Taking advantage of marching on a rainy night, I arrived at the capital in the early morning, and the whole city was shrouded in a hazy fog. Since it was early in the morning, there were not many pedestrians on the street, but occasionally a few carriages passed by, splashing mud spots around.
Because of the rain and the cold weather, I was shivering all over. I desperately needed some wine to warm myself up, so I walked into a roadside tavern.
In the ghettos of the East Side, there were many cheap taverns where prostitutes and drunkards gather. As soon as I walked in, I smelled a strong stench. All kinds of smells mixed together, which could make people vomit, but it was very warm here, and it was like paradise for someone like me who had been soaked in the rain all night.
There were not many people in the tavern, maybe it was because of the daytime. There were a few drunk heads lying on the table, and the shop owner was smoking while reading the newspaper. The windows were very small, the room was dark and dirty, the tabletop was dark, like covered by a thick layer of black grease, maybe it hasn't been scrubbed in years. The proprietress is a charming woman, she bares her huge breasts and sits lazily behind the counter. After seeing me, she leaned over coquettishly: "Hey, handsome guy, do you want anything?"
I asked for a glass of wine, a piece of bread, and a small sausage.
The proprietress sat on my lap. She put her arms around my neck and said, "Why are you soaked all over? You poor little boy, did you get caught in the rain last night? Would you like me to help you warm up?"
When I was down in my previous life, I lived in the capital for a while. This was a big city, and there were all kinds of people. I lived in the East District. This was a place where people from the lower classes gather. Thieves and robbers were always watching. I am an unfamiliar face. The decent servant suit on me, which had been eroded by the rain last night, had been ruined and full of mud. If I walked in here in my original attire, I would definitely be regarded as a rich young master and 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, so please do me a favor."
The proprietress patted my face with a smile: "Little handsome guy, just pour a drink 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 ambiguous, 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 being a blacksmith and carpenter? If that not suit for you, you can also go to the ship. The dock is recruiting people all year round." The proprietress said.
Since I left Delman Manor secretly, I didn't have a letter of recommendation, and it was impossible for me to apply for a servant in another large manor. And I need to find a place to stay close to the Upper East Side, because that's where the Bruce family was living.
"I need to get a job on the Upper East Side," I said, taking a swig of wine. "It doesn't matter what I do."
"There are rich people over there." The proprietress looked at me with a smile: "Are you the young master of some family? The family lost all their money, so they came out to work. Look at you, you look like just now. Like a lamb out of the oven."
I rubbed her fat body, squinting and smiling: "Oh? Do you look like me?"
The proprietress raised her eyebrows, let go of me and stood up: "You look like a little Adonis who specializes in cheating for sex and money."
Finally she told me that there was a textile factory called Gabriel that was hiring helps, and I could come and see it in the afternoon.
The western and eastern districts of the capital were simply two different worlds. The western district was a giant community for the rich, or at least decent people. The roads were clean and there were bright oil and gas street lamps at the door of every household. Pedestrians would take off their hats and salute people passing by. People generally wear woolen or silk clothes. Both men and women were elegant and walk lightly.
And when you come to the Eastern District, you would find that you have suddenly fallen from heaven into hell. The East District was a large factory area, where factories from all walks of life were concentrated. Near the factory was a large area of shabby shacks and huts where workers live. The roads were muddy and littered with rubbish and excrement. Both men and women wear cheesecloth. There were drunkards and homeless people sleeping on the side of the road, and many children running wild on the road, they were wearing tattered clothes, and some children didn't even have shoes.
When I arrived at the Gabriel Textile Factory, I could hear the rumbling of the machines at the gate, and it was time for work. There was a man with a long beard at the door, who was shouting and drinking, letting the workers carry the goods.
"Hello sir, are you still recruiting here? I want to find a job." I stepped forward and asked.
The bearded man said impatiently, "We recruit people at any time. Have you ever been an apprentice textile worker?"
"No sir, I used to be a servant, a valet in a viscount's house, but my master kicked me out and refused to write me a letter of recommendation. I couldn't find another job," I said with a shrug.
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 lack a recorder here, who is responsible for measuring and registering the goods. Can you do it?"
