Chapter 3

The construction site was slowly finding its footing, and the crew had grown from a few dozen men at the start to over a hundred.

As the person in charge of payroll, I had plenty of restaurant owners from the area coming to me, hoping to strike a deal.

Fat kickbacks, expensive gifts. I turned every one of them down.

I gave the job of feeding the crew to Hudson.

He'd gone from a street vendor with no fixed spot to a real restaurant owner because of it.

I didn't expect him to repay me. I just figured we'd known each other a while, and that kind of goodwill was rare, not worth nickel-and-diming.

My patience was almost gone, and the cold advice came out through gritted teeth.

"Hudson, business is about the long game. You're fighting me over sixty bucks today. Do you really think it's worth it?"

Hudson didn't give an inch. He stiffened his neck, the veins at his temples bulging.

"Worth it? Those six bottles of vinegar cost me real money. You people running big projects look down on sixty bucks, but honest folks like us, we build it up one penny at a time."

"Sixty a day, that's eighteen hundred a month. And a year? That's tens of thousands! You flap your lips and expect me to eat almost twenty grand, no skin off your back!"

It wasn't just the crew from the site.

During the lunch break, locals from nearby would use the window to peddle household goods at the site entrance.

More gawking bystanders crowded in.

Hudson grabbed the man beside him, someone from his hometown, his voice booming like he was calling out a work chant.

"Here, you're on the outside looking in. You judge for us."

"Their site has me bring six bottles of vinegar every day, and I bring them, but they won't pay me for it. I just run a little diner. Feeding a family isn't easy."

"You tell me whether I should be giving away these six bottles. I'm a reasonable man. If you say I should, I'll shut up and walk away right now!"

They were from the same village, so the man's face clearly showed some awkwardness, but he still mumbled a reply.

"You should get paid. I think you should get paid..."

Getting the backing, Hudson stood up straighter, waving his arm to draw in the others from his village.

"Everybody weigh in. I ask her for the money for six bottles of vinegar. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Nobody's money blows in on the wind. I'm up before dawn slaving away, sweating my life out in that kitchen for every last penny. You have no idea how hard it is!"

With Hudson fanning the flames, the crowd's accusations against me slowly boiled over.

"This little girl looks so proper, and here she is trying to swindle six bottles of vinegar."

3.

"It's hard enough for us small-timers. City people like her not understanding, fine, but going out of her way to make trouble? That's just vicious!"