Chapter 2

In the seventh month of Yongchun’s second year, in the Guangzhou Prefecture.

On the long street, countless pedestrians, merchants, and stalls filled the originally spacious road to the brim.

Scholars in wide robes and large sleeves, Hu people in round-collared narrow sleeves, and commoners in short brown shirts walked among them, creating a bustling scene.

On both sides of the road, there were Indians draped in shoulder cloths and wearing earrings, loudly hawking their sandalwood in broken Tang Chinese. There were Kunlun children from Nanyang walking barefoot on the street, selling pain-relieving ointments made from aloe vera. Some people were constantly boasting that their cloves could make one’s breath fresh.

There were also Persians in narrow-sleeved robes and flowered caps, selling Persian dates for makeup and saffron powder for perfume. Of course, the street vendors' stalls were never short of the popular seasonings among the Tang people: black pepper and mustard.

Even the vendors selling pistachios pushed their carts, shouting at the top of their lungs about how pistachios could strengthen men’s kidneys and invigorate women, attracting many women: who wouldn’t want their men to be strong and virile, both in public and in bed?

Behind the stalls on both sides of the road, there were two clear streams. Stone and wooden bridges spanned the streams. Walking across the bridges, one would find banana trees planted along the riverbanks, and behind the banana trees were taverns. The lingering aroma of wine wafted from there, blending into the bustling scene on the street.

However, the real world, no matter how prosperous, could never match the world in books and paintings. In books and paintings, you could erase everything you didn’t need, but in the real world, you couldn’t. At any time, there were still poor people. A ragged little beggar was now running barefoot, pursued by two burly men.

The little beggar ran into a narrow alley and finally ran out of strength, being caught by the two men. Under a barrage of punches and kicks, the little beggar curled up like a puppy, being kicked repeatedly. He neither begged for mercy nor cried out in pain. Only when he was kicked into the ditch by the side of the alley did he groan and faint.

The two men rolled up their sleeves and walked away, muttering, “Stinking beggar, daring to steal food. If I catch you again, I’ll beat you to death!”

The street was crowded with people, but no one paid attention.

After a long time, a woman in tattered skirts led a little girl into the narrow alley. The little girl saw the beggar lying by the stream, stopped, and seemed to have a small argument with her mother. The little girl won, and she lifted her tattered skirt and ran quickly to the stream.

The little girl squatted down and looked at the unconscious boy. Then she took a broken pottery jar from her mother and carefully fed him some porridge. The little beggar was clearly very hungry. Even in his unconscious state, he instinctively and quickly swallowed the porridge when it was fed to him.

The little beggar gradually woke up. When he opened his eyes, he immediately felt a throbbing pain. One of his eyes was swollen and bruised, leaving only a narrow slit. After a moment of dizziness, he focused his gaze on the little girl in front of him.

The girl looked younger than him, with a thin, dirty face and disheveled, malnourished yellow hair. Her eyebrows were black and thick, which would make a boy look spirited but seemed too heavy on a girl.

The little girl was wearing a moon-white short robe, with the shoulder seam already frayed, revealing a glimpse of skin. Her skirt, which reached her chest, was made of bamboo leaves. She was squatting in front of the little beggar, and the holes in her skirt revealed her bare knees.

The little beggar quickly understood his situation and the identity of the girl. He didn’t thank her but just stared at her. The little girl smiled at him, showing her missing front teeth, which made her look a bit ugly.

The little girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, and pulled a bun from her chest, carefully breaking it in half. She compared the halves, placed the larger one in the little beggar’s lap, and smiled at him again. Then she stood up with the jar, and the woman took her hand, glanced indifferently at the boy, and they walked away down the narrow alley.

The little beggar struggled to get up, his bones aching. He tugged at his tattered clothes, looked around blankly, and instinctively followed the mother and daughter.

The girl, holding her mother’s hand, occasionally looked back. The boy, who seemed to be in a worse situation than the mother and daughter, wore tattered clothes that barely covered his body. His collar was torn, revealing his prominent collarbones. His cheeks were thin and yellow, and his face was bruised and swollen, with new and old injuries overlapping.

The girl smiled at him again.

Gradually, the road became more secluded, and a dilapidated temple with a half-collapsed wall appeared ahead.

The woman led the little girl into the temple, and the little beggar stood outside for a moment before following them in.

