Chapter 316: The Path of the Extraordinary
A high percentage of the students in the Youth Home have no home to return to during the holidays, so it is common to see young people working outside together during holidays. Sometimes, businesses in need of low-daily-wage workers will come to the Youth Home to hire students during their holidays.
Mei has not attended school for a day, but she has experienced the life of a student on vacation in advance.
Early Sunday morning, Mei, who had cried bitterly the night before, got up with swollen eyes and followed her roommates downstairs to wash up in a daze.
Mei used the toothbrush she had just received to brush her teeth like others did and put away her toiletries. Then, she was dragged to the cafeteria by the energetic Jenny.
Due to the limited funds allocated by the city hall, the free meals provided by the juvenile home cannot be too exquisite, and may even sacrifice quality for quantity - after all, teenagers, whether boys or girls, are big eaters. In order to accommodate as many children as possible who have no guardians or whose guardians fail to perform their duties, the staff must be very careful with costs.
For example, this morning's meal is a big bowl of dry noodles (made from old grains from Earth, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn flour, and tomatoes, and only costs a little more than one dollar per pound). Put some soy sauce, salt, a spoonful of fried dough sauce and a little bit of lard in the bowl, and serve it with a plate of lettuce, and that's a meal.
Noodles in bland soup and fresh lettuce without even any sauce, this kind of breakfast for students would definitely be ridiculed if it were placed on Earth ... But for the children in the Youth Home, it is already a rare delicacy.
Not to mention a poor child like Mei who had only had a few full meals after being rescued, even an "old person" like Jenny who had been in the juvenile home for several months, ate noodles very quickly.
"It will taste better if you dip the lettuce in the noodles ." Jenny, who was slurping the noodles, did not forget to pass on her experience to the newcomer Mei.
"Yeah!" Mei nodded vigorously and followed Jenny to roll the cleaned lettuce into the noodle bowl.
This kind of ultra-low-cost noodles, which crosses China's food safety red line, actually doesn't taste that bad... After all, it is a refined pasta, soft, delicate and easy to chew, with a light tomato aroma, and seasoned with soy sauce and salt. In the eyes of most ordinary people, it is already a delicious meal worthy of being served on the table of a respectable family.
The most important thing is... enough quantity.
Little girls like Jenny and Mei could get three taels of dried noodles, which would fill a large bowl of clear soup noodles. Older teenagers could get four or five taels, and as long as they could eat it all and were not too full, they could get more.
In an environment where most civilian families can only guarantee two meals, these young boys can have three meals and they are full all the time. For the children, there is really nothing to complain about.
Mei, who had never had the privilege of having a full breakfast, touched her bulging belly and was led by Jenny out of the juvenile home with a silly smile on her face, passing St. Joseph Street and heading towards the bar area.
Although Mei was tempted by the older girls' idea of working in a garment refurbishment factory to earn money to buy new clothes, for a little girl of her age, delicious food was still more attractive than beautiful new clothes.
When the two little girls arrived at the bar area hand in hand, the whole street was as lively as a market, with large crowds of people queuing in front of all the shops.
Jenny took Mei and trotted to the delicatessen run by Mrs. Hank, looking familiar with the place. Mrs. Hank, who was busy and sweating, didn't even ask about the origins of the little follower following Jenny. She just waved her hand and sent the two little girls to the kitchen to cut sauerkraut.
Mrs. Hank's delicatessen mainly sells cheap pickles, salted vegetables, and sauerkraut of various flavors. Because of its low price and strong taste, it is very popular among city residents. Many people from factory areas will rush here early in the morning to buy it.
Jenny pulled Mei to the back kitchen, and without being reminded, she skillfully took out a waistcoat, headscarf, and sleeves from the employee cabinet. After being fully armed, she carefully washed her hands with soap and cleaned the gaps between her nails. This was then she officially started her work.
Take out the pickled vegetables such as green vegetables, turnips, radishes, etc. soaked in sour soup from a large jar half a person's height, cut them into strips of varying thicknesses (it doesn't matter if the thickness is uneven, as the lower class people are not too picky about the appearance), rinse them with clean water, put them into a large basin, and then carry them to the front to sell.
Most people who come to buy cheap side dishes bring their own containers, such as bowls, plates, cans, jars, and basins. The price is calculated by the amount, with a bowl or a plate costing only two copper coins, a full can costs five copper coins, and a larger jar will cost thirty, fifty, or eighty copper coins.
