Expedition to Europe

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The storm lasted for half the night. In the early morning, the Victory Message finally sailed out of the storm range. The hull stabilized, and everyone took a drowsy nap.

At eight o'clock in the morning, with the sound of the "ding-ling-ling" electric bell, everyone got up and washed, and then prepared to go to the restaurant for breakfast.

In order to ensure that the workers have a strong body and sufficient physical strength, the French provided sufficient food. Breakfast included beef, milk, bread, eggs, mashed potatoes, canned soybeans, etc. Of course, all of this had to be paid for by the workers themselves, and it would be deducted from the workers' wages.

According to the contract, the daily wage of the workers was 5 francs, which was roughly equivalent to a little more than one dollar. From these five francs, 1.5 francs of food expenses were deducted, half a franc of accommodation expenses, 25 centimes of clothing expenses, and 25 centimes of medical insurance were deducted. Each worker could get about 2.5 francs a day, which was more than half a dollar.

At that time, the daily wage of French soldiers was 10 francs.

Anyway, the food expenses were deducted every day, and it didn't matter whether they ate more or less. Therefore, since the workers got on the ship, they only chose nutritious foods such as beef, milk, and eggs when they ate, and they naturally ate as much as they could.

When recruiting workers, Yimin Company not only restricted the age, but also only required strong men between the ages of 20 and 35, and conducted strict physical examinations. Those with eye diseases, tuberculosis, syphilis, and even cavities were not accepted. In this way, the selected laborers are not all physically strong, but at least they are healthy and have a good foundation. As long as they get enough nutrition, they will be lively and strong young men in a short time.

Since entering the Weihai labor camp, the most intuitive result of adequate nutrition supplementation in the past few months is that the laborers' arms have generally become thicker, and the muscles of other parts of the body are more developed. If we only look at the strength of their physical fitness, they are not much different from young people in Europe, and they are even more capable and more flexible.

Soon, Huang Fugui notified the floor corridor that the workers in the lower cabin went to the restaurant for dinner.

Qin Zhiyuan picked up his tableware and water cup and set off with everyone to the restaurant.

The restaurant is located near the deck, and it takes care of the passengers in the upper suites of the cruise ship and the passengers in the lower ordinary cabins. Of course, the passengers in the upper suites can choose to dine in the suites, while the passengers in the lower ordinary cabins can only go to the restaurant.

When Qin Zhiyuan and his team went to the restaurant, several waves of laborers had finished their meals and were walking and chatting on the deck, taking advantage of the rare rest time to relax. Having lived in the labor camp for several months, there were many acquaintances. Many people greeted Qin Zhiyuan and his group on the road. The most popular one was Chen Kangjian, a popular guy. It can be seen that people with a more honest heart will be welcomed everywhere.

Qin Zhiyuan deliberately observed these laborers along the way, and the final conclusion was: their mental state was still good.

Because the Qing Dynasty had collapsed, almost all the laborers had shaved their heads, without the annoying braid, and looked much more pleasing to the eye. All the laborers wore uniform uniforms with five-digit numbers on their chests. They looked like a group of prisoners wearing uniforms, but their faces were filled with warm and sincere smiles, which unconsciously infected others. Although the salary of one ocean a day was not high in Europe, it was enough to satisfy this group of simple and frugal laborers. Qin Zhiyuan met many people along the way, and they were almost all smiling, or leaning on the railings to look at the direction facing the bow, or chatting and laughing with full expectations for a better future.

At this moment, they were satisfied and happy.

When they are out and about, they are of the same origin and race. Everyone puts aside their vigilance against strangers and the hypocrisy honed by society, and behaves very cordially.

Qin Zhiyuan also involuntarily blends in, smiling at those familiar or unfamiliar workers to leave a good impression. When he gets a kind response, Qin Zhiyuan will ask "Have you eaten?" Although it is just a short sentence, it breaks the barriers between people and brings them closer. The familiar intimacy arises spontaneously.

Chinese people greet each other differently from Westerners. When Chinese people meet, they usually greet each other by asking questions such as "Have you eaten?" and "Where are you going?" This way of greeting is more conducive to getting closer to each other.

For example, if one person asks "Have you eaten?" and the other person answers "No.", the previous person can invite him casually: "I'm going to eat, let's go together?" So the two people go together, and through a meal, they increase their understanding of each other and deepen their feelings.

For example, if one person asks "Where are you going?" and the other person answers casually, "Take a shower," the first person can then follow suit and say, "It's time for me to take a shower too. Let's go together." So the two of them go together, take a shower and soak their feet, and another pair of good friends is born.

Westerners are different. When they meet and greet each other, they are more accustomed to using declarative expressions such as "Hello!" and "It's a nice day today." This is because Westerners pay more attention to personal feelings and keep a polite distance. Although it is hard to say who is right or wrong, such words have a sense of keeping people at a distance, giving people the feeling of "going their separate ways on the road to heaven." They are neither as intimate as Chinese greetings, nor conducive to further in-depth communication.

Asking "Have you eaten?" all the way to the restaurant, Qin Zhiyuan felt a little hungry. He had never felt so sensitive to the word "eat".

In the restaurant, there was a steel fixed dining table on one side and a counter for picking up meals on the other side. Qin Zhiyuan and his group stood at the end of the queue for food, waiting to get the meals.

This state was similar to queuing for food in the cafeteria when he was in school. Qin Zhiyuan sighed for a while and was full of emotion.

I don't know what happened today, but the cafeteria chef who served the meals was replaced by a foreigner. It is said that from the moment the workers boarded the ship, the kitchen was reserved by the workers. When it comes to cooking, the Chinese have an unmatched reputation in the world. Although the reputation of French chefs is also good, it is based on rare ingredients. When it comes to using ordinary ingredients to cook delicious food, the Chinese can beat the French by ten streets.

No wonder the saying "Marry a Japanese wife, hire a Chinese chef, and hire a French housekeeper" was popular for a while.

Just when Qin Zhiyuan was thinking about whether it would be against his parents' will if he took the daughter of the Japanese emperor home and abused her every day, it was finally his turn to get food.

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Because of the language barrier, the workers and the canteen chef had little communication. The workers used gestures to express their ideas, and the canteen chef didn't say much. He gave whatever they wanted, and the scene was quite harmonious.

When it was Qin Zhiyuan's turn, Qin Zhiyuan casually pointed at beef, milk, and eggs, and then put the plate in front of the canteen chef.

The canteen chef waved his long spoon, and half a spoonful of mashed potatoes fell into Qin Zhiyuan's plate, and then waved to the next one.

"What do you mean?" Qin Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment before he understood what Master Yang meant. It seems that this is my breakfast, right?

"Next." Master Yang lazily pushed Qin Zhiyuan's plate aside with a rice spoon, and raised his hand to call Ge Lifu behind Qin Zhiyuan to come up and get food.

Qin Zhiyuan knew that this was the aftereffect of beating the foreign devils last night.

This was intolerable. It was unknown how long it would take to reach the shore. Who could stand eating mashed potatoes every day?