Chapter 704 693. Slums in Kieran Town
The slum area and the rich area of Kilan Town are clearly separated on both sides of the street. To be precise, the two most prosperous streets in Kielan Town are located in the boundary of the rich area.
The dividing line between the slum area and the rich area is the high courtyard wall on the south side of the long street. It seems that if the courtyard wall is not built higher, the warehouses in the courtyard will lose their things. The rich people in Kilan Town almost Immigrants who all came from Bena City, they have lived in Kieran Town for so many years and have accumulated some wealth.
As for the people living in the slums, they are almost all the local aborigines. They were deprived of their land by the army and forced to migrate to the small town. At that time, they had nothing. Now... except for some shacks that leak rain in summer and flood wind in winter Other than that, there is still nothing.
The rich people build their houses on the slopes of the mountains. The more you look at the mountainside, the more gorgeous those houses will be, while the shacks of the poor are built at the foot of the mountain. The shacks spread to the banks of the Bailin River, and even a few crooked logs formed a four-corner frame, and then surrounded by straw mats or felts, these aborigines lived on the ground in the shacks.
Many poor families do not even have an iron pot, and it is not uncommon for several poor families to share a pot. Usually, this pot will always be boiled with boiling water. Everyone only eats one meal a day, which is one meal at noon. After lunch, before eating, the poor families who share the iron pot will put some food into the iron pot, such as broken rice, vegetable leaves, animal meat, etc., as long as they can be cooked and eaten anyway.
If you don’t want to put food in the iron pot, don’t run over with a wooden bowl to grab food when eating.
Usually the person guarding the iron pot is the most respected old man in a few poor families, or the real owner of the iron pot.
Nika, the aboriginal girl rescued by Suldak, lived in a hut by the river. She was carried home from the square by her mother. The penalty stone was chained for nearly three days, and his physical strength had long been exhausted. His body was extremely weak, and he could only lie down in a damp shack when he returned home.
It is summer now, and there will always be some sharp-billed white-scaled fish in the Bailin River, so the life of the poor is still passable, and there will always be some half-grown children with good water skills who can fish some white-scaled fish from the river and throw them into the iron pot At this time, there are endless wild vegetables on the pastures, guinea pigs and hares can be found in some burrows, and snakes and lizards can also be seen from time to time. As long as you work hard, you can always get some food back.
The few friends who were envious of Nika being able to work as maids in the baron's manor at Goss sat silently beside Nika at this time. Nika took care of them a lot, and would always bring back something they didn't taste from the baron's manor. This time, Nika was chained to the punishment stone and was almost sunburned to death. The shock to them was too great.
A girl gave Nika a little water from a wooden spoon.
At this time, a boy said:
"Nika, you are so lucky. If it weren't for the Lord Baron Suldak today, you might have been sunburned on the punishment stone. Although there are so many people gathered here, once the infantry regiment in the garrison camp I am afraid that no one will dare to block the spears of the infantry regiment."
What he said was the truth. Although everyone sympathized with Nika and was willing to go to the square to demonstrate for her, and would like to raise wooden planks to shield her from the sun, but once the infantry in the garrison camp ran to the square to disperse them, no one would fight Spear front stuck too long.
Once the local garrison judges it to be an aboriginal riot, Nika will not be the only one who died.
Another girl also said aside: "We know that you must not have taken that vase, but what's the use of it? The young masters of the Goss family believe that you did it, and no one can refute it."
The girl with the wooden spoon in her hand said:
"Nica, I think you and your aunt should thank the baron. Maybe this is what he wants. He is willing to save you from the punishment stone. At least we should thank you."
At this moment, a child suddenly shouted outside:
"Nika, Nika, the baron who rescued you at noon is coming towards your house."
The shacks in the slums were closely connected. The child's voice was almost heard by the poor in many shacks around. Many people ran out of the shacks to watch the excitement.
The girl with the wooden spoon in her hand said happily: "I said, the baron must have taken a fancy to Nika, so he would be willing to save her from the punishment stone."
The boy sitting next to Nika had a sad expression on his face, secretly lowered his head, and said nothing more.
But the middle-aged aborigine woman sitting at the door of the shack—Mother Nika was at a loss for a moment. She wiped a couple of hands on the linen dress in a panic, and said absently: "What should I do? , there is not even a decent thing in the house..."
The girl with the wooden spoon stood up and said to Nika's mother at the door, "I'll go and see if lunch is ready, or we can treat the baron to eat wild vegetable and fish soup."
"He is a baron, and he would be willing to eat your big pot of chowder, so save yourself!" Someone among the friends said.
…
Suldak and Samira walked along the river. In addition to the stench, the road was also very muddy and difficult.
Although these aborigines in the slums look very pitiful, sometimes they cannot fully attribute the responsibility to the cruel exploitation of the imperial people. They are poor for reasons of poverty, especially their life attitude of getting by, the kind of people who have food today. The inert thinking of not thinking about tomorrow if they are young, and not thinking about winter when it is not cold in summer is another reason for their poverty.
The terrified aborigines ran outside the tent one after another, watching Suldak walk past their door.
Suldak just asked a child where Nika's house was. Unexpectedly, the child enthusiastically took Suldak to Nika's house. Opened a road leading to Nika's house.
The child pointed to the shack surrounded by some felt and tattered linen and said, "My lord, that is Nika's home."
Suldak and Samira looked at each other and approached slowly, only to find Nika's mother bending down and waiting outside the shack. Seeing her humbly prostrate on the ground, Suldak said to her: "Hurry up!" Get up, we're here to see how Nika is doing."
Nika's mother got up from the ground, and she didn't care to pat off the dirt on her knees, so she respectfully said to Suldak: "Thank you Baron for saving Nika."
Suldak glanced into the shack, and the girl lying on the mat covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.
There was almost nothing in the hut except two clay pots and a wooden basin in the corner. All the linen, felt, and straw mats were covered over the hut, and piled in the corner of the hut. Some red plant rhizomes are about as thick as a little finger.
Surdak didn't get into the low hut, but stood outside the hut and said to Nika's mother, "I'm here this time to ask you and Nika to come with us. We're leaving Kilan tomorrow. I am worried that Baron Goss will trouble you again, we will go to the town of Dodan, if you are willing to go with us, please find me at the cavalry camp before tomorrow morning..."
(end of this chapter)