Mowing Grass and Picking Up Wild Game
Yuan Huawei and the others climbed over the last ridge and stood on the top of the mountain where they could see the entire surrounding area. On the empty road in front of the tunnel entrance, one lane was occupied by men wearing military caps, and the other was occupied by women wearing military caps. They formed a relatively orderly team and marched forward in large strides. Their slogans were deafening, and the road was crowded with thousands of people who were watching the show and pointing at them.
Yuan Huawei originally thought that there should be about 5,000 refugees here. Who knew that there would be more than this number of people watching the show? There were also about 3,000 men and women gathered here. Adding the two together, the number of people was not much different even if it was not 10,000. It was really beyond his expectations.
The few of them watched from a high place for a while and felt a little shocked. The people who usually looked listless gathered together for training, and their entire aura was different.
The water level of the river by the bridge in the distance dropped a little. A helicopter took advantage of the afternoon to transport the materials and circled along the surrounding roads to check the post-disaster terrain and the damage of the roads. Then, it flew into the distance bit by bit. It was unknown if this situation was frequent or accidental.
Yuan Huawei could only watch quietly. His thoughts briefly drifted to the hillside beside his hometown. He wondered if his mother and neighbors were still safe. He looked in the direction of his home and was helpless. The strong north wind in the morning had gradually weakened. Some humid haze floated in the mountains and slowly blocked all vision. It was almost evening, and the sun had revealed its sunlight for a while. The mountains were dyed a faint golden color.
The sun was setting in the west, and a few clouds slowly turned red, as if they were stained with blood. A special sense of desolation climbed into everyone's hearts.
Helpless, he went down the valley with the others. After walking for a while, he finally returned to the crowd before their training was dismissed. He watched their training for a while until the end. After the training, the people returned to their relatives and friends. Those who were not selected looked at the people who were selected with mixed feelings. They discussed animatedly as they returned to the tunnel.
Yuan Huawei's companion would occasionally say something along the way,""I'm proud to be single, so I'm especially excited. It made the others not know whether to laugh or cry.”
When food was distributed at night, this time was a special exception. Everyone was given three packets of instant noodles and told to rest well at night because they had work to do tomorrow.
Everyone chewed the instant noodles and wolfed down the food. They didn't care if they worked or not as long as they could eat well and fill their stomachs.
Most of the people started chattering away after having their dinner (instant noodles). They were not as quiet as they used to be. Perhaps they felt that their bodies were not as cold anymore, and they were more energetic. They only quieted down at midnight.
The next morning, everyone was given three packets of instant noodles again, regardless of whether they were reserve players or ordinary people. They were all given the same amount. In addition, they were also given warm thin porridge. Although it was so thin that only a few grains of rice could be seen, it still made everyone grin happily.
After breakfast, everyone left the tunnel at the appointed time. The reserve members had already separated from the rest of the people more than ten minutes ago. They had their own training and tasks, leaving only the rest of the people to start grouping according to their personal conditions. Those who could work and those who could not work were managed separately. Then, the military leaders took the loudspeaker and began to speak.
By the time the crowd had finished dividing themselves into groups, it was already past ten in the morning. More than three thousand people, old and young, were left behind. There were nearly a thousand people who could not work, old and young, and injured who returned to the tunnel.
The dozens of soldiers in the company had been busy for almost the entire morning. Each of them had thin beads of sweat on their foreheads. It was finally over. Finally, they raised their guns and were responsible for guarding the periphery.
Yuan Huawei was standing at the front of the first row (the list was probably arranged according to yesterday's registration). He had been waiting for almost two hours. Finally, the person-in-charge of the company spoke to them. This person-in-charge was the person in charge of screening and registration yesterday.
The person-in-charge climbed up the high platform that was made up of two tables. There was no red cloth under his feet. The stripes on the table looked very good from a distance and blended into the natural color of the hillside. The audience was chattering about their own matters, and not many people noticed that he had already climbed up the high platform.
