Volume 5: If you are poor, you should be alone Chapter 143 Snow Wolf Tribe Recruitment (Part 2)
Apart from the ring-shaped main roads planned in the early stages of urban expansion, other places in the Lower City are quite sloppy. Basically, the landlords who rented the land built whatever they wanted. As a result, the streets and alleys in the entire Lower City except the main roads are as complicated as a maze and as chaotic as a spider web stacked on top of each other.
Several men left the Snow Wolf Tribe recruitment office and after wandering through the winding alleys for about ten minutes, they entered a wooden house with a tattered canvas as a door curtain.
These wooden houses with door curtains drawn even during the day are mostly low-class brothels. After entering the house, you can see a dozen prostitutes of varying ages, with numb expressions and thin cheeks, sitting on benches in the corridor; several men walked past them hurriedly without even looking at them.
"Master Barrett." The middle-aged man sitting in the first room after entering the door saw these men hurriedly entering, and hurriedly stood up, bowed, and nodded.
"Yeah." The leading man nodded perfunctorily and led the people into the room and straight into the inner room at the back.
The owner of the brothel had been bowing respectfully, and only stood up after the door of the inner room was closed again. He spat and walked to the corridor to shout at the women: "Look at what you look like, the dead fish that have just been fished out are prettier than you! What are you still doing sitting here? Get out and start soliciting customers!"
Barrett went down the tunnel from the secret door in the brothel, and after jogging in the dripping tunnel for a few minutes, he finally reached his destination... a basement that was dug through by an unknown family.
"How is it?" The man waiting inside seemed quite impatient, and Barrett asked hurriedly as soon as he entered the door.
Barritt quickly bent down and said, "Master, those snow wolves didn't sell any goods. I only saw them chatting with those poor people in South City. It seemed that..."
"What does it seem to be?" The young master said dissatisfiedly, "Don't keep me in suspense, just tell me directly!"
"Yes... they seem to want to recruit those poor people as workers." Barritt raised his head, puzzled, "When we came back, they had already recruited more than 300 people."
"Recruiting workers?!" The young master was shocked, and then his face turned unhappy. "The Snow Wolf Tribe came to Valentine to recruit workers? Barrit, are you kidding me again?!"
"Of course not, young master." Barrett lowered his head again. "That's exactly what they said. They recruited workers to work across the inland sea. The salary was five silver coins, and they would bring the workers back in winter."
"You came all the way to Valentine just to recruit workers?" The young master sneered, "Humph... Are they going to let the goods they unloaded from the Adventurer's Association's ship rot in the warehouse? Barrit, have your skills declined or do you look down on me? Do you think this kind of reply can fool this young master?"
"I dare not, sir." Barrett bent his waist even more.
“Then go and follow me!” The young master was furious, and smashed the exquisite wine glass with half a glass of wine in his hand on Barrit’s head. “I want to know who they are going to contact and who they are going to sell the goods to! Don’t you know what the bastards of the Ferdinand family did with the goods of the snow werewolves? How could Lamia support a fool like you!!”
Barrett didn't dare to look up at all and backed out of the basement.
"You are all trash!" The young master cursed as he swept the wine bottle on the table to the ground. After standing up, he slapped the maid who was serving carefully beside him. Only then did he calm down a little and turned to walk towards the stairs.
Connected to this basement was a residence near the central city. After waiting for several hours in vain, the young master had no interest in staying in the lower city where the air was bad. He asked the maid to put a cloak on him and pull down the hood to cover his face. He went out, got on the carriage, and headed straight for the upper city.
The Lamia Chamber of Commerce has an independent guild hall in the upper city, and the guild hall is as luxurious as the mansions of some noble families. After entering his familiar residence and hugging his beautiful lover who came to greet him with a smile, the young master's anger completely dissipated.
The lover nestled in the young master's arms and acted coquettishly with him until he agreed to invite the sea princess to sing at her birthday party. She was satisfied and remembered the important matter: "By the way, Eddie, Marcus Philip came here two hours ago and waited for you for half an hour before leaving."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Master Eddie stood up.
