A little bit of kindness, a little bit of hatred! That's the reality!
It was dinner time in the evening, and a long queue had formed in the canteen area of the northern suburbs flood shelter early, with more than 20,000 disaster victims waiting in line for food. The long queue was filled with laughter and the atmosphere was harmonious. During the days they were in the flood shelter, they ate and slept well, and slept well and ate well, not to mention how comfortable their life was.
However, this harmonious atmosphere of laughter and joy was broken after a while. The people in the back heard a loud noise coming from the front. They leaned forward out of curiosity and stretched their necks to look forward. They saw several people in the front who were waiting to get food quarreling with the cook, and they seemed to be very excited.
"What's going on? The people in the queue in front of you are crazy. What are they arguing about? Hurry up and get your food. There are still a lot of people waiting behind you."
The people behind couldn't help but curse loudly, expressing their dissatisfaction with the people in front.
"That's right. They provide you with food and drink, but you don't know how to be grateful. You have no nerve to argue with them. Hurry up and get the food so that it can be our turn."
The people around him followed suit.
"Hey, that's not right. Did you hear me? Something is wrong."
A person in front of them twitched his ears, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head and spoke to the two of them.
"What's wrong? Did you hear anything? San Gouzi, what did you hear? Tell us quickly, don't keep us in suspense. You have the sharpest ears in our village. If there's a quarrel in someone's family, you can always tell the truth!"
The two people behind couldn't help but push San Gouzi and urged him on.
"I heard the man in front of me scolding the cook for being a black-hearted maggot who withheld our food! Were we supposed to get two steamed buns, a pickled vegetable dumpling, and enough porridge?! This time, we were only given one steamed bun, a bowl of porridge, and a thin strip of pickled vegetable! The man in front of me started a fight with the cook."
San Gouzi had really sharp ears. He heard most of the quarreling and learned from them.
"What?! One steamed bun and a bowl of porridge! Damn it, this is too dark!" The two people at the back couldn't help but curse out loud when they heard it. They couldn't accept that the food went from two steamed buns and porridge to one bowl of porridge and one steamed bun. They had long forgotten that they had just scolded the people in front for being ungrateful.
Soon, the entire flood refuge was filled with curses.
The team was in chaos. The excited victims rushed out of the team, surrounded the place where they were getting their meals, and cursed everyone.
"Bullshit! I'll tell you again, this is what the higher-ups said, I'm not greedy for your steamed bread! Besides, in this time of disaster, we should be thankful to have a bite to eat, let alone a steamed bread and a bowl of porridge! We don't charge you any money, so why are you so dissatisfied?"
The cook who was serving the food was cursing at the crowd, but his voice was soon drowned out by the curses from the victims.
"Bah! The government has so much food, if they give us one more steamed bread or one more bowl of drink, we will die!"
"What a black heart! Even our steamed bread is black!"
The victims cursed and swore so loudly that their saliva almost drowned the cooks.
Liu Dianli, the clerk in charge of the Northern Suburbs Flood Refuge, came forward to explain but was also scolded.
At the critical moment, Zhu Ping'an appeared and took control of the situation. Zhu Ping'an was dressed in official uniform, followed by Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and other runners. Seeing Zhu Ping'an coming, the victims who were cursing instantly quieted down. In feudal society, an era of strict hierarchy, ordinary people were naturally afraid of officials.
"My fellow villagers, we have no choice but to do this, and it's not because they are greedy... The current flood has lasted for a long time and caused widespread damage. It will take time for the court to rescue us, and our county government has limited food. For the sake of long-term planning, we have to temporarily reduce your meals. Our county government is also trying to solve the food problem. Once the food problem is solved, not only will you all be well fed, but you will also eat well. Please be patient for a few days." Zhu Ping'an stood in the middle of the crowd, bowed to everyone, and explained to everyone.
Zhu Ping'an enjoys a very high status and a very good image in the eyes of the people of Jingnan. After Zhu Ping'an's explanation, the local people of Jingnan basically stopped making trouble, but the refugees from other places did not buy it.
"Of course, if you can't accept it, you can leave at any time. The gate of Jingnan is open to welcome you all, and it will not be closed to imprison you." Zhu Pingan glanced at those people and said lightly.
Leave?! Then they won’t even have food to eat! The refugees who had fled here were afraid to say a word.
As a result, the situation in the northern suburbs flood refuge area stabilized and people lined up again to get meals.
Once order was restored, Zhu Ping'an led Liu Dadao and others away to the next flood shelter.
"Bah! These officials keep talking in high-sounding terms, saying that food is limited and that this is a long-term plan... Bah! We pay taxes and money every year, but the excess food in the county government feeds rats, and the excess money rusts. How can they still shortchange us for a steamed bun and a bowl of porridge? It's all because of the officials' evil hearts that the food they save goes into their own pockets!"
A refugee who had fled the disaster received a steamed bun and a bowl of porridge, and ate while cursing.
"What are you talking about? Our county magistrate is not that kind of person." The local victims said to him after hearing this.
"Why, what I said was not right. Ha, when we just got here, you were telling us how good your county magistrate is, how he loves the people like his own children, how he is incorruptible, and you said all these wonderful things, as if Justice Bao were still alive. But now, even the steamed buns and porridge are half black! What else is there to say?" The refugees sneered and retorted.
"Uh... ... didn't you hear what our magistrate said? He told us to be patient for a few days. Once the food problem is solved, we will not only be able to eat enough but also eat well." The local victims were a little lacking in confidence. After all, the reduction in steamed bread and porridge was a fact, which they could not deny.
"Forget it, just listen to the promises of these officials and don't take them seriously. Can the food problem be solved in a few days? And let us eat our fill?! Eat well?! All crows are black!" The refugees sneered and didn't believe it at all.
There are many such voices in the flood refuge area, most of whom are victims from other places, and there are fewer local victims in Jingnan.
Until the evening, there was constant cursing in the five major flood refuge areas.
On the second day, when the victims found that not only the food standard had been lowered, but also that meals had been reduced from three meals a day to two meals a day, there were more curses in the flood shelter. Not only refugees from other places cursed, but some local victims also joined in.
If the flood refuges had not learned from yesterday’s lesson and organized runners to maintain order in advance, the order in the flood refuges would have been out of control.