Zhou Mingrui sat on the chair until the church bells in the distance resounded. After seven consecutive chimes, he stood up slowly and strolled to the front of the cabinet to take out his clothes.
A black vest, a same-color suit, a pair of slightly tight trousers, and a half-topped hat. The clothes gave a scholarly touch. As Zhou Mingrui looked at himself in the mirror, he felt as if he was watching a British drama about Victorian stories.
"I am not going to the interview. I am just buying groceries and preparing the materials for the luck conversion ritual…" Suddenly, he muttered and shook his head.
Klein had been so concerned with the upcoming interview that it became a physical instinct. Whenever his attention was not there, he would habitually put on his only set of decent clothing.
With a sigh of relief, Zhou Mingrui took off his formal suit and vest and put on a brownish-yellow coat. The top of his head was changed to a felt hat with a rounded edge.
He packed himself up and paced to the side of the bed. He lifted the upper cushion, stretched his hand through an unnoticeable hole at the bottom, groped, and found the concealed space.
When his right hand retracted, he had a few pieces of notes in his palm. There were about seven or eight notes and their color was of faded dark green.
This was Benson's current savings, it even included the living expenses for the next three days. It contained two five Sule notes and the rest were one Sule notes.
In Kingdom of Ruen's currency system, Sule belonged to the second level. It originated from ancient silver coins and one Sule equaled to twelve copper pence. Both the one Sule and five Sule denominations existed in the market.
At the top of the currency system was the gold pound, which was also a part of the banknotes, but it was guaranteed by gold and was pegged directly. A gold pound was equal to twenty Sule, with one pound, five pounds and ten pounds denominated bank notes.
Zhou Mingrui spread out the folded banknotes and he smelled a very light and minuscule scent of special oil ink.
It was the scent of money.
Maybe it was because of Klein's memory fragmentation, or perhaps his own desire for money that had never changed. Zhou Mingrui felt that he had fallen in love with these little things.
Well, their designs were so beautiful that even the picture of George III with his two mustaches and old-fashioned looks, had appeared to be so cute.
Alas, the watermark that was visible under the sun was tempting as well. It was the well-designed anti-counterfeiting label that made it distinct from counterfeit notes!
After half a minute of appreciation, Zhou Mingrui took out two notes of one Sule, re-rolled the rest and stuffed it back into the hidden space inside the mattress.
After smoothing the cloth near the hole, Zhou Mingrui took out the two banknotes and folded it neatly. He put them into the pocket on the left side of the brown-yellow jacket so that they were separated from the pennies in the pocket of his trousers.
After all these, he placed the key into his right pocket, took a large, dark brown paper bag and walked towards the door.
Tud, tud, the footsteps went from fast to slow and eventually stopped. Zhou Mingrui paused by the door, his brows had subconsciously raised.
There were many mysteries surrounding Klein's suicide. If he were to just go out like this, would he meet with any "accidents"?
After a moment of contemplation, Zhou Mingrui returned to the desk. He opened the drawer and took out the shiny brass revolver. This was the only self-defense weapon he could think of. It was also a powerful enough weapon.
Although he had never practiced shooting before, he could still pull out the pistol and it would at least be enough to scare people.
Caressing the cold metal of the revolver, Zhou Mingrui stuffed it into the pocket where the banknotes were and he clutched the money with his palm. With his fingers on the pistol, it would be perfectly hidden.
A sense of security rose. Yet, as someone who knew a little of everything, Zhou had other worries.
[Will it accidentally discharges a round?]
After thinking for a while, Zhou Mingrui quickly came to a solution. He took out his pistol and flicked the wheel out to the left, turning the chamber vacated by "suicide" bullet to the position to be hit and then slammed it together.
[In this way, even if there is an accidental discharge, it will only be a "blank round"!]
Re-arranging the pistol, Zhou Mingrui's kept his left hand in his pocket and did not intend to take it out anymore.
He pressed the hat with his right hand and opened the door in a clang!
The corridor during the day was still dark as limited sunlight could penetrate from the windows. Zhou Mingrui quickly walked down the stairs. When he left the apartment, he immediately felt the splendor and warmth of the sun.
