Longerson didn''t have the habit of inviting people to dinner. At dusk, Manda returned to the official residence with an empty stomach.
Bigda waited in the hall for a long time. He brought two women for Manda. One was Roxanne, a blonde in her early twenties, and the other was Eugenie, a brown haired girl under the age of twenty.
Luo Shan is the daughter of the former interior minister and Eugenie is the daughter of the former finance minister. Their fathers were involved in the gassack incident. One died in prison and the other chose to commit suicide.
The father died, the family property was confiscated, and the fief was recovered. The two girls were forced to embark on the road of dust in order to support their families.
Their appearance is not outstanding, but their noble temperament is very charming. In the face of Manda, they are afraid, but they are not flustered. They do not deliberately flatter and please, nor are they arrogant and presumptuous. Manda is very pleased to be able to hold the size so well.
"Hungry, I''ll treat you to dinner." Manda asked the waiter to prepare lamb chops and roast chicken. She called Eudora, lioness and Moira together for dinner.
Manda was impressed by the table manners of the two women. The lioness was angry at first, but soon she was moved by this temperament and began to try to imitate their behavior.
Gently pick up the knife and fork, cut off a small piece of food, put it into your mouth, chew it slowly in an imperceptible way, and never make a sound, which is really
Gollum!
The lioness was trying to imitate, but she was interrupted by a rude voice.
Moira is drinking soup with a pottery pot.
Eudora blushed. Moira had been eating badly, but she really felt a little ashamed tonight.
Lioness clenched her fork. There is no doubt that Moira will be beaten tonight.
After dinner, Manda said his purpose: "I have a job for you, two silver coins a day. What do you think?"
Luo Shan didn''t say a word. For ordinary work, there are too many two silver coins a day. For that kind of work, the price is too small.
Eugenie asked, "what''s the job?"
Manda said, "I will teach a group of women to be ladies."
Among bigda''s men, in addition to thieves and thugs, there were more than a hundred women. Manda thought out a way for them.
But Eugenie refused Manda''s job: "that''s impossible, those women can''t be ladies, never."
Manda smiled and said, "don''t be so hasty to draw a conclusion. If you teach a lady two silver coins a day, you will be given five more silver coins. Isn''t that attractive enough?"
Eugenie still shook her head: "do you think this money is a lot?"
"Maybe not more than your current income, but it''s a decent job. Think again."
Luo Shan, who had not spoken for a long time, said, "can you train one or ten silver coins?"
Manda thought for a moment, nodded and said, "deal."
Seeing Roxanne''s promise, Eugenie pursed her lips and said, "why don''t I try."
"Then try it. I''ll only give you three months. It''s best to start tonight."
……
Three days later, Toka took a boy of about ten years old to the official residence and installed a little beggar in the north of the city for three days. He finally made a friend.
"His name is Nobu. He came to Wangdu with his parents from the countryside last year. His parents died of the epidemic. He became a beggar in the north of the city and was from old Anbo."
Manda smiled, "tell me about this old amber."
Nobu wiped his nose and said, "he is our master. We go out to ask for money every day, and then give him the money. If we can''t get 20 copper coins, we will get a knife and if we can''t get 50 copper coins, we will get a whip. If we can get a silver coin, we will have dinner."
"How many of you?"
"More than seventy."
"All as big as you?"
"The youngest is only five years old and the oldest is thirteen years old. She is a girl. She will be sold to that place next year. When I grow up, the old Anbo will send me to the mine. At that time, I will become a craftsman and be free."
"Silly boy, the mine doesn''t need craftsmen, only slaves." Manda smiled and settled the account for old amber.
More than 70 children went out to beg for food for him. Each person had to get at least 20 copper coins a day, earn at least a dozen silver coins a day, and earn 50 or 60 gold coins a year.
Wait until some children grow up and sell them. It is conservatively estimated that old amber can earn nearly 100 gold coins a year. This is really a profitable business.
Manda is no stranger to this kind of business, but she didn''t expect that this disgusting business has appeared in this era.
"I should go back," said nob trembling. "If I don''t go back at night, old amber will kill me alive."
"Don''t worry, I''ll take you back soon." Manda asked yodora to take Nobu outside, give him something to eat, turned her face to Toka and said, "are you really going with him?"
Toka nodded.
"I let Moira protect you in the dark."
"Boss, I can do it alone."
"It''s just a secret protection. She won''t intervene unless she has to," Manda handed the spindle to Toka. "You know how to use it."
Toka took the spindle and made a throwing position. The followers of Apollo had an excellent talent for long-range weapons.
"Don''t force yourself to come back alive anyway." Manda took off the lock armor and wanted to give it to Toka, but Toka refused.
"This is too big. I''ll be fine, boss."
Toka went out and asked Nobu to go to the north of the city. Moira then followed. Seeing Manda worried, Moira smiled and said, "don''t worry, I''ll take good care of this little guy."
"Don''t treat him like a little guy," Manda shook her head. "Don''t hurt him and try not to hurt his self-esteem."
……
At nightfall, Nobu took Toka to the open space near the city wall, which is the dirtiest, most chaotic and most disgusting place in the whole king. No matter how poor people are, they don''t want to get close to it as long as they have a few copper coins on their bodies and can sleep in other people''s barn for a night.
The terrain here is the lowest. All the sewage from Wangdu is gathered here. Moaila almost vomited out when she smelled the terrible stench.
But Toka, who walked in front, didn''t show any discomfort. He walked side by side with Nobu on the dirt road full of garbage and excreta.
There are some shacks on both sides of the road. Some of the people living here are disabled, some are infected with incurable diseases, and some slaves abandoned due to old age. They live by picking up food and garbage. The only purpose of living is to wait for death.
Through a shack, a broken wall appeared in front of me.
It is said that the ancestors of ROM road were blessed by Apollo, defeated the enemy here and conquered this land. In order to thank the gods, they built a temple for Apollo here, but obviously they chose the wrong place, and the temple was soon abandoned.
The statue of God was no longer there, but looking at the layout of the temple, Toka felt a force surging in his body. He knew that his God was guarding him.
At the gate of the temple, a boy of fifteen or sixteen came up, pointed to Toka and asked, "who is he?"
Nobu whispered, "his name is Toka. He''s here for dinner."
The boy patted Toka on the face and said with a smile, "how did you know there was dinner here?"
Toka lowered her head and whispered, "Nobu told me..."
Before he finished, the boy kicked Toka on the chest. Toka took two steps back and fell to the ground.
"Stand up!" the boy smiled at Toka.
Toka wiped her tears, just got up and was kicked to the ground by the boy.
"Stand up!"
After being kicked down three times in a row, the boy grabbed Toka''s hair and said, "do you have money?"
Toka cried and took out a handful of copper coins. The boy counted them and said with a smile, "go, have dinner."