Chapter 267 The 28th of the Twelfth Lunar Month (Catching Bugs): Truly Naive
Lu Xun was right; human joys and sorrows are not shared.
While Ivanov was being subjected to both physical and mental blows by Prononin wielding a golf club, Wang Xiao was already happily fast asleep in the winter night of Beijing.
Because of her good sleep quality, when she woke up at around 5 a.m., she still felt like she had just had a full-body spa treatment, feeling very comfortable.
It seems that moxibustion is indeed effective, at least in helping to improve her sleep.
The boss woke up, and his bodyguard, Lyuba, naturally couldn't continue sleeping. She got up to ask what he wanted, still sleepy-eyed, but forcing herself into work mode: "Are you looking at the documents, or..."
Wang Xiao waved his hand: "No need, you go to sleep, I'll just sit for a while."
Rarely able to steal half a day of leisure, she didn't want to look at any documents; she just wanted to quietly daydream for a while.
Well, to put it in a more sophisticated way, it's called meditation.
Even so, Lyuba dared not leave her boss alone in the dark. She turned on a light before crawling back into bed to continue sleeping.
As a bodyguard who needs to be vigilant at all times, she definitely needs a rest.
The desk lamp cast a dim, yellowish light, and the round bulb, illuminated by its glow, possessed a soft, sunset-like beauty. Wang Xiao stared at the light for a while, then sadly realized that she really seemed to be someone who couldn't stop moving.
Daydreaming was far too boring for her.
But hearing Lyuba's quiet breathing, even though she was a heartless capitalist, she felt embarrassed to go back on her word and disturb the bodyguard's sleep.
Wang Xiao gently turned his wheelchair and came to the window, wanting to see the winter night of the 28th day of the 12th lunar month in 1993.
The moment her fingers touched the double-glazed vacuum window, the cold air from the anti-condensation coating made her fingertips go numb.
But when she pressed the switch on the electric curtains, the motor-driven track quietly slid open, revealing two completely different worlds outside the window.
In the distance, the white snow stretched as far as the eye could see, almost as bright as day. The rooftops and tree branches were covered in snow.
Nearby, everything was a vast expanse of white, with not a trace of snow in sight. The snow-melting system on the viewing balcony, which had been running all night, was causing the snow on the railings to evaporate into wisps of white mist.
It's like a fairyland.
A fairyland unrelated to the human world.
She looked further ahead and saw, under the streetlights, rows of cotton balls moving with all their might—snow shovelers frantically wielding brooms and shovels on the street. The neon lights shimmered pink in the snow, casting silhouettes of the snow shovelers.
Even through the glass and hundreds of meters away, Wang Xiao could still feel as if she could hear the rustling sound of a bamboo broom scraping the ground, like the silkworms she used to raise as a child eating mulberry leaves.
The white mist rising from the heads of snow shovelers is like the silk threads spun by silkworms.
Wang Xiao stared at it quietly for a full ten minutes before looking away. The thermometer on the inside of the glass in front of her showed a constant 21.5℃.
A window separates two worlds.
Those inside could see the hardships outside, but they couldn't feel the coldness they endured.
Wang Xiao leaned against the wheelchair and slowly exhaled.
The imported Japanese motor slid up silently. She slowly closed her eyes, resting and, incidentally, began to ponder the age-old question of what to eat for breakfast.
Fortunately, the breakfast selection at the Changgong Hotel was very extensive; if I had to exaggerate, I'd call it a global culinary expo.
Wang Xiao had a Huaiyang-style morning tea, and then he, his bodyguard, and Yang Tao all agreed that it couldn't compare to the Jinning Grand Hotel.
If I had known, I would have preferred Cantonese cuisine. Given the clientele of Changgong Hotel, I imagine their Cantonese food would be more authentic.
Wang Xiao wiped her mouth and was pushed out the door by her bodyguard.
When they arrived at the gate, Yang Tao took a second look at the Russian doorman, Aris, trying to determine if he was an ambitious person.
As it turns out, perhaps because her gaze was too deep, Aris misunderstood and secretly gave her a flirtatious wink.
Oh my god! Yang Tao suddenly felt that the soup dumplings she ate for dim sum were so greasy that she almost threw up on the spot.
She got into the car with a cold expression and told the boss her judgment directly: "This person is probably content with the status quo."
