Chapter 16 Fifth Time
What is the most intuitive way to express kindness?
It is not about obeying orders, which is a soldier's duty, nor is it about verbal gestures of goodwill, which have no persuasiveness. Actions are the most direct expression.
For example, taking the initiative to choose an English name, taking the initiative to become a Cape Town citizen, or marrying a white wife and forming a multinational family are the most intuitive expressions.
People all yearn for beautiful things, this is an irreversible human nature. In the current world, Britain is the most powerful country on earth, so in the eyes of the vast majority of British people, Britain should have the greatest appeal, and everyone in the world should be proud to be British. This is what Indians do, so in the eyes of the British, Indians can be trusted. The Chinese resist everything about Britain, so the Chinese cannot be trusted. It is a very simple reasoning.
In fact, many Chinese people also think so. If a person can obviously be rich and glorious, but is content with poverty, then this person is incomprehensible; if a person insists on doing something with no future for decades without making any effort to make progress, then this person is a fool; if a person can obviously earn a lot of money, but falls into poverty because of some kind of persistence, then this person deserves to be ridiculed.
What is truly incomprehensible is the complexity of human nature. The professors who returned from studying abroad have been doing scientific research in the mountains for decades, and those lazy people who receive the minimum living allowance every day but refuse to go out to find a job are behaviors that ordinary people cannot understand, but the meanings of the two are definitely different.
In the past, the behavior of Chinese police officers was incomprehensible to police officers and could not be judged by common sense. In other words, in the eyes of the British, Chinese police officers had strange personalities and were not normal people, so the British would not give Chinese police officers real trust.
Now, in the eyes of the British, Rock's behavior is what a normal person should do, and the British are obviously happy to see such a Rock.
Rock didn't know that good things were about to happen. After learning about the house prices in Cape Town, he realized that he had thought too simply. Rock's current property was just over 50 pounds, which was far from enough to buy a house in Cape Town. The owner of a dilapidated wooden house near the dock asked for 150 pounds. If this money was put in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, it could almost buy a courtyard house.
Houses in the city center are more expensive. A wooden house with a marble foundation and a attic near Government Street is worth 280 pounds. Even if Rock's salary increased to 5 pounds, he would have to go without food and drink for more than four years to buy it.
"We live well in the dormitory, with enough food and drink, so why should we buy our own house?" Reed didn't understand why Rock wanted to buy a house. The Cape Town Police Department provided free meals and dormitories for all police officers, and the conditions were quite good. Even if those Indian police officers became Cape Town citizens, they still lived in the dormitories and went to the cafeteria every day to get free meals.
"Reed, if you want others to respect you, you have to respect yourself first. Have you seen any British people eating in the free canteen?" Rock had his own reasons. The British allowed Indian policemen to take advantage, but the British would never respect Indian policemen and would not give them equal status. If you don't regard yourself as a human being, how can you expect others to treat you as a human being?
"How about, let's go back and borrow some? Brothers, if we pool our money together, we can still come up with 150 pounds." Li De actively helped Rock find a solution. Although Li De still didn't quite understand why Rock wanted to buy a house, Li De would not question Rock's decision. To Li De, whatever Rock said was the truth.
It can indeed be raised. The total amount earned from last night seems to be 150 pounds. If Rock asks, everyone should lend him the money.
Of course , they would lend, but no one would feel comfortable. The money in their own pockets is the real money. Although this money was found by Rock, now that everyone has divided it, Rock will not think about the money again. What's more, Rock will not spend 150 pounds to buy an old wooden house. Rock even doubts whether the house can still be lived in.
"Don't worry, if we can't buy a house , we can build one ourselves. It doesn't cost much." Rock decided to be self-reliant. Urban construction in this era was still in its primitive stage. Many new immigrants could survive by simply building a shack in the suburbs of Cape Town, and the city hall had never demolished it. Rock now had some money in his hands. It was not enough to buy a house, but it was definitely enough to build one.
"We don't know how to build a house by ourselves!" Li De didn't expect that Rock actually planned to build it by himself. The house structure in Cape Town is quite different from that in the Qing Dynasty, and the Chinese are not familiar with this type of building structure.
In fact, building a house by oneself is not unfamiliar to Chinese people. Many Chinese people do not need to hire anyone when building a house. They just need to invite their neighbors for a meal and everyone will come to help. Even if they cannot build a wall, they can always move bricks. With strength in numbers, a house can be built in ten days or so.
The houses in Cape Town are mainly made of stone and wood. Rich people use marble to build houses. The houses they build are both beautiful and sturdy and will not break down after hundreds of years of use.
People who have no money can only use wood to build houses. Although it will be affected by weather and pests, it is fine for sheltering from wind and rain.
"It's simple, you can learn it at a glance. It's much simpler than building houses in the Qing Dynasty." Rock was not worried about this problem. The houses in the Qing Dynasty were made of bricks and tiles. In terms of complexity, it was much more complicated than building houses with wood. Building houses actually similar to playing with building blocks. With the intelligence of the Chinese, they can learn it at a glance.
The work of patrol police is still very monotonous. Rock and Reed strolled on the streets for a whole day, but they didn't see any rioters, let alone fights .
No one dared to make trouble. The defeat in the Battle of Ladysmith seriously stimulated the self-esteem of the British. After the resignation of Admiral Buller, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury appointed Lord Roberts as the new commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force and dispatched reinforcements from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In the past few days, troop ships arrived in Cape Town every day. It would not be long before Cape Town would become a military city. Anyone who dared to make trouble at this time would be seeking death.
Of course, the Boers cannot be judged by common sense. The Second Boer War was initiated by the Boers, and the British were only responding passively. This is as incredible as Somalia in the 21st century declaring war on the United States. Just because Rock is fine does not mean that others are fine. At three o'clock in the afternoon, another team of patrolmen was attacked and two patrolmen died on the spot, one of them was Indian and the other was Chinese.
This is the fifth consecutive attack on patrol officers.
