At this time, the two of them just walked to the edge of the roof. Ji Yijun stretched his hand down and made a gesture of invitation.
Aola looked at the ground, then at Ji Yijun's appearance, and said angrily: "Don't you know how to help a lady?"
"Lady? A lady on the roof? Why didn't you need help when you jumped up?" Ji Yijun said, covering his forehead, "You are a mid-level warrior!"
"I am a lady first, and a mid-level warrior second."
"It's a farce."
Ola didn't care what he said and just stretched out one hand diagonally. In Ji Yijun's opinion, he felt the style of Karl Lagerfeld in TV dramas.
Ji Yijun secretly sneered, the yellow-haired girl really didn't know how to live or die. He took a step forward and pressed his chest against Aola's back, stretched out his hand and put it heavily on her small waist, and put his other hand through the gap between her fingers, interlocking his five fingers and holding her hand.
Ola let out a short cry of surprise, but before she could say anything, Ji Yijun leaned forward, hugged her and jumped off the roof.
Falling to the ground, Ola hurriedly left Ji Yijun's arms.
Ji Yijun thought he would be hit by punches and kicks in revenge.
Unexpectedly, Aura's face turned slightly red, and she said cheerfully: "This is a bit of chivalry."
"I'm not a knight. Not now, and not in the future." Ji Yijun shrugged and said, "Come on, I'll take you to see where they live."
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The two walked through a residential area, which was a row of brick-and-wood tube-shaped buildings. Since steelmaking had just made progress and there was not enough steel bars in mass production, most of these buildings were built with brick-and-wood structures and cement. However, these houses were much better than the temporary houses in the camp. At least they had tiles on the top, brick walls on the bottom, and glass windows.
The two walked through a room on the first floor. Ola touched the cement wall and looked inside through the green glass of the window. The room was square, with two beds on both sides of the window, a table and two chairs by the window, some porcelain cups and bowls on the table, and a hanger near the door with a few clothes on it. Apart from that, the owner obviously didn't have any other belongings, but the things in the room were very neatly arranged. The owner lived his life very carefully.
Aola didn't know what politeness meant, so she pushed the door open and walked into the room. There was no strange smell in the room, but instead a faint fragrance. It turned out that there was a pottery jar with tender yellow flowers on the table. She smelled the flowers in front of the table for a while, and then sat on the edge of the bed to try the hard mattress. She didn't seem to be restrained at all.
"Is this a knight's squire's room?" Ola asked curiously. In her impression, farmers' houses were often very dirty, while knights' rooms would be more spacious, and only people with the status of a knight's squire would live in such a room.
Ji Yijun glanced at the house number "Building 3, Room 107"
"All the people living in Building 3 are miners."
"You, are you talking about the people who dig rocks in the mines? How is that possible? Aren't they supposed to live in the holes like rats every day?"
A trace of disgust flashed across Ji Yijun's face. "Ms. Aura, here, calling anyone a rat is a great insult. As you can see, they are all people who live a good life, no different from me."
Aola had never seen Ji Yijun look so serious. She whispered, "Yes, I'm sorry. It's just that what's going on here is beyond my imagination."
"Then take a good look at it."
"Why is there no one here? Everyone is working? But why are there no elderly people or children?" Aura asked curiously. She had a mechanical watch on her wrist, which was a gift from the school after she helped the school solve the problem of horse thieves last time. She looked at the hands. It was ten o'clock in the morning and the entire residential area was empty.
"Most of our population comes from slave camps. They are mostly young men and children, with very few elderly people. Young people naturally go out to work. Children, of course, go to school." Ji Yijun waved his hand and said, "Come with me, I'll take you to see it."
There is a school just across the street from the residential area. There are two signs at the school gate, one reading "Hewan District Primary School" and the other reading "Hewan District Middle School". Ji Yijun nodded to the two guards holding crossbows and spears at the gate, and led Aura into the school. The school is in the shape of a mountain, with the two recessed areas being the playgrounds for the primary and middle schools. The teaching building is two stories high, with the primary and middle school teaching buildings on the left and right, and the activity room, laboratory and teacher's office in the middle.
"This school is too simple. The Black Dragon Empire has always attached great importance to education. I heard that the former Imperial Royal Academy was a magnificent castle with gardens and hunting grounds." Aura said.
Ji Yijun was not angry. He asked, "Have you been there?"
Aura's face fell all of a sudden. "If it weren't for those rebels, how could we have grown up in the mountains? I really want to go to the imperial capital, which is now the capital of the pseudo king. I heard it's very prosperous there. Many of the clothes I'm wearing were left by my mother. I really want to try the latest fashions in the capital."
Ji Yijun suddenly realized that although this girl had a special identity, she was actually a wild child who had not seen much of the world. Perhaps jumping on the roof just now was her truest side.
Seeing that she was a little sad, Ji Yijun said, "The school you mentioned is completely different from ours. There is no comparison. Whether it is the Black Dragon Empire or the Iberian Kingdom, can the children of civilians and slaves go to school?"
"Of course not. Why would they study? The Royal Academy will not admit more than a hundred students each year, and only children of the nobility can enroll."
"You see, this is the difference between our schools. The schools here require every child to study, and those adults who have not been to school have to take extra classes at night." Ji Yijun said, "You envy our factory and like our products, but have you ever thought that these jobs can only be done by people who have been to school and have knowledge? Otherwise, when you see a tool, you won't know how to use it."
"But, I've also read some history books. If the common people knew so much, how could they live in peace? You have to know that almost all major turmoil and rebellion were ultimately led by knowledgeable people." Aura asked seriously, "After reading, your thoughts will become more and more complicated, and you will want more and more things. How can they be willing to do the same things as before? Aren't you afraid that they will rebel?"
Ji Yijun sneered and said, "If they have something to gain, why would they make a fuss? To put it bluntly, it's because you emperors and nobles are incompetent and can't make everyone live a good life. We have an old saying called 'officials force the people to rebel', which means that if you rulers hadn't oppressed them so much, why would ordinary people risk their lives to rebel?"
"Are all the people here satisfied?" Ola asked. "I don't believe it. There are always some people who are not satisfied."
"You're right, but the people who are dissatisfied here are a minority. Compared to here, do you think that outside of Montenegro, most civilians and slaves are satisfied or dissatisfied? Besides, do you think that the people in charge here are all good guys? How many people were sent to labor camps and hanged in the riots in the past few months? Carrots always work only when they are followed by sticks." As they spoke, the two men approached a classroom.