16.Troublesome reason

By the afternoon, the first draft of the second short story was completed.

Lynn, with sore eyes and stiff fingers, slept the rest of the afternoon as usual, only getting up when Matt, who had been working all day, came back in the evening.

"Bro, nothing happened at home during the day, right?" Matt's first words upon returning were still concerned about Lynn's safety.

"No, nothing happened," Lynn focused his attention on Matt's degeneration value.

It's gone up again.

Two days ago [-40], the day before yesterday [-30], yesterday [-25], and today [-15].

What has Matt encountered that his degeneration value keeps increasing every day?

Lynn felt that it was imperative to solve this matter without delay, or Matt would be ruined.

"Have you eaten yet, bro?" Matt took off his overcoat and hung it behind the door.

"Not yet, I just woke up," Lynn shook his head as he looked at Matt's tired back.

"Wait, I'll make some bread.""It's just that it's too late today, and most of the shops are closed, otherwise I would have bought some hot food back directly, which would have been more convenient." Matt immediately got busy with dinner upon returning.

Lynn hesitated several times to ask, but swallowed his words back.

Matt must have his own reasons for not saying anything.

What he could do now was to quietly gather information and try to help solve the problem secretly, eventually pretending that nothing had happened.

"Here you go." Matt placed the prepared bread on the plate on the desk.

"Okay, you have some too." Lynn offered a portion of his own to Matt.

"No, no need. I don't need to eat so much at night." Matt declined several times and put the half of the bread back on Lynn's plate. "Hey, how's the novel coming along? When do you plan to submit it?"

Lynn took a bite of the dry and unpalatable black bread, "I should be able to finalize the final draft of the second story tomorrow, and then I'll look into submitting it."

"Should I inquire with the newspaper office? Or should we just send the manuscript over directly?" Matt was clearly starving and ate hurriedly."Well, there's no rush." Lynn insisted on giving the half of the bread to Matt.

Matt didn't take it back this time, but instead expressed concern for Lynn's novel career, "What if, I mean what if, brother, the newspaper rejects it? Don't get discouraged. The story is already very good, I've been reading it with great interest. It shows that you have a lot of talent. Just keep practicing and submitting more, you'll definitely succeed."

In Lynn's previous memories, Matt was actually quite a carefree person.

Since Lynn's predecessor's accident, Matt has taken on the responsibility of...After taking on the burden of this family, he has not only become more hardworking and enduring, but also more considerate towards his predecessor.

He would be cautious in everything, avoiding any words or actions that might irritate his disabled brother, and like today, he would tactfully give a preventive reminder to avoid his brother feeling discouraged if his submission was unsuccessful.

Having a younger brother is really not bad.

Lynn felt even more determined to protect Matt. Knowing that "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was bound to sweep the market, he still went along with him and said, "It's okay, if it doesn't work out, I'll try other newspapers. If that doesn't work, I'll rewrite until they're satisfied.""Brother, you're definitely going to succeed. I believe in you," Matt said with a bright smile.

"Alright, let's eat quickly," Lynn patted Matt's shoulder.

"Okay!"

After eating and washing up, Matt fell asleep immediately.

This is how the vast majority of people at the bottom of society live. Their entire 24 hours a day are occupied by only three things: work, eat, and sleep.

There is no so-called life, only survival.Matt is probably better off than most others.

He has aspirations and goals, dreaming of saving a large amount of money to take Lynn to the best hospital to cure his legs.

Although it's an extremely distant dream, perhaps something that someone like him may never achieve in his entire life, he hasn't wavered or given up.

Lynn is deeply touched.

Although he knows that Matt's feelings are towards his brother, the original owner of this body.

But since he has become the owner of this body, what difference does it make?No, he won't.

He will be a good Lynn, and he will treat Matt like a real brother.

"Whoosh."

Lynn strikes a match and lights a candle, beginning to polish his second story.

---

December 26th, Friday, Afternoon

It took another whole night, but Lynn finished polishing his second story as well.

He put the manuscripts of both the first and second stories into a document bag, patiently...patiently waiting for Arthur to come to the door.

