Chapter 192: A Day in the Life of Xiao Kaier, the Newspaper Boy
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Chapter 192: A Day in the Life of Xiao Kaier, the Newspaper Boy
Newspaper boy Xiao Kaier had never imagined that his favorite movement—the Reduction of Working Hours and Increase in Wages Movement—would overthrow the Empire and, in turn, cost him his job.
He was unemployed!
As the birthplace of the movement, Pu'en City was among the first to pledge allegiance to the newly established Infer Workers' Republic when the movement toppled the Empire.
Sir Bai Ruide, owner of Corsole Shipyard—the largest shipyard in the Infer Workers' Republic—was also quick to respond to the call of the new republic.
He raised workers' salaries, reduced working hours, and even organized manpower to assist the public security office in maintaining order and distributing food.
It could be said that, thanks to Sir Bai Ruide's efforts, the citizens of Pu'en City transitioned seamlessly into their new identities.
They even began to hold hopeful expectations for the fledgling Infer Workers' Republic.
But Xiao Kaier couldn’t bring himself to rejoice.
On the very night the movement stormed the imperial capital and established the Infer Workers' Republic, he had rushed to the newspaper factory in the dark, waiting in the biting cold wind for the freshly printed papers.
Though he was only thirteen, perhaps due to his long exposure to the world of print, he was precociously mature.
He knew that newspapers covering such a major event would sell like hotcakes.
So he had arrived early.
Yet, even as dawn broke, the factory doors remained shut.
By then, the entrance was crowded with newspaper boys.
It wasn’t until seven in the morning, when the sun was already high, that Grandpa Huogen arrived and informed them the factory had closed.
"The factory shut down yesterday. Didn’t the adults tell you? The editors were all summoned by the higher-ups—they’re writing news on that internet thing now. Look, everyone’s got the internet. Who’s gonna read newspapers anymore?"
Grandpa Huogen casually summoned a Virtual Screen and swiped through it, revealing a flood of news under the Empire of Infer Gazette section.
The newspaper boys were stunned.
Quite a few of them knew about the internet.
In fact, while waiting for the papers that morning, many had already been browsing the internet, eagerly discussing the newly formed Infer Workers' Republic.
Topics like:
The legendary Divine Descent?
The Bluetooth King?
Ben Keming stabbing the Emperor to death?
...and so on.
To the newspaper boys, these details were far more thrilling than the myths sung by bards in teahouses.
At least these events were happening right before their eyes, weren’t they?
But it had never occurred to them that the very heroes they admired would destroy their livelihoods.
"Grandpa Huogen, so the factory really won’t print newspapers anymore?"
"What are we supposed to do now?"
The newspaper boys clamored in disbelief.
But no matter how much they protested, the silent, idle printing factory was an undeniable reality.
Some of the boys couldn’t accept this outcome and lingered stubbornly at the factory gates.
For them, selling newspapers was all they knew—they had no idea what else they could do.
A few of the sharper ones immediately dashed off to other small newspaper factories to see if they were still operating.
Others simply gave up, trudging away in despair, uncertain of their future.
Xiao Kaier was quick-witted.
The moment he learned that this factory would no longer sell papers, he rushed off to other newspaper factories—even reaching out to contacts at a few black market factories.
They would print some Moulin Rouge books, comic books of little people fighting... and so on.
Xiao Kaier had sold some before? The business wasn’t bad, but the risks were huge. If caught? Not only would he lose both his money and goods, but he’d even have to pay a fine.
After seeing his companions get arrested, Xiao Kaier didn’t dare sell them anymore.
In the end, Xiao Kaier came up empty—all the newspaper factories had stopped printing. Even the black market factory contacts had vanished without a trace.
By the time he finished running around? It was already past eight in the morning, and Xiao Kaier was utterly dejected.
At this hour before, he would’ve sold at least a few newspapers, enough to cover breakfast.
Now, aside from the capital he’d used to buy newspapers, he hadn’t earned a single penny.
With a dazed expression, he wandered the streets like a walking corpse.
He’d heard that factories in Pu'en had reduced hours and raised wages, but that had nothing to do with him.
He was too young—factories wouldn’t take him.
His father had died in a factory accident three years ago, and his mother had left without a word.
Now, only he and his younger brother relied on each other.
His brother was still small, just seven years old.
Without the income from selling newspapers, he had no idea what he could do in the future.
Xiao Kaier drifted through the streets over and over until noon, when workers flooded out of the factories and the streets regained their bustle. Only then did he barely snap out of it.
He took out the money he’d saved for newspapers, bought half a loaf of sliced bread, and hurried home.
