Embers Ad Infinitum

After leaving the room and going down to the ground floor, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian met Aunt Nan from the "Afu Gun Shop".

"You're quite calm." The graceful lady glanced casually and said with a smile.

"Aren't you the same?" Jiang Baimian responded with a smile, "What do other people's affairs have to do with us? I'm just afraid that they will break the foundation of Weedao City."

They had already exchanged confessions before, and everyone ended the topic with a tacit understanding. One party planned to go upstairs, and the other prepared to go out.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian's heart moved and he asked:

"Aunt Nan, do you know any 'temporary teachers' nearby?"

Aunt Nan looked at the two people opposite her suspiciously:

"You want to hire a 'temporary teacher'?"

Judging from his appearance and clothing, he doesn't look like he is illiterate.

"We mainly want to learn about this industry and see if we can take on tasks in this area. As ruin hunters, if there are tasks available, we will definitely not want to miss them." Jiang Baimian instinctively made up a reason.

Shang Jianyao immediately dismantled the situation:

"You explain too much."

Jiang Baimian glanced at him, but she wasn't too worried, because Aunt Nan obviously didn't believe what she said.

How can a ruin hunter who can easily kidnap Eugene back without leaving any clues need to take on the task of being a "temporary teacher"? It's not like being a tutor for the children of noble gentlemen.

If you say what you just said, who knows the inside story will believe it?

Aunt Nan knowingly did not ask why, and said with a smile:

"We have one in this building."

"Where does he live?" Jiang Baimian asked.

Aunt Nan lifted up her hair that was hanging down from her temples:

"She, a lady."

Aunt Nan used the word "she" in Honghe dialect, otherwise it would be impossible to tell the difference.

Aunt Nan continued:

"She doesn't live here. She comes here at two o'clock every afternoon and takes classes for an hour and a half.

"Haha, more than a dozen girls in this courtyard unite to invite me.

"A few of the people you met last night are participating. They have some profits from the 'Afu Gun Shop' and are relatively well-off. If you want to see it later, I will let them lead the way."

Jiang Baimian knew that the "girl" in Aunt Nan's words refers to women who are in the flesh business full-time or part-time.

"Okay, let's go out for lunch first. We'll look for you in our room at almost two o'clock." Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao's hand touching his stomach and said gratefully, "Thank you."

She seemed to have completely forgotten that she had just avenged Aunt Nan and the others last night, as if it was something that had happened for a long, long time and was not worth mentioning.

At 1:50 in the afternoon, there was a knock on Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian's door.

And they had already sensed someone coming and were waiting at the door.

"I just wanted to go out and take a look." Jiang Baimian explained to the lady outside with a smile.

This lady was one of the people who killed Eugene last night. She had big eyes and short hair just above her ears. She looked both intellectual and young, making it difficult to accurately judge her age.

"There are still ten minutes left." The lady said after greeting, "Gu Changle, you met last night."

"I won't introduce myself, otherwise there is no point in giving a false name. You can call me Dabai." Jiang Baimian mocked himself, "Well, he has no name, just use 'Hey'."

She was retaliating against Shang Jianyao for causing trouble before.

Gu Changle didn't answer this, turned around and said:

"It's on the top floor, where the sun is better."

There is no power from 1:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon.

Glancing at the floral scarf on Gu Changle's neck that seemed much more colorful than last night, Jiang Baimian took two quick steps and walked side by side with him.

Her "professional habit" broke out and she asked curiously:

"Sister Gu, why are you trying to raise money to hire a 'temporary teacher'?"

Gu Changle's expression slowly softened, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

"I accidentally had a child before, but I couldn't bear to abort her, so I gave birth to her.

"I don't want her to be like me in the future. She always feels that being literate would be better and give her more opportunities."

Jiang Baimian echoed:

“Indeed, the situation in Yecao City is relatively stable, and literacy is an advantage.

"The child has gone to the classroom?"

She didn't know what the place where the "temporary teacher" taught was called, so she could only use the most common noun to define it.

"She's only two years old, how can she get there?" Gu Changle smiled, "I left her at Aunt Nan's place."

Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully while climbing the stairs:

"Do you want to teach her after you learn it yourself?"

"That's right. I'm still young and relatively popular now. I have room for choice and a stable income. Plus the dividends from the gun shop, I can support the cost of hiring a 'temporary teacher'. In a few years, when When An An grows up and can take classes by herself, who knows what the situation will be like and whether she will still be in this state. I just thought, I will learn more first, and then I can teach her myself no matter how bad she is." Gu Changle said I started to think about it.

"That's right, people who don't have long-term worries must have immediate worries." Jiang Baimian praised.

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao also clapped his hands.

While chatting like this, they arrived on the fifth floor and entered a relatively spacious room near the alley.

The light from outside shines through the four glass windows, illuminating the beds, tables, benches, papers and simple blackboards inside quite clearly.

