Chapter 168: The Hatefulness of Human Nature

"Go to the Kang mansion and ask; you're turning around here giving me a headache." The Yong Bo Marquis set down his book, then said a sentence.

"It's too late; go tomorrow."

Although Zhang Cunwen is not honest and doesn't listen, after all he crawled out of her own belly; how could she not feel heartache?

Over at the Jia mansion...

"Wuu wuu wuu~ Will Chuan'er be hurt?"

"I said not to let him go to any academy, but you wouldn't listen, you made him go; now my Chuan'er must be suffering, my poor child."

Those tears fell in pairs, as if they were free, pear blossoms with rain, but that's all.

Old Master Jia was heartbroken, holding and comforting him for a while...

But...

As he kept comforting, the feeling just wasn't right.

(Not suitable for children, please imagine on your own.)

"Mother, this place is quite lively." Ning Hanmo looked outside the carriage, individuals doing business, shouting voices, vendors, an endless stream.

Jiang Yun Chu didn't speak, just rubbed her temples; she'd rested a bit late these two days, and the whole person lacked energy.

Looking at the clothes, although they had patches, life was still manageable; previously Jiang Yun Chu had taken them to the village, seeing those working hands, he had a bottom line in his heart.

But...

As the carriage went farther and farther, it became more and more remote, one yellow-skinned, thin child after another, one expressionless adult after another.

"Is this the slum?" Ning Hanmo asked.

Jiang Yun Chu shook her head, "Not yet."

The people here still have vitality, they can barely survive.

"It's like this, and it's still not enough?" Ning Hanmo looked at everything in disbelief, the carriage's curtain never lowered.

If this doesn't count, what would?

As it turns out, there really are people this bitter.

The carriage went on for another quarter hour, the coachman softly said outside, "Master, we can't get in."

"Understood." Jiang Yun Chu, wearing coarse cloth clothes, opened the carriage door.

Under the carriage, Zi Su had already reached out, waiting.

Jiang Yun Chu placed her hand on Zi Su's hand, then stepped onto the carriage stool, stepping down step by step.

This time she didn't bring Yue Yue; the little girl is still young, and she hopes Yue Yue's heart will be filled with beauty, enjoying more childhood time.

The road ahead was very narrow, very narrow, and blocked by tree trunks, with no one maintaining it.

"Everyone get off." Jiang Yun Chu looked at the environment; the carriage couldn't possibly go in.

One child after another looked at the broken road and the dilapidated houses on both sides; some were just stone walls piled up, covered with a broken plank; whenever wind or rain came, nothing could withstand it.

"Can... people live here?" Kang Wu looked at the surroundings, then couldn't help asking.

But his question got no answer.

Having entered the true slum, the people there saw them, without enthusiasm inquiring, without asking, each gaze filled with fear.

Several children huddled together, watching them warily.

"Hello, I mean no harm." Ning Hanmo crouched, looking at the older child.

The child stretched out his arms, blocking the children behind him, saying, "They're still small, can't do anything; if you want to take someone for labor, take me."

The child spoke directly, his eyes' numbness like a stagnant pool.

It seemed as if she had long known her own fate.

"Why say that? I don't need you to work." At that moment, Kang Zhi Chun walked over from behind.

She was a young lass, not old, with a smile on her face, easy to feel close to.

Seeing Kang Zhi Chun, the girl who had just spoken, relaxed a bit.

"But those who come to our place are the ones who abduct us for labor; all the children taken away never come back alive." The girl said this while eyeing Kang Zhi Chun curiously.

Not a single one came back alive...

Abducted...

One unfamiliar word after another exploded in the children's hearts!

As it turns out, behind their bright and splendid world, is this such cruelty and filth?

Zhang Cunwen clenched his fists, but thinking of his ability, his strength, besides anger he could do nothing, could do nothing.

For a moment, he felt lost and helpless, swirling in his heart.

Jiang Yun Chu looked at the children's appearances, each expression, she was satisfied.

In this era, they had not become numb and unfeeling people.

"Zi Su, give each of them a steamed bun." Jiang Yun Chu ordered.

Zi Su hurried to the carriage, took the steamed buns, then gave each child one; seeing their expressions, those few children relaxed a bit.

"Are you fairies?" a very young child asked, looking at them, especially his eyes fixed on Jiang Yun Chu.

She is so beautiful, so pretty, she smiled, so warm.

Jiang Yun Chu rubbed the child's hair; the child's hair was dry and yellow, possibly never washed, feeling sticky, but Jiang Yun Chu didn't disdain it; this is their condition, not their fault, but the era's fault, the administrators' fault.

They're just children; what can they change?

"We're not fairies." Jiang Yun Chu crouched, her face with a warm smile merging with the heavenly sunlight; for a moment, the same dazzle, the same heart-warming.

"You are a fairy."

The child hugged the steamed bun as if it were a precious treasure, both hands clasped, his hands all black, yet he didn't mind, as if he couldn't see, his eyes full of that steamed bun.

Jiang Yun Chu smiled, but didn't answer.

Many people watched her hand out steamed buns, and they gathered in circles around; there were many guards by the carriage, and on Jiang Yun Chu's side there were also many people keeping watch.

She had anticipated this situation.

She wanted the children to understand the life of the lower classes, but she did not yet want them to understand the hearts of the lower classes.

"Under the emperor's feet, the vast Da Ning, the prosperous Jingdu." These three phrases summed up Da Ning, summed up Jingdu.

"Impoverished and ragged, clothing insufficient to cover the body, food insufficient to fill the stomach." These same three words described the present slum.

The first sentence was spoken by Ning Hanmo.

The second sentence was spoken by Ning Qiancheng.

Other children are young, but they also know these matters; it is not their status to discuss them.

The contrast of these six words is really ridiculous.

"Miss, give me some, there are still small children at home, hungry." A woman with a leg ailment limped over, her face dark, her eyes full of pleading.

Kang Zhiqiu handed over a steamed bun; the woman immediately clutched it to her bosom, then slipped away from the crowd to prevent others from snatching it.

They had brought two baskets of steamed buns, but they kept handing them out.

The children discovered that the steamed buns were gone, yet the crowd had not diminished; some familiar faces they had already seen before came again—how hateful human nature is!