What passed for a home was really just a shabby shack.
After his father’s death, the rented house had been taken back by the landlord.
This old shack was shared with them by Uncle Heller, a disabled man who lived on the streets.
It was back then that Xiao Kaier had learned to read from Uncle Heller and, with the sixty pennies the old man had given him, started selling newspapers.
Sadly, last summer, Uncle Heller’s left leg—crushed by a machine—kept festering and worsening until, after two days and nights of agonized wailing, he finally died in pain.
At the time, Xiao Kaier was too small to even drag Uncle Heller’s body.
He could only call the public security office to take him away.
Even now, thinking about it filled Xiao Kaier with guilt.
He always felt that if Uncle Heller had used those sixty pennies to buy medicine, maybe he could’ve survived that summer.
He was the one who’d killed Uncle Heller.
Lost in despair, Xiao Kaier returned home—only to find, to his surprise, a young woman squatting at the door, chatting with his younger brother while peeling a boiled egg.
Just as he looked over, she happened to hand the egg to his brother.
"Who are you?"
Xiao Kaier rushed over frantically, yanking his brother behind him as he glared at the young woman with suspicion.
He’d read the newspapers—they said some circuses would trick children into following them, then stuff them into jars to deform their bodies and turn them into freaks for performances.
There were also terrifying vampires who sent servants to kidnap children, taking them as blood cattle.
These urban legends, along with the frequent disappearances of street kids around him, had made Xiao Kaier extremely wary.
If not for his brother being too slow on his feet, he would’ve taken him along even while selling newspapers.
"You must be Little Radish's older brother, right? Hello, my name is Qiong! I’m an officer from the Compulsory Education Department of the Infer Workers' Republic. I came here today to notify you both to attend school as soon as possible. The school is located in the church—though of course, it’s now renamed Hope Elementary."
The young woman crouched slightly, her smile bright and warm.
When she mentioned the "Infer Workers' Republic," her voice brimmed with pride and conviction.
Her smile eased Xiao Kaier’s wariness slightly.
He didn’t know whether Qiong was telling the truth, but even if she was, it had nothing to do with him.
He said, "Sorry, we don’t have money for school."
Qiong laughed. "We don’t charge anything. The education fees are covered by the Infer Workers' Republic."
Xiao Kaier was stunned. "Is that... really true?"
"Of course! Look, this is an administrative order personally signed by Mr. Ben Keming—of course it’s real."
Qiong opened the internet, clicked on a newly appeared icon, and displayed a document titled Notice on the Trial Implementation of Compulsory Education.
Xiao Kaier was completely dumbfounded.
After a long pause, he finally said, "Ma’am, I’ll send my brother over later. Thank you for coming to notify us."
He decided to ask around afterward.
If it was true, he’d send his brother there—it was better than staying at home.
Truthfully, he had once tried to leave his brother in the care of the Church.
Unfortunately, the priests only accepted clean, presentable children of workers, outright rejecting parentless street kids like them.
"If I’m not mistaken, you’re not very old either, are you? Let me guess—are you ten?"
Qiong smiled, amused by Xiao Kaier’s grown-up tone.
"I’m already thirteen, ma’am!"
"Really? You don’t look it at all." Qiong was even more surprised. The scrawny, dark-skinned boy in front of her—she had guessed ten at most.
In her eyes, Xiao Kaier looked no older than eight or nine.
"You’re a bit older, but according to regulations, you can still enroll for free. You can bring your brother along this afternoon!" Qiong said.
"No, ma’am. I still have to earn money."
"Your parents—" Qiong cut herself off mid-sentence. Looking at Xiao Kaier’s timid younger brother and the shack pieced together with sticks and weeds, she already understood.
Under Xiao Kaier’s somber gaze, she brightened and said, "No worries! The school provides free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Come together! If you really are thirteen, I can help you apply for a work-study program. Under the Republic’s Minimum Wage Law, you’d earn at least 70 pennies a week."
"Seventy pennies?! You’re not lying?"
Xiao Kaier’s eyes suddenly lit up.
That was more than he could earn in a week selling newspapers.
"Of course! It’s the law!" Qiong said proudly. "If you don’t believe me, check the Republic’s official website for the Minimum Wage Law."
As she spoke, she pulled up the Minimum Wage Law on the Virtual Screen.
Xiao Kaier stared blankly at the document. After a long silence, he murmured, "The Empire of Infer... Why would they give us free schooling? And food?"
"Sir, I must correct your mistake. It is no longer the Empire of Infer, but the Infer Workers' Republic! As for why this was done?" Qiong said earnestly, "Because under the banner of Aji De's leadership, we workers have risen to become the masters of our nation."
