A few rough men sat on the rocks by the sea, which was relatively empty, with a cloth spread on the stone, on which were two leftover roast chickens, and a few empty wine bottles beside them, and a few people were eating with oily mouths and burps.

"I said Manda, why did you leave three silver coins for that kid just now, interval~"

One of them had drunk a little too much, and asked with his tongue curled, and he leaned against the stone, his legs apart.

"You guys, you don't know how to trickle the water, if you take it all, that kid won't be able to run away, who will rob him in the future."

"You have to give him some hope and let him keep doing it so he doesn't give up, don't you say? Haha"

Manda was drunk, her face was flushed, and she spoke drunkly, and her voice was not happy.

"It's still Big Brother Manda who is smart, come, take another sip."

"!"

A few people picked up the wine bottle and drank it again, and the 9 silver coins they snatched were spent most of the day.

And the boy who was robbed was the waiter that Loren Hill had seen in the restaurant before, and after that incident, his 'fame' spread among the guests, and some of the other guests also learned to tease him, let him learn to bark, and deliberately made it difficult for him to see him laugh.

In this way, they can show themselves cheaply, as if their status is immediately elevated when they laugh at others.

The world is not all sunshine and rainbows, there is even more meanness and squalour.

One day he finally couldn't do it anymore, and when the boss found out, he didn't say much, but paid him a salary and let him try his luck in some workshops in the city.

The next day he went to work in the distillery as usual, but today he was not as energetic as before, just mechanical labor, and his numb and dull expression was exactly the same as that of the other workers in the factory, as if carved out of a mold.

What is the meaning of life, these toiling workers do not think about such complicated issues, they just know how to work, eat, sleep, and get up to work. When you have a little money, buy something delicious or have some wine.

As for what the future holds, they don't think about it, they don't bother to think about it, everyone lives like this, doesn't they?

Such workers abound in Hopland, some from the countryside in the interior, some smuggled in from Zephyr, and some even fugitives from other countries. As long as you can work, no one cares what you were in the past, not even what a king can be, when you fall into this cycle of boring labor, people's spirituality is slowly worn away little by little, and finally becomes exactly the same stone as everyone else.

Everybody's like that, isn't it? So he continued with peace of mind, accepting the fact that he was only a mortal.

----------

However, even in this gray world that is forever circulating, there are still people who try to polish the fire.

A new employee arrives at the distillery, a young man in his twenties with short black hair, named Gretel, whose most striking thing is his piercing eyes, which seem to have some kind of conviction.

After he came, he learned the workflow and precautions normally for the first few days, and after a while, he quickly got acquainted with the young people in the winery, because he was handsome, and even some aunts liked him very much.

One day when he got off work early, he called Bud and invited him to go and relax with him for a drink.

Bud excused himself from having no money, coupled with a little inferiority, feeling that he couldn't speak, and going would only make people cold.

But Glitter didn't care, saying that he had a treat and forcibly dragged Bud to go, because Gretel usually behaved well and was not bad, so Bud did not resist strongly. So the two bought some cakes, bacon slices, and wine, and came to a relatively clean hillside near the sea, eating and chatting.

"Bud, where are you from?"

"I'm from Greythorn, a poor place in the mountains of Verga."

"In this way, I'm from Zephyr, my hometown is far away, and we have a lot of ore over there in Ned County, but it's a pity that mining is too tiring."

"Yes, mining is quite dangerous, I've heard people say it." Bud nodded.

"Well, what about you, Bud, what is your specialty?"

"We're poorer, so we're more famous."

"It's not bad, I haven't seen what gray hemp looks like."

"Grey hemp is ......"

In this way, Bud and Gretel talked to each other about their past, back and forth, talking about their hometown, their produce, why they came to Hopland, and how their lives had been lately.

Bud was a little restrained at first, but as the two talked casually, Glitter revealed that he also had a lot of shortcomings and fears, which made Bud feel a lot closer, so he let go a lot.

At least this person is listening to me carefully, trying to understand my business, and really treating me as a human being. This kind of caring for the other person's feelings and respect is something he has never experienced before, and it is also the first time in his life.

Before he knew it, Bud was saying a lot of things that had been suppressed for a long time, his own thoughts, his past, and some recent things.

As dusk approaches, the orange sun soaks at the junction of sky and water, and the soft light sways on the sand and hillsides, dyeing the world a beautiful gold.

The two stood on the beach, and Glitter picked up a small pebble, threw it diagonally, watched the pebble catapult on the surface of the sea, and jumped three times before falling into the water.

"How's that, it's amazing~" Gretel said a little boastfully.

"Haha, this is also called awesome, look at me."

Bard also picked up a pebble and threw it at the surface, and the pebble landed after a few leaps on the water, and although it didn't fly far, it was still a little better than Gretel.

"Look, how's that!" Bard said with a smile.

"I don't see you're pretty good, Bud."

"That's not it, haha." After saying that, both of them laughed.

From this day on, Bud and Gretel became friends, and after a few days, Glitter took Bud to meet more people, some of them worked in the winery, some worked in the oil mill next door, and the dyeing factory, these people were similar to Gretel, they were all sincere and enthusiastic, none of them laughed at Bard's appearance, but said that he was not bad, which made him regain a lot of self-confidence, and he was much more cheerful than before.

In this way, the group often eats together after work and sometimes goes out to play, and Bud has a lot of friends and is no longer curled up in the corner as before.

It was as if the sun was shining over the walls, and the sunlight was pouring into this dark, damp corner, slowly becoming dry and hard.