After walking for twenty minutes, Chris saw a familiar figure crouching in the doorway, seemingly sitting in the cold wind all night, so much so that after seeing Chris, he got up and stood up a few times before standing up.

Chris hurriedly ran, into the familiar warm embrace, because of the night of fright and running, the tears could not be held back any longer, and whimpered and cried in Cole's arms.

Cole didn't ask anything, just kept saying, "Okay, okay, it's okay, let's get into the house quickly." ”

Chris inquired a few times afterwards, and it seemed that no one had heard of the black and blue grass streets.

Cole didn't ask Chris about the night, and Chris didn't mention it to anyone.

In fact, a month before Cole's death, Chris often dreamed that Cole was smiling and lying motionless in bed.

At first, Chris didn't care until Cole got sick and coughed incessantly, and drinking medicine didn't solve the problem. Chris starts to be scared, helpless, frightened, but he can't cry, crying forever solves the problem. He couldn't say anything either, so he could only sneak out and weep where there was no one.

"Dad, get up and drink the medicine, you can't stop drinking anything today. Chris picked up Cole, who was lying on a dilapidated wooden bed, and feigned anger.

"Okay......" Kohl's body ached, and he smiled sincerely, "I listen to my little Chris for everything." ”

After drinking the cheap potion that didn't have much effect, Chris's spirits seemed to improve a little, and his face flushed a little more. Cole gently stroked Chris's short brown hair with his calloused right hand, his eyes full of reluctance.

"It's a pity that Dad doesn't have the money to let you go to public school, so you can only go to Sunday school, my Chris is so smart, otherwise, he will definitely be admitted to the University of Federenburg in the future. ”

Public schools in Federenburg are 3p a week, and Sunday schools are only 1p a week. The Federenburg School of Steam Technology costs 9 pence a week, which is equivalent to a technical school, and it is possible to learn a simple trade. As for private schools, that's where the children of the rich and noble go. The University of Fedlenburg, on the other hand, not only requires a lot of tuition, but also excellent public school grades.

Public primary schools are a bit more expensive than Sunday schools, which cost only one copper penny a week, but the former study only one day a week on Sundays, while the latter attend classes six days a week. While the latter is more cost-effective, the 3p a week tuition fee is also unaffordable for Old Cole.

Chris put down the medicine bowl with a missing opening, his eyes were slightly red, and he smiled and said, "I don't want to go to any public school, I heard that the teachers there are all spanking." ”

Cole's gaze paused, Ryan seemed to have said similar things before, and Cole's memory was a little blurry.

He slowly got up and took out a battered wooden box from under the bed, unlocked and easily opened. It was the only property that father and son had in common. There were 25 halsuo and a few copper pennies, and the money was usually taken care of by Chris, after all, he usually bought rye bread.

Chris was holding the little worn-out wooden box.

Inside is 25 Hasso, which is the legacy that Cole left to Chris after his death.

Chris spent 1 gold pound, or 20 Halsuo, to buy a cheap coffin and tombstone, and with the help of a few kind neighbors, to bury Cole next to his wife and son, and then spent another 3 Halso to have the staff of the Church of the God of Steam and Machines do Mass, and Chris returned to the dilapidated house.

Chris was sad, but he couldn't cry.

First, because he had been prepared early, he had been sad for a long time.

The second is because now he only has 2 Hasuo in his hand, and he doesn't even have the strength to cry.

This world makes Chris, who is accustomed to a privileged life in his previous life, feel very sad, and he looks at how difficult Cole survives in this world and how difficult it is to die.

He watched how the people around him worked hard, gave the most physical strength, and received the most meagre salary.

He was sad, but there was nothing he could do, he was just a tiny speck of dust now.

It reminded him of Arnold the Great.

Although Arnold enacted a new Civil Code to encourage invention, protect trade, incubate the Industrial Revolution, and greatly increase the number and efficiency of industrial factories, the profits were limited to the capitalists, and the wages of ordinary workers did not increase much.

On the contrary, because of the improvement of factory efficiency, some workers were fired by the factory bosses, who were free to tamper with and tear up contracts, and the contract law was useless in front of them.

Oh, never underestimate the greed of the capitalists.

In the previous life, due to the construction of pesticides, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, and water conservancy facilities, the production efficiency of modern agriculture has been greatly improved, and food has been greatly enriched, making the price of modern food extremely low, and no matter how poor the people are, they can eat enough with their own hands. As long as you are motivated, not lazy, you will have a good life.

And in this society, workers who work hard every day can only guarantee that you will not starve to death.

Chris, you'll have to find a job yourself, or you'll starve to death.

On the third day, dressed in shabby clothes, Chris goes to Cole's boss and tells him that his father has died.

"Ah, I said I hadn't seen him in a long time. Daniel looked sad and spoke in a pure Irish accent, "What a poor old fellow, may God bless him." ”

Here, only the wealthy merchants and nobles spoke the purest Irish language, while the lower people, because they did not have the opportunity to receive a good education, had mostly coarse accents.

Through the accent, it is actually very clear to identify the people at the bottom of the society.

Daniel, the owner of the carriage and horse dealership, was a wealthy businessman in his forties, dressed in an expensive woolen black coat and with a golden sun brooch pinned to his chest.

Inside was a brown woollen undergarment, then an embroidered waistcoat, and on the outermost part a cuff with intricate patterns. Black corduroy trousers with stripes on both sides, a pair of brown handmade cowhide shoes, a black bowler hat on his head, and a delicate gold-encrusted black cane in his hand.

Although the people of Ireland worship gold, they advocate a sense of luxury and sophistication. But most of the men here prefer black.

Black had been a difficult color to dye and fade very easily, but it was forced to be worn by male residents in rural and urban areas.

Because there is a constant stream of soot coming out of home stoves and factories, filling the air and sticking to the surface of everything around it.

In such an environment, light-colored clothing can quickly become dirty, so workers near the factory are willing to choose more "black-resistant" colors.

After all, they only have a few clothes to change into, and their clothes have become stiffer and rougher because they have been scrubbed with low-quality laundry detergent all year round.

With the advent and continuous development of sewing machinery technology, the coloring strength and lightfastness of new chemical dyes have also been improved. As a result, women's clothing can almost be described as dreamy. As for men's clothing, it ushered in the era of pure black.

Therefore, when this new type of black dye appeared a few years ago, it was immediately sought after by the majority of laborers, and the male residents of the town began to wear black clothes as their daily clothing.

Of course, the wealthy and aristocratic who had a washermaid in their home dressed more casually, wearing their favorite colors and styles. After all, even if they change their clothes every day, they can not be the same every season.

Daniel's bowler hat was a symbol of the town's middle class, and was loved by bankers, clerks, managers, and bosses of all kinds.

If the working class dares to put on the hat of their middle-class "elders", they may be inexplicably isolated from others, and then find themselves suddenly unemployed.

As for walking sticks, they are basically a must-have belongings for decent gentlemen, and many have a good saying:

"A cane is a gentleman's best self-defense weapon, it can be used as half a crowbar, and holding a gun in one hand and a cane in the other hand is the way of fighting for civilized people!"

The cheapest cane here is a silver-encrusted cane made from the heart of a Berberis tree, which basically costs 7 to 8 halsos each.