Chapter 375 Nanyang, that is paradise (second update, please subscribe)
The reason why people live is to... live a better life.
This is true for everyone, regardless of China or foreign countries.
Even though two years have passed, Yu Aizawa still remembers the moment before noon on August 15th.
She was working in the fields at the time when she saw a messenger running from the village. As he ran, he shouted that the emperor would conduct a "Tamaune broadcast" at noon, but he walked away. .
Compared with this news, even the news that the United States has sunk to the bottom of the sea cannot be more shocking.
The Emperor is going to speak!
The Emperor has never spoken directly to his subjects. Until now, the Emperor's words have always been conveyed in the form of "Emperor's Edicts". Either the text of the edict was printed, or the edict was read by others in fear.
To this day, Aizawa Yuu still remembers that she ran back to the village as fast as everyone else, and kept silently reciting a sentence from the "Education Edict", which everyone has read since they were students. , recite it every day and keep it in mind.
"Once a crisis comes," the "Edict" says, "You must sacrifice your lives for the empire righteously." Yu Aizawa clearly knew that the country's situation was at stake. Last year, the U.S. army attacked Kyushu. The famine was also caused by chemical weapons used by Western monsters. How many people starved to death. She could only imagine that the Emperor would inspire every Japanese to make greater efforts to support the war—in fact, to be prepared to fight to the death.
The villagers gathered in front of the only radio in the village. This radio could only listen to the only channel of the national radio station, and the reception quality was very poor. The emperor's speech was surrounded by crackling noise, and the content of his speech was difficult to understand. Understand, the emperor’s voice was high and his tone Restricted and unnatural, he did not use everyday spoken language, but a very formal language, mixed with ancient slang from time to time. When Aizawa Yuu, who was kneeling on the ground, was exchanging glances with other people in the crowd, she heard a The man who had recently moved here because of the famine said to himself.
"That is to say..." the man murmured. "Japan was defeated."
Aizawa Yu felt that all the strength was drained from her body. She didn't know whether it was hunger or sadness. As soon as her eyesight went dark, she fainted. When she woke up , she found that she was still sleeping on the ground, and other people who were hit around her were also lying on the ground.
The emperor's voice disappeared, but the radio continued to buzz, and an announcer was broadcasting. His words were deeply imprinted in Aizawa Yu's mind - "The Imperial Japanese Army will be disarmed and allowed to be repatriated."
This made the Prime Minister. Zeyou was suddenly filled with hope. Her husband, who had been drafted and sent to Manchuria, might be coming back. From day to night that day, she prayed, "Please let my husband not commit suicide." Now. What she was most worried about was that her husband would commit suicide as part of his duty as a soldier.
In fact, Aizawa Yuu thought too much, but she believed that many Japanese might choose death rather than the humiliation of defeat. It was not unrealistic. After all, for many years, soldiers in Japan were prohibited from surrendering. They were warned that There is nothing more shameful than surrendering. When the flames of war reached the Japanese mainland, the civilians were also instilled with the concept of fighting to the death. "It is better to be broken than to be destroyed." However, after the emperor's Yuyin was broadcast, he chose "broken jade" "There are actually fewer people than imagined. Only a few hundred people committed suicide. The vast majority of them were officers, and almost all of them were low-level officers. This number is almost equivalent to the number of officers who committed suicide when Germany surrendered. Germany simply does not have the crazy "belief" in committing suicide and sacrificing one's country like Japan does.
In other words, the so-called 100 million pieces of jade is actually just to coax the common people, and few people will believe it at all. No one among ordinary people would believe it, and no one at the top would believe it.
In any case, for Aizawa Yu, the war is over, but she did not wait for her husband, only waited for the news of his death - he was sent to Siberia by the Russians and died in the ice and snow of Siberia among.
After losing her husband, Aizawa Yuu wants to continue living. How can he survive?
