Peach Garden Street in the new capital hadn't been built yet, but the hiring notices had already been posted.
Recruitment would begin first in Wangjing Town, which was already prepared and ready.
Clothing shops, bathhouses, mahjong parlors, fruit stalls, restaurants, and all manner of other establishments were looking for help.
The pay: four yuan a day, with a note in parentheses indicating this was equivalent to roughly forty copper coins.
Daily wages, paid on the day!
The notice made a special point of emphasizing that workers could request a transfer at any time, could choose the work they liked, and that the jobs were easy with excellent pay.
Furthermore, anyone who completed three full months would receive a one-time bonus of two hundred yuan.
That was the equivalent of getting an extra month and a half's wages for free.
Fearing that locals might not understand the figures, every amount was accompanied by a conversion showing the equivalent in silver taels and copper coins.
Benefits like these were beyond imagining in the new capital. Back in Dragon City, the same kind of work currently paid somewhere between two and three yuan a day.
Though it was a new capital, it was nonetheless a place of prosperity. Perhaps half of the wealthiest people south of the Great River had gathered here.
Those who lived here were no ordinary folk — farmers were a rare sight among them.
Some were the family members, retainers, and servants of officials, nobles, and generals; this small circle of powerful figures each brought along a large retinue of family and household staff.
Then there were the minor officials, clerks, guards, and soldiers, along with their families — their incomes couldn't compare to the first group, but their lives were still far more comfortable than those of the common poor.
Next came itinerant merchants and shopkeepers who had set up businesses locally; these smaller traders generally weren't badly off either.
Finally, there were those whose wealth and holdings lay elsewhere, who had simply come to the capital to spend money and live well — these were perhaps the most free-spending of all.
So in order to attract workers, both Jinyi and Jinyan had thrown down serious money.
Of course, "serious money" was relative — compared to what others were offering. By Dragon City's standards, it was little more than a light drizzle.
Had they not needed to avoid disrupting Dragon City's economic order, the two of them would have been willing to offer even more.
At four yuan a day, three months came to three hundred and sixty yuan. Add the two-hundred-yuan bonus for completing the three months, and that was nearly six taels of silver.
That was enough to make even the residents of the new capital's eyes light up.
A crowd gathered around the notice boards, buzzing with chatter.
Four Wolf Soldiers stood nearby, taking turns reading the notice aloud to the crowd.
All four had pushed up their visors, revealing young faces full of vigor and spirit.
"Brother, is what it says here true?"
"Of course. We Dragon City folk always mean what we say."
"One tael and two mace of silver a month is nothing to scoff at — that's over ten taels a year. How do we sign up?"
"That little table over there. Just fill in a few details, then go home and pack up. Come back this evening and we'll all head over together — accommodation is provided free of charge."
"Meals are also covered for the first three days. Honestly, you don't need to bring much — everything you need is already there, including new bedding."
"We'll be recruiting for several more days, so we won't close up until we've got enough people. Take your time and think it over."
Some of the bolder souls signed up on the spot, then headed home to get ready — mainly to let their families know, so nobody would worry they'd gone missing.
As evening drew near, over a hundred people followed a platoon of Wolf Cavalry toward Wangjing Town.
To everyone's surprise, the Dragon City people had even arranged horse-drawn carriages for transport!
How considerate.
Passing through the tall, solid gates and into the town, they were greeted by a straight, wide concrete road leading directly to the central square. Beyond the square stood the town hall.
More than a thousand staff members who had come from Dragon City were already living and working here.
And since there weren't quite enough of them, two thousand Wolf Soldiers were also available to fill in as temporary staff when needed.
Most of the Wolf Soldiers had at least a primary school education and were capable of handling ordinary work without difficulty.
So a hundred-odd newcomers were easily sorted out with just a few staff members assigned to them.
Quite a few people chose to work at the restaurants and fast-food shops.
Several were assigned together and led to one such shop, where the person in charge said, "This is where you'll be working from now on."
"Let me give you a quick rundown. I'm the shop manager, and you'll be working as assistants. The main tasks are prepping ingredients, serving during the lunch and dinner rushes, washing dishes, and wiping down tables."
"One of the perks of working here is that you won't need to spend your own money on meals. Whatever the customers leave behind, we eat."
"Ah — so we eat leftovers?"
"It's not what you're picturing. You'll see soon enough."
"No work today — just take a look around and see how things run. If you're not happy with it, you're free to check out other positions."
It was dinnertime, and customers were coming in steadily. Each person picked up a tray, chose one or two dishes, grabbed a bowl of rice, and settled up at the end of the counter.
A simple, cheaper meal cost thirty to fifty cents. The more elaborate options ran around one yuan.
The cheaper dishes were made in larger quantities, so even if some was left over, little went to waste. The pricier dishes were made in smaller batches, but they were usually snapped up first and rarely had any left.
The ordinary workers here were all sent from Dragon City. Though they held Level 1 positions, working on assignment abroad entitled them to Level 3 wages — six yuan a day.
Most people here still kept to the habit of two meals a day, and even if both meals included meat, the total rarely exceeded two yuan. That was nothing to worry about.
By the time the dinner rush wound down, the newcomers had a pretty clear picture of how things worked.
The manager clapped his hands. "Each of you can go grab a bowl of rice and a dish — take whatever you like."
The newcomers hesitated for a moment, but went ahead and made their selections. When they took a bite, the food was genuinely good!
So *this* was what "eating leftovers" meant. In that case, they'd happily eat leftovers every single day.
The manager glanced at the sky and began shifting the labels on the remaining dishes — time for the discount pricing.
Sure enough, a few more customers trickled in before long, choosing discounted dishes and settling in to eat.
This way, less food went to waste, and some people got a good deal.
By now, a fast food meal was no financial strain for Dragon City folk. Anyone who waited until late specifically for the discounted price had clearly hit a rough patch.
If you could help, you helped.
And it kept your own losses down at the same time.
"So — would any of you like to stay on here, or would you prefer to look at other options?"
"Manager, I want to stay. The food here smells amazing."
Wangjing Town didn't have many residents yet, and the fast-food shop was doing reasonably well — after all, everyone had to eat. The other businesses had their frameworks in place but saw very little traffic, so those who'd come to work in them had a fairly easy time of it.
But this wouldn't last much longer.
Once more people arrived, earned their wages, and started spending, the whole market would gradually come alive.
The first batch of arrivals was housed in shared single dormitories — the kind of rooms around a dozen square meters or so, with just enough space for a bed and a small desk and not much else.
The going rate was twenty cents a day, but for now, it was free.
The next morning, each person received a one-yuan meal voucher, redeemable at the fast-food shop.
Issued for three consecutive days.
Breakfast was simple: a coarse grain flatbread with pickled vegetables, costing two or three cents at most. Most people here still ate just two meals a day, and many farmers were even used to eating only one meal in the morning.
A one-yuan voucher went a long way. Spend a little on breakfast, and there was still plenty left for a decent dinner.