The boy held up his lunch box and said to the porter on the trestle, and then he accidentally tripped over the hemp rope under his feet. Seeing that not only himself, but also the lunch box in his hand was about to suffer, fortunately, Shade on the side stretched out his hand to support the boy.
And caught the lunch box that had flown out:
"Be careful."
he said to the boy.
The porter wearing a short-sleeved shirt also hurriedly put down the sack he was carrying on his shoulders and ran over. Because his work was based on piecework, the supervisor frowned but did not stop him.
"Newman, are you okay?"
The man asked about his child, and then embarrassedly thanked Shade:
"Thank you very much, sir."
He judged from Shade's clothes that Shade did not belong to the dock area, so he spoke with extra respect. The boy was even more reserved, holding his father's hand and hiding behind him.
Shade didn't care about this. He returned the food box to the boy and asked the man:
"Do you mind if I invite you to dinner? I'm a travel writer from out of town, and I want to know some local customs. I won't waste your time. Let's go to the tavern over there for dinner. I'll treat you, and your son will too.
You can come together."
If it hadn't been for Shade supporting the boy just now, this request would have been very abrupt. But in the current situation, the man just hesitated and nodded:
"Okay sir, thank you for your generosity. But can you wait a moment? There are still ten minutes before work ends."
Shade didn't mind waiting a little longer, so he chatted with the reserved boy on the sidelines while the man was carrying the sack again.
Foreigners probably really have a unique affinity that they don't even know about. The boy didn't talk much at first, but when the man came back from going to the supervisor to confirm the number of his workpieces, Shade had already chatted happily with the boy about raising cats.
things.
Of course, the boy's family is not rich, so he does not keep a cat at home, but together with the children on the street, he feeds two stray cats that often come looking for food. Judging from his description,
Those two stray cats probably used the children as a self-service food supply station.
There are many taverns in the dock area for sailors and porters to rest, and the prices are cheap. The tavern was even more crowded when the work was over. Shade sat down against the wall with the man named Laurie Anderson and the boy Newman Anderson.
, the boy sat with his father and was asked to sit on the inside against the wall.
This meal cost Shade 10 pfennigs in total, which is 14 copper pennies according to the exchange rate. Considering the prices in the Moon Bay area and the abundant food on the table, this price is quite reasonable.
The man and the boy thanked Shade again. During the meal, Shade did not rush to ask the boy what his wishes were. Instead, he carefully asked about the porter's living conditions and the working environment on the dock.
Laurie Anderson answered Shade's question seriously while eating, and highlighted the "Moon Bay City Dock and Warehouse Workers Association":
"The Yuewan area has been an important port on the West Coast since a long time ago. In order to grab jobs at the docks, local workers and outsiders formed gang-like associations of various sizes in the early days. Over the next few hundred years, these dynamic organizations on the docks interacted with each other.
After the integration, it became the current Dock and Warehouse Workers Association. You must join the association before you are allowed to work at the dock. In addition to the annual lottery, you can only join the association through family inheritance. Sir, you know that people from other places come from outside every year.
How many people are there looking for work at the docks in Yuewan City?"
He is quite proud of this:
"My father is a member of the association, so I can join the association. I thought that when Newman grows up, he will inherit my membership of the association."
As he spoke, he excitedly patted the shoulder of the boy whose mouth was stuffed with bread, causing him to cough.
"But this is illegal, right? What if there is an employer who actually hires non-members of the association?"
"Then you will have to pay an additional management fee. The dock office has reached an agreement with our association, which makes management easier. There is a tacit understanding that the gang fires on the dock will not involve the workers at work and the sailors on the ship.
Because we are united, we will not be bullied at will."
Shade nodded to show that he understood. This could be regarded as local workers protecting their jobs. Although the "respectable people" in the city thought that the work on the dock was laborious and the income was meager, for these people who made a living at the dock, this was
The income is enough to sustain the family.
After all, this is the rich Moon Bay, and even dock workers' incomes are higher than those of workers in other areas.
When Shade and Anderson were talking, the boy Newman had been eating and did not interrupt. But just now when Mr. Anderson mentioned that he wanted Newman to inherit his "porter qualifications" in the future, Shade easily noticed something was wrong with the boy's expression.
