piratefiction Chapter 1823 Cigarette Butts and Boys
Chapter 1823 Cigarette Butts and Boys
Chapter 1823 Cigarette Butts and Boys
"Because it's not that it doesn't exist, it's just that it can't be seen, so in addition to sending my girls out to try their luck, I can also try how to actively observe that door."
"That's a really good idea, try it now?"
Under the thin sunlight of the cloudy and rainy day, the bottle of potion still had a brilliant luster.Xia De asked curiously, on the one hand, he was curious about the door, and on the other hand, he was curious about the potion.As for Mia, it was already in the wide pocket of Shad's coat, and if Shad put his hand in the pocket, he could reach it.
"no no."
But the brown-haired girl shook her head slightly and blinked at Xia De:
"It's so hard for you to come out for a walk with me. I don't want to go back right away."
Said, took the initiative to hold Xia De's hand.Shade, who was guilty in his heart, also held her hand tightly, which made the smile on Audrey's face brighter.
On a cloudy Friday afternoon, the lives of the citizens have not changed.The neighborhood by the river where Shad and Audrey chose to take a walk was close to the city center, and they could even hear the noisy noise in the distance, probably another gathering of people gathered at the gate of the city hall.
Children ran wildly on the street, middle-aged men with briefcases kept looking at their pocket watches hurried past, women in aprons and headscarves were washing clothes, sitting downstairs in the apartment facing the street, while beating them with a laundry hammer While looking at the sky, he worried that the washed clothes could not be dried, which would delay his meager income.
The patrolmen who patrol very frequently because of the special period walked by the side of the street not facing the river. Although they looked idle, the uniforms on their bodies still made ordinary citizens living here fear.At the intersection not far ahead, the newspaper reporter was instructing the photographer and young apprentices to set up the camera to point at the overcast sky and the parade crowd at the west end of the street.
The angle he chose was very suitable, the long old street under the cloudy sky was dilapidated, most of the signboards were covered with dust, gas pipes and steam pipes were nailed to the walls in a strange way of arrangement and alignment.And at the end of this street scene, there is a lively and dense crowd. Although the crowd in the distant view is only a small part of the street, this can better contrast with the street scene and the sky.
When Shad and Meghan walked past reporters and photographers, they also heard them talking about publishing this photo on the front page of tomorrow's "Green Lake Morning Post" and naming it "1854 Under the Haze". Year".
Although the weather was bad, Audrey enjoyed hanging out and dating like this.Even if she didn't take the initiative to talk to Xia De, but just held hands and walked around like this, she still felt that this was a good afternoon.
However, Xia De soon saw an acquaintance appearing in front of him.A boy in ill-fitting patched shoes, carrying a poorly woven battered basket, and a puppy, was walking along the side of the street with his collar turned up and his head down, looking at the ground as he walked.
Soon he found the target. First, the puppy who had gained weight recently came forward and barked a few times, then the boy walked quickly, picked up the cigarette butts in the cracks between the stone bricks and threw them into the basket inside.
Shad knew this behavior, in an age where wandering orphans might try all means to earn income and food in order to make a living.One way is to pick up cigarette butts, which are discarded by passers-by and may still contain some unsmoked tobacco.Orphans pick up these butts, collect the tobacco residue, and sell it to tobacconists or others for a modest income.
Of course, such behavior is generally considered extremely indecent and discriminated against by society.But for children of John's age, it is unrealistic to compete with older children for odd jobs and small businesses, so begging, digging through trash cans, and picking up cigarette butts are the norm in life.
Even though he can often find food from the garbage discarded in the back kitchen of the Green Lake Hotel, even with Shade's frequent help, he still has not given up his living habits.
After all, the trash can outside the back kitchen, the occasional kind person, and other lucky things may all be far away from him. Only the puppy and the livelihood of collecting and selling cigarette butts truly belong to him.
After picking up the cigarette butt in the crack of the brick, the boy happily squatted there and stroked the head of the spotted puppy, and the latter responded happily with his tongue out.Xia De felt the cat in his pocket move, it probably heard a dog barking.
Because Little John kept his head down, he didn't notice Xia De's approach, but he realized that there were two adults approaching on the road.The boy picked up the puppy and hid to the side of the street, not even daring to look up at the stranger.
But the dog held by him recognized Xia De who often gave them food——Xia De's appearance at the moment was the same as when he often appeared, so it barked cheerfully at Xia De twice.
"Oh, shut up! Don't get us both in trouble."
The boy immediately turned around so that the head of the puppy he was holding was facing inward, and he walked along the street to the alley at a faster pace, for fear of getting into trouble.But after raising his head subconsciously, he finally saw clearly who was walking.
