My Magic Age

The most commendable thing about the Imperial Capital is that there are public pools in every street and alley in the slums. Dozens of faucets protrude from the stone walls and are arranged in a neat row. Below are solid sinks made of bluestone slabs. In summer, poolside is almost every street In the busiest part of the alley, some hard-working poor women gathered together, carrying heavy and thick wooden basins filled with all kinds of dirty clothes. They squatted next to the drainage ditch, washing and talking and laughing. Clothes, a rough voice can travel far.

The poor children would carry baskets filled with various variegated vegetable leaves to the edge of the pool, pick out the edible vegetable leaves, rinse them repeatedly with clean water, and place them neatly on the stone platform , whenever this happens, the children will look around and compare with each other who has gained the most today.

In the hot summer weather, you can only feel the coolness by being by the pool. A boy who has washed the vegetable leaves will put his head under the faucet, let the cool water soak his dry and yellow curly hair, and then rub his face vigorously. of dust and dirt, and finally picked up a handful of water Sprinkle it on the chest to cool down your body. The girls on the side will stretch out their hands to hold the clear and clean cold water and wash their faces happily. There are even younger children who simply climb into the pool and stand Take a refreshing bath in the pool.

The slums in the imperial capital are one of the most densely populated neighborhoods. It is the clean domestic water that reduces the chance of infectious diseases in the slums to a very low level.

In the yard of a house not far from the pool, a flat-bottomed iron pot with a burnt black surface was placed on a pile of firewood. The fire under the iron pot was burning brightly, two or three distances away. You can feel the heat wave from the fire. The entire iron pot is like a large water tank. Two poor men with shovels are gathered around the iron pot, cooking a large pot of thick soup.

This kind of poor-style food is made by frying some special spices in boiled butter, then adding some onions, small tomatoes, and red peppers, and throwing in four or five fat chickens chopped into pieces. After stir-frying until the aroma is released, Pour in several large basins of water and bring to a boil, then continue to simmer until the fragrance overflows. Pour the entire bag of peeled tree rice into the large pot and cook.

This kind of chestnut stewed chicken cooked in a big pot has almost become a traditional delicacy in the slums. The big pot is enough for half a street of neighbors to eat together. People in the slums are very stressed in life, not only at home. The men have to go out to work, and the women in the family usually have to find a job in a nearby workshop to supplement the family income. As a result, lunch has become a big trouble in the slums.

I don’t know when this method of taking turns to prepare meals started, but this method of having a meal has solved the lunch problem of the residents in the slums. This kind of meal is usually held by the neighbors in half a street. Neighbors get together, and it takes about 20 to 30 poor families to take turns to live in the middle. At noon, they would prepare lunch in advance. They would set up a large pot in front of their yard to cook delicious soup, and then throw rice or wheat cakes into the pot to cook. They would cook it all at once in a large iron pot. Serve lunch for a hundred people, and then quietly wait for the neighbors to gather at the big pot to have a meal together after work is finished at noon.

I always thought that this kind of big pot rice with chicken and chestnuts must be very delicious, but now it seems that it is completely different, because the children by the pool, after cleaning the vegetables they picked up, put them in the baskets one after another. After carrying it to the side of the big iron pot, an adult man took a hatchet and rummaged through the basket, casually cut two rotten vegetable leaves, and dumped all the picked vegetables. Boil together in a large iron pot. It turns out that these children in the slums are picking up vegetable leaves at the vegetable market.

Then these children will gather under the shade of a tree not far from the iron pot. Each one will hold a big bowl in his hand, staring quietly and waiting for the meal to begin. Just after lunch break, some men and women came out of the workshop one after another. They merged into the alley and gathered next to the pool to greet the women washing clothes next to the pool. The entire public pool became noisy. The place is like a lively vegetable market.

The men and women who went to work enjoyed the first round of delicious food, then the children and the old people slowly coming out of the house, and finally the women washing clothes by the sink.

This is the lifestyle of people in the slums in the imperial capital. Most poor families cannot afford to send their children to the Warrior Academy. If these children cannot awaken the magic pool and change their destiny before the age of twelve, they will become pickers. He became a member of the Ye Scouts and grew up slowly in this neighborhood.

Boys will serve in the military when they are sixteen years old. They can only be auxiliary soldiers or heavy armored infantry called cannon fodder on the battlefield. Only those who can survive the battlefield can have the right to enjoy life.

After the 16-year-old adult ceremony, girls take their meager dowry and look for an opportunity to marry a soldier who returns home from the battlefield. The Green Empire had an imbalance in the population ratio between boys and girls. The girls who had the chance to get married successfully either had generous dowries or were beautiful. Of course, some beautiful girls will be selected by the nobles to become their maids. Many girls yearn for that kind of luxurious life.

Girls who fail to marry off in time must work hard to save more and more generous dowries for themselves, and strive to marry off before the age of twenty-five, otherwise the officials of the Imperial City Civil Affairs Department will Holding the household registration book one by one will exceed the age limit Older girls are registered. At this time, never try to guess your own destiny. Maybe you will marry a wanderer, maybe you will marry a disabled veteran who came off the battlefield, maybe you will be sent to a remote and barren place. plane, in short, who knows?

We had lunch at an aristocratic restaurant in the 6th neighborhood that looked quite clean. The reason we chose this place was not because of how delicious the food in this restaurant was, but because of the notice on the notice board at the entrance of the restaurant. The minimum price for a pan-fried veal steak is more than three silver coins, and the bottom of the notice board clearly says: This restaurant refuses to trade in copper coins.

