"Brother Monkey, ...... are you?" Li Tian looked at Hou Ping suspiciously.

"Xiaotian, you just came to town, it's not like you're at home, you don't understand these ways. I think I suffered a loss at the beginning. After Hou Ping finished talking to Li Tian like this, he turned his head and snorted at the little beggar, "Didn't you see that this little brother came with me, and he didn't take his eyes out today?" ”

As soon as Hou Mingping came out like this, the little beggar raised his head suddenly and saw Hou Ping.

The little beggar was a little flustered in his eyes, and hurriedly said, "Brother Hou... Brother Hou, don't be angry, I'm blind today, I'm too blind, I want to see you behind, I won't do anything to this person. ”

"Hmph, if you really take his things today, you will go to Tianxiang Restaurant in the future, and you won't have any leftovers." Hou Ping said a word, and let the little beggar leave.

When the little beggar passed by Li Tian, he also said in his mouth: "Offended, offended, big brother forgive me~"

Li Tianyun was in a fog, and he didn't understand what was going on.

Hou Ping couldn't help laughing when he looked stupid, and then said: "Stunned, this little beggar is not a good thing, this piece is like this, ten beggars steal five." Obviously he is a beggar, but secretly he is a little pickpocket, but he will steal things, just now he was going to hit you, just to steal something from you. ”

Only then did Li Tian understand that the little beggar had just stumbled and pretended to deliberately trick him into helping, as long as he supported the little beggar, he might let the little beggar succeed. I didn't have much to bring, but I couldn't afford to lose it.

Li Tian was a little annoyed, and glanced back at the little beggar.

"Brother Monkey, then he went to Tianxiang Restaurant, what's going on?" Li Tian looked at the back of the little beggar and asked.

"This matter has to start with the third master, the third master is kind-hearted, and instructed the shopkeeper to give them some of the rest of the day's meals if there are beggars. During the day, these beggars beg, some can get it, some can't, and those who can't come to us will come to us to ask for a bite of leftovers. ”

Hou Ping said again: "Who doesn't guard against himself these days, just like you, who has just entered the city, is not strict and easy to be stolen." But this little beggar can steal very little, and most days of the year, we still rely on a mouthful of leftovers to survive. ”

"So they dare to steal from others, but they dare not steal from our Tianxiang Restaurant. If you come out again after changing the clothes in our restaurant today, I am sure you won't encounter this incident. ”

"Also, if you ......"

"It's this kid, surround him" Before Hou Ping finished speaking, the little beggar over there was surrounded by three young people.

One of the leading young men said resentfully.

"Bazi, I finally met you again today, I've been looking for you for two days, do you remember my master? You dare to stretch out your claws at me, but fortunately, Lao Tzu reacted quickly and didn't let you steal the money bag.

"Master...... I was wrong about this man...... Let me go~" The little beggar knew that he couldn't run out, so he quickly begged for mercy.

But when the leading young man finished complaining, he immediately said to the other two, "Hmph! Hit, hit hard, let him have a longer memory, I'll carry ...... if something happens"

The other two were not ambiguous when they heard it, one of them first raised his foot and kicked the little beggar down, and the other did not care about the little beggar begging for mercy, and followed suit. From time to time, the leader also punched and kicked.

The three of them punched and kicked, and the little beggar was surrounded in the middle, holding his head in his hands, curling up and begging for mercy, and the bowl he was holding before fell to the side, and he didn't know how many pieces it had broken into.

Although Li Tian was almost stolen just now, he was annoyed, but he was also a child, he was quick to hold grudges and forget quickly, and he cried bitterly when he watched the little beggar being beaten, and he couldn't stop wailing, and he couldn't bear it.

"Brother Monkey, let's persuade" Li Tian wanted to go to Lala.

Hou Ping began by saying, "He asked for it, don't worry about him." ”

But seeing that the fight was getting more and more ruthless, he couldn't bear it, and shouted at that side: "It's almost over, it's really dead, beware of the yamen who caught you and sent it to the mines, I heard that there is a shortage of manpower in the mine." ”

In fact, Hou Ping said this and didn't know the bottom of his heart, this matter was said by the diners when they came to the restaurant to eat, and Hou Ping didn't know whether it was true or not.

The young man who was leading over there seemed to really know about this, and he beat the little beggar, and his anger disappeared a lot, and after listening to Hou Ping, he thought about it and stopped the other two people.

The young man in the lead said: "Count you a beggar lucky, someone will help you speak, or we will kill you today, and we will leave." ”

If Hou Ping and Li Tian hadn't been there today, this little beggar might have been killed.

The young man in the lead and the two beaters walked away, leaving a little beggar crying uncontrollably.

Hou Ping and Li Tian walked over, and the little beggar moved a little and sat up.

Hou Ping said: "If you don't listen to this, you won't listen, you will know that it hurts to be cleaned up today." Next time I do this, I don't care if you are killed."

The little beggar didn't speak, but staggered to his feet and was about to leave, taking a step that might have hurt his leg, and he staggered against the wall. This time it's really going to fall.

Seeing that he was beaten like this, Li Tian felt sympathy, thought for a while, and took out the remaining steamed bun in his arms and stuffed it into the little beggar's hand.

The little beggar glanced at him and limped off into the distance.

……

Seeing the scene just now, Hou Ping and Li Tian were a little silent, and they didn't say anything after walking for a while.

In the end, Li Tian broke the silence and asked Hou Ping what was going on with mining.

"This is what the guests talked about when they came to our restaurant to eat, and I don't know if it's true or not. There is indeed a mine in the west of our town, which is the property of the government, and it seems that there was an accident a few days ago, and many miners died. ”

Li Tian asked again: "Brother Monkey, what about such a big matter, the miners' families?" I haven't heard of any complaints."

"Even if the miners have families, they don't know where they are. This mine is the property of the Yamen, unlike those family industries, where those who hire workers can have wages and freedom. Hou Ping said again

"The miners in the mine are all prisoners, and prisoners from our town, nearby towns, and some distant places have been taken there, and there are heavy guards around the mine. It would be nice for those relatives to know that the person was dead in a few years. ”

Li Tian asked a few more words before he understood the reason. It turned out that after the mine lacked manpower, a group of people were taken away from the town prison, and the yamen felt that it was not enough, so they sent arresters to patrol around, and those who encountered crimes were taken away directly, and even those beggars who had a little strength were arrested, that is, the little beggar was too young, otherwise he would have been arrested.

The two of them walked through the alley, came to the street, and walked for a while.

Li Tian saw a group of houses connected to each other, one after the other, surrounded on both sides by an extended courtyard wall, and in the middle was a gate for people to enter and exit.

"The House has arrived"