Chapter 4: Beggars

In a thatched tea stall by the official road, a fat man sat with one leg propped up at a table. He wore a straight-cut red satin robe embroidered with a lion pattern, his hair bound with red silk, a blue silk leather belt set with jade at his waist, a sachet hanging from the belt, and square-toed shoes on his feet. In his hand he held a silk kerchief, wiping sweat from his plump face; a few drops of sweat also hung from the mid-length beard on his chin. Not only that, his face was powdered, and after being washed by sweat and then wiped, it had become a great smeared mask. Beside him, a pretty-faced page boy fanned him with a gilt folding fan. Though it was April and the weather not yet hot, looking at him like this truly made onlookers feel the heat.

Inside the tea stall also sat three or five local farmers. Seeing the fat man's splendid attire, they all wore expressions of awe, only daring to steal glances from the corners of their eyes. Outside the thatched shelter squatted over a dozen male and female beggars in tattered clothing, all disheveled and gaunt as sticks, their faces so black only the whites of their eyes showed. They stared blankly at the fat young master's groom feeding a horse with soybeans.

Further out under a large tree, Chen Xin and Liu Minyou sat leaning against its roots. Chen Xin watched the fat man with keen interest. The two had walked several li and, seeing trees here, had stopped to rest, and thus encountered this New Human.

The fat man, still oblivious, sat down and bellowed, "Shopkeeper, bring tea, several bowls of it, and a bowl for my horse too."

The shopkeeper hesitated. "A bowl I can manage, only... if the horse uses this bowl, how can people ever drink from it again?"

The fat man slammed the table. "I'll buy the bowl along with it, then. No more dithering. Do you take this young master for having no silver? Just this outfit on me is worth several of your tea stalls." So saying, he tugged at his satin robe. "See that? Satin. And this color — know what it's called? Eastern Dawn! If not for me, young master, coming here, you'd never see it in your lifetime."

The shopkeeper hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, young master is wealthy and noble, we lowly folk can't compare. With your word on it, young master, I'll feed your horse right away."

"Wait. What's this place called? Is Jizhou still far?"

"This place is called Haomen. Jizhou is ten li further. Young master, traveling by carriage, will surely reach it today."

"Mm. What's there to eat?"

"Well, only flatbread and steamed buns, I wonder if young master..." Under the radiant glory of the fat man's wealth, the shopkeeper felt his own wares were shabby.

"Then bring five flatbreads, let me try them first."

The shopkeeper hurriedly brought several bowls of tea and a plate of flatbread. The fat man picked one up, took a bite, spat it onto the ground with a pah, and cursed, "I said not to go to this Zunhua, but my old grand-uncle insisted I go. And now look, not a single comfortable meal in over a month. Once I'm back in the capital in a few days, I'll have to eat my fill to make up for it." He casually tossed the flatbread onto the table.

At this commotion, the dozen or so beggars outside immediately perked up, but awed by the fat man's presence, they dared not approach to beg. Those sitting all squatted up, staring longingly at the flatbread in the fat man's hand.

The fat man asked the page boy behind him, "Xiao Qi, want to try some?"

The page boy turned his head away and pouted. "Young master said we'd eat jade sashimi when we reached Jizhou today. Why make me eat this coarse rough bun? It'll just take up room in my belly for nothing."

The fat man chuckled and nodded. "Isn't that so. Young master nearly forgot. Good thing little Qi has a sharp memory." His plump hand took the chance to brush against Xiao Qi's hand as the boy fanned.

Liu Minyou, seeing this, whispered to Chen Xin, "Is that page boy male or female? Could this New Human also be a pederast?"

Chen Xin, still watching the fat man, replied, "Most likely male. See, there's an Adam's apple. If female, she'd be a beauty in the making, only fourteen or fifteen. This damn fat bastard is truly vile, raping young boys."

Chen Xin saw a sly glint flicker in the fat man's eyes as he looked from the flatbread to the beggars outside. He tugged Liu Minyou's sleeve. "This fellow's about to put on a good show for us."

"What good show?" Liu Minyou asked, puzzled. The words had barely left his mouth when the fat man gave Liu Minyou his answer.

"Beggars, where are you from? Where are you headed?" The fat man, a wicked grin on his face, asked the crowd of beggars outside.

