Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

After Zhao Dong left, the workers gathered together, joyfully starting to allocate the beds.

Everyone had lived through hard times, so they didn't care at all about the beds.

They used to sleep on the bare ground, now they had beds and bedding. What did it matter whether they lived on the top or bottom bunk?

Soon everyone had allocated their beds and settled their belongings into their respective places.

Chen Siwu was lucky to be assigned a bottom bunk.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, spacing out for a while.

Then he leaned over and pulled a washbasin from under the bed.

Inside was indeed a cloth towel, a small piece of soapberry, and a frayed willow branch.

The wooden basin and cloth towel looked particularly cheap, and the piece of soapberry was pitifully small.

The willow branch for brushing teeth was even more insignificant, readily available everywhere.

Chen Siwu hugged the washbasin, looking at the few insignificant little things inside.

He fell into silence.

Chen Siwu was just an inconspicuous farmer. A flood had destroyed his village. He had barely survived by scavenging for food along the way, finally reaching Jianjiang City.

Along this journey, his parents had died, his wife had starved to death, and his child had succumbed to something they had eaten, dying from vomiting and diarrhea halfway there.

When his parents passed away, Chen Siwu had suppressed his grief, reminding himself that his wife and children needed him, so he could only continue forward, searching for food in the barren land every day.

But when his wife and children died, Chen Siwu felt not a trace of sorrow in his heart, only staring blankly at the corpses of the mother and child, as if a relative from another family had passed away. He simply buried them and continued on his way.

Chen Siwu was probably already devastated to the core.

His heart was as if frozen in ice, completely numb, relying on his survival instinct to endure like a living corpse until he reached Jianjiang City.

But upon arriving outside the city and seeing the disaster relief porridge stand, drinking the thin, watery gruel, his stomach still burned painfully.

He continued to exist in this half-dead state every day, without any hope.

But since the new official took office in Jianjiang… it seemed everything had changed.

This person didn't seem like an official at all.

From his speech to his actions, he was more like a hooligan from the village entrance.

Yet, it was precisely this kind of person who stirred up the emotions that had long been dormant in Chen Siwu.

A stagnant pool of water began to ripple slightly.

Life also seemed to be gradually improving.

The porridge outside the city was getting thicker and thicker.

But he knew clearly that no matter how thick the porridge provided by the government's relief porridge stand was, it would eventually disappear.

The weather was still hot now, so he could survive, but if a few more months passed, he would freeze to death before he starved to death.

But as the wooden houses outside the city were built on a large scale, and countless refugees were led into the city, given a brand new pair of pants.

Hope began to rekindle in Chen Siwu's heart.

Finally, it was his turn to move into this wooden house. Although it was extremely simple, it gave people a sense of warmth and protection.

The ice in his heart was slowly melting.

The wounds that had been frozen seemed to be torn open once again.

Chen Siwu's eyes went from being moist to the first tear falling.

Then the tears flowed down like a burst dam.

The feeling of heartache seemed to tear him apart.

Chen Siwu covered his chest and cried out: "Mother… children…"

The sound of crying echoed throughout the dormitory, but no one looked at Chen Siwu with strange eyes.

Some people watched him silently, tears streaming down their faces.

Some people quietly covered their faces with cloths.

Still others stuffed cloths into their mouths, biting down hard, not wanting to make a sound.

A group of people with similar experiences gathered together, silently enduring the sudden burst of sorrow.

After a long time, Chen Siwu stopped crying, carefully placed the wooden basin beside him, and then buried his head in his knees.

Everyone stayed on their beds without saying a word. After an unknown amount of time, it was already dark.

Finally, someone wanted to break the silence, got up from the bed, walked to the window, and opened it.

A cool evening breeze immediately blew in, dispersing a lot of the sorrow.

Then Chen Siwu heard someone say: "We're going to work tomorrow."

"We will have a better life in the future."

At this time, many people were also sitting cross-legged on their beds, chatting with each other across the beds.

Chen Siwu also raised his head, looking at everyone with red and swollen eyes.

Silently listening to the conversations around him.

"Everyone, don't be sad, we're going to work tomorrow."

"We'll earn money when we work, and then we'll be able to have a good life. At least we won't freeze or starve now!"

"The Prince is here! What are we afraid of? The past is the past."

"Everyone, what are your names? Let's get to know each other. We'll be together for a long time in the future!"

After being reminded, everyone suddenly realized.

This group of people didn't know each other.

So they started introducing themselves one after another.

Chen Siwu was still a little sad, but after being dragged into a conversation, he felt much better.

The chattering sounds around him began to become more and more excited.

"Say… what are we going to eat tomorrow?"

"I know! I heard that the Sun family used to give workers porridge, two meals a day."

"Damn! What's the difference between that and the porridge stand! The porridge at the porridge stand is already pretty good. What kind of porridge can you drink if you keep drinking porridge? And we still have to work. Do I feel like I've been cheated?"

"Don't worry, I haven't finished yet!"

"There are two cloth shops in the city, the Sun family and the Liu family, both selling cloth. When the Liu family found out that the Sun family was giving workers porridge, the Liu family immediately started giving workers dry rice to eat. I heard there's even pickled vegetables!"

"The Sun family was scolded miserably in the city. Later, they also changed to dry rice. In addition to pickled vegetables, there are also vegetables. I heard that you can even see some meat once a week!"

"Hey! How do you know? Haven't we always been together?"

"Are you blind! When we left the city, there was such a big sign at the yamen, and someone was explaining this!"

Chen Siwu grinned.

He guessed it must be a good thing done by the government official.

The discussion continued.

"Hey, you guys know what! I heard from my friend that there's a particularly skilled carpenter in the city called Master Qi. He does such beautiful work!"

"My friend said he saw Lord Fang, the Sun family's master, and Master Qi chatting at the construction site!"

"They said it wasn't good for workers to eat on the ground, it was easy to catch a cold, and squatting was tiring, so they asked Master Qi to make something."

Chen Siwu's eyes lit up, and he asked curiously: "What thing!"

"Hey yo! That's amazing."

"I heard it's a pretty big thing that can let us sit down to eat. One end has a donkey that can drive something like a millstone, called a conveyor belt."

"I didn't quite understand the details. We just sit there! The rice and soup can be fed right into your mouth."

"After eating, you can continue working."

Chen Siwu exclaimed: "Isn't that being served! This Master Qi is too amazing!"

"That's right! We're also being served!"

"Master Qi is nothing! I heard that Lord Fang designed it! He was chatting happily with the Sun family's master at the time, and Master Qi was just taking notes on the side!"

Chen Siwu was filled with admiration: "Lord Fang is really a god!"

"Yeah! Do you think we can't have a good life with Lord Fang here?"

"Yeah!"