Chapter 1502 Chinese Village (1/2)
Zhong Da Pao brought along his middle-aged bald friend again. That friend looked like an easily agitated idiot. He did not look too happy to see Li Du.
Their car continued the journey southwards and the dilapidated buildings of Hpakant appeared on both sides of the road.
As they went further, the road disappeared. The many heavy-duty trucks driving through had destroyed it a long time ago. Fortunately, it had not rained in recent days and hence, the terrain was still rather flat. If it had rained, traveling would have been even more difficult.
When they arrived at the southernmost part of the town, some tattered huts and houses appeared. They looked like the living quarters of the poor. There was a sign erected in front of that area, saying 'Town Long'.
”If the knight of Dragon Town is still around, the enemy will not be able to cross the mountains,” Li Du laughed light-heartedly.
The middle-aged bald man hummed, ”Beat up one when I see one!”
Li Du had only said those words casually. Although the bald man's words seemed rather strange, they sounded as though they carried deep meaning.
”What's up? Does the area in front belong to the Chinese? From this point on, are the locals going to be our own countrymen?”
Zhong Da Pao said, ”That's right. The phrase you just recited was how this place got its name. In the past two days, didn't you try to gather information on the area?”
Li Du shook his head and said, ”Nope. I only said that because I saw those two words, 'Dragon Town'. What is it about?”
Zhong Da Pao said, ”I just brought you here to take a look at the housing area of our own people.”
The name 'Dragon Town' sounded rather glamorous. However, the situation there was quite dire. The houses were all tattered and people were dressed in rags. Something that looked like salted vegetables and other unknown objects were drying in the sun outside the houses. At the same time, the drains were open in front and behind the houses, and the stench was overpowering.
The car stopped. When Zhong Da Pao alighted, the people who were playing cards nearby greeted him.
Li Du took a thorough look and realized that he had been there before. Previously, when he entered the town, he had passed by. He had noticed many handicapped people with missing limbs at that place.
He had heard quite a bit of people speaking in Mandarin back at the town center. At Dragon Town, this happened even more frequently. There were also other Chinese dialects such as the northern, southern, Cantonese, Minnan and others. There was a plethora of different languages.
Zhong Da Pao passed him a cigarette and Li Du rejected it. He said, ”Sorry, I don't smoke.”
Hence, he passed the cigarette to an old man. The old man only had one arm and bit the cigarette in half with his teeth. He passed one half of it to a man beside him.
Zhong Da Pao pointed at the people there and said, ”We are all countrymen. We are all Chinese.”
Li Du nodded to indicate that he understood. He said, ”So? I've seen it. Their situation is dire. Why did you bring me here?”
Zhong Da Pao did not answer. Instead, he continued, ”There are plenty of rich people in the town. The surrounding land has all been ravaged. There's no way to farm any sort of staples or vegetables. They rely on imports. You've seen the condition of the road, the price for bringing any supplies in is very high.”
”Hence, things here are expensive. One kilogram of brown rice costs twelve dollars. The same goes for cabbage. Fruits cost at least twenty dollars. The prices of chicken, duck or fish are even more exorbitant. The people here only eat meat a couple of times in a year.”
Li Du asked, ”If that's the case, why don't they return to their country?”
The middle-aged bald man sniggered and said, ”Can they go back?”
Zhong Da Pao continued, ”They cannot go back. All these pitiful people are stuck. Most of them were doing well back in China, they were all quite well-to-do. Then, they came over to try their luck.”