Xiao Gao had been holding back his laughter the whole time, but he couldn't help it any longer and burst out laughing: "Maybe he thinks you're interested in him and want to have a romantic moment with him."
Yang Tao sneered: "That only proves how low his self-esteem is. He doesn't even think that besides his looks, he has anything else that attracts attention; so how can he expect others to see his work ability and inner qualities? Besides, at work, he's already flirting with people. He really chose the wrong workplace. Does he think he's a Japanese male escort?"
Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao laughed even harder, with Xiao Zhao slapping his thigh wildly: "Yes, yes, you forgot to mention one thing last night, this is also a way out."
Wang Xiao was completely speechless.
If they were discussing women, she would definitely have stopped them. But men think completely differently from women; even Ivanov felt that when people said he could sleep with rich women, it was an endorsement of his sexual prowess.
So she could only chuckle, and then casually added a word of advice to Yang Tao: "A person's work ability and personal morality are often not proportional. In the future, you'll be using people who can get things done, not moral exemplars. Don't confuse this point and forget that what companies pursue is profit."
Yang Tao, who had been pouting, quickly agreed, "I understand, boss."
The "three guarantees in front of the door" system implemented in Beijing is indeed effective. When cars drive onto the main road, the snow has already been shoveled to the sides of the road, and what remains is for the municipal sanitation workers to clear away the snow piles.
Thanks to the hard work of the staff from all the units who got up before dawn, the car drove smoothly to the School of Foreign Languages.
If it weren't for the cracking sound of tires crushing the ice, Wang Xiao, with his eyes closed, wouldn't even have been able to tell that the ancient city had just experienced a night of heavy snowfall.
The car was parked outside the lecture hall. Wang Xiao, wrapped up tightly like a silkworm cocoon, was carried in and out by bodyguards.
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the School of Foreign Languages had already started its winter break, but the campus was anything but deserted.
Firstly, transportation in China was underdeveloped in 1994. It was not uncommon for college students from all over the country to spend a week on the road to go home, so many people would only go home during the longer summer vacation.
Secondly, the night school at the foreign language school is extremely popular.
The trend of going abroad is sweeping the country. If you want to go abroad, you should at least know a couple of foreign languages, otherwise you'll be mute when you get there.
So even on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, when every household was busy preparing the main dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner, with people frying four-happiness meatballs, stewing soybean paste, and stir-frying mixed vegetables, the lecture hall was also bustling with noise.
Even in a less common language class like German, there were hundreds of students sitting in close proximity.
Wang Xiao entered the classroom through the back door and saw only wisps of white mist.
The heating was insufficient, and even the glass windows were covered with frost flowers.
Yang Tao was a little embarrassed: "It's almost Chinese New Year, and the school is short-staffed. Besides, the lecture hall is already quite large."
"It's nothing." Wang Xiao interrupted her directly, adding meaningfully, "You're overthinking it."
She only took on the task of arranging for these workers to go abroad in order to successfully acquire the land for the old factory.
She's neither the Party Secretary nor the Youth League Secretary, nor the Trade Union Chairperson, yet she's concerned about whether the classrooms where workers attend classes have insufficient heating? She's so idle.
Besides, looking at the whole country, this level of classroom is already among the best. Air conditioning is a luxury these days; most places rely on sheer willpower to get through the winter.
The workers in the classroom clearly didn't care about the cold. They were all wrapped in cotton-padded coats or jackets, and their faces showed eagerness, confusion, anxiety, and impatience.
The person staring intently at the podium copied the words "Chancen und Disziplin" from the blackboard into a notebook still printed with the Chairman's portrait and the words "Serve the People," while stumbling along with the teacher, repeating the pronunciation of "Chancen und Disziplin."
Those who are confused cannot read along and can only wait for the German teacher on the podium to repeat it slowly.
The impatient workers, like boils on their buttocks, couldn't sit still and kept fidgeting, making creaking noises.
Even the jarring rustling sound didn't wake the middle-aged female factory workers dozing in the row behind them. The rustling of someone flipping through "900 German Sentences" couldn't drown out their deep snores.
Wang Xiao glanced at it but didn't care.
She wouldn't stoop so low as to criticize the sleeping middle-aged female worker for not studying properly, asking her why she didn't eat meat porridge.
