Chapter 9

Winster stood on a thick branch and saw the man whose food he had stolen today walking quickly towards the cave, as if he knew he was hiding there.

He looked into the distance and didn't see anyone else.

Elphis pushed aside the vines covering the entrance of the cave. Although he didn't see anyone, he was sure that the poor little thing was hiding there.

When he passed by here as a child and took a look inside, he knew how dirty and messy it was. Now, the dead branches and leaves, insect corpses, snake skins, and some animal bones were gone. There was only a pile of dead leaves that looked like someone had been lying on them. There were also a few branches with many thin twigs standing against the wall of the cave, which were held together like a broom.

Elphis couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. It turned out that he was a clean little tramp.

Now that he thought about it, he indeed didn't smell any strange smell when he came into close contact with the child in the morning, and his hands and face were clean. This was completely different from the dirty monkeys in the town who were disciplined by their parents but still loved to play.

Elphis smiled. If this particular child was born in a wealthy family and was not a black boy hated by everyone, he would probably be difficult to serve.

A moment later, Winster saw the older boy come out and leave calmly, without a trace of anger for not catching the thief.

Winster looked at his back in confusion. Did this man realize where he was hiding?

He noticed, of course, that the backpack that the older boy was carrying was empty, and the basket in his hands was gone.

Winster climbed down the tree and returned to the cave. He saw a folded quilt on his pile of leaves, half of which was used as a cushion and the other half as a cover, which was perfect for his body shape.

He looked at the quilt and the wooden basin on the ground and the several things inside, including toiletries, a pair of thick shoes, a winter coat, and a small cloth bag containing dozens of copper coins.

Winster didn't think that this was a gift for him. He suddenly remembered that in the village, there was a big child who quarreled with his parents, and then he took a quilt and hid in the mountains. When he was hungry, he sneaked back to find food. Winster saw it, but the adults didn't.

The villagers hadn't seen the child for two days and thought something had happened. They blamed him for the incident. When he was found, no one apologized for the insults and beatings he had received...

The person whose food he snatched away today also had a quarrel with his parents, so he came out to hide out of anger?

Winster was hesitating whether to take these things away and find another place to hide.

He needed these things very much, maybe they could help him survive this winter, but the older boy didn't need them, he still had a home to return to...

Winster's hesitation was not because he had any moral bottom line. In the face of the survival crisis, staying alive was the only important thing for him. If someone caught him, Winster felt that he might even kill people to escape. No one taught him what was good and what was bad, so how could he think that taking things without asking was a bad behavior.

He was just thinking that the older boy didn't ask anyone to catch him, maybe because this place was too remote and the people here had never heard of what his eye and hair color meant, just like the village where he was born...

But as soon as someone suddenly appears and tells them, these people will show expressions of fear and greed.

As long as no one came to look for him, Winster felt safe staying in the forest.

But if he took so many valuable things, the older boy would be angry and tell the town that there was a thief, and then his situation would become worse.

Winster resisted the urge to take everything away. He took ten copper coins and ate everything in the basket. He just hoped that the big boy would continue to pity him like he did this morning and not bring anyone to catch him...

In order to avoid running into Elphis who might come back later, the child finished his meal in a hurry and then left the cave.

If Elphis knew that he had forced the poor little thing to leave the place where it could be slightly protected from the cold, he would definitely be in tears and amused.

In the afternoon, Elphis went to see the growth environment of the walking birds.

When they were first raised, they were kept in pens. Later, Elphis slaughtered one to eat, but felt that the meat was not firm enough, so he raised them freely on the mountain where bamboo was planted.

The mountain is neither high nor big, has no rich vegetation resources, and no dangerous animals, so it is very safe for free-ranging birds.

The townspeople dug many small holes on the mountain wall, covered them with hay, and scattered some food near the holes every day. After all this operation, the free-range birds had food, shelter, and space to move freely. With such a beautiful environment, it would be foolish if the meat did not taste good.

Over the past few years, this lazy and slow-moving bird has stayed in the pen without the threat of predators and has multiplied to nearly a hundred.

When the little birds were just hatched, everyone was worried that they would fly away. But they didn't. This race carried through the trait of "laziness" from birth to death. If you scatter some food for them, they will never bother to find food for themselves, and they will fly back after flying out to play.

Fortunately, they didn't slack off when reproducing...

At present, the town of Lisse has not yet sold the free-range birds as food. Elphis told everyone that they need to raise them for a few more years and wait until they reproduce a little more before they can maintain a stable supply.

In his previous life, he would never have imagined that one day he would have to worry about the birth rate of birds.

