Chapter 63, Nanhai Railway Travel (3)
"...Woo-" Accompanied by a loud whistle and the slowly drifting smoke from the front chimney, the train carriage began to vibrate slightly, and the steel-cast wheels made a harsh creaking sound, making the train slowly move on the track. Take action.
——Although the entire Hainan Island round-the-island railway system that was just completed in this time and space is a 22nd century black technology product obtained from the Doraemon world, to be honest, it is just an antique toy level after all. So not only does the locomotive use an ancient steam locomotive, but the train itself also runs very slowly, with an average speed of only forty to fifty kilometers per hour. Taking into account the time it takes to stop at various stations to add coal and water, a train runs from Lingao to Sanya. It takes almost ten hours. Moreover, the load capacity of the train is also seriously small - each carriage of a modern train can carry about 60 tons of cargo, and a whole train can pull up to 1,000 tons of cargo. In this time and space, the steam trains on the Hainan Island Circular Railway can only carry fifteen tons per carriage. One locomotive can pull up to seven to eight carriages and transport less than two hundred tons of goods. It is incomparable with modern trains. Compare.
This passenger train from Lingao to Sanya has seven carriages hung behind the locomotive, one of which is a fuel tank for coal, and the rest are two third-class carriages, two second-class carriages, and one first-class carriage. and a food truck. Because the locomotive will continuously emit large amounts of soot and water vapor, the first-class carriages and dining cars of the steam train are hung at the end, and then the second-class and third-class carriages are placed forward.
The so-called third-class carriages are actually flat-top convertibles, used for both passengers and cargo. They are so simple that they have neither a ceiling nor seats. They just have a circle of fences installed on all sides of the floor of the carriage to prevent passengers from falling. Because there were no seats, passengers could only sit on the floor. When they couldn't sit down, they simply stood in a crowded crowd - since it was completely open-air, there was no ventilation problem. But once it rains, everyone will be soaked in the rain, and under the scorching sun, the weak can easily suffer from heatstroke... When the steam train starts running, the endless soot and water vapor will It poured from the front of the car to the rear, and even the passengers on the front few carriages choked to death.
Fortunately, the poor people who are only willing to buy third-class tickets to go out these days usually come from miserable backgrounds that have gone through countless hardships. They can basically endure the sun, rain, soot and water mist - otherwise they wouldn't. It is possible to live to such an old age in such a cruel world.
The second-class carriage is also a convertible, but it is like a modern sightseeing car. It is equipped with rows of wooden long-back chairs and a canvas shed above the head to protect it from the sun and rain. Moreover, it was buffered by several third-class carriages in front, so the soot smoke had faded a lot here. Xu Xiake and his clan brother Xu Zhongzhao were sitting in the second-class carriage, facing the tropical sea breeze blowing in their faces and admiring the original ecological scenery around them. Hainan Island in the late Ming Dynasty, although it has been cultivated and developed by successive Chinese ancestors for 1,700 years since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Zhuya County, it is still vast and sparsely populated, with a total population of less than one person. million. Even in Lingao, an industrialized town with a huge population explosion, only twenty minutes after the train left the station, the roadside was already covered with vast jungles and barren mountains... Fortunately, this railway was built along the coastline, and most of the sections They are all not far from the sea, and the cool sea breeze blows in from time to time, dispelling the humidity and sultry heat of the jungle and refreshing people.
"...Oh, luckily I didn't try to save money and buy a third-class ticket, otherwise my old bones would have been crushed to pieces!"
While Xu Zhongzhao was drinking herbal tea from the bamboo kettle, he looked at the crowds in the third-class carriage in front of him. He couldn't help but murmured in a low voice with lingering fear - the two flatbed cars in front were packed with passengers and passengers. Looking at the goods from a distance, people are stacked on top of each other, just like a swarm of ants. There are also many passengers who really can't squeeze in. Some hang on the fence, and some climb on the luggage pile. Even in the compartment where coal is loaded, there are many passengers who are not afraid of getting dirty and don't care about the soot dust on themselves. From head to toe, he looked like an African black man.
"...It's really crowded. No wonder the third-class ticket is so cheap." Xu Xiake also looked uneasy, "...but...with so many people and goods, this train can still run as fast as a horse." ...This Australian's water and fire trap skills are really amazing..."
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Just as Xu Xiake was leaning lazily on his chair, squinting at the locomotive spitting out billowing black smoke in front of him, trying to figure out some of the secrets of the "Australian Mechanism", he was interrupted by a loud shout with a northern accent. his train of thought.
"...We're selling rice! We're selling rice! We're selling instant noodles, rice balls, eight-treasure porridge, peanut cakes, fruit candies, and various cans!"
Accompanied by loud shouts, a "goodsman" with short hair and wearing four pockets of blue clothes pushed a cart from behind, and at the same time there was the aroma of food. The Xu brothers couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
Looking up again, I saw the poor people in the third-class carriage. They all took out rough dry food such as flatbreads and dried sweet potatoes from their baggage baskets. They opened their cheeks and started chewing. Then they looked at the sun hanging high above their heads. Xu The brothers finally realized that it was already midday meal time.
