spoiled brat

Chapter 94, Section 93: Self-Salvation (Part 3)

The old beggar stood up and quieted the crowd, asking who had seen a woman holding a baby dragging a dark-faced little man along?
Everyone unanimously claimed to have seen it, shouting quite loudly. The old beggar added, "Which way did the person go?"

The crowd fell silent. They usually wandered the streets and alleys, seeing many people and things, but they were too lazy to remember the passersby they hadn't given alms to.

“Young lady…” The old beggar looked at Zhaozhao, hesitantly saying, “This…”

Zhao Zhao patted the sack beside her, and the thousands of copper coins made a dull, thumping sound: "Find the person, and this sack of money is all yours."

Money can help.

The beggars scattered in all directions like ants leaving their nests. They rushed through the streets and alleys like the wind, spreading the word from one to another. It was a rare opportunity to make money, and even the beggars who were lying in shacks or sleeping in dilapidated temples started to move.

Countless people were moving around for Zhaozhao, countless mouths became her lips and tongues, and innocent or mature eyes helped her observe everything. In just a few hours, she had asked every peddler, laborer, and neighbor in the county.

News gradually started to come back.

A beggar ran back to the steamed bun stall, panting, and asked Zhao Zhao, "...Was that young man tall and thin, with a very distinctive way of speaking, like a storyteller on stage?"

Zhao Zhao's dim eyes brightened slightly: "Found it?"

The beggar avoided her delighted eyes and whispered, "I found out where he is, but..."

Zhao Zhao felt a chill in her heart: "What's wrong with him?"

The beggar stammered and refused to speak, but the old beggar slammed his cane down, kicking up dust: "Just say what you have to say!"

The beggar stamped his foot and cried out, pulling a burly man out from the crowd behind him. He dragged the man in front of Zhao Zhao and said, "Wang Caotou, you tell us!"

Wang Caotou seemed unwilling to get involved in anything unlucky: "What does this have to do with me? You're really something..."

Zhao Zhao handed over a stool for him to sit on, and then grabbed a handful of money and pushed it over.

Wang Caotou's chubby face twitched. He didn't take the money and said, "Girl, don't bother. Your friend isn't coming back." He sighed and began to explain.

It turns out that a few days ago, Xiao Duo fled to Xiangyun County. He looked exactly like Zhao Zhao, dirty, with knife wounds on his body, and holding a baby who hadn't been weaned.

He searched everywhere for work, but his miserable state clearly indicated he had gotten into trouble, so who would dare hire him? Even though his wages were lower than pulling a millstone, he still couldn't find any work.

“Your friend was penniless at the time. As soon as he saw me, he knelt down and said that he could do any kind of work and that he didn’t need the wages. He just wanted to give his sister a place to live and shelter from the wind and rain.”

Wang Cao said sullenly, "I never intended to hire him. I thought you're already suffering so much, you might as well sell the child to a wealthy family or a brothel, at least you'll have something to eat."

He shook his head and said no, he would rather die than let his sister grow up in such a filthy place. After saying that, he kowtowed to me.

“Sigh, he was covered in injuries, and I was really afraid he would die on the dock. But seeing how much he was willing to risk for his family, I softened and let him stay.”

"...Just the two of them?" Zhao Zhao's palms were cold and damp. "And then?"

“Yes, just the two of them, one big and one small, there’s no one else.” Wang Caotou took a puff of his water pipe. “That kid has injuries, but he works efficiently and is easy to get along with. He became familiar with the brothers at the dock in just a few days.”

"But once a person stands out, he inevitably attracts envy. I don't know which son of a bitch went to the government to report him as a migrant. When the county officials investigated, they found that he not only had no household registration, but also had the mark of a lowly person on his body. They immediately tied him up and sent him to the north to be exiled as a soldier along with other prisoners."

Exile...

A buzzing sound filled Zhao Zhao's ears.

Being conscripted into the army due to one's lowly status is tantamount to death. On the battlefield, they are used to charging ahead, facing a hail of enemy arrows when advancing and swords from the supervising officer when retreating; death is inevitable from either side. How could Xiao Duo possibly survive?
“If you had come a few days earlier, you might have been able to buy him out.” Wang Cao glanced at the sack of copper coins beside Zhao Zhao. “But now, we don’t even know where your friend is or whether he’s alive or dead. Even a god couldn’t help you…”

After calming herself down, Zhao Zhao continued to ask, "Where is that little girl?"

Wang Caotou tucked his water pipe back into his waistband: "It seems he gave the baby away before he was taken away, but as for who he gave it to, I have no idea..."

Just then, someone outside shouted, "Make way, make way!" A group of young beggars, protecting two emaciated nuns, squeezed in front of Zhaozhao: "Miss, the two nuns know the whereabouts of that little girl."

Wang Cao stepped aside, but the two nuns did not sit down. Instead, they performed a gesture of respect with their palms together and asked Zhao Zhao, "Benefactor, what is your relationship to that child?"

"……elder sister."

The two nuns exchanged a glance, their faces filled with remorse, and said, "Your sister is no longer in our nunnery."

That day, Xiao Duo was suddenly arrested and hurriedly set off without having time to make careful plans for A Heng. He could only leave her in front of the nunnery. Fortunately, the nuns took A Heng into the nunnery and squeezed out money from their offerings to buy human milk, which helped them raise her with great difficulty.

A few days ago, a carriage stopped in front of the deserted nunnery, and a young woman stepped out. She wore a veil, so her face could not be seen, but her clothes were quite rich. The nuns were flattered and made proper arrangements for worshipping Buddha and offering incense.

“We observed that the girl’s words and actions were very gentle and proper, so we had an idea and secretly took the hungry baby behind the curtain.”

