"57 Black Shell Road!"
During the summer break, Wu Ming found Neville's home based on the information he had gathered.
This was a shantytown, and the surrounding river was filled with black and smelly water. There was also a large amount of garbage floating on top of it. Many shantytowns were piled together in a messy manner, and there were even a few crumbling cement buildings among them.
Originally, Wu Ming thought that the area he lived in was the worst in the city. Now, it seemed that everything had to be compared.
After knocking on the slightly shaky door, Wu Ming was not surprised to see a group of dirty little ghosts. There were also rags, rags, clothes, old furniture, and so on scattered everywhere.
"Is Neville here? I'm his classmate. "
Wu Ming tried to make his voice sound amiable.
"Brother, someone's looking for you!"
A girl with braided hair and missing two front teeth immediately shouted towards a corner of the room.
"Hmm?"
In that corner was a pile of trash made up of rags and old newspapers. At this moment, the pile of trash moved, and Neville came out from it.
His hair was messy, and his eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious that he had not slept well.
"Ah, it's Steven!"
Seeing Wu Ming, Neville's sleepy face immediately woke up. "You're looking for me?"
His face was filled with confusion.
Although they were both children from not-so-wealthy families, Steven lived in an apartment building, and the environment was much better than his home. Needless to say, Steven's studies were better than his, and he was still the top student in his grade. Neville was just a failure!
Every time he saw Steven, it would only remind him of his own incompetence.
"You're looking for me?"
Although he had a good relationship with Steven, Neville just could not fit in with Weidi's small circle. Perhaps it was because he felt too inferior that he unconsciously alienated everyone.
"Hmm, let's go out for a walk! I have something to tell you! "
Wu Ming directly told him the reason for his visit.
"Okay!"
Neville got up nimbly. "Fortunately, you came to find me today. Otherwise, I'd have to enter the factory tomorrow and become Master John's apprentice!"
In this era, being an apprentice was not a good job. They were almost the personal slaves of their masters. They could be ordered to do anything, but they didn't get paid a single cent. The only thing they were in charge of was their daily meals. The apprentices' only hope was to learn a little skill from their masters. That way, they could come out to work and officially receive a salary.
Unfortunately, how could those old masters be so generous? All of them concealed their unique skills tightly, wishing that they could work as apprentices for the rest of their lives.
The two of them walked out of the shack area and slowly walked along the riverbank.
Neville was a little absent-minded, kicking the stones on the road from time to time. He seemed to be preoccupied.
On the other hand, Wu Ming heaved a sigh of relief.
After leaving that area, the pressure in his heart had been greatly reduced.
"Neville … I need your help with something!"
After walking around, Wu Ming looked at the river, the factory and the chimney not far away, and suddenly said.
"What is it? Tell me! "
Neville scratched his head. He didn't reject Wu Mingke right from the start. In class, he was a hardworking person. He often took on more work than he could handle. Therefore, he seemed honest and easy to bully. Of course, Wu Mingke had never bullied him.
"I want to start a small business. How about you come and help me?"
Wu Ming stared into Neville's eyes.
"Are … Are you kidding? How old are you?"
For some reason, even though he was one or two years older than Steven, Neville felt like he was still a child when he looked at Steven.
"Hey! Neville … You're going to become an apprentice tomorrow. Look at all the newspaper boys and milkmen in the city. Why do you still think like this? "
"But … But, this is different!"
Neville mumbled.
One was purely selling his labor and working for others, while the other was his own boss. Of course it was different.
After confirming that Wu Ming wasn't joking, Neville finally said, "Then what do you want to do? Start a company? "
"Are you kidding?"
At this moment, Wu Ming looked at Neville with a mocking gaze. "Do you think the people in the office will allow two kids who aren't even fourteen to become the legal representatives of a company? I'm planning to start a business, but it's just a small one … "
"I see!"
Neville let out a long sigh. He almost thought that Steven really wanted to start a big business.
He didn't know why, but when he thought of Steven's past achievements, he felt that Steven would succeed and become a great person in the future.
"Neville, now that the war is over and the economy is recovering, there are opportunities everywhere! As long as you can get a ride, trust me, money will be easy to earn! "
Wu Ming said in a bewitching tone. "Come and help me, and I can give you a reward of five horn shields to one gold coin a day!"