"Of course, sir, I can do it." I nodded excitedly, not having to work in a factory, which was a good thing for me. I also worked as a worker in my previous life, so I know what it was like.
"Come with me, I'll show you the environment of the factory."
The bearded man led me into a huge factory. The sound inside was very noisy. There were about fifty or sixty large textile machines. There were four or five workers in front of each textile machine. They were responsible for wiring and adjusting the spindles. The machines here are very advanced. They are hydraulic textile machines. There is a huge turbine that drives all the machines to run automatically. The machine pulls countless long white cotton threads, and woven into pure white cotton.
In the textile process, cotton was first spun into cotton thread, and then the cotton thread is woven into cotton cloth, so cotton fluff flutters in the air like snowflakes, and many children crawl under the machine to pick up the cotton that falls on the ground. No one talked, no one was dilly dally, and everyone bends over to work. Both men, women, and children, they all looked pale and very tired, and many were coughing non-stop as if they were seriously ill.
"You are responsible for measuring the size and registering the goods into the warehouse." Beard handed me a notebook and showed it to me: "Like this, understand? All cotton and various rations are counted."
Seeing that I quickly calculated the goods and there was no mistake, the bearded man nodded: "Okay, this job is yours."
"Owen!" Suddenly someone called my name, I looked back, and a red-haired woman was staring at me blankly.
"Annie?" I narrowed my eyes, surrounded by floating cotton, which made it difficult to see.
"Owen." She ran to me quickly and hugged me.
"It's really you." I said in surprise.
The person who came was Annie, the lower-level maid of Moment Manor. She was wearing a gray cotton petticoat and a dirty headscarf on her head. She looked extremely thin, much haggard than when she was at Moment 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 a kind and passionate girl.
I shrugged regretfully and asked her how you were working here. This is the strange thing about me. Although Anne is only a low-level maid, she is beautiful and has a good hand in needlework. Even if she leaves the manor, she will definitely 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, "I'm really...congratulations to you, this...re...really good..."
Once a woman is married, it is impossible to be a maid, and even many factories do not want married women.
Annie showed a forced smile: "Have you found a place to stay? 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 sullen man 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, filled with clothes hanging to dry, the dirt trail is full of mud, and there is a smell of fermented excrement. The alley was dark, but it was rush hour, so it was very noisy everywhere.
"John, he wants to rent a house," Anne called to a room.
A very bad man came out. He was wearing a green coy coat, smelled of alcohol, and complained loudly: "God, I'm not deaf, so I don't need to scream so loudly."
"He's renting a house," Annie said.
The man didn't even look at me. He pointed to a hut diagonally opposite and said, "That hut is still vacant. One shilling a month."
I walked over, and pushed open the door, but was immediately smoked out. The room was pitch-dark, and there was a strong stench and an indescribable odor.
John said: "There used to be a female textile worker, but she died of illness in it. It took seven or eight days to be discovered, so it smells a little bit, but don't worry, just ventilate."
Annie gave me a shrug, and I nodded to rent the room.
There was nothing in the room except a broken wooden bed. I suspect that the last tenant died on this bed and fermented here for seven or eight days.
Annie helped me spread 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, Annie." I looked at her gratefully: "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You're welcome, we are friends." She smiled cheerfully.
"What are you doing there! Why don't you go home immediatly!" A man's irritable voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Annie's face changed, and she hurried out, but the man tore Annie's collar and dragged her to the house, scolding her as he walked, "You are still fooling around after work, do you still know how to go home?"
"No, Andrea, listen to me, I met an old friend..."
"What friend!" The man interrupted Annie sharply. He rudely pushed her into the room, then gave me a vicious look, and slammed on the door.
I hesitated for a while, but I didn't knock on the door after all. I'm just an outsider. If I act rashly, I might cause trouble for Annie.
So I stayed in this stinky house. I thought I would not be able to fall asleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.
The next day, before dawn, the bell outside the door woke me up. Because it is a gathering area for workers, someone was shaking a huge bell outside very early, and it was very loud. Soon, the cursing sounds of men and women and the noise of children filled the entire alley, almost like a vegetable market. All people have started a new day, no matter poor or rich, old or young, healthy or sick, all people were working hard to live under the beautiful morning light, and so did I.