Troublesome child (lower)

  In the cramped cells of the old prison in Liewu Town, dozens of half-grown children sat or lay listlessly. The damp straw mats emitted a chill, and the long corridors blocked out any light from the doors and windows. In this gloomy and cold environment, everyone was struggling to suppress their uncontrollable fear.

  "Ah!" A sudden, terrified shriek sent the entire cell block into a stir. The adjacent cells all looked in the direction of the sound, trying to figure out what had happened. "Rats, there are rats."

  "Haha, haha," the shouting on this side had not stopped yet, and someone on that side started laughing. "Ke Da Tou, I didn't expect you to be so stupid, and still afraid of mice? Where did your courage go when we were fighting just now? Was it taken away by a little mouse?"

  He was called Ke Da Tou, Ke Liang this year thirteen years old, is the nephew of Ke Ping, a judicial officer. When he heard someone mocking him for being timid, he didn't care about being afraid of mice and rushed to the railing to retort: "Du Sha Zi, what did you say? Afraid of mice? Of course, you dirty country kids are not afraid of mice."

  "Are we country kids dirty?" Ke Liang's words caused considerable dissatisfaction. "You city masters' young masters are afraid of dirt, but aren't you also locked in this dirty cell with us dirty kids now?"

  "Cao Shi-yi, how dare you speak up? It's all because of your people that this trouble started." As the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together", on one side there are people who sympathize with Du Hua, whom Ke Liang called an idiot, and on the other side there are people who jump out to defend Ke Liang. "We're suffering because of you, we can't even eat, and we're locked up in this dark place, it's all your fault."

  "What chaos did I cause?" Cao Qing sneered. "If it weren't for you young masters bullying honest people, would we have disregarded military discipline and counterattacked? In the end, it's still you young masters who made the first move, and when you couldn't win, you called others to come and help, like a pack of mad dogs."

  "What a mad dog, who is the mad dog, you stinky little brats are the real mad dogs!" The voice grew increasingly fierce. "This loss can't be written off just like that today, you wait and see, when I get my half-year vacation, I'll definitely bring people to your doorstep to settle the score with you, let's see if you dare to bark wildly again."

  "You don't have to wait until summer vacation." Several poor boys heard this and stood up. "Pack up now!"

  The cell became a battlefield, and the fight that didn't finish yesterday continued here. However, there were no sharp objects here either, and the most advantageous weapon was each other's teeth, plus the boy himself was weak, so although they fought with bruised noses and swollen faces, blood streaming from their eyes, nose, and mouth, the scene was still under control, so the prison guard who had been instructed by Zheng Kezang pretended not to see anything and didn't say a word to stop them.

  ??

  After a long time, the battered and exhausted children finally separated on their own, and then, without prior agreement, they divided into two groups based on their family status and occupied one corner of their respective cells. The environmental issue that had just caused the commotion was also ignored, and everyone was panting and rubbing their wounds.

  The Cold War-like confrontation continued, but a new problem emerged, and finally a boy shouted out: "I'm so hungry!"

  It's better not to mention it, but once mentioned, everyone's stomach started growling. Immediately, someone rushed out the door and shouted loudly: "Is anyone there? Send some food over! After today, I'll make sure my family thanks you in person."

  However, outside the door was still silent and motionless, but a few poor scholars started mocking each other in low voices.

  For the ridicule of the poor family's children, Hong Hui and others naturally couldn't refute it, they could only use spiritual victory to numb themselves: "I really want to eat the braised pork knuckle, crystal shrimp, white-cut chicken, and also, also the fragrant medicinal fish balls."

  One person finished speaking, and another followed with enthusiasm: "I really want to eat the fish porridge and huoguo cai made by my mother."

  ??”

  "It's still the Dongpo pork at home that tastes the best, fragrant and tender." As soon as he said this, the speaker couldn't help but choke back tears. "If only we could have some of the dishes from home, even a stir-fry from the camp would be good, at least I wouldn't be starving like now, thinking about how others outside might already be having dinner"

  ??”

  The crying gradually changed from one person to a cell, and then expanded to the entire prison. After all, the oldest child was only fourteen years old, and the youngest was only twelve years old. When had they ever suffered such hardships? For a time, it was desolate and miserable, and those who didn't know would really think that something terrible had happened.

  Loudly crying also requires energy, and the half-grown children who had just consumed too much energy from fighting couldn't hold on any longer. Crying and crying, they slowly fell asleep one after another. However, even in their sleep, many of them still smacked their lips, as if savoring the delicious food they had tasted before in their dreams.

  In the cell, there was no change in light, and it was unclear how much time had passed. These little prisoners gradually woke up from their sleep due to hunger. When they opened their eyes, they were still a bit dizzy. Once they realized their surroundings, many of them burst into tears again.

  "Don't cry, but the more you cry, the hungrier you'll get." Hong Hui leaned against the corner of the wall and beckoned to his companions who had woken up, of course, those who gathered around him were all nobles or rich young masters. "I'll tell a story, it's also good for distracting ourselves."

  Hong Hui could only recite "Journey to the West", and he couldn't even remember it very clearly, missing a sentence here and there. Yet, more and more people gathered around, ears perked up, to listen in, including those poor scholars who were also drawn in despite themselves.

  "What are you doing here? Go away, go away."

  Several disciples of the Jiangmen sect who were surrounding Hong Hui tried to drive away those from the Han family, but Hong Hui stretched out his hand to stop them: "Forget it, no need to drive them away. Didn't Bai Letian say something about being fellow drifters at the ends of the earth? Everyone has fallen to this point, so let's just let them listen together. If they have something worth saying, we might as well listen."

