Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Solve housing.
“Chop hands?”
Master Etienne asked back, and after thinking about it, he understood what she meant. He smiled bitterly and said:
“It seems that you are not a very law-abiding child, but…Compared to what you have done just now, this is nothing. In any case, the food leftover at the banquet of the gods must be distributed after the banquet is over. To the temple apprentice, so it cannot be taken away easily.”
Listening to Master Etienne’s admonition, Alice nodded unconsciously. She felt her limbs gradually regained consciousness, and realized that she probably wouldn’t be chopped off-probably because she was still young, Master Etienne didn’t realize that she was stealing deliberately. If she is a few years older, this kind of behavior may not be regarded as a child’s naughty, and she must pay a painful price.
Alice’s thoughts were still wandering about cutting hands, but Etienne was not a stern person, so he quickly changed the subject:
“You like cakes, don’t you?”
Cake, this is an exciting word at all times. Alice was caught by Mr. Etienne, and there was no time to divide the big cake that was finally served on the table. At this time, when Etienne mentioned it, her eyes lit up.
Just listen to Etienne said:
“Choose one from here. I can’t finish it all by myself. Even if I don’t give it to you, I can only give it to the temple apprentices in the end. This is my personal thing, and no one will say anything about it.”
Only then did Alice notice that most of the parcels piled on the side of the table of Master Etienne were snack boxes. The boxes are all beautifully packaged, with ribbons tied on them, which seem to be gifts from women. Some of the boxes were also printed with the shop logo of Master Brad’s pastry shop familiar to Alice.
Alice had never seen so many snacks outside the window of Master Brad’s pastry shop. She looked at the cakes and then at Etienne, she was dumbfounded.
Master Etienne had no time to observe her expression, as he was busy removing the cards attached to the cake box. Compared to the cakes themselves, the cards are more important. Handling these cards properly, and then responding carefully, is also part of his priesthood…perhaps the most important part.
These are gifts from aristocratic women who often enter and exit the temple. The priests have made a pledge to keep their lives. They abandon their family life, live in the temple all their lives, and dedicate everything to the gods. Because of this, according to the general custom, even if they have a closer relationship with the female relatives, they will not cause secular criticism. The local ladies have always had the habit of giving gifts to their favorite priests. Master Etienne is from the capital and has such a good appearance. Therefore, the number of gifts he receives every day is almost one more than the others. Times.
Of course Alice didn’t know this, but she knew that Master Etienne’s kindness should not be easily declined, so she hesitated a bit and chose the smallest one from the cake:
“I want this.”
Etienne glanced at her, then at the box she was pointing at:
“You like cakes, don’t you? Get a bigger one.”
He said that, choosing the largest one within Alice’s reach, carefully binding the ribbon on it to make sure it would not fall, and then handing it to her.
The cake is heavy and has considerable weight. This may be the most valuable thing Alice has ever taken in her life, and she feels that her hands are shaking a little.
Master Etienne’s voice sounded from above:
“I just scared you, accept this cake as compensation.”
After all, Alice could not eat the cake of the gods’ feast. When she came out of Etienne’s office, the gods feast was over, and Etienne sent her out of the temple directly from the side door. Alice stood at the door of the temple with the cake, her whole person still in a trance.
There were too many accidents on this day, her little head couldn’t handle so much information, and she couldn’t tell whether she was lucky or unlucky. She didn’t really want to go back, but now the weather is a bit cold, not suitable for shopping on the street, and the cake is heavy, she has nowhere to go except Dark River Street. So no matter how reluctant she was, she still walked back along the familiar road.
Alice took the cake and returned to Dark River Street. When she said that she had not become a follower of Fergna, the landlady was very dissatisfied with her.
“You didn’t choose Fergna?”
“It was Fogna who didn’t choose me.” Alice decided to use the excuse Etienne used before in front of the master priest. “I memorized the wrong prayer, and she refused to accept me.”
But the landlord’s wife is not that easy to fool. She has been dealing with tenants who cannot pay the rent all her life. She has long been accustomed to seeing lies. So she looked at her suspiciously:
“I haven’t seen anyone who is despised by the gods for memorizing wrong prayers, and a smart girl like you shouldn’t have made such a mistake… Anyway, I can’t leave a girl who is not a member of Fogna at home. It’s not safe.”
Alice did not complain about the landlord’s wife’s decision. She didn’t expect the landlord’s wife to keep her as a maid, but she was a little bit sad when she heard the landlord’s merciless words:
“Can you rent me a smaller empty house?”
When it comes to renting a house, it is another matter. The landlord’s wife put on an official face:
“Yesterday, there was a house that just cancelled the rent, but it can be rented to you. But if you want to live here, you must make sure to be a well-mannered girl. My house is not rented to thieves or prostitutes. If the reputation of a house is No, no one will be willing to rent in the future… What are you going to do to support yourself?”
The answer to this question was already thought of by Alice:
“Like my mother, she washes people.”
“You have a small body, you can’t support yourself by washing clothes.” The landlord’s wife commented, but she didn’t say that she would not rent the house, which made her a little relieved.