He instinctively wanted to greet Xia De, but he saw the noble and elegant lady next to Xia De.So he immediately lowered the brim of his hat, carried the basket sideways and carried the puppy to the alley not far away.
Xia De knew that the boy didn't want to greet him here, worried about ruining Xia De's date with a strange lady, or lowering Xia De's impression with a strange lady, but Xia De didn't care about this.Besides, Megan and Audrey will not look down on Little John just because he is an orphan picking up cigarette butts. Witches hate any male equally.
Audrey also saw that the boy seemed to know Xia De, so she squeezed Xia De's hand, Xia De nodded, waved and shouted:
"John!"
The boy looked up and saw that Xia De was really calling him, so he stopped hesitantly.On the contrary, the puppy he was holding had no such worries, and happily barked a few times at Xia De who was walking:
"Wow~"
"Meow~"
Little Miya's head emerged from Shad's pocket, but as soon as it appeared, Shad pressed it back with one finger.The cat still wanted to struggle, but Xia De patted it on the head, and put it in the pocket in a sensible way and stopped looking out.
"John!"
Xia De yelled again, and quickly walked to the side of the street away from the river bank.Audrey let go of Shad's hand and followed behind him, but she just stood not far behind him and did not follow.
"Good afternoon, I didn't expect to see you here."
Xia De said with a smile, while the dirty boy greeted timidly:
"Good afternoon, sir."
"Could you help me, please? You're around here a lot?"
Hearing Shad begging for help, the boy nodded immediately:
"Yes, as long as it's not raining heavily, we're usually around here."
He glanced at his basket, and Xia De also saw that there were already a lot of cigarette butts in it.In addition, there are sundries such as old newspapers and nails, which can help his life.
The boy remained calm and hid the basket behind his back.
"Did anything strange happen in the shore area recently?"
The boy thought for a while:
"Yes, two of the children who were picking up cigarette butts around here are gone. Adults like to smoke while walking by the river or talking about things, so this neighborhood is a good place to pick up cigarette butts. Originally, there were three or four on this street. There were three kids doing the job, but now there are only two left."
Xia De is interested:
"Oh? When did this happen? Do you know where they went?"
The boy shook his head:
"Probably just this week. But there are always people I know who disappear at some point and never show up again. One of the two people who disappeared this time was 'Bully Hansen' who was our The oldest one is the oldest in terms of age and body shape, so there should be no accident, he probably found another job."
Although the boy in front of him is not very old, he has already understood the rules of life on the street.
Shad thought for a moment:
"Are the two missing children frequented near here? Is there a specific location?"
"Yes, we all set up territory to pick up cigarette butts, and everyone must not cross the line."
The boy reached out and pointed out the two areas for Shad, which were in front of Shad and the witch's walking direction, but the combined area was less than a mile from the riverside street.
After getting the clue, Shade gave the boy another 10p to go to dinner, even though the boy didn't want it, he threw the coin into the boy's basket.
"Wow~"
Suddenly the puppy barked again, and the boy in the broken shoes looked up and saw a crowd coming from the distance of the street by the river, and immediately held down his hat and said to Xia De:
"Sir, I'm leaving, the police don't like to see us!"
After saying that, he bowed, and then ran towards the alley with his puppy in his arms.
Audrey also came over at this time, standing on the side of the road with Shad, and saw two policemen appear first, and then the parade crowd held banners and shouted slogans such as "Long live De La Rion", Walking through the streets along the river.
The reporters were taking pictures with interest, surrounded by policemen maintaining order, and idlers in the city chatted with the back of the line about various things. This city probably hasn't been this lively for a long time.
They should be the crowd gathered at the gate of the city hall not far away just now. Among them, the young man who distributed the leaflets wanted to pass the leaflets to Xia De and Audrey, two pedestrians passing by, but Audrey glanced at them and then Instinctively fearful, he retreated back into the team.
The two just watched the team pass by in front of them. When the street became empty again, John, who was picking up cigarette butts, had already walked away with the puppy in his arms.
Xia De shook his head, not knowing what to say, but fortunately, no one forced him to write an [-]-character composition to express his emotions or analyze current events.
He reached out to hold Audrey's hand again, and continued walking along the street with the brown-haired girl.
Audrey whispered:
"Look, there are stories everywhere. In fact, there is no right or wrong in this world. There is probably no fundamental difference between Delarion and Kasenrick."
She thought that Shad lived in Tobesk, so Shad would call himself a Delarion.But in fact, outsiders don't care about all this.Of course he knew that the negotiations in the area under his feet had nothing to do with good or evil, but interests, and it was because of this that he felt troubled.
After all, in this way, he would not be able to find his own position.
(End of this chapter)