Xie Jue was the best performer among this group of boys, and so he earned a chance to accompany the steward on a procurement trip. Due to two male workers in the kitchen being on leave because of illness, the steward selected two boys to go along, and Xie Jue was one of them.
It was Xie Jue's first time getting a clear look at Fox City. On the day they entered the city, it had been too dim to see clearly. The Beiman lands were vast, but their population barely exceeded a million. There were only two major cities, as the tribal communities lived together in clusters. Due to the harsh weather, very few people lived in remote, deserted areas, as accidents would be frequent and rescues difficult. Thus, the Beiman people were tightly-knit and highly unified.
