The sparse afterglow shone on the sunny road, and a line of carriages slowly drove into the capital.
The carriage stopped in front of an inn, and the accompanying people got off the carriage and took their horses to rest. Only the young man wearing a bamboo hat at the head left alone.
The young man in the bamboo hat followed the map and looked at the map in his hand every time he crossed a street. He did not stop until he reached the Wuyun Alley of Yong'anfang in the northeast corner of the capital. It was already dark.
"Counting from east to west...the nineteenth room..." The young man in a bamboo hat searched room by room, and finally figured out the layout of the houses in the alleys, and finally knocked on the door of the small courtyard.
"Who are you looking for?" A young man stuck his head out from the door and asked cautiously.
"Are you here?"
"There is no such person. We have found the wrong person." The young man showed a suspicious look, then refused and closed the door.
The young man in the bamboo hat was startled and was about to leave, but after walking around in front of the door, he found that he had not counted the wrong number, let alone the wrong direction. He knew what the other party was playing, so he stretched out his hand and knocked again. Door.
It was still the young man who opened the door just now, with an impatient look on his face: "I told you that you found the wrong person."
"Please tell Ni Tu that I am here on someone's behalf and ask him to see me." The young man in a bamboo hat said softly without losing his temper with the child.
The young man raised his eyebrows: "Who is it?"
"Congratulations."
Hearing this name, the young man was obviously stunned for a moment, and after two or three breaths he responded: "Then wait a moment."
The young man trotted into the yard and then into the main room. The room was dark. When the young man touched the bed but there was no one there, he whispered: "Brother, there is someone outside the door who said it was Brother He Nan who asked him to come. you."
After a moment of silence, a clear voice sounded in the darkness: "Did you ask him what his name was? Is there any evidence?"
"This...I forgot." The young man swallowed.
"How many times have I taught you that if someone comes to your door, you must ask who it is and if there is anything that can prove your identity." The voice in the darkness deepened.
"I know I was wrong." The young man lowered his head.
"You will be punished by sweeping the yard for three days." After saying these words, a black shadow hung upside down along the beam and disappeared from the young man's sight again before it landed.
Let's say that the man in a bamboo hat waiting outside the door was dozing off against the wall out of boredom. Suddenly he heard a voice coming from his ears, but no one was seen: "Who are you? What are you doing? What do you want from me?"
Although the man in the bamboo hat couldn't see the speaker, he turned his body to the Cangwu tree in front of the door and said loudly: "Haofengshan Tuanyunguan Dongfang Watch, I am entrusted by He Nan to send you a letter. "
"How do you prove that you are Dongfang Watcher?" The voice came again, but in a different direction.
Dongfang Watcher continued to chase the source of the sound and turned around, then took off the brim of his hat covering his head, revealing his beautiful silver hair: "Is this enough?"
Nitu groaned, then fell to the ground: "That's enough."
"What letter does He Nan want you to send me?" Of course He Nan introduced Ni Tu to Dongfang Watcher, but Dongfang Watcher still didn't expect that he was such a person.
Nitu himself has an average appearance, but faint scars can be seen on every inch of his exposed skin, adding a lot of ferocity and weirdness to this thin young man.
Nitu was abandoned by his parents in the wilderness on the outskirts of the city since he was born. Although it was midsummer, the nights were still cold, and there were mosquitoes, snakes, rats and other pests that could endanger his life. Finally, he fell into the hands of a group of beggars. Not all beggars in the world belong to the Beggar Clan and are heroic and heroic. These beggars do not belong to the Beggar Clan, which explains some problems - they are all unscrupulous people with low morals. Several beggars wanted to eat the child while he was ignorant, but after all, it was a living human life. The more senior beggar among them couldn't bear it, so he persuaded his companions to keep the child, so that he could have a better life in the future. One more helper.
In this way, You Tu survived from the beggars' mouths, but life was not easy either - the beggars were already living a precarious life, struggling to eat and eat, and as the youngest child, he had no time to eat. After a meal, he became very thin. Not only that, since he could speak, he had followed the beggars on the streets to beg for food, and was taught by them the tricks of stealing and digging.
There are many children like him among the beggars. Most of them are orphans who have been abandoned and live on the streets. They are forced to steal - even if they are begging to survive, they can just pick some leftover and moldy food to eat, but stealing can Get real money, but along with the benefits come cruel risks. Even if someone doesn't give you food, they won't attack you, but if you steal someone else's things, it's different. It can range from punching and kicking, to reporting to an official to receive a reward, or even being beaten to death or maimed by those who don't care enough. , so these adult beggars force the children to steal and rob, while they themselves enjoy the gains. If these children were unwilling to obey their orders, they would be beaten severely. Many children who were caught stealing would not be cared for even if they were beaten to death. Anyway, the government did not bother to care about these beggars and left them to fend for themselves. Even if the lucky ones among them were lucky enough to survive, most of them would be left behind. Even if they are disabled, they will be squeezed out of their last value by these adult beggars - allowing these disabled children to continue to go to the streets to beg for food and win the sympathy of passers-by.
