Chapter 619: Bitterness
Chapter 606 Bitterness
It was another Christmas, and because of the return of Jerusalem, this year’s Christmas was particularly lively, and the whole of Austria was immersed in laughter.
Merchants also took the opportunity to organize activities, and the streets were filled with signs of discount sales. Some stores even gave out free candies and melon seeds to attract popularity.
Standing on the roof of the building, Franz picked up the binoculars and looked out over the busy street, revealing a trace of fascination.
The joy of ordinary people shopping, Franz had no chance to feel it. The life of ordinary people was not suitable for the emperor, this was the price of being in a high position.
Sneaking out, this was a sign of irresponsibility. The emperor represented not just an individual, but this country.
If something happens, Austria will be turned upside down. Don’t look at the present Austria seems to be very stable, Franz knows very well that the empire still has a lot of hidden dangers, only covered by the surface prosperity.
A country has hidden dangers is not terrible, to solve is; terrible is knowing that there are hidden dangers, but also turn a blind eye to run to death, then the consequences will be serious.
Franz knows that there are a lot of people in the country who are dissatisfied with the government, the losers in the power struggle, and those whose interests are damaged in the reform ……
These people have grievances in their hearts, he can completely understand. Understanding is understanding, what should be suppressed should still be suppressed.
Even if they are no longer dissatisfied, since these people did not revolt, then time can wash away everything, Franz did not cut down all the people.
This has a precondition, that is, they can not be given the opportunity. The rest just need to boil time on the line, relying on firewood and oil and salt to slowly wear down the fighting spirit.
As in the case of the Hungarian Independence Organization of that year, when everyone had experienced the maturation of the social beatings, the original hot-blooded revolutionaries, was defeated by reality.
Deep down, Franz has been reminding himself not to make waves, not to make waves, and after another ten or twenty years to train up his son, and pass the throne down the line, he will be free.
“What’s there to see, you’re going to come up here on such a cold day?”
A familiar voice came, Franz put down the binoculars in his hand, looked back at the visitor and revealed a smiling face, “It’s not Christmas time, I also see how the folk celebrate the festival.”
The seemingly easy and cozy answer was actually full of helplessness. People always miss it after they have lost it.
Empress Helen took the binoculars from Franz and looked in the direction he was looking at before, then frowned.
“Well, there are a lot of people on the street, but it’s just too ugly to make Santa Claus, no artistic taste at all.”
Franz couldn’t help but snort. “Artistic taste” is such a lofty thing that he, the Emperor, knows little about, not to mention those ordinary people who have to run around every day for food, rice, oil and salt.
The laughter angered Empress Helen, who glared at Franz fiercely, “You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?”
The question was flat, but the look had already told Franz: you’d better give a reasonable explanation, or you won’t be able to have a good Christmas this year.
In a flash of inspiration, Franz came up with an excuse, “No, it’s just a little funny to think of Santa Claus out there.
Look closely, are there any missing arms and legs. If Santa Claus looks like that and has to go around delivering blessings, it would be too hard for his old man.”
Seeing Empress Helen continue to look away with her binoculars, Franz hastily changed the topic and said, “By the way, what are you doing up here? Don’t tell me it’s idleness, I remember you were busy every Christmas.”
It was true, the royal family also had celebrations at Christmas, and the Empress was in charge of all these things. Including preparing Christmas gifts for family and friends and inviting guests to hold banquets, it was also the Empress’ job.
Seemingly remembering something, Empress Helen’s face changed, “Crap, I still have a lot of things to do. Take your time to see for yourself, I’ll leave first.”
After saying that, handing the binoculars to Franz and turning around, she was about to leave, when Empress Helen added, “Frederick is almost 20 years old, and you as a father don’t care about his lifelong matters.
Don’t forget that we have many sons, and suitable princesses of the same age in Europe can be limited. If we don’t decide in advance, you’ll have to worry about it later!”
After this little episode, Franz also had no desire to continue watching the fun. He hadn’t really paid attention to the fact that the European royal family also appeared to have more men than women.
This is the aftermath of the butterfly effect, the Habsburg family male birth rate is somewhat high, especially Franz has four sons, directly breaking the balance of men and women in the European royal family.
This problem was quickly put behind Franz.
