When they left, Fino drove the carriage alone. Instead of going to the Scavengers' ancient castle that Dudian had seen before, he directly headed for the residential area and stopped at the foot of the high wall, telling Dudian to get out and walk back on his own.
"Don't I need to become a 'Scavenger'?" Dudian asked, feeling a bit puzzled.
Fino jumped back onto the carriage and said impatiently, "We've already tested you. There's no need to go there for another test. In a few days, someone will come to take you for registration." After that, he flicked the reins in his hand, and the black carriage sped away.
Dudian frowned slightly, then turned and walked along the street towards Mr. and Mrs. Jula's house. Fortunately, he had followed the carriage of the El family back once before and remembered the route. Otherwise, he would surely have gotten lost.
By the time he returned to No. 108 Linkang Street, he was so tired that he was gasping for breath, sweating all over, and his legs were sore. Although Mr. and Mrs. Jula's house wasn't far from the high wall, only about seven or eight li away, his body hadn't recovered from the aftereffects of being in the freezing chamber, and his physical strength was much weaker than that of an ordinary child of his age.
At the door of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Jula were standing there looking around. When they saw Dudian appear around the street corner, their eyes lit up immediately, and they quickly came up to meet him.
Gray wondered, "Why didn't anyone send you back? Did you walk back by yourself?"
Jula gave him a look and said, "Let's go inside and talk about it."
Gray realized this and immediately picked up Dudian's weak and tired little body and quickly went back into the house. After closing the door, Jula found a cotton towel to wipe Dudian's sweat and asked with concern, "Child, are you okay? Those people didn't do anything to you, did they?"
Seeing their reaction, Dudian knew that they probably knew something and asked, "You know about it?"
"Someone from above came to inform us that you've been qualified to join the guards," Gray said, looking at Dudian's flushed little face from the heat. He asked suspiciously, "Didn't you pass the test?"
Dudian thought to himself that it seemed the identity of a "Scavenger" also needed to be kept secret. He said, "I passed. Someone will take me there for registration in a few days. However, I don't want to go. Can I refuse this?"
If he could choose, he still preferred to learn the law first, master more knowledge, and then go outside the Great Wall to see the scenery there.
Gray heaved a sigh of relief and said with a laugh, "Do you know how many people want to go but don't have the chance? You, a child, actually want to refuse. Being a guard can ensure that you don't have to worry about food, drink, birth, aging, illness, and death for the rest of your life. You just need to stand guard every day and you can get a large salary. Moreover, no one dares to bully you. What a great thing."
Jula looked at Dudian tenderly and said, "Do you still want to study the law?"
Dudian nodded seriously.
"I've asked about it for you," Jula smiled and said, "When you go there for the training camp, you can still study the law. Moreover, you can not only study the law but also learn about medicine, geology, sewing, and so on. It's a comprehensive school."
School? Dudian was taken aback.
Many people couldn't tell the difference between an academy and a school. Simply put, an academy specializes in one subject, such as the Law Academy or the Sewing Academy, while a school is composed of multiple academies and offers a very comprehensive range of knowledge!
"What's so great about studying the law? Once you become a guard, you won't have to worry about anything," Gray patted Dudian on the shoulder and said with a smile, encouraging him. "Work hard. I heard that there will also be eliminations during the training camp there. You have to focus and don't get kicked out."
Dudian felt relieved. A comprehensive study? This was exactly what he wanted.
"Auntie," Dudian seized the opportunity and said to Jula, "I want to borrow some pocket money. I will definitely pay you back in the future!"
Jula was taken aback, then smiled and said, "How much do you want? I'll just give it to you. What's this about borrowing and paying back? We're all family."
"That's right," Gray smiled and said, "You've been living here for so long. Dian should change his address for us."
Dudian pretended not to understand his words. After estimating in his heart, he said, "About a hundred copper coins."
"So much?" Mr. and Mrs. Jula were taken aback. A hundred copper coins were almost equal to half a month's living expenses for them. Gray wondered, "What do you want to buy that you need so much?"
Dudian had already thought of a reason and said, "I want to buy some food and go back to visit my friends in the orphanage." After that, he thought silently in his heart, I'll borrow it from you first. I'll visit you later.
Jula smiled slightly and said, "That's reasonable. Here you are." With that, she took out a stack of green copper coins from her wallet, counted them, and handed exactly a hundred coins to Dudian.
Since the printing technology emerged ten years ago, the Xinghai Bank under the management of the Sylvia Great Wall had issued a large number of banknotes. In just a few years, the banknotes had replaced the coins and circulated among the households in the residential area. People had gradually gotten used to using the lightweight banknotes for transactions.
"Thank you!" Dudian immediately took the coins, didn't count them, and directly stuffed them into his pocket.
Seeing this, Gray didn't say anything more and waved for Jula to go and make dinner.
Early the next morning.
Dudian got up on time, washed up, had breakfast, greeted Mr. and Mrs. Jula, and then went out directly. Although he didn't know when the "Scavengers" would send someone to pick him up, he didn't need to go to the Law Academy for classes these days.
"Sulfur..." Dudian vaguely remembered how to make gunpowder. It was something his sister had told him when she made firecrackers for him during a festival. However, he didn't know what else was needed besides sulfur. After all, he was still young at that time and wasn't interested in such things.
Dudian didn't directly go to buy sulfur. Instead, he hailed a carriage and headed for the slum area to retrieve something that belonged to him.
Soon, after entering the slum area, Dudian directly walked towards Meishan Orphanage. Then, when he was four streets away, he turned into a remote and dilapidated street and walked straight ahead. The pungent smell of excrement and the stench of decaying insects along the way made him frown slightly. Before long, he came to the front of a huge garbage dump.
The garbage dump in the slum area was truly a garbage dump.
Here, you would definitely not find anything that still had any use. Thinking of finding treasures in it was just wishful thinking.
So, even the poor people wouldn't come here because all the items discarded here had already been rummaged through.
Standing far away, Dudian could smell a strong smell of a mixture of putrefaction and excrement. Many poor people or vagrants were still willing to relieve themselves here.
There were seven or eight black garbage piles, as huge as small hills. Dudian, as if he knew the place well, came to one of the garbage piles, looked around, and after confirming that there was no one nearby, he bent down and lifted a black cloth that was covered with garbage and some unknown mucus. Under the black cloth was a small hole that was just big enough to accommodate his thin little body.
This was naturally not a coincidence. Instead, this hole was one that he had dug out with his own hands in the first place.