African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 358: Chapter 37 Start Eating

District 23, Dormitory 013

While Li Ge and Ande were observing East Africa, the accompanying medical team was also busy; the sights and sounds of Dar es Salaam today truly broadened their horizons.

Li Ji was making the bed while saying, ”The court did not deceive us; this so-called East African Kingdom is indeed as they described, quite like the feeling of neat houses and intersecting paths mentioned by Tao Yuanming. Especially, the urban construction truly opens one’s eyes and is quite pleasant.”

”Not so, not so! Anren, in my view, most of the East African Kingdom consists of uncultured people dressed in bizarre outfits. Did you notice during the day that there are quite a few Chinese people on the street, even having their braids cut off, leaving less than an inch of hair, just like monks? Are they not afraid of facing their ancestors in the afterlife with shame?”

”Yuan Ye! It’s not that I disagree with you, but this is not the Far East; it is an overseas country, a Western Barbarian land. The people here are different from us, the Celestial Dynasty. Perhaps our vision is limited, not knowing what overseas people look like. Today I saw it, truly as the rumors say, golden hair, blue eyes like Rakshasas, and entirely black, ancient Kunlun Slaves. Also as you said, some resemble our Huaxia; but they may not be people from the Central Plains, right? We encountered quite a few similar barbarians in the Malacca Strait and An Nan.”

”Anren, I must be correct. Although the German people speak an odd language, today I happened to hear two people on the roadside speaking Chinese, specifically the Northern dialect. As someone from Daming Prefecture, I wouldn’t have misheard!”

”Brothers, regarding this, I might know the reason,” said a person nearby suddenly. ”You all know I am from Jinan Prefecture. Although I seldom go outside Jinan City, I do go to the countryside to conduct free medical consultations occasionally. By coincidence, once I was in the countryside, I met someone promoting an overseas paradise in my consultation village. Many citizens were deceived by him and went away. At that time, I just thought he was a fraud. Now, having arrived in East Africa, I suddenly realize that the person dressed just like many of the residents here in Da City. So-called ’overseas paradise’ was actually referring to the East African Kingdom, and the places they went to were precisely here!”

Yuan Ye: ”So, those people are also citizens of the Central Plains!”

”Most likely, I see many people in the East African Kingdom who are probably Huaxia people moving overseas.”

Yuan Ye: ”If they are Huaxia citizens but still cut their hair and change their clothes, learning from Westerners, it’s simply... simply...”

”Righteous brother (Yuan Ye), we shouldn’t be too harsh. Perhaps the barbarians forced it; after all, it’s their territory. Although they are uncultured, they have their rules. Maybe they just don’t like the braids of the Celestial Dynasty!”

Yuan Ye: ”Even so... Alas! Body, hair, and skin, given by our parents. A sin, a sin!”

Li Ji: ”Yuan Ye, I have to say something. Although Western Barbarians have many shortcomings, they do have some merits. Their astonishing skills and wicked techniques are much more advanced than ours. Moreover, these years, everyone knows the country’s power is worrisome! Previously the Taiping Rebellion broke out, later the Nian Rebellion rose, Western countries invaded from the sea, and natural disasters are frequent, alternating between drought and flood. Saying the people are struggling is not an exaggeration.”

Yuan Ye: ”Anren, I agree the Celestial Dynasty has difficulties now, but natural and man-made disasters will eventually pass. The court is currently rebuilding its military, internal chaos has been quelled, and defending against foreign threats at the borders is imminent.”

Li Ji: ”That’s true, but how long is your ’imminent’? The court can wait, but the ordinary people cannot; a few days without food, they can’t survive. Facing survival difficulties, they won’t care about ethics, principles, or righteousness, but focus on surviving first. The East African Kingdom, even if it doesn’t solve most problems, as long as there is some food, many would willingly sacrifice themselves.”

”Ah, forget it, let’s not talk about this; as for the empire, everyone knows the reality. But the Huaxia spirit is resilient and determined. I believe one day we will revive the majestic power of Han and Tang.”

”Well said!” the other three in the dorm replied.

Knock, knock, knock... Suddenly, there’s the sound of knocking on the door.

”Someone’s here! I’ll get the door.”

Li Ji opened the door and saw a young man standing at the door, a staff member from the East African Immigration Office.

”It’s mealtime, everyone! I’m here to take you to the canteen for dining.”

”Oh, thank you, young man. We’ll come right over, please wait a moment.” Li Ji replied politely.

The four put down their work and followed the young man to the public canteen of the Immigration Office.

On the way, Li Ji began asking the Immigration Office staff, ”Young man, may I know your name?”

”My German name is Hans Zhou, and my Chinese name is Zhou Mo.”

Li Ji: ”Zhou Mo, young man, why do you have a foreigner’s name?”

Hans Zhou: ”What foreigner? I am now a German.”

Li Ji: ”Ah, German, then how did you come to the East African Kingdom and become a German? Judging by your accent, you should have come from Henan or Shandong before!”

Hans Zhou: ”My hometown is indeed Shandong, but eventually, I emigrated to East Africa, naturally becoming a German.”

Li Ji: ”Hmm... I’m trying to say, isn’t there a threshold to becoming a German? Wouldn’t they look down on you?”

Hans Zhou: ”What threshold! I automatically became a German when I came to East Africa! As for discrimination, why? Our East African Kingdom values equality for all and doesn’t promote those ideas.”

Black person: ”‡★※ァ྅(ﾉ○Д○)ﾉ”

Li Ji: ”Then, will there really not be any disagreements due to lifestyle habits?”

