For several days, Yongchang had been staying in the old guy's house. Eventually, he began to feel bored, and he looked up to the fresh air outside, and begged the old fellow many times to let him go out to work with his two companions.

Yongchang already knew something about the old fellow's unequivocal virtues, and he became more and more eager to do some work.

In the night, whenever a clever ghost or a little leper came back empty-handed, the old fellow would always count them impassionedly, and send them to sleep without even being allowed to eat dinner.

At one point, the old fellow even made a fuss to the point of rolling them down the stairs, but this was just a bit of an overplay of his kind advice.

One morning, the long-awaited Yongchang finally got permission, and for two or three days, the food had become quite bad. Perhaps for these two reasons, the old fellow granted his request, whether it was or not, and placed him under the joint custody of the pair of buddies, the clever ghost and the little leprosy.

The three children set off. As usual, the clever man rolled up his sleeves and wore his hat crookedly.

The little leprosy had his hands in his pockets, and he was quite leisurely along the way. Yongchang walked in the middle, wondering where they were going and what kind of craft they had to learn first.

Their gait was very lazy and ugly when they walked, and it was purely idle, and it didn't take long for Yongchang to realize that the two companions were deliberately trying to coax the old fellow, and they were not going to work at all.

Besides, the clever ghost has a bad habit of grabbing the hats of other children from their heads, and still staying away; The little leprosy took it from a roadside stall and stuffed a number of apples and onions into his pockets, which were surprisingly large, as if there were layers under his clothes on all sides.

These things seemed too embarrassing, and Yongchang was just about to announce as tactfully as possible that he was going to find a way to go back, when a mysterious change occurred in the actions of the clever ghost, which suddenly led his thoughts to another direction.

As they emerged from a nearby alley, the Clever Ghost stood abruptly, put his finger to his mouth, and gently pulled his companions back a few steps.

"What's the matter?" Yongchang asked.

"Shh The clever ghost replied, "Do you see that old guy on the edge of the bookstall ?" ”

"The one across the street?" Yongchang said, "Yes, I saw it." ”

"He's just right." The Clever Ghost said.

"The posture is pretty good." The little leprosy looked at it carefully.

Yongchang looked at this one and then at that in amazement, but could no longer ask anything, and the two teenagers sneakily slipped across the street and leaned behind the old gentleman that Yongchang had already noticed.

Yongchang followed them for a few steps, because he didn't know whether to step forward or retreat, so he stopped, he didn't dare to make a sound, just looked over there in a daze.

The old gentleman had a very respectable countenance, was well-dressed, and carried a delicate bamboo cane under his arm. He took a book from the stall and stood there and read it as if he were sitting in an easy chair in his study.

Indeed, the old gentleman himself may well feel this way. Judging by his distracted appearance, it was evident that there were no bookstalls, no streets, and no notice of the children, and he had left everything behind him in a word, and his mind was all about the book he was reading word by word, and when he reached the end of a page, he began to read the top line of the next page as before, and read it with great interest.

Yongchang stood a few steps away, his eyes wide open, and he saw the clever ghost reach into the old man's pocket, and pull out a money bag from inside. He saw the clever ghost hand the little leprosy again, and at last they ran away from the corner of the street, and how frightened and panicked he felt.

In an instant, the gold watch, the jewelry, the old guy, the whole mystery came to the child's mind. He hesitated for a moment, and with fear the blood rushing through his veins, he felt as if he were in a raging fire, and then, in his panic and fear, he himself did not know what was going on, so he picked up his toes and ran away without his life.

It all happened in just one minute. At the moment when Yongchang began to run, the old gentleman put his hand into his day bag and turned around suddenly. When he saw a child running forward at such a fast speed, he naturally assumed that it was the one who stole something. With all his strength, he cried out, "Catch the thief!" Then he took the book and chased after him.

However, the old gentleman was not the only one who shouted to catch the thief. The clever ghost and the little leprosy did not want to run around the street to attract public attention, so they turned the corner and hid in the first doorway.