.
In other words, this teenage boy doesn't seem to want to be a porter.
This desire is much more difficult than persuading Miss Lisa to read a story to her daughter. Fortunately, Shade does not have to solve the matter immediately. He has plenty of time to deal with it slowly. Moreover, he does not dare to say, "Don't become a porter."
The idea that "work is for the boy's future" is an "arrogant" decision by outsiders to decide other people's lives.
Now that he had thought about how to solve the matter slowly, Shade was not in a hurry to ask more questions. So the next step was to chat with Mr. Anderson, and when the three of them were about to finish dinner, a stranger came to the table.
Bian handed Mr. Anderson a note.
The latter took a cautious look, and then met Sha De's curious gaze.
Shade didn't ask, because it would be an invasion of other people's privacy. But under his gaze, considering the sumptuous dinner, the porter still "took the initiative" to talk about what it was like:
"My friends and I have a gathering tonight, and this is the note announcing the time and place."
He said embarrassedly and stuffed the note into his pocket. Shade observed his expression, then smiled and asked casually:
"Eternal light?"
"How do you know? Oh, I mean, you know this too?"
Mr. Anderson looked a little panicked and glanced at his ignorant son uneasily:
"Since you know, forget it, but we have rules and we must not tell outsiders about things at will."
"It's okay, I won't talk nonsense. I'm just interested."
Shade lowered his voice slightly:
"When I was on the dock just now, I heard your co-workers saying that they still have to work at night, otherwise the goods to be transported will not have time to be loaded on the ship. You gave up your working time to attend such a rally because you agreed with them.
Concept? They seem to like speaking for the poor."
"no no."
The man shook his head and also lowered his voice:
“Although I feel extremely calm every time I participate in an event organized by [Eternal Light], some of their views are too extreme. I don’t want to say bad things about them. In fact, what they do has always been very extreme.
Okay, but... I always feel like this is not like a social group, but like some kind of religious cult."
He pursed his lips and didn't know what he thought of, and swallowed what he almost said:
"But every time I participate in an event, they will give me some eggs and vegetables, which is more than what I can earn from working at night."
Shade nodded to express his understanding:
"So do the dock workers have a lot of contact with [Eternal Light]?"
"Sir, I can't say that."
Shade glanced at the boy and handed the man a few bills under the table, so he answered carefully:
"I know about a dozen people, not many, and most of them are just like me, just for eggs and vegetables. But there are also people who agree with them, but very few, and I can't name them.
.”
These are enough to prove Sha De's initial conjecture, that is, [Eternal Light], a nominal organization of ordinary people, is definitely not simple. As for what they want to do, this has nothing to do with Sha De for the time being, but if Sha De
Still active locally, I will encounter them again sooner or later.
He lowered his head and continued eating. The man across the table hesitated for a long time, glanced at his son again, and then lowered his voice and said to Shade:
"Sir, please don't investigate them, don't be curious about it."
"Why?"
Shade raised his head curiously, and then saw the fear on Laurie Anderson's face:
"I met a lot of people there, and one of them wanted to go to the police station and make a fortune by reporting them, and you know there are always people like that. And then, and then, and then he died. His body was lying on the ground.
In the alleyway of people, heads are missing."
"Um?"
Shade was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked at him in surprise:
"Wait a minute, you want to say"
The man lowered his head and shook his head rapidly:
"No, I don't know anything! This may be just a coincidence, I don't know anything. So please don't continue the investigation, it will not be good for anyone. There are many of them, really many."
Before leaving Mr. Laurie Anderson and the boy Newman, Shade made an appointment with them to meet them tomorrow at noon. He had to consider how to deal with the boy's wish, and contact with this porter should allow Shade to get in touch with the relevant people.
More secrets of "Eternal Light".
According to the plan, Shade went to Belindel Manor to visit the witch, mainly to inquire about her physical condition. After all, the sage-level relic was still in her shoulder.
The witch went out on business in the afternoon, and had returned to the manor in the evening. When Shade saw her, she was sitting on the sofa, tilting her head and looking at the setting sun outside. The orange-red light that broke through the black clouds shone on her side.