"Didn't I tell you~"
Master Eddie was in no mood to pay attention to his lover's coquetry at the moment, and hurried out of the room: "Butler!"
"Young Master." A white-haired man in a butler's uniform immediately came forward.
"Prepare the carriage. I'm going to the City Lord's Mansion."
A few minutes later, Master Eddie's carriage drove out of the Valentine branch of the Lamia Chamber of Commerce again and headed towards the city lord's mansion - Philip Mansion.
Marcus, the son of Lord Philip, who was over 40 and still indulged in a life of debauchery, came out happily and took Master Eddie to visit his collection. The two were as close as brothers.
On the street opposite Philip Mansion, a figure hidden in the shadow of the landscape trees was looming.
"Lamia is really targeting the Snow Wolf Man... This is not a good thing. How could Philip's son be so close to the people from the Chamber of Commerce? Philip is old and incompetent. Doesn't he care about his son anymore?" Primo, who was in stealth mode, squatted beside the tree roots and scratched his head.
Lower town.
After walking around the streets for twenty minutes, the Grassroots Chief, Isaac, Hannah, the Knight brothers and others... unsurprisingly, got lost.
The alley was so narrow that only two people could walk side by side. There were tightly packed, shabby self-built wooden shacks everywhere. The residents were quite unfriendly. They would not open the door no matter what they said and completely ignored their shouts.
"I smell someone in there, why don't we break in?" The grassroots chief suggested after the group knocked on the door for a long time but there was no response.
"Uh... not so good." Isaac didn't dare to let the grass roots mess around, and continued to knock on the door. "Excuse me, is there anyone inside? Can you ask for directions? We are willing to pay."
With a "creak", the door that was knocked did not open, but a crooked wooden door at the side and rear opened a crack, revealing a human face as thin as a skeleton, looking at the stranger outside the door with fear.
"Hello..." Hannah immediately turned around and went forward, but with a "bang", the wooden door closed again.
Hannah: “…”
"Let me do it." Shield Knight Edward squeezed past the Grassroots Chief and approached the door. "Hello, lady, we are lost and want to find our way back to the street. If you are willing to show us the way, we will pay you, okay?"
The closed door opened a crack again, and the thin, panicked face appeared again: "Money, how much?"
Edward took out a coin from his waist bag and said gently, "Madam, if you have time to take us for a walk, this silver coin will be your thank you gift."
The glittering silver coins undoubtedly had a strong temptation to the residents living in such shacks. The person in the door swallowed his saliva, stared at the coins in Edward's hand with his eyes wide open, hesitated for a moment, and opened the door halfway.
Seeing the appearance of this resident clearly, even the knight brothers who were used to seeing poor people couldn't help but gasp - what a skinny body this was, with tattered cloth barely covering his private parts, and bones clearly visible under the wrinkled skin on his chest, arms, and thighs, as if there was nothing else but bones and skin.
"I thought Ayun was thin enough before, how come she is this thin?!"
The Grassroots Chieftain could not bear it, so she pushed Edward away with a big slap, took out a piece of candy and tried to give it to him, but seeing that his arm was only three fingers thick, she did not dare to touch him: "Human, eat some candy quickly, Ayun said that sugar gives you strength."
The female resident was completely frightened by the grassroots chief's burly figure that was taller than her house. But when she saw the candy the grassroots chief took out, she instantly threw her fear behind her, reached out fiercely to grab the candy, and hurriedly stuffed it into her mouth.
The candy entered her mouth and the sweetness spread on the tip of her tongue. The female resident's body swayed slightly and she slowly squatted down.
Grassroots chief: “???” He looked at Isaac for help.
"It should be--ok?" Isaac didn't understand what this reaction was.
"…This is probably the first time she's had candy." Hannah sighed.
"Is that so?" The Grassroots Chief scratched his head. "I thought only our Snow Wolf Clan had a hard time in the past." Sugar on the grassland is precious. Before Ayun took everyone to farm, no one had eaten it many times.
