Chapter 2 Opportunities in adversity
Chapter 2 Opportunities in adversity
In some inland cities in the 21st century, rats are rarely seen.
But in this era, not to mention economically underdeveloped places like Hong Kong, even in Europe, America and the polar bear countries, rats are a troublesome scourge and are everywhere.
Yang Wendong walked forward, took a look, and found that the chicken meat that was bitten by the rat was not much, so he said: "It's okay, just cut this little bit."
After saying that, he took the precious half chicken and cut off the bitten part with a kitchen knife.
Zhao Liming walked to the back of the small kitchen cabinet and said, "Brother Dong, there is a small hole on the cabinet behind here. I think a mouse must have gnawed a hole through it and got in."
"Well, let's find a board to nail it up later." After Yang Wendong said this, he put down the knife in his hand, having already finished cutting.
Su Yiyi also walked to the back, took a look at the hole, and said, "I checked it a few days ago, and there was no such hole."
Yang Wendong said: "They are just some rotten wood. We can dig them apart with our hands, let alone rat teeth."
"Be careful next time. Spring is coming soon and the mice will come out again," Zhao Liming also said.
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "It's just a little difficult. Wood can't protect against mice."
The fundamental reason why rats basically disappeared from urban households in later generations is that a large number of houses are made of concrete structures, and rats can no longer dig holes.
In Hong Kong today, many poor people live in wooden houses, and the slightly better-off locals live in houses made of earth, stones, bricks and tiles, but these cannot stop rats from digging holes.
Only a few high-end commercial residences use high-hardness building materials, have better drainage systems, and may have metal surfaces on the kitchen cabinets, or directly use refrigerators, which can help avoid the problem of rats with a high probability.
"Actually, it's okay. Apart from disturbing people's sleep, there's nothing to eat at home." Su Yiyi also said.
Zhao Liming said: "That's true, but you still have to be careful about the rice."
"Get ready to cook. I'll go outside to make a fire." Yang Wendong didn't say anything else.
There are so many difficult things in this era, and the problem of rats is just one of them.
As long as there is no plague, it is actually not a big deal if mice eat some food.
Compared to the fires that can destroy large areas of wooden shanties, the difficulties in life caused by lack of water, the economic problems caused by unemployment, the pressure from gang members and other survival issues, the existence of rats is nothing.
……
After a while, Su Yiyi fried a braised chicken and cooked some rice. The aroma attracted many neighbors to come over and take a look.
Families living in dormitories may not be able to eat meat many times a year.
Many children stood around, looking at Yang Wendong and the other two with dry eyes.
"You guys go play over there." After Su Yiyi prepared the meal, she started to chase people away.
The children dispersed, and Su Yiyi said, "Brother Dong, Brother Liming, have a bite."
"I'll just make some chicken soup for the steamed buns, and the meat will be for Brother Dong." Zhao Liming said with a smile.
"No need, let's eat together and leave some for Aunt Guo." Yang Wendong shook his head.
Zhao Liming said: "That's really not necessary. I worked at the dock a few days ago and the food I ate was really good, with meat."
"Really?" Yang Wendong was a little unconvinced.
When working at the dock, sometimes some caravan owners might spend some money to buy food for the workers.
It's not that I'm conscientious, but I hope to spend a little money and make the workers pay more attention when they work.
Although the bulk of the profits were taken away by contractors, gangs, and dock companies, sometimes the workers could also get a share of the profits.
But this situation is not very common, it happens occasionally. Zhao Liming nodded and said with a smile: "Really, Dong brother, you need to recover, so you should eat more. When you are well, next time we go to the dock to work together, we will have meat to eat."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said to Yiyi, "Yiyi, you should eat something too."
"No, that won't work. Mom said these are all for you to eat. I'll just have some soup." Su Yiyi shook her head.
Yang Wendong said directly: "Don't push it anymore, you should eat some meat. I saw a newspaper last time, which said that it is enough for people to eat 1 tael of meat a day. Eating more is a waste.
Everyone eat a little, and I'll buy some more next time."
Although he was very poor, he actually had some savings, about 60 yuan, which had been taken out by Yang Wendong.
But now he doesn't dare to spend money recklessly.
"Uh...Brother Dong, can you read the newspaper?" Zhao Liming asked curiously.
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I can recognize some simple ones. I took some time to learn them before."
The original body was basically illiterate, otherwise he wouldn't have been in such a bad situation.
The illiteracy rate in Hong Kong is currently frighteningly high.
In fact, if Yang Wendong could write all the commonly used traditional Chinese characters, he would not have to worry about finding a job to support his family.
Anyway, it is very easy to fabricate academic qualifications in this day and age, and small companies will not investigate. If there is no other way out in a short period of time, he plans to quickly learn traditional Chinese characters and then find an ordinary job.
Even if you are a clerk, your income is no lower than that of a dock worker. The higher the illiteracy rate, the more valuable the intellectuals are.
"Awesome!" Zhao Liming didn't think much about it. He didn't know that it was basically impossible to learn to read by oneself.
Yang Wendong did not bring up the topic anymore, so he stared at Su Yiyi again and forced her to eat two pieces of chicken.
In the end, there were still a few pieces of chicken left, which were placed in a special place to keep away the mice, and left for Aunt Guo at night, who had not slept for two days in a row.
After dinner, Su Yiyi took the pots and pans to a well in the distance to wash them, and Yang and Zhao followed her.
Because well water was in short supply, many people were queuing and fighting for it. If there were no men, Su Yiyi, a woman, might not be able to get any water at all.
……
It took nearly an hour to wash the dishes.
Being at the bottom of society, we spend almost all our time and energy just to survive.
In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and everything in the dormitory area was basically dry, except for the homes. Many people lifted the roofs of their houses to let the sun in, otherwise they might not be able to sleep at night.
Yang Wendong did the same. After finishing everything, he asked Zhao Liming: "Liming, I remember there are a lot of bamboos in the back mountain, right?"
Zhao Liming replied: "Yes, they are used by the companies that build houses. After a long time, the bamboo becomes dry and they don't want it anymore, so they just throw it in the back mountain."
Yang Wendong said: "Then let's take our tools and cut some down."
"What do you want the bamboo for? The bamboo over there is all waste, not good quality, and can't even be used to make stools." Zhao Liming asked in confusion.
Broken wooden boards are a good thing in the dormitory, and many people are scrambling for them, but broken bamboo seems to be only wanted by people living by the sea.
"Let's go and take a look first. I am useful." Yang Wendong said thoughtfully.
(End of this chapter)