After a while, they heard the shouting, and saw Yongchang running over, so they guessed exactly what was going on, and the two of them jumped out with great agility, shouting, "Catch the thief!" ”

Yongchang had no idea at all, so he became more and more panicked, and he ran forward like a gust of wind, and the old guy, as well as the clever ghost and the little leprosy, roared and chased after him.

"Catch a thief! Catch the thief! There was a kind of magic in this shout. At the sound of the shouts, the businessman left the counter, the coachman threw away his wagon, the butcher threw away the tray, the errand runner threw down the things to be delivered, the schoolchildren did not care to play marbles, the pavers dropped their hoes, and the children threw their pavs aside.

Everyone chased after each other, and it was chaotic, and you pushed and squeezed: writhing, shouting, shouting, screaming, knocking down pedestrians when turning, and making a lot of noise. The streets and alleys, the courtyards of the squares, and the shouts echoed everywhere.

"Catch a thief! Catch the thief! Hundreds of people responded in unison. With each street turn, the crowd grows in a round. They sped away, stomping on mud and the pavement rattling.

The shadow puppet show was playing to the bone, but the whole audience left the protagonist Punch, opened the window and ran out of the door, and people rushed up to join the crowd of people who were fighting for the first, shouting in unison, "Catch the thief!" Catch the thief! It injected new vitality into this shout.

"Catch a thief! Catch the thief! "There has always been a deep-seated desire for conquest in the human mind. A bitter boy who was about to hold his breath, in order to get ahead of the pursuers, was so tired that he was panting, his face was full of fear, his eyes were full of pain, and large drops of sweat rolled down his cheeks, and every nerve was tense. The people caught up, and approached step by step, and seeing that he was gradually losing his strength, the shouting became more vigorous, and there was thunderous cheering everywhere.

Finally caught, what a wonderful blow. He collapsed on the pavement. People couldn't help but surround him, and those who had just arrived rushed in, all wanting to take a look. "Please." "Let him breathe."

". He doesn't deserve it at all. "What about the gentleman?" "Well, it's coming down the street." "Make room for this gentleman." "Sir, is this the child?" "Yes."

Yongchang fell to the ground, covered in mud and dust, with blood dripping from his mouth, and his eyes looked at the countless faces around him in panic, when the old gentleman called the group of people who ran around him enthusiastically dragged and pushed him into the circle.

"Yes," said the old gentleman, "I'm afraid it's this child." ”

"I'm afraid!" The crowd muttered, "That's wonderful." ”

"Poor boy," said the old gentleman, "he is wounded. ”

"Sir, I knocked him down," a rough fellow came up, "and I punched him in the mouth, and my hands were bruised. I caught him, sir. ”

The guy grinned, touched his hat, and looked to get something for his hard work. The old gentleman glanced at him in disgust, and looked around with trepidation, as if he wanted to leave.

If it weren't for the fact that a patrolman squeezed into the crowd and grabbed Yongchang by the collar, he would probably have done that, resulting in another chase.

"Hey, get up." The patrol said in a rough voice.

"Sir, it's not me." Yongchang clasped his hands tightly together, looked back, and said.

"No, no, they're not in Luo," the patrol wanted to say something back, but he did. The clever ghost and the little leprosy had already escaped from the first compound they encountered. "Hey, get up."

"Don't hurt him." The old gentleman said sympathetically.

"Oh, no, I won't." The patrol agreed, and almost ripped Yongchang's coat off his back as proof. "Hmph, I know you guys, don't try to lie to me. You can't get up, you little bastard? ”

Yongchang struggled to get up, unable to stand steadily, and was immediately grabbed by the collar of his coat and dragged away quickly along the street. The old gentleman walked beside the patrol. Among these people, all those who have the ability to take a few steps ahead, and turn back from time to time to look at Yongchang.

The children let out a cheer of triumph and walked forward.