Chapter 43 Blue Blood (3)

There was a huge flow of people on the street. Two figures, one big and one small, walked in the secluded alleys of the inner city. They hardly needed to communicate. It only took them a few seconds to turn from the neat and beautiful main road and avoid the nobles.

Leaving the main road, the tiles under their feet changed from being neatly arranged to being sparse. If they were not careful, they would step into the potholes of rainwater mixed with mud.

"Uncle, why are we here?" Tuanzi, the newsboy wearing a yellow hat, was pulled by the hand. He had short legs, but at this time, his steps were bigger than Ding Xiang's.

"The boss in the association has something to do. After I go in, you should sit in the lobby for a while. Don't run around. Do you understand?" Ding Xiang wanted to pat the child's shoulder but only felt a wet spot.

Ding Xiang's eyes were sore.

It rained in the morning and there were almost no pedestrians on the street.

This child must have been selling newspapers to those who wanted to hide

from the rain in order to sell newspapers faster. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to make a deal, but more often he would be rejected and pushed. There would inevitably be a few moments when he was exposed to the rain.

And the children who were used to selling newspapers would first hug the newspapers tightly in their arms and use their bodies to block the rain. That was something more important than their health. They

might get sick if they got caught in the rain, but that was a matter for the future. If they didn't make any money from selling newspapers today, they would go hungry today.

Just like when he was a child - he clearly remembered that from the day he became a crew member, he vowed not to let the children around him fall into that situation again. Why did he end up like this?

Was it really wrong for him to stick to his bottom line?

So many times he refused to accept the money extorted from the citizens, was he actually refusing a good life for the children?

Ding Xiang couldn't figure it out.

"I'll be good." The newsboy nodded slowly after hearing what Ding Xiang said.

He broke free from Ding Xiang's hand on his shoulder, ran to the wide road, and jumped onto the flowerbed on the street. He imitated the cat's steps in a funny way, and he looked just like a kitten twisting its butt. "I like going to the association the most. The sisters and brothers there will give me snacks."

His smile was so bright, but the dimples filled with a bright smile were hanging on the dark purple bruises caused by the beatings.

Ding Xiang's words of advice because he didn't follow the rules were suppressed by the smile and the dark purple. He ignored the dissatisfied looks from the ladies and gentlemen around him, which would not cause more damage than a real fist.

He took big steps, trying to catch up with Tuanzi, but the next second he felt something tearing his injured right leg. His body, which had not eaten anything all day, had no strength left. He stumbled and fell heavily, hitting his head on the stone pier next to him. Blood immediately flowed from his skull.

Tuanzi was startled by the blood on his face and immediately pulled him back up. Tears welled up in his eyes without him noticing: "Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay?" His

words became louder and louder.

His sky turned from sunny to rainy too easily.

"Let's go find Brother Zhou Ye, now, instead of going to see the elders of the association." He tried to lift the body of the person in front of him with his hands, but he didn't have enough strength. He looked around to find someone to help, but found that no one cared about the situation of the two peasants.

In his panic, he didn't see a group of skinny kids hiding in the corner.

Ding Xiang finally recovered from his dizziness. The bleeding made him extremely thirsty. He had never eaten anything before, so he patted the hands of the kids beside him to show that he was fine, and then stood up with his wet shoulders.

"We have to go, don't make trouble."

"I know, it's because uncle didn't listen to the captain..." Before he finished speaking, Ding Xiang covered his mouth with his hands. He broke free and cried, "The captain is a bad man, the noble old men are bad men, all bad men..."

"Uncle, don't help them anymore, the noble old men are all bad men, they bully me and they also bully you."

"Woo..." The child with bruises on his face hugged the only person in the world who cared about him, crying and shaking all over.

But this is the inner city, no one listens to his cries.

Ding Xiang didn't cover his mouth anymore, but just bent down to adjust his breathing and let himself recover as soon as possible. His bent waist slightly held the crying newsboy to prevent him from being hit by people rushing by.

"After I enter the association, you just sit in the hall, don't run around." Ding Xiang sighed, he couldn't fall down yet, he still had to protect the children "Be brave, don't cry."

