Chapter 430: Porridge with Sand
On the streets of Langton, a relief center was giving out porridge.
A long queue has already formed in front of the relief point, and a large cauldron is cooking wheat porridge with a rich aroma.
Although the food tastes very tempting, there is no smile on the faces of the poor people waiting in line to receive relief.
A man with a sad face came to the relief point. He humbly raised the empty bowl in his hand and extended it to the relief staff.
The staff just looked at him with slight disgust, then stirred the cauldron with a large horse spoon, scooped up a spoonful of golden and thick wheat porridge, and then put it in the man's bowl.
Seeing that this spoonful only filled two-thirds of the bowl, the man's face became even more sad, and his already curved back became even lower, and he said in a voice like Qiqi Aai: "More Give me some!”
But the relief staff just knocked the cauldron with a horse spoon in disgust and motioned for the next person to come forward.
The people behind also hurriedly took a step forward, pushed the man away with their shoulders, pushed him aside, and almost spilled the porridge in the bowl.
The man felt extremely embarrassed and embarrassed. Although his nose bulged violently, as if he wanted to throw the bowl and curse, but in the end his reason defeated the impulse, and he could only walk aside with the bowl, ready to find someone. Let’s go to a secluded place to fill up this half bowl of porridge first.
However, just when he walked to the alley aside and was about to squat in the corner to drink porridge, suddenly a man also came over with a porridge bowl. The other person's bowl was already empty, but the few grains of wheat remaining showed that this was The bowl had been filled with porridge before.
The man immediately protected his porridge and looked at the other party with a wary expression.
Everyone is short of food. Although the imperial government is providing relief, some people will always shamelessly beg from others.
A man’s instinct is not to want his half-bowl of porridge to be shared out by others, especially when some people are not begging but robbing.
Fortunately, the person in front of me didn’t intend to grab porridge or beg. The other person just walked up to the man and discussed with him in a low voice: "Brother, do you want to drink another bowl of porridge?"
"What do you want to do?" The man blocked his porridge bowl with his arm, the expression on his face alert and careful.
“The wheat porridge provided by the government was not enough to drink, so a few of us got together. After we got the porridge, we poured it all together, added water and boiled it again. This way, each person can have one more bowl. Do you want it? Come together? I can give you an extra half bowl for the first time." The other party looked at the porridge in the man's arms, with persistence in his eyes.
The man was extra vigilant and asked in a low voice: "How do I know you didn't lie to me about the porridge?"
"It's just half a bowl of porridge. Even if I lied to you, wouldn't you know how to eat it? Are you bored?" The other party didn't seem to mind the man's vigilant attitude and smiled.
Hearing what the other party said, the man felt that it seemed reasonable, so he relaxed a little and asked: "Where will you stay?"
The other party pointed to an alley to the side, which was not very far from the relief point. There were two burly but ragged men guarding the entrance of the alley, seemingly to prevent anyone from accidentally breaking in.
The man hesitated.
He has not had enough to eat for several days. Although the empire distributes relief, there is no doubt that such a little porridge can only guarantee that he will not die of hunger.
Some people who were as hungry as him also did something similar to the man in front of him, mixing the half bowl of porridge with water so that they could stuff more food into their stomachs, even if it was just water. In exchange for a feeling of fullness.
But the posture put up by the other party still made him feel hesitant, in case they were not good people...
But in the end, the desire to eat exceeded his reason. The man nodded and walked into the alley with the other party.
There is also a large cauldron cooking wheat porridge in the alley, but compared to the thick golden porridge at the relief point, the wheat porridge in front of you is much thinner.
Obviously, in order to drink more bowls, these people added a lot of water to them.
But overall it can be called porridge, and it has not really turned into a thin soup with little water.
Seeing this, the man finally relaxed a lot and showed a grateful smile to the person who led him in. At least he could make his stomach fuller today.
