African Nationhood

Chapter 51 Service Club

February 1880, 2, Anhai Town (Nargoswakopmund).

When Shi Ming left the camp, he saw the health worker Cai Ya walking along the dirt road outside the camp carrying a medicine box.

"Doctor Cai, what are you doing here?"

When Cai Ya heard the sound, she saw that it was her former comrade. She smiled and waved, "I'm waiting for someone, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'll go to the service club."

Cai Ya nodded when she heard this and walked over quickly, "Service club? I'm going there too, let's go together!"

Shi Ming didn't expect that this little girl would actually go with him. He was stunned, "Aren't you waiting for someone?"

A blush flashed across Cai Ya's face, "Oh, I don't know if that person is here, he's just passing the time."

Hearing this, Shi Ming looked the little girl up and down and said, "Hey, something's not right."

Cai Ya panicked and blushed even more, "What's wrong? What are you talking about?"

Shi Ming chuckled, "Look, you panicked before I said anything. Tell me, who are you waiting for?"

"What's there?
  I just wanted to ask Deputy Li Pai to borrow his notes. I went to the battalion headquarters to study before, but I could never remember all the lyrics of that song. "

"Oh, that's right, Deputy Li is not very young and is a good match.

However, the battalion headquarters stipulates that soldiers are not allowed to negotiate with medical team trainees, and those who violate the rules will be revoked from their posts.

You will also be sent to a remote place to cultivate wasteland, don't you remember? "

"Oh, what are you talking about? How can I fall in love?
  I just want to learn singing. I just thought of it today and wanted to wait here to kill time.

You man, I will ignore you. "

Shi Ming looked at the little girl's embarrassed look and chuckled, "Vice President Li went to the garment factory to meet his wife today, so don't wait around."

When Cai Ya heard this, her body froze for 2 seconds, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She reached out to wipe away the tears and left quickly without stopping.

Shi Ming looked at the retreating figure and sighed quietly.

"Deputy Platoon Li has a bright future, we can't let this girl delay him."

He felt much more relaxed without others around him, whistling and walked towards the service center.

……

As the name suggests, the service agency is a store that specializes in serving immigrants in Anhai Town. Naturally, it will also serve soldiers in the advance battalion.

The service center sells snacks, tobacco and alcohol, as well as clothes and glass mirrors. Most of the products come from several factories in Walvis Bay Port.

Since Anhai Town is now a collective life, most of the goods people buy are small items such as snacks, clothes and mirrors.

Every immigrant who arrives in Anhai Town will receive a Nanhua Military Ticket, with a face value ranging from 10 yuan to 50 yuan.

The age is proportional to the face value of military coupons. Adults will get 50 yuan, and children will only get 10 yuan.

This kind of military stamps is very rough and not durable, so everyone will find a way to preserve it carefully, and some even make cowhide bags for storage.

This kind of military coupons can only be consumed at service agencies, and the exchange ratios are also different.

1 US dollar can be exchanged for 20 yuan of military stamps, but 1 pound can be exchanged for 100 yuan of military stamps.

The exchange rate is constant, neither rising nor falling.

At first, there were only a few items in the service club and the prices were very expensive. In the past two months, the variety of goods has suddenly become richer.

Not only did food and clothing increase in number, but the prices of tobacco and alcohol were also reduced in service agencies. There were also Zippo lighters that had never appeared before.

Soldiers in the advance battalion all like Zippo lighters. Regardless of whether they smoke or not, they will buy one and put it in their pockets, and take it out to show off from time to time.

At the same time, the flow of people in Anhai Town also increased. Shi Ming saw many Chinese with crew cuts and dresses along the way.

He speculated that most of these people were from the United States, and Mr. Shi recruited many American Chinese to settle here.

Each soldier can receive 100 yuan of Nanhua military stamps as military pay every month, and officers will receive varying degrees of increase.

For example, the military salary of a battalion commander can reach 200 yuan, that of a company commander can reach 150 yuan, that of a platoon leader can reach 120 yuan, and that of a squad leader can reach 110 yuan.

Soldiers often encountered Chinese Americans who came to them to exchange their military coupons, saying that they wanted to buy goods from the service agency but did not have enough military coupons.

