Empire of Shadows

"Where's Johnny?"

A familiar yet loathsome voice reached his ears. The apprentice rolled his eyes and lifted his head, looking at Lance, "You can't call the boss by his name. You can call him 'boss' or 'bossie'!"

"And you weren't here during the peak hours tonight, the boss is very angry. He's going to dock you a hefty sum!"

As he said this, a Schadenfreude grin appeared on the apprentice's face.

His own life was already miserable. Having worked here for over six months, he had learned nothing but kneading dough.

The chubby boss was a meticulous man, especially when it came to guarding his recipes. To this day, aside from roughly knowing what ingredients went into the flour, the apprentice had no clue about the precise amounts or their specific order.

Over these six-and-a-half months, all he had learned was to knead the dough with force, make dough blanks, and put them into the oven.

Regarding everything else, he hadn't mastered a thing.

Yet there was an inexplicable sense of superiority about him, especially when facing Lance.

Of course, he managed to find some solace in belittling Lance, which is why he often acted this way.

But since his mother's last visit, that sense of superiority seemed to be fading, or it might be said that his "pretense of strength" had been seen through, and he had nothing left to be proud of.

However, due to the habit and the inexplicable hostility towards Lance, he kept doing it subconsciously, including now.

Lance didn't take any of the apprentice's words to heart, and even took the opportunity to cut him with a "slash."

"Just because he slept with your mom doesn't mean you can treat him like your dad. If I were your dad, I would be sad."

"At least in terms of frequency, he's not qualified!"

The apprentice was stunned for a moment; he swore he had never heard such dirty, vicious, and heart-stabbing words in his entire life.

Lance walked right past him, not forgetting to add another cut, "You'd better clean the floor before he shows up, or your mom will have to suffer again."

It took several seconds for the apprentice to snap out of it, and he turned around abruptly to shout Lance's name.

Lance paused his steps slightly, turned his body, and looked back, "If I were you, I'd shut up and lick the floor clean now, instead of being impotently furious."

If it came to cruelty, Lance was certainly the most adept, having been subject to much more than this apprentice who only knew how to mock.

Shaking his head, he continued toward the inner room, while the apprentice stood frozen in place, his cheeks, flushed with anger, suddenly turning inexplicably pale.

In fact, the situation was even worse than imagined.

He had worked here for nearly half a year as an apprentice, not only failing to learn how to make good cakes but also adding to the financial woes of his already struggling family, with a significant portion of the household income going to the bakery each month.

The last time his mother came here to give the chubby boss a blowjob, it was because she hoped to avoid paying the monthly tuition fees.

But what kind of man was the chubby boss? He wouldn't agree to that.

So, they exchanged opinions and settled on a different deal; she would come over to provide the chubby boss with at least four blowjobs a month, at least once a week, and the apprentice wouldn't have to continue paying tuition.

From a certain perspective, the chubby boss profited from this deal. After all, even the cheapest strippers at the harbor would charge five dollars for the same service.

Four times a month works out to twenty dollars, but suddenly changing the style to oral instead of using hands and losing ten dollars a month income irritated him somewhat.

After all, when it came to ten dollars, whether it was a blowjob or a handjob, he'd rather choose the money.

But if he refused, he might lose this free labor, so ultimately, he chose to compromise.

The apprentice learned of these deals after returning home and arguing with his mother.

Their family could no longer afford to invest more money into a craft that would never be mastered each month.

The more dire the situation became, the more he couldn't leave this place. He couldn't let the past six months of hard work, the money already spent, and his mother's various sacrifices, become sunk costs!

He had to learn something here to show that these sacrifices were meaningful, valuable.

He could not think like an adult, knowing what to give up. Even adults might not be capable of that. The only thing he could do was fulfill his wish for coming here—learning to make delicious bread.

Only that way could he face those unfair sacrifices with composure...

Ignoring the apprentice lost in thought, Lance knocked on the chubby boss's door which soon opened, revealing the man wearing a tattered tank top.

As soon as he saw Lance, his expression twisted into a grimace, "You damn maggot, you missed our busiest time tonight, today I'm docking you three yuan."

"You've already owed me fifteen dollars, and starting from today, I'm going to charge you interest..."

Lance didn't give him the time to ramble on, cutting straight to the point, "I quit."

"You... what did you just say?"

"You're quitting?"

"Haha!"

The fat boss couldn't help but laugh, "Who else but the tolerant and merciful me would take on the job plea of an illegal immigrant like you?"

"If you knew the current situation outside, you would understand that the entire city is resisting you thieves and criminals from the Empire!"

"Other than me, no one else will offer you a decent job!"

Lance could tell that he was actually getting nervous.

"I've worked for roughly a week this month, and with last month's income, you only need to pay me twenty dollars in total."

The fat boss raised his voice, "Are you kidding?"

He paused, then lowered his voice, "I know you're upset, Lance, but these issues are indeed your problem..."

"How about this, the money you owe me remains the same, I'll give you five dollars as last month's salary. This should be enough for you to save some face in front of your friends, let's not make it difficult for both of us, okay?"

Lance shook his head, turned around and walked toward the exit. As he walked, he said, "You really make me sick, Johnny."

"I hope you can keep up this attitude when we meet next time."

Watching him leave, the fat boss followed a few steps; he didn't want to lose a free laborer like Lance.

It was too hard to find another hardworking, uncomplaining, and obedient free laborer!

He couldn't do without hiring more staff, which meant that if he couldn't find the next free worker, he would have to spend at least another twenty to thirty dollars a month.

That twenty to thirty dollars that was supposed to be his, now had to go to someone else, and it was almost suffocating him.

The apprentice was mopping the front hall when he heard the dialogue. He was about to say something when the fat boss lashed out at him, "You're not a damn telegraph pole, standing in the way of what I want to do!"

"Get out of the way, and if you haven't cleaned the floor by bedtime, get the hell out of my bakery tomorrow!"

He said this and passed the stunned apprentice to chase after Lance, only to see Lance getting into a car and then starting it.

It wasn't until that moment that he realized he might really lose Lance.

He didn't even know how to retain this free worker. At least Lance had a car, while he could only ride a bicycle.

He stood on the sidewalk and shouted, "I'll report to the police that you stole my money."

Lance just looked at him calmly through the car window. Meeting Lance's calm gaze, Johnny inexplicably shivered and didn't dare to mention it anymore.

Watching the car pull further away, the fat boss cursed Lance with foul language, hoping he would be unlucky while worrying about where to find another free worker for tomorrow.

Feeling utterly vexed, he went back to the restaurant, where seeing the apprentice standing idly, he couldn't help but vent his emotions in vicious words.

It was just a runaround between the apprentice's intelligence and his mother. After a good rant that released his frustration, he went back to the back room with some dissatisfaction.

It looked like he would have to hire someone tomorrow.

These damned, ungrateful vermin.

He didn't notice the apprentice, eyes red, staring at his retreating figure, fingernails digging into palms, unaware of the pain.

Lance found a hotel near the dock, one yuan for a night, plus free but time-limited hot water.

The room had a musty smell of decay, typical of the wooden houses near the sea if they were not properly maintained.

The bed was soft, which Lance was not accustomed to, and even worse, from the latter half of the night, there were all sorts of loud moans coming from everywhere.

The unabashed loud moaning seemed almost like a competition.

After a few minutes of noise, it would stop, then start up again after a while.

Listening, even in the dead of night, some were enduring the thorny road of life, carrying heavy burdens, struggling to ride on.