"But uncle, you always tell me to be brave."

"You too, I believe Brother Zhou Ye is a good man, let's go find him! He won't let you be bullied by the captain and the nobles."

"Really! Let's go find him!" The newsboy's eyes sparkled, and there was a kind of pure trust that Ding Xiang could never go back to leaking out.

"Zhou..." Ding Xiang's words were mumbled in his mouth, and finally he still added a suffix to Zhou Ye "President Zhou is very busy, maybe he is busy dealing with the association's major events now."

The two slowly approached the door of the association in a back-and-forth exchange.

Soon, a secretary sent by Dimula came to guide him upstairs.

"Promise me that after you finish talking to the noble elders, we'll go find Brother Zhou together!" At the gate, the newsboy took off his little yellow hat, ignored the secretary's sight, and held Ding Xiang's hand tightly, asking for a promise.

"......Okay." Ding Xiang nodded in his sincere eyes, and recalled his previous interactions with Zhou Ye, with a trace of bitterness on his lips.

That person should be willing to meet them with a smile, at least, he would not be disgusted with himself and the child because of such a small disturbance.

For Zhou Ye, even if Zhou Ye became "President Zhou", Ding Xiang felt that he could still have this level of expectation.

A group of followers who were hiding in the bushes outside the association's gate and looking hard found Ding Xiang going upstairs, and hurriedly jumped out of the bushes.

"Pah, the bugs in the haystack almost crawled into my mouth." The leading child wiped the sticky phlegm from his mouth with his hands and wiped it on the branches beside him, staring at Tuanzi who was sitting still in the association hall.

"I said something good would happen. Look, this guy is just like us, and he actually sneaked into the association." The group half-crouched beside him, using the cover of the building to bury themselves firmly in the shadows under the tree, focusing their eyes on the several bags of snacks in Tuanzi's hands. "

It seems that we didn't use enough strength to beat him last time." The leading child sneered and began to rub his wrists.

"Do you think we can lure him out?" asked a child next to him.

"Lure him out?" The leading child looked at him.

"Silly, don't you want to eat papaca?" The child licked his dry lips with his tongue, as if he had tasted the deliciousness in the hands of the newsboy. "I haven't eaten it since my father fell into the sea."

"I want to eat it." The leading child glanced at the street in the distance and saw a small animal drinking water at the fountain. A vicious plan had already emerged in his mind.

Above the fountain, in the private room of the restaurant on the second floor, a wide square table separated Dimula and Ding Xiang. The woman stood in the corner of the room, holding a bottle to feed the child in her arms.

The table was full of various delicacies, and the aroma was overwhelming.

Almost as soon as he came in, Ding Xiang's stomach started to growl, and saliva flowed between his lips and teeth. He looked up to see the expressions of the two big men, and swallowed hard.

"Haha, you're welcome, sit down and eat something." Di Mu La was amused by his country bumpkin appearance, and gestured to the secretary, and soon a set of brand new tableware was placed in front of Ding Xiang.

"No need, sir."

"I'm the person you're looking for. If you have any questions, just ask them directly. I will tell you everything." Ding Xiang shook his head and covered his dry stomach. The value that a person like him could pay was not as much as this meal.

"No need..." Di Mu La wanted to say a few more polite words, but the woman who was feeding the child withdrew her hand and put the bottle on the table with a "pop" sound.

"Ahem, anyway, tell me about Zhou Ye."

"Zhou Ye...?" Ding Xiang tightened his hand on his stomach. "Why... No, I'm not familiar with him. I just served him a few meals on the ship."

The air fell into complete silence after he finished speaking. Ding Xiang could hear the frequency of his own breathing, which was mostly short and in and out, like a restless animal.

The woman held the child and murmured softly to coax him to sleep. After approaching the square table, she grabbed a plate full of meat and threw it on the plate in front of Ding Xiang.

In an instant, white porcelain splashed, and Dimula trembled in shock and subconsciously shrank back.

"Aren't you hungry? Eat." Her eyes were full of indifference and fatigue. She coldly glanced at Ding Xiang, a scoundrel in front of her. "After you finish eating, tell me everything you know. I want every detail."

