Chapter 37 The bloody game between "indigenous" miners and "immigrant" miners

In Shanxi, the "locals" in the coal-producing areas collectively refer to the miners "under the kilns" from all over the country as "migrants".In the general context, this appellation has the meaning of "contempt" and "look down" on "outsiders" by "locals" and "discrimination".In addition, the "special title" used by "locals" for "outsiders" is basically the same as when Hong Kong people called mainland visitors "cousin" or "Yankee" in the early days of reform and opening up.

Among these people, workers from the four provinces of Henan, Shandong, Sichuan and Anhui are mostly workers, and there are also quite a few people from Gansu, Ningxia, Hebei and Northeast China. In previous years, due to differences in living habits, language and culture between these local "natives" and foreign "immigrants", some frictions and conflicts inevitably occurred in the process of communication between the two parties, but the relationship between the several major groups was generally quite harmonious. Now the people who come to Shanxi to "go down to the kiln" are different from those in the past. The original people were trapped by life, and many of them came out only to go out to earn money to support their families. Therefore, they are prudent and easy-going, and they can adapt to the life of Shanxi people as soon as possible.

"For example, Shanxi people love noodles. They grew up eating rice at home, so they try to eat noodles with Shanxi people. What's interesting is that when Shanxi people eat 'lo mein', they have to mix noodles and vegetable water, They don’t eat like this, but separate the noodles and vegetables in a bowl, and use chopsticks to hold a mouthful of noodles and another piece of vegetables.” Wang Fuwa, a 53-year-old local old miner, still misses the years when he got along well with those honest and simple miners in the "Village Brigade Coal Mine". The "before" he said refers to the early 1980s.At that time, Shanxi's coal industry was not very popular, and the "locals" also inadvertently accepted the "outsiders" who had integrated into their lives.It should be said that the out-of-town miners' principle of being kind to others and their attitude towards life at ease quickly won the approval of the local people.

Calculating now, these "outsiders" who got along with Wang Fuwa should be regarded as the first generation of "immigrant miners".Forced by life, these people did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to Shanxi to dig coal to earn money. To be precise, they are the ones who really came to Shanxi to "travel in the rivers and lakes". In the late 1990s, Shanxi's coal industry became "booming", and there were more young faces in the army of coal diggers in Shanxi. "This should be regarded as the second generation of 'outsiders'!" Wang Fuwa analyzed.

"However, today, we don't appreciate what the group of 'outsiders' are doing in our village." Zhang Baocai, a villager who lived on the mountainside opposite the coal mine for generations, said helplessly, "These young people rent my house. I don’t give money, don’t talk about it, and steal the zucchini grown in my field. No, an old hen in my family that was laying eggs was stewed by someone a few days ago. I went to them to reason, and they still kicked me. This is not the No. 1 person from the 'Old Shandong' who used to live here! Alas!" According to old man Zhang, there is a water well at the east end of the village, and the underground water source was cut off due to the non-stop mining of coal by several nearby coal mines.It used to be that after one night of curing, the well water could overflow to the well mouth and along the wall, but now it can only drain to "less than half of the well", so the "homework" of the villagers every morning is "queuing up to carry water".But after these people came, they not only jumped in the queue at will, pushed out the locals in a roundabout way, and sometimes even took away the clear water in the well by themselves, and deliberately muddied the water.What made him even more angry was that after returning from the night shift, these people were joking and playing around in the yard all night.

In fact, in the difficult "game" process between "immigrant" miners from other places and local "indigenous" miners, the former often has the "upper hand" due to their "strength". One of the reasons is that these "immigrants" are mostly high-spirited young people, and they are all related to each other, and the relationship is intricate.They were originally relatives leading relatives, friends bringing friends, who came to Shanxi to "fight the world", and they had the "physical capital" to fight, so, in the words of the locals, they were very "grouped".

The second reason is that most of the coal mines in coal-producing areas are located in remote rural areas where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. This area is mostly a "vacuum area" for local security management.The local police force is mostly "out of reach" for this, but in a small village, hundreds of young people "enter the village" in an instant, so molesting women and fighting are commonplace, which will bring instability to local law and order.Therefore, this area is basically "zero law and order". The third reason is that these people have complex identities and backgrounds, and their personal cultivation is uneven.It is understood that the local government has cooperated with the Shaanxi police to catch many fugitive murderers.But today, what scares the locals is that there are still many "undead people" like this among these people.

"That's how we live in fear." Old man Zhang said. For this reason, the local villagers have repeatedly negotiated with the coal boss who took in these "immigrants" from other places, hoping that he would not let these "foreign miners" harm the local people. However, for the sake of their own interests, the coal bosses always turn a deaf ear to them. They live in the city all day and use the phone to "remote control". Whenever there is a "wind", they will immediately notify these people to go home to "shelter the wind". Recruitment".