Chapter 4 The Little Beggar
I looked down at the dry rations in front of me, then stuffed a piece of stinky tofu into my mouth.
"Eat this." The little beggar held out some dry food to my mouth, his eyes bright and black.
I reached out, pinched a piece of stinky tofu, and held it to the little beggar's mouth. "Eat this."
The little beggar was slightly taken aback, then stared at the thing in my hand with fear, his sallow and thin face scrunched up.
I smiled and saw the little beggar looking like he was saying, "If I don't go to hell, who will?" He opened his little mouth and swallowed the stinky tofu in my hand.
I saw his eyes light up slightly, and then he looked up at me with some disbelief.
"How is it?" I wanted to laugh more freely, but it aggravated the injury on my buttock... Ouch, ouch, ouch... That cold face reappeared in my mind, I gritted my teeth and showed a fierce look.
The little beggar was probably frightened by my distorted expression. He took a big step back before timidly nodding, "Delicious."
"Hey...hehe, eat more if you like it," I said generously, placing the bag of stinky tofu into the little beggar's hand.
The little beggar quickly grabbed the bag and shared it with his father.
I was idly leaning against the wall, swatting flies, when I noticed a crossbody bag hanging on my body. It looked familiar; I guess it was accidentally caught on me when I rescued that little boy named Mo Qianchen. I quickly opened the bag to see if there was anything useful left.
After searching high and low, layer by layer, the following items were found: a pair of glasses, a cookbook, a Swiss Army knife, a box of fine chocolates, and a simplified Chinese version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
What are all these things...? Recalling the little boy Mo Qianchen I risked my life to save, my lips twitched slightly. He was truly a special child... A Swiss Army knife...
However, it really is a great item. This Swiss Army knife is a limited edition collector's item released nationwide. I've been eyeing it for a long time, but I haven't been able to bring myself to buy it.
To be precise, the Swiss Army Knife is no longer just a knife; it is a multi-functional utility tool with more than 30 functions, primarily based on a knife.
However... my knowledge of history is far more limited than that of an oasis in the desert.
Heaven help me, what era have I fallen into?
"Little brother..." The little beggar finished eating and came up to talk to me.
"Sister, it's sister!" I corrected through gritted teeth, my facial muscles twitching slightly as I laughed.
"Huh?" The little beggar looked at me in astonishment, raised his hand to scratch his head, and smiled shyly.
"Where is this? Uh, what's your prime minister's name?" After thinking for a moment, I withdrew my ferocious expression and felt that it was more important to ask about matters of life and death than to defend my dignity as a woman.
“This is the capital city of Xuchang,” the little beggar blinked. “The current prime minister is Cao Cao, Prime Minister Cao.”
Cao Cao? I recalled that cold and indifferent face from earlier. No matter how bad history is, the name Cao Cao is still widely known.
Thinking back to what just happened, I couldn't help but shudder. Sixty strokes of the cane were indeed too lenient on me... I've seen the white-faced Cao Cao in the play, and his line "I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me" still makes me break out in a cold sweat. And that lord's ruthlessness when he massacred the city... He was truly a remarkable figure.
Just thinking about how I just bumped into that person makes me sweat profusely, my cheeks and back are soaked with sweat...
"Are you hot?" the little beggar asked cautiously as he approached me.
I grinned, packed away my shoulder bag, and, leaning against the wall, stood up somewhat unsteadily. "Hehe... well... all good things must come to an end, and it's fate that we met today... fate... well, farewell then..." That should be right, right? With that, I swayed away, clutching my back.
Cao Cao, Xuchang... I feel like I've been transported into the Three Kingdoms period... It's supposedly a chaotic era...
Even in times of peace and prosperity, people starve to death; how much more so in times of chaos? I need to think about my future. Even if I don't think that far ahead, three meals a day, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are the most important things right now.
My back was burning with pain, and I was walking like I was having a seizure.
"Sister, are you going home?" the little beggar asked, chasing after her.
"Home?" I was taken aback.
"Don't you have a home either, sister?" The little beggar tugged at my hand. "There's a dilapidated house in the north of the city that no one lives in. Many beggars live there. You're all alone and injured, so it's very dangerous for you. Why don't you go there to recover first?"
I looked down at the little beggar's dirty hands, which were smaller than mine.
"Okay." I grinned. Having a place to stay is better than sleeping in the open.
The little beggar nodded hurriedly.
The old beggar standing to the side remained silent, simply walking away quietly.
Because of me, we walked slowly all the way, and by the time we reached the dilapidated house in the north of the city, it was already evening...
The sun was setting in the west, and the scenery was beautiful.
But... that dilapidated house in the north of the city was indeed a dilapidated house, really dilapidated...
Standing at the door, the little beggar helped me inside.
It was less of a house and more of a large thatched hut, where a dozen or so beggars were already sitting, each lounging lazily. When they saw us come in, they glanced up, then looked down again, some dozing off, others picking their toes...
The little beggar laid down a thick layer of dry grass and helped me lie down.
So, on my first night after transmigrating, I shared a thatched hut with a bunch of beggars.
The thatched hut was drafty, but it was quite comfortable on this bright summer night.
Outside the thatched hut, frogs croak and cicadas chirp; inside, snoring is deafening…
"Sister, what's your name?" The little beggar sat half-sitting beside me, probably also unable to sleep because of the snoring.
"Pei Xiao".
"Sister Xiao," the little beggar nodded.
And you? What's your name?
"Dog."
Dog? What kind of name is that?
How old are you?
"fifteen."
I was slightly surprised and turned to look at him. He was half a head shorter than me, pale and thin, and looked to be only eleven or twelve years old. He was indeed malnourished.
Among the beggars was a woman with a child. In the middle of the night, the child woke up hungry, and the woman held the child and gently coaxed him to sleep.
The dog kept watching, its clear black and white eyes fixed on them.
"Even dogs have mothers," the dog said softly.
I responded with a sound, still keeping my eyes closed.
"Gou'er's mother is Huifeng, a courtesan from the brothel Fengyue." Gou'er said this with a hint of pride in his eyes.
The name "Fengyuelou" itself sounds quite "romantic".
"Does Sister Xiao have a mother?" After a long silence, Gou'er suddenly spoke.
I paused for a moment, then chuckled, "Probably...maybe."
"Probably?" the dog looked at me.
"Well, apart from Sun Wukong, no one else has the ability to pop out of a crack in a rock."
"Sun Wukong?" (ab)
"Sun Wukong is..." The night was long and I couldn't sleep, so I started a storytelling session.
The dog listened intently.
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