"Pour your porridge in, and after it's cooked, you can make two bowls as promised." The man who led the man in seemed to be the leader. The person who made the porridge seemed to be the cook. He gave the man a look, and the other party nodded to indicate that he had taken note of it, and then showed a friendly expression to the man.
The man also said hello in a friendly manner, and then looked into the alley. He saw about a dozen people here. Everyone had the same sallow complexion, and they were all squatting next to them with bowls in their hands. He looked longingly at the big cauldron that was cooking porridge.
Reluctantly, he poured half of his bowl of porridge into the cauldron, and then saw the cook adding two bowls of water to the cauldron. The man then found a place close to the alley entrance and squatted down. He also looked at the cauldron eagerly, with an expression as if he was waiting to eat.
"Including this, there are twenty-four today, one more than yesterday, but the relief point has less porridge than yesterday." The cook whispered to the leader, with a slightly worried expression on his face: " If the porridge is always thin, everyone will not have the energy to work, and they will have to find a way to get something solid. The porridge alone cannot sustain it. "
The leader's face also showed worry. With an expression on his face, he said helplessly: "You also know the situation. Those damn nobles embezzled the relief grains distributed by the empire. If Her Royal Highness hadn't discovered the corrupt nobles, we wouldn't even have porridge to drink now.
< br>
The end of the world is coming, and there is a shortage of food everywhere. The bloody Earl of the North is still transporting food to the North. Where can I find something solid for you? ”
But even though he said that, the leader still said that he would find a way.
After all, at least they still have porridge to drink, and they won’t even cook and eat their belts. If they can think of a way, There is still a way.
Not long after, the porridge was finally ready. The cook stirred the gruel in the cauldron, which was slightly thicker than before, and began to invite everyone to come over to drink the porridge.
< br>Due to the addition of a lot of water, the portion seems to be much larger than the porridge everyone poured in before, but the fragrance is still strong and attractive
Under such circumstances, the expressions on everyone's faces unconsciously became a lot more relaxed. After all, even if it is gruel, it is something that can fill the stomach.
Soon the man came to the chef again and handed over his bowl with a trembling voice. The cook didn't say much, he just smiled in a friendly way and gave him a big bowl of porridge: "Don't be nervous, man, we are not bad people, we are just a group of people who join us to keep warm! According to the rules As promised before, you can have another bowl."
"Thank you!" The man gratefully took his bowl and said again after taking a sip. Thank you, and then I sat aside and drank the porridge contentedly.
Although it is not as thick as the wheat porridge that was served at the previous relief point, the scalding hot porridge still brought satisfaction and warmth to the man's already empty stomach, making him feel relaxed unconsciously.
It wasn't until the bowl of porridge reached the bottom that the man smacked his lips and looked at the cauldron again with unfinished thoughts.
He can still drink another bowl! Remembering what the leader and the cook had just said to him, he stood up again and came to the cook.
This time the bowl he handed out was much firmer, but he still said to the cook very politely: "Please give me another bowl, thank you."
"Here, but this is This is a preferential treatment only for newcomers. You can only drink one bowl tomorrow. I hope you don't mind. Everyone is treated the same." The cook explained, and at the same time, Ma Shao stirred the cauldron and gave it to the man. Made a relatively thick bowl of gruel.
"I can understand. It's good to be able to drink more." The man was not an ignorant person. He politely expressed his understanding to the cook, and then sat aside again.
It's just that this time he wasn't as anxious as before, and could instead sit down and savor it slowly.
However, this product did not matter, but it also made him notice some details that he had not noticed just now, that is, there was a thin layer of fine sand at the bottom of his bowl.
This made him feel a little strange. He had washed the bowl very clean before coming here, and there was no sediment in it. Moreover, he had just finished the porridge in the bowl and saw no sediment at all. Why is there so much sand coming out?
Just when the man was confused, the leader also came over drinking his own porridge. Seeing the man staring at his bowl with doubts on his face, he immediately smiled and said: "Don't be surprised, those black-hearted nobles are here. There is a lot of sand in the food for relief. If you are lucky, the porridge will float on the surface, but there will not be so much sand.
