Chapter 224 The Visiting Group of the Odysseus Family
In the alien world, on January 7th of the new calendar year 1032, the three-day winter celebration officially arrived.
In the past, winter celebrations during Innadri were not very festive. Most families would simply decorate the trees around their doorsteps with whatever colorful ribbons they could collect, and then take out the food they had saved so that their families could have a few full meals during these three days.
There are no serious sacrificial activities, nor any decent celebration ceremonies - ordinary people cannot afford these, while the rich celebrate "winter festivals" every day, and festivals or not have no meaning to them.
This year's Innadri is a little different, at least Westram and Innadri City are very different from previous years.
Early in the morning, the shops on the main street of Westham were all hung with banners, colorful ribbons, and red lanterns (...) with a strong festive atmosphere. The shop assistants announced to the customers with beaming faces that there would be a 20% discount on all items during the three-day festival, and would give surprise gifts to customers who purchased more than 30 copper coins - in fact, they were beautiful hairpins, headbands and other decorative items that were unsold in the Ertong Supermarket.
It is a bit emmmmm to turn a festival into a shopping festival...but most of the civilians in Westram now have spare money, and it is important to stimulate domestic demand, so let the shopping festival be a shopping festival...
While the people of Westham were walking into shops with the money they had earned from construction sites and factories, the mayor Ji Tang and the new lord Tattle Joe were still nervously discussing what to do with the town's bank.
Attracting depositors' funds and then having the town hall invest them is a relatively safe way to use private savings to make profits. On the one hand, it ensures that the currency circulating in Westham plays the role that currency should play (the money accumulated by townspeople, put in jars and buried in the ground is definitely not money). On the other hand, it also seeks stability - if public power does not step down, private capital will sooner or later step down.
As the center of the industrial zone, Westham will never tolerate financial capital sucking the blood of real assets, but without financial capital joining the market, it will be difficult for real assets to grow. This is the experience that the Chinese government learned from after deciding to reform and open up.
This is a big issue for both Ji Tang and Zhao Zhenzhen. Westram's "pilot bank" must take the first step steadily.
While Westam was cautiously trying to figure out the economic route, in the city of Innadelli, the commercial street in the bar district directly controlled by the city hall, the education zone in the Xinfeng District, and the public rental housing concentration area (the original casino district) which had been renovated for a period of time and officially reopened to the public were also celebrating the festival in a lively manner.
Kate Berkeley, a cold dish chef who works at a delicatessen on Commercial Street in the bar district, learned the good news of the opening of public housing when she arrived at the store in the morning.
"The monthly rent is one and a half silver coins, and there are also 500 kilograms of low-priced coal provided every month?" Kate Berkeley asked the owner in great surprise, "Is this true? Outsiders like me and my brother can also apply?"
Mrs. Hank, the manager of the delicatessen, immediately became unhappy and poked little Kate on the forehead in a reproachful manner: "What do you mean by outsiders? Aren't you also from Innaderi? You are all from Innaderi. Just because you live in the countryside you are an outsider? How can that be counted like that!"
Kate didn't want to argue with Mrs. Hank about this, so she just smiled foolishly...Why aren't they called outsiders anymore? In the past two years since she and her brother came to the city to make money, they were called country people wherever they went.
Mrs. Hank knew that migrant workers would face a certain degree of discrimination in the city, but that was a problem of the outside world. People in the city hall system must not make such a mistake. She said seriously, "Anyone can apply for public housing. When you get off work, go find your brother and go to the Civil Affairs Department together to fill out a form and get a number. When it's your turn, you and your brother can move in."
"Okay." Kate Berkley nodded obediently, put on her apron sleeves swiftly, and started working quickly.
Kate, who used to make a living by making side dishes for drinking, was already very good at making spicy side dishes. She actively ran to a delicatessen that had not yet posted a recruitment sign to ask if it needed help in making cold dishes, and she showed off her skills on the spot.
However, the side dishes Kate made did not meet the requirements of the delicatessen... If you want the public to accept the finished dishes, how can you not add enough seasoning? So Mrs. Hank taught Kate new skills again - now Kate Berkeley can not only make the original "light" side dishes, but also spicy tofu shreds, spicy potato chips and other heavy-flavored cold dishes.
In addition to allowing customers to bring their own tableware to take out, the delicatessen run by Mrs. Hank also allows customers to dine in. The several sets of tables and chairs placed inside and outside the store are prepared for dine-in customers.
While Kate was skillfully making their store's signature cold dish, spicy shredded tofu, at the counter, several distinguished guests, who were dressed very differently from ordinary people and accompanied by their entourage, bypassed the queue waiting to take their food and entered the store from the side.
Mrs. Hank saw this and immediately stopped what she was doing, walked out from behind the counter, and bowed politely: "Excuse me, sir, ma'am, it's the morning rush hour now, please wait in line."
The young man and woman who led the way in glanced coldly at Mrs. Hank, then looked at the long line in front of the counter on the other side, said nothing, and turned around to leave the store.