People who come to the factory area to buy always buy a lot every time they come. They always take away several large jars of radish strips soaked in sour soup. Some people from farms who come to the city to purchase would always take away half a carriage of long-lasting pickled vegetables.
The two girls spent half the morning cutting radishes, turnips and greens, finally sending away the old customers from the factory area. Just as they took a breath, they were called away by Kate Berkeley, the cold dish chef from Mrs. Hank's store. They endured the pungent smell and cut onion strips and green peppers...
Kate Berkeley, the salad chef, was not much older than the boys in the juvenile home, but she was already a mature "social person". Before being hired by Mrs. Hank, she used to carry a basket and go from street to street to buy snacks. In Mei's opinion, she was a very brave and remarkable person.
When instructing the newcomer Mei to cut the onion strips thinner, Kate held Mei's hands from behind and taught her patiently and carefully how to press the onion and how to cut it, which made Mei almost cry out loud - when she was at home, even her mother had never been so gentle to her.
"Don't rub your eyes with your hands." Kate didn't notice that May was looking at her strangely. She smiled and walked away to cut the ginger shreds that the little girls had not had easy time cutting.
Jenny, who was also in tears because of the smell of onions, sniffed her nose and reminded Mei like a little adult: "We have to hurry up, Mei, we have to finish the morning work in the morning, because there are other things to do in the afternoon!"
"Yeah!" Mei nodded vigorously and started cutting onions more attentively and seriously.
When teenagers are on holiday, the shops in the bar district are doing the best business. Many families with financial constraints will squeeze out some money on weekends to buy some strong-tasting food to whet the appetite of their family members.
A delicatessen like the one run by Mrs. Hank, which mainly sells 2-copper products, has good business from morning to night, and there is no time to rest at noon. Only after the busiest period is over will Mrs. Hank ask Jenny to go to the tofu shop next door to buy two plates of fried tofu and grilled tofu, and ask the noodle shop across the street to send over some pancakes, so that the employees can make do with a meal.
"The best way to eat our sauerkraut is to put it in a flatbread. It's even better than spreading hot sauce on bread." Salad chef Kelly enthusiastically taught the new girl how to eat. "Hey, you can't use the sauerkraut without any seasoning. You have to use the sauerkraut mixed with shredded chili and ginger like I do. The tavern in the South City next door learned this way of eating from us!"
"Wow, don't listen to her. Kelly likes to trick people into eating spicy food!" Jenny, who can't eat spicy food, quickly stopped Mei, "Just add unmixed sauerkraut like Mrs. Hank did!"
Mei insisted on learning how to eat like Kelly... She had only eaten half of the pancake when she ran straight to the kitchen for water because it was so spicy.
"Why do you always tease little girls?" Mrs. Hank did not stop him, but just laughed afterwards.
"How can someone who has never tasted spicy food know whether he likes it or not?" Kelly also laughed and shouted towards the kitchen, "Isn't it exciting, Mei?"
"Hmm!" Mei, whose lips were red from the spiciness, actually nodded in agreement. After drinking some cold water, she came back and continued to eat the spicy pancake.
Jenny was so angry that she didn't want to pay attention to her.
In the afternoon, just as Jenny said, there was a lot of work to do... I had to wash a lot of green vegetables and radishes, clean the used vats, peel garlic, scrape ginger, and chop chilies...
At around four in the afternoon, the store was still busy, but Jenny and Mei, who had helped out all day, had to leave - this was a rule of the city hall, employers could hire teenagers under the age of eighteen, but the working hours per day could not exceed eight hours, and they could not be paid more.
The two little girls, who were so tired that they could not even lift their arms, did not realize whether this standard for underage workers was protecting their legal rights. When Mrs. Hank smiled and paid them twenty copper coins each, the two little girls' eyes lit up like stars.
"Go back to the juvenile home early and don't run around outside." Mrs. Hank liked diligent and sensible children. After paying their salaries, she gave each of them some snacks - leftover, not-too-spicy cold dishes.
"I made money!" On the way back, Mei was holding the side dishes given by Mrs. Hank in her hand, holding the coins in her breast pocket, with a silly smile on her face.
"Let's go back and put the money away, then I'll take you to a fun place!" Jenny was used to getting paid after work, and she wasn't as excited as Mei, who pulled her away.
