At six o'clock in the morning in early May, the sky had not yet brightened, and the red moon falling in the west and the stars on the horizon shone brightly, making the darkness faint and the outline of nearby things.
Lumian woke up early, washed up a little, put on yesterday's formal clothes, put on a topper with a wide edge, and tried to squeeze out a smile at the glass window that acted as a mirror.
As he slowly descended the stairs, the sound of rapid footsteps came from above.
It didn't take long for Charlie's figure to appear in Lumian's eyes.
He was still wearing a linen shirt, black trousers, and strapless leather shoes, but his rosy face turned a little pale, and his small blue eyes revealed unconcealable exhaustion.
"Good morning, Ciel." Seeing Lumian, Charlie greeted him with a lot of anger.
His spirit was quite excited.
"Shouldn't you have gone out a long time ago?" Lumian asked with a smile.
He got up to wash up when he heard the church bell ringing for six o'clock, and Charlie should be out at six o'clock.
Charlie muttered as he lowered his head and tidied up his clothes:
"I drank too much last night and had a sweet dream, I don't want to wake up......"
As they spoke, the two of them had already reached the first floor, walked through the dirty and dark hall, and walked towards the starry door.
The door was opened by an old couple, both gray-haired, with slightly rickety backs, and about sixty years old.
They are short, no more than 1.65 meters for men and less than 1.6 meters for women, whether they are dark jackets or yellowish cloth skirts, they are all tattered and full of oil.
"Are they?" Lumian thought that Mrs. Firth or Mr. Eff, the stingy innkeeper, would be in charge of opening the door in the morning.
Charlie didn't slow down and explained casually:
"Mr. Ruhr and Mrs. Michelle, they are the couple I deceived tourists into buying yesterday.
"They got up early every day, and Mrs. Firth entrusted them with opening the door of the inn in exchange for ignoring 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 was so dirty...... Lumian could recall his dirty state when he was wandering, but the cleanliness habit he had developed by Aurore still made him frown.
Charlie quickly walked out of the door of the "Golden Rooster Hotel" and asked suspiciously:
"Ciel, why are you getting up so early?"
As the two came to the street, a rather lively scene suddenly came into their eyes:
Many workers, staff, and coolies hurried around wearing gray, blue, black, or brown clothes, stopping from time to time to buy some food from street vendors.
Some of the women carrying wooden baskets were relatively less eager, 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 space for a carriage to pass.
They shouted loudly, trying their best to solicit customers:
"Sour, apple sour, two ricks a liter!"
"Freshwater fish in Bondi Fish Pond!"
"Fresh cod and herring, come and take a look!
"Onion bread, 1 lik, only 1 lik!"
"Salted meat, delicious salted meat!"
"Soap and wigs imported from Rune!"
"Buy a bottle of bright soda for the kids!"
"Hot sauce, refried beans, small onion heads, water celery!"
「……」
Listening to the sounds one after another, feeling the early morning vitality of the chaotic streets, Lumian smiled sideways at Charlie,
"I just arrived in Trier and couldn't sleep, so I just went around to see if I could find a suitable job."
As a "hunter", familiarizing yourself with the area where you often move and mastering the specific environment here is a homework that must be done as soon as possible.
If you wait until something really happens and then try, it's too late.
Charlie nodded, expressing understanding.
He said enthusiastically:
"You can try your luck at White Coat Street, right between the Honest Man Market and the steam train station.
"Many managers of hotels, hotels, and restaurants like to chat in the cafes there, and by the way, they recruit dishwashers, floor cleaners, restroom attendants, and trainee waiters.
"If you have money on you, remember to ask the café waiter for a drink, they will bring you to the right person and give you a chance to get a better job."
Without waiting for Lumian to respond, Charlie imparted his experience:
"Be sure to pay attention to your appearance, like I do."
As he spoke, he raised his hands and slapped his face, as if he was slapping himself, but it wasn't that heavy.
Soon, Charlie's slightly pale face became "rosy" again.
"Look, look." He pointed to himself triumphantly and said, "Are you feeling a lot more energetic? Those managers are unwilling to hire a particularly poor and unhealthy person, they think it will be a lot of trouble, either they are unwilling to give you a good job, or they will lower their salary, like me, do it before entering the café, make yourself like a person who has a place to sleep and have a full breakfast, too soon, this 'rosy' will slowly subside."
This kind of job hunting tip is quite unfamiliar to Lumian, who came from a homeless background, and it feels very interesting.
He smiled and nodded:
"I still have enough money to rent and fill my stomach, so I don't need to do this for the time being, but who knows if I will use it in the future?"
He deliberately did not hide that he still had a lot of Felkin situation.
What if there are well-wishers who are willing to "donate" again?
Charlie expressed his understanding, took out a copper coin worth 5 kopecks, and bought a bread with onions from the vendor next to him.
This made Lumian suddenly feel a sense of familiarity:
During the wandering period, if he could get money alms, his first choice was to buy onion bread:
This is cheap, and the second is that the onion flavor lasts for a long time, giving the illusion that you have just eaten a lot recently.
Lumian also bought onion bread for breakfast, and together with Charlie, he passed through the many hawkers and walked out of the street.
"I really love the morning here!" Charlie glanced back and sighed in his signature enthusiastic tone, "Those gangster villains who should go to hell can't get up so early and can't destroy this mesmerizing vitality."