In addition to the eldest son to consider the political needs, must be the right family, the other several sons do not have the right, can be married low, or wait a few more years there is no harm.
In Franz’s view, this was no matter at all. By lowering the standard of birth by one notch, the candidates could be increased by at least two digits.
……
God seemed to want to add to the festive mood as night fell and snow crept in.
The cold wind did not dispel the holiday spirit, as wreaths were hung on the doors of homes, snowmen were piled up, and Christmas trees were set up inside the houses.
After a busy day, Rayne returned to his small bedroom, picked up the prepared materials, and began to make his own Christmas tree.
It was a little late to start preparing it now, but who made Rayne poor?
Layne is not a local, this summer, he just came to Vienna to fight, there is not much savings in his pocket, this less than ten square meters of small bedroom, or he bit the bullet and rented.
There is no way, although Vienna claims to be the world’s highest per capita income city. But the problem lies in the per capita, as the bottom of society, Rayne is undoubtedly the average object.
Fighting in Vienna, in addition to engaging in finance, scientific research, education, medical …… these high income fields, there are likewise poor people engaged in the service industry.
According to the law, Christmas is a mandatory vacation, the only exception is the service industry. If businesses are closed on Christmas Day, how can people celebrate the holiday?
For the sake of overtime pay, Rayne decisively chose to work overtime. He knew that on this kind of holiday, even the most stingy bosses would give overtime employees a Christmas gift.
Rayne’s luck was good, the grocery store owner he talked to was a devout religious believer, and with the return of Jerusalem this year, in a good mood, he gave him a bag of flour in a fifty pound package.
It was the best Christmas present he had ever received in all his life. With this bag of flour, he would have his rations for the next month, far more practical than candy canes.
With a good mood, Lei En finished making the Christmas tree in the shortest possible time. It was ugly, but it didn’t stop him from pursuing a better life.
The choir in the church had already gone from door to door, singing Christmas carols in front of the congregation’s homes, and Rayne was very excited.
He had never experienced this kind of treatment before. Although there was a church in his hometown, there was only one priest, and the choir was only in the big churches.
After seeing the choir leave, Rayne fell silent. Fighting alone in an unfamiliar city with no family or friends by his side, he didn’t know what to do with the rest of his time.
Looking at the prepared Christmas gifts, Rayne revealed a bitter smile. The city was different from his hometown, everyone’s wariness was strong, and many people put a layer of disguise on themselves.
When he had just moved here, Rayne had tried to reach out to the surrounding neighbors. However, the tenants who lived here were all at the bottom of the social ladder, and had to run around every day to make ends meet, so they simply didn’t have the energy to receive more people and things.
Speaking politely, that tone of rejection still made Rayne give up his intention to make further friendships, and he didn’t have the time to make friends.
Vienna was the city that never sleeps, so the workers in the service industry were very fortunate. Although the Austrian Labor Protection Law stipulated an eight-hour workday, it only existed in theory.
With an 8-hour wage, you may be able to survive in Vienna, but if you want to save money, you’d better work overtime!
Like most service industries, the grocery store where Raine worked was a two-shift work system, and except for Christmas night when it would be closed, it was open twenty-four hours a day.
Together with the last shift of the day, the daily busy time is as high as fourteen hours. These fourteen hours were still the ideal number, and the grocery store was restocked every three days.
The owner won’t hire extra people in this situation; they have to work three to five hour shifts. For the sake of overtime pay, Rayne decisively chose to add.
It’s just a two-day shift every month, so don’t think about anything and get ready to catch up on your sleep! This is the daily life of an ordinary waiter, in Vienna.
Lehane has not complained, the vast majority of factories will be even worse. Maybe the working hours, not necessarily this long, but the labor environment was completely incomparable.
There was still hope here, every day contact with different people and things, can increase a lot of insight, if you try to pay attention to observe, but also can learn a lot of things.
If you want to enter a factory, you should learn the skills quickly! If you can’t get over this hurdle, you’ll be stuck with it for the rest of your life.
Forcing himself to keep the tears from falling, Raine took out the half-roasted goose he’d bought on the way, heated it up by the stove, and flipped over the potatoes, which were almost cooked, and that was his lavish Christmas dinner.
It was late at night and the Christmas bells were ringing.
……
(End of chapter)