Both were children from poor families and had no habit of spending money immediately after receiving it. The two little girls went back to the juvenile home, left the money in the dormitory, and ran to the Civic Square on St. Joseph Street with only the side dishes given by Mrs. Hank.
The Civic Square was also very lively, but unlike the bar area, this was not a place where people traded, and people did not walk around. Instead, hundreds of people sat scattered around the dry fountain pool in the middle of the square, listening to something in ecstasy.
After Mei was pulled by Jenny to the outskirts of the crowd, she also heard the strange sound and her mouth opened wide.
"Shh!" Jenny signaled to Mei not to make any noise. The two found a place outside the crowd and sat down.
Inside the dried-up fountain pool, there was an iron frame more than three meters high, on which was placed a small box the size of a palm and a loud speaker larger than a human head. There was also a person in an operator's uniform standing under the iron frame, preventing anyone from approaching the pool.
What was playing on the loud speaker... was not the exotic music that was played repeatedly on the speakers installed in some neighborhoods, but a radio drama that was only played in part at noon and dusk.
Unlike the radio dramas that are played one section at a time through the loudspeakers installed in the neighborhoods, the public broadcasts in the Civic Square on holidays are in the form of continuous broadcasts - anyone who has time to sit here for more than two hours can listen to "Our Struggle" which is usually broadcast over three days in one go.
There was still some time before dark, and Mei, who was pulled over by Jenny, listened to "Our Struggle" in one go, a legendary story that once attracted crowds of people all over Innadri.
Mei finally knew who Caroline was...
During holidays, the broadcasts in the Civic Square will continue until 9:30 p.m., but children cannot stay that late. After 7 p.m. and when it gets dark, city hall staff will walk around the venue and drive any lingering children back home.
Jenny and Mei, who were driven away by the operators, were on their way back to the juvenile home. Mei kept repeating "How good!" and "How good!" all the way.
"I know this story is very interesting, you don't have to keep repeating it, right?" Jenny was so amused by her repeating.
Mei didn't know how to explain to Jenny how excited she was. Her limited vocabulary also prevented her from finding an adjective that better suited her mood. After trying for a long time, she could only say one sentence: "I want to say, it's really great, Caroline is great, this place is great, Mrs. Hank, Sister Kelly... the people here are all great... Jenny, you are great too, you are the greatest, the best, the most amazing person I have ever met."
Jenny, who likes to act like a little adult, blushed instantly.
"That's because you haven't met many people, so you say that." Jenny shyly turned her face away and said loudly, "When you meet the clerks and Ms. Sibel, you won't think I'm so great anymore."
"No." Mei shook her head firmly, "I've only known you for a little over a day, but I already know you're amazing. When we get to know each other longer, I'll only think you're even more amazing."
When she was as old as Jenny, all she could think about all day was whether she could find something to eat. She didn't have the ability like Jenny, who knew how to help adults in exchange for rewards and be trusted by adults to get things done.
"Oh, stop talking!" Jenny was so shy that she lowered her head and ran away.
Mei hurriedly followed: "Wait for me!"
Two little girls ran across the street laughing and shouting.
The red-haired boy squatting on the curb turned his head to look at the child who was running away chattering, and exhaled, with a very incongruous and vicissitudes expression on his tender face: "——The carefree children are still happy."
Because local nobles often sent their children to other places, St. Joseph's Street no longer has the scene of luxurious carriages carrying noble children, calling friends and making noise at dusk in the early years.
However, without those domineering noble children, the street was not deserted at all. On the contrary, it was more lively - especially the section of road next to the Civic Square, where people were rushing to night school, people going out for a walk after dinner, people setting up stalls to do business when there were many people in the Civic Square, and vendors delivering vegetables and grains to the city when there were fewer carriages on the road... There was a constant stream of people coming and going.
After all, St. Joseph Street is the only prosperous avenue in the city with bright street lights that stay on all night. Even without those aristocratic children who spend money like water, it will still be popular.
The red-haired boy squatted on the curb, looking at the crowded Civic Square across the street.
The Civic Square and the Market Square on the southern section of St. Joseph Street are less than 300 meters apart, separated only by an alley. Many people from foreign caravans also come here after dark, wandering around the bustling Civic Square, listening to the radio dramas like the locals, or sitting down at the grilled tofu stall run by the locals to have a midnight snack and drink some cheap rum.