The plate of meat had already gone cold. The porcelain utensils were smashed on the table and shattered. The dry meat and the debris wrapped in sticky sauce were almost wrapped together. Any normal person would feel terrified and nauseous.

But Ding Xiang's first reaction was not fear, but hunger. The saliva that had just been swallowed was like a burning reflux in the esophagus.

Zhou was also someone who helped you, and this was definitely a humiliation. You can't...crunch, crunch, gurgle.

The sauce, delicious and rich, wrapped in the aroma of meat, moistened the dry throat like pure water, and something hard but broken was swallowed along with it.

When Ding Xiang came to his senses, he heard the contemptuous laughter of the people around him and his own voice: "Delicious!"

"You are enjoying the meal, so tell us about Zhou Ye next?" The woman said in a disgusted but interesting tone.

A hoarse and dry response sounded in the room.

Across the wall, at the banquet table in the main restaurant, the middle and senior executives of the association came out with their partners, and men, women, old and young walked around the different tables to communicate. From time to time, someone joined in the middle to extend the life of this short conversation.

The object of their conversation was naturally the pale white rose tenderly held in the arms of the steel giant, their new president.

"Good boy, show us that move again." The focus of the eyes, the black-haired Zhou Ye raised the enviable key, making people's eyes dance with his movements.

He drove Nuo to extend his hand covered with a suppressor again.

The alchemy pattern originally hidden under the skin lit up golden purple, and a flame like the color of glass rose up, which made the association members surrounding the two people exclaim in surprise.

"Oh my god, is this the Alchemy Puppet you tamed? It's amazing!"

"So beautiful, so beautiful!"

"You are worthy of being the President."

Amidst the praises, Zhou Ye showed off again and again, as if he enjoyed the attention of the crowd. He pushed Siming and Cong Yue out of the inner circle to make room for those who had never seen it.

Aixina and several familiar association members sat at the table at the edge. She called Cong Yue and the others to come over.

Siming's eyes were on Zhou Ye, while Cong Yue was not polite. She turned around and sat diagonally on Aixina's legs. Several moon butterflies gently stuck to the shoulders of the people around her.

"Is it okay for the President to be like that?" Aixina quickly hugged her ancestor who had an improper posture, but she was talking about Zhou Ye who was in the center of the banquet.

"Him?" Tan Yue smiled, her red hair sticking to Ai Xina's cheek like velvet. "He's having a great time."

"But aren't you afraid that the Alchemy Puppet will get out of control? What if he gets angry again and hurts the president?"

Ai Xina hugged Tan Yue's upper waist tightly, but the red-haired witch was so soft that her upper body slid onto her knees, and the other half lay casually on the sofa.

"Isn't there still that person watching?" Tan Yue had already closed her eyes and covered her face with the small pillow on the sofa. She didn't know where her hands were pointing, but fortunately Ai Xina knew she was talking about Siming.

"Besides, I need to rest now."

"But," Aisina didn't let her evade her, she raised her glasses and reiterated the core of the problem, "suddenly out of control..." "

So annoying!" A muffled complaint came from under the pillow.

"He is not only your "master" now, but also the president of the association. As the chief of public security, I am naturally responsible for his safety, and you should not evade your responsibility."

"Okay, if you pretend to be dead again, I will go by myself."

Aisina pretended to push away the lap pillow, and felt a tight grip on her hand.

"Don't go." A pair of clear eyes appeared under the pillow, without any trace of sleepiness. "Do you really think that guy will lose control?"

"What?" Aisina didn't understand what Cong Yue meant for a moment, she could only ask according to one of the ideas, "But didn't he escape here in a state of loss of control just to break free from the control of the alchemy line?"

"And he could still speak at the beginning."

"Although I don't understand what he means, the word hypocrite has too many possibilities."

"Ha, my descendant." Zhou Ye looked at this sharp but too innocent girl through Cong Yue's perspective, and corrected her from the fact that she was ignored.

"Such a simple thing as speaking."

"Why do you think he can't do it now?"