An older beggar said eagerly, "Replying to the young master, we are all from Liaodong. We fled into the pass a few years ago and have had to live by begging. We're on our way to the capital."

The fat man shook his head and sighed. "From Liaodong, how pitiful. Your homes all taken by the Tatars. You've met me, young master, in a kind mood. Do you want to eat flatbread?"

The crowd of beggars immediately kowtowed to the fat man in a chaotic jumble, shouting from their mouths, "We want to eat, we want to eat!"

"May the young master live a hundred years!" "May your line hold dukedoms for ten thousand generations!"...

The fat man chuckled. "Wanting to eat is fine, but you can't eat for nothing. Give me, young master, a bit of amusement."

The beggars, presumably starved to desperation, nodded hastily.

The fat man counted heads and laughed. "Fourteen beggars, and I have five flatbreads here. I'll throw one at a time. Whoever grabs it gets to eat it. Each flatbread can only be eaten by one person. Whoever's eaten, get the hell aside and can't grab again. After it's eaten, I'll throw the next one, until they're all thrown." He paused, then added, "If the grabbing is entertaining to watch, and young master's mood is good, I'll buy a few more flatbreads. If the grabbing isn't entertaining, I'll feed these few flatbreads to the horse rather than give them to you lot."

As soon as Liu Minyou heard this, a surge of anger rose within him and he stood up. Beside him, Chen Xin grabbed him and pulled him back, urging, "Don't interfere. If a fuss breaks out and the fat man feeds the flatbread to the horse, not a single beggar gets any, and then they'll have to settle accounts with us."

Liu Minyou said angrily to Chen Xin, "How can one trample on others' dignity like this? Though they are beggars, they are still people, not livestock raised in his household."

Chen Xin, all smiles, pulled Liu Minyou back down to sit. "That's why I said earlier that human life is cheaper than grass. Calm down. Is now the time to play hero? Do you have money to buy flatbread for these people?"

Liu Minyou's face flushed red, but in the end he did not rise again. He watched the fat man with a face full of fury. Now this New Human was no longer a novelty in his eyes, but utterly detestable.

Chen Xin glanced twice at Liu Minyou and said to him, "This demonic fat man has a wicked heart. He knows these beggars are traveling together, so he makes them get one and eat one, preventing them from sharing the flatbread after getting it. Each time the strongest is eliminated, the others still have hope, so they'll fight even harder later."

Liu Minyou glared fiercely at the fat man. "Rich but unkind, truly hateful. No wonder so many people rise in revolt."

Chen Xin added, "Actually, the demonic fat man still hasn't calculated it well. He should pair them up, divided by physical strength, one flatbread per pair, evenly matched. That way the fighting would be fiercer. Then buy a few more flatbreads and have a championship bout."

"You... is your mind even darker than that fat man's?"

"Don't say that. This fat man is clearly either rich or noble. If I offered him this idea, maybe I could tag along for a meal. It's an opportunity."

Liu Minyou pointed a finger at Chen Xin, exasperated. "Do you have any sense of good and evil? If you want to go, go. I'd rather..."

Chen Xin quickly cut him off. "Joking, joking. After years of cultivation by the Party and the nation, how could I do such a thing? Look quick, the performance is starting."

Liu Minyou glared hard at Chen Xin several times before turning his head to look at the scene over there.

The fat man, heedless of his sweat-drenched back, enthusiastically drew a circle on the ground with his foot. The bunch of beggars looked at each other, still hesitating, but had already split into several groups. Chen Xin guessed this group of beggars had also temporarily banded together; the moment interests were at stake, they split apart.

The fourteen beggars divided into three groups. The largest group had four men and two women; the four male beggars all seemed somewhat stronger than the others, and the leader had a knife scar on his face. The second group was four male beggars, not strongly built. The last group was four children in their teens, three boys and one girl, all skin and bones. One of them was still grinning foolishly with his mouth open; just looking at his expression, you would never know he lived in hardship.

"Get the flatbread, get out of the circle, and you can eat it," the fat man finally completed the arduous task of drawing the large circle and loudly announced.

The crowd of male beggars threw down their dog-beating sticks and walked in one after another. The groups had already separated, warily guarding against each other. Scarface looked at the other two groups of beggars and said fiercely, "Know your place!"

