The first time is always so unforgettable.
Du Lin once thought that the place where he lived in the countryside was the worst place in his life. The feeling of six brothers huddled together would definitely make people feel ecstatic. In addition to working every day, I would often be so exhausted that I would just fall on the bed and fall asleep. The bedroom that had not been cleaned exuded a faint smell of feet and sweat three hundred and sixty-five days a year. After the sisters came once, they were unwilling to come in again.
But in this room, which is only about thirty square meters, there are actually twenty people crammed in! Not to mention the smell of sweat and feet, there is also a kind of smell that I can't name, but it exudes a strong smell that can cause hormonal changes in the human body. The yellow and black walls are covered with posters of naked women. These posters are always covered with various yellow watermarks here and there.
The toilet is right outside the bedroom door, and the suffocating smell of urine and the smell rising from the sewer, similar to that of a fertilizer pit in the countryside, always fills the entire bedroom between opening and closing the door.
Lying on the bed that felt damp, the thin quilt in his hands was covered with a layer of grease dust and exuded a sour smell. Du Lin curled up and was willing to be cold rather than cover himself with the obviously terrible quilt.
He slept very soundly this time. In the middle of the night, he seemed to be no longer afraid of warmth and was back at home lying on his own bed.
When he got up the next day, he realized where the warmth came from—the black quilt had been covering him. After losing subjective thoughts, the subconscious mind of creatures can always find a more suitable one for them. Things to protect yourself from harm, low temperature harm.
He pushed the quilt away with disgust. There was no place to wash up. A group of people crowded together and walked to the station platform. The first freight in the morning started.
The things I moved were not much different from yesterday, and they were still very familiar. Inside the wooden stand is a tightly packed box. When it shakes while walking, you can vaguely feel the shaking liquid inside, and occasionally there will be the sound of glass colliding.
"What's in here?" Dulin held Graf's arm and asked, "It seems to be all water."
"Water?" Graf glanced at Dulin disdainfully. "It's all banknotes, do you understand? Banknotes!" After a while, he whispered: "Don't talk nonsense, it's all banknotes." liquor."
Du Lin was stunned for a moment. When he was about to ask further questions, Graf glared at him and swallowed back what he wanted to say.
There are some legal provisions in the imperial law regarding the brewing, transportation and sale of alcohol. There are clear provisions in it that strictly prohibit the brewing of high-alcohol alcohol anywhere. According to the law, the alcohol content of all food-based alcoholic beverages cannot exceed 9%, and the alcohol content of wine cannot exceed 13%. If it exceeds the limit, it will be considered contraband and needs to be destroyed, and the brewing manufacturer will also need to be punished.
The reason for such a law is said to be that in theocratic law, all alcoholic drinks are considered to be full of demonic breath, so clergy and believers are prohibited from drinking them. At the beginning, the empire did not recognize the interpretation of alcoholic beverages in theocratic law. Later, because the third prince of the empire drank too much and squirted out black liquid and died soon after, this law was passed.
Since then, alcohol has been banned.
If you want to ask what is the most profitable business in the world, you can understand it by looking at the law books. The empire officially banned the brewing and selling of high-alcohol wine, but instead made high-alcohol wine a best-selling product. In addition, the society that has changed after the war is still in a state of depression and malaise. More people need something that can anesthetize themselves as soon as possible, among which high-alcohol alcohol is a good choice.
On the surface, the production and sale of high-strength alcohol is prohibited, but in order to satisfy people's banknotes, many places are producing and selling it in half-darkness, and even use steam locomotives to transport it! The goods that traveled overnight every day were almost all high-strength wine. These wines would be transported across the country via steam locomotives and railways for sale, earning huge profits.
There is a phrase made up by people in the market, called "the closer you are to the devil, the fuller your pockets", which refers to the profits brought by high-alcohol drinks.
Before dawn, Du Lin was carrying goods while thinking about high-alcohol matters. From the dream world, he learned that wine can be distilled to obtain high-purity alcohol, and then blended with spices and a certain proportion of water to become high-strength liquor. He didn't know what it felt like to drink something called liquor, but he could vaguely guess the taste of those things from other people's faces.
He was a little absent-minded at work this morning.
When it was time to eat at noon, he pulled Graf to the railway outside the restaurant, looked around, and then asked: "Graf, we are brothers, right?"
Graf patted his chest, "Of course, brother!"
"Very well, brother, can you tell me how much high-strength wine is worth? I mean a bottle, just like the bottles in the boxes we moved before dawn in the morning." Dulin drew a pen, he needed to have one Only by comparison can you know whether you will make money by doing this.
Graff looked like a big guy and a bit stupid—no smart guy would roll a cigarette with a little chili pepper in it, but he did it.
But he is definitely much smarter than he shows. When Dulin asked this question, he immediately became alert, "What? You want to buy a bottle? Listen to me, you are a rookie like this for a month With my income, I can only buy one bottle at most.”
"So expensive?" Du Lin took a breath. You must know that he can earn at least five yuan this month. In other words, a bottle of wine is equal to his monthly income? The flame that had been extinguished in his heart was ignited again, causing his body to tremble slightly. Damn, damn! Are you as tired as an old dog every day and can only be worth the price of a bottle of wine? Damn it!
Seeing Du Lin's crazy eyes, Graf pulled him hard and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Du Lin was startled and then came to his senses. After all, he was just a sixteen-year-old boy. Even if he dreamed about the life of a big shot, he still couldn't hide what was in his heart. He tried hard to tighten the muscles on his face, but finally laughed, "I'm fine, don't worry, I've never felt as good as now!"
"By the way, can you tell me how much a bottle of low-alcohol wine costs?"
Graf looked around, pulled Dulin further, held him down and squatted in the grass with him, "Damn it, I'm sure you know how you can make money, you are Are you going to sell high-alcohol wine mixed with water? Don't consider this stupid method. You will lose money. A bottle of low-alcohol wine only costs 80 to 90 cents. If you mix high-alcohol wine with water, you will lose money. Definitely going to lose money.”
Dulin looked at Graf with a strange expression, changing again and again. After a while, he finally breathed out and asked, "Can I believe you?"
Graf took out a knife of more than ten centimeters from somewhere on his lower back. Dulin was so frightened that he almost ran away. He grasped the blade of the knife in his hand, squeezed it hard, and then pulled out the knife. . Blood poured out of his hand like a water pump in an instant, but his face did not change color at all. Then, he grabbed Dulin's hand tightly, and then made a slit in his palm, "Are you from Guart?"
Dulin nodded. He was a Guart. The Guarts accounted for almost 15% of the total population in the entire empire, at least that's what the empire's official statistical report said.
"Then your father must not have told you the tradition of our Guart people. When we hold blood in our hands, it is the most solemn moment in our lives!" As he spoke, he held his cut hand with Du Lin's cut hands clenched together fiercely, "This is a ceremony for us Guart people. Whether it is loyalty or friendship, it will be blessed and supervised by everyone and the gods!"
"Now, you can believe me. If I betray you one day, I will be punished by the gods, and so will you!"
Dulin looked at the two clasped hands and said nothing for a long time. Graf became anxious and touched him, "What are you still thinking about?"
"I..." Du Lin looked a little aggrieved, "My hands are numb, will I die? There is so much blood!!"
Graf "I don't know whether to say something or not!"
(End of chapter)