Chapter 117 Life Experience (Third update, please give me a monthly ticket) It was six o'clock in the morning of early May. The sky was still dark, but the red moon in the west and the stars in the sky cast their light, making the darkness seem lighter and revealing the outlines of nearby objects. Lumian woke up early, washed up, put on the formal clothes he wore yesterday, put on a wide-brimmed hat, and tried to force a smile in front of the glass window that served as a mirror. As he slowly descended the stairs, he heard hurried footsteps from above. Not long after, Charlie's figure appeared in Lumian's eyes. He was still wearing the linen shirt, black trousers and laceless leather shoes, but his ruddy face had become a little paler, and his small blue eyes revealed an unconcealable fatigue. "Good morning, Charles." Charlie greeted Lumian with full energy when he saw him. His spirits were quite high. "Shouldn't you have left long ago?" Lumian asked with a smile. He got up and washed when he heard the church bell ringing at six o'clock, and Charlie should have been out at six o'clock. Charlie lowered his head to sort out his clothes and muttered: "I drank too much last night and had a beautiful dream. I don't want to wake up..."
As they were talking, the two of them had already reached the first floor, walked through the dirty and dark hall, and headed towards the door reflecting the starlight. The person who opened the door was an elderly couple, both of them had white hair, slightly hunched backs, and were about sixty years old. They were short, with the men no taller than meters and the women less than meters. Both their dark jackets and yellowish cloth skirts were tattered and covered in oil stains. "Who are they?" Lumian thought that the person responsible for opening the door in the morning would be Mrs. Firth or the stingy hotel owner Mr. Efe. Charlie didn't slow down and explained casually: "Mr. Rule and Mrs. Michel, they are the couple of vendors who cheated tourists into buying things that I mentioned yesterday. "They got up very early every day, and Mrs. Firth commissioned them to open the door of the hotel. The reward was to ignore the fact that they made the room dirty and smelly. "You know what? They haven't changed their clothes since I moved in. It's been seven months. Seven months!" No wonder it’s so dirty... Lumian could recall how dirty he was when he was wandering, but the cleanliness habits he had developed from Aurore still made him frown. Charlie walked out of the door of the Golden Rooster Inn quickly and asked doubtfully: "Charles, why are you up so early too?" As the two of them came to the street, a lively scene immediately came into their sight: Many workers, clerks, and coolies were walking hurriedly in gray, blue, black, or brown clothes, stopping from time to time to buy some food from street vendors. Some women carrying wooden baskets were relatively less anxious, walking back and forth between different vendors, comparing prices and quality. The vendors were scattered on both sides of the chaotic street, blocking half of the street, leaving only enough space for a carriage to pass. They shouted loudly, trying their best to attract customers: "Sour, apple sour, two licks a liter!" “Freshwater fish from Bondi Fishponds!” “Fresh cod and herring, come and see! "Onion bread, 1 rick, just 1 rick!"
"Bacon, delicious bacon!" "Soap and wigs imported from Loen!" "Buy the kids a bottle of brightly colored soda!" "Hot sauce, refried beans, shallots, and celery!" "..." Listening to the sounds coming one after another and feeling the morning vitality of the chaotic streets, Lumian turned his head and smiled at Charlie: "I just arrived in Trier and I can't sleep, so I just want to look around and see if I can find a suitable job." As a "hunter", it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the area where you often move around and master the specific environment here as soon as possible. If you wait until something really happens before trying, it will be too late. Charlie nodded in understanding. He said enthusiastically: "You might try your luck on White Coat Street, between Candide Market and the steam train station. “Many managers of hostels, hotels and restaurants like to chat in the cafe over there and recruit dishwashers, floor cleaners, toilet attendants and trainee waiters. "If you have money, remember to buy a drink to the waiter at the cafe. They will bring you to the right people and give you a chance to get a better job." Without waiting for Lumian to respond, Charlie began to impart his experience: "Be sure to take care of your appearance, like I do." As he spoke, he raised his hands and slapped his face, just like he was slapping himself, only not as hard. Soon, Charlie's slightly pale face turned "rosy" again. "Look, look." He pointed at himself proudly and said, "Are you more energetic now? Those managers don't want to hire someone who is particularly poor and unhealthy. They think that there will be a lot of trouble. They are either unwilling to give you a good job or they will lower your salary. Like me, I do it before entering the cafe, making myself look like a person who has a place to sleep and a full breakfast. It's not good to do it too early, because this 'rosy' will slowly fade away." This little trick for finding a job was quite unfamiliar to Lumian, who was born a homeless person, and he found it very interesting. He smiled and nodded: "I still have enough money to rent a house and eat, so I don't need to do this for now, but who knows if I will need it in the future?" He deliberately did not conceal the fact that he still had a lot of Felkin. What if there is a kind-hearted person willing to "donate" another sum? Charlie expressed his understanding, took out a copper coin worth 5 copeks, and bought a bread and onion from a vendor nearby. This gave Lumian a sudden sense of familiarity: During his wandering, if he could get money, his first choice would be to buy onion bread: First, it is cheap, and second, the smell of onions lasts for a long time, giving people the illusion that they have just eaten a full meal. Lumian also bought onion bread for breakfast, and together with Charlie, he walked through the many vendors and walked out of the chaotic street. "I really love the mornings here!" Charlie looked back and said with his signature enthusiastic tone, "Those damned gangsters can't get up so early and destroy this fascinating vitality."