“When the girl heard the crying, she felt a sense of pity and, after seeing your sister, said she liked her very much and wanted to adopt her. She was kind and wealthy, so we naturally gave the doll to her.”

The two nuns looked at Zhaozhao with shame and said, "Please don't blame us. We thought she had no family left... If there was a better path, we would naturally choose it for her."

"Thank you." Zhao Zhao handed over a silver note. The two nuns took it and were so shocked by the amount that they jumped up.

Before they said "No, you mustn't," Zhao Zhao asked, "Did the girl leave her address and name?" "Well... we didn't dare ask too much, for fear of making it seem like we're trying to freeload off your sister, which would be bad for her," a nun replied.

Another nun scratched her head: "Although I don't know the name of the residence, I vaguely heard the girl's coachman say that after leaving the county, they would head north... to which village again? Fan Family Village!"

Zhao Zhao wrote it down.

After seeing off Wang Caotou and the two nuns, rain began to fall from the gloomy sky, and the onlookers dispersed, leaving only the returning beggars waiting to divide the money.

We're still waiting for news about Yao Niang.

Zhao Zhao gazed at the empty street, shrouded in mist and rain, as damp and cold as the morning she left home. She closed her eyes, knowing full well that Yao Niang was in grave danger, yet still hoping that when she opened them, the little beggar would come running, panting, saying he had news.

No one came until it got dark.

"Young lady," the old beggar scrutinized Zhao Zhao's withered profile, and asked cautiously, "...Are you sure that woman went into the county?"

The puddles on the ground reached her feet, soaking Zhao Zhao's clothes and shoes. She lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long time. The old beggar saw tears welling up in her eyes and couldn't bear it. He said, "How about this, you find a place to rest first, and we'll continue searching. We'll come and tell you when we have any news."

“…Thank you.” Zhao Zhao pushed the money bag over. “If you have any news, come find me at the largest inn in the county.”

Having said that, she got up and left, and the beggars made way for her. She walked into the wind and rain, her lonely figure disappearing silently into the night.

-

A strange guest arrived at Xiangyun Inn.

A slender and pretty young girl, yet her household register listed her with a common name. Despite her young age, she was incredibly generous, requesting the best room and asking if they had any vintage wines.

The waiter brought over a pot of Drunken Soul Fragrance wine, while wondering to himself, "Why is this young lady drinking this kind of wine?"

He hid outside the wooden beam, secretly peering at the thin figure projected onto the window paper.

The figure took a swig of wine, half-drunk, and raised an object close to the candlelight.

After roasting for a while, he pulled down his clothes and used the red-hot object to scrape his shoulders.

The waiter's eyes widened. He recognized it as a dagger, and the figure was scraping the flesh on his shoulder.

A few drops of blood splattered on the window paper. He could hear his heart pounding, the blood dripping, and even the candlelight flickering in the wind... but he couldn't hear the pain she was clenching between her teeth.

A full ten thousand years passed before the figure finally stopped, and with a thud, the dagger fell to the ground. The figure was too weak to pick it up, and with trembling hands, gulped down a few more mouthfuls of wine.

"Crazy, crazy..." The two words inexplicably popped into Xiao Er's mind. He trembled and tried to leave, but he couldn't move his feet.

At that moment, the figure on the window paper suddenly spoke, its voice cold and hoarse: "Have you seen enough?"

Xiao Er's temples throbbed, and a chill crept up his spine and spread throughout his body. An invisible hand pressed down on him, covering his mouth and preventing him from leaving.

"Another pot of wine, please," the figure said.

Xiao Er felt as if he had been granted a pardon and stumbled downstairs.

After this incident, Xiao Er deliberately avoided Zhao Zhao, fearing that he would be at her beck and call.

She was also very quiet, staying in her room all day, and didn't seem scary at all.

The only strange thing was that the shopkeeper often went into her room and didn't come out until the middle of the night.

The inn was abuzz with gossip, with everyone saying that the girl couldn't afford the room and was only able to stay by currying favor with the innkeeper.

The waiter thought so too.

Once, while cleaning the house, he looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of some messy secrets, but all he saw was a newly bought abacus on the table, with stacks of rough-edged paper underneath, covered with clumsy writing.

Before he could think it through, the door was pushed open, and the innkeeper appeared. Seeing the waiter there, he adopted a serious demeanor and called out to the inner room:
"Girl! How's your three-finger technique coming along? Today you should learn how to use vermilion engraving to prevent tampering!"

After being ushered out of the house, the waiter was still in a daze. Could it be that the shopkeeper came every day to teach this girl how to use an abacus and do accounting?

Driven by this curiosity, Xiao Er became more willing to take on chores in Zhao Zhao's room, delivering meals and cleaning. After spending a few days with her, he found the girl to be quite aloof, spending all her time burying herself in abacus calculations and bookkeeping, and he couldn't understand what she was after.

One afternoon, a rat-faced man stopped his carriage outside the inn, called to the waiter, and asked him to invite the guest at the top of the carriage to come down.

Xiao Er recognized him; he was the biggest broker in the county, ostensibly making money by introducing jobs to people, but secretly engaging in forging household registers and converting people from lowly status to good.

"That girl asked you to introduce her to a potential employer?"

The broker smiled but said nothing.

The waiter didn't ask any more questions, went upstairs, knocked on the door, and relayed the message. A little while later, Zhao Zhao came downstairs with her bundle on her back, paid the room fee, and got into the broker's carriage.

The wheels rolled forward, raising a cloud of dust. The broker asked Zhao Zhao, "Girl, are you ready? These days, Fan Family Village is very selective; you can't get in without real skills."