With the incantation chanted, Varina took four counterclockwise steps to complete this very simple "transit ritual".

Yet nothing happened.

There was no mutation, no babbling, no gray fog......

"Sure enough, I knew that it was unlikely that the existence of supernatural power could be verified so easily."

Because she was mentally prepared, Varina didn't have too many negative emotions about the failure of the attempt.

He quickly put the bread back together, lit the coal stove, and took half a pot of water from the bathroom and put it on it.

Wait for the water to boil, cut a few potatoes and carrots, add a little salt and lard, and a simple pot of vegetable soup is done.

Vegetable soup with bread, which is his daily breakfast.

While boiling water, Varina changed into a shirt and coat and prepared to go out.

……

After a simple breakfast, Varina put on her cap, stepped on the seven o'clock chime of the nearby clock tower, and walked to the Silen Textile Mill, three blocks away.

After greeting the old Hanif who was the janitor, Varina followed the road to the flat-roofed hut outside the warehouse.

That's where he goes about his day-to-day work.

There was a large long table in the hut, slightly messy with paper, pens, notebooks, and the like.

Here, Varina and several colleagues worked together to keep the warehouse up and running.

Most of the time, Varina is in charge of warehousing, John is in charge of outbound, Susan is in charge of freight, and there is also an old patter who directs the workers to move physical goods. Of course, this is not absolute, and when someone takes a shift, his work is divided among the rest.

It was still a little while before eight o'clock, and they hadn't arrived yet.

Varina sorted through the scattered papers a little, and John arrived.

"Good morning, Varina."

He walked straight to his seat as he entered, slung the satchel on his shoulder to the back of his chair, and said hello with a smile.

"You're early, John, too."

The two chatted a few words, and another colleague, Susan, with curly brown hair, arrived, and soon joined in the small talk.

"Hey, did you hear that? Yesterday there was another march in the docks, and it was a little bigger than the last time. ”

"A march calling for the repeal of the Grain Act?" John looked interested and said, "I really hope this request can be met." ”

"Yes, then our cost of living will be reduced by at least a third, or even doubled!" Susan's face was full of anticipation.

John nodded in agreement.

Varina had the same view before, but this time he thought more.

"Have you ever thought that this could have the exact opposite effect and make our lives harder?" he asked. ”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" John quickly retorted: "The food in Fenerport and Lemburg is cheaper, and we can really make a profit!" ”

Susan didn't speak, but she looked at Varina like John, waiting for him to explain.

"We all know that the core of the Grain Act is to protect the price of agricultural products in the country, and not to import grain from the southern countries of Fenerport, Marce, Lenburg and other countries before the price rises to a certain level."

"Yes."

"yes, and then what?"

"Have you ever thought that after the repeal of the law, the low price of grain will cause the country's farmers to go bankrupt, and then they will have to choose to sell their land and enter the factory."

Seeing that the two of them began to show thoughtful looks, Varina threw out the final conclusion:

"And the large number of workers who are looking for jobs will inevitably lead to lower wages for factory owners, and our lives will be even worse."

"That's what happened!"

John was quick to accept Varina's statement, "I think what you're saying makes a lot of sense, but I still have a question—how did you come up with that?" ”

"I guess I thought of it in a dream." Varina's expression was a little complicated.

When John heard this answer, he couldn't help but purse the corners of his lips, feeling that this explanation was very perfunctory.

At this time, Susan also ended her thoughts and said, "What you said is not right, at least not entirely. ”

She laughs and points out the loopholes: "Most of the farmers are illiterate, so even if your inference is correct, it will be difficult for us to influence it." ”

The two men looked at each other and did not answer. Susan's background is better than the two of them, so naturally she can't understand the mood of the two.

"When, when, when......"

The chiming bell breaks the brief silence and means that the chatting time is over.

With the operation of the whole factory, their office hut has gradually become busy, and the number of people coming and going has increased.

In the afternoon, their superior, Mr. York Luca, arrived suddenly, and hurried away after pressing them to find the records of a certain day six months earlier, completely unaware of the amount of pressure the request had placed on the three of them.

"Oh, goddess, it's too late for one to find that damn record." Susan's grumbling was so fast that she could almost catch up with Mr. Luca's departure.

John sighed: "It's useless to complain, let's discuss what to do." ”

"I don't want to go to the little black house!" Susan spoke quickly, "At the same time, I can't keep myself busy here. ”

Susan's snatch caused John's brain to crash on the spot, and he could only look at Varina with a pleading gaze.

Varina stood up at this time and said, "Well, I'll go alone first, John, you stay and help Susan first, and then come back to help me when you're done." ”

John nodded, "Well, that's all there is to it." ”

……

Obsolete record files were stored in a closed compartment in the corner of the warehouse, known as the "Little Black Room" due to the lack of lighting.

John came to the entrance, but did not see the expected light inside, and in surprise he tentatively asked, "Varina, are you there?" ”

"I'm here," Varina's voice came from the darkness, "come and help, it's harder to find than expected." ”

"Why don't you light the lights? Aren't you really lazy? ”

John angrily took off the whale oil lamp hanging at the entrance, lit it and went inside, only to find that Varina was really rummaging through the papers, and showed no signs of laziness.

"You, you can see it so dark? I almost didn't see you when I lit the lamp! ”

This question startled Varina, who realized that there was more to her than just a dream memory.

In John's opinion, Varina was only stunned for a moment and replied with a smile: "Actually, you can see it, I just didn't bring matches and didn't want to turn back." ”

John nodded suspiciously, put the oil lamp aside, and joined in the heavy work of rummaging.

The "rustling" sound of paper rubbing once again filled the entire compartment.

After rummaging in silence for a while, John couldn't help but speak, "Varina, I think you're weird today. ”

"Because I didn't light the light just now?"

"No, it's because of what you said this morning." John paused, as if to sort out the language, "When you speak, it feels like you've become a different person......"

"To put it mildly, I don't think it's easy for you to think about the impact of the decree to such a profound extent, given your level of knowledge."

After John said this, he quickly added: "I don't mean anything else, you know. ”

"yes, I know." Varina's tone was a little heavy: "Actually, I don't think I have that level. ”

Then he changed his tone to a brisk tone: "But Russell the Great once said, 'A wise man who comes up with a thousand good ideas also makes a mistake; And the thousands of cranky thoughts of stupid people will always be very subtle once. Maybe I just happened to run into that one. ”

"You're too modest." John kept his hands on and replied, "I see, this is the progress you have made by persisting in self-study." ”

"Ha, you can think so."