Chapter 263: Familiarizing with the Environment

Starting the very next day after Yu Chengde and his group arrived at their new home, all kinds of training followed hot on its heels. Director Ma and his subordinates would take turns giving these newcomers lessons, teaching them to "know the rules."

This included queuing, keeping to the right when walking, using the public latrine for defecation, and other basic behavioral norms that everyone had to learn.

Though the villagers were unaccustomed to it, they still understood the truth that a man away from home is cheap; no one voiced complaints. The scene on the pier, where soldiers had pressed bayonets against them, had made it crystal clear that the rules here were strict.

The thirty-odd fishermen from Chengwei Village occupied seven or eight rooms in the district. And just a couple of days after they moved in, more migrants trickled into the district one after another, quickly filling up the remaining houses.

Next, amid their shock, the newcomers witnessed a spectacle titled "How a House Is Built."

Early in the morning, a long string of rumbling, roaring gas vehicles of every type drove into the district. The migrants, so terrified of the monsters that they dared not even step outside their doors, all hid behind them and secretly peered out.

These bizarrely shaped iron beasts each had its own use.

The first to move was the tamping machine. Belching thick fumes, the creaking, groaning monster used its massive pile hammer to pound the already leveled ground once more. At the same time, workers descending from the vehicles began unloading various components from the carts.

Next came the driving of the foundation piles. An iron vehicle with a long, arm-like iron claw, in just a few swift moves, hammered two rows of thigh-thick, pointed wooden piles deep into the ground.

After this, it was the workers' turn. All kinds of prefabricated parts were carried to the construction site one after another. Amid sharp whistles and shouted commands, the workers first cooperated to fix the frame onto the foundation piles, then moved on to fixed procedures like installing the floorboards.

Traditional mortise-and-tenon craftsmanship allowed the main structure of the house to be erected quickly, while iron nails, wood screws, and clips of various specifications gave the entire building its necessary structural strength.

One day. In just a single day's time, at the far end of the row of houses where Yu Chengde and the others lived, an identical dwelling, seventy percent complete, had appeared. And after the roof and several interior wall panels were hoisted into place the next day, by that afternoon, that house was already being handed over. Director Ma's side had brought over tables, chairs, and bed frames, and right on his heels was a family eagerly waiting to move in.

Yu Chengde and his people naturally hurried over to lend a hand — they were all fellow sufferers in misfortune, and with neighbors in sight, being idle was idle anyway. 【#￥ ！&

Ma Ming, Director Ma, fanned himself with a small, cleverly crafted kraft paper fan, standing beaming in the doorway as he watched the migrants carry tables and chairs, helping one another.

In high spirits, he soon led Yu Chengde and the others over to the construction site. The country folk thus finally seized this chance to see those black-smoke-belching monsters up close.

Standing at the edge of the construction site, the highly enthusiastic Director Ma rested his hands on his hips, pointed at that row of land where the foundation piles had already been driven, and began to lay out grand plans for his subjects.

And after receiving a dose of patriotic education, his subjects were also brimming with confidence for the future. Director Ma offered no grandiose speeches; he simply recounted, one by one, the tasks being carried out on the construction site.

Now Yu Chengde and the others knew that those trenches dug by the iron-clawed vehicle were not for defense against savages and pirates, but for burying iron pipes as thick as a man's embrace to bring in running water. Director Ma said water would likely flow through them in about a year.

The newcomers, as if listening to a storyteller, could not help clicking their tongues in wonder. Iron pipes as thick as a man's embrace, buried underground! Just one glance toward the surrounding districts made it easy to imagine how unimaginably wealthy the Kun People lords here must be.

Seeing that he had thoroughly awed the bumpkins, Director Ma next told them with smug satisfaction that before long, the bright glass windows like those in the Pier District would be installed in everyone's homes.

The work of a Street Office Director was very busy. Not only did he have to deal with all sorts of daily trivialities, but he also had to pay special attention to the newly arrived migrants. These people were newcomers, strangers in an unfamiliar place, and faced a life under a kind of semi-house arrest; this was precisely when they most needed someone to help them adjust and offer comfort.

And Comrade Ma Ming was a very responsible Street Office Director.

In this recent period, he not only made multiple house calls to inquire after their well-being, discussing the future and chatting about everyday matters with the new migrants, but also frequently stepped in to solve practical problems in their daily lives, mediate disputes, and explain policies.

Within a few days, the amiable "Village Chief Ma" had become a trusted big brother with whom these new migrants could talk about anything.

Half a month slipped by in a flash.

Compared to that barren, danger-filled fishing village, the New District was nothing short of paradise. So, all in all, Yu Chengde and his group were quite satisfied with their new environment.

And after measuring these people's body temperatures with an infrared thermometer for the fifteenth time, Ma Ming knew it was time for him to write his report.

Generally speaking, once the fifteen-day observation period passed, if the newcomers showed no signs of fever, then work could be arranged for them. Of course, the temperature monitoring procedure would not stop; it would continue for some time yet.

What the newcomers would never know, however, was that before they were assigned work, there was still one more checkpoint to pass: the local Street Office Director's report. This report was extremely important and could, to a certain extent, determine the life or death of many people.

In the report, Ma Ming had to assess the new migrants under his charge based on the information he had gathered. Among these, what the higher-ups were most concerned about was the state of the new migrants' clans and social organizations.

Although the Transmigrators had never openly proclaimed their loathing for feudal rites, clans, and the gentry, the Crossing Regime, which had grown up in Dayuan, without a doubt treated all the above as mortal enemies.

Not that it could be said, but it could be done.

Ever since a certain power base annihilated the pirates, their reputation had been thoroughly established. At the same time, tales of a paradise across the sea gradually spread through the coastal areas of the Great Ming.

Unlike the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region, the people of Fujian, who since ancient times had constantly migrated outward due to scarce arable land, now found this a case of meeting a pillow just as drowsiness struck. Not only did many scattered migrants head to Dayuan to seek food and survival, but some clans, after sending people to investigate, also uprooted entirely and moved here.

The Transmigrators naturally welcomed all comers.

This was where the importance of the Street Office Director revealed itself. Only a Parent-Official on the One Line could, without leaving a trace, investigate and gather first-hand intelligence from domestic trivialities and well-being inquiries, thereby achieving a targeted approach.

After the fifteen-day observation period for these clans, ordinary clan members were usually broken up and resettled separately. Of course, this was far from enough. Taking the so-called Clan Leaders, elders, and hidden heirs and subjecting them all to a secondary resettlement — that was the Crossing Faction's true killing stroke.

So today, Comrade Yu Chengde faced a very critical juncture. Once Director Ma determined that he was a feudal Clan Leader and had a "tendency" to uphold the clan, then he would certainly be relocated to live elsewhere. The hot destination for the past half year had been the Sulfur Mine Village in Taipei.