Chapter 144: Beggar
The little Qilin bought a round of things outside, was hungry, and then went to find food.
A few candied figures, a few candied hawthorns, pastries…
Keke: “Cub, don’t eat too many snacks, you need to eat meals to be healthy!”
Keke was like a worried mother fussing over a certain Qilin cub who loved to eat snacks.
Qin Wanwan’s mouth was stuffed with food, her snow-white, chubby cheeks puffed out like a beautiful little squirrel hoarding food.
She was also obedient; if Keke told her not to eat, she wouldn’t.
The snacks she bought, she would take back and eat slowly.
However, her big eyes swept over and saw a group of beggars in tattered clothes.
She had walked quite far this time, almost reaching the northern district of Shangjing.
Shangjing was divided into four districts: east, south, west, and north, and the people living in these places were also different.
The east district was near the Imperial City, inhabited by the wealthy and noble high officials, mostly officials, and because it was close to the Imperial City, the prices of houses and other things were particularly high.
The mansions of many high officials were bestowed by the Emperor.
The adjacent west district was mostly inhabited by wealthy merchants, so there were many shops there, and noble young masters often went to the west district to play.
The south district was mostly inhabited by ordinary local residents, not wealthy, but most had their own houses in Shangjing, of course, some scholars coming to the capital for exams and people from other places with some spare money would choose to rent in the south district.
The north district was more chaotic, inhabited by all sorts of people, but it also had its own characteristics, with many low-class brothels and gambling dens opening there.
There were also many beggars here.
In this era, even the wealthiest cities had beggars.
Beggars were often active in the north and south districts, not daring to go to the east district, and only the bold ones dared to go to the west district.
Qin Wanwan was currently at the junction of the north and south districts.
The beggars, with their unkempt hair, looked for people willing to give them food or copper coins.
Even little beggars knew how to size people up.
These beggars had to have some skills to beg for food. Some performed small juggling acts on the spot, while others were eloquent and kept flattering people. If the person was in a good mood and happy, they would throw some copper coins into their broken bowls.
Qin Wanwan tilted her head and watched for a while, and then a little beggar ran over.
“Kind Miss, please be charitable and give me something to eat. This lad wishes you good health and longevity, free from illness and disaster…”
In just a minute, the beggar had said many blessings.
Qin Wanwan gave him the pastry in her hand.
“I only bought pastries, here you go.”
She also gave him three copper coins.
“Thank you, thank you, kind Miss. I hope your future days will be smooth.”
After he left, more beggars came.
Qin Wanwan gave them all some food and three copper coins.
“Keke, why don’t they find jobs?”
After all, most of those beggars were able-bodied.
Keke: “Jobs are hard to find in this era. Even for a waiter, you need connections or exceptional ability to find one. Who would hire a beggar?”
“The work of carrying sacks at the dock also requires strength, and these beggars can’t get any jobs.”
That’s how cruel reality is.
“Then why don’t they go farming?”
“They don’t have proper household registration. Even if the government counts beggars, it’s mainly for management, and they don’t guarantee their rights. Besides, buying land also costs money. There’s no land here for them to reclaim.”
So it’s not that they don’t want to earn money, but they simply have no way to earn money, so they can only beg.
Qin Wanwan sort of understood, and looking at those beggars, she honestly felt quite uncomfortable.
But she was just a child now, and besides giving some food and money, she couldn’t seem to help them.
When Daddy and the others harvest the sweet potatoes and potatoes, then more people should be able to eat their fill.
While thinking about this, Qin Wanwan held the last string of candied hawthorn in her hand, and finally, no more beggars came forward.
However, she saw a very foolish beggar.
He was sitting at the entrance of a dirty alley, looking injured and resting against the wall, with a broken bowl in front of him, not even begging for food.
The little Qilin walked over with the last string of candied hawthorn in her hand. Except for Keke and a few animals, she didn’t let anyone else follow.
“You’re so foolish, why don’t you go beg for food like the others? Not eating enough and being hungry is very uncomfortable.”
The beggar looked like an adult, dirty and emaciated, indistinguishable from other beggars.
But his left eye was wrapped with a strip of cloth, looking like he had bandaged it himself. Was his eye injured?
He seemed somewhat surprised that Qin Wanwan had come over.
“This is for you.”
Qin Wanwan handed him the candied hawthorn in her hand: “You need to be more proactive. Can’t you beg? You should learn from them so you won’t go hungry.”
Qin Wanwan didn’t mind that he was dirty and squatted beside him, pointing to the other beggars.
“Look how eloquent they are.”
The beggar took the candied hawthorn and started gnawing on it.
“I’m too weak from hunger, and I’m indeed not as good at begging as they are. After all, I’ve only been a beggar for a short time. My family is all dead, I’m injured, and I’m ostracized by other beggars. You are truly a kind person.”
The beggar’s voice was a bit weak.
Qin Wanwan looked at him with pity and took out a few more copper coins to give him.
“Then eat quickly. Once you’ve eaten, you’ll have some strength.”
Keke: “Child, hawthorn makes you hungrier the more you eat.”
But the beggar seemed to have been hungry for a long time, eating ravenously.
Qin Wanwan stood up: “Wait, I’ll go buy more food.”
With guards, Qin Wanwan didn’t buy expensive pastries this time, but went to buy steamed buns.
Large steamed buns were two copper coins each. Although they were mixed with white and coarse flour, the taste wasn’t particularly good but they were filling.
She directly bought out all the steamed buns from the steamed bun shop.
Today, the little Qilin performed a good deed.
Although doing so wouldn’t change the plight of these beggars, at least for that day, they wouldn’t be too hungry.
The guards distributed the steamed buns to the beggars. The beggars swarmed up, which was a bit dangerous and not suitable for a little baby like Qin Wanwan to do.
She took two steamed buns and went to find the beggar with the injured eye. She was afraid the beggar would choke, so she brought water.
It was sugar water she had bought.
“Here you go. Get well soon and beg diligently!”
The beggar was amused by her.
“Thank you. I’ll give you a little thing.”
Qin Wanwan: “You’re so poor, yet you want to give me something? I don’t want it, you keep it yourself.”
The beggar said: “It’s not valuable. It’s a butterfly pupa I found.”
He opened his hand, and a red butterfly pupa lay in it.
It was very beautiful, and the overall appearance was like a red gemstone specifically carved into the shape of a pupa.
Purple patterns were interspersed on the gemstone.
“Beautiful!”
Qin Wanwan extended her little chubby hand and poked it.
It had a slightly soft texture, definitely not a gemstone.
The beggar placed the butterfly pupa in her hand.
“I see you, Shen Bi’ang, raise so many animals, raising a butterfly should be no problem. But it depends on your luck. If your luck is bad, it might die in the pupa.”