The person in charge coughed twice into the loudspeaker as if he was testing the sound. Then, the audience slowly quieted down.
The person-in-charge said,"Fellow townsmen, quiet down."
He paused for a moment, and the noise below the stage slowly died down until it was inaudible from his position. It took less than ten seconds before he continued to speak.
"Fellow villagers, it's not easy for us to gather here!" We are all survivors of this disaster. The disaster that we have just experienced has taken away many of our relatives and friends. Almost all of our assets have been reduced to nothing in this disaster. It has left us with nothing. We are hungry and naked. The departure of our relatives and friends makes us even more sad.
However, we are also lucky because we are still alive and want to live better for our family and friends. If we lose our money, we can earn it again. If we lose our houses, we can rebuild them again. If we lose our lives, then everything will really be gone.
The person-in-charge looked at the noise below. He patted the loudspeaker and said a few more words to make the venue quiet again. Then, he continued.
Manager: I believe many people know that the disaster has affected all parts of Zhen Country. The latest death toll has exceeded 15.48 million, which is more than 1% of the total population. There are more than 300 million refugees, which is more than 20% of the total population. Moreover, there are more people who will become new refugees (data on the morning of January 6th).
This is a disaster for our country and its people. This is just the population. Similarly, our economic losses are even more difficult to calculate. Many people are homeless and need the help of the ruling department. However, the entire country is waiting for help everywhere. The country simply has no ability to help everyone because the country has lost a lot in this disaster. There are many things that need to be considered.
What should we do? We can only rely on the basic security provided by the country to be self-reliant. Only then can everyone eat as much as possible and wear warmer clothes.
What we need to do now is to produce and save ourselves. What we lack now is food and clothes to protect us from the cold.
"The food is now uniformly distributed. Although we won't be full, we can still ensure that we won't starve to death.
There was a burst of sighs from below. Obviously, the crowd had opinions, but the person in charge chose to ignore them. He continued to speak and immediately changed the topic.
Manager: I know that food may not be enough for some people, but we have more urgent things to do now.
Nowadays, many people slept without a blanket or a mattress. Every night was like walking out of the gates of hell. They were worried that they would end their hard-earned lives if they fell asleep.
The person in charge looked at the crowd below the grandstand. Seeing that the noisy discussion had successfully shifted from the topic of food to the topic of their lives being in danger, the person in charge smiled lightly and continued.
[Manager: After reading about the refugees 'self-help methods on the Internet, I've found a way to alleviate the situation.]
The discussion below the stage grew louder and showed great anticipation.
The person in charge pressed his left hand down, and the venue instantly fell silent. The refugees were eager to know what method could solve the problem of keeping everyone warm in one go.
Manager: First of all, I want to ask you if you are afraid of hardship and if you can endure hardship.
Everyone said in unison," He was not afraid of hardship and could endure hardship.
" Our ancestors were very intelligent. They relied on this wisdom to ensure the continuous inheritance of our 5,000-year-old civilization and survive one disaster after another. It was not until we entered a new era that we slowly forgot about the inheritance of our ancestors when there were better substitutes. That was the grass that had occupied our people for 5,000 years.
A new round of discussion appeared below the stage. Some were confused, some were enlightened, some shook their heads and sighed, and some had spirited eyes…
The person in charge went around in a big circle and finally told him what the work he needed to do today was. He needed to go to the surrounding mountains to collect thatch and then send it back to the woman to weave a thick mat. Then, the men and women would divide it equally to resist the increasingly cold weather (the effect of the cold air passing through).
In the end, the person-in-charge said,""Don't forget what we've been emphasizing. You can't start a fire on the mountain. If you burn all the life-saving grass, you'll be the public enemy of all the people here. We want everyone to freeze to death here. Once someone is found to have set a fire, even if you carry a fire, you're not allowed to do so. All your teams and team members must supervise each other. As long as one person is found to be playing with fire, the whole team will be involved regardless of whether there's an accident or not. The food of this team will be deducted for a day." If you deliberately play with fire and cause an accident, then you are our enemy. Kill him without mercy.
