"I promise they can all work and are very obedient. You all say that a man should keep his word. Do you want to go back on your word if you promise?" The boy stood beside him holding a candle and looked at Zhao Qi with a little nervous look, afraid that he would regret it.

"Okay, you won. I have hired all your younger brothers and sisters. Get me some food and drink!"

Zhao Qi decided to face the reality, and at the same time he was a little glad that he was not short of money at the moment, otherwise these children under ten years old would have to open a kindergarten to take care of food, drink, defecation and urination.

The so-called meal is just a few dried coarse grain cakes, which are cold and hard, and then a scoop of cold water. Anyway, I can't see clearly at night, and Zhao Qi can't care whether it is clean or not, so he ate the cakes to fill his hunger by catching the cold water.

"They are really obedient. If you are lazy or do not do well, you can beat them, but you can't beat them too hard..." The boy sat opposite and looked at Zhao Qi who was eating voraciously.

"Why am I hitting them? It's so small..." Zhao Qi was so amused and cried. After eating two cakes in one breath, he felt much better after his hungry stomach. He raised his head to look at the boy, "Are these all the orphans you and Qian Wuliang got back from the dock?"

"Well, I also picked it up by Brother Wuliang. If it weren't for him, I would have starved to death!" The young man nodded.

"I didn't expect Qian Wuliang to be a caring charity person. Do you usually make a living by stealing?" Zhao Qi shrugged and asked.

The boy was a little excited and seemed to want to refute it, but he quickly calmed down and said: "We don't steal things often. We usually beg near the harbor. Most of the time we pick up some seashells and fish and shrimp discarded by fishermen on the beach to fill our stomachs. If we are so hungry, we will steal... but we never steal very expensive things..."

"My sister is right. Those who steal expensive things will not only be beaten, but will also be jailed if they are caught. So Brother Wuliang is not allowed to steal expensive things!" The child who just opened the door was helping him.

"Have you stole something?" A smile appeared on Zhao Qi's face.

"I... I haven't stole it, I'm afraid of being beaten!" The boy was ashamed, and then said with a little excitement: "Did you pick it up by Brother Wuliang? You are the biggest? We will listen to you in the future. I can help you protect yourself from the wind when you steal things. My eyes are so good..."

Zhao Qi:...

"Xiaojiu, go to bed. Get up early tomorrow. Everyone is not allowed to sleep in a lazy way!" The boy drove away the talking child.

"We don't care about our parents. We also bought food for our brother Wuliang to buy food. But so many of us have to eat and drink. Sometimes we have to go hungry if we don't steal anything. I've been starving to death in the past few years. We didn't want to steal things, but we just had to..." The boy continued to explain.

"Okay, I understand. Since I have promised to hire you, I will not lie to you. You will follow me back tomorrow morning. The older ones will go to the construction site to help, and the younger ones will live in my house first. There are two girls of the same age as you in my house, and we will take care of each other. By the way, where did Qian Wuliang go? I won't come back to arrest me again at night, right?" Zhao Qi had enough food and drink to prepare to go to bed, and suddenly remembered a very serious problem.

"Brother Wuliang went out and asked me to see you hungry for three days. At night, I was a little worried when I heard the wolf screaming, so I went to see you to avoid being eaten by the wolf!"

Zhao Qi's heart was put on his belly button. He yawned and stood up and walked to a pile of straw and lay down. The boy also blew out the candles and clothes and lay beside him. After turning over and arched his nest, Zhao Qi closed his eyes.

"Do you know that Yanggong Town was in chaos today after you disappeared?" The young man's voice came from the darkness.

"Scrap? Why are you messing around? Are there many people looking for me?" Zhao Qi opened his eyes and asked in surprise.

"Today, Duke Chong came to Yanggong Town and then caught the second young master of the Lu family. He heard that he used you as bait to trick a woman named A Lian out of the way, and almost got married. I heard that when the official arrived, the second young master of the Lu family took off A Lian's clothes... and took off all..."

The boy's voice was very small, but Zhao Qi jumped up like an electric shock.

"What you said is true?" Zhao Qi's cheeks looked a little twisted and ferocious in the darkness.

"These are what I heard in the harbor in the afternoon. Many people are saying, by the way, I heard that A Lian lives in your house, and his husband sold her to the second master of the Lu family for 500 guan. You take over and prevent the second master from marrying him. Do you like her..."

"How is A Lian's situation now? Have you heard of it?" Zhao Qi ignored the gossip topics that curious people spread rumors, but was very anxious to ask A Lian's situation.

"I heard that I have been sent home!" the young man replied in a low voice.

