vrcanaries Chapter 141 Porridge at the City Gate
Chapter 141 Porridge at the City Gate
But even so, it attracted the attention of a large group of refugees around and caused a commotion. It was really rare for the refugees to have food in their hands in those days.
Even though it was just the simplest porridge, it made a lot of people around envious. They had been hungry for so long and finally got here, but they only had porridge once a day, which was enough to keep them from starving to death, but it was not enough to fill them up.
The refugees swallowed their saliva quietly, and some of them would have snatched the things if they hadn't been outnumbered.
Some were so shameless that they encouraged their children to come forward and ask for food. The children, with tears in their eyes, stood in front of Zhou Guo and his group who were eating, staring at them eagerly, saying, "I'm hungry, I'm hungry."
"Are you hungry? If you are hungry, go find your mother. Why are you looking for us? Everyone is hungry!"
"Go away, we don't even have enough to eat, how can you have a share? Go away, you can have porridge soon, can't you wait for this?"
Everyone held the rice in their bowls tightly and had no good face towards these children. It was true that everyone was a refugee and no one knew who was who. Here they come with this trick.
The children didn't get a single grain of rice and left with resentment in their eyes.
Zhou Guo didn't give her anything either. This was not the time to show love. If she dared to give a grain of rice, these thousands of people who were watching silently would strip off all her clothes. None of the Zhou family children even gave her a glance, and even the two Li Lai brothers held on to their bowls tightly.
The children who survived the escape are no longer the same.
Seeing that the children did not get any advantage, the refugees started beating them. The children cried loudly and were as miserable as they could be. While beating them, they did not forget to look in the direction of Zhou Guo and others.
Unfortunately, he didn't even get a glance.
Zhou Dacang listened to the children's screams, his face looked very bad, and he said angrily: "Are these people beasts? They can even kill their own children?"
Li frowned, "I'm afraid some of them are not my own children. They may be relatives', or they may be picked up on the street."
Zhou Mai said: "Yes, I saw that many of the children had no adults around them, and there were many children crowded together. I am afraid that these children have lost their parents. I think they are pitiful."
Zhou Mi took a mouthful of porridge and said, "Don't look at them with pity. Those who have lost their parents should be vigilant. We are not on guard against them. Who knows when they will sneak in to steal things, rob things, and run away. They run faster than us and are more hateful than those adults."
Everyone: "..."
Zhou Guo nodded, "That makes sense. We need to be vigilant. They have nothing to eat and they can't rob the adults, so they can only steal."
When everyone thought about it carefully, it seemed to be true.
After the meal, the headman asked everyone to gather the carts together, and to carry their own money with them. Each family would build a shed around the carts to protect the belongings inside. At this time, it was impossible for only one or two families to protect the belongings.
Everyone knew how serious the situation was, so without the headman's instructions, each family built their sheds densely packed together, one next to the other, so that not even a dog could get in.
Not long after each household's simple sheds were built, a lot of people came pouring out from the city gate. They built eight large pots at once, piled firewood to make a fire, poured rice to cook porridge, and everyone did their own thing. Although it was lively, it was well organized.
After a while, steam rose from the pot.
The refugees immediately stood up and said noisily and excitedly, "Here we come, time to eat, time to eat."
Everyone ran to line up with their bowls in hand. In the blink of an eye, a long queue formed in front of the eight pots.
Zhou Guo saw a child running in front holding a bowl, but he was soon squeezed out of the line. The child kept crying while holding the bowl, and none of the adults who were watching coldly offered a hand. In the end, the child was led away by a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old, and the two of them took the initiative to line up at the back of the line.
At the end of the team, there are only children without exception. They cannot compete with the adults and can only line up at the back. This is the law of the jungle.
I don’t know how these children can grow up safely in such a chaotic world without their parents and relatives protecting them.
Zhou Mai said: "They lost their parents, so they can only stick together. If they are alone, they can't have enough food."
"Well, I'm afraid that the porridge will be snatched away before it gets warm." Zhou Mi nodded aside. At the moment, sticking together is the best way.
About half an hour later, eight pots of porridge were ready, and someone in the front shouted, "Line up, line up, line up, the food is ready!"
Zhou Guo was quite curious and didn't know what the porridge looked like, whether it was thick or thin.
"Hey, Zhou Yongde, where are you going? Come back." The voice of the village head came.
Zhou Guo and others looked over and saw Zhou Yongde holding a bowl and walking straight into the crowd of refugees.
Hearing the question from the head of the village, he said confidently: "What am I doing? Of course I am going to get porridge. We are refugees too. This porridge is for refugees. I have to eat it. It would be a waste if I don't eat it."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people took their bowls and lined up. He was right, it would be a waste if you don’t miss it. This is food, it’s free!
The village head couldn't persuade them because he saw his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson also queuing up with bowls in their hands.
Mrs. Li from the Zhou family and Zhou Xing also went with their two younger brothers, Li Lai. Since everyone went, it would seem awkward if they were the only ones not to go.
When the refugees saw these people queuing up with bowls, they couldn't help but curl their lips. Why are they pretending? They thought they were so rich, but it turned out that they just came here to eat this cheap porridge.
Although the line was long, the people serving the food were very quick and efficient. In less than half an hour, the entire line was served.
Everybody came back happily holding the porridge in their bowls. After all, these were free porridges given by others for free. Moreover, they were white porridge, pure white rice porridge, and they themselves ate the porridge without removing the husk.
Li and his friends came back with their bowls in their hands. As soon as they came back, they smiled and said, "It's really good. Look, the porridge is white and not watery. You can even scoop out a lot of dry food."
She held the eldest bowl. Zhou Guo took a look and realized that this was her bowl. "Mom, why did you take my bowl?"
Li said happily, "What's the big deal? I see your bowl is the biggest. I can't just take the pottery cauldron at home. This one has more. A big bowl like this is worth two bowls of others."
He took out a few more bowls and divided the porridge in them to ensure that everyone in the family could have a little.
Zhou Guo held her bowl of remaining porridge and took a sip. The white porridge passed smoothly down her throat without the familiar tingling sensation in her throat. The aroma of rice spread in her mouth. She held the bowl for a long time without moving.
What a blessing it is to drink a bowl of porridge without bran!
When was the last time I had porridge like this? It seems like it was in my previous life.