Newspaper boy Xiao Kaier had never imagined that his favorite movement—the Reduction of Working Hours and Increase in Wages Movement—would overthrow the Empire and, in turn, cost him his job.
He was unemployed!
As the birthplace of the movement, Pu'en City was among the first to pledge allegiance to the newly established Infer Workers' Republic when the movement toppled the Empire.
Sir Bai Ruide, owner of Corsole Shipyard—the largest shipyard in the Infer Workers' Republic—was also quick to respond to the call of the new republic.
He raised workers' salaries, reduced working hours, and even organized manpower to assist the public security office in maintaining order and distributing food.
It could be said that, thanks to Sir Bai Ruide's efforts, the citizens of Pu'en City transitioned seamlessly into their new identities.
They even began to hold hopeful expectations for the fledgling Infer Workers' Republic.
But Xiao Kaier couldn’t bring himself to rejoice.
On the very night the movement stormed the imperial capital and established the Infer Workers' Republic, he had rushed to the newspaper factory in the dark, waiting in the biting cold wind for the freshly printed papers.
Though he was only thirteen, perhaps due to his long exposure to the world of print, he was precociously mature.
He knew that newspapers covering such a major event would sell like hotcakes.
So he had arrived early.
Yet, even as dawn broke, the factory doors remained shut.
By then, the entrance was crowded with newspaper boys.
It wasn’t until seven in the morning, when the sun was already high, that Grandpa Huogen arrived and informed them the factory had closed.
"The factory shut down yesterday. Didn’t the adults tell you? The editors were all summoned by the higher-ups—they’re writing news on that internet thing now. Look, everyone’s got the internet. Who’s gonna read newspapers anymore?"
Grandpa Huogen casually summoned a Virtual Screen and swiped through it, revealing a flood of news under the Empire of Infer Gazette section.
The newspaper boys were stunned.
Quite a few of them knew about the internet.
In fact, while waiting for the papers that morning, many had already been browsing the internet, eagerly discussing the newly formed Infer Workers' Republic.
Topics like:
The legendary Divine Descent?
The Bluetooth King?
Ben Keming stabbing the Emperor to death?
...and so on.
To the newspaper boys, these details were far more thrilling than the myths sung by bards in teahouses.
At least these events were happening right before their eyes, weren’t they?
But it had never occurred to them that the very heroes they admired would destroy their livelihoods.
"Grandpa Huogen, so the factory really won’t print newspapers anymore?"
"What are we supposed to do now?"
The newspaper boys clamored in disbelief.
But no matter how much they protested, the silent, idle printing factory was an undeniable reality.
Some of the boys couldn’t accept this outcome and lingered stubbornly at the factory gates.
For them, selling newspapers was all they knew—they had no idea what else they could do.
A few of the sharper ones immediately dashed off to other small newspaper factories to see if they were still operating.
Others simply gave up, trudging away in despair, uncertain of their future.
Xiao Kaier was quick-witted.
The moment he learned that this factory would no longer sell papers, he rushed off to other newspaper factories—even reaching out to contacts at a few black market factories.
They would print some Moulin Rouge books, comic books of little people fighting... and so on.
Xiao Kaier had sold some before? The business wasn’t bad, but the risks were huge. If caught? Not only would he lose both his money and goods, but he’d even have to pay a fine.
After seeing his companions get arrested, Xiao Kaier didn’t dare sell them anymore.
In the end, Xiao Kaier came up empty—all the newspaper factories had stopped printing. Even the black market factory contacts had vanished without a trace.
By the time he finished running around? It was already past eight in the morning, and Xiao Kaier was utterly dejected.
At this hour before, he would’ve sold at least a few newspapers, enough to cover breakfast.
Now, aside from the capital he’d used to buy newspapers, he hadn’t earned a single penny.
With a dazed expression, he wandered the streets like a walking corpse.
He’d heard that factories in Pu'en had reduced hours and raised wages, but that had nothing to do with him.
He was too young—factories wouldn’t take him.
His father had died in a factory accident three years ago, and his mother had left without a word.
Now, only he and his younger brother relied on each other.
His brother was still small, just seven years old.
Without the income from selling newspapers, he had no idea what he could do in the future.
Xiao Kaier drifted through the streets over and over until noon, when workers flooded out of the factories and the streets regained their bustle. Only then did he barely snap out of it.
He took out the money he’d saved for newspapers, bought half a loaf of sliced bread, and hurried home.
What passed for a home was really just a shabby shack.
After his father’s death, the rented house had been taken back by the landlord.