Although Zhao Qi breathed a sigh of relief, he became even more nervous.

He didn't find out the origin and news of the person who kidnapped him from Qian Wuliang. He had always been very strange. He tried his best to kidnap himself, but he was only hungry for three days. This looked like a prank. Now he fully understood that Young Master Lu was actually beating A Lian's attention and wanted to trick A Lian into raw rice and cook it.

As long as this news comes, Zhao Qi can basically imagine the scene where the second young master uses his life and death to coerce A Lian, and in order to protect himself, A Lian will definitely agree...

Fortunately, Wu Qian suddenly visited Yanggong Town. Maybe he learned about the situation when he was inspecting Xiaolongwan Harbor and arranged for someone to rescue A Lian.

As for the more detailed details, Zhao Qi can no longer carefully consider it.

Although A Lian has been rescued, Zhao Qi is very worried that if this woman connects her disappearance with her, she will be unable to think about her death again.

"I'm going back now!" Zhao Qi became more and more worried as he thought about it, and he walked out with his hands.

"It's too late now. There are still seven or eight miles to the harbor here, and there are no roads. There are not only wolves but also snakes at night..." The girl also got up and reminded nervously.

"No, I have to go back tonight. I'm afraid something happens at home!" Zhao Qi stepped over a lot of things along the way, and finally felt the door of the room creaking and opened. Under the faint light of stars and moonlight, his eyes suddenly became much wider.

"I'll leave first, but don't worry, I'll keep my word and I'll arrange someone to pick you up tomorrow!" Zhao Qi turned around and reminded the girl who followed her.

"You can't walk alone, it's dangerous!"

"I know, but I have to rush back. Can you find a torch for me?" Zhao Qi shook his head.

"Since you insist on leaving, this is the case. I will shout all my younger brothers and sisters and send you back together. I won't feel at ease leaving them behind!" The girl gritted her teeth and made a decision.

Zhao Qi imagined a group of children who were only thirteen or fourteen years old and five or six years old. He hesitated and shook his head and said, "They are too young..."

"Don't worry, they are all familiar with this road than you, and they are guaranteed to walk faster than you!" The girl interrupted Zhao Qi.

"Okay, as long as you arrive at the harbor, it will be safe. Hire a car back to Maowan Village then!" Zhao thought for a while and agreed.

Soon, with the girl's greeting, all the more than ten children who had already slept were woken up. After a while, everyone put on their clothes and gathered outside the straw shed. Many children even took out the dishes and chopsticks they had for dinner and begging.

Zhao Qi was so amused that he asked these children to throw away everything, but after talking for a long time, only a few older children obediently lost it. Most of the children held the broken bowl tightly and refused to let go. Zhao Qi could only accept it helplessly. The girl and a few older children found wooden sticks, cloth strips and some turpentine oil that caused fire on weekdays. After binding them, they made more than ten torches.

Everything was about to stop. The girl looked back at the dilapidated straw shed with a little reluctance, then lit three torches, and handed one to Zhao Qi, saying, "I'll open the way ahead, you walk in the middle, Xiaojiu walks in the end, the big one takes care of the small ones, everyone can't leave alone, let's go!"

Soon, together with Zhao Qi, a total of sixteen children of all sizes were lined up in a long line under the illumination of three torches, heading towards Yanggong Town.

Amid the cold night and the sound of the tides surging, a group of people gradually drifted away, and sometimes there were laughter and striking sounds.

Among this group of people, although Zhao Qi looks the tallest, he is actually the most embarrassing.

After living for more than 30 years, this was the first time he was walking on a night road with torches in the wilderness. This feeling was both mysterious and terrifying. There were often sounds of storms in the grass and reefs on the roadside, and sometimes there were long things swimming over his feet. The terrifying feeling was creepy.

The result was just as the girl said, Zhao Qi was really not as fast as some children aged six or seven. Moreover, all kinds of horrible ghosts were almost all sent by Zhao Qi, causing a group of ragged children in various clothes to laugh all the way. Many of them who were still drowsy and dozing off were awakened by laughing.

While walking and stopping, the torches were replaced one after another. After walking for about an hour, the harbor in front became brighter and brighter, and you could see the large ships and buildings docked from the dock.

Twenty minutes later, a group of people finally set foot on the harbor's dock. At this time, the long harbor was reflected by the lights of various sea boats, the tiles on the docks and the restaurants and brothels, like a crescent moon illuminating this coastline very brightly. There were still many people coming and going on the docks at this time, and there were even people carrying goods overnight. The sounds of orchestras and singing and cheering in the harbors around the restaurants were heard one after another, and it sounded extremely lively.
Chapter completed!