So, Xu Xiake, who was also greedy, turned to look at the sales cart and found that the person who came was an ordinary-looking young man with dark complexion. Like the "naturalized citizens" and "Australians" in Lingao, they all had the same facial hair. A monk who returned to secular life He has short hair, a clean face, no beard at all, and is wearing a gray cloth jacket. He looks a little poor, but his clothes are neat, and his whole body is clean and tidy...
However, looking at him doing such a lowly job here, he is probably just a "fake Kun" who shaved his head and changed his clothes... Xu Xiake thought so.
——But in fact, this salesman pushing a trolley on the train to sell snacks is actually a genuine "real Kun"... Although he did come here all the way with several other northern refugees, and then was The Lingao Senate was stuffed into the purification camp and had their heads shaved...
"...Uncle, here are the two big bowls of eight-treasure porridge you asked for! The porridge bowls and chopsticks are given to you!"
"...You want cigarettes? Uh, sorry, in order to prevent fire, smoking is prohibited on this car..."
"...Eh? You think this canned dace with black bean sauce is too expensive? There's nothing you can do about it. It's sold at this price. It really can't get any cheaper..."
Li Meng was wearing a blue tunic suit, trying his best to put on a stiff smile, pushing a trolley on the train to sell various foods and snacks, and then collecting a piece of "temporary currency" issued by the Lingao Traveler Senate from the passengers. ”—Circulation Volume.
——Li Meng, the former Shandong salt lord who was hunted down by the army for selling illegal salt in Jiaozhou, Shandong, and his family was destroyed. He had to become a refugee and defected to Lingao "Kung Thief", carrying large bags at the dock in exchange for food. He is the most important person in this time and space. One of the passers-by of the failed dog group who has a hard life.
Ever since he saw the People's Liberation Army's airship formation arriving at Lingao across time and space that day, Li Meng, who had suffered enough, hurriedly identified himself, and after some tedious review and interrogation, he was immediately allowed to return to the modern world. .
But the problem is that although Li Meng lived a miserable life in the late Ming Dynasty, even in the modern world, Li Meng is just a homeless man who has been unemployed for a long time and can barely pay the rent. Then, he has been fighting and killing for so long in the crisis-ridden ancient society. It may be difficult for him to adapt to modern urban life in a short period of time. It may be even more difficult to find a job. Maybe he will be reduced to a beggar within a few days. The gang went to beg for food.
What's more, as a former leader of a military group, Li Meng also has several Shandong brothers who traveled across the ocean with him to Gao. Li Meng needs to find a way to arrange them - it is not easy to continue carrying big bags at the dock. Son, you work hard and earn little money, but you can only sleep in a dormitory He didn't even have a house to live in, and he couldn't even think about marrying a wife and having children... If he didn't settle these brothers who followed him into battle, shared joys and sorrows, and followed him all the way to Hainan Island. , Li Meng is also uneasy in the modern world!
Therefore, he wanted to continue to work part-time in this time and space for a while, so as to save some money, and at the same time find a way to arrange a slightly better future for several brothers. In the end, he really found a good job for Li Meng - since the opening of Hainan Island's island-circuit railway, the Railway Administration in Sanya originally used female conductors to sell goods and clean. Who knew the moral quality of the people in the late Ming Dynasty? It’s really worrying, even more so than The level of Japanese subway idiots is comparable to the rape buses in modern India... As a result, female train conductors from the modern world are frequently harassed and violated in various ways. No matter how the railway police warn and intimidate, some of them are even raped. It's no use even hanging up at the station door.
In view of the above situation, Li Meng came over with his group of strong Shandong men and volunteered to take the position of flight attendant on one of the passenger cars. For Li Meng's group of Shandong brothers, working on the railway was better than working on the dock. Big bags are more decent and more relaxed. As for the Railway Bureau, no matter what, Li Meng is a modern person, relatively more reliable than the natives in the late Ming Dynasty, and he also knows how to work on the train. Although those Shandong brothers are a bit stupid, they all listen to the elder brother Li Meng and are willing to learn in order to make a living...
Now, some of the other people are shoveling coal on the locomotive, and some are cleaning the carriages, which are all menial jobs. As for the salesperson who needs to use his brain the most (settling accounts), Li Meng can only be responsible for it himself - he has to collect money and change money, make tea for customers with a cane shell thermos, and instruct those Ming Dynasty bumpkins. How do we open cans and eat instant noodles? We also have to guard against someone stealing things. We are really busy. Fortunately, the third-class carriage in front was too crowded, so the sales trolley only moved in the second-class and first-class carriages as usual, otherwise Li Meng would have had even more headaches.
"...Young man, give my brother a big bowl of eight-treasure porridge. And what is that instant noodles?"
