Four or five homeless people came to town that day. They looked very pitiful, perhaps because they were too hungry. As soon as they arrived in town, they started begging for food.
These homeless men are probably not mentally sound. If they're begging for food, they should be doing it separately, but they're begging together, as if they're terrified of the people in town.
The people in the town were not well-off. They could give a little something to a few beggars, but when several beggars came at once, who could afford to give them anything?
In this situation, they couldn't beg for food. After a whole day, they hadn't gotten any food and were so hungry that they didn't even have the strength to walk. In the evening, they sat down to rest in a secluded spot in the town.
Just then, a kind woman came over with several steamed buns in her hand and gave one to each of them.
The group was indeed starving, so they picked up the cornbread and began to gnaw on it.
“I’ve been watching you all day. How can you beg for food like this? You come in droves to people’s doorsteps like robbers. Even a whole pot of rice wouldn’t be enough for you.”
If you go begging again tomorrow, be sure to go separately; that way you'll be able to get food.
"We came from out of town, and we were afraid of getting separated, so we dared not separate."
"Then you can just wait to starve to death. I've never seen anyone as stupid as you." After saying that, the woman stormed off.
It was already dark when the group leaned against the wall and began to rest.
This place is quite remote, and it becomes very quiet after dark.
After a while, two young men arrived. They looked around and then walked toward the homeless men.
"The fish have taken the bait. Quickly put away the food; it's not for nothing that we've worked hard all day," a homeless man said softly.
The other homeless men immediately put the food they had just eaten into their pockets and then pretended to be asleep.
"Why are you all sleeping here? Get up and get out of here."
The group panicked. Perhaps because they hadn't eaten all day, they were too weak to stand up and remained leaning against the corner of the wall.
"Who are you? We haven't eaten all day, we don't have the strength to leave. We'll rest here for the night and leave tomorrow morning."
"That won't do. We're from the town patrol team, maintaining order in the town. Who knows who you are? Leave now, or we'll arrest you."
"We really can't walk anymore. Maybe we'll be arrested by the authorities, but at least we'll have something to eat. That's better than starving to death," one of the homeless men said.
"Dream on. Who said that being arrested by the government would guarantee you food? You'd end up in jail."
“We haven’t done anything wrong. We’re just wandering around, begging for food. How could we end up in jail? I don’t believe it.”
"You have hands and feet, why do you have to beg for food? Find something to do, earn some money, and you'll have food to eat. I really don't understand what you homeless people are thinking."
“We wander around, homeless, where are we supposed to find something to do? If we could find something to do, why would we have to beg for food and suffer other people’s scorn?”
Seeing that the time was right, the two young men spoke up:
"Seeing that you are all from out of town, and that you are indeed pitiful, I will help you this once. There is a village not far from our town, and there is a wealthy man named Jiang in the village. His family has many businesses."
We are acquaintances with Master Jiang. If you are willing, I can introduce you to work there.
He provides food and lodging there, and you can earn more than ten taels of silver a year, which is much better than wandering outside. But to work there, you can't have any health problems and you have to be able to endure hardship. Master Jiang will definitely want someone like that.
“That’s great! We’re all healthy. As long as we can get some food, we’ll do anything,” a homeless man said excitedly.
When the others heard that they could find work, they all stood up despite their hunger and began to express their gratitude profusely.
"Alright then, it's not far from here to Master Jiang's house. I'll take you there. I know you haven't eaten all day and you must be hungry. Just bear with it for now; there will be food when we get there."
Hearing that they would soon have food, the group suddenly felt energized and begged the two young men to take them there quickly.
Several homeless men were quickly taken away.
Meanwhile, in Xiao Kui's residence, Bao Ping sat in a chair, while Xiao Kui stood cautiously beside him.
“Xiao Kui, if you catch a few idiots and sell them to Jiang Baitiao, will he want them?” Bao Ping asked.
“He will definitely take them. Jiang Baitiao told me that as long as they have no problems with their hands and feet and can work, he will take them no matter how stupid they are, and he will pay them five taels of silver each.”
"Then be honest, how many idiots have you arrested for him over this long period of time?" Bao Ping asked sternly.
There are about a dozen.
“Selling one person is enough to warrant execution. You’ve already sold more than ten people, enough to warrant beheading more than ten times.”
Xiao Kui was so frightened that he trembled and his legs went weak, causing him to kneel down.
"How many times I have to cut your head off is not up to me; it depends on you. Prefect Shen is giving you a chance to redeem yourself by releasing you this time. If you can't seize the opportunity, don't blame others; you can only blame yourself."
"I will definitely seize the opportunity. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do it well."
Bao Ping nodded and said, "You did a good job today, and we cooperated very well. Consider this a meritorious service."
Starting tomorrow, every day or two, a mentally challenged person will appear in the town, either scrambling for food at the market or scavenging for food in the garbage dump.
You arrange for your men to capture them and then sell them to Jiang Baitiao. The money from the sale is yours. It's not considered a crime. Selling a fool is a credit to you.
"A dozen or so idiots will appear during this period. If you can catch them all and sell them to Jiang Baitiao, it will basically offset your past crimes of human trafficking."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Kui immediately became excited. He hadn't expected such a good thing to happen. In the past, he was always a little worried when he caught idiots and sold them to Jiang Baitiao, but this time he didn't have to worry.
However, Xiao Kui knew in his heart that the fools and simpletons that Bao Ping had asked him to capture this time were definitely government officials in disguise, and these people might even be top-notch experts.
Arresting them was just a way to fool Jiang Baitiao and let them infiltrate Jiang Baitiao's ranks.
Although he did not know the specifics of the government's plan, he had already guessed that the government was playing a grand scheme and that he was playing a very important role in it.
There must be no ambiguity; only by doing these things well can you save your life.
The next morning, Xiao Kui took a few of his men to a restaurant. Just as they passed a steamed bun shop, a fool suddenly appeared out of nowhere, ran to the stall at the door, picked up a plate of steamed buns, and ran away.
The plate was piled high with buns, only a few dozen in total. The fool ran wildly, scattering the buns all over the ground.
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