Finally, at around 4 pm, Arthur knocked on the door.

"So, did you find out anything?" Lynn invited Arthur in and sat him down.

"Ugh..." Arthur had traveled a long way and took a sip of water before nodding.

"What happened to him?"

Instead of answering, Arthur asked a question, "Hasn't your brother brought any money back in a long time?"

What does that mean?Lynn didn't understand.

"Has your brother not been receiving his paychecks for a long time?" Arthur asked again.

"I'm disabled and can only stay at home, so he manages the money. I'm not aware of his salary situation." Lynn had no idea about Matt's wages.

"The boss who hired them to clean chimneys hasn't paid them for three or four months. I asked some other cleaners, and they said that Matt is organizing a group of workers to demand their wages together, but it's not going smoothly. They've gone to the boss's mansion several times, but were forcibly driven away. The boss even threatened them.""If you don't continue working, don't expect to get any of your previous wages," Arthur said.

It turns out that they were being owed wages by an unscrupulous boss.

Matt even led others to demand their debts back, but they faced suppression.

Presumably, they also went to the police station to seek justice, but the results speak for themselves.

The reason for the rising depravity level has come to light.

Lynn can understand.

In the face of such things, what can one do?

"It's strange that one would be oppressed even when they haven't done anything wrong. It's not surprising that the depravity level would rise.

"Are there many cleaners? Their wages combined for three to four months aren't much, right? Why doesn't that boss pay them?"

"Ah, what's surprising about that? It's just because your brother and his group are powerless and have no influence, so the boss wants to take advantage. That's how the powerful and wealthy always do. Don't assume that just because they're rich, they're generous. These people are extremely stingy with commoners," Arthur sneered.

"Money is needed everywhere in winter, and the wages are already pitifully low. By delaying their wages for three to four months, he's essentially pushing some people to their deaths," Lynn frowned."Do you know anything about this boss's background?"

"Not specifically, but this boss is involved in quite a few businesses. Apart from contracting chimney cleaning in wealthy neighborhoods, they also handle garbage disposal, sewer maintenance, and so on. Basically, they specialize in hiring low-level civilians to solve some insignificant but important minor troubles in wealthy areas," Arthur said.

These businesses are not considered glamorous in wealthy neighborhoods.

For the powerful and wealthy, contracting for such services is even considered shameful.

"They only hire civilians, who are easy to control. They don't fear any backlash even if they withhold or delay wages.

"Lynn felt that this boss might not be easy to deal with, but he certainly wasn't someone with immense power and influence.

"I think we should just let this go. Consider it a loss, working for free for three to four months. There's no need to fight against them relentlessly. They're taking advantage of your brother and his lack of background, knowing they can't stir up much trouble, so they're tricking them into continuing to work as free labor," Arthur advised. "And I've seen many cleaners give up. Your brother can't even organize many people to protest now."

"Debt collection is tough. The fewer people we have, the more vulnerable we become, and it's only going to get harder from here on out."

Lynn shared this sentiment.

With so many troubles piling up, it wouldn't be wise to antagonize the boss in the rich district.

Yet, he knew exactly what Matt had in mind.

Matt had been living a frugal life for years, scrimping and saving every penny to bring him to get his legs treated.

The combined compensation from three to four months of work amounted to just over a thousand copper coins.

In the eyes of the wealthy and powerful, that amount of money might not even be worth as much as a single bottle of wine in their homes, but to Matt, it was invaluable.

This was Matt's hope.

Every extra penny meant one more step closer to a cure for Lynn's legs.

Matt had bravely confronted the boss for so long, desperately trying to reclaim the wages owed, all for Lynn's sake.

It would be easy for Lynn to give up now, to show that his legs were already improving, but he didn't want to settle for that.

"I'm truly sorry, but I can't help you with this. That's a big boss in the rich district, after all. Despite being a sheriff, if they bribe the chief of the police department, I'll be in hot water. Arthur warned Lynn, his expression serious

.Seeing through his silence, I guessed that he still wanted to do something.

"You don't have to worry about this anymore. I'll find a way to solve it," Lynn said with a cold gaze.