Inside the temple, there were not just one but several beggars. An old beggar sat in the sunlight, taking off his tattered coat to reveal his emaciated body, picking lice. Another, stronger beggar lay on a pile of firewood, crossing his legs and humming a song.

The woman and the little girl found a spot in the leaky temple and sat down. The little girl started eating, while the woman grabbed a handful of flexible wild grass and began weaving something.

The little beggar, like a frightened little animal, cautiously observed everything in the temple but still stubbornly moved closer to the mother and daughter. He rarely received kindness, and the girl’s kindness made him feel very close. Being alone and helpless, he instinctively wanted to approach what he felt close to.

The little girl, with her two missing front teeth, struggled to bite into the hard bun. After a long time, when the bun was wet with saliva, she finally managed to take a bite. She swallowed it happily, looked at the boy, and asked softly, “I’m Niniu. What’s your name?”

The little beggar seemed a bit lost. After a while, a hint of sorrow flashed in his eyes, and he softly replied, “I... am A-Chou.”

“A-Chou, sit down!”

Niniu patted the straw beside her, and A-Chou looked at her and sat down lightly.

Niniu, biting into the bun, tilted her head and asked, “Why did they beat you up like that?”

A-Chou answered, “Because I stole their food.”

“Oh! That’s not good. You can just beg for food. There are always kind-hearted people.”

A-Chou was silent for a moment and then said softly, “I can’t beg. I... can’t stretch out my hand...”

Niniu’s two front teeth were missing, and the bun was as hard as a rock. She had been gnawing at it for a long time, making it wet with saliva, but still hadn’t managed to bite off a piece. Hearing A-Chou’s words, she gave up and asked in surprise, “Why? Isn’t stealing also shameful?”

A-Chou thought seriously and replied, “I don’t know. Although stealing also involves stretching out your hand, it... feels different. When I steal, I just have to be prepared to get beaten. But when I beg, I can’t stretch out my hand or say the words...”

Niniu blinked, thought for a long time, and shook her head, “I don’t understand!”

A-Chou smiled bitterly, slowly raised his head, and looked at the beam of sunlight coming through a hole in the temple roof, and the dust dancing in the light. He said softly, “I don’t understand either...”

Niniu laughed and said, “A-Chou, you’re a strange beggar.”

A-Chou stubbornly emphasized, “I’m not a beggar! I’ve never begged!”

Niniu was very patient and conceded, “Okay, okay, you’re not a beggar. You’re a strange thief. Is that better? Hehe.”

“Mm!”

A-Chou thought for a moment, nodded solemnly, and accepted her evaluation.

Niniu turned her head, tugged at her mother’s sleeve, and pleaded, “Mother, can you weave a pair of shoes for A-Chou?”

She turned back and blinked, asking, “A-Chou, do you want to stay here?”

“...”

“Mm?”

“Mm!”

Niniu smiled again, showing her missing teeth, which made her look a bit ugly.

At that moment, a pair of straw shoes was gradually taking shape in Niniu’s mother’s hands...

***

A-Chou was indeed a strange child.

He stubbornly refused to beg, preferring to steal.

Because his thieving skills were poor, A-Chou was often beaten up, and if it weren’t for Niniu’s mother’s help, he might have starved to death long ago.

There were over a dozen beggars living in the temple, and they all thought A-Chou should be called A-Dai, believing he must be stupid. Only Niniu didn’t think so.

When A-Chou was full, he never sat in the sunlight like other beggars, taking off his coat to pick lice and telling dirty jokes. Instead, he always sat on the half-millstone in the temple’s backyard, chin in hand, staring at the sky in deep thought. Niniu believed A-Chou must be thinking about something.

A-Chou could think, could others?

Once, Niniu secretly saw A-Chou holding a stick and drawing something in the sand. When he left, Niniu went over and compared it with the half-broken stone tablet. She recognized that A-Chou had written the words on the stone tablet. Remembering his fluid writing, Niniu felt very envious.

A-Chou could write, could others?

A-Chou could climb trees to fetch bird eggs, catch dragonflies with sticks, and catch small fish in the river. Whether it was bird eggs, dragonflies, or fish, they all ended up as fragrant food, though they were always burnt. But Niniu ate them happily.

During those days, A-Chou’s face was always bruised, and Niniu’s lips were always black.

In Niniu’s childhood, filled with begging, contempt, and hunger, the time she spent with A-Chou became her most beautiful memory.