Several people waited patiently for the only resident who was willing to pay attention to them to eat the candy. The smallest female adventurer squeezed over and helped her up. Seeing that the rags on her body were so tattered, she took off her coat and put it on her.
"Thank you... thank you... my name is Mary, I will show you the way..." Mary was flattered. She bowed repeatedly and almost fell to the ground.
"Don't be in a hurry. Walk slowly." Isaac was a little afraid of the man's shaky gait. He asked Hannah to lean back and make room for him. He then glanced at her residence and said, "Is there anyone else at home? It's okay for your family to lead the way. You...may need to rest for a while."
Mary quickly shook her head and said pleadingly, "They are not at home... I can do it, sirs, I really can." It was a rare opportunity to earn silver coins, and she really didn't want to give up.
Isaac glanced at the others in embarrassment: “Otherwise, you should slow down for a while and don’t be so excited. Alyssa, help her sit down first.”
The petite female adventurer persuaded the female resident to sit on the doorstep of her house, and took out a small bag of meat floss for her to eat, so that she could regain some strength - the most popular snack given by the snow werewolves was meat floss, which she also saved up herself.
"Huh?" The grassroots chief's ears twitched, and he turned his head and found that the family whose door he had knocked on for a long time without success had opened the door, revealing two equally skinny faces. Four eager eyes were staring at the female resident who was eating meat floss.
"I said there were people there!" The grassroots chief pointed bluntly.
The two faces shrank back, but after a few seconds they could not help but show themselves again, staring at the stranger in the alley with fear and desire.
"Hmm..." Wayne, the younger brother of the knight brothers, was moved and whispered something to his brother Edward. Edward nodded repeatedly, turned sideways and passed through the grassroots patriarchs, whispering to Isaac and Hannah.
"That's the way it should be done!" Hannah clapped her hands.
"But the alleys here are too dense and there's no room to move them around." Isaac frowned.
"Why don't we just borrow her house? Tear down this broken shed and we'll have space. We can then build her a better one. It only takes half an hour to find the materials for a shed like this one." Hannah pointed towards Mary's house.
"...That's right." Isaac's eyes lit up.
As soon as she said it, the ranger girl Alyssa picked up Mary and showed her the way, and took Hannah and the knight brothers out , while the others dismantled the house on the spot...
The neighbor next door was envious of Mary for having something to eat, but in the blink of an eye he saw that Mary’s house had been demolished. He was so scared that he quickly closed the door and went back to sleep and starved.
About an hour later, the family, who were lying down to reduce their body consumption, suddenly smelled the aroma of food that made their souls tremble...
"We are looking for workers with a salary of five silver coins, both men and women are welcome, and we will provide them with adequate food and food to settle down!"
"If you sign up, you'll get something to eat, so come quickly!"
The two sisters were the caretakers of this family. Their father, who worked as an errand boy in the north city, could only provide the two sisters with half-full meals a day. Apart from the necessary housework, they had to sleep to fight hunger when they had nothing to do. Hearing the noise outside and smelling the aroma of food, the two sisters could not help but crawl out of the haystack on the ground, carefully opened the door a crack, and peeked out with their heads sideways.
Mary's house opposite had been completely demolished, and a stove, iron pot, table, and stool were placed on the cleared space. The aroma of food wafted out from the boiling iron pot.
The knight brothers shouted in four directions, and then they saw movement in all the households with closed doors. Some opened their doors, some pushed open their windows, and countless pairs of eyes looked over from every corner.
Edward sighed and said, "The poor people in Valentine make a living by working at the docks. The food they earn must be provided to the men in their families first. In this off-season for maritime trade, women can hardly eat unless they go out to 'do business.' Of course, few people have the strength to leave the house... and even if they can leave, they can't go far."
Isaac, who came from a good family, was confused...
The adventurers who had a hard time, including Hannah, all nodded. They indeed ignored this.
The Grassroots Chief was very shocked: "Ah? Why don't you feed me enough?!"
