Chapter 64 Joining the Queue

Xiao Xu was Wang Hu's orderly, and if Wang Hu wanted to celebrate properly and notify others, then Xiao Xu naturally would go inform everyone else.

Wang Hu extended his hand to Xiang Weiguo and said, "Commander, thank you for teaching such a good student. Our Shimen Shelter No.2 really benefits from him. Among so many shelters across the country, only ours has produced a hero, haha, I'm so happy about this."

Xiang Weiguo waved his hand and laughed, "Don't praise him too much, or the kid might get too cocky. But when you think about it, the things he did aren't really that special. How did he become famous?"

"It's different; it's just different."

Wang Hu kept saying it was different, but he seemed unable to articulate exactly how.

At that moment, Gao Yuan whispered, "Commander Wang, how is my friend doing?"

The surgery had ended the night before, but this was a shelter, not a hospital. Gao Yuan knew that Yu Shunzhou's surgery last night had been quite successful, but how he was doing now was uncertain, and he didn't even know where to visit him.

"Hey, look at me, I got so excited I forgot all about it. Rest assured, the surgery was very successful. As long as there's no infection, there should be no problem. You going now is useless. We have decent medical facilities here, but it's still not like the hospitals before. To reduce the chance of infection, you'll have to wait a couple of days before visiting. After all, creating a sterile environment isn't easy for us now."

Even though the surgery was finished, they couldn't even see him, but to have the opportunity for surgery, and under sterile conditions, asking for more would be unreasonable.

Gao Yuan nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, Commander Wang, thank you!"

The group walked and talked, and by now, it was time for lunch. The entire shelter had sprung into action.

With hundreds of thousands of people, it was impossible for everyone to eat in one dining hall, so the shelter had designated different areas and times for meals. In the area where Gao Yuan and his group were, only military personnel could be seen queuing in front of the dining hall.

However, there were many survivors inside the shelter camp as well. Under the limited conditions, it was impossible to completely separate the military and the survivors.

Thus, Gao Yuan saw long lines of people waiting to be served their food.

Steam rose from wooden barrels filled with rice. From a distance, each person arriving at a barrel would be served a scoop by a staff member into all sorts of bowls, then they'd move aside, and another person would add a spoonful of vegetables with a smaller scoop.

The young and able-bodied had to live in temporary housing in the outer perimeter. The main residents of the shelter camp were the elderly, the young, the sick, and the disabled. Looking around, the queues for food were filled with all sorts of people, but the majority were old people and children.

Everything seemed harmonious until Gao Yuan and his companions were about to enter the dining hall, and then a quarrel broke out.

In front of one of the food lines, a dispute arose, and a soldier in charge of serving food stopped his work, seeming to try to say something, but the elderly person in front of him was shouting in agitation.

Xiang Weiguo watched for a while, then he said to Wang Hu, "Commander Wang, I'd like to go take a look."

Wang Hu frowned and said, "Let's go take a look."

The group walked toward the source of the quarrel.

At the front of a line that was nearly fifty people long, a man and a woman were shouting passionately, while the soldier serving the food looked both agitated and helpless. He tried to say something, but he didn't get a chance to speak.

"What's going on!"

Wang Hu appeared very angry. The soldier responsible for serving food startled, quickly placed the ladle back in the rice barrel with a clack, snapped to attention, and reported loudly, "Commander, they...they're not queuing!"

"What's the matter with you, huh? What's the matter with you!"

The words came from an elderly woman, visibly upset, as she pointed at a man's leg, "Don't you know he's injured? Didn't they tell you he's hurt? What's wrong with us getting our food first!"

The man seemed to be in his sixties, and with a fiery expression, he slammed his basin on the ground, yelling, "What the hell are you lot eating every day, with meat and vegetables? What about us? We just get this, this dry rice with soybeans. At my age, is it wrong to ask for a bit more soybeans? What are you eating, and what are we eating? Have you no shame? Everyone, tell me, am I right or not?"

The rice in the bowl spilled onto the ground, and someone looked at the white rice on the floor with a face full of heartache.

The man turned his head and shouted a sentence at the people who were still queued up behind him, but no one echoed him.

"Have you no shame? You cut in line and think you're in the right?"

The woman bellowed, "Accusing us of taking advantage of our age is not right! You're a young person, and you're a soldier; shouldn't you be speaking like that?"

Wang Hu said sternly, "Stop yelling, what happened? You tell me!"

The soldier responsible for serving the food hesitated before saying, "They didn't queue but came straight to the front asking for food. I told them, 'Didn't you see everyone else lining up? Go to the back!' My tone might not have been very good, but, but they were cutting in line, indeed."

One soldier was responsible for serving the food, and another was tasked with adding dishes. He said anxiously, "Commander, I can vouch that this comrade didn't say anything excessive. These two are always cutting in line; everyone has had enough of it."

"How do we always cut in line? Don't you know my husband was injured? He was, so what's the problem with standing in line a bit less?"

"Injured? If you're injured, then go to the medical room. But they won't see you because you're faking your injuries—an act!"

Neither the soldiers nor the volunteers said anything, and someone at the back uttered a comment, though who it was remained unknown.

The situation seemed quite clear, and Wang Hu sighed helplessly, while Xiang Weiguo turned his head to look at Wang Hu and expressed his dissatisfaction, "Didn't we say that making unreasonably trouble should be punished? What is this now?"

Wang Hu, wearing a helpless expression, said, "They're elderly, and besides, they didn't do anything else. Just for cutting in line and arguing a bit... it's not right to give too harsh a punishment, is it?"

Xiang Weiguo shook his head; he turned to the man and asked, "Old brother, how old are you this year?"

The man with somewhat white hair shouted, "I'm sixty-three! So what? Aren't elderly supposed to be given preferential treatment? Where's the preferential treatment? We always eat this, while you eat all the good stuff every day. Are you still soldiers' children?"

Wang Hu sighed; he looked pale, but still patiently said, "Comrade, what you're saying isn't right. Our soldiers work very hard every day, and you..."

"So we're supposed to starve?"

Wang Hu's words got stuck in his throat, and Xiang Weiguo shook his head, speaking with a firm face, "Colonel, I must criticize you for this. How can you speak like that?"

Wang Hu was at a loss for words, and the man became even more smug. He addressed Xiang Weiguo, "At least this old comrade understands reason. I see that you must be their superior; you need to take care of this matter. We elderly have worked and contributed our whole lives. Now we have to eat this; that's unjust, isn't it?"

Xiang Weiguo smiled slightly and said, "Let me correct you on two things: first, in terms of work relations, I'm not his superior. Second, I'm criticizing him because there is an issue with his work attitude."

"Right! That's the problem!"

Xiang Weiguo continued with a smile, "His problem is, why is he so polite to people like you? For someone with no manners or conscience like you, the right thing to do is to kick you straight out."

"What did you say? You—you… How can you speak like that? It's outrageous! I want to complain to your superiors about you!"

Xiang Weiguo exhaled and replied, "First off, I'm retired. Secondly, there's no one here with a higher rank than me. Also, I'm older than you, yet I don't consider myself elderly. Lastly, I've been tolerating you for a long time."

After finishing his words, Xiang Weiguo suddenly kicked out.

The man who had knocked over the bowl of rice was kicked to the ground.

Gao Yuan was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Xiang Weiguo to actually kick someone.

Everyone was shocked, and at that moment, Xiang Weiguo spoke very calmly, "It's the end of the world and you still don't know how to restrain yourself. Do you really think everyone is supposed to spoil you like they're your father?"