He then waved his hand at Lumian:
"I'm going to take the subway, otherwise I'll be late today, then the damn foreman will definitely deduct my salary!"
Saying goodbye to Charlie, Lumian walked around the chaotic streets, circled outward, like a tourist measuring the area with his feet.
The Honest Market District is located on the south bank of the Serenzo River, in the southeast corner of the metropolis of Trier, also known as the Market District, and the official name is "District 13" - the districts of Trier are named after numbers, but according to history and characteristics, there will be some conventional common names, and sometimes, the official will call it that.
It is named after the "Honest Market", and near the Serenzo River, there is also a Suhit steam train station to receive people from the south of Intis.
Surrounding the market and steam train station, many streets are extremely chaotic and full of poor people, one of several slums in Trier.
To the north of the market area, on the south bank of the Serenzo River, is the 5th district, which belongs to the old town, also known as the memorial parish or university district, where the Higher Normal College of Trier, the Higher School of Mines of Trier, and the Intis Academy of Fine Arts are located.
To the northeast of the market area, on the north bank of the Serenzo River, is the 12th district, also in the suburbs, called the Noel district, with the Invalides, the Wounded Hospital and several large hospitals.
To the northwest of the market area is Sector 6, which is the Observatory area where Lumian will go next, where there is the main entrance to the catacombs.
To the southwest of the market area is the 14th arrondissement, which is customarily called the Botanical Garden, and by Sunday, Lumian will be treated by a psychologist at the Mason Cafe there. This place is also called the no-slipop party area because there is a large factory to the south of the botanical garden.
In this way, Lumian spent nearly a morning walking through all the streets of the Honest Market District.
Near noon, he returned to the vicinity of the Suhit train station, planning to find a random place to have lunch, and then went to the catacombs to find the man named Osta. The false wizard of Trul.
While walking, Lumian saw Ruhl and Michele who were also staying at the Golden Rooster Hotel.
They were taking stacks of things sealed in paper pouches and selling them to groups of suspected foreigners.
As soon as Lumian approached, Ruhl, who had gray hair, ragged clothes, and many wrinkles, approached him and said in a low voice:
"Do you want a photo of a street academic beauty?"
"What is a street preppy beauty?" Lumian did not hide his doubts and resistance to the stench on Ruhr's body.
Ruhl shook the paper bag as thin as an envelope in his hand and explained in a low voice:
"In Trier, the pretty girls who worked as mannequins for painters were called 'preppy beauties.'
"Later, with cameras and photographers, they would also take some, you know, some of those photos were sold to painters as a reference for painting, and some ......"
Ruhr immediately showed an ambiguous smile and shook the paper bag in his hand again:
"4 ricks a letter, two photos!
"Others have to sell more than 10 ricks!"
Lumian laughed:
"Mr. Ruhr, Mrs. Michelle, is this the souvenir you sell to tourists?"
Hearing Lumian shout his name, both Ruhl and Michele's faces changed drastically.
They turned their bodies and tried to escape, but Lumian's hand was one step faster and directly pressed Ruhl's shoulder.
Michele, who was crowded into the crowd, saw that her husband couldn't keep up, and returned here with a bitter face.
"I also live at the 'Golden Rooster Inn', my name is Ciel." Lumian introduced himself.
The Ruhr couple, who finally understood why the other party knew the two of them, breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Lumian with pleading eyes and said:
"Is there something wrong with you, Mr. Ciel?"
"What kind of photos are you selling?" Lumian asked curiously.
Ruhr replied cringingly:
"Photos of the scenery of the Serenzo River, as well as photos of various castles and palaces in Trier."
"No one is bothering you?" Lumian asked with a smile.
Ruhr swallowed his saliva and said:
"The people who bought it did not dare to demolish it on the spot, and they did not dare to come to us afterwards, they were very guilty."
"Moreover, there will be no police to care about you when you sell landscape photos." Lumian nodded, "Does anyone really sell photos of street academic beauties?"
"Yes." Ruhr replied very affirmatively, "Last month, the police arrested a group of photographers and printmakers, saying that they had confiscated more than 10,000 photos.
Mrs. Michelle, who also had a wrinkled face and a rickety body, muttered:
"We used to live in a mannequin in the hotel, but it hasn't appeared recently, maybe it's the mistress of a painter, or maybe it's when a street academic beauty was caught......"
The guests at the Golden Rooster Hotel are really diverse...... Lumian asked with great interest:
"How much can you earn a week by deceiving foreigners to buy photos?"
"We sold it very cheaply, about 10 Felkin." Ruhr replied with a slightly evasive look.
It seems to be a little more than 10 Felkin, but not too much, just consider it 12 Felkin, that is, 1200 kopecks, 240 ricks...... 60 fools a week? Lumian looked around the square in front of the station and expressed contempt for the average IQ of humans here.
Ruhl and Michelle took a lot of risks to deceive people, only about 50 Felkin a month, far inferior to apprentice waiters and even coolies.
Looking at their slightly rickety backs, thin bodies, and wrinkled faces, Lumian roughly understood that they might not want to do a job that was more fair and paying more, but that they couldn't do it.
With a wave of his hand, he left the Suhit steam train station and walked towards the observatory area to the northwest.
ps: The third time I asked for a monthly pass~
(End of this chapter)