Do you think you don’t need to exercise as the holidays are approaching? Do you think you don’t have to get up early to exercise if you’re going to go shopping soon?
Naive~~
That's what Zhao Xin thought, but the facts hit him hard.
At dawn in the morning, he was picked up by Liu Sheng.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to leave after breakfast? Let me sleep a little longer." An innocent person muttered.
"Mr. Zhao, Uncle Zhao ("big" here should be pronounced as "嘚"), please get up and run five laps first." Liu Sheng gloated and started to lift the quilt.
So Zhao Xin, who was educated by the cruel reality, had to get up, wash up, put on his clothes and go out for a run.
Because the "Seven Samurai" already knew that they would go north to build a new camp after spring and plan to reclaim the land. So now, Sheng Haizhou and the others have automatically participated in the morning running exercises every morning.
Perhaps feeling the improvement in physical fitness, in the "Seven Samurai", except for Wan Zao who sighed every day with a semi-reluctant look, everyone else followed the pace of the Lord Zhao.
But this morning, as soon as a group of people ran a lap, they saw two more people coming out of Ximen and joining the lap team.
The two men followed Wan Zao at a leisurely pace. But one of them still looked a little weak, and after running around, he was already covered in sweat.
However, these two people were very persistent, and one of them had very good physical strength, swinging his arms powerfully and walking briskly.
"Lu Shoushan?" Wang Yuanfang, who was supervising the situation of the team, ran a few steps in place. When the last two people came closer, he said in surprise: "Lu Shoushan? Pan Xiucheng? Why are you two coming out too?"
"I can't stop being idle, Mr. Wang. We brothers are used to being busy and get up before dawn every day. Now that we are free, we feel uncomfortable all over." Lu Shoushan stopped and hurriedly explained to Wang Yuanfang.
"Don't call me Master Wang. Call me Captain." Wang Yuanfang felt uncomfortable being called "Master". "Don't stop, keep running, wait until you finish five laps."
"Yes, yes. Team, team, captain." The two of them thought this title was strange.
"Shoushan, do you think these gentlemen have no use for their energy? If they don't enjoy themselves well, they will torture themselves when they wake up in the morning." Seeing Wang Yuanfang running away, Pan Xiucheng hurried a few steps and said to Lu Shoushan beside him asked in a low voice.
"Master is training his body. When we are used in the future, we don't dare to break the instructions. So we have to practice."
"Sure. I listen to you."
"Xiucheng, you have just recovered. I asked you to rest for a few more days. Listen to me and rest after finishing this lap."
It was getting brighter and the camp started to get noisy. People got up to fetch water and wash themselves, while the women began to prepare breakfast. Smoke curled up over the entire camp, and the aroma of white rice began to fill the air. The children in the camp also got up, and the sensible ones fetched water and washed themselves.
This is how a day in a refugee camp begins.
The wound on eight-year-old Xu Funan's arm has not healed yet. Although scabs have just begun to form, he still cannot exert force to avoid tearing the wound.
Six-year-old Xu Shounan wisely carried a plastic basin to the kitchen to fetch water. This was what Xu Shounan noticed when A Miao took him around the camp yesterday.
This poor child had been sent to Ningguta since he was more than one year old, and his brother was less than four years old at the time. In the beginning, the mother took care of them, and every day when the mother went to work, the older brother took care of the younger brother.
After his mother died of illness the next year, Lu Shoushan took care of them. Lu Shoushan and Zeng Xiucheng were busy from morning to night every day, and there was no free time at all. The brothers have been learning to fetch water and cook by themselves.
When they were a little older, they would clean the boots of the flag soldiers, clean the saddles, and feed the horses.
The island country refugees in the camp all come from poor backgrounds, and they have helped their families work since they were young. So when everyone saw Xu Shounan coming to fetch water by himself and struggling to carry the basin back, many people were used to it and didn't think it was anything.
Xu Shounan was walking hard and carefully carrying half a basin of water, when suddenly his hands lighted up and the basin had been taken away.
He looked up and saw that it was A Miao.
"Master said, let me take care of you. Why didn't you wait for me and went alone?" A Miao said to Xu Shounan as she walked away with water.
Xu Shounan didn't know what A Miao was talking about, so he giggled a few times sheepishly and walked behind A Miao.
Only then did he notice a smooth-haired and fat tabby cat following A Miao.
"What a fat civet~" Xu Shounan shouted.
