Chapter 30
We Mustn’t Be Too Greedy
The little boy hesitated for a long time, but the longing in his eyes had already betrayed him. He kept glancing back again and again, and Ying Jiuque couldn’t help but follow his gaze. To her surprise, she saw one, two, three—an entire row of small heads poking out from beneath the bridge. There were at least five or six of them, all watching this way with eyes full of both fear and yearning.
In a small, timid voice, the little boy said,
“Big sister, can I share these with my friends?”
“……”
Jiuque felt something tighten in her throat, making it hard to speak.
The little boy grew anxious when she didn’t respond, but he still didn’t dare raise his voice.
“Big sister, we—we won’t be greedy. We won’t ask for more, and we won’t bother you again, really!”
Jiuque’s eyes grew red. This child—how many times must he have gone through something like this before? So obedient it hurt to look at him.
She pushed the bag of buns toward him and tried to sound cheerful.
“If I said they’re yours, then they’re yours. Take them—share them however you like…”
But her tone suddenly changed mid-sentence—because she saw the hand he reached out with.
It was missing fingers.
His right hand ended at the wrist, a twisted scar marking where it had been cut off. On his left hand, only the thumb remained whole; the index finger was missing a joint, and the other three fingers were reduced to short, bare stumps—like someone had hacked them off carelessly and only part of them had survived by chance.
For an instant, hot blood surged to Jiuque’s head. Her ears buzzed, her throat burned, and she couldn’t force out a single word.
“You—you…”
“Hmm?”
The little boy clutched the warm, fragrant buns to his chest, puzzled by the big sister’s silence—only to see her suddenly turn around and… run away?
Ah…
His eyes dimmed, and he drew his hands back in shame. He hadn’t meant to show his ugly hands. He had just been too happy.
He hadn’t eaten a full meal in days; his stomach no longer even growled—it just felt like some small monster was living inside it. He’d barely resisted the urge to eat dirt or grass from the roadside.
“Hey, Muddy,” one of the children whispered, “why did that big sister leave? Does she not want us to eat the buns? Sorry… we shouldn’t have come over…”
The others, eyes still full of longing, rubbed their hands nervously. Street children their age never got the best begging spots; even if they managed to get something, the older beggars would just snatch it away.
And with their crippled limbs, even surviving through begging was hard enough—let alone meeting the daily “tribute” demands from those stronger than them. Honestly, they all thought they wouldn’t last much longer. None of them had expected that a kind young lady would chase Muddy down several streets with a bag of hot, steaming buns just to give them to him.
Seeing the gloom in everyone’s eyes, Muddy quickly shook his head.
“No, she’s a really good sister. And look—we already have so many buns. We can’t be too greedy. Come on, eat quickly, or someone else will snatch them.”
Everyone nodded. They reached for the buns, but when they saw the plump, white bread against their own dirty, blackened hands, they hesitated in embarrassment. They hurried to wash their hands in the cold river water nearby before carefully holding the buns and taking small bites.
Huddled beneath the bridge in their ragged clothes, these children who had suffered so much in life now smiled in pure happiness just from being able to eat a bun.
“This smells so good! Ah, it’s got meat inside! I haven’t had meat in so long. The last time was when some old man at a restaurant threw down a piece of pork. I managed to grab it before the big yellow dog did and stuffed it in my mouth—but I was in such a hurry I didn’t even taste it properly. Mmm, this is so good…”
“Yeah.”
Muddy swallowed the last bite with effort, patted his still-flat belly, and declared boldly,
“When I grow up, I’ll make lots and lots of money! I’ll buy tons of buns, and we’ll eat until we can’t eat anymore!”
“Wow! Really?”
“Of course! I’ll be really strong one day…”
A passerby, hearing faint voices under the bridge, cast a casual glance down and saw a few scrawny beggar children. They quickly looked away, indifferent.
In Yong’an City, these little beggars were everywhere—just another part of the scenery. No one spared them a second glance; they were as common as stray cats and dogs, as mud and weeds by the roadside—messy, nameless, growing and fading away. When one group vanished, another took its place.
And as for those who disappeared—whether they ended up lying in the cold river or hidden in a dark corner—who would care?
But someone did care.
Ying Jiuque, still clutching the food she’d carried back, was breathing heavily—she had run the whole way, and her frail body could barely keep up.
“Where are they?”
Hearing the voice, Muddy cautiously peeked his head out—and when he saw Jiuque, panting for breath, his face lit up.
“Ah! It’s the kind big sister!”
As he tried to climb up the riverbank, Jiuque jumped down herself, drawing curious stares from onlookers. A woman dressed in fine clothes, even wearing official attire, jumping down under a bridge? Scandalous behavior indeed.
Even the children looked at her anxiously. But Ying Jiuque didn’t care.
She pushed the bundle of food toward them and smiled.
“I bought too much on my way back. Then I remembered there’s no one at home, and I can’t finish it all. If I leave it, it’ll spoil—so please, help me out and eat some.”
What she handed them were foods they’d never even dreamed of tasting before—sweet malt candies, tangy-sweet candied hawthorns. Those were expensive treats meant for children from good families, even a luxury for ordinary households.
Though the children were young, they weren’t stupid. They didn’t believe her excuse for a second.
After swallowing hard a few times, Muddy resolutely pushed the food back into her hands.
“Big sister, we already ate your buns and we’re full now. These things are really expensive—you should take them back and eat them slowly. We mustn’t be too greedy.”
