The tenth day of the month.
Early in the morning, Xiao Yun and Shui Bing'er disguised themselves and left the Lord's Mansion.
The two quietly headed to the workshop district, naturally intending to learn about the living and working conditions of ordinary workers there. Only then could they see the workshops' true state of affairs.
The morning mist had yet to fully disperse, but the entrance to the workshop district was already bustling.
The breakfast stalls by the roadside had set up simple oil pans and steamers. Steam billowed through the gaps in the cloth curtains, mingling with the sizzle of fried dough sticks hitting the oil and the wheaty fragrance of buns, coiling into a mass of grayish-white mist at the alley entrance.
Xiao Yun and Shui Bing'er sat at a low table near the outside. Before each of them were a small dish of pickled vegetables, two buns, and a Fried Dough Stick.
They had changed into worn gray cloth clothes, their hair unbound and loosely gathered behind their heads. They looked like a young married couple newly arrived from elsewhere, grabbing breakfast while searching for work.
The tables and chairs in the shop were crudely nailed together from wood. The tabletops gleamed with absorbed grease, and their corners had long since been worn smooth.
Workers in dark uniforms gradually lifted the curtain and entered. Some stood waiting for seats, while others carried their bowls to squat beside the wall and eat.
The clatter of bowls, plates, and iron ladles continuously came from the kitchen, mixing with the raised voices of chatting diners and driving the morning chill all the way from the threshold to the shop entrance.
Xiao Yun broke off a piece of Fried Dough Stick and put it into his mouth, his gaze falling on