There are not many bamboos on the mountain. Although they have gone to the forest in groups to dig them several times, there are probably only a few hundred bamboos left. It is still possible to make bamboo products and sell them in the city, but it will take a few more years to sell bamboo shoots, as they are precious!

A girl who was in charge of feeding and collecting eggs on the mountain saw him and greeted him enthusiastically: "Al, you are here too? Have you run out of eggs at home?"

"Sister Edith, good day. There are eggs at home. I'm just going for a walk up the mountain. Do you need me to help you carry the basket? It looks a bit heavy."

"No, I've already picked up all the eggs and am heading down the mountain now. Once I find out which eggs can hatch into chicks, I'll bring them back before dark."

Elphis didn't really want to help her carry the basket, nor did he insist, "Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister. Please be careful on the way down the mountain."

Edith walked a few steps, looked back at the boy's leisurely gait, and sighed. Al was such a handsome and excellent boy. His gentleness was also very touching. It was a pity that she was ten years older than him and could not feel any admiration for him.

I don’t know which girls in this town will be obsessed with him in the future.

Female ground birds lay eggs on their own or with male birds. No one can tell which eggs should be kept for hatching young and which can be eaten directly. Al lit an oil lamp at night and let them observe. Those with black spots in the eggs were sent back to the mountain to incubate, and those without black spots were kept and sold.

In response to other people's compliments, Elphis made the excuse that he learned it from a chat with a knowledgeable traveler when he entered the city. This stopped people from looking at him as if he were a monster. After all, it was really strange for a child to know so many things. His grandfather even suspected that it was a god who told him in his dreams.

The chirping sound could be heard everywhere. Elphis looked at the free-range bird that was almost as fat as an old hen with satisfaction, thinking about various dishes in his mind, slurping...

Unfortunately, even he couldn't eat whenever he wanted. These few free-range birds had to be kept and multiplied into a mountain of them.

If you can't eat meat, eggs are still okay.

For dinner, Elphis steamed a smooth egg custard and cooked a pot of mixed vegetable porridge. He added a little lard and salt, and the porridge tasted thick, salty and fragrant. When packing the basket, he hesitated for a moment, but still took out the big steamed bun.

People who are often hungry have bad stomachs and cannot eat too much suddenly as they are easily irritated.

When Elphis arrived at the cave, he didn't see anyone. The things he delivered at noon were still there. Fortunately, the food left here was eaten up.

I don’t know where the kid went, I hope he will come back before the food gets cold.

Elphis took away the lunch dishes and did not stay to wait for anyone. He was afraid that the child would turn around and run away when he saw him, so he decided to feed the child for a few more days before getting closer.

As for Winster, he went to the fields and stole a hoe. He found a mountain with vines growing on it and spent an afternoon digging a hole in the mountain. It was not as big as the cave he had found before, but it could be used to block the rain.

After digging the hole, he exhausted all the energy he had gained from eating well.

After curling up on the pile of dead leaves to rest for a while, Winster thought of the delicious food he had eaten today. He couldn't help swallowing his saliva and felt even hungrier...

I wonder what the older kid will do when he finds out the food is gone.

Winster wanted to confirm whether anyone was looking for him as a thief, so he carefully returned to the vicinity of the cave where he had been before, but he did not notice any movement along the way.

Under the cover of vines and weeds, Winster cautiously looked into the cave. Everything was still there, but no one was in sight.

Could it be that the person regretted his decision and didn't want to run away from home anymore?

The child's eyes flashed with doubt. Are the people in this place so rich? How could so many things, including a bag of money, be placed in one place...

At this moment, in his mind, Elphis was just a spoiled little master who didn't know the suffering of others.

When you are hungry, how much energy can the body have to keep out the cold? Not to mention that it is getting darker and the cold is getting worse. Winster was shivering from the cold.

He thought about the hiding place he had just dug in the afternoon, which was still damp and far less dry and warm than the cave he had lived in for the past two days. If he slept in the new cave, he might get sick again. But if he returned here, the older kid who had put his things there might find him...

Winster stared at the quilt inside and thought that maybe he could take the quilt away tonight and put it back tomorrow morning. If he was lucky, the man would not notice such a thing.

After he walked into the cave, he noticed that the basket had been moved. The one in front of him was also different in size from the one he had at noon.

Winster has always had a good memory, and he didn't think he would remember these details wrong. The child pursed his lips, it seemed that the older child had been back here.

Looking at the new basket intently, Winster inexplicably felt a sense of anticipation... He lifted the sackcloth covering it and, not surprisingly, found the rice that had not yet cooled down.

Although he was very hungry, Winster did not immediately pick up the bowl of porridge and drink it. He stared at the food, wondering if the man had poisoned it to take revenge on him.