  Not all the young people knew who Bai Letian was, nor did everyone know what it meant to be a Tong Si Tian Ya Luo person, but Hong Hui was on one hand from a good family and on the other hand was also one of the class leaders, so naturally everyone followed his lead, and thus the two groups of children who had previously been at odds finally sat together.

  Hong Hui's story wasn't that long, and after finishing it, the atmosphere became awkward. Just then, Ma Ying, who had been brought over by Hong Hui, cleared her throat: "Hong Class Monitor's story was great to listen to. I didn't understand what the monk and monkey were about, but when I was a kid on the fishing boat, I heard some stories about Mazu and Longwangye. Would everyone like to hear them?"

  "Class Monitor Ma also has stories, that's great."

  Hong Hui immediately expressed his attitude, and others also unanimously welcomed it. So the host changed to Ma Ying, and from then on, one person after another, one cell after another, everyone took turns speaking. The wealthy and noble young masters who knew stories told stories, while the poor young masters who didn't have stories told some interesting experiences of their own. The gloomy prison cells at this moment also became less terrifying.

  "Zeng Wu, why are you still sleeping? Get up and listen to the story." Everyone was chatting away when suddenly a voice came from the far left cell. It seemed that one of the young prisoners had overslept and hadn't woken up yet. The others were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't notice at first, but then the voice suddenly became shrill. "Zeng Wu, your head is burning hot! Something's wrong, Zeng Wu has a fever!"

  "What?" Everyone was stunned, and they all crowded to the front of the railing, looking up with their heads raised. The people in the cell on the left also gathered around, and soon voices shouting at the top of their lungs rang out. "Prison head, come quickly! Zeng Wushi is ill!" But the shouts were like stones sinking into the ocean, and no one came out to respond. "Save him! Is anyone there? Come quickly to save him!"

  All the children in the cell on the left joined in the shouting, Ma Ying and Hong Hui exchanged a glance, nodded together, and also shouted out loud. Under their lead, the entire prison was filled with the voices of the children.

  After shouting for a while, still no movement was seen. An Long, one of the nine class leaders, suddenly shouted loudly: "Stop, everyone stop."

  Everyone looked at him in confusion, their voices gradually dying down. At this time, An Long suddenly roared: "Everyone's voice is too loud, it may not be clear outside, and they might think we're causing trouble. Now listen to me, one, two, three, rescue people, one, two, three, Zeng Wushi is ill."

  At first, no one followed, but soon Lin Kang, Yang Long, Li Shun and others, all class leaders, learned from each other, and the voices became uniform: "Save people, Zeng Wushen is ill, save people, Zeng Wu has a fever!"

  But still no one came, and the children were so discouraged that they couldn't help it. At this time, Wang Yi shouted loudly: "We can't stop, Zeng Wu is relying on us."

  Under his encouragement, a group of people gritted their teeth, ignoring their empty stomachs, and shouted in unison: "Where is the rescuer? Where is the savior?"

  ??”

  "What's going on?" The voice was like thunder, not the jailer, but the night patrol guard. "Who's yelling and who's sick? If it's found out to be fake, beware of being locked in the black room again tomorrow." The scolding voice stopped abruptly. "Call the military doctor, a child has a fever."

  ??”

  With a "clang", the large door of the prison cell was pushed open, startling the young boys who had just fallen asleep after a half-night of noise. They slowly opened their eyes to see Vice Officer He walking in with a stern face: "Well, well, well, you were fighting again yesterday, don't you want to get out of here? You're really bold."

  Hong Hui squeezed to the railing and rushed to He Daoren, saluting: "Master He, we know we were wrong, whether to punish or blame is not a problem, but I don't know what happened to Zeng Wu."

  "If you hadn't fought again, how would he have gotten hurt and had a fever?" Coach He said coldly. "Fortunately, we were able to rescue him in time, and he didn't suffer any serious damage, but he still needs to rest for several more days."

  "Amitabha Buddha!"

  "May Mazu protect us!"

  "Zhen Wu Xian Ling!"

  All sorts of surprised voices rose one after another, and under this tone, Hong Hui cupped his hands: "So we can also rest assured, no need to worry about the teacher, we are willing to accept new punishment."

  "It's fine now," said He Daquan, nodding. "I just reported to the young master, and he said that since you all were able to work together to rescue your fellow disciple, he will waive your punishment. Alright, everyone can come out now, first go wash up, then go have breakfast."

  "Can we go out?" All the children were extremely surprised.

  "Yes." He Xue's face, which had been gloomy for a long time, finally broke into a smile. "What are you still standing there for, don't you want to go?"

  Lin Kang's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, and he involuntarily shouted: "Long live the great young master! May you live for thousands of years!"

  Ma Ying and others were also unwilling to fall behind, and for a time, the sound of "thousand years" was endless.

  Hei Jiao Xi shook his head with a bitter smile: "Alright, alright, you bunch of monkeys, get out, there's still training later"

  ??”

  Coming out of the prison cell, Hong Hui stretched out his hand to stop Ma Ying and others: "Ma Squad Leader, An Squad Leader, and you several, having received such a big lesson, do you still want to come back to this prison cell again?"

  "Of course I don't want to, do you guys still want to?"

  "It's not natural." Hong Hui glanced at Lin Kang, Yang Long, Wang Yi and others, shaking his head. "So I hope everyone can put aside their past grievances."

  Ma Ying hadn't replied yet, but An Long hastily responded: "What's this 'let bygones be bygones' we don't understand, but as long as you stop bullying people, we'll never oppose you!"

  "It's settled in one word!"

  "It's settled in one word!"