Downstairs, a little beggar about eight or nine years old, wearing tattered clothes similar to Chen Huihong’s but much cleaner, was skillfully avoiding the store clerks’ blows on the first floor.
Seeing the woman and Qin Yanxing come down, the clerks chasing the little beggar quickly stopped and immediately shifted the blame: "Boss, this little beggar is sneaky and dishonest. I noticed him lurking around our bakery since early this morning. Just now, he sneaked in directly, clearly intending to steal something, and I caught him red-handed!"
Qin Yanxing yelled with a darkened face, "Shut up!"
Then he immediately switched to a smile, looking at the woman: "Sister, look..."
The woman ignored him and walked straight down, bent down to pull out the little beggar hiding under the table, and said softly, "He might just be hungry and smelled the food, wanting to come in for a bite."
After speaking, the woman lowered her head and said, "But sneaking into someone else’s store is wrong. Store owners open their doors to do business and welcome guests; your coming in affects their business."
The little beggar said nothing.
"In my opinion, he’s just too young to understand, just chase him out. Recently, there have been many refugees in the city, probably fleeing with their parents, already very pitiful."
After speaking, the woman patted the little beggar and let him go out.
The little beggar reluctantly ran out, glancing at Chen Huihong, who was still sitting at the door playing with a wooden horse, giving her a warning look.
Chen Huihong cast a look at the little beggar, didn’t retaliate, and continued playing with the wooden horse.
Seeing not just one beggar sneaking into the store but another sitting outside, Qin Yanxing immediately got angry and shouted, "Drive away the one outside too."
The clerks, clearly gossip enthusiasts, had heard the rumors circulating on the street today about Chen Huihong and whispered something to Qin Yanxing. Qin Yanxing frowned, apparently not daring to provoke the allegedly crazy lady from a wealthy family, and could only point at the black steamed buns inside the counter.
"Take two and ask her to leave."
The clerks quickly went to get them, picked two of the smallest black steamed buns, and stuffed them to Chen Huihong at the door: "Please be kind and go sit and play somewhere else?"
Chen Huihong looked, saw they were black, didn’t take them, but still consciously got up, patted her coat, and planned to find another place to sit and savor the aroma.
The woman came out with a food box, and Chen Huihong, not watching where she was going, almost bumped into her.
The little beggar, who had already reached the street corner, glared fiercely at Chen Huihong again.
Knowing her mistake, Chen Huihong quickly said, "Sorry, let me give you this as compensation."
Then she grabbed the black steamed bun from the clerk’s hand and stuffed it into the woman’s hand.
The woman smiled seeing this, took the black steamed bun, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and said softly, "The buns my brother makes indeed don’t taste that good. Let me exchange them for the ones my husband and I made."
She squatted down, opened the food box, and took out two fist-sized white steamed buns made of fine flour but slightly grayish from the top layer and handed them to Chen Huihong.
Chen Huihong took the buns somewhat bewilderedly, showing a hesitant look for the first time, her face full of doubt: Did I really succeed in begging?
Qin Huai gave a thumbs up to Chen Huihong’s innate talent for begging; just with a word, black buns turned into white buns.
The little beggar on the street nearly gnashed their teeth to pieces.
The woman also saw the little beggar on the street and waved him over. The little beggar quickly ran over.
The woman handed him the black bun wrapped in the handkerchief and took out another white bun from the food box, slowly covering the box again.
"In the future, remember to beg at the door and not go inside, or you’ll get hit. Understand?"
The little beggar nodded and whispered, "Thank you."
Chen Huihong thought for a moment and also followed with a "Thank you."
Then she too ran away.
The woman watched the two of them run off in different directions and smiled, seeming much happier as she left with the food box.
Of course, Qin Huai followed Chen Huihong when leaving; he couldn’t run after the little beggar even if he wanted to, as this dream was Chen Huihong’s, and he could only follow the dream owner.
Since Qin Huai entered the dream, he hadn’t seen Chen Huihong eat anything other than tree bark. Hui Niang’s dug-up bugs and earthworms were always something Chen Huihong avoided; she would occasionally bite into foraged unknown fruits, but she never tasted the sweet potato given by Granny Zhang, not even the skin.
Now that the woman had given two obviously good-looking white buns, Chen Huihong hesitated for a bit with them in hand but ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation and took a bite.
