At night, fearing that embers might spark and ignite the straw, the beggars extinguished the fire and then huddled together, wrapping themselves with straw to sleep.
An Youyou monopolized the best spot, sprawled out and fell asleep. Once everyone was asleep and their breaths became steady, she suddenly sat up with a dissatisfied look, peering through the barely present roof to glance at the bright moon.
Then, she took out her treasured cloth bundle from her bosom, carefully scrutinizing the British Pounds in the moonlight, holding them as if they represented some sort of summer resolution, she sighed deeply and wrapped them up.
Finally, An Youyou lay down in a huff, rolling restlessly to make some noise, then angrily glanced at Jiang Weiguo, who was a bit away from her.
She got up, walked over to Jiang Weiguo’s side, kicked him, and when he didn’t wake, Jiang Weiguo merely turned over, making An Youyou feel satisfied and go back to sleep.
Before closing her eyes, Qin Huai heard An Youyou whisper a grievance: "My money!"
The next morning, as dawn broke, the beggars awoke one by one, went to the water’s edge to dig up mud, waiting for An Youyou to wake up.
Actually, An Youyou had been awake for a long time. Qin Huai, who had been squatting next to An Youyou, knew she was awake from the first beggar rising as her eyelids twitched, and her breathing was no longer as even. But possibly for the dignity of a leader, An Youyou insisted on being the last to wake, and indeed Youyou woke up.
When Little Ten delivered the last handful of mud to the broken temple, An Youyou opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
"Boss, you’re awake!" Little Ten exclaimed in surprise, holding the mud and running to An Youyou. "Just dug from the riverside, I cleaned out the stones and twigs!"
"Mm." An Youyou nodded, grabbed a handful of mud, and smeared it on her hand.
After Little Ten’s mud was smudged out, An Youyou got up and walked to the piled mud, continuing to smear it on her face, then her neck, shoulders, arms—any exposed area, thickly smeared, not evenly, or else it’d clearly be deliberate.
Finally, she didn’t forget to grab a handful to smear in her hair, making it messier.
A beggar so dirty that no one dared to get within five meters was born.
Seeing An Youyou finish smearing, the rest of the little brothers began applying mud to themselves, imitating An Youyou with chaotic smearing. Clearly, the little brothers weren’t as professional or skilled as An Youyou; areas that should be thin weren’t, and thick areas weren’t thick enough.
An Youyou even had to personally guide some who applied the mud especially poorly.
Professional guidance, worthy of trust.
Soon, An Youyou’s team became twelve beggars and Jiang Weiguo.
An Youyou packed up the cloth bag, ready to go into the city to beg, only to turn around and find Jiang Weiguo standing cleanly on the side, she immediately got angry, her face brimmed with the betrayal of a class by her little brother.
"Why are you so clean?!" An Youyou exclaimed angrily and then realized Jiang Weiguo had found a job and didn’t need to beg, softening her tone slightly, although still a bit displeased, "Oh, you don’t need to smear."
Then An Youyou stared at Jiang Weiguo, attempting to influence her little brother with her gaze to fit in and smear some on his face.
Jiang Weiguo: "... Working as a handyman at Fu Ji, being clean is important."
Only then did An Youyou give up.
Before departure, An Youyou arranged the pairings and begging areas for her little brothers, two by two, so they could look out for each other while begging, and cooperate while performing.
"Go early, come back early, if you see the sun about to set, hurry back home, don’t end up like Little One before, watch the road while running back, if you get hit by a car, there won’t be compensation."
"Okay, boss!" The little brothers replied in unison, carrying their broken cloth bags into the city for work.
An Youyou led Jiang Weiguo, gallantly heading toward the black market, leading the way into the city.
As the boss, even if An Youyou didn’t know the way, she had to lead in front.
After entering the city, it was Jiang Weiguo leading An Youyou; the black market was in a rather remote part of the city. Calling it a black market, it’s really just several shops on one street. There were thugs stationed at the shop entrances, and the money exchange shop had "money exchange" written clearly on its doorstep.
An Youyou intended to go in herself, but Jiang Weiguo worried she might really be tempted, as if she had a dog’s courage, and asked An Youyou to give him the British Pounds; he’d exchange them. An Youyou hesitated for five or six seconds but ultimately decided to trust her little brother, handing the money to Jiang Weiguo.
Perhaps due to Jiang Weiguo’s clean clothes, he simply appeared to be an ordinary poor person, the thugs at the entrance didn’t stop him and let him enter.
Qin Huai followed in to take a look, discovering it was akin to a pawn shop inside, not only could money be exchanged, but various items could be pawned. A person in front of Jiang Weiguo was pawning antique jewelry, bargaining with the shopkeeper, Jiang Weiguo wisely avoided crowding at the front, instead standing at the back quietly in line, no one in the shop paid him any attention.
Qin Huai glanced around then went out, immediately noticing An Youyou was busy working.
Working at a street corner.
Already begging from a rich young master.
The wealthy young master whom An Youyou had targeted was clearly foolish and naive, entirely confused by An Youyou’s cries and whines.
Due to the young master’s benevolence and An Youyou’s outstanding yet restrained performance—knowing that during a performance one shouldn’t disturb the audience—the rolling range remained at a very safe distance. As a result, the bodyguards beside the young master were momentarily unsure how to react, leading to a standoff between the two sides.
In the end, the young master tossed two Da yangs hurriedly and ran off, asking his bodyguards guiltily if he had thrown too little money, wishing he had brought more this time when going out.