At the same time, Yongchang was walking on his way to the bookstall and he never dreamed that he would be so close to the jolly old man. He went a little off, and inadvertently turned into a back street, and only realized that he was wrong halfway through, and he knew that the road was in the right direction, and he thought that he didn't need to turn back, so he still hurried forward, and the stack of books was tucked under his arm.

As he walked, he pondered how happy and satisfied he would have felt if he could take a look at the poor little leprosy, no matter what the price he had to pay, and how happy and satisfied he should have been, and the little leprosy was still being beaten and starving, and he might be crying sadly at this moment.

Just then, a young woman screamed loudly, startling him. "Oh, my dear brother!" Before he could look up to see what was going on, two arms reached over and wrapped their arms around his neck, forcing him to stop.

"Oops," Yongchang struggled to exclaim, "let go of me." Who is it? Why are you holding me back? ”

The young woman who had her arms around him, carrying a small basket and a key to the door, replied with a long cry of cries that cried out to the heavens and the earth.

The young woman cried out, "I've found him!" Belch! Yongchang! Yongchang! You naughty boy, how much I have suffered for your sake. Go home, go. Oh, I've found him, thank God, I've found him! ”

The young woman complained so thoughtlessly, and then she cried out loud again, and the hysterical seizures were so frightening, that two of the women who came close at this time could not help but ask a butcher boy whose hair was polished with oil, whether he should run and call the doctor.

The butcher shopkeeper, who had been watching from the sidelines, and who was idle, if not lazy, replied that he did not think it was necessary.

"Oh, no, no, it doesn't matter," the young woman said, grasping Yongchang's hand tightly. "I'm much better now. Come home to me, you unconscionable child! Let's go! ”

"Ma'am, what's the matter?" A woman asked.

"Oh, ma'am," replied the young woman, "almost a month ago he ran away from his parents, and they worked so hard that he ran away with a gang of thieves and scoundrels, and his mother's heart was almost broken. ”

"Little villain!" A woman said.

"Go home, go, you little brute." Another said.

"I don't," Yongchang replied, frightened, "I don't know her." I don't have a sister and I don't have a mom or dad. I am an orphan. ”

"Listen, he's still hard-mouthed!" The young woman shouted.

"Azhu!" Yongchang screamed, he saw her face clearly for the first time, and couldn't help but step back in shock.

"Look, he recognizes me!" Ah Zhu shouted to the people around him, "He can't fool himself, which good person, send him home, otherwise, he will really anger his parents to death, and my heart will be crushed for him." ”

"What the is going on?" A man ran out of a beer shop, followed by a white dog. "Xiao Yongchang! Go back to your poor mother, little puppy! Go straight home. ”

"I'm not from theirs. I don't know them. Help me! Help me! Yongchang shouted, struggling desperately in the man's strong embrace.

"Help!" The man said, "Yes, I'll save you, you little scoundrel." What kind of books are these? You stole it, didn't you? Bring the book. As he spoke, he snatched the book from Yongchang's hand and knocked him on the head hard.

"Well played!" A spectator shouted from a top-floor window, "This has to be the way to let him know something." ”

"That's right!" A sleepy-eyed carpenter shouted, casting an approving glance back at the top window.

"It's good for him!" The two women said in unison.

"And he did it on himself!" The man replied, gave Yongchang another look, and grabbed him by the collar. "Go, you little scoundrel! Hey, bullseye, come here! See, boy, see! ”

A hard-working child, who was weak at the beginning of his recovery from a serious illness, and this series of sudden blows made him dizzy, the barking dog was so terrible, the man was so fierce, and the onlookers had already decided that he was indeed the little villain everyone described, what could he do!

Night had fallen, and this was not a place to reason, and it was futile to resist alone. He was then dragged into a labyrinth of dark and narrow alleys, and was forced to follow them with such speed that the few cries he dared to utter were completely inaudible. Indeed, it doesn't matter if you hear clearly or clearly, and even if you understand it clearly, no one will take it to heart.

The gaslights have been lit. Mrs. Wen waited anxiously at the open door, and the servants had already run out into the street twenty times to find Yongchang. There was no light in the living room, and the two old gentlemen were still sitting upright, facing the pocket watch that was placed between them.

In a spacious open space, the narrow alleys and courtyards have finally come to an end, and there are some railings for cattle in all directions, indicating that this is a cattle and horse market.

Walking here, Fat Zhang slowed down his pace, and walked quickly along the way, and Miss Azhu couldn't support it anymore.

Zhang Fatzi turned towards Yongchang and sharply ordered him to hold Azhu's hand.

"Did you hear that?" Seeing Yongchang shrinking his hands and feet and looking straight back, Ah Zhu roared.

The place where they stayed was a corner of a black hole, and there was not a trace of pedestrians around. Resistance is completely useless, and Yongchang could not see it more clearly. He stretched out a hand, which was immediately firmly grasped by Azhu.

"Reach out to me the other hand," Zhang said, grabbing Yongchang's free hand. "Come here, bull's eye."