It's easy to guess that these female workers have to take care of housework in addition to their jobs. Especially now that the Lunar New Year is approaching, there are countless things to do at home. The fact that they can squeeze out time to attend night school proves that they want to learn.
After the teacher on the podium led everyone in reciting a few words like Danke (thank you!) and Apfel (apple), he asked them to take a break for 10 minutes before leading them to reinforce their learning.
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly relaxed, and a group of people gathered together to discuss how to work in Germany to earn more money.
Oh dear, mid-March has passed, time to start harvesting the chives.
In April, asparagus will be harvested in Bavaria.
After the asparagus harvest ends in June, it's time to pick strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, peaches, apricots, and cherries.
In August, after these fruits are picked, the grapes of Rhineland will usher in their harvest season.
Then, in October, the pumpkins, apples, and olives also need to be picked.
In November, I'm going to Lower Saxony to plant Christmas trees, and I'll keep planting them until January before coming back for the New Year.
It seems that farmers in any country can be busy all year round if they want to, and they work very hard.
It doesn't matter, as long as I can make money.
I heard that you can earn 10 marks an hour working on a farm in Germany, that's forty or fifty marks! If you work 10 hours a day, you'd earn four or five hundred!
After working for a month, and deducting all management fees, you should be able to get at least 10,000 yuan.
Good heavens! You can't earn this much money in a year working in a factory.
Sigh, I wonder if there will be any work in February. If there is, what's the point of staying at home?
Working an extra month means ten thousand yuan!
Wang Xiao gestured to his bodyguard to push the cart to the podium and praised the teacher who was wiping the blackboard: "You speak so well, your Chinese is so authentic."
The teacher, with his high nose and grey-blue eyes, laughed out loud; he was an exchange student from East Germany.
Yes, literally. When he came to Beijing to study, East Germany was still in existence. Less than a year into his studies, well, the Berlin Wall fell.
After graduation, he returned to China and worked for a short time. However, he felt he couldn't adapt to the changes in ideology, so he returned to Beijing and taught German at a foreign language institute, while also doing research.
The German teacher, with a high nose and a thick Beijing accent, explained with a laugh, "That's because I never intended to train writers."
The teacher who had previously taught these students was his Chinese colleague, a PhD in German literature, and he felt that the other party's German proficiency was even greater than his own.
However, even with such a high level of expertise, students simply cannot understand the lessons taught by the teachers.
After attending one class, he noticed a problem: China's foreign language education seemed to be too inclusive, as if it was sparing no effort to cultivate every student into an outstanding literary master.
Good heavens, what are you talking about with workers whose average level of education is junior high school? Many of them make countless spelling mistakes when writing Chinese characters.
Are you deliberately making things difficult for them by asking them to understand clauses and figure out complicated German grammar?
Don't worry about subject, verb, and object; just make sure the keywords connect to express the meaning.
Don't worry that their employers won't understand or will feel uncomfortable doing so.
In fact, employers need their ears and hands far more than their mouths. Being able to understand the simplest instructions and focusing on the work is enough; employers have no interest in hearing any of their explanations.
The workers went there to do the work, not to act as cultural exchange ambassadors.
The German teacher couldn't help but complain, "This is probably a common problem in socialist countries: they always imbue simple things like studying or working abroad with too much unnecessary political and cultural significance."
Wang Xiao laughed, offering no comment, only saying, "Then I'll trouble you. Please teach our workers more practical German."
Zhao Qing also made a special trip to the night school today to explain the situation to the boss.
For her, arranging for more than 10,000 employees to go abroad was more troublesome than getting flowers, fruits and nuts from South Africa and Tanzania into Beijing's high-end catering and accommodation market.
So many workers! Everyone has different needs and wants. And many are so naive and ignorant they're practically mentally challenged, completely impervious to reason. Trying to communicate with them is like asking a mother who's never lost this much hair, not even while giving birth!
Fortunately, her hard work and effort paid off, and she has finally managed to get the people settled.
Aside from South Africa and Tanzania, Zhao Qing mainly arranged for these newly requested workers to work as infrastructure workers abroad.
Of course, as a private joint venture, the company does not have the authority to arrange labor export; only state-owned enterprises are qualified to do this kind of work.
