Mystery: A Spark

Seeing that the others were silent and their expressions were not good, Vina suddenly panicked:

"Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have eaten so much."

“No, you’re not wrong,” Audrey said, stroking Vina’s dry, straw-like hair.

Who is at fault? She doesn't know either.

At this moment, Grynt suddenly asked with some confusion:

"Vina, how did your mother starve to death?"

According to his understanding, if Vina's mother was exchanging food in that way, then she should still be able to support the two of them.

After all, if someone would come to make such a request, then Vina's mother must be quite good-looking.

Therefore, Grelint believed that even if Vina's mother died, it would most likely be from illness, not from starvation.

However, Vina's next answer completely overturned his worldview.

"Because after my mother slept with that person, that person didn't keep his promise and wanted me to sleep with him too."

“My mother wouldn’t allow it, so he didn’t give her any food and beat her up. Then, not long after, my mother…” Vina began to sob as she spoke.

It was because of this incident that she ate two pieces of bread before suggesting that she could sleep with someone.

In her understanding, "sleeping with someone" simply meant sleeping with someone, so she didn't understand why her mother was so adamant about not agreeing to that person's request.

This man is utterly shameless! Audrey's face immediately turned cold.

Vina's mother didn't starve to death; she was clearly beaten to death!

Hugh unconsciously clenched her fists under the table, and as she moved her wrists, she felt a surge of urge to hit someone.

Grylint slammed his fist on the table, unable to hold back his swearing:

"What a son of a bitch! Even the most despicable pirate wouldn't default on a prostitute's debt..."

Before he could utter the word, Audrey abruptly turned around and shouted:

"Her mother isn't!"

Grelint paused for a moment, realizing he had misspoke, and quickly apologized to Vina:

"I'm sorry, I misspoke."

Vina looked at Grelint blankly, not understanding what he meant.

No one else would bother to explain.

At this moment, Fors, who had been silent since the beginning, glanced at Hugh, whose face was gloomy across the table, took out a small notebook from his pocket, and asked Vina in a gentle voice:

"Little Vina, do you remember what that person looked like? Or their name or something? Even just a nickname would be fine."

Vina thought about it carefully for a moment, then said hesitantly:

“I remember he seemed to have a big beard, and my mother seemed to call him Mr. Jeston, but I don’t remember much else.”

Fors wrote this information down in her notebook and didn't ask any further questions.

After all, she's just a ten-year-old girl, so you can't expect her to remember much.

Moreover, this information is actually sufficient, after all, Hugh is a sheriff, and he has a natural advantage in finding people.

"Where did you and your mother live before?" Hugh asked at this point.

"I... I don't know the name of the place I live in, but I remember there's a river there," Vina replied somewhat fearfully, feeling a sense of pressure from Hugh.

"Is there a river? I understand." Hugh gave a kind smile, which immediately relieved Vina's pressure.

After that, the four of them stopped talking about anything else and instead began to talk to Vina about some happy things, telling her some fairy tales, which gradually brought a smile to the little girl's face.

While Vina was listening to Fors tell her story, Audrey leaned close to Hugh's ear and whispered:

"Hugh, could you help me take Vina in? I'll pay for her living expenses and visit her often."

“No need for living expenses. We already take in some homeless children and teach them to read and write. Just provide us with a batch of early childhood education textbooks,” Hugh replied in a low voice.

“Okay, no problem.” Audrey nodded.

After a while, Audrey finally saw the legendary president of the mutual aid society.

This is a blond, blue-eyed young man dressed in a black shirt and white coat.

He walked to an open space and addressed everyone:

"Fellow workers, I am Arthur Heller, the president of the Workers' Mutual Aid Association."

Chapter 198 Klein: This speech is really in the style of Henan!

Inside the tavern.

So this guy was really going to do it... Klein looked at Arthur standing in front of him and sighed inwardly.

Ever since he saw the uniforms of the security team, he had wondered if such a day would ever come.

And now, his guess has come true.

Klein learned about the Peace Tavern and the Mutual Aid Society from information obtained by his informant, Old Kohler.

That's why he came here tonight to witness this classic beer hall speech firsthand.