Although it was July and close to the midsummer, Tengon was located in the north of the Kingdom of Ruen and had unique climatic characteristics. The highest temperature in a year was less than 30 degrees Celsius on Earth. It was also generally cool in the early morning. There were some places in the streets that were wet, dirty and clustered with unwanted goods. In the memory of Klein, those were where the low-income class lived. Even if there were sewers, similar scenes were never rare, because there were too many people trying to live.
"Come and try, we have delicious baked fish!"
"Hot and fresh oyster soup, take a cup in the morning and have a full day of spirit!"
"Fresh fish from the port for only 5 pence!"
"Muffins, squid soup with ginger beer!"
"Conch for sale!"
"Vegetables harvested from the farm outside the city this morning. They are cheap and fresh!"
The street vendors selling vegetables, fruits, and cooked food shouted loudly, beckoning passengers in a hurry. Some of them stopped and carefully compared the goods, while others waved their hands impatiently because today's work had not been found yet.
Zhou Mingrui smelled the various stenches and aromas in the air that were coming and going. His left hand held the gun handle firmly and tightened the grip on the banknotes. The right hand pressed the felt-tip hat and bent slightly to walk down the busy street.
There would be thieves in the places where there were many people, especially in this neighborhood where there were many poor and unemployed people doing temporary work as well as hungry children manipulated by adults.
All the way forward, when the density of the crowd returned to normal, Zhou straightened his back. He raised his head and looked at the streets.
There was a wandering accordionist who was playing music. The melody was pleasant and warm. He was also surrounded by a group of children dressed in ragged and ugly clothes. They looked malnourished and sallow.
They listened to music, followed the beats, twisted their bodies according to their instincts and danced their own dances. Their faces were filled with joy, just as if they were little princes and little angels.
A woman with numb expression walked pass, her skirt was dirty and her skin was dull.
Her eyes were dull and sluggish. Only when she looked at the group of children, did she flash a little spark as she almost saw herself thirty years ago.
Zhou Mingrui surpassed her and turned to another street, stopping in front of "Smyrin's bakery."
The owner of the bakery was a 70-year-old grandmother called Wendy Smyrin. Her hair was gray and her face was always filled with a mild smile. As far as Klein could remember, she had always been selling bread and pastries here.
[Um, her baked Tengon cake and lemon cake are very tasty…] Zhou Mingrui swallowed his saliva and smiled.
"Mrs. Smyrin, 8 pounds of rye bread."
"Oh, Little Klein, has Benson come back yet?" Wendy asked, smiling.
"He will still need a few days." Zhou Mingrui answered vaguely.
Wendy grabbed the rye bread while sighing.
"He is a very hardworking guy and he will have a good wife."
Speaking of this, her mouth rose, laughing slightly and mischievously.
"Now that you have graduated, our Hoey University History student. Well, you will soon start to make money. So you should not live in such an apartment any longer. At least, you should get a place with individual bathrooms."
"Mrs. Smyrin, you are like a young and lively lady today." Zhou Mingrui could only respond with a dry chuckle.
If Klein could successfully pass the interview and become a lecturer at the University of Tengon, the entire family would indeed go straight to a well-off condition!
From his memory fragment, he had even imagined renting a suburban bungalow house with five or six rooms upstairs, two bathroom rooms, a large balcony, two rooms downstairs, a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, a washroom, and an underground storage room.
This was not a luxury. Even a probational lecturer at the University of Tengon could earn 2 gold pounds a week. After receiving an official offer, it would be 3 gold pounds and 10 sule. Afterall, Klein's brother Benson, who had been working for several years could only have a weekly salary of 1 pound 10 sule. A factory's ordinary workers would earn even less than a pound or perhaps just a little more. The rent for a single family house would range from 19 sule to 1 pound 18 sule.
[This is the difference between earning three or four thousand dollars a month versus earning fourteen to fifteen thousand dollars a month…] Zhou Mingrui secretly muttered.
However, the premise of all this was to be able to pass the interview at the University of Tengon or Beckerland University.
There were not many other opportunities. People with no background would not be recommended to become government officers. Furthermore, as a student in History, the scope of employment was even narrower than others. There was also not much demand for private consultants from aristocrats, bankers or industrial tycoons.
Taking into account that Klein's knowledge had also become "fragmented", incomplete and broken, Zhou Mingrui could only regard Mrs. Smyrin's expectations with some awkwardness and guilt.
"No, I've always been so youthful," Wendy answered humorously.
