Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Brewery Workers

When Lolan Hill was engrossed in researching new things, Mairu also swiftly resolved the disputes within the family. At the banquet of that day’s meeting, the uncles and aunts of the family voluntarily handed over their rights and business to the main house, and were arranged to stay at headquarters for further rest.

Teams of messengers and personnel set out from Helius Headquarters, heading to various branches across the region. A large number of personnel changes occurred at these branches. Some positions were taken over by people sent by the main house, while others were directly promoted from among the previously marginalized individuals with no connections. The Helius family’s atmosphere underwent a significant change, as if they had shed unnecessary weight, ready to move forward lightly. The vacancies motivated those who were usually overlooked, giving them hope. The entire chamber of commerce was rejuvenated.

—

Nisos Family, Brewery.

The brick-constructed brewery, with wooden beams overhead, was bustling with activity. Goods were piled up, barrels of wine were neatly stacked, and large vats of wine were everywhere.

Some workers continuously placed boxes of grapes on tables, while groups of women and children began sorting through them, picking out the unripe, small, rotten, moldy, or foreign objects and discarding them.

Others then crushed the selected grapes and placed them into the large vats. Fragrances of fruit started to spread throughout the factory. Inside the vats were crushed grape skins and juices.

One youth was also working hard. He wore a mask and special gloves, continuously crushing grapes into a large bowl. When the bowl was full, he poured the crushed grapes into the vat. Around him stood many workers, some older and some younger, but he was the youngest among them.

These brewery workers labored from morning till night, with only one hour of rest at noon. They rarely had holidays. If they took a sick leave, they would be docked pay. Although the work was grueling, many still flocked to it because they could earn more than ten silver coins each month, which was much better than farming at home.

As evening approached, the youth felt tired and found an empty barrel to sit on while continuing his work.

“Bad,” a middle-aged woman gestured for him to get down, not to sit.

The youth was puzzled. I’m not hindering anything, he thought, but the woman continued.

“It doesn’t look good like this. People might gossip about you.”

She then asked him to get down, reminding him that the manager might say something like, “You’re so comfortable?”

Reluctantly, the youth complied, getting down from the barrel and stretching his sore legs and back before resuming his work.

At night,

The large candlestand lit up, illuminating the brick and stone factory with bright lights. Several workers lifted the wine vats and poured the contents into a huge filtering funnel beside them. The funnel was lined with several layers of gauze, through which the deep purple grape juice slowly filtered out.

Once they judged it was done, the workers gathered the gauze and squeezed it continuously, extracting the remaining juice inside. Finally, they obtained a slightly clearer vat of grape juice. After sealing the vat and letting it sit, this group began to finish their work for the day.

“Are you done? Hurry up, or all of Mrs. De La’s pies will be sold out.”

One of the uncles started urging them on. His clothes were stained with dirt, and the smell of sweat mixed with grape juice was somewhat unpleasant. However, no one mocked him because everyone was in the same situation.

“Just a moment, I’ll come after I cover this. Otherwise, Old Man Ab will deduct pay again tomorrow.”

“That old coot always nitpicks. I wonder who he’s doing it for.”

“Yeah, we haven’t seen any extra money from the Nisos family. He makes such a fuss over everything.”

“Maybe he enjoys that feeling. Haven’t you seen how he acts like a nobleman every time he checks, as if he’s better than everyone else?”

“We’re done, let’s go. We should get some meat tonight.”

“Ha! Are you treating? I can’t afford it.”

“It’s fine, I’ll treat.”

“No, Manda, when did you become so generous? Something must have happened, right?”

“Heh, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Several workers from the winery left, arm in arm. Only one worker remained on night duty. He locked the door, extinguished most of the candles, and left only a few for light. Afterward, he took out some dry bread and soaked it in hot soup to soften it. Once he finished eating, he rested his head on the table and dozed off. The night was still long.

Bard, who had worked during the day at the factory, returned to his living quarters, dragging his exhausted body. This part of Hopeland was quite remote, and the area was dirty, messy, and poorly maintained. There were no lights at night, and only the stench of garbage and dead fish could be smelled on the streets.

In the middle of a small square was a well. Not far away stood a low house, and an old man leaned against a doorpost, half-closed eyes barely open.

Bard approached to fetch some water. The wooden bucket was heavy, so he could only pull up half of it.

Gripping the rough rope tightly, the frayed edges scratched his hands. Then the old wooden bucket rose slowly, swaying back and forth.

“What are you doing?” A hoarse voice echoed behind him, as if from a ghost. Bard jumped in surprise, and his grip on the rope loosened. The bucket fell quickly, pulling at his hand and causing some pain. He hurriedly grabbed the thick rope again before turning around.

The old man leaning against the door was

He woke up, his hazy, dark yellow eyes staring at Bard, as eerie as a dead man’s.

“I-I’ll fetch some water to drink and wash my body,” Bard said, trembling with fear.

“Where do you live?” the old man continued to ask.

“I live in the red mud house behind the beech tree on the west side. I just arrived a few days ago; Mrs. Nante introduced me,” the youth said nervously.

“Oh.”

The old man responded and closed his eyes again, ignoring him.

Bard drank some water and washed himself before quickly leaving.

The next day, which was also payday, Bard had worked at this winery for two months and received his first month’s salary of twelve silver coins.

He carefully wrapped the silver coins in his belt before returning home, but today was not as peaceful as usual.

A few men, reeking of sweat and alcohol, cornered Bard in an alley. They had planned this in advance, waiting for the young man. The leader was Mandar, a worker from the winery he had encountered before.

“Boy, happy about getting paid today?”

Compared to the small-sized Bard, these adults were quite tall. Standing together, they seemed to block out the sky.

Surrounded by their shadows, Bard could only keep backing away until he leaned against a dusty wall.

“Behave yourself and hand over the money, new arrival. This is how things work here, understand?” one of the burly men said. He had dark skin and yellow teeth.

“No.” Bard was scared but didn’t want to give it up. These were coins he had earned after much hard work; he still needed them to pay rent and buy food.

Whack—

A slap sent Bard spinning, dazed. His face burned, then his calf hurt as someone kicked him, but he managed to stay on his feet.

Whack—

Another slap.

“You better know your place.”

The others started tearing at his clothes, searching for where he might have hidden the money.

Bard clung tightly to himself, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground. He heard curses and continuous beatings, culminating in a powerful kick to his head that knocked him unconscious.

When he came to, it was dark. His clothes and belt were torn, and only three out of twelve silver coins remained. Kneeling on the ground, he clenched the remaining coins in his hand, his nails digging into his flesh. He wept softly, hot tears streaming down his face and falling onto the dirt.