In the Civic Square, which was even busier than during the day, there were only a few operators patrolling to maintain order; but the thousands of people gathered in the square did not have the intention of causing trouble due to the shortage of supervising operators. Most of them were very peaceful and had smiles on their faces; even those professional warriors with burly builds who were obviously not ordinary people could calmly bargain with the vendors.
The more Kingsley looked at him, the more complicated his expression became...
Now is the peak season for inland caravan activities, with an average of at least two or three foreign caravans entering the city every day.
According to Kingsley's experience, public security will also become a big problem in cities with frequent caravan activities - after all, most of the people who are capable of inland merchants are not good people, not to mention that most caravans will hire mercenaries.
But Innadeli is different. This city has not experienced any major disturbances due to the influx of a large number of foreign caravans. The citizens still have the same living habits as before.
The caravan will not change its nature easily, and neither will the mercenaries that come with the caravan.
So what creates Innadri's delicate balance and stability?
Kingsley himself has the answer…
A foreign merchant who was sitting at a street food stall eating grilled tofu accidentally saw something, looked in the direction of Kingsley squatting in surprise, raised his arm, and pointed at the air behind Kingsley.
Kingsley was still squatting on the curb with an expressionless face.
Behind him, there were strange "cha, cha" noises and "KABAKABA" sounds blown into his ears by the wind from time to time.
Without looking back, Kingsley knew what the noises were about—another group of undead were running to the rooftops to play air racing.
St. Joseph Street, like the Midtown area, is the "face project" of Innadri City. The building heights on both sides of the street are relatively close, and the distance between buildings is also relatively balanced.
Originally, this kind of building plan was designed to please the city owners and the upper class in the city, but no one would have expected... that it would become an entertainment venue for the Tarantan undead to play "parkour".
It would be fine if these undead souls just randomly race in the air on other people's roofs, but they actually know how to plan a "special route" - from City Hall in Midtown to the market square in front of the southern section of St. Joseph's Street. The rooftops of the buildings along this route are the most favored by the undead souls.
What's even more outrageous is that the undead's "air race" does not choose a time... Sometimes countless citizens see a large group of undead jumping across the city in the middle of the day; sometimes, it happens late at night.
In the dark night sky where street lamps could not reach, undead spirits whose numbers were difficult to count with the naked eye whizzed past from an average height of three or four floors and rushed towards the market square.
There was no need for Kingsley to follow them, as he knew that these undead would "set up shop" in the market square, and gather in the "undead-only area" in the market square in a noisy manner. Some would set up stalls to do business like humans, and some would fight each other (that is, to compete with each other).
Most of the time, the undead don't often move around in the city; but when they do appear, they are always so eye-catching that you can't ignore them even if you want to...
Not long after this group of undead "passed by", Kingsley could clearly see that the foreign merchants and mercenaries who came to the Civic Square to play and relax had become more peaceful and their attitudes when communicating with the locals were more friendly.
Kingsley rubbed his face silently.
Three hundred years ago, the black-haired boy who knew nothing about the ways of the world and couldn't even speak the common language was picked up at the border of the Rhine Kingdom. After stumbling over the language for several months and finally being able to speak fluently, he insisted on telling Kingsley that he came from a world without supernatural beings, professional strongmen, or gods or sects, and that ordinary people could live well on their own.
Kingsley certainly didn't believe it. He just suspected that this boy with good mental talent he picked up was mentally ill.
This brat grew up, his powerful talent for mental resistance was revealed, and he understood the ways of the world. He finally stopped saying crazy things like the world doesn't need supernatural beings or cults of gods. Just because a spellcaster doesn't pray to God doesn't mean that he's crazy enough to think that the gods can be destroyed. The old gods who were defeated in the War of the Gods merely lost their divinity and were exiled to the void, and cannot be destroyed by the new gods.
But this brat was still very arrogant, and arrogantly declared to his teacher that he believed that the power rules established by people were wrong and needed to be revised; people or extraordinary creatures with extraordinary abilities should serve the people even more, and only when the masses, who are the foundation of all extraordinary things, are treated correctly, will the so-called extraordinary people have the possibility to go further and touch the boundary of truth.
Today, teacher Kingsley has not been able to advance to the next level at this dangerous moment when his life span is approaching, but Yang has already broken through the third door of truth that most spellcasters find difficult to cross.
"...This brat really wasn't bragging." Kingsley muttered with a complicated expression.
