The two miners walked ahead of Bai Heng.
One of them wore a tattered wool sweater and a sheepskin felt hat.
His hands were shoved into his pockets.
Around Samoa-do Town, miners already earned among the highest wages in the slums.
Therefore, the outfit this miner wore could actually be considered a luxury.
The other miner wore nothing but a linen shirt, with a dry tobacco pipe clenched between his teeth. Every few steps, he would swing his leg and kick at the snow on the ground.
The snow often splashed onto Bai Heng walking behind them, but he did not care.
Or rather, no one cared whether he did.
About an hour later, Bai Heng followed them to their destination.
It was a cave by the edge of a cliff.
The cave entrance was very narrow. Even a child Bai Heng's size could barely squeeze through.
When Bai Heng had looked for work in town, the adults had seen how frail he was and had refused to assign him even the cheapest snow-shoveling jobs.
Yet these two miners had spotted Bai Heng at a glance while wandering the streets.
They said they had found a fruit tree in the valley, but the entrance was too narrow, so only a child Bai Heng's size could enter.
After agreeing on a reward of five Copper Shields and ten percent of the fruit, Bai Heng followed them here.
The miner in the sheepskin felt hat was called Kokos. He kicked the snow-covered little opening and said,
"I checked from above a few days ago. At the deepest part of this cave, there's an open pit with a Dolin Orange tree growing inside. Carry the sack in and pick all the fruit. Count them, then we'll divide them up."
The miner beside him,