It had just snowed in the slums at night, but as the day dawned and the temperature warmed slightly, the thin layer of snow on the ground quickly melted and was trampled by passers-by into puddles of black water, making the people entrenched among the dilapidated houses
Many narrow paths have become muddy and bumpy.
"Brother, you said we have never enjoyed the warmth, so why should we bear the price with the rich that we can't even see the clear sky?"
Among the endless shabby houses crowded together as far as the eye can see, there is one that is the most inconspicuous.
In that room, two young men with black hair and blue eyes were wrapped in shabby coats, gnawing on black bread and looking at the gray sky outside the window with complicated eyes.
Now is the coldest time. Rich people who live in the most prosperous areas of the city have fireplaces in their homes and burn coal for heating. The large amount of smoke produced by the burning of coal inevitably obscures the sky.
And people like them, who live in slums and can barely pay the rent for their small, dilapidated houses, naturally have no choice but to survive the winter.
"This is how the world is." Lynn, who looked calm, glanced at his aggrieved brother Matt, broke half of his bread and handed it over, "Eat more."
"Brother, no need." Matt leaned back and did not pick up Lynn's bread.
"I'm a cripple and can't eat that much." Lynn patted her unconscious legs and put the bread on Matt's plate.
In fact, the reason for doing this is not just because of disability.
This food, which is a mixture of wheat, wheat bran, and sawdust, has many advantages such as low price, long-term endurance, and storage stability. However, the disadvantage is also obvious - it is extremely unpalatable.
He is still not used to eating and is only willing to eat a small portion to maintain his basic needs for life.
"...Brother, I will work hard to make money, take you to the best hospital in the capital, and find the best doctor to cure your leg." Matt stared at the bread on the plate and said in a deep voice after holding back for a long time.
Lin En showed a slight smile and said "Okay", but in fact there was no fluctuation in his heart.
His younger brother, Matt, was just a chimney sweeper in a wealthy area. His meager monthly salary of three hundred copper coins was enough to keep the two of them here without starving to death.
It is completely impossible to save a sum of money to travel to the capital and receive treatment in the best hospitals.
After eating the half piece of brown bread that Lynn gave up, Matt stood up and said, "Brother, I'm going to work."
"Pay attention to safety, especially now that it's snowing, the roof will definitely be slippery." Linn specifically warned as he thought that cleaning the chimney required climbing up to higher or lower roofs.
"rest assured."
"Wait a minute." Linn suddenly stopped Matt who was walking towards the door, "When you come back, let's buy a pen, a bottle of ink, and some manuscript paper."
"Pen, manuscript paper? What do you want these for?" Matt looked at his brother with confusion, who had not read many books and could not even recognize the words. "Do some small business? It's so cold that you'd better not do anything.
Out, and almost no one in the ghetto has any use for these things."
Lynn did not disclose the specific reason: "You will know when the time comes."
"Okay..." Matt tried his best to meet Linn's request, "Then I'll leave first."
"Um."
"Bang."
The air-conditioning brought in as soon as Matt opened and closed the door made Linn shiver.
After wrapping his coat tightly again, he pushed the wheels of his wheelchair and moved to the other corner of the narrow house.
The room was about seven or eight square meters in size. On one side were bunk beds for the two brothers to rest. On the other side were shabby tables and cabinets with some worthless odds and ends.
The few pieces of furniture alone occupied half of the room, and the remaining space was barely enough for Lynn to move around in a wheelchair.
He came to the table, stretched out his hand to hold up a small mirror placed on it, and stared blankly at the unfamiliar face reflected in the mirror, as well as the two columns of data that appeared on his body.
[Depravity value: 20]
[Occupation: Awakener]
Yes, the strange thing is not only that three days ago, I inexplicably traveled to this other world with technology and culture that was only about the 19th century on earth.
He also has the special ability to see the corruption value displayed in others and himself.
At first, he thought that these data were normal phenomena in this world, but soon, he confirmed through insinuation that his younger brother Matt could not see these things, and other people only had a set of data on the corruption value, and there was no 'awakening'
's logo.
Lin En was very curious about the data that only he could see, the identity of the 'Awakened One' displayed on his body, and made preliminary analysis and guesses.
But that's all.
A young man with disabled legs and a poor family should first consider how to live well in this world.
For example, if you leave this dirty place, there are no toilets, trash cans, sewage pipes, and you can't even keep warm. In the early hours of the morning, there will always be drunk neighbors who stagger back from the pub, shouting nervously, and are drunk and crazy.
place to live in a better environment.
For example, as Matt said, go to the best hospital and find the best doctor to cure your legs, and at least become a healthy and normal person.
But with my legs disabled and unable to even walk, how can I make money to get out of the slums?
The predecessor of this body had many attempts.
This era is decadent, grotesque, and crazy. It is popular to watch "freaks", and the weirder the "freaks" are, the more popular they are.
Thousands of curious-looking disabled people are hired by circus owners and performance managers to watch like animals for the curious public.
The original person also tried to gain the appreciation of his bosses and managers, but unfortunately his disability was not uncommon and he was unable to bring anything new to the audience.
He is pitiful and miserable, but not pitiful and miserable enough. He can only be one of those people who live in darkness and pain all day long in a ridiculous world.
As a mystery novelist who has done well in the 21st century, Lin En has the ability and brains. Naturally, he will not follow the old path of his original self. He relies on praying for others to be kind and give himself a job that can subsidize his family.
Do odd jobs to change the status quo.
He learned from the local newspaper and his original memory that the newspaper industry in this other world was undergoing a great leap, with newspapers turning from niche to mass, from aristocratic to civilian.
Then the future is completely predictable.
As newspapers reach a wider audience, their prices will get lower and lower.
Prices are getting lower and lower, which will further expand the market, until the proportion of revenue from simply publishing newspapers begins to decline, and advertising revenue takes off all the way, becoming the absolute majority.
The income of those who publish serialized novels in newspapers will also increase with the booming development of the newspaper industry.
As a novelist, he holds countless classic mystery novels on earth in his mind, which is equivalent to holding an extremely considerable amount of realizable wealth.
Although writing novels in this world is not yet a highly profitable business, readers are only starting to spread from the upper class, and the development of the industry is still far from where he predicted.
But there is a simple truth.
Benefits are first come first served.
Those who eat the cake first will always be more calm than those who come later.
If he can first make a name for himself with stable, high-quality creations and gather a stable audience, then there will be no problem in seizing the opportunity of the newspaper industry's upcoming take-off, living a decent life, and completing the world's initial class jump.
.
In the future, once you have money and a good foundation, you will be able to do whatever you do with ease.
It was based on this that Lin En, who had basically adapted to life here, asked her brother to buy pens, ink, and manuscript paper when he came back from work to help him take the first step to change the current situation as soon as possible.
However, although he already had a good idea of what to write in the first book that should be more popular, he still had no good idea about the second step, that is, how to find a suitable newspaper from a backward and closed slum area and how to successfully submit articles.
idea.
You know, in this world, if a low-class person with disabled legs in a slum wants to be recognized by the editor of a newspaper and have a place in the newspaper, it is not just about writing good novels.