gentleman's servant

Taking advantage of the rainy night, I arrived at Wangdu in the early morning, and the whole city was shrouded in a hazy mist.Since it was early in the morning, there were not many pedestrians on the street, only a few carriages passing by occasionally, splashing a lot of mud.

I was shivering from the rain and the cold, and I needed a drink to warm myself up, so I walked into a roadside tavern.

In the slums of the East Side, there are many such taverns, where hookers and drunks gather.As soon as I walked in, I smelled a strong stench. The combination of various smells can make people spit out, but it is very warm here. For me, who has been exposed to rain all night, it is like a paradise.

There were not many people in the tavern, maybe it was because of the daytime, there were a few drunks lying on the table, and the owner was smoking a cigarette while reading a newspaper.The windows are small, the room is dark, and everywhere is very dirty. The tabletop is dark, as if it has been coated with a thick layer of black grease, and it may not have been scrubbed for several years.The proprietress is a woman who still has charm, she is sitting lazily behind the counter with her huge breasts exposed.After seeing me, she leaned over coquettishly: "Hey, handsome boy, what do you want?"

I'll have a glass of wine, a piece of bread and some sausage.

The proprietress sat down on my lap, put her arms around my neck and said, "Why are you soaked all over? Poor little girl, did you get caught in the rain last night? Would you like to warm you up?"

When I was down and out in my previous life, I lived in the capital for a while. This is a big city, so big that there are people of all kinds. I lived in the East District. This is where the lower classes gather. Thieves and robbers are always watching unfamiliar faces.The originally decent servant suit on my body has been ruined by the rain last night, and it is full of mud.If I walked in here in my original attire, I would definitely be regarded as a young master from a rich family, and I would be robbed immediately.

"Oh, beauty, you are so kind." I put my arms around her waist and smiled: "I want to find a job nearby, please help me."

The proprietress patted my face with a smile: "Little handsome guy, why not pour wine in our tavern, there will be women and men to take care of you."

"If you take care of me, I'll stay." I kissed her ambiguously, and touched her plump body a few times, making her giggle.

"Okay, do you want to go to a textile factory or a leather shoe factory? Or do you have any skills, such as blacksmithing and carpentry? If it doesn't work, you can also go to the ship. The shipyard is recruiting people all year round." The proprietress said.

Since I left the Delman Manor privately, I have no letter of introduction, and it is impossible to apply for a servant in any other large manor.And I need to find a place to settle near the Upper East Side, because the Viscount Bruce's family is here.

"I've got to get a job on the Upper East Side." I took a swig of my drink and said, "It doesn't matter what."

"They are all rich people over there." The proprietress looked at me with a smile: "Could you be the young master of some family, right? The family lost all their money, so I came out to work. Look at you, you look like you just now. like a lamb out of the oven.”

I stroked her fat body, squinted and smiled: "Oh? Do you look like me?"

The proprietress raised her eyebrows, let go of me and stood up: "You look like a little boy who specializes in cheating on sex and money."

Finally she told me that a textile factory named Gabriel was recruiting people, and I could go and have a look at it at noon.

The west and east districts of the capital are simply two different worlds. The west district is where rich people gather, or at least decent families.The road is clean, and there are tall oil and gas street lamps at the door of every house. Passers-by will take off their hats and salute. People generally wear woolen or silk clothes. Both men and women behave elegantly and walk lightly.

And when you come to the East End, you will find that you have suddenly fallen from heaven to hell.The East District is a large factory area, where factories of all walks of life are concentrated.Near the factory area is a large area of ​​simple shacks and log cabins, where workers live, the roads are muddy, garbage and excrement are everywhere, and both men and women wear cheesecloth.There were some drunkards and bums sleeping on the side of the road, and many children ran wildly on the road, wearing ragged clothes, some without shoes.

When I came to the Gabriel Textile Factory, I could hear the rumble of the machines at the gate, and it was time to go to work.There was a man with a big beard at the door, who was shouting and drinking, letting the workers carry the goods.

"Hi sir, are you still recruiting here? I want to find a job." I stepped forward and asked.

The bearded man said impatiently: "We are always recruiting people. Have you ever been an apprentice weaver?"

"No sir, I used to be a servant, a manservant in a viscount's house, but the master kicked me out and refused to write me a letter of introduction. I can't find another job." I shrugged.

The man swept my clothes, raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you literate?"

"Yes, sir, I can read and count."

The bearded man smiled and said, "That's great. We still need a recorder here to measure and register the goods. Can you do it?"

"Of course sir, I can do it." I nodded excitedly, not needing to work in a factory, which is a good thing for me, I was also a worker in my previous life, and I know what kind of life it is.

"Come with me, I will take you to familiarize yourself with the factory environment."

