America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 398 Suffering Never Worth Singing

More than a week later, Chen Jianqiu arrived in Kaben County with dozens of people.

They did not take the train directly to Shiquan Town.

Because the goal of dozens of people is too big, in a small town, it will inevitably cause unnecessary trouble.

Chen Jianqiu asked Li Sifu and Asuka to stay in Carbon County with the Longxiang team, while he and Xiao En changed into cowboy clothes and went to Shiquan Town to find out the news.

Compared with four years ago, Shiquan Town is still the same, with almost no changes.

The same mess and mud, the same air filled with dust, shrouded the whole town in a haze.

Chen Jianqiu and Xiao En walked along the road in the town.

It was daytime at this time, and the workers were all working in the mine, so the town was empty.

"Xiao En, we haven't returned the saddle you stole?" Chen Jianqiu asked suddenly.

The black man was speechless for a moment.

"It should be returned. The horses we got should have run back by themselves."

"Oh, I hope so. You'd better wear your hat. That saddle-owner with the pitchfork must have impressed you."

Chen Jianqiu said while walking forward.

Blacks are far more conspicuous than Chinese in this town.

When the two passed by the security station, they found that there was no one there.

Chen Jianqiu stopped in his tracks.

He glanced at the reward column outside the door, and found that there was no reward order for himself and Sean.

It's been four years, maybe their few cards have already been covered under other thick rewards.

However, what surprised Chen Jianqiu was that besides the reward order, there were also some weird things posted there.

A gust of wind blows.

One of them was blown off directly, and it was rolled over the road by the wind.

Chen Jianqiu walked up quickly, bent down and picked it up.

is a leaflet:

Chinese people, your doomsday is coming.

This is a threat.

He raised his head and found another one on the wall of the grocery store next to him.

What is written above is more straightforward:

Yellow dog!Get out of Shiquan Town quickly!
The two continued to walk forward.

More and more leaflets came into Chen Jianqiu's eyes:
On the wall of the house, on the tree trunk, on the fence
He frowned.

It seemed that my worries had become a reality.

In the west, strikes generally occur at the same time as violent acts of anti-Chinese, and the former often becomes the fuse of the latter.

"Come on, do you want to take you to see my house?" Chen Jianqiu said to Xiao En.

He took the black man and walked towards the Chinese residential area in Shiquan Town.

The residential area is located near the No. [-] mine shaft.

The first batch of Chinese laborers who came to Shiquan Town dug coal here.

In order to get closer, they built simple tents and wooden houses by the Bit River.

Later Chinese workers also settled here one after another.

Over time, it became a gathering area for Chinese laborers in Shiquan Town.

Chen Jianqiu also lived here four years ago.

They walked across the wooden bridge over the Bute River.

On the bridge, Chen Jianqiu saw a familiar figure from a distance.

An old man was squatting by the river to wash his face.

"New Jaber!"

Hearing someone calling him, the old man straightened up with difficulty and turned his head.

He squinted and stared at the two cowboys on the bridge.

The distance was a bit far, and he could only roughly see the skin colors of the two of them clearly.

One Chinese, one black.

Two people quickly came to him.

"Xin Jiebo, didn't you go down the well today?" Chen Jianqiu looked at the old man with a smile.

He took off his hat.

The old man repeatedly looked at Chen Jianqiu's face.

He suddenly widened his eyes and slapped his thigh, overjoyed but trying to suppress his voice:
"It's you! Jianqiu!"

Chen Jianqiu smiled and nodded.

The old man glanced left and right, and after making sure there was no one else, he pulled Chen Jianqiu and Xiao En into a small wooden house by the river.

"My back problem has happened again." The old man sighed, "Take a rest, and I'll pass later."

"By the way, Jianqiu, why are you back?" He glanced at Chen Jianqiu, and then at the black man beside Chen Jianqiu.

"We were going to San Francisco, and we just passed by. I heard that the limelight has passed, so I came back to have a look."

Chen Jianqiu originally wanted to find a place to sit down.

But the room was too small, and there were no stools to sit on.

So he squatted at the door with the old man.

The four-year incident caused quite a stir in Shiquan Town.

But as time went by, people gradually began to forget about it.

After the old mine owner Robert died, the Pacific Coal Mine Company took over the mine.

They took another pay cut.

"Is it enough to live after the salary is reduced?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"It's enough to tighten your belt, at least it's much more than in your hometown." The old man lit up his dry tobacco pot. "The biggest problem is safety."

Ironically, PICC may be the first company outside of New Mexico to ignore the bill.

Because the bosses of the coal mining company intend to replace white workers who are unwilling to continue working because of wage cuts with Chinese workers.

This makes the contradiction between the two deeper.

The Chinese workers are harassed from time to time, and now they are even afraid to leave the settlement alone.

"I heard that since last month, the road from Livingstone to Shiquan Town has been covered with leaflets saying that we will be deported."

The old man said so.

"Since it's so dangerous, haven't you considered changing places?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"Where are you going? Everyone is saying that there is a boss in the south who is also surnamed Chen, and his business is very big." The old man tapped the smoke pot in his hand, "It also said that there is a big Chinese town there. .”

"How is this possible?" He shook his head. "I heard that many people are caught and thrown on the boat back home."

"If it's true, how capable is that boss! Anyway, I've lived with such an old bone, and I've never seen such a person."

Xiao En glanced at Chen Jianqiu, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Chen Jianqiu's cough.

"By the way, Jianqiu, where do you work now?" The old man looked at Chen Jianqiu worriedly.

"Oh, we are herding cattle for a ranch owner in Kansas." Chen Jianqiu clapped the cowboy hat in his hand and said.

The two talked about some past events.

Including how the old man found Chen Jianqiu on the mine bucket of the train, as well as Chen Jianqiu's astonishing act in the tavern.

"Jianqiu, did you really kill the old mine manager?" the old man asked suddenly.

He stared into Chen Jianqiu's eyes, trying to find out the answer from the young man's eyes.

"I said no, do you believe it?" Chen Jianqiu said with a half-smile.

The sheriff and other law enforcement officers were killed by his gun, but the death of the old mine manager was really not his fault.

"It's fine if it's not, it's fine if it's not." The old man took another puff of the dry tobacco pot and muttered to himself.

"People from trade unions recently approached you?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"What is a trade union?" The old man looked blank, "What are they looking for us for?"

"Uh, is there any white worker who asked you about the strike?" Chen Jianqiu put it in a simpler way.

"It seems to have been, they seem to come later." The old man sighed.

"But Jianqiu, in the final analysis, we don't have anything to do. We don't have anything here. What do we eat when we don't work? What are we going to do here?"

"Only by suffering the hardships can one become a master, Jianqiu."

Chen Jianqiu was silent for a while without speaking.

Suffering has never been worthy of being praised, let alone become an anesthetic of universal value.

This and diligence are two different things.

But the crux of the problem now, I am afraid, is no longer here.

He said to the old man:
"Next time they come, tell me."

(End of this chapter)