Chapter 37 The Beggar

After winter set in, Song Yushu and her daughter Zhou Chengzhu opened a shop selling sweet soup, and it took them more than half a month to sell out their stock.

"We'll stop selling sweet soup starting tomorrow. In a few days, we'll start selling some snacks. The New Year is coming soon, so come and buy some sweet treats!" Song Yushu greeted the customers as they arrived, so they wouldn't make a wasted trip tomorrow.

"Boss Wei, please come back soon. The streets are deserted these days. I've been looking forward to coming here for a bowl of sweet soup every day, but I didn't expect you to sell out so quickly."

"Yes, although the drought is over, we don't know when our county will recover."

When the customers who frequented Song Yu's bookstore heard that she wouldn't be coming tomorrow, they couldn't help but sigh.

Song Yushu had no choice. She came out to sell sweet soup because she wanted to find something to do. Now that her stock was gone, she couldn't very well sell her grain reserves. Although the Wei family had grain reserves, they couldn't withstand such a large consumption.

"Alright, put the remaining sugar water through the back door later. Let's pack up and go back to the village as soon as possible," Song Yushu said to Zhou Chengzhu after packing up his things.

Zhou Chengzhu skillfully picked up the bowl of sweet soup and walked towards the back door.

"Xiao Jiu, take this bowl of sweet soup back with you. Your mother and I are going back to the village. We'll come back in a few days," Zhou Chengzhu said, handing the bowl of sweet soup to a dusty little boy who emerged from around the corner.

Xiao Jiu was somewhat disappointed. For the past two weeks, he had been able to drink sugar water every day, something he never dreamed of, but it ended too quickly.

"Xiao Jiu, don't you have any other family members?" Zhou Chengzhu looked at the dusty little boy in front of her with sympathy. For the past half month, she and her mother had always seen this child begging on the street while they were running their shop. Now that the disaster had just passed and food was precious, he naturally couldn't get anything.

“The old beggar starved to death, and we live under the bridge.” Xiao Jiu didn’t understand the concept of family, nor could he do math. He had been begging with the old beggar since he could remember. Now that the old beggar was gone, all the beggars in the town were doing their own thing.

"What will you do when we go back?"

Xiao Jiu didn't know either, and the weather was getting colder and colder. He thought he could eat as much as he could and didn't think about the future.

"Chengzhu, it's time to go back!" Song Yushu's voice rang out.

"Mother, what will happen to Xiao Jiu after we go back?"

When Song Yushu came out, she saw Xiao Jiu, who was only waist-high, staring at her with her dark eyes. She quickly lowered her head to drink her sugar water.

"Where are your friends?" Song Yushu didn't want to meddle, but Xiao Jiu was too young.

"She's under the bridge!" Xiao Jiu liked the woman in front of him. He had never seen his parents since he was born. After Song Yushu gave him sweet soup, he felt that if he had a mother, she would be just like her and would be able to cook a lot of delicious food.

"Can you take us to see the bridge arch?" Song Yushu knew that if he didn't take care of them, the little beggars like Xiao Jiu probably wouldn't survive the winter; they were too young.

Xiao Jiu knew they weren't bad people, so she stepped forward to give Song Yushu directions.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Song Yushu saw the stone bridge he had mentioned.

But as I got closer, I heard the child crying and yelling.

Xiao Jiu peeked into the bridge arch and immediately burst into tears.

"Xiao Jiu! Run!"

Hearing the commotion, Song Yushu didn't try to be brave. He grabbed Xiao Jiu and ran until he saw the patrolling officials on the street.

"Officers! Some children have been beaten under the bridge! We need to save them!"

The officers rushed to the bridge arch upon hearing the commotion, but they arrived rather late.

The children were lying on the ground, their fate unknown. Song Yushu quickly led people to check on them, and thankfully they were still breathing!

The beggar who had been occupying the bridge archway came out to check the commotion. Upon seeing the officials, he immediately became obedient and watched as the few little beggars on the ground were taken away.

Song Yushu instructed the officials to take the three little beggars to the clinic, and then gave the officials some copper coins before letting them leave.

The doctor didn't say anything when he saw that the injured people brought in were a few little beggars, and went straight to treat them.

Fortunately, the three children were lucky. One lost too much blood but survived, while the other two only suffered minor injuries and fainted.

"Doctor, do you know if there is an orphanage in our town?" Song Yushu is currently living with the Wei family and has no way to adopt these children.

"There is one, but I don't know if they're still accepting patients," the old doctor said, pointing her in the right direction, seeing her kind heart.

Song Yushu had no choice but to pick up Zhou Chengzhu first and take Xiao Jiu to the orphanage.

The orphanage was located in a rather remote area, and Song Yushu had to ask for directions several times before she finally found it.

"Come in."

After Song Yushu knocked on the door, an old woman inside opened it and welcomed them in.

The orphanage was a large house with dozens of rooms at a glance. The yard was used to grow vegetables, and several children were watering and weeding the vegetable garden.

"Is the child you're sending him his?" the old woman asked.

“There are three others, but they are injured and still in the clinic. They are beggars on the street, and if they can’t be taken in, they may not survive the winter,” Song Yushu briefly introduced their situation.

“You are kind-hearted. There are too many pitiful people in this world. A few days ago, many people couldn’t survive and abandoned their children at the door. Our orphanage simply cannot support so many children. If it weren’t for the county magistrate’s help, we would have had to close down long ago.”

As the old woman spoke, she led Song Yushu and Zhou Chengzhu on a tour of the house.

She was right. The orphanage had many rooms, but each room was crammed with children. Many of them didn't even have beds; they laid straw on the floor for them to sleep on.

This is not to say that the orphanage abused the children. In this day and age, it is already a great achievement to be able to feed these children. It is unavoidable that they lack other things.

"Xiao Jiu, you and your friends can stay here for now. After winter is over, come find me at the restaurant, okay?" Song Yushu quickly reassured Xiao Jiu when he saw that he looked nervous.

“I know, Xiao Jiu will come to find you after winter,” Xiao Jiu said. Although she liked Song Yushu, she didn’t dare to hope that she would be adopted by him.

Seeing how well-behaved he was, Song Yushu's heart softened, and she gave up the idea of ​​returning to the Wei family today. Instead, she decided to buy some clothes and bedding for the children before going back.

As a result, the income from selling sweet soup for more than half a month was gone.

However, even Zhou Chengzhu, who loved money more than anything, didn't say anything. After leaving the orphanage, she became much quieter and went shopping with Song Yushu.

Song Yushu wanted to spend some money to order some bunk beds. After buying clothes, he took Zhou Chengzhu to the carpenter's shop.

The carpenter's shop is now struggling, but the carpenter was very welcoming when he saw Song Yushu and her daughter arrive.