Yuan Huawei looked at the person-in-charge and thought that the person-in-charge might be afraid that everyone would start a fire on the mountain to roast the carcasses of animals and eat them, so they would not work properly. Or perhaps, the thatch resources would be wasted because of the fire. If he knew the true thoughts of the person-in-charge, he was afraid that someone would really set fire on purpose. If a fire were to start, the thatch in the mountain would be burned away, and everyone would not be able to survive the winter safely. After all, there would always be some perverts in such situations. This was also for the safety of the public.
When the meeting was about to end, everyone had already noticed that the instant noodles distribution cart had already arrived at the side of the venue. It was filled with instant noodles. Looking at the situation, there should be at least three packs for everyone. As expected, the person in charge announced that everyone would be free to work according to their groups after collecting instant noodles.
Each of them had three packs of instant noodles and a bowl of soup made from some unknown dish. After wolfing down the food, they began to set off under the leadership of their respective captains.
Yuan Huawei's team had ten people, including him. He was the team leader, because the person in charge had made it clear during the meeting that they only needed to complete the task according to the requirements. The team that exceeded the requirements would be given straw woven fabric in advance. This was a great temptation in cold weather. After all, most people had been frozen for several days.
There was a 50-year-old man in the team who was considered a local. He knew where the grass was the most abundant and said that they could easily complete the task. However, it was a bit far. Yuan Huawei asked if the place would change because of the Cataclysm. The old man hesitated for a moment and said that it was halfway up the mountain, so there shouldn't be too much change. Yuan Huawei replied with a " hmm " and told them two new small tasks as they walked. One was for everyone to spread out and pick up some animal carcasses along the way. The other was to simply use the grass they picked up along the way to weave some rope. Everyone naturally understood the meaning of this and praised their captain for his intelligence.
In just a short distance of more than a mile, everyone had woven several ropes and had almost two or three rabbits or pheasants in their hands. They were all smiling from ear to ear, as if they could not finish their saliva. At first, one of them wanted to roast it on the spot, but the order of the military commander forbidding the fire made the rest firmly disagree. In the end, it was Yuan Huawei who said, If we bring these things back and hand them over to the higher-ups, I don't believe that they would dare to hack all of them themselves. As the supplier, we should be able to eat a portion of them. We might even leave a good impression with the military leaders. It wouldn't be considered a loss for us. If we really started a fire in the mountains and were discovered, the outcome…I think those soldiers would really dare to take our lives.
When everyone heard what he said, they thought that it made sense. They stopped thinking about it and admired their youngest captain even more. They chatted and laughed along the way and learned more about each other. Everyone also knew that he was a fourth-year student at The First University. No wonder he was not selected for the reserve team like most of his peers! It turned out that it was because he had more room for development in the future.
They chatted and laughed along the way as they continued to search for the corpses of the rabbits and pheasants. Soon, they arrived at the place the little old man had mentioned. There was a huge thatch. Not to mention the entire thatch, half of it was enough for the mission.
Everyone began to cut the grass. Unfortunately, only three of them had smaller knives. The others could only use other methods to break the grass bit by bit. In the end, after a simple division of labor, those who cut were only responsible for cutting, and those who collected were only responsible for collecting. Although the speed was faster, it was still not very useful. After more than an hour, they had just collected a bundle of grass for each person. Everyone could only smile helplessly and plan for some of them to go back and find some knives to speed up.
Therefore, four people stayed behind. Yuan Huawei led the other six people back with the rabbit, pheasant, and thatch to hand in the mission.
Along the way, the six of them hurried back. Halfway there, they heard a few gunshots. Everyone guessed that someone might not be able to resist the temptation and had been discovered roasting the animal carcass. Therefore, they all wanted to go back as soon as possible to understand the results and see what the situation was.
They crossed the last mountain ridge and finally arrived at the slightly empty valley. Other than the reserve duty training and a small number of soldiers, there was almost no one outside the tunnel. They were the first batch to return.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。