In the winter before the surrender, many people starved to death because there was no food. Now after the surrender, they are still hungry.
It was at this time, when the whole family was starving, her mother-in-law kowtowed to her and begged:
"Can you go to Nanyang to work? At least you can get a few months of food in exchange. That way The whole family can survive.”
In the past two years, the radio and newspapers have been full of advertisements for recruiting female workers in Nanyang. Anyone who is willing to go there can get more than 330 kilograms of rice. , not only taking care of food and accommodation, but also earning a monthly salary of 700 yen.
In order to let her family survive, she said:
"Well, I will go, and I will take Ashin with me. If Ashin goes, I will go, If I don’t take Ashin with me, I won’t go.”
Ashin is her daughter. Although she is only five years old, she must keep her daughter with her no matter what. After all, that winter two years ago, many people even killed their own children in order to survive, and then... Therefore, she did not dare to leave her daughter here.
She was not the only one to go. The next day, her neighbor Ahua came over and told her that she was going to Nanyang. "It was said on the radio that every day in Nanyang is like a festival. You can wear beautiful new clothes and eat as much white rice as you want. Ayou, why don't you come with me?"
< br>Aizawa Yuu said without hesitation:
“I’ll go too.”
By coincidence, Miyoko on the side also said:
“I also want to go to Nanyang. I heard that there are dances there every day. All the girls will put on beautiful Nanyang skirts and dance under the lanterns, just like in the movie. Like the rich people in Tokyo. Let’s go together!”
Miyoko’s home is at the foot of the mountain, and the ground in her home is full of rocks. No matter how much we till the land and fertilize, we can only harvest a few radishes and sweet potatoes. Instead of starving or starving to death, it is better to go to Nanyang to work.
In this way, the group of them walked together and took the train to Yokohama. In Yokohama, a ship transporting laborers was waiting for them. Yu Aizawa was not the only one with the child, but She is lucky. Ashin is a girl. If it were a boy, he would not be able to get on the boat. Of course, he could also throw the child away, and there are quite a few people who do this. Poverty fully exposes the dark side of human nature.
That night, when they checked into the warehouse at the dock, Aizawa Yu and Miyoko found that they seemed to be in heaven - white rice.
"Mom, is this rice? Is it for us to eat?"
Looking at his daughter's eager eyes, Aizawa Yu nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes..."
Actually, she herself couldn't believe that these rice were for them.
Eating the rice in the bowl and feeling the sweetness of the white rice, at this moment she seemed to understand why her husband kept mentioning white rice in his letters to her.
Yes, there is no better food in the world than white rice.
“Mom, it would be great if I could eat it every day.”
My daughter said from the side.
Eat white rice every day?
Is it possible?
After sleeping in a crowded warehouse for a night, the next day they ate all white rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So much so that they even felt that it was a sin to eat white rice three times a day, and they did not dare to eat it for a long time. Put down the chopsticks.
But, on the third day, it was still white rice!
White rice, salted radish, if this life is not paradise, then what place is paradise?
What kind of life is this!
On the fourth day, the boat arrived. It took ten days to get to Borneo. The boat was very crowded, with people crowded next to each other. There was no place to sleep, only places to sit. People were crowded in there like animals. Fortunately, there was an exhaust fan above the head that kept blowing the wind. People in the cabin will not feel stuffy.
There are still many people crowded on the open deck. Because he has a child, Aizawa Yu was arranged into the cabin, but it is also very crowded here. It can only accommodate eight people in the cabin, and a full twenty-four people are crammed into it. Individuals, not including the three girls, could only sit there or take turns sleeping.
In this way, a landing ship packed with nearly 7,000 people slowly sailed away from Yokohama and headed towards Borneo.
You can even eat white rice on the boat!
Like others, although Yu Aizawa has not yet arrived in Nanyang, his heart has already reached Nanyang. Is that paradise?
A paradise where they can eat white rice every day.
(End of this chapter)