Mrs. Hank was actually a little nervous. She was worried that she would anger these people who looked like nobles. Seeing that they were too lazy to argue with a little woman like her and someone in their entourage just glared at her unhappily, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The noble men and women who walked out of the delicatessen stopped on the street again.
The shop next to Ertong Delicatessen also has a long queue.
The women among the noble men and women looked to be around thirty years old. Of course... not the thirty-year-old standard of this alien world, but the thirty-year-old standard of the Chinese people on Earth - the skin was delicate, white, plump and elastic, and there was not a single wrinkle at the corners of the eyes. In this world, it is very difficult for women over thirty to maintain such a state.
In addition to her good mental state, the aura of this noble woman is also very different from that of common women like Mrs. Hank. The self-confidence that comes from within and the powerful aura that comes from self-confidence are so great that even middle-class women like Mrs. Gerry can hardly match her.
"... Has Innadli Castle become a ghost town?" The noblewoman, dressed in a refined neutral uniform and holding an exquisite cane in her hand, looked at her brother beside her with a half-smile.
Master Parker Chapman Odysseus had a look on his face that was hard to describe...
After being stared at by his sister for a long time, Master Parker had to bite the bullet and explain: "How do I know that the people here will accept the fact that the undead have entered the city so quickly? It was those who came to our place who said that this place has become a deserted ghost town!"
After Charlie Rex entered the city of Innadri, many local nobles secretly sent important children of their families to the territory of Count Odysseus for refuge. Before leaving, Master Parker would of course go to these people to confirm the current situation of Innadri.
Master Parker's elder sister, the second daughter of Count Odysseus, the famous first female governor of Count Odysseus, and her useless younger brother rolled their eyes visibly.
In the eyes of his sister, Master Parker had no secrets - this guy had been afraid of "unusual" things since he was a child. Not to mention the undead, he also avoided the rare monsters captured by the mercenary groups from various regions collected by their eldest brother.
Of course, the unique collecting hobby of the eldest son of the Odysseus family is indeed unique, and Master Parker's sister does not appreciate it very much.
"Let's go and see what new things there are in this city." After saying this, the second daughter of the Odysseus family, who had a strong aura, led the way and strolled on the street.
Their visiting delegation entered the city yesterday.
When she saw Charlie Rex, Master Parker's sister confirmed that he was indeed the illegitimate son of the Rex family - although his skin color was a bit too "inferior", his eyebrows and eyes did look like those of a child of the Rex family.
Viscount Rex's territory is very close to Earl Odysseus's territory, and he also has business dealings with the Odysseus family. Master Parker's sister has met several young men of Rex's generation. If two of them were pulled out to stand with Rex, no one would doubt their blood relationship.
However... until the Odysseus delegation set off, there was no movement from Viscount Rex's family - obviously, the fact that their illegitimate son had gone out and gained the support of a certain black magician and became the lord of Innaderi overnight made their family feel very complicated, and they couldn't decide how to face this illegitimate son who had been abandoned by the family a long time ago.
The Rex family had no interest in how to tangle with the Odysseus family . Anyway, Charlie Rex was already the lord of Innadri and had expressed his intention of friendly cooperation to the Odysseus family. There was no reason for the Odysseus family to push away the ready-made ally - this guy was much more reliable than the third generation of the Bartles family.
Count Odysseus sent his favorite second daughter here to measure the value of this illegitimate lord...whether to help Charles Rex obtain the official title of earl, or to keep this Lord Innadri stuck with the title of viscount as before, it all depends on whether this new ally is valuable enough.
In other words, it depends on the relationship between this new ally and the black magician who supports him. If Rex is just a puppet of the black magician, then forget about it. A thing controlled by the black magician who cannot even hold power in his hands is not worthy of Count Odysseus's investment.
When Master Parker and his companions reached the end of the street in the bar area, they suddenly stopped.
A few undead were coming out of the alley, carrying some strange things.
It was hard for Master Parker and his sister not to turn their attention to these undead spirits.
They had seen these unique Tarantan undead when they entered the city yesterday, including the masterpieces they left on the inner city walls.
It's not surprising that the undead can fight, any magical beast can fight, but it's very rare that these undead can also create art... At least, Odysseus and his sister have never heard of such a thing in their lives.
Under the curious gazes of the Odysseus family delegation and passers-by, the ghosts walked to the street, looked around, made "KABAKABA" sounds and discussed for a while, and found a relatively clean spot on the street.
Next, the undead began to arrange the things they had on hand - a dried pumpkin with its inner capsule hollowed out, a broken saw blade, bottles of rum filled with different amounts of water, and thin iron sheets cut into circles and hung on wood.
Ignoring the curious gazes of the "NPCs", the performance stage was set up. Several casual players who were forbidden to create freely (scribbled) in the city sat cross-legged in front of their respective " instruments " and began their performance art...
