"Where did you make this money?" Anna looked at the bulging bag, which probably contained dozens of copper coins. She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so she came over to help him cover it and put it back into the boy's arms.
"Don't learn bad things from those hooligans on the street. If you really need money, I can lend you some, although it's not much." Anna half squatted down, stroked Elio's hair, looked at his thin and handsome face, and sighed that he had a good mother.
"No, I went to the mountains to find some fruits purchased by the workshop. I know where these things grow. I have been running in those mountains since I was a child, so I am very familiar with them." The boy explained and smiled at Anna.
"Alright, we still have to be careful after this. Even though there are no magical beasts in the mountains now, some ordinary wild beasts are dangerous enough."
"Yeah, I know, Sister Anna." Elio looked at the maid in front of him and nodded from time to time.
"Okay, I'll go check out the kitchen first. Mr. Andrew will be clearing out the expired and unsold pastries today. I'll get some for you then. You just wait around for a moment."
"Yes." Elio agreed and watched the maid walk back to the yard.
Afterwards, he squatted on a stone beside the street, clasping his hands around his body to conserve heat. He looked up at the darkening sky. A hint of light purple appeared on the horizon, the color of a fiery sunset, blocked by the distant buildings.
Time passed, and the occasional pedestrian passed by on the street. No one paid any attention to this ordinary boy. However, a few hooligans that Elio was familiar with whistled at him, but when he didn't react, they smiled and walked away. With the weather so cold, bullying wasn't fun anymore. Even they wanted to get back to their warm home as soon as possible.
Just as Elio was in a daze, a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Elio."
"I'm here." The boy stood up quickly, but stumbled because his feet were numb from the cold, and he had to hold on to the wall to keep his balance.
"You must be frozen." Anna walked over and put something wrapped in oil paper aside. She squatted down and checked Elio. Seeing that his arms and body were red from the cold and his lips were a little purple, she rubbed them lovingly for a while.
"Go home early, it's too cold outside." She reminded the boy and handed him the small package.
"Here are the scraps I got from Mr. Andrew. Most of them should be fine, but they can't be put away anymore."
"Thank you!" Elio took it excitedly and opened it quickly, revealing crumpled bread and cake with some white cream.
Regardless of the coldness, Elio took it out with his hand and put it into his mouth. The sweetness was as soft as cotton, melting in his mouth and gone in one bite.
He then grabbed some more and put them in his mouth, finishing the few crumbs in one go. Watching the boy wolfing down his food, Anna smiled and patted his back to help him stop choking.
"By the way, money." Elio took out the bag of copper coins from his arms and prepared to pay Anna.
"No need, I'll treat you as my sister this time. The weather is getting cold, and you should go buy some warm clothes."
"This..." Because of his self-esteem, Elio wanted to continue giving the money to Anna, but when he thought about how he often couldn't sleep due to the cold recently, he hesitated again.
"Well, I work in a bakery, so I don't need this little money." Anna saw Elio's hesitation and continued to add.
"Well, I will repay Sister Anna later." Elio put the bag away, waved to Anna, and ran towards where he usually lived.
It was a remote corner of the slums, dirty and messy, but it was the only place he could stay. He had thought about building a cabin in the mountains before, but the wild beasts and monsters in the mountains made him give up the idea.
At least it's much more convenient to work and earn money here. It's probably colder outside.
The slums are filled with mud and garbage. It is extremely cold and dark at night. Because there are no lights, you can only move forward in the dark, and sometimes you have to be careful of people with bad intentions.
Fortunately, it was winter, so there were fewer people wandering around. Elio trotted through the alley and came to a closed, dilapidated courtyard. He found a collapsed area on the side, stepped on the moss and rubble, and climbed into the courtyard.
"Is that Elio?" an old voice sounded.
"Yes." The young man answered, then looked at the dilapidated house in the corner of the yard. A white-haired old man looked at him through the leaky window, and then disappeared into the shadows.
This old man is missing a leg and is half blind. He lives here all year round and makes a living by selling some strange "handicrafts". He is considered Elio's neighbor.
"Crawling into his small, drafty room, Elio brought stones to block the door, so that the gap would be less drafty.
He wrapped himself in the tattered old blanket and curled up in the corner, enduring his still hungry stomach and fantasizing about a beautiful scene, a world where he could eat bread at will, where he had a mother and a warm stone house.
And so, Elio fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, he went to a second-hand shop on the street and found an old coat that didn't fit him. Although it had several holes in it, it was still a good coat to keep warm after it was mended.
In the following week, before the white frost covered the ground, he went to the mountain several times to look for gardenias that could be sold, until one day he finally collected a huge fortune of one silver coin.
This was the first time in his life that he had earned so much money, a huge fortune that allowed him to barely survive even if he didn't go out for a month.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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