NOVPUBChen Xi’s way of thinking appeared astonishing to Li Youu, Liu Bei, and others. How convenient it would be to simply glance at a person’s household registration to understand everything at once.
"Let’s drop the subject for now. Zijing will present a complete plan to Lord Xuande when the time comes. Right now, we need to make sure this fellow is well-fed and have him take us to where the street children gather. We’ll catch them all then," Chen Xi said, waving his hand to indicate that the matter was very troublesome and not something that could be summarized in a short time.
"I see, Ma Zhong, can you take me to the place where you stay?" Liu Bei kindly asked.
Ma Zhong nodded. Although he had been gobbling up the food voraciously, his years of living on the streets had honed his skills, and he kept an ear on the conversation between Chen Xi and the others. Eventually, he was sure these people meant him no harm and understood what they intended to do. He did not grasp why such a good deed was only starting now, but he was very clear on how important it was for people like them!
"Can I take these things with me?" Ma Zhong looked expectantly at Liu Bei, having finished the soups on the table. What remained were slices of meat that were easy to carry away.
Liu Bei sighed and patted Ma Zhong on the head, "Don’t worry, you’ll have more to eat in the future. Train hard, and you could become one of the Valiant Generals."
"I want to take them back for my younger brothers and sisters to eat..." Ma Zhong whispered. As the leader of their group, it was only his agility that allowed him to occasionally steal a bit of money to support the younger beggars. After all, plump victims like Chen Xi who were completely off guard were rare; Ma Zhong had only encountered one once, but unfortunately, the bag of gold beads he stole was of no use to him...
Liu Bei looked at the meat left on the table and knew that Ma Zhong had had this intention from the start. He patted Ma Zhong’s head again, "I don’t know how many orphans there are like you wandering aimlessly. Soon a Shop Assistant will come up and pack this for you to take away. It’s been hard, these past years, hasn’t it?"
Ma Zhong just snorted softly and said no more. As for how difficult life on the streets was, Chen Xi had some understanding. In the twenty-first century, known as the age of the rule of law, the photos of homeless people looked profoundly miserable. What more in these turbulent times of a thousand and eight hundred years ago? It was truly inhumane. Ma Zhong guessed that if not for his strength, he and the younger kids following him would probably have been sold or, even worse, eaten...
Ma Zhong grabbed the meat wrapped in dry lotus leaves, anxious to head back to where he used to stay.
"Let’s follow him," said Liu Bei, not stopping Ma Zhong’s actions, moved by the boy’s behavior.
After zigzagging through over a dozen narrow alleys, the path became increasingly narrow, prompting in Chen Xi the thought that this area needed to be torn down and rebuilt. Well, with the Work-For-Relief program still in operation, they had found another place to run; he decided to demolish and reconstruct this area later.
"Zichuan, are there more places like this?" Liu Bei looked at Chen Xi with some anger, observing the sewage-strewn streets and the emaciated, indistinguishable refugees whose ages and genders were hard to discern.
"There’s no helping it. Fenggao has developed too fast. I’m not omnipotent. I can only try to control it to some extent. Besides, haven’t I already planned to bring these issues into the light and prepare to tackle them?" Chen Xi, though also appalled by the scene before him, remained composed, and his voice did not waver much.
Chen Xi looked at the group with a silent sigh; aside from not catching his attention, the situation was largely due to their own circumstances. He remembered very clearly that his Work-For-Relief program had never stopped, and the semi-experimental free medical treatments had continued without pause. Just like the alley they were in and just like Ma Zhong’s actions earlier, he surely had scrounged food through the Work-For-Relief sites and tried out medication at the free medical treatments. How these people ended up in such dire straits, Chen Xi could only say to them, "Just leave this alley!"
Liu Bei, noticing Chen Xi’s indifferent expression, found it hard to say anything else. He too realized that Chen Xi’s Work-For-Relief program had never stopped and that the trial medication treatments offered at the dozens of warehouses hadn’t ceased either. Many people would help at Work-For-Relief sites just to get food, and with minor ailments, they would go for a check-up, benefiting from free but averagely skilled medical care.
"I have no choice," Chen Xi said helplessly, "I’m willing to save them, but if they refuse to be rescued, what can I do? Later, I’ll let them know what forced labor with a meal is!"
"..." Liu Bei looked at Chen Xi’s expression and knew that Chen Xi was certainly capable of doing such a thing, "Alas, after all, it’s under my governance that they’re living this way; it’s my fault."
"It’s all Lord Xuande’s fault, so continue to push on, Lord Xuande. Don’t worry, dealing with these people won’t be a problem," Chen Xi said without hesitation, passing the buck to Liu Bei and indicating that he could resolve the issue.
"Alas~" Liu Bei sighed, then walked through the group of refugees squatting and sitting on the road awash with sewage.
Seeing the murky eyes of these people, as well as their fear of him and his companions, Liu Bei realized that ever since the establishment of Fenggao, he had never seen others looking at him with such eyes. The people who knew him always looked at him with gratitude, gentleness, and admiration, never like today.
"Go to hell!" The angry voice of Ma Zhong came from the courtyard.
"What a coincidence, Zhongkang, I’m counting on you, catch them alive. I wonder how long they’ve been watching, human trafficking, huh!" When Chen Xi heard that shout, he almost understood what was happening. Ma Zhong said there were both men and women; Chen Xi knew little girls begging could easily be abducted and sold in this perverse era.
When Xuu Chu entered, Ma Zhong was already fighting with several men opposite, and his younger brothers and sisters were hiding behind pillars some ten meters away, not shouting, just quietly hiding there, probably used to such experiences.
Tiger Fool made his move, not giving the opponents a chance to speak. One punch per person left them all spitting blood and falling to the ground. Only then did Ma Zhong realize the huge gap between himself and Xuu Chu. Previously, if it weren’t for Chen Xi instructing not to injure Ma Zhong, the soldiers would have given him a hard time as well.
"Well, it looks like this place isn’t very safe," Chen Xi casually kicked one of the men on the ground who had been severely injured by Xuu Chu, "Spit it out. What are these people capturing you for?"
"They’re underlings of Fragrance Pavilion!" Ma Zhong furiously kicked the neck of one of the men, snapping it on the spot.
Chen Xi was taken aback, then looked on with interest at Ma Zhong, surprised to find that Ma Zhong would think this way. By killing a person, he implicated everyone present, ensuring that people like Liu Bei would come forward to handle the situation.
After Ma Zhong kicked a man to death, seeing that everyone around him appeared indifferent, he began to tell the whole story.
"It’s normal. With a little devil like you, leading a dozen little girls and seven or eight little boys, who else would the traffickers target if not you? If not for your decent strength and caution, you would’ve been sold as well," said Chen Xi, indifferently uttering words that could infuriate Ma Zhong to death.
"They’ve come several times, and last time, my brothers and sisters were all captured. I killed several of their people that time and rescued my sister. After that, I became much more careful, and they didn’t dare to come too often," Ma Zhong said with resentment, glancing at Chen Xi, then calmly spoke about his own experiences with killing.
A trace of pity flickered in Chen Xi’s eyes before vanishing; a boy of twelve or thirteen had already killed several adults who had bullied him. This damned era! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