Just one bite made Chen Huihong’s eyes light up.
The bun was simply indescribably delicious.
Without hesitation, Chen Huihong stood on the roadside and gobbled up the rest of the bun. After finishing, she smacked her lips, still wanting more. She looked at the other bun, hesitated for a moment, and tucked it into her pocket.
Passersby, having heard rumors about Chen Huihong, saw how blissfully she ate and couldn’t help but remark to their companion: "The crazy lady is hungry."
"The bun does look pretty good, white flour."
"It’s just a white bun after all."
Chen Huihong ignored them and continued walking down the street. But this time, she seemed to have a direction, no longer wandering aimlessly but heading back towards the outskirts of the city.
Leaving the bustling street, beggars and refugees became more prevalent, and Chen Huihong blended in, no longer the famous crazy lady on the street, just another ordinary refugee.
Chen Huihong looked around, seemingly thinking about something.
As she walked, she grabbed a relatively robust-looking refugee and asked, "Where to go for charity porridge?"
The refugee instinctively showed a fierce expression, but seeing that Chen Huihong was even stronger, he immediately pointed the way.
"Over there, it’s said to be given by some Prince, very thick porridge with lots of rotten beans and less sand."
Chen Huihong walked in the direction the refugee pointed.
The refugee didn’t deceive Chen Huihong; that porridge shed was indeed considered unanimously by people as the best, and the number of refugees here was nearly several times more than elsewhere, with chaotic and crowded queues where some were even trampled, continuously moaning in pain.
Several managers dressed in bright and shiny clothes at the porridge shed leisurely drank tea, hardly managing anything, just occasionally checking how many beans were left and when to call it a day, from time to time grabbing a handful of sand and sprinkling it into the pot.
Chen Huihong squeezed through the crowd, and the refugees thought she was trying to cut in line, but seeing her strong and healthy appearance, no one dared to provoke her, silently swallowing their grievances and letting her squeeze in.
As she pushed her way through, Chen Huihong heard a familiar voice.
A delighted little face of Hui Niang appeared in front of her.
"Did you eat?" Chen Huihong asked succinctly.
Hui Niang shook her head: "Too many people, couldn’t line up. And also..."
Hui Niang pointed to several big men near the porridge shed: "If you reach the front, you have to give them half a bowl; if not, you get beaten. I was scared to push forward."
Hui Niang’s physique was decent among the refugees, perhaps squeezing forward would have already gotten her some porridge.
Seeing this, Chen Huihong directly grabbed Hui Niang’s hand, pulled her out of the struggling porridge crowd, and went to a less crowded corner.
"Eat this." Chen Huihong took out the bun, already squashed into a flat cake, from inside her coat and handed it to Hui Niang, who watched in astonishment as the bun slowly regained its shape.
"Wow!" Hui Niang exclaimed.
"A white steamed bun; it really isn’t white!"
Hui Niang, your point of amazement is a bit off.
But who is the bun maker? The skill is astonishing, what excellent yeast skills!
Squashed like that, and it bounced back, a unique craft indeed!
Unable to wait, Hui Niang took a big bite and exclaimed loudly, "It’s sweet!"
"Sweeter than sweet reeds!"
Hui Niang devoured the entire bun and then asked expectantly, "Sister, did you go to the inner city?"
"It’s okay, quite lively, lots of people."
"I’m afraid to go; they say people like us get beaten if we enter the inner city."
"It’s fine as long as you don’t go into that... What is it..." Chen Huihong thought, "bakery, you won’t get beaten. If you sit at the door, someone will give you food to make you leave."
Hui Niang opened her mouth wide in amazement, silently gasping.
"Did you find your parents?"
"No, they probably didn’t come to Beiping." Hui Niang cheerfully said, "Sister, do you like it here? Are you going to stay here?"
"Then can I keep staying with you, Sister? I didn’t dare to spend the 7 copper coins you gave me, fearing they’d be snatched away. From now on, Sister, you can just wander around, and I’ll beg in the inner city for you."
Chen Huihong: "...as long as you’re happy."
Qin Huai thought that what Chen Huihong really wanted to say was that she didn’t want to beg.
"Sister, where are we going now?"
"I’m going to find some clothes."
"Because you said wearing these clothes in the inner city would get me beaten."
Qin Huai left the dream.