Fortunately, the boss had a good relationship with Jiangdong Construction Group and Jiangbei Transportation Group, and was a major client of the latter two, awarding them almost all of his projects.
In return, Zhao Qing contacted the project manager on behalf of her company, expressing her hope to arrange for the 8,000 workers to work abroad through the construction group. The latter immediately agreed.
"The main reason is that workers are easier to manage than farmers," Zhao Qing said frankly. "They have a strong sense of labor discipline, and the concept of following rules is ingrained in their minds, so the construction company is willing to hire them."
Wang Xiao asked curiously, "What kind of projects are they? Which countries are they in?"
"One is a project in Pakistan, with a monthly salary of 2800 after tax, a three-year work period, and a completion bonus. They're sending about 5000 people there. Another is in Malaysia, with 3000 people. The rest—"
She pointed to the classroom, "About 1,000 people went to Germany to work as seasonal fruit pickers, and another 1,000 are scattered in South Africa and Tanzania."
The harvesting project in Germany this season was forced upon them.
Many workers were clamoring and insisting on going to developed capitalist countries, including Europe, America, and Japan, even if it meant paying money to get there.
Having no other choice, Zhao Qing learned through Yang Tao that the boss was in Romania and had even arranged for people to manage asparagus and other planting projects. The person in charge had joined the company at the same time as Yang Tao.
Zhao Qing immediately set his sights on this person in charge.
Since Romanians can migrate to Germany to work as seasonal fruit pickers, can workers in Beijing also do this kind of work?
At worst, their wages will be even lower.
After a few discussions, they actually managed to get it done. Germany's need for seasonal harvesters was comparable to the need for cotton pickers on Xinjiang farms at that time—they wanted as many as possible.
As for policy restrictions, they cleverly found loopholes. Through a labor company owned by their boss in Romania (which made it convenient to bring garment workers from China), they mixed the Beijing workers with Eastern European laborers, and then, through familiar farm connections, obtained 3-month seasonal work visas before going to Germany.
"Many people signed up to go, and this number of one thousand is the result of a selection process."
She prioritized sending educated youth who had returned to the city after being sent down to the countryside.
It wasn't that she thought educated youth were particularly good at enduring hardship, but rather that they had done farm work when they were sent down to the countryside, so they were more familiar with it and could get the hang of it quickly.
Moreover, most of the educated youth are now over forty years old, a time when they are under the greatest pressure of having elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, and are also bound by family ties. They are less likely to act impulsively and understand the importance of thinking things through before acting.
Simply put, it's easy to manage and less likely to cause problems.
Otherwise, if they collect 20% of the workers' wages as management fees and give 10% to the Romania-Germany relations, the remaining 10% wouldn't even be enough to clean up the mess left by the workers.
Wang Xiao then asked with concern, "Did those who weren't selected cause any trouble?"
Zhao Qing laughed and said, "I told them that it doesn't matter if they don't speak a foreign language when they go to work as construction workers."
Because projects undertaken by large state-owned enterprises are like independent kingdoms on the construction site, much like the third-tier factories of the past, they have no connection with the locals and do not disrupt their lives.
Moreover, you won't be lonely inside, as you'll be surrounded by Chinese people.
This is quite appealing to workers who are overwhelmed by the sight of foreign language words.
Wang Xiao laughed: "That's fine, let them handle it, it won't trouble us."
As they were talking, an old man with graying temples at the back of the classroom lingered for a while before finally finding himself in front of Wang Xiao: "Boss, you're the boss, right? Um, I wanted to ask if it would be possible for me to work in Germany indefinitely? I'm a fitter, a level seven one. I have skills; you can't just make me pick grapes."
Wang Xiao glanced at the old worker and reminded him, "You can ask the teacher; he's German, and he knows German policies better."
The old man looked worried: "He just said it wouldn't work, that I have to retake the German skills test, which is in German, but how would I know that?"
Wang Xiao looked at him calmly: "If you can't do it, then there's nothing I can do."
The old man's eyebrows shot up, and his voice rose eight octaves: "I have a skill! I can do the work!"
Wang Xiao was speechless: "Germany doesn't lack skilled workers. Don't forget that Germany is the result of the reunification of East and West Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East German factories struggled to adapt to the transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Hundreds of factories went bankrupt or were merged. Unemployed East German skilled workers were smashing Soviet machinery in the streets to vent their anger because they couldn't find work. And they were still genuine Germans."