Those few beggars all showed fearful expressions; only that little beggar still grinned foolishly with his mouth open. The farmers and the groom in the tea stall all came out to stand outside the circle and watch, faces full of excitement. Only the tea stall owner kept muttering, "Just don't fight your way into the stall."

"Flatbread coming!"

The flatbread, missing one bite, landed with a smack in the center of the circle. The beggars' eyes blazed, and no longer caring to fear Scarface, they swarmed forward. One beggar from Scarface's group pounced, pinning the flatbread under his body. The other two groups stretched out their hands to grab. A cluster of heads jammed together, bumping and shoving. One little beggar even sat on that man's back. The man on the ground, let alone getting out of the circle, couldn't even stand up. In the blink of an eye he was trampled over a dozen times. The others pulled hard at his hands, trying to drag the flatbread out from under him.

"Good, good," the fat man said, watching the dust rise in the arena, gleefully dancing with joy. The few spectators beside him also cheered repeatedly. Only the page boy curled his lip, seeming not very interested.

The scene in the arena changed again. Scarface roared, "Looking for death?!" He charged to the pile of people, pulled up the beggars from the other two groups, and struck them head and face. Once he started hitting, the beggars from the other two groups, who usually feared him, now seeing him come and taking blows, hurriedly dodged away.

Scarface, seeing this, smiled smugly, but did not take the flatbread. He pulled up the beggar on the ground and said, "Go out and eat."

Chen Xin whispered to Liu Minyou, "This scarface isn't taking the flatbread himself, staying inside. He means to snatch all five flatbreads."

Liu Minyou nodded.

Just like that, Scarface snatched two more flatbreads in succession. The fat man, feeling it wasn't exciting enough, said to the other two groups, "There are only two flatbreads left."

Three people from Scarface's group had already finished gnawing their flatbread. Only Scarface himself was still inside the circle. The beggars from the other two groups watched others eat flatbread, saliva gushing from their mouths, but fire seemed to blaze from their eyes. The face of the foolishly grinning youth also began to twitch.

"Flatbread coming!"

The fourth flatbread flew into the center of the circle. Scarface kicked aside a beggar who pounced at him and grabbed the flatbread. The two little beggars in the smallest group exchanged a glance. The slightly older one suddenly pointed behind Scarface and shouted, "A dog is coming!!!"

Beggars were often bullied by dogs daily and constantly warned each other. Scarface reflexively turned around immediately. Seeing no dog, he knew something was wrong. Just as he turned his head back, the two little beggars pounced, one on each side, grabbing his hands and biting. Scarface, caught off guard, had both arms pinned and screamed from the bites. His three companions outside the circle fretted helplessly.

"Thump." Scarface headbutted the little beggar biting him square in the face. The little beggar, nose streaming blood, fell backward. Scarface freed his right hand, threw the flatbread to the ground, pinned the other little beggar down, and swung his fist wildly, about to beat the little beggar unconscious. Suddenly he heard a rush of wind by his ear. Turning his head to look, a stick rapidly expanded before his eyes.

"Bang!" It was that foolishly grinning youth. He had been standing aside the whole time without moving. Now, seizing the moment, he had grabbed a stick from outside the circle, swung it in a full, fierce arc, and struck Scarface hard on the forehead. The force was brutal. Scarface collapsed without a grunt, blood streaming from his head, motionless.

The fat boy's bookboy let out a sharp "Ah!" of fright. The young beggar paid no heed, swinging several more blows at Daoba. Only when he saw Daoba stop moving did he snatch up the griddlecake. Before the other group could rush him, he scrambled and crawled out of the circle. The moment he was clear, he frantically stuffed the griddlecake into his mouth, his cheeks bulging into a huge lump. The little beggar girl from his gang cheered wildly.

The crowd of onlookers saw Daoba bleeding on the ground and feared being caught up in trouble. The three farmers, without a word, hurriedly slipped away. The shopkeeper stood dumbstruck — others could run, but he could not. For a moment he lost his wits, muttering under his breath, "What am I to do now? What am I to do now?"

The fat boy was also alarmed, never expecting the young beggar to be so vicious. He tossed aside the remaining griddlecake and made to climb onto the carriage and flee.