At this time, seven or eight women were sitting on stools and on the edge of the bed, looking down at the paper in their hands and reviewing the words they had learned before in a low voice.

Jiang Baimian looked around and pulled Shang Jianyao to sit next to a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old.

The girl was wrapped in a shriveled white cotton-padded jacket and was looking at the notes from the previous class intently.

She shivered slightly in the cold room.

When the other party came to an end and raised his head, Jiang Baimian showed a harmless smile:

"How long have you been taking classes here?"

The girl looks pretty, but a little haggard.

She politely replied:

"Almost two months."

"How is the teacher?" Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully.

This may be the biggest concern for first-time students.

"Very good, very patient, and knowledgeable." The girl did not hesitate to praise her.

At this time, Shang Jianyao interrupted:

"Why are you trying to raise money to hire a 'temporary teacher'?"

The girl realized something was wrong, looked at him, and said in surprise:

"Why is there a man?"

This matter was done by the women who were involved in the flesh business in the yard, and no men usually showed up.

"Aren't men allowed to engage in flesh and blood business?" Shang Jianyao said confidently.

"My friend." Gu Changle introduced quickly,

The girl's eyes swept over the faces of Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, becoming more and more confused.

She didn't ask any more questions, sighed, and answered the question just now:

"My sister works as a prostitute in a nightclub. It's up to her whether she accepts customers or not, and what kind of customers she accepts. She's just like a slave.

"She got a heart disease half a year ago and was kicked out. She sought treatment for a period of time but couldn't be cured. She died not long after...

"She kept saying that there was no hope in this line of work, that she could not get out no matter what, and that she might die of illness in a few years. She told me not to follow her example. But what can I do, I have to survive first, right?

"I attract customers by myself, so it's okay to be careful, but if I continue like this, it's not an option. One day I will be like my sister. When she dies..."

The girl stopped, lowered her head, and then "laughed":

"I just thought, while I still have some money, I can learn how to read and learn more. In the future, I might have the opportunity to work as a clerk in the municipal building, and I can also take on some missions as a relic hunter without taking risks, so that I don't have to do this job anymore."

"Yes." Jiang Baimian agreed wholeheartedly.

The girl wanted to say something, but suddenly she saw someone coming in at the door, so she stood up and said:

"Hello, Teacher An."

Jiang Baimian followed and looked over, feeling a little dumbfounded for a moment.

The "temporary teacher" who came turned out to be someone she knew.

An Ruxiang, a ruin hunter whom I met in the "Black Swamp Wilderness" and the Swamp No. 1 ruins.

She was a member of Wu Shoushi's team and learned the location of Wu Shoushi's body from the "old tune team".

An Ruxiang's originally cold and indifferent expression also showed some fluctuations:

"you?"

"Surprise?" Shang Jianyao stood up and asked enthusiastically.

An Ruxiang, who no longer wore military green camouflage and was dressed in black, opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer.

She was wary and confused.

Jiang Baimian hurriedly pointed to the door and said:

"Go out and talk."

An Ruxiang nodded silently and walked out of the room under the confused eyes of the students.

Arriving at the end of this floor, Jiang Baimian took the lead and said:

"We took on an investigation mission, and we didn't expect to meet you."

An Ruxiang's expression darkened, and then returned to normal:

“After leaving that ruins, we took Shoushi back to Weedao City and buried him in the place where he was born.

“Our harvest was pretty good on that trip, and there were only two of us left, so we just went about our business.

"I wasn't in the mood. I didn't take any tasks for a long time. Later, I recovered a bit and took on some tasks in the city, including being a 'temporary teacher.'"

"Then you just came down like this?" Jiang Baimian asked curiously.

In her eyes, An Ruxiang is a woman very suitable for adventure and fighting.

An Ruxiang looked back at the temporary classroom and said calmly:

"I originally just wanted to be there for a week and find something to do."

"In the end, you fell in love with this profession?" Shang Jianyao asked with the same interest.

"It's not about whether you like it or not." An Ruxiang's tone did not fluctuate.

Perhaps because she met acquaintances who had helped each other, she spoke a little more and continued like she was recalling:

"I grew up in a killer organization. There is nothing to hide. In the early years of the New Year, there were many organizations like this.

“Later, that organization was destroyed, and I escaped and started wandering in the dust.

"The education I received since I was a child is how to kill people. Even if I can read, it's just to kill people. Once I don't have a target, I don't know what to do. I can't find, well, what Shoushi said, the meaning of survival.

"It wasn't until I met Shou Shi that I slowly got out of that state. Maybe I understood it too late and he didn't wait until..."

Speaking of this, An Ruxiang was silent for several seconds, and then said:

“After his death, I couldn’t find the meaning of living again.

"But when I taught them, I found that there was light in their eyes when they looked at me."

PS: Ask for a guaranteed monthly ticket at the beginning of the month~