Nitu has a clever mind and nimble hands and feet. He is the best thief among the beggars. Originally, he was able to keep himself safe, and he was quite appreciated by the leader of the beggars. But he values loyalty and is ashamed to associate with these people, so he does not attack people who are as poor as him. He only steals from those corrupt officials and lawless people, and often distributes the stolen things to other children so that they can They are also protected from bullying.
But later when the incident came to light, these adult beggars also knew that what you did had caused them to lose a lot of income, so they gave you a severe lesson, even hitting his hands and feet with bricks and using a red-hot iron. His chest and back were burned, leaving these horrific scars.
After this incident, Ni Tu was completely determined to take revenge on these people, but he had no way out - going to the government to expose them would definitely not work. Whether the government would bother to catch these beggars who dispersed in a hurry, he didn't know. You have to squat in jail first. So Nitu can only endure it for the time being and continue to live this shameful life like a rat on the street.
This embarrassment lasted until he met He Nan. At that time, Ni Tu was stealing dirty money from a black shop, but was discovered by a thug from a restaurant. He chased him for several streets and happened to crash into a shopping mall. He Nan and Zhu Zhao'er, who were married to him, saw that he was also pitiful, so they paid him back the money.
After hearing about Mi Tu's plight, Zhu Zhaoer was filled with indignation, but He Nan treated him coldly - although he also felt sympathy for Mi Tu's plight, it was only his one-sided words after all. It wasn't until he investigated the various rogue deeds of these beggars that he decided to help Ni Tu and other deeply oppressed children escape from the sea of misery.
At that time, He Nan had already become famous in Shanhe Academy and was highly regarded by Li Zhanchun, so he mentioned the matter consciously or unconsciously in front of the master, but he was afraid that the master would convict Ni Tu and other children who had gone astray. But he also hid something. However, Li Zhanchun saw through it but did not tell the truth. He only taught the capital's catchers to arrest the beggars who should be arrested and drive away the beggars who should be driven away.
But instead of being beggars or stealing, these children who have been led into evil ways since childhood have fallen into a different situation. They have never been educated, have little understanding of etiquette, justice and shame, and cannot read a single word. This time because of Borrowing He Nan's light, I had to become a good person, and suddenly lost my income. He Nan also knew that it was not easy for them, but he couldn't bear to leave them, so he parted with the subsidies given to him by the school, and from time to time he came to where they lived to bring them some books and taught them reading, literacy, and the Three Principles and Five Constant Rules.
After this incident, Ni Tu burst into tears of gratitude to He Nan, and from then on he treated He Nan as his brother. He also knew that He Nan's status was quite difficult, and he didn't want to always be favored by He Nan and Zhu Zhaoer, so he never showed up. He Nan mentioned theft in front of him, but quietly did some robbing from the rich and giving to the poor to support himself and the children under his command. Although He Nan was aware of it, you were trying to get some ill-gotten gains, so he turned a blind eye.
Now that He Nan has left the capital, Ni Tu rented the small courtyard where He Nan once lived, leaving a place for himself and other children like him to live. Although he did not understand the Four Books and Five Classics, But he remembered He Nan's instructions to supervise the reading and literacy of the younger children.
Over the years, He Nan, Ni Tu and others have taken in and helped some orphans in addition to the original little beggars. Nowadays, more than 20 children live in the small courtyard together. The oldest is only two years older than Ni Tu, and the youngest is less than ten years old. The older ones find a small shop to help as a cook or other business assistants. In exchange for food, the younger ones can study peacefully at home. However, despite this, the living and dining environment is also quite simple. There are almost no beds. They only use old mattresses that they picked up and sewn together to form a big bunk. The food they eat is extremely cheap big pot rice.
Just like his body is covered with wounds, his hands are already full of sins, and there is no way back, but these children are not like him yet, so let them study hard and hope to be successful in the future, at least not You should be a thief like yourself.
Nitu is only a nineteen-year-old young man, but to these children, he is like a brother, a teacher, and a father.
When they established a big gang, they thought the word "big" was quite awe-inspiring, but now that I think about it, it can have many different meanings.
Bigness is the unwillingness of this lonely place, the hope of these down-and-out children for the future, and the shadow that the leader "one person" wants to support for everyone.
He Nan was like this in the past, and you are like this now.