The dog raised his head and barked twice.

"Look here." Zhang Fatzi pointed at Yongchang's throat with his other hand and said, "Even if he whispers a word, bite him." Do you understand? ”

The dog barked again, licked his lips, and stared at Yongchang with both eyes, as if he wanted to bite his trachea right now.

"It's so obedient, and if it's not, it'll make me blind." With a vicious and cruel approval, Fat Zhang looked at the brute. "Now you know what you're going to get, you can shout whatever you like, and the dog will call you the end of the trick in the blink of an eye. Little one, keep up. ”

Bull's eye wagged its tail and thanked it for this unusually affectionate compliment, and it barked again, which was regarded as advice to Yongchang, and led the way forward.

The night was dark and foggy. The lights in the shops could barely penetrate the thickening mist, and the streets and houses were all wrapped in hazy cloudiness, and this strange place became more mysterious in Yongchang's eyes, and his uneasy mood became more and more depressed.

They had hurried a few steps when a deep church bell began to chime, and with the first bell ringing, the two leaders stopped and turned their heads in the direction of the bell.

"It's eight o'clock." The bell stopped, Azhu said.

"I don't need you to say it, I can hear it." Zhang Fatzi replied.

"I don't know if they can hear it."

"Then it doesn't need to be said," Zhang replied.

Mr. Zhang Fatzi seemed to want to suppress the jealousy rising in his heart with these words of comfort, he grabbed Yongchang's wrist tighter and told him to continue walking.

"Wait a minute." Azhu said, "Even if you are the one who comes out to the gallows next time you strike eight o'clock, I will not rush away."

I went around in circles here until I fell, even though there was snow on the ground and I didn't even have a scarf on me. ”

"How's that good?" Mr. Zhang Fatzi said coldly, "Unless you can get a frustration knife with twenty yards of strong rope, then I don't care if you walk fifty miles or not a single step." Go, don't stand there praying. ”

The girl snorted and laughed, wrapped her scarf tightly, and they set out on their way. However, Yongchang felt her hands tremble, and as he walked past a gas street lamp, he raised his eyes and saw that her face was pale.

They walked along the dirty back street for half an hour, and hardly met anyone, and a look at the clothes and manners of the few people they met could guess that their status in society was the same as that of Mr. Zhang Fatzi.

Eventually, they turned into a very filthy side street, which was almost full of shops selling used clothes. The dog, as if realizing that he no longer needed to be on guard, ran forward until he reached the door of a shop. The door was closed, and there was apparently no one inside. The house was dilapidated, with a wooden sign nailed to the door that looked like it had been hanging for years.

"Here we are." Zhang Fatzi shouted, glancing around cautiously.

Ah Zhu drilled under the window panel, and Yongchang immediately heard a bell. They walked across the street and stood for a moment under a street lamp. A voice came, like the sound of a window frame that opened and closed up and down, and the door opened silently.

Mr. Zhang Fatzi unceremoniously grabbed Yongchang's collar from the frightened body, and the three of them walked in quickly.

It was pitch black in the hallway. They stopped until the man who had led them into the house bolted the door tightly.

"Is there anyone?" Zhang Fatzi asked.

"Nope." A voice replied, and Yongchang thought it had been heard before.

"The old guy isn't there?" The robber asked.

"Yes," the voice replied, "sighing endlessly." Where would he be happy to see you? Well, it won't. ”

The tone of this reply, as well as the voice of the voice, Yongchang sounded a little familiar, but in the darkness he couldn't even distinguish the outline of the speaker.

"Give it a show," said the fat man, "or we'll break our necks or kick the dogs." If you kick a dog, watch your legs. Go ahead. ”

"Wait a minute, I'll get it for you." The voice replied, and then the departing footsteps of the speaker were heard. After a minute, the Clever Ghost appeared, holding a cracked stick in his right hand with a candle stuck in its end.

The little creature just grinned at him comically, and then turned around and told the visitor to follow him down the stairs. They walked through an empty kitchen to an earthy room that seemed to be built in a small courtyard at the back of the house. The door opened, and a loud burst of laughter greeted him.

"Oh, laugh at me, laugh at me." Young Master Mei shouted, it turned out that laughter came from his lungs. "He's here. Oh, cry, he's here. Look at him, old camel, take a good look. I'm laughing to death, this game is so fun, I'm laughing to death. Pull me along, then who, just make me laugh enough. ”

This excitement came quickly, and Young Master Mei fell to the ground all of a sudden, kicking and kicking happily, tossing for five minutes. Then he jumped up, snatched the broken stick from the clever ghost's hand, stepped forward, and looked around Yongchang.

The clever ghost has always been quite gloomy and rarely heckles, and if this kind of amusement is in the way, he unequivocally searches Yongchang's pockets at this time.

"Look at his outfit." The old camel said, moving the lamp closer to Yongchang's new coat, and almost burning it. "Look at this one. The first-class material is also exquisitely cut. Oh, and the books, no, it's a young master of a rich man's family. ”