"There's a reward?"
Neville's eyes widened. He had thought that Wu Ming wanted him to work for free.
"Of course. Don't you have a bunch of brothers and sisters? They can help me too! "
Wu Ming blinked his eyes.
"Mary and the others are still so young, what can they do?"
Neville was confused.
"Although they're kids, they should be able to pick and choose, right? Anyway, with their age, no factory would want them now. It's better for them to come out and help me do something! "
Wu Ming pointed at the huge garbage hills in the outskirts of the city, "Your workplace is there!"
"Hmm?!"
…
Wu Ming returned home in a good mood. Recalling Neville's expression and how he had finally agreed, a smile appeared on his face.
"Hey, Steven, where did you go today?"
Madam Sterling was busy in the kitchen. She suddenly poked half of her body out and said, "Your father found you a job as a purchasing apprentice in a merchant company. You'll be paid five horn shields a day …"
The Golden Oak Kingdom's currency was also dollars, jiao, and fen. Although they used paper money now, they could be exchanged for gold at any bank. Hence, they were called gold dollars because they had a high content of gold. One gold dollar was equivalent to ten horn shields.
However, Wu Ming had just used this salary to entice Neville to work for him, and now other companies were doing the same to him. It felt like retribution.
"I don't want to go!"
Wu Ming rejected directly.
"Hmm?"
The voices in the kitchen stopped. Madam Sterling walked out and sized up Wu Ming, "Little Steven, what's wrong? Do you know how rare this opportunity is? If not for your good grades, Mister Kite Wen wouldn't have agreed … "
In her impression, Steven had always been sensible and obedient. She didn't expect him to reject his family's arrangement today.
Is he going through puberty?
Madam Sterling started to worry, but she didn't expect Wu Ming to take out a note from his pocket. The numbers on it shocked her.
"Ten gold dollars?"
She exclaimed, "How do you have so much money?"
"I've already started earning money. I have an idea that I'm going to use the summer vacation to put into practice. I should be able to earn more than five gold dollars a day, so …"
Wu Ming didn't have that much money, but there were still gambling and betting industries in this world.
Especially gambling, it was like the opium of the poor, and it was legal in the Golden Oak Kingdom.
Wu Ming happened to have some pocket money. After saving it up, he could start a few "speculations."
Of course, with his current strength, it was harder to sense the faint lines of fate and obtain a series of numbers. He might as well rob a bank.
Luckily, there were many ways to gamble. One of them was the simplest scratch-off, and he could see through it with his spiritual power …
After a few tries, Wu Ming made a fortune. He now had three digits in his pocket. This was the first pot of gold he was preparing to start his career.
It wasn't that he couldn't get more. It was just that he was lucky once, but a few times in a row was unbelievable.
Moreover, the more money one obtained from gambling, the more dangerous it would be.
With his current strength, this was his limit.
"What are you going to do?"
As expected, Madam Sterling didn't mention anything about apprenticeships anymore. Instead, she stared at Wu Ming with sparkling eyes.
"It's a secret!"
Although he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it, Wu Ming still acted like a little adult. Madam Sterling didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You little fellow …"
At the dinner table that night, Madam Sterling and her husband exchanged a look in tacit understanding. With the wisdom of adults, they didn't say anything. In fact, they were most likely going to follow Steven the next day to see what he was up to.
Wu Ming was well aware of this, but he pretended to be ignorant and buried his head in his food.
… …
"Hey, Neville!"
"Hey, Steven!"
Neville rubbed his hands together. "As you requested, we've been busy for the whole day and got these!"
He brought Wu Ming to a 'secret base' outside a mountain of rubbish. This was actually an abandoned shack. The smell inside was rather pungent, and there were a few piles of rubbish at the side.
"Mm, very good. This is your reward for today!"
Wu Ming took out a few five-edged dungeon notes and stuffed one into a child's hand.
"No, no, this is too much …"
Although Neville said this, he subconsciously tightened his grip. The other siblings weren't as shy as him, cheering as they stuffed the money into their pockets.
"You've done well. We'll continue tomorrow!"
Wu Ming sent Neville and the rest away. He looked at the piles of waste paper and metal parts, and his lips curled into a smile. "Recycling? Are you kidding? With this salary and meager return rate, we're definitely losing money! "
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