A few rough men were sitting on the rocks by the sea. This side was relatively empty. There was a piece of cloth spread on the rock, and on the cloth were two leftover roast chickens. There were also a few empty wine bottles next to them. The men had greasy mouths from eating and were burping.

"Hey Manda, why did you leave three silver coins for that kid just now?

One of them had drunk a little too much and asked with his tongue rolled up, leaning against the rock with his legs spread apart.

"You guys don't understand the concept of taking things easy. If you take it all, and that guy can't continue and runs away, who will he steal from next time?"

"We have to give him some hope and let him keep going, so that he won't give up, don't you think? Haha."

Manda was very drunk, his face flushed, and he spoke drunkenly in a slow voice.

"Brother Manda is really smart. Come, have another sip."

"Dry!"

Several people picked up the wine bottles and started drinking. They spent most of the 9 silver coins they had stolen that day.

The boy who was robbed was the waiter whom Loran Hill had seen in the restaurant before. After that incident, his "reputation" spread among the guests. Some other guests also learned to tease him, asking him to squeal like a pig, and deliberately making things difficult for him, wanting to laugh at him.

This is a cheap way to show off themselves, as if their status immediately becomes higher when they laugh at others.

The world is not all sunshine and rainbows, there is even more meanness and nastiness.

One day, he finally couldn't work anymore. When the boss found out, he didn't say much. He paid him the salary and asked him to try his luck in some workshops in the city. It happened that Nisos's winery was recruiting, so he became an ordinary winery worker. Although he could only get 2/3 of the salary due to his young age, he was very satisfied.

The next day he went to work at the winery as usual, but he was not as energetic as usual. He just worked mechanically, and his numb and dull expression was exactly the same as that of other workers in the factory, as if they were cast in the same mold.

These workers don't think about the meaning of life. They just work, eat, sleep, and get up to work again. When they have a little money, they buy some delicious food or drink some wine.

As for what the future will be like, they don’t think about it, nor are they too lazy to think about it. Everyone lives like this, isn’t it?

Workers like these abounded in Hopeland. Some hailed from the countryside, some stowed away from the West Wind, and some were even fugitives from other countries. As long as you could work, no one cared about your past, not even if you were a king. Trapped in this repetitive, tedious labor, one's spirituality was slowly worn away, until they became like stone, like everyone else.

We all do this, don't we? So I just continued on with a clear conscience, accepting the fact that I was just human.

----------

But even in this ever-recurring dark world, there are still people trying to light the fire.

A new employee came to the winery. He had short black hair and was a young man in his twenties named Grete. The most striking thing about him was his bright eyes, which seemed to reveal some kind of belief.

After he arrived, he spent the first few days learning the work processes and precautions normally. After a while, he quickly became familiar with the young people in the winery. Because he was handsome, even some aunts liked him.

One day, after getting off work early, he called Bud and invited him to go have a drink and relax.

Bud said he had no money and was a little self-conscious. He felt that he couldn't speak and would only make the audience feel awkward if he went.

But Gretel didn't care. He said he would treat Bud and dragged him along. Since Gretel was usually quite good and not a bad person, Bud didn't resist. So the two of them bought some bread, bacon, and some wine, and went to a quiet hillside near the sea to eat and chat.

"Bud, where are you from?"

"I'm from Graythorn County, a poor place near the border of Verga."

"Oh, I'm from West Wind. My hometown is quite far away, in Nid County. We have a lot of ore there, but unfortunately, mining is too tiring."

"Yes, I heard that mining is quite dangerous." Bud nodded.

"Well, what about you, Bud? What's your specialty?"

"We're relatively poor, so only gray hemp is famous."

"Not bad, I've never seen what gray hemp looks like."

"Gray Ma is..."

In this way, Bud and Gretel talked about their past, back and forth, talking about their hometown, local specialties, why they came to Hopeland, and how their lives were going recently.

Bud was a little reserved at first, but as the two chatted casually, Gretel revealed that she also had many shortcomings and fears, which made Bud feel closer to her, so he relaxed a lot.

At least this person was listening to me, wanted to understand me, and truly treated me as a person. This kind of care and respect for the other person's feelings was something he had never experienced before, and it was the first time in his life.

Unconsciously, Bud said a lot of words that had been suppressed for a long time, his own thoughts, his past, and some recent events.

As dusk approaches, the orange sun soaks into the junction of sky and water, and its soft light spreads on the beach and hillside, dyeing the world into a beautiful golden color.

The two stood on the beach. Gretel picked up a small stone and threw it out at an angle, watching the stone bounce on the sea surface, leaping three times before falling into the water.

"How about it, isn't it great~" Gret said a little boastfully.

"Haha, this is awesome, look at me."

Bud also picked up a stone and threw it towards the sea. The stone jumped several times on the water and fell down. Although it didn't fly far, it was still better than Gretl.

"Look, what do you think!" Bud said with a smile.

"I didn't realize you were quite capable, Bud."

"Of course not, haha." After saying that, both of them laughed.

From that day on, Bud and Gretel became friends. A few days later, Gretel took Bud to meet more people. Some of them worked in the winery, some worked in the oil press next door, and some worked in the dyeing factory. These people were similar to Gretel, very sincere and enthusiastic. None of them laughed at Bud's appearance. Instead, they said that he looked not bad. This made him regain a lot of confidence and became much more cheerful than before.

In this way, this group of people often ate together after get off work and sometimes went out to play. Bud also had many friends and no longer curled up in the corner like before.

It was as if the sun was coming over the wall, and the sunlight was pouring into this dark and damp corner, making it slowly dry and hard.