It's a dilapidated courtyard, with leaky tiles and a deserted and remote courtyard, the only thing that goes about it is that it seems to be cleaned up a lot, barely tidy, not overgrown, and the yard that should have been planted with flowers and plants is instead filled with all kinds of cheap vegetable crops, such as bitter mustard, which can grow in cold environments, and is especially conspicuous here - although this edible plant has long been reduced to fodder for livestock, and is naturally not vibrant at this time of winter, but it seems a little warm.

Although they are worthless vegetables, they seem to be able to grow like this, and I am afraid that it is due to the little girl who is taking care of them.

Her long brown hair was braided in thick braids, and she looked a little rough, and the old linen kaftan on her body was not suitable for the current climate, as evidenced by the fact that some of her petite bodies were shivering over the years, but the girl took care of the cheap but filling plants, and carefully plucked the unhealthy-looking leaves—judging by the way she put them in the basket, they were not something to be thrown away, but perhaps the ingredients for lunch or dinner.

"Knock knock~"

There was a rhythmic knocking sound from the closed dilapidated wooden door, and a slightly immature voice sounded outside the door: "Hello, is anyone there?"

The girl was startled, and a frightened look appeared on her slightly freckled face—normally, this is not what it would be like to hear someone knock on the door.

Could it be that the owner came to the door? Could it be that Bill is stealing again?

The girl could not help but be frightened, but she stepped forward cautiously and peeked out through the rotten gap in the middle of the wooden door.

Thanks to the disrepair of the wooden door, the girl's vision through the gap is very clear, however, she didn't think about it, and it is precisely because the gap is too large that her peeking action can be seen at a glance by people outside.

In his sight, the little boy outside the door tilted his head, smiled kindly, and nodded slightly to her.

"It's a little familiar······ Oh, it's him!"

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In the empty streets full of freight wagons, merchants are in full swing to unload and load goods, including second-tier traders who want to buy goods directly from here, and mercenaries who have returned from the adventure to sell their booty.

In the noisy environment, the flow of people is complicated, and several faces are ordinary, but if you look closely, you can find that young people who are actually a bit of a thief are wandering around in the crowd, which is obviously incompatible with the busy atmosphere, but they can always hide their differences from others and not attract the attention of most people.

They are the thieves of the town······ No, it's not appropriate to use the title of this professional to describe them, they can only be called thieves or pickpockets if they have no strength.

Today, they are doing their old business as always.

A narrow-eyed young man stared at a wealthy businessman, who was now concentrating on negotiating with the mercenary in front of him, suppressing the price of fur in the mercenary's hands with a comfortable face, and did not realize that his wallet had been targeted.

Patience paid off, the fat merchant triumphantly accepted the mercenary's goods, and the mercenary took a few silver coins from the merchant a little depressed, put them into the money bag on his waist, and the two parted ways - the negotiation is over, after the psychological confrontation, the person will have a period of relaxation, and the vigilance will also drop slightly, and the place where the money is hidden on both sides has been clearly seen by him, and this is the time to make a move.

The small-eyed boy leaned forward with a relaxed demeanor, and was about to approach the merchant who didn't know it, still stroking his fur and sneering, but the sharp-eyed boy saw a boy several years younger than him walking across from him, staring at the mercenary who had not gone far behind him, as if he was about to stagger past him.

The boy's eyelids jumped, and he gave up his goal, and instead grabbed his arm as the boy passed by, and pulled him into the shadows of the alley without saying a word.

"Hey, Bill, I know you're quite bold, but I didn't expect you to be so bold! Yesterday you caused such a big mess, and it was hard to save your life, and today you dare to come out and take the job?! Don't you know that you are already famous? You dare to find mercenaries? You are not looking for death!"

The small-eyed boy had a look of hatred on his face, threw the boy against the wall, pointed at his nose and scolded him.

"I can't help it, Gus, you know, it's winter······"

"Ding~"

A half-bulging money bag smashed into the boy's chest, interrupting his embarrassing words.

"Now, right now, let me go back to your broken yard and stay well, and let me come out less to show up! Use your brain to think about it, if something happens to you, what will you do with those little ghosts in the future?"

The young man who smashed out the money bag continued to curse and teach the boy a lesson, but the boy was powerless to fight back, and only refused while struggling:

"Gus, I can't ask for your money!"

"You think beautifully! That's the money I worked so hard to steal, can I give it to you for nothing? I will borrow you, and I will charge interest! If you dare not pay it back next year, I will break your legs!"

Bill was silent for a moment, and bowed his head—why did he bow his head? Perhaps he was afraid that the moist weakness in his eyes would be discovered.

Gus sighed, patted his still thin but unexpectedly strong shoulder, and advised as a friend: "Bill, I said that a guy like you is not suitable for this business, take advantage of this blow and just stop it, don't hold on to it anymore, you are different from us, at least you have the possibility of going further." ”

Bill, with his head down, smiled bitterly, "What difference can it be? I'm just an apprentice thief, we······ It's just little people struggling to survive. ”

"You have more talent and potential than we do, but you're too reckless to carry what you can't carry······ I understand your feelings, that is your only sustenance now, but you should not block your future for this, promise the help of the church, at least life will definitely be better than now. ”

In response to his proposal, Bill shook his head firmly: "No, Gus, you also saw what happened yesterday, I can't cause so much trouble to others, Daddy is a thief, I am also a thief, we are born to consciously stand in the shadows that cannot be illuminated······ The church's association with guys like me will only drag down their reputation, especially at this time······"

Gus couldn't help but shake his head, gave him a punch hatefully, and turned around and walked away: "Cut~, that's why I said, a guy like you is not suitable for this business······ Come to me if there's anything, even if there's not much you can do······"

"Gus, thank you ······"

In response to him was the young man's free and straight back.

···········

At noon, when Bill returned to the orphanage with a large bag of grain, he unexpectedly smelled bitter mustard soup and asked a little strangely.

"Is today's lunch ready so soon?"

While muttering, Bill walked into the courtyard and walked towards a house in the corner, "I'll be back······ Huh?"

The moment he pushed the door in, his footsteps froze there.

I saw that surrounded by a group of plainly dressed children, a boy with obviously different clothes and bearing was holding a bowl of vegetable soup like the children around him, chatting freely with a few older girls, and after seeing him enter the door, the boy beckoned to him: "Yo~, come back~"

Yo your sister! This is my home! Don't greet me like a host! Who are you!

Huh?······ Wait, he seems to be ······ ！

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