Klein knew this was just the beginning, and there would definitely be more to come.

Because someone did just that in the past.

I just hope you don't follow in that person's footsteps and fail... Klein muttered to himself.

When the blond young man appeared, the workers were surprised by his youth, but they still applauded from the bottom of their hearts.

Because the Workers' Mutual Aid Association truly brought them benefits and security, enabling them to receive the wages they deserved.

Instead of being owed wages by those unscrupulous factory owners, leaving their families without food.

So even though the chairman is so young, the workers respect him from the bottom of their hearts.

Arthur smiled as he looked at the applauding crowd, then gestured with his hands to gradually quiet the room.

“I know that your living conditions are not very good right now,” Arthur said calmly, “but I also know that you haven’t always been like this.”

Only his voice echoed in the Peace Tavern, and everyone listened intently to his speech.

“Some of you were once relatively wealthy merchants, some were skilled workers, and most were farmers who owned land to grow food.”

“In the past, you had a fairly good economic situation, a complete family, and your own wife and children. You should have lived a happy life.”

Seeing the nostalgic expressions on many people's faces, Arthur suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming serious:

"But now, farmers are being forced to leave their land and come to the city to work, competing with others for jobs that pay only meager wages."

"Merchants lost their capital amid the abolition and establishment of the kingdom's policies, became heavily indebted, and eventually faced bankruptcy, only able to survive by working in factories."

"Skilled workers also lost their jobs in this wave, their wages plummeted, and they had to face even more difficult circumstances."

“You live this precarious life, exploited by those unscrupulous factory owners, who squeeze out the last bit of value from you, and you can’t even be guaranteed the wages you deserve.”

As Arthur watched the crowd gradually being stirred up by him, his voice also grew louder.

“I don’t want to discuss the question of ‘who caused all this’ here,” Arthur avoided the dangerous question, “because discussing it is meaningless for us right now and will not help in any way.”

"What we should really be considering is how to deal with the exploitation and oppression of those unscrupulous factory owners, how to deal with their unreasonable work systems, and how to make our lives better."

Arthur didn't really not want to talk about those issues, but rather because discussing them at this stage would easily invite Iron Fist's attack.

Therefore, it's best to focus on more practical issues before we have sufficient strength.

In addition, Arthur used a little rhetoric when he spoke.

During his speech, he gradually changed his reference to the workers from "you" to "we".

"How do we deal with these heavy problems? How can we make our lives as they were before, or even happier?"

Arthur gave the answer loudly and decisively:

We must unite!

"United, we will become stronger!"

Why do they dare to exploit us so blatantly?!

"Why do they dare to arbitrarily delay paying our wages?!"

"Why do they dare to deny us any job security?!"

"Comrades, why is all this happening?"

Seeing the expressions of many people gradually turn indignant and their faces turn angry, Arthur loudly stated the answer:

"Because they don't see us as human beings at all, but only as tools to bring them wealth!!!"

"Even if a tool breaks, they can just get a new one!"

“Those people will think that if you don’t do it, there will be plenty of others who will!”

"So they don't care whether we live or die at all!"

"They will only devour our flesh and blood! Squeeze out our marrow! They will completely consume us!"

The workers sitting below felt that Arthur's words resonated deeply with them.

They had all experienced similar things to varying degrees in the past, and had suffered unfair treatment from those unscrupulous factory owners, so they particularly empathized with Arthur's words.

They unconsciously clapped and roared from the bottom of their hearts, even banging on the table. This was the best way for them to express their emotions.

The workers didn't know what to shout at that moment; they were just venting their emotions and the grievances they had suffered in the past with their roars.

Despite the deafening applause and the roars that mingled with the applause in the Peace Tavern, pushing the atmosphere to an even greater climax, Arthur remained calm.

Human emotions are like waves; once they are stirred up, they need to be released before they reach a low point, and then they can be stirred up again.

Just like a fist, only after retracting and accumulating enough power can it deal sufficient damage when thrown.

Now is the time for them to vent.

Klein sat among the workers, feeling completely overwhelmed by the emotions around him, and even had the urge to roar along with them.

He licked his dry lips, feeling completely panicked.