Shi Ming later learned that these Chinese Americans who exchanged military coupons were used to deceive future generations.

They would deceive the newly arrived Chinese immigrants in the United States and then exchange their military stamps at a high price. Newly arrived Chinese immigrants are not clear about the situation here and are often fooled. When they find out the exchange rate of military stamps, they can only consider themselves unlucky.

……

Shi Ming's main purpose in coming to the service club is to meet someone, his lover.

His lover's name was Zheng Yuan, the daughter of a bankrupt landlord in the Qing Dynasty.

I was previously arranged for a group blind date in Cape Town, but was later left alone.

After they followed Mr. Shi to Walvis Bay Port, they were decontaminated and quarantined, and intensively learned new literacy methods and elementary arithmetic, before being assigned to work in the newly established Anhai Town Service Club.

Shi Ming once came to a service agency to buy something, and was attracted by her and began to pursue her.

After Zheng Yuan learned that Shi Ming was a senior sergeant, she quickly agreed to his pursuit. The two have been talking for almost two months.

After returning from the mission this time, Shi Ming asked Zheng Yuan if she wanted to attend a collective wedding with her comrades. Zheng Yuan agreed shyly.

……

When I walked to the service center, I found that there were many foreigners gathered here. They gathered around the small table set up by the service center.

They had cigarettes in their mouths, wine glasses in their hands, and several cans on the table.

Most of the cigarettes they smoke are mid-range Camel brand cigarettes, and some smoke Haocai cigarettes, but very few.

The wine I drank was common rum, and the canned food was mostly oranges in sugar water and pickled cucumbers.

Shi Ming doesn't smoke, so he doesn't think cigarettes are any good, but he knows that the sales volume of these cigarettes is very high.

My girlfriend Zheng Yuan once said that a Zhibo lighter costs 200 yuan in military coupons.

A box of "Lucky" cigarettes costs 25 yuan in military stamps, "Camel" is cheaper at 15 yuan in military stamps, and the cheapest "Pirate" cigarettes cost 8 yuan in military stamps.

These things are so expensive that ordinary soldiers cannot afford them, and only officers can afford them.

But these foreigners don't care much. They love spending money and are also very arrogant.

The battalion command issued a notice strictly prohibiting provoking foreigners, but there was no need to be afraid of foreigners.

If you are being bullied, you can resist as long as someone can testify, but you cannot kill. Violators will be severely punished!
  So Shi Ming straightened his chest and walked into the service club. As he walked past, he heard the sneers of the foreigners.

He doesn't care. These foreigners are so virtuous that they will drift off after drinking some wine. If you really show mercy to them, they will beg for mercy.

If you ignore them, they will deliberately provoke you, which is very mean!

If you can't help but take action, you will definitely be punished.

Previously, some people took action because of provocations made by foreigners, and were directly fired from the battalion headquarters. They were also deprived of their military merit and became civilians.

As for the provocative foreigner, he did not receive any compensation, he just received a beating in vain.

Walking to the end of the service club, Shi Ming immediately smiled, because the person standing at the counter of the service club was his girlfriend.

Zheng Yuan has short ear-length hair, neatly tied with clips, and wears a sky blue embroidered cheongsam to highlight her exquisite figure. The overall makeup looks neat and playful.

Since North Korean women entered the garment factories, the clothing of Chinese immigrants has changed a lot.

Female immigrants no longer wear the same red jumpers and pants, but become colorful.

"You came?"

"Well, when can we leave?"

"Wait a moment, I get off work in half an hour, why don't you go outside and wait."

The two made an appointment to have dinner at the newly opened Sihai Restaurant in town, so Zheng Yuan dressed up.

This Sihai Restaurant was opened by a professional chef brought by Chinese American Wang Tie from the Qing Dynasty. The dishes there are rich and affordable.

A meal of medium-sized dishes costs up to 30 yuan in military coupons. Zheng Yuan has long heard that the dishes at Sihai Restaurant are delicious and particularly suitable for Chinese tastes.

I couldn't help but tell my boyfriend that Shi Ming had accumulated hundreds of military coupons since he joined the army, and he was worried that he had no place to spend it.

So he directly said that he would take his girlfriend out for a meal, and today was their date.

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  (End of this chapter)