"Uh..." The group of humans had no idea how to answer.
"If you don't have enough to eat, how can you have the energy to work? Wouldn't you need others to feed you?" The grassroots chief was very confused.
A group of humans silently looked at the grassroots leader's body, which was as strong as a bear, and felt very embarrassed... Fortunately, at this time, some local residents who could not resist the temptation walked out of their homes, staggering and timidly approaching this side, alleviating the embarrassment of humans.
I have to say, seeing these human women lying at home and starving to death, these people who had at least escaped the poverty line were all shocked... The female resident named Mary who had difficulty even standing was not an isolated case at all. Her neighbors were not much better than her.
The first person who dared to approach was an old, haggard, and skinny woman. She kept swallowing her saliva and looked at the adventurers eagerly: "My lords, you want to recruit workers. Can someone like me do it?"
"Hmm..." Isaac looked at the grassroots chief awkwardly. Mary was relatively young and could recover her health after some care, but this one was really...
"Spinning doesn't require much strength. Any caracal cub can do it. It should be no problem." The grassroots chief felt sorry and of course would not refuse.
Edward listened to the instructions given by the Grassroots Chief, and took the initiative to greet him: "Madam, you need to take a boat to the west coast of the Northern Continent to work for us. Do you have any problems at home? Do you have children who need to be taken care of and can't leave?"
The woman asked anxiously, "Master Knight, my child is fourteen years old. Can she go too?"
Edward turned to look at the Grassroots Chief again.
"A ten-year-old caracal cub can spin yarn, so a fourteen-year-old human should have no problem spinning." The grassroots chief nodded vigorously.
Edward said gently: "Madam, if you are willing, you and your children can work for us..."
"I do, I do!" The woman was so grateful that she didn't know what to say. "My daughter is still at work. Can I go and call her back?"
"Of course, we will continue to recruit people here today, and we will leave when we have recruited enough people."
With this woman taking the lead, residents living nearby came to sign up one after another, and the number gradually increased. Those who lived on the street and had the strength to walk to the street had the capital to hesitate, but those who were so hungry that they had difficulty even going out could be said to have nothing left except their lives. Compared with the imminent death by starvation, what was the risk of working at sea?
The woman who signed up first had a delicious meal of soft vermicelli after signing her employment contract (after Xiao Yun checked the physical condition of the resident Mary, she only allowed Hannah and the others to bring vermicelli, and reminded everyone not to eat too much and to use less oil to avoid stomach problems), and then hurried to find her daughter.
Locals would not get lost in the maze-like alleys. The woman skillfully walked through the spider-web-like paths and came to the main street. After waiting anxiously for a long time, she finally saw her daughter walking towards her from the other end of the street like a wandering soul.
"Mom?" Seeing the woman, the girl looked back nervously. After making sure that no one from the brothel was following them, she ran to her mother and pulled her into the alley.
Without waiting for the woman to speak, the girl bent down, took out a few copper coins from her shoes and stuffed them into her hands: "The search has been very intense recently, and I really can't hide the money... Mom, use this money to buy some bread, and try not to come to me. If you are seen, they will not let you go."
"Baby, listen to me. You don't have to go to the brothel anymore. Let's go together and work in the inland sea. If we go far away, no one will be able to find us." The woman held the girl's hand tightly.
"Mom? What are you talking about?"
The woman lowered her voice and said quickly and hurriedly: "A group of masters came to our house to recruit workers. I saw clearly that there were three knights among them. Those knights listened to a very strong foreign master. The foreign master was well dressed. He was wearing a kind of elf cloth that I had seen when I was young... We followed them. The people of the Brotherhood dare not do anything to us!"
"Really?!" the girl asked in surprise.
"Hurry, come with me to register. After registration, we will follow them." The woman took her daughter's hand and was about to leave.
"Wait...Mom, I want to inform Winnie and the others." The girl took two steps and stopped again. "If Winnie and the others are willing, can we take them with us?"
The woman hesitated, then gritted her teeth and said, "Okay!"
