Vito offered no answer to the questions in Riley's mind.
But after giving serious consideration to Vito's suggestion that the workers get enough rest, Riley did take action.
The workers on the construction site no longer had to work under the fiercest midday sun. In addition to their half-hour lunch break, Riley now gave them another two hours of rest at noon each day, allowing them to recover properly and avoid the hottest part of the day.
Yet, unexpectedly, the workers did not welcome this measure. Quite a few even opposed it.
Their reason was simple.
Under the usual rules, fewer working hours naturally meant a corresponding reduction in pay.
Although working on this site had been exhausting, they had earned an exceptionally high wage of at least twenty-five gold coins a month, far more than workers on the Amli Merchant Guild's other construction sites.
First, to finish the project as quickly as possible, the Xinfei Merchant Guild had offered the Amli Merchant Guild a very generous payment, leaving it with a sizable budget.
Second, the work here really was grueling. Without sufficiently high wages, few workers would have been willing to take it on.
But the workers who had accepted these jobs had come precisely for the high pay. If they now got more rest but earned less, what was the point?
Still, with Riley enforcing the decision, their objections ultimately came to nothing. They could only accept the arrangement.
Fortunately, even with those extra two hours of rest at noon, their monthly wages only dropped from twenty-five gold coins to twenty-two. That was still very high, so the workers were not too resistant.
Yet while the workers settled down, the questions in Riley's mind only grew.
What Vito had said kept lingering in his mind, refusing to go