"Bang, bang, bang!"

The sound of knocking on the mud house door came not long after dawn.

"Gude, are you up? We should go!"

"Coming!"

Gude finished the last gulp of hot porridge, wiped his mouth, and looked at the girl who was still busy tidying up the bed. "Then I'm leaving."

She looked up. "Are you sure you don't want me to go too?"

"I've told you many times, you're too young, there's no work suitable for you at all." Gude said impatiently, "Stop—I know you're going to talk about the Wolfheart incident again, but do you want to keep doing that sort of... thing? Stay put, I'll bring something good to eat back at noon."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Popcorn—"

"Too expensive, I think fried egg pancakes are good. Or don't you like runny eggs fried golden brown on both sides?"

"Glug," she swallowed.

"So don't run around, understand?" Gude instructed one last time, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Rachel."

"What should you call me?"

She hesitated for a moment, but finally replied, "Bro... Brother."

"Good, don't let it slip." Gude tightened the linen cloth around his neck, pushed open the door of the mud house, and the warm air was immediately dispelled by the cold wind. Winter returned to its familiar appearance. But even so, the scene that met his eyes was full of vitality.

Rows of mud houses stretched out, like waves surging in the snow. Looking around, you could see smoke and moving figures everywhere. The city in the distance was faintly visible in the mist, as if still asleep, while this place across the river had already woken up.

It was Uncle Bagji and Shanguo, who lived next door, who were knocking on the door. They stood dozens of steps away and urged, "What are you still dawdling about? Hurry up and follow us!"

"Coming!" He closed the door and ran towards them, stepping on the snow.

The temporary residence was about four miles away from the center of Neverwinter City, and the three of them had to get to the Central Square before the new jobs were announced. Fortunately, a solid stone road had been built along the Scarletwater River, so even if it was covered with snow, they could walk with peace of mind—without having to explore every step like on a mountain road, they could arrive in about a quarter of an hour.

Soon, they were joined by many fellow travelers—the scale of the temporary residence was larger than imagined, and Gude had never even seen its end. According to the neighbors, the mud houses used to be built inside the city, but as more and more people came, these small hills were all moved outside the city. Because it was expanded every year, no one knew how many migrants it could hold.

But one thing was certain, most of the people who joined the stone road from the residence were also going for the new jobs.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do next?" Bagji asked.

"Probably some easier work, like sweeping snow, removing ice..." Shanguo said, holding the back of his head, "Short hours, quick money. One day of work can cover two days of food, at least we won't have to worry about going hungry this winter. Of course, provided there are no better limited recruitment opportunities."

Limited recruitment referred to special jobs with a limited number of openings, certain thresholds, and significantly higher pay. This city was full of strange rules, such as all employment announcements being related to the administrative hall, rather than from individuals; officials would update the notices once a week, with hundreds of opportunities at a time. This scale and efficiency reshaped Gude's understanding.

But the thing this place lacked least was surprises. Compared to other incredible scenes, this point wasn't much at all.

And all recruitments were basically divided into three categories. In addition to limited recruitment, the other two categories were short-term recruitment and formal recruitment—the latter offered much broader rewards and scope of work, but unfortunately required an ID card or a primary school diploma. Migrants like them could only choose short-term work to fill their stomachs.

Shanguo's choice was also reasonable, as light work, although not highly rewarding, could save energy to attend primary education classes. If he could pass the assessment, he could obtain formal resident status.

"What about you?" Shanguo looked at him.

"The highest paying," Gude shrugged, "I don't mind working harder."

Because he had a mouth to feed.

As a new migrant who had only moved to Neverwinter City this winter, it was already a blessing to have a small house to shelter from the wind and rain. As for moving into those beautiful residential areas and eating dried meat every week, he hadn't dared to dream of it yet.

The only thing Gude regretted was that all the jobs posted by the administrative hall had a minimum age limit—sixteen years old. Rachel would have to wait another two years to meet the requirements. Now that he had finally escaped the fire pit, he couldn't let her fall back in.

"Don't overwork yourself," Bagji reminded, "It's not cheap to go to the medical院 in this cold weather."

"Don't worry, I'm in good shape!" Gude patted his chest. This wasn't bragging. He had almost been selected as a knight's squire before, if it hadn't been for his poor background... "What are you planning to do, Uncle?"

"I'm not choosing anything, I'm just here to accompany you."

"Huh?" Shanguo was stunned.

Gude reacted quickly, "Could it be that you've already..."

"Haha, it's that could be," Bagji chuckled, "The foreman of the sixth engineering team has his eye on me, and plans to recruit me into the formal team. The new contract should be delivered in the next few days."

"That's really... great!" Shanguo finally came to his senses, "Formal recruitment means the salary can almost double, right? Then you'll be able to save up for a down payment soon, get an ID card, and become a real Neverwinter City resident!"

"Let me go back to studying characters, I definitely can't get into it." Bagji waved his hand, "And I've been here for almost two years, and I'm only seeing this opportunity now. I can only say I'm too stupid. You're so young, you'll definitely have more opportunities than me."

People around them also heard their conversation and came over to congratulate them, making the road lively for a while.

This made Gude a little puzzled.

In his opinion, obtaining an ID card was just to find a better job, but these people seemed to have it the other way around—becoming a lord's or king's subject was all the same, but in their words, it seemed to be a very proud thing, even more important than the job itself.

Chatting all the way, the three arrived at Neverwinter City Square.

A group of early arrivals had already gathered here, but most of them were city residents and didn't compete with the migrants from the temporary residence.

New notices were posted on the south side of the square, and little devils would occasionally walk up to Gude and his group and ask, "Need someone to read for you? Only ten copper eagles."

"No need, we can read," Bagji replied with a smile—of course, only Shanguo actually knew how to read among the three of them, and he couldn't read everything.

"Tsk, these guys... why don't they find a formal job with this effort," Gude muttered in a low voice, "The salary is many times more than these few copper eagles."

"They're all students from the academy, right? They shouldn't be old enough to work yet." Shanguo looked around.

"What?"

"Um... I heard it when I was working the night shift," he lowered his voice, "To prove the importance of 'knowledge', teachers often encourage them to use what they've learned to find earning opportunities—apparently this approach has also greatly increased the number of students in the academy. If I didn't have to work during the day, I'd like to try it too."

Uh... is that even allowed? Gude looked at those people running around offering to read again. Most of them were indeed children. If he remembered correctly, Rachel also knew some characters, maybe he could let her do this?

"Hey, look over there!" The uncle suddenly pointed to a corner on the south end of the square, "So many people are crowding around!"

Gude and Shanguo exchanged glances, "Could it be—limited recruitment?"

"Quick, let's go take a look!"

The three immediately ran towards the crowd. Unexpectedly, not only had a tent been set up here, but a guide had also been specially assigned.

After listening to the explanation, Gude couldn't help but feel a burst of joy in his heart!

This was indeed limited recruitment, and the conditions were exceptionally generous. You didn't need to be literate, nor did you need an ID card. The only requirement was good physical condition and passing a series of related assessments. Although he didn't quite understand what those strange assessment contents they were talking about meant, as long as it involved physical strength, he had enough confidence.

The most surprising thing was that this was actually recruitment from the army!