The girl asked the woman to wait in the alley and ran out to find her companions who were also forced by the brotherhood.
For the poorest people, self-esteem and chastity are luxuries. When they are almost dying, they sell their bodies for a chance to survive, and no one thinks it is shameful.
But in the south city, it is not easy to sell yourself... Families with connections to the trade union can obtain protection from the trade union and can "open a business" in their own homes. Every penny they earn can be exchanged for food to feed themselves or their families.
As for those disadvantaged families and those whose women are not old, ugly or weak like Mary, which makes men feel disgusted, then they have no choice whether to engage in the flesh trade or not.
The sky gradually darkened. Thanks to Sal's verbal offensive and the efforts of the knight brothers, Xiao Yun received more than 560 male worker contracts in total. He clapped his hands with satisfaction and said, "Alright, that's enough. Thank you all for your hard work! Someone go and inform Isaac and Hannah that we should get ready to go home."
"Ayun, they're back!" Chief Li had good eyesight and pointed to the other side of the street, "There are so many people!"
"Huh? Shit!"
Isn’t it true? When we went there, there were only a dozen people, but when we came back, there was a huge crowd following behind us…
After leaving the recruitment point and going to greet them, Xiao Yun was stunned when he saw that the people following them were all human women.
"Isaac, didn't you tell them clearly that we would pick them up in a few days?"
"I've said that, but..." Isaac was very conflicted.
"Let me explain." Hannah now felt that Isaac had some problems with being a spoiled brat. She pushed him aside and said, "This is what happened. We have signed a total of 617 female workers, more than 30 of whom are prostitutes controlled by the Thieves Brotherhood. They want to go with us and don't want to sell their bodies anymore. But if we don't take them away now, I don't think the Thieves Brotherhood will let them go."
"How much?" Xiao Yun's eyes suddenly widened and became bright.
Hannah was not stupid, she knew what Xiao Yun wanted: "We signed 617 female workers. Later on, there were not enough contracts, so several people signed one together. Many families did not insist on signing the contract to get the Anjia vermicelli, saying that we would give it to them when we came to pick them up."
"Pretty!" Xiao Yun smiled and patted Hannah's shoulder heavily. "Well done, everyone! I'll make delicious food to reward everyone tonight!"
"Hmm..." Isaac looked constipated.
Xiao Yun ignored the young man and looked at the group of cowering female reserve workers behind him with a sharp gaze. He smiled warmly, "Don't be afraid, everyone. Once you sign the employment contract, you are our Snow Wolf tribe's people... workers. No one can take them away!"
The Grassroots Chief turned around and said, "Did you hear that? Our Ayun is very capable. If he says you are not afraid, then you don't have to be afraid."
I don't know if it's because they've worked in special industries and know how to read people's expressions, but these female workers who are waiting to be employed are not afraid of the grassroots chief who is as strong as a bear. They actually believe what she says and nod their heads.
It was not difficult to accommodate more than 30 people, so Xiao Yun immediately ordered everyone to pack up and get on the road. If they were any later, they would not be able to leave the city - hotel accommodation in the city was very expensive!
Just after loading the jars and cans into the car, Xiao Yun suddenly found that there was no one on the street.
"Hmm?" Xiao Yun frowned. If something is abnormal, there must be something wrong. Could it be...
Just as I was looking around to see if Primo was hiding nearby, more than a hundred strong men suddenly rushed out from the alleys.
"Leave the woman here!" The leader was a middle-aged man with an angry face. "Who are you, you bastards? Who gave you the guts to snatch someone from the Brotherhood?!"
"Fuck! I was so scared! I thought Lamia didn't follow the Basic Law!" Xiao Yun's face turned black. "A bunch of pimps are so bad, Valentine Pills!"
In the City Lord's Mansion, City Lord Philip suddenly shuddered.
"Huh?" Sean looked at his old friend strangely.
"It's so strange... I feel a chill today." City Lord Philip scratched the back of his neck in confusion, "Could it be that someone has been cursing me all day long?"