Xu Xiake looked at the dazzling array of food on the trolley, discussed it with Xu Zhongzhao, and then waved to Li Meng.
Upon hearing this, Li Meng scooped out a large spoonful of eight-treasure porridge from the porridge bucket in the car, put it into a rough coconut shell bowl, and then handed it over with a pair of crudely made wooden chopsticks, "...the porridge you asked for is ready. ! There are three flavors of instant noodles, which one do you want? ”
Xu Zhongzhao took the bowl of eight-treasure porridge, stirred it a few times with chopsticks, and immediately burst out laughing - perhaps because Qiongzhou is located in a remote area, and it is not easy to buy specialties from other places such as walnuts, lotus seeds, and raisins. Therefore, this eight-treasure porridge is also very local. It is a thick porridge cooked by mixing rice and millet (there is a special millet called chicken foot millet in Hainan), mixed with mung beans, peanuts, dried dates, and pineapple cut into small pieces. , sweet potato, coconut meat. It looks colorful and attractive, and there is also a lot of sugar inside, which is very appetizing.
At the same time, Li Meng was also introducing the three types of instant noodles on the trolley to Xu Xiake - considering the cost of transportation, these instant noodles are made of modern world machinery and raw materials from this time and space. They are the latest in Hainan Island. Produced in a factory. Because the production of disposable paper bowls is too difficult (don’t think that the technology of making paper bowls and cups is simple, the heat-proof, waterproof and non-toxic coating on the inner wall of the paper cups is enough to stump all factories before World War II, and North Korea is even more At the end of the 20th century, they boasted the success of developing "Datong River" bowl noodles as a glorious political achievement), so they are all bagged noodles, which are divided into three flavors: Sichuan beef, clear soup seafood and curry chicken. Except that the plastic packaging was forced to be replaced by oily paper bags, and the sauces, seasoning powder and dehydrated vegetables and meat could only be placed in the small bamboo tubes provided with each box of instant noodles, allowing diners to scoop them out with their own spoons, the rest were the same as modern instant noodles. Exactly the same.
Looking at the three kinds of instant noodles in the oil paper bag, Xu Xiake hesitated for a while. He felt that he had eaten all kinds of seafood every three days in Bobu Port, and had tasted the Tianzhu curry rice many times. He was a little tired of it, so he finally I ordered a pack of Sichuan beef noodles.
Li Meng took out the flour cake from the oil paper bag, put it into another coconut shell bowl, sprinkled it with sauce, seasoning powder and dehydrated vegetables and meat, then poured in boiling water and covered it with a paper lid. Then he handed the bowl and a pair of chopsticks to Xu Xiake's hands and asked him to wait patiently for three minutes. A steaming bowl of noodle soup would be ready.
After a while, smelling the delicious aroma gradually emerging from the bowl, Xu Xiake couldn't help but open the paper cover, looked at the lovely red soup like watermelon juice, and couldn't help but praise: "...Well, this bubble The noodles are really good, they’re not expensive, they’re ready in a minute, and they smell delicious. Even though I haven’t eaten them yet, the taste and taste are already excellent, which is really exciting.”
"...It seems to be quite fragrant. Let me try it."
At this time, Xu Zhongzhao had already finished his bowl of tropical-style eight-treasure porridge, and smelled the aroma of instant noodles. He couldn't help but turn around, snatched Xu Xiake's noodle bowl, and poured a large amount of chili pepper into his mouth. Noodle soup with red oil, pepper, onion, ginger, garlic... Immediately afterwards, Jiangsu Jin gentry Xu Zhongzhao, who had never tasted an exotic product like chili in his life, choked on the spicy noodle soup and coughed repeatedly, and even shed tears. After quite a while, he still felt his cheeks twitching, his throat and mouth burning with pain, and even his lips seemed like they were no longer his own.
After Xu Xiake took back the noodle bowl and saw this, he just took a small sip of the soup on the rim of the bowl suspiciously, but despite this, he was still speechless for a long time. Then he covered his flushed face, wiped the tears from his eyes, and sighed with lingering fear:
"...Ahem, this is really a waste of time! Do people from Sichuan and Sichuan just like to eat such things to ruin their stomachs?"
——At the end of the Ming Dynasty, chili peppers were just introduced to East Asia, and were only cultivated in small quantities in coastal ports in China. Therefore, the ancients’ tolerance for spiciness was not as high as that of later generations. Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where Xu Xiake was born, have always been famous for their light food. Finally, because the plastic craftsmanship of the time-travelers is not up to standard, they cannot make the material packages of later generations. The seasoning for this kind of local instant noodles has to be scooped out of the bamboo tube by yourself. Often, you will accidentally add too much with a slip of your hand... On the other side , just as the Xu Xiake brothers who were sitting in the second-class carriage were choking on the super spicy instant noodles and burst into tears, the future travelers and the Jiangnan celebrities in this time and space in the first-class carriage were also enjoying their lunches.