Chapter 21 Dockside, Workhouse

Chapter 21 Dockside, Workhouse

A new day starts with a beautiful morning.

The maid knocked on the door outside and called out twice in a crisp and sweet voice. Hasta woke up and habitually lay on his back on the bed, resting for ten minutes to wake up his thoughts that had been sleeping all night.

He got up, changed his clothes, and went to the bathroom to wash up. There was a maid standing next to him who could provide him with the services he needed at any time.

Being stared at like this made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Fortunately, he rejected Neil's suggestion of a personal maid in advance, otherwise, a maid would help him get up in the morning, then take off his pajamas for him and put on new clothes.

If you are too lazy and don't like to do it yourself, there are also special personnel who can provide services such as brushing teeth, washing hair, washing face, and bathing.

As a noble, you just need to be like a doll and let them dress you up beautifully.

When Hasta thought of this kind of life, he shuddered.

This is not a question of whether he can adapt, but he really feels that there is no need for it. At least at this stage, he can't enjoy this kind of enthusiastic service with peace of mind.

After washing up, he tidied his appearance in front of the mirror, and a maid helped to smooth out some wrinkles.

When he went downstairs, the restaurant was already filled with tempting aromas. Today's breakfast was a few plates of exquisite side dishes with two bowls of white porridge, with baked muffins and a slice of bread fried to a golden brown and spread with mayonnaise on the side.

Finally, he could drink a bowl of white porridge in the morning, which made Hasta very satisfied. It was really inconvenient for him to cook porridge when he was alone.

After breakfast, under the watch of Butler Neil, he got on the carriage belonging to the Campbell family and asked the coachman to take him to the Backlund Bridge near the dock area.

This was the meeting place he had agreed to meet with Professor Wayne.

Hasta asked the coachman to go back first, and he stayed on the Backlund Bridge alone to wait.

Click!

He looked at the time, it was 9:42, and there were still 18 minutes before the agreed time of 10 o'clock.

Hasta put away his pocket watch, stood by the bridge, and looked at the dock area not far away.

That's where Backlund goes to sea. There are many ports, the most advanced shipyards in the world, and the most hardworking workers.

There are rows and clusters of chimneys there, spewing out black smoke like clouds, which makes the already gray sky even darker.

After watching for ten minutes, Professor Wayne's familiar voice sounded.

"I'm late."

"No, I'm a little early."

Hasta smiled and greeted Professor Wayne, and found that there were two men beside Professor Wayne.

One wore black-framed glasses, was in his early thirties, and had a strong scholarly air. He should be a lecturer in Backlund, or Professor Wayne's assistant.

The other person, dressed similarly to the workers in the dock area, was about forty years old, a little thin, with slightly swollen eye sockets, and slightly curly brown hair, a little messy.

This should be the dock area guide that Professor Wayne is looking for.

"This is my student, Fren Simpson, a law lecturer at Backlund University. This time he came here to be my assistant."

"This is Jim, who lives in the dock area all year round. This time he will be our guide."

Professor Wayne smiled and gave Hasta a brief introduction.

After a brief exchange, the four of them decided to walk to the dock area.

The dock area was noisy and congested. The roads were often filled with various goods from all over the world. There were also many children who liked to run around on the roads. It was not suitable to take a carriage.

As a tour guide, Jim quickly got into the role and introduced the various situations in the dock area to Hasta and the other two. At first, he tried to express himself as gentlemanly as possible and use civilized language as much as possible. But after getting used to it, he used to describe the people in charge of the dock factory as idiots and curly-haired baboons.

This seemed more real.

Hasta and the lecturer Fren listened with a smile. Professor Wayne occasionally asked some questions, and Jim was responsible for the introduction and answers. The group soon arrived at the dock area.

As soon as I stepped into the dock area, it was as if a heat wave hit me in the face. The scorching sun hanging high in the sky cast golden ripples on the sea.

Dozens of large and small ships were docked near the port. Most of the workers who were responsible for carrying things back and forth between the ships at sea and the dock warehouses were naked from the waist up, revealing their strong and powerful muscles.

Jim explained that this was because it was easy to damage clothes when carrying things while wearing clothes, so it was better to work shirtless, take a shower after a busy day, and then change clothes to go home.

The arrival of the group attracted curious eyes from nearby workers. Several of them greeted Jim enthusiastically, and Jim responded one by one.

As the group continued to go deeper into the dock area, more and more children appeared. They were wearing shabby clothes, their hair was messy, and most of them were barefoot. Some children who wore shoes often wore shoes that were too big, obviously old shoes discarded by adults.

They ran and played in the streets with workers and cargo boxes, fish stalls, vegetable stalls, etc., with smiles on their faces that could dispel the gray fog.

"Don't underestimate them because they are still young. They may work alone. In the evening, after the workers rest, they gather in groups to search for goods that were accidentally left behind at the port. They are divided into several small groups for this purpose, and they fight from time to time." Jim mentioned.

When the group passed through the children's play area, a few brave children surrounded them, stretched out their dry hands, and shouted, "Respected sir, can you give me some money?"

Professor Wayne had obviously experienced this kind of battle, and he was not panicked at all. He said with a smile: "I will donate money to the workhouse nearby. As long as you are willing to go to class there, you will have food."

