqiu to make an electric fan was mainly that the weather in Roswell was too hot.

He took a quick sketch of an electric fan and told the engineers at Roswell Electric that they could put it on the motor.

I have to say that these engineers in the electrical company are the top talents in the United States.

They took a cue from Chen Jianqiu's "unusually abstract" painting art and quickly turned it into drawings.

From the design to the launch of the first electric fan, it was only three months.

Xu Youcai greeted those guys:

"You guys go and load Jefferson's wagon, and he's going to ask for three carts of potatoes, and some carrots and vegetables."

A few of the guys said yes and walked towards the place where the potatoes were placed.

But Xu Youcai suddenly grabbed the last guy.

He glanced back at the quartermaster who was still looking around behind him, and then leaned into his fellow's ear and whispered:

"You rush to the town and report to Mr. Chen that the 'Jefferson' who used to always come to sell grain is here again, but this time he is here to buy grain."

The guy nodded and walked quickly out of the warehouse.

Shortly after returning to Roswell from Juarez, Chen Jianqiu was returning to New York after a half-year meeting of scientific associations.

He was in his office at City Hall looking at the meeting materials that Holmes had prepared for him.

The man's horse stopped at the door of the city hall, and he walked in quickly and told Chen Jianqiu what had happened on the farm.

Chen Jianqiu thought for a moment and picked up the phone on the table.

"White, the last time I asked you to check the grain merchant 'Jefferson' who often came to Roswell to sell grain, did you find out where it came from?"

After connecting the phone, Chen Jianqiu asked on the other end of the phone.

The head of the southwest area of the Border Detective Agency, "pockmarked face" White, quickly told Chen Jianqiu the information he had investigated.

They had already stripped the man's bottoms clean.

The man, formerly Donovan Anthony, was a German-American who had served in the War Department, was nearly fired for downsizing, and was placed in Wiltord's army as a quartermaster after bribing his superiors with gold bars.

"Li Sifu! In. Chen Jianqiu shouted outside the office.

"It seems that our colonel was suffocated, and decided to come to get food." He put down the earpiece and said to Li Sifu with a smile.

Chen Jianqiu turned his head and looked at the guy: "Did they give a deposit?" ”

The guy shook his head: "I haven't given it yet, but Uncle Cai asked us to load the goods first, and their cars are all here with us." ”

"Hehe, I don't think these people are going to give money." After listening to this, Li Sifu looked at Chen Jianqiu and said, "Boss, why don't I take someone to clean them up?"

"Don't worry, you just have to take someone to keep an eye on it." Chen Jianqiu said slowly, "If people give money, they are our customers, so we have to entertain them well and let them stay for a few more days; If you don't give money, then you have to pay attention to personal stolen goods. ”

Then he said to the man, "Go back and continue to load him, and get it as you want." ”

As Chen Jianqiu and Li Sifu guessed, the quartermaster was not going to give money.

After parking the wagon at the door of the warehouse, he led his subordinates to a camp next to the farm.

It is a simple hotel, and many merchants who come from afar and cannot return on the same day will spend the night here.

However, the living conditions are not very good.

There were no separate beds, everyone slept on the bunks in a row, and there were no taverns or anything to entertain them with.

The quartermaster's soldiers had traveled for a day, and after dinner they had returned to the camp and fell asleep.

But in the middle of the night, they were woken up one by one by the quartermaster and his deputy.

There was a dark rumble in the room, and only the quartermaster's voice could be heard coming from the darkness:

"Don't sleep, hurry up and get dressed, go lead the horse, and set the carriage."

Many of the soldiers hadn't woken up yet.

They yawned in a daze, got dressed, and cautiously followed the quartermaster out of the house.

The lights are on in the direction of the farm warehouse.

The two high-power incandescent lamps resemble two flames burning on the grassland in the dark night under the action of the reflector.

However, it was already late at night, and there was no one on the periphery of the warehouse, not even anyone on duty.

"Boss, what are we doing here?" The soldier asked puzzled.

"Prepare to run!" The quartermaster led the group to the fence outside the warehouse.

Suddenly, they found their carriage parked at the door of the closed warehouse, and the carriage was already stacked with sacks of potatoes and carrots.

"Quick, go to the stables and lead the horses!" The quartermaster ordered, "We don't have much time, we need to tow the truck while they don't react." ”

The soldiers below him quickly understood what their commander was going to do, and they all came to their senses.

The pack horse was pulled out of the stable.

When the soldiers did this, they were all terrified, for fear that the movement would be too big and disturb the master here.

But the surroundings are very calm.

The Chinese peasants and workers on those farms seemed to have disappeared all at once.

The quartermaster didn't care about any of this.

He asked the soldiers to find a few ropes, haphazardly fixed the grain on the cart, and when the wagon was ready, he could not wait to drive the wagon towards the gate of the farm.

The convoy soon drove into the night.

Everything seems to be going well.

Just when the quartermaster thought he was safe and was complacent about this "brave and witty" plan.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear the sound of horses' hooves.

The quartermaster jerked his head.

He noticed that a little bit of a fire was moving quickly from the diagonal front of the convoy in their direction.

It was a group of cavalrymen with torches.

The cavalry quickly approached and surrounded the wagon.

The Chinese soldier at the head turned over and dismounted, and looked at the quartermaster with a grin:

"Sir, it's not a good habit to buy something without paying."

(End of chapter)