All the skilled workers in their own villages with education and expertise are struggling to find jobs, so why would they need an old Chinese man who can't speak the language to be their master craftsman?
Zhao Qing advised, "If you don't want to go to Germany to be a fruit picker, that's fine. You can go to another country to be a construction worker."
The old worker's face flushed red, and he snapped, "You capitalists don't treat workers like human beings! You actually made me, a dignified seventh-grade fitter, become a farmer!"
Having spent a lot of time dealing with the workers, Yang Tao was no longer interested in indulging them and directly retorted, "Your factory didn't fire you, did it? In a socialist factory, the workers are the masters of the factory. Why don't you want to stay? You have to accept your fate. Don't try to have the status of a socialist factory and the benefits of capitalism at the same time. You can't have your cake and eat it too!"
The old worker flew into a rage and kicked the table leg hard.
Fortunately, the tables and chairs in the lecture hall were fixed to the concrete floor; otherwise, his foot would have definitely tipped the table over.
Luckily, he was wearing suede work boots issued by the factory; otherwise, if he had broken his toe, I don't know who he would have blamed.
Yang Tao watched his departing figure, secretly patted her chest, and whispered, "That's good. With a temper like that, he's likely to get into trouble."
Wang Xiao didn't care; she wasn't even afraid that the older workers would incite other workers to cause trouble. Because so many people wanted to go abroad, dividing them was incredibly easy.
Zhao Qing wasn't intimidated. Instead, she declared directly in the classroom, "If you change your minds and don't want to go to Germany anymore, say so now. Otherwise, if we spend a lot of money to get your visas, and then you say you're not going, who will pay for that?"
Those in the classroom busy reviewing German vocabulary quickly said, "No, no, no, let's go! We can earn a year's salary in a month, what more do we want? We're not the kind of people who are insatiable."
The middle-aged female worker, who had been dozing off, was also startled awake. She quickly wiped her drool and exclaimed, "I... I just want to earn money for two years to open a motorcycle repair shop for my second son. Sigh, so he won't keep saying we're biased and that his father's job was taken over by the eldest son."
Everyone burst into laughter: "You're definitely being biased, and you still won't admit it."
Another woman jokingly remarked, "You're so biased and greedy! Unlike me, I don't want anything else. I just want to go out and earn money to pay off the debt for my husband's 38-square-meter house two years ago."
Why didn't the others pressure her to go out and work to earn money? Because her husband was injured on duty and couldn't do heavy physical labor anymore.
Perfect, staying home to take care of things this time is fine too.
The group whispered amongst themselves, discussing what Germany was really like. Was it like New York in the TV series "A Native of Beijing in New York"?
Hey, why doesn't the TV station make a show called "Beijingers in Berlin"? At least let everyone see it.
Just by reading the description in the book, you really can't tell whether it's good or bad.
Amidst laughter, a young man in his early twenties rushed in, panting, and asked, "Who's the boss? Hey, boss, can't you let me go to America? I'll just wash dishes like Wang Qiming."
The others laughed, "Wang Qiming speaks foreign languages, do you?"
"Oh, no need for foreign languages, I can just wash dishes in the kitchen."
Wang Xiao was blocked in front of so many workers, and she had to maintain a kind and friendly demeanor. She couldn't just push them away, so she could only patiently answer, "I can't do that."
The young man had a pair of eyebrows that slanted downwards, making the "eight" shape almost resemble the Chinese character "人" (ren, meaning person). Hey, how come you, such a big boss, can't do this? Don't try to fool me.
Wang Xiao put it succinctly: "The United States won't accept it, the United States doesn't need it."
If she had to make arrangements, whether it was sending a level-seven fitter to Germany as a technician or sending this young man to the United States to wash dishes, she could do it.
But on what grounds?
Their influence was far from enough for her to expend energy and explore opportunities specifically for this matter.
In her eyes, their value lies in following the crowd and going abroad with the masses.
The young man became even more agitated: "Why doesn't America need people to wash dishes? I refuse to believe that Americans don't need people to wash dishes! Right, brothers and sisters, what do you all think? Does America need people to wash dishes?"