The children who were watching were stunned. Just having food did not impress them, and they also had to go to the workhouse to learn some knowledge. That was such a boring thing, and it was not as enjoyable as playing outside.

"Go! Go! Let's play!"

Seeing that Professor Wayne had expressed his stance, Jim stood up with a fierce look on his face and waved his hands to drive away the children surrounding him.

The children dispersed in a hurry, mocking Jim for being an old bachelor as they ran. Seeing that Jim was angry and wanted to chase them, they hurried back to join their own small group.

"Hmph, they are a bunch of ill-educated brats who are still gossiping about the women at home when they are young."

Jim was still angry. In front of distinguished guests, a group of children revealed the fact that he was not married, which made him feel very embarrassed.

Although not getting married is normal.

Professor Wayne smiled and said, "Let's go."

"That is to say, gentlemen are kind-hearted. If they meet a gentleman with a bad temper, they will ask the servant to whip him."

"Some time ago, two of our children were severely punished with a whip because they collided with someone. The blood soaked their clothes on their backs."

"But they didn't dare to step forward to stop them. Finally, the parents of the two children came over and didn't dare to say anything. They could only hold their children home in tears. It is said that they are still lying in bed recovering from their injuries."

Jim talked more.

"Didn't they think about asking the attacker to pay compensation?" Lecturer Foulun, who had been silent, couldn't help but speak.

Jim chuckled, "Of course there is compensation, but it is the child's parents making an apology to those gentlemen. That's it. It depends on whether the other party is willing to reveal the matter.

If you encounter those unreasonable and savage gentlemen, they will even give the children's parents two whips. "

"..." Lecturer Foulun was startled for a moment, his face turned pale, and he said nothing more.

…

The Sunrise Almshouse is located at the end of the dock area, halfway up a hill. Whenever the sun rises from the sea level in the early morning, you can always see the sunrise first.

"Let the poor and suffering people welcome their own sunrise earlier."

This is the meaning of the name given to this almshouse by a marquis who fully funded its construction more than thirty years ago.

When Hastur and his party arrived at the Sunrise Workhouse, the blazing sun in the sky hung just above the top of the mountain.

Jim glanced at the workhouse, forced a smile and said: "Sir, my guide mission has been completed. I hope you will have a pleasant stay in the next time."

"You are a very qualified guide."

"Thank you for your compliment."

Jim smiled and left with 12 soles for the guide's fee.

Professor Wayne is a frequent visitor here, and his arrival is warmly received by Dean Dahn of the Sunrise Workhouse.

Hastur, who was standing behind him, could see that his expression was a little unnatural, ranging from happiness to slight irritation.

He just looked at Dean Dahn and then moved his eyes to the workhouse.

Because it is located halfway up the mountain, it is easy to cut stones, so the walls of the almshouse are made of large stones, nearly four meters high. The walls are flattened and have moss growing on them, which greatly eliminates the possibility of entering the workhouse except for the gate. way in and out.

Surrounded by stone walls, there are gray and black houses, basically three stories high. The overall layout is in the shape of a "sun", with only the highest tower protruding, slightly damaging the overall structure.

The whole thing looks more like a school.

Professor Wayne chatted with Dean Dahn for a while and then introduced Hastur and Lecturer Foran. When he learned that Hastur was a noble baron, Dean Dahn's face was filled with smiles.

"It's getting late. Let's go have lunch first and then talk about other things?" Dean Dahn said.

Professor Wayne smiled and said, "Of course it's up to you."

Entering the gate of the almshouse, there was a faint cold air, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.

"It's so cool."

Lecturer Foren spoke with a smile, and Hastur also smiled.

Walking all the way under the sun, I did sweat a lot. When I climbed the mountain just now, it was extremely hot. Entering here was like entering an ice cellar, and I felt much more energetic.

Passing through two playground-like open spaces, we arrived at the third-floor restaurant located in the innermost part.

"Every time I come here, I prefer to dine with children. It makes me feel younger."

Professor Wayne spoke and glanced at Hastur again.

Hasta understood and said with a smile: "I also like children very much. It's more fun to be lively."

Dean Dahn looked strange, but did not object. He also smiled and said: "I'm just worried that the children are ignorant and will disturb your meal."

Professor Wayne said: "This is also a rare experience for us."

"Okay then, I'll let someone make the arrangements."

After Dean Dahn finished speaking, he asked the two almshouse administrators next to him to go to the first floor to prepare the table and food.

"Dean Dahn, how many people do you have here currently?"

Lecturer Foulen asked curiously. He had just observed that this almshouse is very big. There are hundreds of three-story houses that are spliced ​​together around it. This does not include the basement and the other three independent buildings. House of.

He had been to the workhouse near St. Samuel's Church. The workhouse there was large, but the scale of this place was also not small.

In theory, the dock area could not be compared with St. Samuel's Church near Queens.

Dean Dan thought for a while and said, "There should be more than 2,300 people, including 122 administrators, teachers, cooks, maids and other staff."

"It's really not easy." Follen knew how difficult it was to accommodate more than 2,000 people in the workhouse.

"This is not only our hard work and dedication, but more of the concern of all walks of life for the charity of helping the poor." Dean Dan was very humble.

"Your humility and virtue are really respectable."

Lecturer Follen and Dean Dan began to chat, Hasta just listened quietly, while guessing Professor Wayne's thoughts in his heart.