The sound of a brush on the floor could be heard in the back room. The apprentice stood by the door holding some slightly warm bread and poured the contents back and forth in his hands.
There was also a hint of mockery in the way he looked at Lance, as if to say, "Even if a local chicken occasionally flies up into the sky, it will eventually fall back to the ground." Perhaps this was the meaning of the expression, even though he himself could never have said such an insightful thing.
Lance straightened up, took the brush in his hand, and asked, "Did you like the bread the day before yesterday?"
The room still had a strong smell of cheese and ham, and the apprentice's smile, which had not yet had time to melt away, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
His mouth gradually dropped, his face ugly, as if he had pooped in his pants. He wanted to say something, but in these confrontations over the past month, he had never won.
He was always the one who lost. Not willing to embarrass himself, he learned his lesson this time and did not argue with Lance. He just snorted in contempt to maintain his last stubbornness, and then walked away silently.
The apprentice did not continue to argue with Lance because past lessons had taught him that no matter what he did, in the end it was he himself who suffered.
The world was bad, and he felt hurt, especially since he could clearly smell the rich smell of milk and ham in the air, but all he could taste in his mouth was something bitter, like bread mixed with sand that was hard to swallow.
The feeling of being hurt and abandoned by the world intensified!
Lance knew that Jonny was not a good person, but he needed a place to stay for now.
In fact, it would be fine to go elsewhere, but compared to the things he would have to worry about and guard against elsewhere, it was actually more relaxed here with Jonny.
Because in his opinion, Jonny was just a fool, and apart from being able to take advantage of him verbally, he could not actually do any substantial harm to him.
Money?
That kind of thing was in the drawer, and when he decided to leave, no one could stop him from taking his own money.
The bakery was very busy over the weekend, and the apprentice, probably spurred on by the pizza, had been in the back room for the past few days.
His mental state seemed to be a bit problematic, but the fat boss didn't care.
All he needed was a fool to help him work without having to pay him, and he never wanted to pass on his craft to this little thing.
He only allowed him to learn the trade because his mother, although not young, had firm skin and was good at oral sex.
Whether he could learn anything was none of his business.
After all, that was how the trade had always been passed down: the clever ones learned, and the stupid ones just worked.
Without Lance, this might have been the best life for the fat boss.
But there were no ifs.
Lance had a little fun teasing the fat boss, making him impotent with rage.
On Monday morning, when there were the fewest customers of the week, Lance took the newspaper that the fat boss had read and quickly found the news about the empire.
The emperor and his crazy army had been defeated by the rebels, and His Majesty had personally issued the toughest conscription order in history, requiring all male empire citizens over the age of 14 to go to war to defend the country.
It was not ruled out that women would also be conscripted to go to war, because there were not many people left who were willing to fight for the emperor and the royal family.
Even the nobles have chosen to remain neutral at this time.
Otherwise, it would not have been possible for a group of rebels from the bottom of society to defeat the Royal Knights in succession, forcing His Majesty the Emperor to leave the imperial capital and flee for his life.
Completely crazy, that's what His Majesty the Emperor is at this time.
The reason the Federation reported this news is that the continued intensification of the imperial war has affected two shipping lanes, and the prices of some goods have continued to rise.
The trading houses have warned the market that the prices of these goods are unlikely to fall back in the short term, unless the war ends suddenly.
Below this news, it is mentioned that more refugees will arrive in the Federation in the near future to escape the war.
The number of illegal immigrants entering the country within six months is much higher than in previous years, and there is an intense debate about whether to deport black immigrants.
In Golden Harbor and some other prosperous cities, the conflict between illegal immigrants and natives has not yet erupted because of the rapid economic development and the increasing number of jobs.
However, in some areas where economic development is relatively lagging, this conflict has begun to appear.
The newspaper said that three Midwestern states have decided to step up their crackdown on illegal immigrants. After catching illegal immigrants, they will be ordered to leave the federation within a time limit, otherwise they will be imprisoned.
However, Lance didn't think this response was very useful, because for most illegal immigrants, going to prison was itself a way to "make a living".
There had actually been some changes in the situation in Gold Harbor City, the most obvious being the rising cost of work permits.
In the afternoon, Alvin came over with Ethan, Mero, and a few other friends.