King Duofu glanced at the little kid next to him and meowed viciously.
Humble human beings, tremble before me...
"It's so fun." Xu Shounan reached out and wanted to touch Duofu's head. The tabby cat ducked away and raised its paw.
"Thank you, no arrests!" A Miao shouted from the front without looking back.
Okay, let this human go for now. Although Zhao Xin has no time to pay attention to it recently, A Miao's embrace still fascinates Duofu.
A Miao came to the brothers' tent, first helped Xu Funan wet a towel and let him wipe his face; then he picked up the towel and wet it, then twisted it twice and wiped Xu Shounan's face clean.
"Thank you, Miss." Brother Xu Funan bowed shyly and thanked her.
A Miao, on the other hand, ignored these false gifts. She poured the remaining water outside the tent. After she came back and put the basin down, she pointed in the direction of the kitchen and made a gesture of eating.
Seeing that both brothers understood, A Miao hurriedly turned around and left the tent, trotting all the way to Zhao Xin's car, with Duofu following closely behind.
Arriving in Zhao Xin's car, A Miao followed what Zhao Xin had taught her before, filling up the electric kettle and then pressing the switch and waiting for the water to boil.
Then he took out Duofu's food rations from a cabinet, took two spoons and poured them into the cat bowl. Zhao Xin recently told A Miao that Duofu is too fat and cannot be fed to him.
Duofu, who had been waiting for a long time, looked at the half-missed ration in front of him and screamed pitifully at A Miao several times.
"No, no. Master asked you to eat less." A Miao shook her head firmly and ignored the other party's plea.
At this time, the kettle had boiled and made a beeping sound. A Miao stood up quickly, took Zhao Xin's thermos water cup, found tea leaves from the cabinet, put them away, and then made tea.
After finishing all this, Duofu had finished eating, licking his tongue unsatisfied and continuing to scream at A Miao.
A Miao gritted her teeth and said hesitantly: "I'll give you another spoonful, just one spoonful."
Then he took another spoonful and put it into the cat bowl. She squatted on the ground, purring the tabby cat's head, and watched Duofu finish eating with a smile, then stood up with the cat basin and got some water for Duofu to drink.
After a while, A Miao estimated that the time was almost up, so she hurriedly took the thermos water bottle without closing the lid, got out of the car, and came to the west gate of the campground.
Zhao Xin had already completed his fourth lap. When he saw A Miao coming from the camp, he slowed down and waved hello to her.
Duofu ran to the camp gate, squatted down, grabbed the wood in the middle of the camp gate, climbed a few times, and successfully reached the top. He looked down at Zhao Xin who was walking away and the long line of followers behind him.
Damn humans, don’t let this king eat enough...
A few minutes later, Zhao Xin, sweating profusely, stopped at the camp gate and walked back and forth in order to slow down his blood circulation. A Miao was waiting next to her with a glass of water.
A few minutes later, Wang Yuanfang and Liu Sheng also completed their sixth lap and stopped at the camp gate to walk back and forth.
"Luo..." Ding Guofeng opened his mouth to start teasing, but Wang Yuanfang choked back the rest of his words.
"A Miao, let them drink the water first." Zhao Xin looked at Ding Guofeng with both anger and amusement. Since the first day he came here, this guy has been making fun of himself every day. Fortunately, A Miao didn't understand.
His bonus must be deducted.
After everyone returned to camp and had breakfast, Zhao Xin called Sheng Haizhou and told him that he and Liu Sheng and the other six were going out in the morning and would not be back until evening.
Katsu Kaishu hesitated to suggest that he should go too, but in the end he held back his words. He felt that since his master was a man among gods and he was not allowed to participate, it was better not to take the initiative.
After confessing to Haizhou, Zhao Xin said to Lu Shoushan who was fighting with the third bowl of rice: "Shoushan, I have to go out in the morning. If you have nothing to do, just follow Jiuzang and the others to cut wood. I also watched Come out, you are a restless guy."
Lu Shoushan smiled honestly, stood up, bowed, and said, "Just follow the master's orders."
Zhao Xin told Liji and Jiuzang about Lu Shoushan again, so he could pick up the ax and set off with Jiuzang later.
After explaining this, Zhao Xin went back to the car, took some clothes, and left with Liu Sheng and others who had changed their clothes.
After Lu Shoushan finished his fifth bowl of rice, he saw Sheng Haizhou coming to look for him carrying a long axe. He quickly handed the bowl to the woman who was washing the dishes and wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve.