In the middle of the dialogue, she had loaded 16 pieces of dark rye bread which Zhou Mingrui had weighed into the dark brown large paper bags that he brought along.
"9 pence."
Each rye bread weighed about 0.5 pounds and small deviations were inevitable.
"9 pence, didn't you asked for 11 pence two days ago?" asked Zhou Mingrui, subconsciously.
Last month it was 15 pence.
"You have to thank the people who marched on the street for the repeal of the Grain Act." Wendy laughed while spreading both hands.
Zhou Mingrui could vaguely understand this and he nodded. As Klein's memory was somewhat crippled, he could only remember that the core of the "Grain Act" was to protect the prices of domestic agricultural products. Before the price rose to a certain extent, it was not allowed to import grain products from the Southern Feneteau, Masin, Lanberg and other countries.
[Why did some people want to march on the street to protest against it?]
Without saying much, Zhou Mingrui was afraid to accidentally take out the revolver. So he could only squish the notes carefully, taking out one of them and handing it to Mrs. Smyrin.
After receiving three copper pennies as change and stuffing them into the trousers pockets, he took the paper bag containing the pieces of bread and walked towards the "Lettuce and Meat" market across the street. He would try to obtain the meat for his sister's stew mutton with peas.
There was a municipal square at the intersection of the Iron Cross Street and the Daffodil Street. At this time, there were a number of tents being set up. There were clowns with funny costumes distributing leaflets.
[Tomorrow evening, circus performance?] Zhou Mingrui glanced at the flyers in the hands of others and whispered the contents.
[Melissa will definitely like it, but I don't know how to collect tickets.] With a flash of thoughts, Zhou Mingrui moved closer to the clowns.
He was just about to ask one of the clowns in red and yellow costumes when suddenly he heard a hoarse female voice from the side.
"Would you like to try a divination?"
Subconsciously turning his head, Zhou Mingrui saw a woman wearing a black pointed hat and a dark dress standing in front of a low tent.
Her face was smeared with red and yellow paint while her eyes were gray, blue and profound.
"No." Zhou Mingrui shook his head to answer, he did not have the spare cash for a diviner.
The woman laughed and smiled.
"My tarot divination is very accurate."
"Tarot …" Zhou Mingrui was immediately stunned.
This pronunciation was very similar to Tarot on Earth!
The Tarot cards on Earth was a kind of fortune-telling poker, but they were more "graphic cards" with symbolic pictures.
And then… He suddenly remembered the origin of Tarot's divination in this world.
It did not originate from seven orthodox gods nor was it an ancient legacy. However, it was invented by Russell Gustaf, who was the Archon of the Republic of Intis more than 170 years ago.
Mr. Rusell invented the steam engine, improved the sailing boat, overthrew the rule of the Kingdom of Intis. He was also recognized by the "God of Craftsmanship" church and became the first Archon of the Republic of Intis.
Later, he invaded the various other parts of the world and took in Lanberg and other countries under his protection. This allowed the Kingdoms of Ruen, Feneteau and the Vorzak Empire to bow down to the strengths of Intis. He then changed the Republic to an Empire, claiming to be "The Great Caesar".
It was during Russell's reign that the "God of Craftsmanship" church received the first public revelation since the "Fifth Era", it formally changed the title "God of Craftsmanship" to "God of Steam and Machinery".
Russell also invented tarot divination and established the playstyles of the contemporary card games. There were several types that Zhou Mingrui was familiar with, including Upgrade, Fighting Landlord, Texas poker and Quint…
In addition, he had also sent a fleet that discovered a route to the Southern Continent through the stormy and turbulent seas. This set the beginning of the era of Colonialism.
Unfortunately, after Russel became old, he was betrayed. In 1198 of the fifth era, he was assassinated by the Church of Eternal Blazing Sun, the formal royal family of Intis, the Sauron family, and other nobles. He had later died in the White Maple Palace.
This … remembering these common pieces of knowledge, Zhou Mingrui suddenly had a little toothache.
[Is this a transmigration senior?]
With these thoughts in mind, Zhou Mingrui had an urge to see what the Tarot cards looked like. He then nodded to the woman with the pointed hat and a painted face.
"If the price is reasonable, I will give it a try."
The woman laughed immediately.
"Sir, you are the first person to come for divination today. It will be free of charge."