Chapter 47

Two Sides of a Coin

The notice board was still at the crossing.

More people crowded it than before. After yesterday's march at the Mint, the job hunters looked even more desperate.

Lila pushed to the front. Nova stood beside her and held down a sheet the wind had started to lift.

On top was still the long-term hire for the Crystone processing plant—only now a strip of addendum was stuck beside it: cutting, polishing, sorting, packing, all short-handed. Short training first. Three months minimum. 520 to 680 Crystone coins a month. Protective gear issued for the job; damage charged at replacement.

Lila read the last line and frowned. "Sounds like a trap."

Nova asked, "What trap?"

"They hand out the gear, then dock your pay if it breaks. Stuff comes half-ruined already, and when it dies it's still on you," Lila said. "At least they don't care if you're a woman."

She looked farther down.

Accounts clerk and assistant were still up. Bookkeeping experience. Must keep ledgers. From 620 Crystone coins a month. Local guarantor. Ten-day trial. A short strip beside it said they were hiring temp clerks too—day rate—but you still needed someone to vouch.

Lila snorted. "Books, ledgers, local guarantor. No chance."

Below that: northern mine dig crews. Underground shifts. Two meals included. From 880 Crystone coins a month. Related experience required. Highest pay on the board. Thickest knot of readers too.

Lila shook her head after two lines. "Not this either. I've never worked underground."

Nova pointed at another sheet. "What about this? Warehouse night inventory."

"Weekly pay. Thin money. Night shift. Lose something, you pay list price," Lila said. "Worth a look."

She scanned the sheets top to bottom again, then tapped the plant, the temp clerk, and the warehouse night job.

"Plant first. Ask about the clerk post once—if it's a dead end, fine. Warehouse nights as a fallback."

Nova nodded and locked it in.

"You're trying all of them?"

"Whatever I can try," Lila said. "I already got turned down once today. A couple more no's won't kill me."

The words were barely out when another hand came in from the side and pinned the other corner of the plant notice.

A big hand—old scars on the back, dust that wouldn't wash out, nails cut short. Lila followed it and found a tall man standing to her right.

He stood a head above the crowd—broad shoulders, square face, even features, eyes large and clear. His old work coat had washed nearly white, cuffs frayed, but he kept it neat, buttoned to the second. Only the shadows under his eyes showed the wear. Even so, his back stayed straight.

He saw he'd blocked their view, pulled his hand back at once, and stepped half aside.

"Sorry."

The voice was deep. It flattened the chatter around them for a beat.

Lila looked him over once more. "You looking at the plant too?"

"Mm," the man said. "Other work too."

A short worker was squeezing out of the crush. He spotted the tall man and tossed a greeting as he went: "Xingchuan—still lining up? Didn't you say the plant waitlist was full yesterday?"

The man turned. "Checking again."

Lila caught the name. The man seemed to realize it too, and nodded to her.

"Yue Xingchuan."

"Lila." She tipped her chin at Nova. "This is Nova."

Nova was careful with it. "Hello."

Yue Xingchuan looked down at him; his eyes softened a shade. "Hello."

Lila nudged the notice toward him. "You know this place? What's the plant work like?"

Yue Xingchuan glanced at the sheet.

"Pays enough to eat, more or less," he said. "I've done a bit of cutting and sorting. Lighter than the mines—not easy, though. Dust's the real problem. Get careless and it sticks with you for life. And if the gear breaks, they dock you—might as well be buying your own. Looks like five or six hundred on paper. After the cuts, it's less."

Lila frowned. "Then it's worse than the mine guards."

"Sure is," Yue Xingchuan said. "But you don't walk into the mine guards if you can't handle yourself."

Lila eyed him and tossed it off. "I went by the mine guards myself. They don't take women—and they don't say that up front."

Yue Xingchuan looked at her, then at the crossbow strap over her shoulder and the short crossbow at her hip.

"Wouldn't have pegged you for the tough sort."

Lila laughed once.

"Aside from the mine guards, mine work pays all right too," Yue Xingchuan added. "Shifts run long. Two people do three people's jobs. Hold up and you take home more. Can't hold up—you walk."

That brought yesterday's banners at the Mint back into Lila's head.

"Is that what the union was yelling yesterday? 'Cut hours. More jobs'?"

Yue Xingchuan looked at her. "You were there?"

"Just passing through," Lila said.

He nodded. "So was I."

"They telling the truth?" she asked.

"Long hours, too few posts, no real gear or insurance—that's all fact," Yue Xingchuan said. "You've worked a mine or a plant, you already know."

Lila raised a brow. "Then why weren't you with them?"

"I… want to watch a bit longer." He said it straight. "Union's new. Hard to say if it'll stick. The Guild's the problem—no argument. Not just Rusak. Towns around it too. Anywhere that runs on Crystone coins, they've got their hand on it. Want a steady life, you don't get around them."

She looked back at the plant notice.

"Fine." She flattened the corner of the sheet. "If you can't get around them, we ask at the plant first."

"Gate's on the southeast side," Yue Xingchuan said. "Follow this street, two crossings, then the low buildings with white smoke. Crowd's thick today—better get in line early."

Lila looked at him. "You going?"

"Looking for weekly pay today," he said. "Need to cover the rent first."

Lila nodded.

"Thanks, Yue Xingchuan."

"Don't mention it," he said.

Lila took Nova out of the crush. A few steps on, Nova glanced back. The tall man was still at the board, reading the hire sheets one by one.