This old shack was shared with them by Uncle Heller, a disabled man who lived on the streets.
It was back then that Xiao Kaier had learned to read from Uncle Heller and, with the sixty pennies the old man had given him, started selling newspapers.
Sadly, last summer, Uncle Heller’s left leg—crushed by a machine—kept festering and worsening until, after two days and nights of agonized wailing, he finally died in pain.
At the time, Xiao Kaier was too small to even drag Uncle Heller’s body.
He could only call the public security office to take him away.
Even now, thinking about it filled Xiao Kaier with guilt.
He always felt that if Uncle Heller had used those sixty pennies to buy medicine, maybe he could’ve survived that summer.
He was the one who’d killed Uncle Heller.
Lost in despair, Xiao Kaier returned home—only to find, to his surprise, a young woman squatting at the door, chatting with his younger brother while peeling a boiled egg.
Just as he looked over, she happened to hand the egg to his brother.
"Who are you?"
Xiao Kaier rushed over frantically, yanking his brother behind him as he glared at the young woman with suspicion.
He’d read the newspapers—they said some circuses would trick children into following them, then stuff them into jars to deform their bodies and turn them into freaks for performances.
There were also terrifying vampires who sent servants to kidnap children, taking them as blood cattle.
These urban legends, along with the frequent disappearances of street kids around him, had made Xiao Kaier extremely wary.
If not for his brother being too slow on his feet, he would’ve taken him along even while selling newspapers.
"You must be Little Radish's older brother, right? Hello, my name is Qiong! I’m an officer from the Compulsory Education Department of the Infer Workers' Republic. I came here today to notify you both to attend school as soon as possible. The school is located in the church—though of course, it’s now renamed Hope Elementary."
The young woman crouched slightly, her smile bright and warm.
When she mentioned the "Infer Workers' Republic," her voice brimmed with pride and conviction.
Her smile eased Xiao Kaier’s wariness slightly.
He didn’t know whether Qiong was telling the truth, but even if she was, it had nothing to do with him.
He said, "Sorry, we don’t have money for school."
Qiong laughed. "We don’t charge anything. The education fees are covered by the Infer Workers' Republic."
Xiao Kaier was stunned. "Is that... really true?"
"Of course! Look, this is an administrative order personally signed by Mr. Ben Keming—of course it’s real."
Qiong opened the internet, clicked on a newly appeared icon, and displayed a document titled Notice on the Trial Implementation of Compulsory Education.
Xiao Kaier was completely dumbfounded.
After a long pause, he finally said, "Ma’am, I’ll send my brother over later. Thank you for coming to notify us."
He decided to ask around afterward.
If it was true, he’d send his brother there—it was better than staying at home.
Truthfully, he had once tried to leave his brother in the care of the Church.
Unfortunately, the priests only accepted clean, presentable children of workers, outright rejecting parentless street kids like them.
"If I’m not mistaken, you’re not very old either, are you? Let me guess—are you ten?"
Qiong smiled, amused by Xiao Kaier’s grown-up tone.
"I’m already thirteen, ma’am!"
"Really? You don’t look it at all." Qiong was even more surprised. The scrawny, dark-skinned boy in front of her—she had guessed ten at most.
In her eyes, Xiao Kaier looked no older than eight or nine.
"You’re a bit older, but according to regulations, you can still enroll for free. You can bring your brother along this afternoon!" Qiong said.
"No, ma’am. I still have to earn money."
"Your parents—" Qiong cut herself off mid-sentence. Looking at Xiao Kaier’s timid younger brother and the shack pieced together with sticks and weeds, she already understood.
Under Xiao Kaier’s somber gaze, she brightened and said, "No worries! The school provides free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Come together! If you really are thirteen, I can help you apply for a work-study program. Under the Republic’s Minimum Wage Law, you’d earn at least 70 pennies a week."
"Seventy pennies?! You’re not lying?"
Xiao Kaier’s eyes suddenly lit up.
That was more than he could earn in a week selling newspapers.
"Of course! It’s the law!" Qiong said proudly. "If you don’t believe me, check the Republic’s official website for the Minimum Wage Law."
As she spoke, she pulled up the Minimum Wage Law on the Virtual Screen.
Xiao Kaier stared blankly at the document. After a long silence, he murmured, "The Empire of Infer... Why would they give us free schooling? And food?"
"Sir, I must correct your mistake. It is no longer the Empire of Infer, but the Infer Workers' Republic! As for why this was done?" Qiong said earnestly, "Because under the banner of Aji De's leadership, we workers have risen to become the masters of our nation."
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