Hans Zhou: ”Everyone comes from a poor background; who’s got energy for those thoughts? Thanks to Constantine the Emperor’s and Ernst the Crown Prince’s generosity, we have a way of life in East Africa, naturally unified, friendly, and as close as family.”

It was truly as close as family; for example, Hans Zhou’s wife was a Slavic girl, and he spoke with confidence.

Hans Zhou asked, ”By the way, sir, you’re also from the Far East, aren’t you? What do you do?”

Li Ji: ”We are physicians from the Far East.”

Hans Zhou: ”Oh, doctors! No wonder the supervisor said to treat you politely; I see, I said you are not ordinary immigrants.”

Li Ji quickly explained, ”We are not immigrants, we are sent by the Far East government to support the East African Kingdom.”

Hans Zhou: ”It’s all the same, all the same, our East African Kingdom highly respects doctors and teachers, especially doctors; they are quite rare here in East Africa.”

Li Ji: ”Oh! Are there really not many doctors in your East African Kingdom? In the Capital, I know Western countries also have their own physicians, supposedly called Western medicine, particularly skilled in surgery.”

Hans Zhou: ”I haven’t really seen or heard of Western medicine. In East Africa, we only have the term ’doctor,’ but I’ve heard that army medics are more skilled in surgery, though they only perform simple operations like disinfection and bandaging.”

Hearing this, Li Ji became interested, ”So what’s the difference between your doctors here and the physicians of the Far East?”

Hans Zhou: ”It seems there’s not much difference. The doctors at Dar es Salaam City Hospital are also immigrants from the Far East, and they too boil medicines and prescribe remedies.”

So they were colleagues from the home country, which left Li Ji a bit disappointed: ”Then there’s no real Western medicine?”

Hans Zhou: ”The so-called Western medicine you mentioned, could it be referring specifically to white European doctors?”

Li Ji: ”It should be, no, it is white doctors.”

Hans Zhou: ”I’ve never seen such doctors, but I’ve heard the doctors in the royal palace should be the Western medicine you’re talking about.”

Li Ji: ”Could they be the Imperial Physicians of the East African Kingdom?”

Hans Zhou: ”Not sure, I’ve only heard rumors since I’ve only been to Dar es Salaam City Hospital.”

Li Ji: ”Does ’hospital’ mean ’medical center’?”

Hans Zhou: ”A hospital is where doctors stay, and it’s much bigger than a Far Eastern medical center, with three whole floors and hundreds of rooms.”

Hundreds of rooms! Li Ji and the others were a little surprised; how big could it be? Only the Imperial Hospital in the Forbidden City could compare! But Li Ji couldn’t afford to think much about it, because the dining hall was already reached.

The transition point for immigrants had a total of four dining halls, the smallest being the employee canteen of the immigration bureau.

As you enter, there’s a main hall, with a hundred or so dining tables, divided into three rows. To provide dining services for the aid group, meal times were staggered from the employees. As dusk set in, the members of the aid group were already famished.

”Everyone, please line up first, pick up your utensils, and then choose your dishes and main course...” instructed the staff.

However, one person had already started getting food; it was none other than the translator assigned by the East African embassy to the aid group, Aryan.

Aryan, after all, was a student from Heixinggen School and had been eating in the canteen for several months, so he was familiar with the process.

Aryan: ”Oh, you can choose your own meal? I thought it was directly assigned!”

”Initially, it was assigned, but haven’t conditions improved now! So there are more food options.”

Aryan: ”I see, then let me have two pieces of bread and a serving of stir-fried pork with green peppers. What’s that soup over there?”

”Tomato onion beef soup.”

”Italian style?”

”You’re spot on, a new Italian cook came in a few days ago, and he made this soup.”

”Haha, I’ve seen it in Trieste but never tasted it; give me a small bowl.”

”Got it!”

After choosing his dishes, Aryan sat down with his tray to enjoy his dinner, setting an example for the aid group who followed suit, tray in hand, to start getting their meals.

Li Ge: ”The East African Kingdom’s ordinary people’s food is really not bad! So many varieties, and there’s meat.”

Ande: ”Yes! Back when I was a student, I didn’t say my family was destitute, but it was just two sides of pickled vegetables with a bowl of millet congee. Only on occasional festivals could we get two eggs to eat. Later, when I passed the scholar exams, things improved at home, and as a successful candidate, I could finally enjoy some good food.”

Li Ge: ”Ah, who wouldn’t agree, enduring hardships to become a superior person.”

At a table in the corner.

Li Ji said to his three roommates: ”The food in this East African Kingdom is too good! I consider myself pretty well-off in the Far East, yet I’m not this extravagant with food, normally practicing frugality. But ordinary people in the East African Kingdom can eat such lavish meals.”

Doctors generally earn well, so Li Ji said this, but even with his economic conditions, he couldn’t afford lavish meals daily, usually just adding a little lard for flavor.

The East Africans’ living standards weren’t this exaggerated, but because of the special nature of the aid group, they had such a lavish food provision; medical talent naturally deserved different treatment.

As for why Aryan, the foodie, didn’t notice, it was entirely due to his life experience. During his studies at Heixinggen, Ernst definitely didn’t skimp on meals, but since Heixinggen School emulated Heixinggen School, to maintain discipline, students generally weren’t allowed to pick their food; they ate whatever was served that day, though the diet was well-balanced and nutritious.

Later, after Aryan graduated, thanks to his excellent grades, he was dispatched to work at the East African embassy in the Far East, where the dining was top-notch. Diplomatic staff were essentially officials, so their treatment was naturally excellent as well.