But if you are unlucky, the porridge will be on the bottom of the pot. If so, you will find that there is a lot of sand in the bowl.
Aaron is a good cook, but he can't help it. We cook gruel, and the sand basically sinks to the bottom. He has to scrape at least a bowl of sand from the bottom of the pot every day after eating. "
Hearing this, the man realized that the cook's name was Aaron.
But this was not the point. What the leader said just now was what he cared about. He couldn't help but ask: "Why? Will there be so much sand? Isn't this the relief food distributed by Her Royal Highness the Princess? "
"Yes, Her Royal Highness the Princess wants to do good deeds and ask the imperial government to help the poor, otherwise we won't even be able to drink porridge! "The leader seemed to have little respect for the eldest princess, but he did not continue to speak ill of her. He just said to the man disdainfully: "You know what? In fact, in the beginning, the empire used bread to provide relief to the victims! But those nobles felt that it was too wasteful and unprofitable for them, so they resold all the bread!
The high-quality black bread sold on the market some time ago was the relief grain they resold!
Can you believe it? The high-quality black bread issued by the empire was resold by the nobles, but we can only drink gruel here! ”
“Damn nobles! "The man also started to curse.
In the past, he might not have cursed along with him, but the hunger and the feeling of fullness he had just gained made him understand which side to choose sometimes.
But while cursing the nobles, the man also asked curiously: "Does the empire not care about this matter? "
"No matter what, why don't you care? Her Royal Highness the Princess personally led people to chop off the heads of those corrupt officials, but it was of no use. We had nothing to eat except wheat mixed with sand. "The leader waved his hands nonchalantly, with a calm look.
In fact, the leader clearly understood why the wheat they ate was mixed with sand, and it was mixed with a lot of sand.
But how this fact is said and who says it has completely different effects.
So, even if the leader told the man that the imperial nobles had embezzled the relief food and turned the relief food into inferior food mixed with sand that no one wanted, the most important thing for the man was that he did not have enough to eat.
"What's the point of telling me this? I'm just an ordinary person." The man has a very clear positioning of himself.
"What about ordinary people? After all, this world is made up of ordinary people like you and me. Those knights who left the steam armor are just like ordinary people. They will die if they are hit by bullets, and they will die if they are killed by battle. You will die if you attack with a blade, they are not much stronger than us." The expression on the leader's face became wanton and arrogant. In his opinion, ordinary people can kill Steam Knight, as long as they find the right method.
But this does not make much sense to an ordinary person who had to eat relief food before.
At least it makes no sense for a man. As an ordinary person, if you ask him to do something, he is willing to do it, but it is absolutely impossible to expect him to challenge impossible things.
For example, if the leader asks him to work now, he will definitely not hesitate. After all, he has already eaten two bowls of porridge, and this should be regarded as repayment.
But if he is expected to do something to the king or princess, he is not ready to use his body to catch bullets, especially since the knights of the empire no longer use small-caliber pincer ammunition. , but chose the force that is much more powerful, and the accuracy and precision will bring you more force.
"Don't worry, I don't intend for you to fight those steam knights one on one, that's not your job." The leader understands the man's fear of life and death. In fact, too many people have this attitude, but It doesn't matter, when they reach the point where they can't survive, they will definitely choose to stand up and fight.
As for now? It can only be regarded as silently accumulating strength, and then waiting for God to see.
But there is no rush, but winning people's hearts is always needed, so the leader came up with such a way to distribute the food in a way that seems fair, so that everyone can treat him Be grateful.
And these are the foundation and capital for his future rebellion.
Especially when he found out that the empire center will move to the north in the future. When the sky is high and the emperor is far away, maybe he will have the opportunity to completely overthrow this decadent feudal oppressive empire and let himself live. Live the luxurious life of Prime Minister France next door.
But for now, let’s get more people to cook porridge together.
(End of this chapter)