The bearded man led me into a huge factory building. The sound inside was very noisy. There were about fifty or sixty large-scale textile machines. There were four or five workers in front of each textile machine. They were responsible for wiring and adjusting the spindle.The machine here is very advanced, it is a water conservancy textile machine, and there is a huge turbine that drives all the machines to run automatically.The machine pulls countless long white cotton threads, and weaves them into pure white cotton cloth.

The weaving process is to first spin the cotton into cotton thread, and then weave the cotton thread into cotton cloth, so the air is filled with cotton fluff flying like snowflakes, and many children crawl around under the machine, picking up the cotton that falls on the ground.No one talks, no one is lazy, and everyone is bent over their work.Regardless of men, women or children, they all looked pale and very tired, and many of them were coughing non-stop, as if they were seriously ill.

"You are responsible for measuring the size and registering the goods into the warehouse." The bearded man handed me a notebook and showed me: "Like this, understand? All cotton and various rations are counted."

Seeing that I quickly calculated the goods without any mistakes, the bearded man nodded: "Okay, this job is yours now."

"Owen!" Suddenly someone called my name, I looked back and saw a red-haired woman staring at me blankly.

"Annie?" I narrowed my eyes, surrounded by floating cotton, I couldn't see clearly.

"Owen." She quickly ran up to me and hugged me.

"It's really you." I said in surprise.

The person who came was Anne, the junior maid of Mormont Manor. She was wearing a gray cotton petticoat and a dirty turban on her head. She looked extremely thin, much more haggard than she was at Mormont Manor.

"I didn't expect to meet you here. Didn't you become the baron's personal servant?" Annie had a bright smile on her face. She was always that kind and enthusiastic girl.

I shrugged regretfully and asked her why you work here.This is where I find it strange. Although Annie is only a low-level maid, she is beautiful and has a good needlework skill. Even if she leaves the manor, she will definitely be able to find a job as a maid in another family. How could that be? Working in a factory.

Annie smiled bitterly: "I'm married."

"Oh, you're married." I looked at her in surprise, and stammered, "Congratulations... really, really good..."

It is impossible for a woman to be a maid once she is married, and even many factories do not want married women.

Annie showed a forced smile: "Have you found a place to live? Do you need me to help you?"

"Of course, I don't have a place to stay yet," I said.

"Hey! What are you doing? Don't be lazy!" A man full of anger came over and scolded us loudly.

Annie winked at me and ran back to the lathe.

It was not until nine o'clock in the evening that the textile factory finally got off work.Annie led me to an alley behind the factory, where the workers of the Gabriel textile factory lived.The alley is very narrow and deep, and it is full of hanging clothes to dry, the dirt path is full of mud, and it also exudes a stench of fermented excrement.The alley was dark, but it was rush hour, so it was very noisy everywhere.

"John, rent a house." Annie called to a room.

A very spoiled man came out, wearing a green coy coat, smelling of alcohol, complaining loudly: "God, I'm not deaf, so I don't need to shout so loud."

"He wants a house," said Anne.

The man didn't even look at me. He pointed to a hut diagonally opposite and said, "That hut is still vacant. It's a shilling a month."

I walked over and opened the door, but was immediately smoked out. The room was pitch black, with a strong foul smell, and an indescribable smell.

John said: "There used to be a textile worker who lived there, but she died of illness later. It took seven or eight days to be discovered, so it smells a little bit, but don't worry, just ventilate it."

Anne shrugged at me, and I nodded and rented the room.

There is nothing in the room, only a broken wooden bed. I suspect that the last tenant died on this bed and fermented here for seven or eight days.

Anne helped me put a pile of straw on the bed, and she said, "If you have money to spare, go buy a sheet, but winter is coming, and you have to find a way to get a quilt."

"Thank you, Anne." I looked at her gratefully: "I'm so glad I met you."

"You're welcome, we are friends." She smiled heartily.

"What are you doing there! Why don't you go home!" A man's irritable voice suddenly came from outside the door.

Annie's complexion changed, and she hurried out, but the man grabbed Annie by the collar, dragged her home, and scolded as she walked, "You're still fooling around after work, do you fucking know how to go home?"

"No, Andrei, listen to me, I met an old friend..."

"What friend!" The man interrupted Annie sharply. He pushed her into the room rudely, then gave me a stern look, and slammed the door heavily.

I hesitated for a while, but I didn't knock on the door after all. I was just an outsider. If I acted rashly, I might cause trouble to Anne.

So I stayed in this stinky room. I thought I would not be able to fall asleep, but when I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.

The next day, before dawn, the bell outside the door woke me up.Because it is an area where workers gather, someone was shaking a huge bell outside very early on, and the sound was very loud.

Soon, the curses of men and women and the noise of children filled the whole alley, almost like a vegetable market.All people have started a new day, regardless of poverty or wealth, regardless of old or young, regardless of health or disease, all people are working hard to live under the beautiful morning light, and I am the same.