But the landlord’s wife still looked at her up and down, as if she wanted to see if she had changed since she came out of her house this morning, or to evaluate her to confirm whether she has the ability to pay the rent. . At this moment she noticed the cake in Alice’s hand:
“Is this cake in your hand? Where did it come from?”
This question is easy to answer:
“The priest in the temple gave it to me.”
The landlord’s wife showed a rather puzzled look, as if she couldn’t understand why the noble priest would give such a valuable cake to the illegitimate girl without a father or mother. She looked at her for a while, and finally threatened:
“As soon as I hear about missing cakes or shameless deeds, I have to leave immediately. I am not a place to take careless girls.”
“I’m telling the truth.” Alice said.
“A girl who is not chosen by Fogna is not trustworthy.” The landlady snorted and changed the subject, “If you still have a little shame, you should pray all day and night, begging Fogna again. Give you a chance… In short, I have to clean the house that I just left the rent. You come over at night, and I will show you to your new home.”
Alice remained silent until the landlord’s wife finished her grand statement. Although the landlady’s attitude was very rude, she still rented out a place to Alice without guaranteeing it, which was grateful enough. Alice bowed to the landlady and left the house.
The problem of living is solved, and the rest is how to make money.
Alice goes to the laundry room.
The proprietress of the laundry on Dark River Street is tall, thin, shrewd and capable, and has never been a good talker. When she heard that Alice wanted to come to work with her, she frowned tightly:
“Do you want to work in our laundry room? No, no, this work has never been done by a child.”
Alice knew she was not good at talking, but she never thought that she would be rejected as soon as she made a request:
“I thought you were short of people right now.”
“Of course, we are always short of people, but we never lack children. What’s more, even when Jenna was alive, she never did a good job.”
Jenna is the name of Alice’s mother. Alice, you opened your mouth to say that her mother did a good job before she fell ill. But she said nothing.
Do you want to go? Or do you stick to it here? At her age, there is no network or godly blessing, even if she is looking everywhere now, it is difficult to find a suitable job. In fact, Alice never thought that she would be rejected by the lady of the laundry room. The work in the laundry room is hard and tiring, and I still don’t make much money. There are always only a few poor old ladies who can’t find other jobs. The laundry work is always so much. In Alice’s view, those jobs are counted. Twice as many people can’t finish it.
At this time the lady boss noticed the box she was carrying:
“What are you holding?”
“It’s a cake. The priest gave it to me.”
The lady of the laundry room often had the opportunity to go in and out of the kitchens of wealthy people. She knew much more about the temple than the landlord, so she unavoidably asked:
“Which priesthood?”
“Master Etienne.”
Hearing Mr. Etienne’s name, the lady boss’s expression changed a little, and she seemed very interested:
“That’s an important person.”
Alice nodded vaguely. Perhaps it was a blessing to the soul. She suddenly opened up a little bit and couldn’t help blurting out:
“I can’t finish eating such a good cake by myself, so let’s eat it together.”
“How embarrassed then!”
The lady in the laundry room screamed, but her eyes were fixed on the box.
Alice smiled:
“When my mother was here, everyone in the laundry room took more care of our mother and daughter. It should be possible to have a chance to invite everyone to eat some cake.”
This sentence is not entirely a lie. When Alice’s mother was ill, the washerwomen really took care of her. It’s just that the lady in the laundry room has always been mean and didn’t actually help much.
However, the proprietress took it for granted that all thanks were taken:
“You also know how to be grateful, thinking that Jenna was sick at the time. If you change someone, she would not let her do it… You wait here and I’ll make a pot of tea.”
While talking, the lady in the laundry room went to the kitchen to make tea, then took out a knife and handed it to Alice to share the cake.
There are about seven or eight washerwomen here. Although the cake is not small, if it is to be distributed to so many people, each person can only get a small piece. Alice gritted her teeth, cut out a particularly large piece and gave it to the lady boss. Seeing her like this, the lady boss’ eyes flashed with satisfaction. The tea was cooked now, she took out the cup and poured a cup for everyone:
“Come and take a break, have a bite of cake, and have a cup of hot tea.”
The washerwomen raised their heads, revealing dull and stupid faces. However, when the sweet cream and soft cake are put into the mouth, no matter who’s expression will become soft, even the hard-faced lady boss also showed a gentle expression:
“I won’t give you a fixed salary. I will pay you for it. And every time you go to the temple to collect clothes and deliver clothes, you have to go with me—I will not pay you extra for this part of the work. No matter how much tip you get, you can only get one-third.”
This requirement is really harsh, but Alice is not qualified to be picky. She nodded silently and took a sip of tea.
Of course there won’t be any good tea in the laundry room, but Alice can’t drink anything good or bad, but she thinks the tea is warm and hot enough to be ironed. The cream on the cake melts on the tip of the tongue, leaving a bit of tenderness remaining.
At the banquet of the gods before, she was taken away by Lord Etienne in advance, and failed to eat the cake at the banquet. But Alice bet that this cake is a hundred times more delicious than what can be eaten at the Feast of the Gods.