Sheng Haizhou smiled and handed the ax to Lu Shoushan, then pointed to Pingtai who was waiting aside and motioned for Lu Shoushan to follow him.
Lu Shoushan looked at the ax in his hand. He found that the material of the ax handle was very strange. It was neither gold nor wood. The black and orange texture was very beautiful.
He knocked the ax handle with his knuckles. It felt very hard, and he guessed that the inside was probably made of iron. He looked at the ax body again. The fine sand-like paint surface felt very delicate, and there was a piece of paint on it that looked like a knife. It was scraped off, revealing the bright metallic luster underneath.
It's actually made of steel? !
Lu Shoushan used his rough thumb to test the sharpness of the ax blade, and he couldn't help but secretly wonder, who is this master who he surrendered to? Even an ax for cutting down trees is so fancy. An ax like this would be worth at least one or two taels of silver if it were sold in the Sunan area.
While he was thinking wildly, someone patted his arm. Lu Shoushan took a look and saw that it was Pingtai. He smiled and bowed slightly, then followed Pingtai's footsteps.
At the east gate of the camp, there were already seven or eight refugees squatting together with tools waiting, while Jiuzang stood silently aside holding his beloved sword.
Pingtai walked closer and said: "Let's go."
Everyone then walked out of the camp gate and walked toward the dense forest to the east.
The trees on Bear Island are mostly fir and spruce, with some birch and catalpa. Because no one has cut them down all year round, most of these trees grow very tall, with the lowest ones reaching more than ten meters high.
Lu Shoushan followed Pingtai and the others to a sunny hillside near a hill. He saw wooden piles on the ground and knew that this was a lumber camp.
The group of people were obviously very skilled in the division of labor and cooperation in logging. Without Pingtai saying anything, they separated and started working in pairs.
Pingtai patted Lu Shoushan and motioned for him to come with him.
The weather has been getting colder and colder recently, and firewood consumption is very high, so Pingtai and the others are mainly cutting down some white birches to use as firewood.
After Pingtai selected a white birch that was as thick as his waist, he cut it a few times on one side and then gestured towards Lu Shoushan. After Lu Shoushan watched for a while, he roughly understood what Pingtai meant, so he picked up the ax in his hand and started to work.
The two cooperated with each other, and soon Lu Shoushan became more and more skilled. After he finished cutting the gap, Heita switched to a hand saw, cut a gap on the other side of the gap, and drove in the prepared wooden wedge. As the two men shouted loud reminders, the big tree gradually fell on the hillside.
When it was busy until noon, several refugee women came to the camp and brought lunch, two large pots of rice dumplings, a small pot of pickles and a few jugs of water.
Lu Shoushan, who was sweating all over, ate very sweet rice. He rarely ate such white rice when he was in Dongtai. Only during the busy days of rice harvesting can we eat new rice; usually we only get enough brown rice.
When they were in Ninggu Pagoda, slaves like them usually ate sorghum rice. Lu Shoushan and Pan Xiucheng also had to save their own food rations to feed the two children of the Xu family. As for the wealthy bannermen, they ate precious barnyard rice.
Among the refugees who were logging, no one was a supervisor, everyone was working hard. Mainly to ensure the heating of the camp and to prepare wooden piles for building the outer wall of the camp.
The farmers' ideas are simple. Although the adults are very kind to the men, women, and children in the camp, they can't just eat free food all day long. Besides, this little work is nothing. I used to have to do much more than this every day in the village.
Without the beatings and scoldings of the flag soldiers and the withheld food, Lu Shoushan felt that he had endless strength.
Just like that, when it was almost dark, Lu Shoushan had cut down almost twenty birch trees. Today's work is done.
When everyone dragged their tired bodies back to the camp, and as soon as they reached the camp gate, they heard bursts of joyful cheers from the camp.
Heita and Jiuzang looked at each other and couldn't help but quicken their pace, and everyone quickly followed. When I walked to the material point, I found that men, women, old and young were gathered here. Everyone was happy and excited.
Pingtai pulled away the refugees in front of him and walked inside. He couldn't help being stunned. Jiuzang beside him, Lu Shoushan and other woodcutters following behind him were also stunned.
On a large piece of tarpaulin, there were many frozen beef and mutton neatly stacked. Although the temperature was cold, the smell of meat still made the refugees present swallow their saliva.
