Chapter 192: A Day in the Life of Newsboy Little Kyle

Newsboy Little Kyle never thought his favorite Strike and Raise Movement would overturn the Empire and his job.

He lost his job!

As the origin of the Strike and Raise Movement, Puen City was among the first to respond when the movement overthrew the Empire and established the Infir Commonwealth.

White Reed, the owner of Infir’s largest shipyard, Cossor Shipyard, was the first to support the Infir Commonwealth.

He increased workers’ wages, reduced their hours, and even organized manpower to help the Security Bureau maintain order and distribute food.

Thanks to White Reed’s support, Puen City’s citizens smoothly transitioned their identities.

They were filled with hopes for the new Infir Commonwealth.

But Little Kyle was not happy.

The day after the Strike and Raise Movement took the Imperial City and established the Infir Commonwealth, he ran to the newspaper factory at dawn, waiting in the cold for fresh newspapers.

Although he was only thirteen, handling so much print had made him mature early.

He knew that newspapers covering such major events would sell well.

So he arrived early.

But until daylight, the newspaper factory did not open.

By then, the factory entrance was crowded with newsboys.

It wasn’t until seven in the morning, when the sun was high in the sky, that the doorman arrived and the newsboys learned that the factory was closed.

“The factory closed yesterday. Didn’t the adults tell you? The editors have been recruited upstairs, and they’re all writing news on the Internet now. Look, everyone has the Internet now. Who reads newspapers anymore?”

The doorman summoned a virtual screen with ease and swiped through a dense stream of news flowing across the screen in the Infir Gazette section.

The newsboys were dumbfounded.

Many of them were aware of the Internet.

Indeed, while waiting for newspapers in the morning, many people opened the Internet and discussed the new Infir Commonwealth.

For example:

The legendary descent of God? The Bluetooth King?

Did Ben Keming really stab the Emperor to death?

…and so on.

Such details were far more intriguing to the newsboys than the mythical stories sung by bards in teahouses.

After all, these things were right before their eyes, weren’t they? But they never expected their admired heroes would destroy their livelihoods.

“Grandpa Hogun, is it true that the factory won’t print newspapers anymore?”

“What will we do?”

The newsboys cried out in disbelief.

No matter how much they shouted, the truth remained that the silent, stopped factory was undeniable.

Some newsboys couldn’t accept this and stayed at the factory entrance.

For them, selling newspapers was all they knew.

A smart few quickly ran to other small newspaper factories to see if they were still selling.

Some simply gave up and wandered back, lost about their future.

Little Kyle was sharp. Learning no newspapers were sold here, he quickly rushed to other newspaper factories and even a few underground factory contacts.

They printed some low-quality books and comic books…among others.

Little Kyle sold some before, and business was okay, but it was very risky. If caught, not only would he lose everything, but he’d also have to pay fines.

After seeing a companion get caught, he no longer dared to sell them.

But still, Little Kyle ran around in vain—all the factories stopped printing. Even the underground contacts were nowhere to be found.

After running a loop, it was past eight o’clock, and Little Kyle was extremely disappointed.

At this time before, he would have sold several newspapers and earned enough for breakfast.

Now, all he had was his newspaper money, not even a penny earned.

He wandered the streets aimlessly like a walking dead.

He heard that Puen’s factories had reduced hours and increased wages, but that had nothing to do with him.

He was too young. Factories didn’t want him.

His father had died in a factory accident three years ago, and his mother had left without a trace.

Now it was just him and his little brother.

His little brother was still young, only seven.

Without the income from selling newspapers, he had no idea what to do next.

Little Kyle wandered the streets repeatedly until noon when workers poured out of factories, bringing the streets back to life, he barely snapped out of it.

He took out his newspaper money, bought half a loaf of bread, and headed home.

That ‘home’ was really just a shabby shack.

After his father died, their rented house was taken back by the landlord.

The current old shack was shared with them by a homeless disabled man named Uncle Heller.