There wasn't much work to do today, and everyone had chosen to take a day off, so they got together and decided to relax.
Lance opened the door and welcomed them, hugging each of them and calling them "brothers".
This caused the young men to express their emotions in different ways. Most of them had an indescribable feeling of excitement, and they also hugged Lance with equal force, patted his shoulders and back, and then called him brother as well.
Passers-by occasionally glanced at them, but quickly looked away, because it didn't seem unusual.
This time, everyone came over together. On the one hand, Ethan wanted to thank Lance in person for his help, and on the other, he also wanted to bond with him.
After all, although this incident was bad for everyone, it had led to something good.
It made the young people realize that "we are a community," and this feeling was not only attractive but also full of security for young souls in a foreign land.
Lance and Fat Boss took leave, and they were docked another dollar, but he actually didn't care about the money.
A group of young people walked along the streets, which were full of the atmosphere of the times. There were cars everywhere, and fashionable young women could be seen everywhere.
The whole city was full of strange vitality!
You could feel the pulse of the city, and sense that it was developing and progressing.
Lance had not visited Golden Harbor City since he arrived, but this time he happened to go around with everyone else.
The more streets they walked along, the more things they saw, and a vague shadow in their hearts became clearer.
Lance lit a cigarette. He had bought it for five cents, and the tobacco was not of the best quality, so it was a bit harsh to smoke.
Ethan couldn't help but want to have a drag, too. "Let me try..."
Lance gave him one, and the other friends couldn't help but want to try it, too. Back at home, who had tried this?
I'm afraid it's not something that would kill you with a stick!
But after coming to the Federation alone, the shackles in their hearts are being broken, and they have become more unrestrained and passionate in their approach to life.
Sure enough, everyone coughed after taking a drag. Ethan originally wanted to hold back and not cough, but in the end, his face turned red and he coughed anyway.
Lance smiled as he watched these young people playing around, feeling a sense of vitality that belonged to young people resuscitating within him.
He flicked the ashes off his cigarette and asked, "What kind of people do you want to become?"
Ethan coughed while raising his hand, 'I want to become rich and buy a big house and bring my mom over."
Lance looked at Alvin, who tilted his head and considered for a while, 'I want to become a lawyer. I heard that lawyers make a lot of money."
Some of the other kids started to heckle, "But you haven't been to school, and you have to go to university if you want to become a lawyer. You don't even know how to read and write much!"
Irving turned around angrily and punched the person twice. "Then I'll be like Ethan, a rich man, and hire a bunch of lawyers to work for me!"
Some people hoped that God would give them a beautiful girlfriend, and some hoped that they would win the lottery.
Mero was older, 22 years old, and looked much more composed than the others. While everyone else was fighting and joking around, he just sat there smiling.
Lance looked at him, "What about you, Meruo?"
Meruo scratched his head, "I hope that I can have a legal identity as soon as possible. I don't really crave money. My family has always been an ordinary family, not rich, but also a bit poor."
"But this will give me peace of mind. I sometimes feel that having a lot of money is not a good thing."
"I hope that I can create wealth and everything I need in life with my own hands."
"But sometimes these people's practices make me breathless. I just want to get away from them now, so that when I face life, I can stand up straight, not hunched over."
This was a very heavy response, and the little friends, who had all had smiles on their faces, all became a little different.
Some sighed, and some complained about their dissatisfaction with their current work, but in any case, this strengthened the idea that people wanted to become richer and more powerful.
The seed that had already sprouted slightly was fertilized with special fertilizer today, and no one could predict what kind of fruit it would eventually grow.
In the end, the topic returned to Lance's side, and Erwin asked Lance, "What about you? What kind of person do you plan to become?"
Lance took a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaled with a hiss, and grinned, "I plan to become someone who is useful to society!"
The young people were stunned for a moment, and then someone pushed Lance down, and they started fighting again.
In the midst of the fighting, some of the confusion in their hearts was gradually dispelled, and it had a deeper effect on their integration into this era.
Lance felt that gradually, he was no longer a passer-by in this world, he was integrating here, becoming a real person who lived in this era and in this place!
"Lance, do you think...our dreams can come true?"
Lance stubbed out his cigarette and nodded firmly, saying in an unwavering tone, "They definitely can!"