The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

"Brother Rong, did you make a fortune in the city? Are you living a life of luxury?" The temporary camp for the Nanyang mechanics in Xiaguan (Dali) was officially called the Xiaguan Evacuation New Village Single Dormitory (now Taihe Street, Xiaguan Town, Dali). It was where single Nanyang mechanics lived.

There was no such dormitory before. It was built at the beginning of the year to avoid Japanese air raids. It is located one kilometer outside the city. The dormitory is made of earth and wood, and each room houses six to eight people. It is equipped with a canteen, a bathhouse, and a simple basketball court.

It sounds good, but in reality, due to the heavy transportation tasks, most people live and eat in their vehicles, which results in a small number of permanent residents.

Upon returning to his base, Huang Zurong's first priority was naturally to host a banquet for his fellow pilots, while also preparing to express his thoughts.

All kinds of frozen meat were included, along with plenty of soy sauce and other seasonings.

In fact, many mechanics are not used to this way of eating, since their diet mainly consists of curry rice and satay.

But the combination of technology and ruthless work is irresistible.

A spoonful of Carnation evaporated milk, and the flavor kicks right up.

"It smells so good!" The air was filled with an enticing aroma, and everyone gathered around the large iron pot, swallowing hard.

"Brother Rong, is this really all cooked? It's all meat?" Someone asked tentatively, looking at the meat in the iron pot.

"Eat your meat, why are you talking so much nonsense?" Huang Zurong said irritably, then picked up an iron spoon and began to distribute meat to everyone present.

"Then I won't be polite?" As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the food with his hands and started eating. His ruthless eating skills made everyone present drool.

"Eat slowly, there's still some left in the pot." Huang Zurong wasn't that greedy, after all, he had just had a big meal not long ago, and his stomach was full of oil. The people in front of him were different; they ate poorly and mostly dry food, and their stomachs were already empty of oil.

"Brother Rong, your cooking skills are amazing! When we get back, you could open a shop and make a fortune." Someone mumbled, his mouth full of meat.

Seeing everyone wolfing down their food, Huang Zurong chuckled, went back to his room, and took out several dozen kilograms of meat.

When they returned, they noticed that Chen Shunwen's expression was a bit off, so they asked him curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"There are quite a few children gathered outside," Chen Shunwen said after a moment's hesitation.

Although the lives of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics were very difficult, that was only relatively speaking. After all, compared to their previous comfortable lives, their lives were indeed very hard.

Compared to the poor people in Yunnan Province, their lives were not bad. After all, they still had forty yuan a month, which could be converted into about fifty or sixty jin of rice (at the official price).

So children would often appear outside their temporary camp, hoping to do something in exchange for candy or something similar.

These bachelors mostly didn't have many expenses, and since these kids were indeed living in poverty, they would occasionally give them candy under the guise of helping with weeding. Over time, the two sides became quite familiar with each other.

"Let them all come in." Upon hearing that it was a kid, Huang Zurong let them in without thinking, after all, how much more could a child eat?

Besides, do I really need this one bite to eat?

"Call them all in?" Chen Shunwen asked in surprise.

"Oh right?" Huang Zurong didn't realize anything was wrong, but he was completely dumbfounded when everyone came in.

He originally thought there were only a dozen or so children, so he didn't care at all.

After all, he had stewed dozens of kilograms of meat, and even if each person ate two kilograms, they still couldn't finish it.

It turned out that dozens of people had poured in, and the number was still increasing.

The main reason was that everyone called their friends and family when they heard they could eat meat for free, and then those who came called their friends over.

Huang Zurong gasped in shock. How could someone cause such a huge disaster?

"Brother Rong? Should I kick them out?" Seeing the line getting longer and longer, Chen Shunwen felt he might have made a big mistake and said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong glanced at the other party, then looked at the long queue, especially the kids who were swallowing hard, rubbing their broken bowls with their hands, their eyes filled with longing for meat. He shook his head and refused.

"Just a little bit of meat."

He had only read about such scenes in books, so he didn't feel them deeply. But now that he had experienced it firsthand, especially those pitiful eyes, it was hard for Huang Zurong, a person from a later generation, not to be moved.

Therefore, when Chen Shunwen proposed to drive those people away, he certainly could not agree to it.

He can't afford the finest cuts of meat, but frozen meat isn't something he can just eat casually; it costs a few dollars per pound, which his five-figure balance can still cover.

Of course, he couldn't eat only meat, so he also bought side dishes such as vermicelli.

In an instant, the balance was reduced by half again.

However, Huang Zurong didn't feel sorry for them at all, because every kid would say "Thank you, brother" after receiving their meal, so his heartache had long since dissipated amidst such praise.

"Why aren't you eating?" After being busy for a while, Huang Zurong asked someone to take over getting food for him, while he wandered around the campsite.

Most of the children wolfed down their food. For them, this was probably the most delicious meal they had ever had since birth, so they didn't care about anything else and just ate it.

Among them, some of the children only ate a little, leaving quite a bit in their bowls, which aroused Huang Zurong's curiosity. Although he had a guess in his mind, he couldn't help but ask.

"Take it back for our parents, and let our younger siblings have a taste," the boy replied.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong nodded, but didn't mention bringing a bowl with him when he left. He was short of money and didn't have the confidence to make such a bold statement, but he still asked a question.

"Wouldn't you like to eat meat every day?"

"Of course I want to," the child replied without hesitation.

"I happen to need some helpers here. Would you like to come and work here? There's no pay, but you'll get three meals a day, and I guarantee there will be meat with every meal." This kind of person is obviously the eldest son in the family, and has been used to taking care of his younger siblings for many years. If you hire him, he will definitely be very serious about the job because he will cherish it.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the child was stunned for a while before he reacted and then asked excitedly.

"real?"

He never even considered wages; he was content as long as he could eat meat every meal. Plus, if he was frugal, he could bring some back home for his family to enjoy.

"Of course," Huang Zurong said with a smile. After asking about the other person's age and name, he learned that the other person was 14 years old, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"You didn't lie about your age?"

Judging from the other person's frame, he was at most ten years old, so he was somewhat dissatisfied.

"Brother, I didn't lie to you," the child explained anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong remained silent for a moment, then sighed and said nothing.