The Bravest

After Jack and two other roommates came back, Smith and seven other roommates sat together to hold a general meeting.

"Gentlemen, I have an important announcement to make. Please keep quiet so as not to attract attention."

Smith first looked at everyone seriously, and only after they all nodded did he speak slowly.

"Gentlemen, this morning another Chinese person who was entrusted by someone else came to me and told me the good news that the Allied forces have begun to counterattack and we are not far from victory."

As soon as Mr. Smith finished speaking, everyone, whether they had heard it before or were hearing it for the first time, cheered quietly! Smith pressed his hands down to signal silence.

"Gentlemen, although victory is in sight, we have not left this damn place yet, so we have to hold on." Smith's words calmed the excited people down, and they waited eagerly for Smith to continue.

"Gentlemen, we have not been abandoned. The Chinese were entrusted to find me and brought some supplies. We have received them now. Please take a look first. We will discuss the distribution later."

Smith opened the lid of the basket and took out ten steamed buns, five eggs and five tomatoes one by one in front of everyone.

Seeing everyone's enthusiastic eyes, Mr. Smith continued, "Gentlemen, this is the amount for five people. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be two meals of this kind of food every day. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Mr. Smith, there are seven of us, why are there only five portions?" The two people who had not yet participated quickly raised their hands and asked, if there was no portion for them, how could they bear to watch others eat.

"Don't worry, Jones. There's food for everyone. Please bear with me for a moment. I will explain the whole thing first..."

Smith explained in detail what happened in the morning. Of course, he turned Lin Jie's leadership into his own, Smith's, fight for it and won ten places.

"Mr. Smith, since this plan was initiated by your family, why do you want to allow the British in? The quota can be given to us Americans." Someone raised the question.

"Gentlemen, although the plan was initiated by my family and Citibank, it must obtain the help of the Chinese. They may have their own political considerations, which I cannot change. However, I have convinced Lin Jie that we will increase cooperation and there will be quotas for the next batch. However, all of this requires huge amounts of money. Therefore, it is important to select the people who participate."

What Smith said was very clear, that is, the Nationalist government could not afford the funds and that individuals and families had to contribute.

Everyone thought about it and soon understood that people without money would definitely not be able to participate. This was not as simple as asking someone to buy things outside. Smith had just said that the funds in Lin Jie's hands had to be managed by the Japanese, and it would be good if only 10% of the food was left.

"Mr. Smith, do you have any ideas? Why not share them so that we can discuss them together?" A mature and prudent person saw that Smith had something else to say, so he simply brought it up himself. Everyone is waiting to have a good meal, so he stopped talking nonsense.

"Gentlemen, if we are the only ones in the concentration camp who enjoy different treatment, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among others. We cannot hide this. But we cannot satisfy everyone, so what should we do? Should we just give up and let everyone starve together?"

After hearing what Smith said, everyone started to whisper. It would be impossible to conceal the secret increase in salary. Once most people started to make trouble, the Japanese would definitely not continue. By then, there would be nothing left.

"What should we do? Mr. Smith, you have to make the decision." In fact, there were no important people among these people. The important people had fled Shanghai or were detained by the Japanese. Smith was already considered to have a relatively high status here.

"Since everyone trusts me, let me express my opinion." At this time, Smith would definitely step forward.

"Everyone, I've thought about it. As long as the food supply is guaranteed, we can save a little, for example, one-third. I plan to use this part to help the elderly and the weak. I will set up a mutual aid council. Of course, I will also ask the British to join. This way, we can shut up many people."

"Mr. Smith, what if someone is still dissatisfied and wants to cause trouble? After all, we have too few people." Someone asked worriedly.

"It doesn't matter. We still need to win over more people to join us. And whoever destroys the mutual aid council and causes the death of the elderly and the weak will surely be a sinner in the entire civilized society. We must speak with one voice and suppress them with morality. We must also rescue more people to gain the support of the majority."

"Mr. Smith, isn't your idea too idealistic? You should think of more solutions." Everyone expressed concern.

"Humph, if there are still people who are dissatisfied, they can either pay the money or ask for trouble. If that affects the Japanese guards' ability to make money, don't blame us on the board for not helping him."

Smith looked at everyone viciously. Everyone thought about it and it was right. They had to spend more than ten times the money to get the supplies. It was okay to give some of them to appease them, but it was impossible to take care of everyone. Moreover, the Japanese took 90% of the profits, so they would not be willing to let others mess things up. If it really came to that, they could not be blamed.

"Yes, what Mr. Smith said makes sense. Whoever ignores the overall situation is our enemy." After hearing what Smith said, the others immediately became crazy and spoke up to support Smith's decision.

Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents, not to mention if someone blocks their way to survival, they will go hungry every day, and who knows when they will starve to death. Didn't you see that out of a room with ten people, three have already disappeared in less than two years?

"Okay, let's eat some steamed buns first and leave some for the British. Only when we see the real benefits will those arrogant British people believe us."

"Mr. Smith, we are not hungry. We should call the British leader over to discuss first. This will also show our sincerity." A man with a similar status to Smith gave his own suggestion. They have been hungry for so long, so they don't care about this little time.

"That's what you say?" Smith asked everyone's opinions in a very democratic manner. He was going to form his own circle in the future, and as the boss, of course he had to be more generous, otherwise how could he convince the others.

"I agree. Let's get things done first so that the food will taste better." Jack could see that his uncle was going to be the leader, so as soon as he saw his uncle's implicit look, he immediately spoke up in agreement.

"I agree." The others were not in a hurry anymore. They could still tell the difference between having one meal or having food to eat every day.

"Okay, Jack, you are the youngest. You go find Mr. Joseph and tell him that I have something important to discuss with him." Smith deliberately arranged for his nephew to run errands, which was also a kind of cultivation for him.

"Okay, Mr. Smith, I'll be there right away." Jack stood up and was about to go out.

"Wait, take an egg. If Joseph asks you something, show it to him secretly. Hide it so that no one else can see it."

Smith said this with some concern, and then he picked up a cooked egg and stuffed it into Jack's hand.

"Well, I see."

……