Chapter 368 - 240: Temporary Commune Members

Chapter 368: Chapter 240: Temporary Commune Members

"How are you feeling? All better now?"

Zhao Wendong’s concern instantly made Liu Decai’s eyes well up.

"Captain Zhao, thank you for saving my life. If it weren’t for you all, I would have frozen to death out there."

"Let’s not talk about that for now. You made it all the way to our Dragon King Pond. How could we see someone in mortal danger and not help? What’s the situation with your family now?"

Zhao Wendong’s words made the dozen or so people in ragged clothes, who were staring at him with desperate hope, heave a collective sigh of relief. ’They really weren’t kidding when they said man can conquer nature and that Zhao Wendong is incredible. He truly lives up to his reputation. To say right to our faces that he couldn’t just leave us to die... he must have some serious confidence.’

"We ran out of food at home a long time ago. My old mother starved to death. I heard from others that life in Dragon King Pond is good now and that Captain Zhao is very capable. I also remembered seeing your impressive presence at the market, so I came here to try my luck."

Third Master Zhao sighed. "It’s more or less the same for these others. Everyone has relatives, and word spreads from one to ten, ten to a hundred. More and more people are going to find out about our village’s situation. We can keep our own from starving, but if they all come swarming over, I’m afraid..."

Zhao Wendong nodded, looked at the other members of the production team committee, and finally turned to Lin Zhiyin.

"Zhiyin, what do you think we should do?"

Lin Zhiyin lowered her head in thought before speaking slowly.

"Let’s arrange work for them first, just like our own commune members. They can exchange labor for work points. We can make them all temporary members of our team. We should try to help them."

She knew Zhao Wendong had already said they couldn’t just let people die, so she directly offered a solution.

"Third Master, Uncle Weiguo, what do you two think?"

Seeing the other committee members nod in agreement, Zhao Wendong turned and nodded to Liu Decai.

"Did you hear all that? Starting now, you are all temporary members of our production team. And you, you’re the captain of these temporary members. You’ll be in charge of taking care of everyone. Any problem with that?"

Zhao Wendong’s voice suddenly rose for the last sentence. Liu Decai immediately straightened up, snapping to attention, and replied loudly, "No, sir!"

"Alright, you can go get busy then. First, get your team members something to eat."

After Zhao Wendong and the others left the public canteen, the committee members all returned to the team headquarters, every one of them wearing a grave expression.

Seeing that Third Master Zhao, Zhao Weiguo, and the others were silent, Zhao Wendong was the first to speak.

"Third Master, Uncle Weiguo, everyone... what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Liu Xiufen and Zhao the Fourth exchanged a look but said nothing. They used to mostly follow the lead of Third Master Zhao and Zhao Weiguo, but now that Third Master Zhao and Zhao Weiguo listened to Zhao Wendong, they offered their opinions even less, preferring to just carry out orders.

Third Master Zhao knocked the bowl of his tobacco pipe, then was the first to give his opinion. His very first words were a curse.

"You little rascal! You just had to be flashy and throw such a huge wedding banquet. Look what you’ve done now. A man fears fame as a pig fears getting fat. If more people show up at our door in the future, let’s see what you’ll do then."

Lin Zhiyin looked at Zhao Wendong guiltily. She hadn’t expected their marriage to cause so much trouble.

Zhao Wendong gave her a wink, then a carefree smile spread across his face.

"Heh heh, a man only gets married once in his life, right? You’ve got to do it up big and proper!"

Third Master Zhao shot him a glare, though he didn’t truly blame Zhao Wendong. Without Zhao Wendong, the people of Dragon King Pond would have had to flee and find a way to survive, just like Liu Decai.

"I think the first rule is this: no matter what we do, our own villagers’ food rations are already tight. We can’t be so focused on outsiders that our own people go hungry."

Zhao Weiguo added.

"That’s right. The situation is unique this year. As things stand now, we can still support a few people. But if too many come, we won’t have enough for ourselves."

Zhao Wendong knew they were both speaking the truth. Although Dragon King Pond’s grain reserves were better than the surrounding villages’, they couldn’t withstand large-scale consumption. He was all too aware of the situation they might face after the spring thaw.

"Third Master, Uncle Weiguo, here’s what I’m thinking. We can’t just ignore the people who come here. They’ve run to us because they can’t survive anymore. Driving them away isn’t something a human being should do. But we can’t just feed them for free, either. We make them work. If they work, they eat. If they don’t work, then there’s nothing we can do."

"That’s easy for you to say. If they could get food just by working, would they have needed to run to our village?"

"It’s different! Working in their villages doesn’t produce any food, but here, we can!"

"And where will the food come from?"

Zhao the Fourth asked, and everyone turned to look at Zhao Wendong.

"The sea!"

Zhao Wendong pointed toward the seashore where he lived and said with a smile.

"The weather isn’t warm enough yet. You can’t catch anything in the sea right now."

Zhao Weiguo immediately shook his head, and the others also looked worried.

"With just a few people, we can manage for now. By the time more people arrive, the weather will be warmer. I’ll take them out to sea to make a living then."

Seeing how confidently Zhao Wendong spoke, the others exchanged a glance, nodded, and said no more. They had enough faith in Zhao Wendong by now. If he said he could do something, they believed him. And Zhao Wendong did have some confidence. The sea wasn’t like the mountains. In this era, the ocean’s resources were incredibly abundant. His ’golden finger’ allowed him to be as free as a fish in water in the mountains. ’Surely it will also let me conquer the vast sea.’

Third Master Zhao thought for a moment.

"Alright. Since you’re so sure about this, let’s set a rule. Outsiders can stay, but they’ll all be registered as temporary members. They must obey orders and work for their food. If they don’t work, they leave."

The others all nodded in agreement.