He then waved to Lumian: "I'm going to take the subway. Otherwise I'll be late today, and that damn foreman will definitely deduct my salary!" After saying goodbye to Charlie, Lumian walked around the chaotic streets, circling outward, like a tourist measuring the area with his feet. The Candidemmarkt is located on the south bank of the Serenzo River, in the southeast corner of the metropolis of Trier. It is also called the Market District. Its official name is "District 13" - each district of Trier is named with numbers, but based on history and characteristics, there are some commonly accepted common names, and sometimes the official name is used. This place is named "Honest Man's Market". Near the Serenzo River, there is also a Suchit Steam Train Station to receive people coming from the south of Intis. Surrounding the market and steam train station, many streets are extremely unsafe and filled with poor people. It is one of several slums in Trier. To the north of the market area, on the south bank of the Serenzo River, is District 5, which belongs to the old town, also known as the Memorial Church District or the University District. Trier Higher Normal School, Trier Higher School of Mining, and Innis Academy of Fine Arts are all here. To the northeast of the market area, on the north bank of the Serenzo River, is the 12th district, which is also in the suburbs and is called the Nore District. It has the Invalides, the Hospital for the Injured and several large hospitals. To the northwest of the market area is Area 6, which is the observatory area where Lumian will go next. There is the main entrance to the catacombs there. Southwest of the market district is the 14th district, which is commonly known as the Botanical Garden. Lumienne will receive treatment from a psychologist at the Mason Cafe there on Sunday. This area is also called the Sans-culottes District because there are large factories south of the Botanical Garden. In this way, Lumian spent nearly a whole morning walking around all the streets in the Honest Man Market area. Near noon, he returned to the Suchit Railway Station, planning to find a place to have lunch, and then go to the catacombs to look for the fake wizard named Osta Trull. As he walked, Lumian saw Ruel and Michel, who were also staying at the Golden Rooster Hotel. They were holding stacks of things sealed in small paper bags and selling them to a group of suspected outsiders. As Lumian approached, the gray-haired, ragged, wrinkled Ruel approached him and said in a low voice: "Want some photos of street-style preppy beauties?" "What is a street-school academic beauty?" Lumian did not hide his confusion and his resistance to the bad smell on Ruel's body. Ruel shook the paper bag in his hand, which was as thin as an envelope, and explained in a low voice: "In Trier, pretty girls who posed for painters were called 'academic beauties'. "Later, with the advent of cameras and photographers, they would also take some, you know, those kinds of photos. Some were sold to painters as references for their paintings, and some..." Ruel then smiled ambiguously and shook the paper bag in his hand again: “Four Ricks, one letter, two photos! "Other people are selling it for more than 10 Ricks!" Lumian laughed. "Mr. Rule, Mrs. Michel, is this the souvenir you sell to tourists?" When they heard Lumian calling out their names, both Ruel and Michelle's faces changed drastically. They turned around and tried to escape, but Lumian's hand was faster and pressed directly on Ruel's shoulder. Michelle squeezed into the crowd, but when she saw that her husband couldn't keep up, she returned with a bitter face. "I also live in the 'Golden Rooster Inn'. My name is Charles." Lumian introduced himself. The Rule couple finally understood why the other party knew them and breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at Lumian with pleading eyes and said: "What do you want, Mr. Charles?"
"What kind of photos are you selling?" Lumian asked curiously. Ruhl replied timidly: "Photos of the Serenzo River and the castles and palaces of Trier." "No one is causing you any trouble?" Lumian asked with a smile. Luer swallowed his saliva and said: "The people who bought it didn't dare to open it on the spot, and they didn't dare to come to us afterwards. They felt very guilty." "Besides, the police won't stop you from selling landscape photos." Lumian nodded. "Does anyone really sell street photos of academic beauties?" "Yes." Ruhl answered confidently, "Last month, the police arrested a group of photographers and printmakers and confiscated more than 10,000 photos. It would be great if they were given to us. I wonder how much they could sell for!" Mrs. Michel, who was also wrinkled and stooped, murmured: "There was a nude model staying in our hotel before, but she hasn't appeared recently. Maybe she became the mistress of a painter, or maybe she was caught as a street art beauty..." The guests at the Golden Rooster Inn are really diverse... Lumian asked with great interest: "How much can you earn in a week by tricking outsiders into buying photos?" "We sell it very cheaply, about 10 Felgin," Rul replied with a slightly evasive look. It seems to be more than 10 Felkin, but not much more. Let's take it as 12 Felkin, which is 1200 Kopek, 240 Lik... 60 fools are fooled every week? Lumian looked around the square in front of the station and expressed contempt for the average IQ of the people here. The Ruhl and Michel couple took great risks in defrauding people, but they only earned around 50 filkins a month, which was far less than what an apprentice waiter or even a coolie could earn. Taking a look at their slightly hunched backs, thin bodies and wrinkled faces, Lumian roughly understood that it was not that they didn't want to do more legitimate and higher-paying jobs, but that they couldn't do it. With a wave of his hand, he left the Suchit Steam Locomotive Station and headed northwest towards the observatory area. PS: Please give me a monthly ticket for the third update~ (End of this chapter)