Several young men followed behind him, and relying on their numbers, they shouted together, "That's right! America needs us!"
Zhao Qing had a headache: "Americans can wash dishes themselves. Even if they want to find low-paying jobs, Mexico is right next to the US, so there's no shortage of people."
The young man insisted, "We should be allowed to compete fairly."
Wang Xiao was truly annoyed: "Fair competition? Why doesn't your factory recruit nationwide and let all people across the country compete fairly for jobs? Why only hire children of factory employees? At most, why only hire people with Beijing residency? Why is there such a thing as a quota for university graduates to stay in Beijing?"
Without hesitation, the young man replied, "That's different, that's..."
"What is it?" Wang Xiao curled the corners of his mouth slightly. "Beijing can't even tolerate people from other places; they're cracking down on migrant workers. What makes you think you can expect America to tolerate foreigners?"
"Bravo!" Applause and cheers erupted outside the lecture hall. Several college students clapped their hands loudly, mocking, "Don't take your good fortune for granted. We'd fight tooth and nail for a Beijing hukou (household registration) like you were born. It really is true that being born into the right family is the greatest wisdom."
They came to see their German teacher to inquire about studying in Germany.
Wang Xiao was deeply impressed. A true warrior, indeed daring to face the bleak reality of life, actually daring to willingly jump into the trap of studying in Germany. Brave!
She glanced at the time, clapped her hands, and gestured to the workers in the classroom: "When you go abroad, I may not be in Beijing and will not be able to personally see you off at the train station. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words."
Those with good judgment quickly clapped and said, "Boss, go ahead and say it, we're listening."
“Okay, then listen carefully.” Wang Xiao didn’t mince words. “The first point is, try not to cause trouble if you can avoid it, but don’t be afraid of trouble if you do. We’ve contacted the Chinese Embassy in Germany, and the embassy knows you exist. If anything happens that you can’t resolve and it’s inconvenient to contact the company, contact the embassy. You’re there to work, not to be bullied.”
"Secondly, we could actually charge you a high agency fee. Since you all want to go abroad, you must have inquired about the market rate. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the normal market rate now is that if you go abroad for a year, you'll basically work for nothing and might not even be able to pay off your debts. Our company doesn't charge that much money because we hope that you won't be too hard on yourselves while you're abroad."
"We've all suffered. During our youth, we should have been studying hard in the classroom, but instead we were sent to the countryside. Later, we finally returned to the city, got married, had children, and faced heavy family burdens. Any good things were either prioritized for the elderly or given to the children, leaving only for ourselves last."
“I always thought that I was strong and healthy, so it didn’t matter if I suffered a little. But physical strength is limited. If I lose, I lose. One day I will come back and ask for repayment.”
"Working as a fruit picker in Germany is tough work, so I hope everyone won't skimp on food expenses. Some farms provide meals but people don't want to pay, thinking they can manage on their own. It's unnecessary and not worth it. Health is the foundation of everything. If you take good care of your health, you can work longer hours and earn more money."
She nodded slightly. "So, please take good care of yourselves."
The workers present initially listened casually, but later some began to be moved, and several even had tears in their eyes.
In this era, the concept of self-love is not valued. Anyone who dares to love themselves is seen as selfish. Being unwilling to dedicate oneself to the community or family is considered a sin deserving of condemnation.
Middle-aged people, especially those with elderly parents and young children, would love to extract every last drop of fat from their bones to feed their families.
Now, someone, and a big boss at that, is telling them to cherish themselves.
It was absurd yet strange, and within that strangeness lay an inexplicable warmth.
However, when people have been freezing for a long time, they will instinctively shiver when they suddenly enter a warm room.
They dared not touch this hot potato of warmth, nor did they know how to respond to their boss.
Fortunately, the big boss didn't mind everyone's awkwardness.
Wang Xiao bowed slightly and greeted everyone: "Please continue with your class. I won't disturb you any longer. You'll only realize how little you know when you need it. I hope every word you learn will be helpful to you in the future."
The wheelchair was pushed out of the lecture hall and carried back to the black Golf sedan.
As soon as the car door opened, she saw Ivanov's aggrieved face: "Your Majesty—"
Good heavens! This poor old boy looks like he's about to break.
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I got up this morning to rewrite this chapter, so the update is late. Happy holidays!
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