Just such a few words turned most people away. To open such a 'noble restaurant' in a slum neighborhood, the restaurant owner must be brave enough. Just a rough calculation shows that a meal here requires at least ten silver coins. I guess most poor people will not come. If you eat here, one meal here will reduce one-fifth of their hard-earned monthly salary.

After opening the door and walking in, I found that the restaurant was definitely not as deserted as I imagined. Moreover, the decoration inside the restaurant was very exquisite and the environment was elegant. The diners were also whispering, and there was a certain distance between each table. , maintaining a relatively private space.

The waiters standing at the door can ensure that every guest who enters the restaurant will receive meticulous service. The waiters are well-trained. Not only are they polite when speaking, but their eyes do not look around at Mrs. Alia. , when the waiter was talking to Mrs. Alia, he would consciously lower his eyelids, lower his head slightly, or just stare into Mrs. Alia's eyes.

It felt very cool inside the restaurant. After careful observation, I discovered that there was a piece of ice hidden behind each hidden green plant. It was these constantly melting ice cubes that made the restaurant environment feel very comfortable. Only then did I realize that what the owner of this restaurant sells is not the delicious food, but the elegant environment and service here. He cleverly uses high prices to keep ordinary poor people out, while most nobles He didn't care about a few silver coins, so this became a restaurant dedicated to serving nobles.

Many shop owners in slum neighborhoods are the private properties of some nobles. They will occasionally come here to inspect. It is inevitable that there will be people like us who need to buy lunch here and can find a place in the slums. A place with an elegant and comfortable environment is far more important than what to eat for lunch.

The silver spoon hit the rim of the goblet and made a clear sound.

The same red bean smoothie served in a tall glass with a red cherry on top appears in such a restaurant, and its value increases thirty times.

The silver spoon was filled with soft red beans and finely crushed ice chips. She put it into her red lips and felt the coldness and sweetness. Mrs. Alia enjoyed the dessert with an elegant posture. Catalina was sitting in front of the dining table, carefully admiring the exquisite dessert in the cup, as if she couldn't bear to eat it all at once. Her beautiful red eyes were filled with a touch of joy, but she didn't know that she and the other people on the dining table were This exquisite dessert has become a beautiful scenery in the eyes of others.

"Katrina should be old enough to get married, right? Alas, twenty-five years old is every girl's nightmare in Green." Lady Alia sighed softly.

Catalina did not answer in a hurry, but turned to look at me sitting opposite her, smiled faintly, and a trace of blush appeared on her face.

"It seems that you are a little luckier than many girls." Mrs. Alia said knowingly.

"Are you saying that Catalina is luckier than others because of me?" I asked Mrs. Alia, and then curled my lips mockingly before saying, "The laws of the empire do not say that magicians do not need to perform military service. "Obviously, I don't have this privilege. After I graduate from the Royal Academy of Magic, I also need to perform military service."

Mrs. Alia smiled slightly and said, "Does it make any difference to you whether you serve in the military or not?"

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

Mrs. Alia used a silver spoon to stir the melted ice water mixed with bean paste at the bottom of the goblet, and said with a leisurely expression: "For Jijia, maybe after graduation, even if you don't have to serve in the military, it seems If you need this opportunity, take your followers to the battlefield to achieve some meritorious deeds. ! I know you are the kind of person who will not live a mediocre life all his life, and you are doing very well now! When you were in El City, you were a falcon, able to hunt in the ice and snow. Those strong barbarians, will they still be afraid of the indigenous people on the plane? "

"Who can predict what happens on the battlefield? There are powerful enemies lurking everywhere. Every step is like walking on thin ice. When you open your eyes every morning, you have to thank the goddess of luck for her blessing." I withdrew my bright eyes. , took a sip of juice, and then said: "But even so, I will not be obsessed with longevity and afraid of death. Since the goddess of luck has chosen me and given me the ability to control magic, I think I am destined not to live a mediocre life." life.”

I was thinking about whether to tell the story about Catalina and I to Mrs. Alia, when I heard someone sitting next to me seemed to be arguing excitedly about something. Although I didn’t want to eavesdrop, our attention was quickly drawn to the sound of the argument. Attracted past.

I heard someone at the next table say excitedly: "Hey, Brennan, listen to me, as long as you lend me another two hundred gold coins, I will get through this difficulty. You have to have faith in me. At this time, Rune Metal The stock market is sluggish, and I’m not alone. This is the case in every industry. Mining companies above Angela's multidimensional level have been forced to close their doors. As a result, mithril and thorium are now as rare as fine gold. There is no way for factories to operate normally, but there are such a large number of There are so many people to support, what can you tell me to do?”

Just listen to another tired and slightly hoarse voice, lowering the tone and saying: "But Nick, how long do you want me to wait? I am just an employee of a small venture capital company, and I need some performance to prove to my boss. I am still a useful person, after all, I have to prove that the work I do is worthy of the salary.”

The excited voice paused obviously and asked with some astonishment: "Aren't the investment prospects you found always very good?"

"No matter how good the prospects are, they will be dragged down by this economic storm. I don't know when this damn plane war will end. Even if it ends, so what? Dao Green's economy will be restored in no time. "?" The hoarse and tired voice was so weak, "If you think like this, it means you are too naive. Listen to my advice, don’t be a philanthropist, dismiss the workers in your workshop. Every month you have to throw dozens of gold coins in to feed them, but your workshop has stopped production, these two There has been no profit in your workshop for more than a month. If this continues, you will become a pauper with a heavy load. Old friend, please don’t be like this.”

The tone of the excited voice became much louder again: "Is there really no other way?"

"Nick, listen to me and sell it. At least you can still have some money left. Don't wait until you are penniless to think about the solution. Can you still shamelessly go to the airport terminal to be carried by others? Bag?" the tired voice whispered again.