It was then that Little Kyle learned to read from Uncle Heller and, with the sixty pence Uncle Heller gave him, began his newspaper selling journey.

Sadly, last summer, Uncle Heller died painfully after his left leg, crushed by a machine, continued to ooze pus over two nights.

At that time, Little Kyle was too young to even move Uncle Heller.

He could only call the Security Bureau to take Uncle Heller away.

Even now, thinking about it fills Little Kyle with guilt.

He always thought if only Uncle Heller used that sixty pence for medicine, maybe he could have survived the summer.

He felt he had killed Uncle Heller.

Returning home in a daze, Little Kyle unexpectedly found a young woman squatting by the door, talking with his brother while peeling an egg.

As he looked over, she handed the egg to his brother.

“Who are you?”

Little Kyle rushed over in a panic, pulling his brother behind him, watching the young woman warily.

He read newspapers about certain circuses deceiving children into leaving with them, then putting them in jars to deform their bodies for circus performances.

There were also scary vampires who sent servants to capture children as food.

These urban legends, combined with frequently disappearing street children, made Little Kyle very cautious.

If his brother weren’t so slow, he’d have taken him even when selling newspapers.

“You’re Little Turnip’s brother, right? Hello, I’m Joan! An officer from the Infir Commonwealth Education Bureau, I’m here to inform you to attend school soon. The school is in the church downtown. Of course, it’s now called Hope Primary School.”

The young woman squatted slightly, her smile friendly and bright.

She spoke of the ‘Infir Commonwealth’ with pride in her voice.

Her smile eased Little Kyle’s wariness a bit.

He wasn’t sure if what Joan said was true, but even if it was, it didn’t concern him.

He said, “Thank you for telling us, but we can’t afford school.”

Joan smiled, “We don’t charge any fees. Educational costs are covered by the Infir Commonwealth.”

Little Kyle was stunned, “Is that true?”

“Of course, it’s true. See, this is an administrative order signed by Mr. Ben Keming personally.”

Joan opened the Internet and clicked on a new icon, showing a document titled ‘On the Pilot Scheme of the Education Bureau’.

Little Kyle was dumbstruck!

After a long time, he said, “Madam, I’ll send my brother there later. Thank you for notifying us.”

He decided to ask around later.

If it was true, he would send his brother. It’s better than staying home.

In the past, he wanted to entrust his brother to the church.

Unfortunately, pastors only took neat workers’ children and refused street orphans like them.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must be quite young too? Let me guess, are you ten?”

Joan chuckled, surprised by Little Kyle’s mature tone.

“I’m already thirteen, madam!”

“Really? You don’t look it.” Joan was even more surprised. The thin, dark boy before her seemed at most eight or nine to her.

“Even though you’re a bit old, according to rules, you can still attend for free. You can bring your brother this afternoon!” Joan said.

“I can’t, madam. I still need to earn money.”

“What about your parents…” Joan started to say but stopped, seeing Little Kyle’s timid brother and their shabby wooden and grass shack, guessing what had happened.

In Little Kyle’s gloom, she smiled brightly and said, “No worries, the school provides free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Come together! If you really are thirteen, I can help you apply for work-study. According to the minimum wage law, you can earn at least 70 pence a week.”

“Seventy pence?! You’re not lying to me?”

Little Kyle’s eyes suddenly brightened.

It was an income he couldn’t earn even in a week of selling newspapers.

“Of course, that’s the new law!” Joan said proudly, “If you don’t believe me, you can check the Minimum Wage Law on the official website.”

As Joan said this, she also brought up the ‘Minimum Wage Law’ on the virtual screen.

Little Kyle stared dumbly at the document and eventually mumbled, “Why does the Infir Commonwealth…provide us with free schooling and meals?”

“Sir, I must correct you. It’s no longer the Infir Empire, but the Infir Commonwealth! As for why we do this,” Joan explained seriously, “under Akide’s banner, we’ve workers have become masters of the nation.”