Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 175 The Poor
ps: Thanks to Sanzi from Lunhui for the reward and support!
In the evening, just after the sun set, the soldiers who had completed their training mission returned to the camp and gathered with their families and relatives.

Torches were soon lit, illuminating the thatched huts in the camp. Annan had a hot climate, and the temperature in June was rising. More than 10,000 Chinese refugees living in groups did not bother to build wooden houses, but instead, a dozen young men spent two days building a wooden shed frame that could shelter from the wind and rain, and then added some weeds and leaves to the frame, and the simple residence was built.

Thousands of densely packed wooden sheds are scattered in an orderly manner within a radius of ten miles. As the sun sets and night falls, young and strong Chinese people who have finished their work line up with their families to receive food.

"Those who want to join the army, line up here, and the young and strong, old and young, go to the west." The cook with a towel wrapped around his waist shouted loudly in front of a large cooking pot.

Wang Gousheng smelled the aroma wafting from the iron pot and took a deep breath.

"Daddy, daddy, Erya wants to eat white rice." A little girl of five or six years old in Wang Gousheng's arms clapped her hands happily.

The little girl had two greasy braids on her head and her thin, dark face was stained with dust.

Without looking down on his daughter's slightly dirty face, Wang Gousheng put his face against hers and said lovingly, "Good girl, we'll have rice porridge soon."

"Woo, Dad lied, Erya wants to eat white rice." The little girl's face changed quickly. She looked happy just now, but she disappeared immediately after hearing her father's words.

"Woo woo, Erya is hungry. Erya wants to eat white rice."

The little girl's tears immediately flowed out and she kept patting her flat belly with her hands.

"Er Ya, be obedient. White rice is for soldiers. We only have porridge to drink at night."

Looking at his daughter who was thin due to malnutrition, Wang Gousheng felt distressed but didn't know how to comfort her.

More than 10,000 Chinese poured into the Halong camp within a month, posing a great difficulty to Sun Bin's logistical supply. Within a month, he spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to purchase a batch of grain from the surrounding merchants and civilians. However, Annan had been in war for years and the local people did not have much grain in stock, so the purchased grain had to be distributed with great care.

More than a thousand young and strong men recruited as soldiers train every day and consume a lot of energy, so their food supply is a meal of thin porridge in the morning and two meals of dry rice at noon and in the evening. Ordinary Chinese people, young and old, can only have three meals of thin porridge a day to maintain a basic standard of living.

Wang Gousheng used to be a poor farmer. Later, he joined the peasant army because he could not make a living. He was injured in a battle and one of his arms was completely disabled. He was abandoned by his original troops and had no choice but to wander around with the Chinese refugees, taking his robbed Annan wife.

Wang Gousheng heard the news that Sun Bin was recruiting Chinese in Haiyang Province, and then followed a group of more than 400 refugees to Halong. On the way, they were intercepted by Annan troops and he was separated from his Annan wife. He could only come to Halong with his daughter.

After comforting his daughter to stop crying, Wang Gousheng came to the cook with two wooden bowls made of bamboo barrels, smiled and said flatteringly: "Brother, the child is starving, please be kind and give her more porridge."

"You only have so many wrinkles. If I give you more, others won't have enough." The cook complained, glanced at the little girl in Wang Gousheng's arms, and said in a gentle tone: "Forget it, for the sake of the girl, I'll give you a little more. There will be no more next time."

As the cook spoke, he put the spoon into the iron pot and added another half spoonful into Wang Gousheng's wooden bowl.

"Oh, thank you, big brother." Wang Gousheng thanked him with a smile and hurriedly gave up his seat, fearing that the people behind him would become dissatisfied.

Carefully carrying the two wooden bowls back to the shed where they lived, Wang Gousheng took out another broken porcelain bowl, poured the porridge in the wooden bowl into the broken bowl, then handed the wooden bowl to his daughter and said lovingly, "Erya, there is your favorite millet in it, eat it quickly." The little girl stared at the wooden bowl handed to her by her father, and her stomach growled twice.

Wang Gousheng knew what his daughter was thinking. He touched the little girl's head and said with a smile, "There's still some in Dad's bowl. Eat it quickly."

With her father's permission, the little girl picked up the wooden bowl and started eating in big mouthfuls.

"Eat slowly, don't choke, there's more in the bowl."

The girl finished one bowl of coarse porridge first, and then with her father's permission, she quickly finished the dry food in another bowl of coarse porridge. After his daughter finished eating, Wang Gousheng drank the remaining porridge to fill his stomach.

Generally, five or six families lived in one shack in the Halong camp, and the dozen or so people living in the same shack with Wang Gousheng and his daughter were all refugees who had fled together.

More than ten people sat together during the meal. One of them, a man who was about the same age as Wang Gousheng, saw that he had left all the food for his daughter, and reminded him, "Brother Gousheng, please don't be offended by my words."

"We all fled here together. Brother Sun, just say whatever you want to say." Wang Gousheng responded casually.

"Then I'll be frank." The thin man took two steps forward, sat down next to Wang Gousheng, and said, "Brother Gousheng's right hand is inconvenient to move, and his wife got lost on the way. It's very hard for him to take care of his daughter alone. In my opinion, Brother Gousheng should find a suitable family to send Erya away in advance, rather than suffer with you."

After the man finished speaking, Wang Gousheng immediately understood what the other party meant. He was planning to make him sell his daughter.

During disaster seasons, it was common for poor people to sell their children, but Wang Gousheng was different from others. Although he had never achieved anything great in his life and had a disabled arm, he never thought of selling his daughter to others even when he was going through the most difficult times.

"Brother, you are joking. Although life in the camp is a bit hard, we have three meals of porridge every day. Although I don't have much ability, I can raise Erya to adulthood and will not sell her to the fire pit."

After being sold, girls from poor families are either sold to brothels by human traffickers or sold to other families as child brides. Most people know what happens to girls sold to brothels, and being sold to other families as child brides, although on the surface they are raised as daughters-in-law, is actually like being sold to others as slaves. The little girls sold not only have to do housework in the master's house, but may also be bullied by the master's family.

Wang Gousheng had worked as a temporary worker for a landlord and had seen the ugly ways some gentry and landlords treated their servants, so he would never sell his daughter no matter what.

"A daughter's home is not someone else's. Sending her away early can not only save a lot of food, but also earn you some money. Why do you want to be so stingy with money, brother Gousheng..." The man was still trying to persuade her, but Erya suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into her father's arms: "Erya won't eat anymore, dad, please don't abandon Erya."

Children of poor families have to grow up early. The little girl, who was five or six years old, already understood some things. When she heard the man's words, she immediately burst into tears, fearing that her father would sell her to someone else.

“Don’t be afraid, Erya. Dad will find Erya’s mother and will not abandon Erya.” Wang Gousheng gently comforted his crying daughter in his arms, then raised his head and said sternly, “Ding Fugui, since we fled together, I won’t bother with you this time. If you try to take advantage of Erya again in the future, be careful or I will fight you to the death!”

After all, Wang Gousheng had killed people when he joined the peasant army, and the ferocious expression on his face in anger scared the other party at once.

"I'm not grateful for your consideration. I won't take care of it even if you ask me to in the future." The thin man muttered to himself, stood up and ran to the back, fearing that Wang Gousheng would suddenly attack him.

(End of this chapter)