In the animal kingdom, there is a bird called the dove. It is a selfish and lazy bird. It does not incubate its own eggs, but lays them in the magpie's nest and lets the magpie incubate them. This is the way the dove continues its species.
In the animal kingdom, there are countless similar examples, and humans have demonstrated their wisdom as intelligent beings in this regard.
In Qingmang City, there is a profession called "child abductor torture," which involves subjecting kidnapped children to various forms of torture, leaving them crippled, deformed, or monstrous.
Sending these children to the streets to beg often results in them receiving more charity due to moral sympathy. With minimal material costs and the prospect of easy profits, the violence inherent in this practice is unimaginable.
Not only that, if these children have no money to earn, they won't be wasted. They can be sold to people who need vegetables and meat, or to other people who need them, which will generate another source of income.
Of course, such things are unacceptable to people, so they will be extra careful and control these children to prevent any righteous people from appearing.
Children in such an environment are tragic, because their lives are essentially over. But life is brilliant, and miracles can happen even in the worst circumstances.
The western part of Qingmang City borders a lake, neither too big nor too small, called Ling Lake. However, a large river flows through it, called Ling River, and there is a legend about a bull demon god summoning the river.
The river has a gentle flow and connects to a larger waterway, so the western part of the city has seen greater development of commerce and trade than the other three directions.
Therefore, there are more beggars here. After all, more people and more goods mean more charity. Among them are many children with missing limbs, missing hands, or deformities.
These children are usually replaced every one to two years. The constable Qi, who patrols the west of the city, has seen four batches of them in the four years he has been on duty, but he always sees the same child in all four batches, named A-Yi.
"Hi! Good morning, Seventh Master!"
A child with hole-shaped eyes, broken legs, a short left hand with a fleshy ball at the top, and a severely hunched back like a piece of wood, was huddled in his right hand and greeting the constable.
Although the constable was not called Seven, he was the seventh in the order of his rank. He was the seventh member of the squad and had been responsible for patrolling this street for four years, so he was often called Seventh Brother or Seventh Master.
"It's you again, Ah Yi, the same old story today?"
Constable Seven glanced at the kid. He couldn't remember the kid's name in the past four years. The reason he was called Ah Yi was because the other person always said "hi-yi" and had a lisp. So he was Ah Yi. Plus, he had lived a long time, so he was also Ah Yi.
"Same as always, same as last week! Please grant me a lucky start! May everything go smoothly and prosperously!"
Ah Yi held the broken porcelain bowl with a fawning expression; his expression, combined with his deformed body, made him look particularly comical.
"You're the perfect candidate for this job, you're a natural fit, and you're certainly lucrative!"
The constable pulled out a few copper coins from his pocket, knowing he could get them back doubled in a few hours. Then he strolled over to greet the other street vendors.
Ah-Yi continued to bow his head in that comical manner, kowtowing to the constable in a gesture of respect, but his unseen eyes held a look of utter hatred that seemed to want to kill the constable.
He is A-Yi, a child whose body was mutilated by Cai Sheng. It has been six years since he came to Qingmang City to beg. He is now twelve years old, but due to malnutrition, he still looks no more than eight or nine years old.
After the constable left, four children came over carrying clattering broken bowls. They were dressed in the same tattered clothes, but they were even more foul-smelling, their faces filthy, and they had even more nauseating injuries and distortions, simply because they all carried some characteristics of beasts.
"Waaaaah!"
They looked at Ah Yi, the four children unable to utter a word, while Ah Yi looked up at them, pointed to several corners of the street, and gestured for them to go there.
Ah-Yi has already taught him more things. He wouldn't have done this before, but he does now because he wants to live and doesn't want to die, so he needs to demonstrate his value or think about how to leave.
But before thinking about these things and doing these things, he needs to earn his share for today, one part to the constables, one part to the supervisors, and the rest to meet the gang's requirements for him.
The reason he considered escaping was that their demands were increasing, and even if he made as much money as possible, he couldn't guarantee that he could satisfy their appetites. If he couldn't satisfy them, he would die.
He made sure his clothes were as neat and tidy as possible, and that he looked as clean and presentable as possible. Although being tattered while begging had some effect, looking like that would make people disdain him would only cause him to miss out on more opportunities!
Ah Yi has a knack for earning enough to survive over the years: he knows how to speak to people in a way that suits them.
In his first year in the north of the city, he begged at a private school, learning while being beaten with sticks. The following year, he observed the peddlers and practiced haltingly. The hunchback of his body was the price he paid at that time.
Fortunately, it was worth it to survive.
Secondly, one should be good at using one's own shortcomings to make people laugh. For example, a bent head can be turned into an illusion of a head splitting apart and shifting. A fleshy ball on the left hand can be drawn with charcoal to make a little person who can make people laugh and sing. A broken knee can be turned into a half-bodied monkey that moves up and down flexibly and shouts.
To survive, one doesn't need to care about saving face.
Finally, as mentioned earlier, it's about dividing the spoils to give oneself more autonomy, opportunities for observation, and access to wealthier places.
Ah-Yi survived for another four years thanks to these three tricks, and today is no exception. With these skills, he easily received a few more handouts.
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