In the end, Winster finished the bowl of porridge and egg custard. The reason why he was alive until now was mostly due to his keen intuition. When he thought of the man's indifferent temperament and the brief contact in the morning, his intuition told him that the man would not poison him.

After eating three meals provided by Elphis, the child seemed to realize that others felt sorry for him, but he still didn't want to stay here. He didn't like contact with people, and if others knew his whereabouts, he would instinctively want to escape.

Winster held the quilt which was a little heavy for him and returned to the newly dug hole before it got completely dark and he could still see the road clearly.

He was often hungry and cold, and was always worried about losing his life. The child hadn't had a good night's sleep for a long time.

But today, after eating three full meals, all of which were fresh, warm and extremely delicious to him, Winster felt that this was the most satisfying day he had ever had in his memory.

The big trees in the forest blocked the faint moonlight, and the vines blocked the entrance to the cave, leaving the small cave in deep and thick darkness.

The child was not afraid at all, he liked darkness, which made him feel safer than the light that everyone praised.

I buried half of my face in the quilt. The quilt that had been exposed to the sun had a soothing smell that covered up some of the earthy smell.

Winster soon fell into a deep sleep, and when he woke up, he still had a sense of unreality.

At this time, it was just daybreak and everyone in the town was still sleeping. Winster put the quilt back into the cave and went to the stream to clean himself up. He was worried that if he was late, he might run into people who were washing clothes.

Looking at the fish in the water, Winster thought that if he had no food to eat today, he could catch fish.

In this world, there is a kind of grain called yellow grain, which is somewhat similar to millet. Elphis vaguely remembered that after he started working, his wife called him and told him to cook some millet porridge to nourish the stomach, so for breakfast today, Elphis prepared millet porridge and put some melon in it to cook. It tasted thick, sweet and fragrant.

Then they went to Uncle Tony's house to buy some buns. After he and Grandpa Kevin finished eating, Elphis went to feed the children.

What puzzled him was that he didn't see anyone, and the food from last night was eaten up, but the other things he brought seemed to be untouched.

Hey, little guy, what is he doing outside in such a cold weather?

Since he couldn't see the person, Elphis had no way to tell him things. The child was very alert and was willing to come to eat. He should know his "reputation" and "worth" and couldn't expect others to trust him immediately after eating a few meals.

And so, Winster was fed for another day.

At night, he huddled in a small hole that he had dug a little deeper, wondering how long the older boy would continue to give him alms.

Will his family find out if he takes food out of the house?

If anyone knew what the black hair and black eyes meant, he would flee again...

Accepting charity again would increase the risk of being discovered, but Winster did not want to give up food. He needed to eat in order to grow up well, and when he grew up he could better protect himself.

Winster knew where Elphis lived. Before he went to grab food that morning, he noticed that there was only one house in the direction the man was heading.

Winster felt that something was wrong with him, if he had snatched all the food for the past two days, he wouldn't have any psychological pressure, but he felt uncomfortable when someone was nice to him.

He should be happy to be well fed and warm, but on the contrary, every time he had a full meal, he felt the burden gradually getting heavier, so heavy that he felt he could no longer bear it...

On the afternoon of the third day of feeding the children, Elphis found a wooden basin filled with water at the door, with two palm-sized fish in the basin.

He recognized that this wooden basin was exactly the same as the one he had placed in the cave before.

The young boy laughed, as if he had fed a stray cat and saved its life, and the kitten caught mice, sparrows or something and gave them to him as a token of gratitude.

The gift was of little value, but it was the only thing the kitten could do.

For dinner that day, Winster had fish fillet porridge with all the fish bones removed and stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

After that, Elphis continued to feed the child for a few days. He didn't think it was troublesome. He just added more ingredients when cooking.

When he feels that the little guy's stomach has adapted better, he prepares milk, buns or vegetable omelette for him for breakfast. At this age, it is better for him to drink more milk to supplement nutrition, and some meat should also be prepared every day.

There was really nothing good in the forest in winter, so the children could only bring him fish. One time, they even brought him a dead snake. It was unknown where they got the hibernating snake from...

The child only gave him a gift in return and still did not show up to see him. Elphis did not feel disappointed. He even admired the little guy's prudence.

On this day, the sky was gloomy from morning to night, and it was about to rain. After delivering dinner, Elphis hurried home.

A little later, there was a loud thunder, deafening.

Elphis frowned. The child was often not in the cave. It was okay at other times, but there was nothing in the forest except a lot of trees. It was very dangerous to run around in the forest when it was thundering.

With this in mind, the young boy took some things, entered the forest before it got completely dark, nimbly jumped over the potholes and wooden planks on the road, and ran towards the cave.

God of Wealth, please bless me and don’t let me be struck by lightning. I am your only believer in this world!