The ink-stained sunset spreads as the opera troupe sings, performers sell their arts, lion and dragon dances flourish, creating a lively scene in and out of Black River County, but it has nothing to do with the exiled laborers.
As night approaches, the overseer starts serving meals:
"One bowl of rice porridge, two wheat cakes, no one is allowed to take more, line up one by one."
According to the rules set by the Fishery, Chai Market, and the kiln, the laborers' meals should be two bowls of thick porridge and five steamed buns.
After all, digging sand and building river embankments, mining and chiseling iron and stone, require strong efforts.
They must eat decently; if too stingy, it tends to cause trouble.
The three big families know very well that along the five hundred miles of mountain paths and eight hundred miles of Black River, most bandits and rebels wielding bamboo poles and fish spears are displaced laborers, so they must ensure these people get a meal.
