Chapter 176 Hornface and Maria
Northern Kenya.
In the early morning, the sun rises, and the African wilderness is silent. On the vast grassland, more than a dozen small stone houses stand alone in the wilderness. There is no end of the grassland for hundreds of miles, and there are only these dozen families. Extremely eye-catching.
One of the small stone houses is Hornfeth's house. Hornfeth's Southeast Asian wife Maria got up early and started preparing breakfast for Hornfeth.
Maria came from the Dutch East Indies Colony (Indonesia) and was sold to the East African colonies by the Dutch at a low price. The most indispensable thing in the Dutch East Indies was people.
People in backward tropical areas are all very similar. Women are much more hard-working than men. Maria is this type. Since she was a child, her mother has worked to support the family.
Of course, Maria's father had three wives and more than a dozen children, and everyone in the family worked except the father.
As for Maria's father, he originally had a small family in the local area relying on the inheritance left by his ancestors. However, when it came to Maria's father's generation, his father did not inherit the glorious tradition of his ancestors at all. Instead, he was proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.
Soon, he lost all his family property and relied on three wives and a bunch of children to support himself. Even so, Maria's father remained stubborn and soon was blocked by creditors because he could not pay off his gambling debts.
After a flurry of punches and kicks, Maria's father sold his three youngest daughters, one of whom was Maria, to pay off his debts.
Maria was fifteen years old when she was sold by her father. She had an average appearance and worked in the fields with her mother all year round. Her skin was slightly dark, she was not tall, and she was as malnourished as a straw.
Maria, who did not look outstanding, was sold to the Dutch at a very low price by her creditors, and the Dutch sold Maria to East Africa at twice the price, using a middleman to make the difference.
Of course, in this era when the slave trade has ended, Maria and others cannot be sold to East Africa under the banner of human trafficking, but imported to East Africa in the name of female textile workers.
Hornfiss is an Austrian. He is in his early 20s and came to East Africa a year and a half ago. Like many Austrian immigrants, he is a young and strong boy.
After all, most of the European immigrants who came to East Africa were male singles, except those who had married families.
According to the practice in the East African colonies, the Chinese were assigned to white people, and the white people were assigned to yellow people, so Hornfeth asked for an Indonesian daughter-in-law.
Of course, in addition to assigned marriages, free love also exists in East Africa, but it is limited to immigrants who arrive in East Africa through normal immigration routes.
For example, East Africa respects the wishes of those women and widows in Paraguay, and Paraguayan women have become the objects of attention of East African bachelors.
There is a tie between Chinese and European immigrants. Basically, unmarried young Paraguayan women will choose European youths, while widows with children will generally live with Chinese partners.
After the relationship is confirmed, a wedding is held and a marriage certificate is issued by the East African government.
However, there are relatively few women in Paraguay after all. The population of Paraguay as a whole is only a few hundred thousand. So far, East Africa has struggled to get only 80,000 to 90,000 from the local area. It is a scarce resource. Fortunately, Paraguay is strong enough and is still fighting against the Triple Alliance. , East Africa can continue poaching.
Paraguayan immigrants are placed in areas that have already been developed in East Africa. There are no newly developed areas like northern Kenya.
Therefore, Hornfeth's marriage problem can only be solved by immigrants arriving in East Africa through irregular routes.
In Mombasa, Hornface and his competitors obtained spouses by drawing lots, and of course the East African colonies had already had a mature process.
Hornfeth's competitors are also Europeans, and the targets they draw are also classified as yellow people. The opposite is true for Chinese immigrants.
In East Africa, there are few options for immigrants, and Hornfeth can only pray to God not to get one that is too ugly.
Hornfeth finally got card number seven, which was Maria. At that time, Hornfeth felt pretty good. After all, he only looked like that. It would be great to get married in this life.
On the same day, the local government in Mombasa applied for marriage certificates for the newlyweds, held a symbolic wedding ceremony, and Hornfeth took Maria home.
As of today, Hornfeth and Maria have lived together for more than six months, and Maria is sixteen years old.
Hornfeth's little life was very comfortable, and he was very satisfied with Maria. The couple could be considered as equals.
Hornfiss was born in a rural village in Austria. He was a relatively simple man. He was only eighteen years old when he first arrived in East Africa. He had never been in society and had not seen the twists and turns.
Because there were several brothers in the family, the family business was destined to have nothing to do with him. East Africa happened to be recruiting immigrants, so he went to East Africa with some friends from the village.
Maria had also been taught by her mother's words and deeds since she was a child. She was hardworking and capable, and she kept housework in an orderly manner. The two of them were like a match made in heaven.
The name Maria was given by Hornfeth. At first, the two of them did not understand each other. Hornfeth asked Maria what her name was, but Maria had no idea what Hornfeth meant.
Maria didn't have a serious name. She was not welcomed by her father at home. He usually called her "Black Monkey".
Seeing that the two could not communicate, and that Maria was too timid to speak at the beginning, Hornfeth took it upon himself to name her "Maria".
In the first month, Hornfeth and Maria's communication basically relied on body language and guessing. As the days went by, Maria gradually learned some simple German.
After getting along for half a year, Maria was able to communicate normally with Hornfiss in less fluent German.
Maria mixed dough in the kitchen, baked a few cakes, cooked a pot of millet porridge, prepared a few cold dishes, and a simple and unpretentious breakfast was ready.
"Honey, it's time to eat!"
Hornfeth had already dressed, washed briefly, pulled up the stool, and sat in front of the table.
"Maria, stop being busy now, sit down and eat together!" Hornfeth said to his wife who was still cleaning up the housework.
"It's okay, you have to work for a while, and I can't stay idle anyway. I won't delay eating for a while." Maria said while tidying up the bed.
"A family still has to eat together to have an atmosphere. In Europe, my family and I also sit at the same table to eat. You also said that I will go to work after a while. There are so many hours in a day, and I will clean up after a while. It’s not too late to clean up, come and stay with me first.” Hornfeth said to Maria.
Maria finished her work and then came to the dining table. She looked at Hornfeth who was chewing on the cake and said, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Hornface smiled slightly, this is the meaning of his life.