After confirming that there were no other beggars nearby and no one was paying attention to him, Ye Chen carefully took out the rotten steamed bun from his arms.
Afraid of being snatched away.
The steamed bun still had a sour smell, but in Ye Chen's eyes it was the ultimate delicacy.
He opened his mouth and swallowed the whole steamed bun in just a few bites. After eating, he licked the steamed bun crumbs on his fingers with a feeling of being unsatisfied.
He hadn't eaten such delicious food for a long time.
After eating the steamed bun, Ye Chenman leaned against the cold corner of the wall and looked up at the sky.
There is an lingering confusion in his eyes.
During these ten years of wandering, he had long forgotten everything that had happened.
All that remained in my mind was the constant struggle for survival.
He didn't know who he was, let alone where he was going.
Night fell quietly, shrouding the entire town in darkness.
The cold wind began to rise. Ye Chen pulled the thin, ragged clothes on his body and walked to a dilapidated temple with half of its roof collapsed.
"I'll sleep here tonight."
Ye Chen whispered, pushed open the rickety and dilapidated door and walked in.
The statues in the temple had already collapsed and broken into pieces.
Ye Chen saw a thin figure in the faint moonlight shining through the hole in the roof.
A little boy about seven or eight years old, his clothes were also tattered.
Seeing Ye Chen coming in, he was so scared that he shrank into the corner, his big eyes filled with fear and vigilance.
Ye Chen's heart moved, knowing that in the beggars' world, the strong also bully the weak.
Fighting over territory or a moldy steamed bun is commonplace.
This kid obviously thought he was a villain who came to seize his territory.
"Little brother, don't be afraid."
Ye Chen slowed down his pace and spoke as gently as possible.
"I'm here to stay the night, too."
He did not come any closer, but instead staggered to the other corner and slowly lay down on a pile of hay.
Hearing this, the little boy's tense body relaxed a little, but he still stared at Ye Chen vigilantly, not daring to make a sound.
The two of them spent the cold night quietly.
The next morning, Ye Chen woke up from his sleep, and the little boy was no longer in the corner.
Ye Chen stood up, dusted himself off and walked out of the dilapidated temple.
He leaned on a branch crutch, walked to an inconspicuous corner of the street and sat down, waiting for charity from kind people.
However, not long after Ye Chen sat down, he received several unfriendly glances.
Not far away, several beggars who were also in tattered clothes but had strong bodies were staring at him.
A leading beggar with a scar on his face winked at the people next to him.
Immediately, they all stood up and surrounded Ye Chen with malicious looks on their faces.
"Hey, kid!"
One of them shouted rudely.
"This is my territory, where are you from?"
The scarred beggar who was leading the group also came over and kicked Ye Chen on the leg without saying a word.
Ye Chen raised his head in confusion, with just the right amount of fear in his eyes.
He struggled to stand up and bowed to several people repeatedly.
"Brothers, I... I just fled here from another place. I didn't mean to intrude into your territory."
"I'm leaving right now, I'm leaving right now!"
Ye Chen hunched over, turned around and prepared to leave.
"stop!"
Seeing Ye Chen's timid and unrelated appearance, which looked like he had no background, the scarred man's eyes flashed with contempt, and he called him in a cold voice.
Ye Chen paused and froze in place.
"You walked into my territory and you want to leave without leaving anything behind?"
"You wish!"
The scarred beggar crossed his arms across his chest, looking ferocious.
Ye Chen turned around, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying, his voice sounding a little weak.
"Brothers, I have nothing of value on me except these tattered clothes."
"Please... let me go."
He coughed twice, his voice calm.
"Hmph, nothing valuable?"
The scarred beggar took a step forward, a fierce look in his eyes.
"Then leave half your life!"
He raised his foot and kicked Ye Chen in the chest.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Ye Chen flew backward like a broken sack and fell heavily to the ground.
"superior!"
At Scarface's command, the beggars behind him immediately rushed forward and started punching and kicking Ye Chen who was lying on the ground.
The dull sound of fists and feet hitting each other was heard continuously, accompanied by the crackling sound of bones being stepped on.
Ye Chen did not resist, but instinctively curled up on the ground with his head in his hands, allowing the fists and feet to fall on him.
The pain penetrated deep into his bones, but Ye Chen's eyes were still filled with dead confusion.
In the distance, on the street corner.
The little boy who was seen in the dilapidated temple yesterday was covering his mouth tightly, with half of his head sticking out from behind the wall, looking at the scene in horror.
His little face was pale and his body was trembling.
"puff!"
After an unknown amount of time, Ye Chen suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his body twitched, and then he completely fainted.
"Okay, throw him out!"
The scar-faced beggar spat and gave the order with a look of disgust.
Two beggars immediately came forward, one of them grabbed one of Ye Chen's arms, and lifted him up like a dead dog, then threw him away.
"Bang!"
Ye Chen's body was thrown heavily in front of the corner where the little boy was hiding. He lay on the ground, his life or death unknown.
The little boy was so frightened that he suddenly retracted his head and pressed his whole body against the wall, trembling.
I didn't even dare to breathe, for fear of being discovered by those evil people.
Until night fell, the pedestrians on the street completely dispersed, and the beggars walked away cursing.
The little boy trembled and walked out from the corner step by step.
He slowly approached Ye Chen, who was lying motionless on the ground, his little face full of fear and hesitation.
He stretched out his dirty little hand and tentatively pushed Ye Chen's body.
"cough……"
Ye Chen let out a faint cough from his throat, and then there was no movement again.
Still alive!
A light flashed in the little boy's eyes and he no longer hesitated.
He used his thin body to drag Ye Chen's heavy body, and moved towards the dilapidated temple with difficulty, step by step.
…
The next day.
A ray of morning light shone through the half-collapsed roof of the dilapidated temple, casting mottled shadows on Ye Chen's pale face.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Ye Chen slowly woke up from a violent coughing fit, opened his mouth, and coughed out a large mouthful of blood.
"Big brother, are you awake?"
A childish and surprised voice sounded in my ears.
The little boy struggled to help Ye Chen up and let him lean against the wall.
He held a broken bowl with several large holes missing from it and carefully brought it to Ye Chen's mouth.
"Big brother, drink some water."
Ye Chen's cracked lips moved, and he followed the little boy's hand and drank all the water in the bowl.
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