The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 553 The Beggar (Part 10)

After hearing Wang Gensheng's story, Chen Huihong sighed with deep feeling, "Old Wang was a pitiful man too."

Luo Jun glanced at Chen Huihong, his eyes clearly asking why she was suddenly reminiscing about this, but he didn't say anything. He then looked at Qin Huai and said, "Now that you've finished your nonsense, shouldn't you be looking at An Youyou's memories?"

Luo Jun was not interested in Wang Gensheng's memories.

Luo Jun would rather hear "Reborn as an Accountant in the 60s" than "Reborn as a Beggar in the 30s".

"By the way, you haven't told me what the new main quest is yet," Luo Jun asked again.

This question gets straight to the point.

Qin Huai gave a helpless look and said, "There are no new main quests."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with surprise.

"What do you mean there's no main quest?" Shi Dadan asked anxiously. "How could there be no main quest?"

"I don't know either." Qin Huai indicated that he was just an ordinary male protagonist in a system novel, not a system. He couldn't control the tasks assigned by the system. "Yesterday's main quest was completed too suddenly. My focus was entirely on how I managed to make the Family Reunion Dumplings into an A+ grade. It wasn't until I got back that I realized the game system hadn't assigned me any new main quests."

"At first I thought it was because I completed too many tasks yesterday, and the game system was delaying the task issuance. I thought it would be fine today."

"I waited all day at the Cloud Cafeteria today, and I even called An Youyou over to my side. I deliberately chatted with her, asking her all sorts of questions, and taught her how to mix dumpling filling for three hours."

"An Youyou has told us how she plans to spend this month's and next month's salaries, what she wants to buy when she goes home for the New Year, and how much money she plans to give her grandmother as a red envelope, but she still hasn't figured out the main quest."

"I'm a bit confused about what's going on. Is it because I didn't meet the conditions to trigger the main quest, or is there a bug in the game system that prevented the main quest from popping up?"

Qin Huai prefers the former. Although the game system looks very crude and unfinished, with no customer service, no complaint function, and no feedback, there have been no obvious bugs so far.

Previously, Qin Huai would have a main quest as soon as he activated the game system. As long as he completed the previous one, the next main quest would pop up immediately. He had gotten used to the main quests being issued automatically, unlike side quests which required a trigger.

Qin Huai is not used to the fact that the main quest has been interrupted.

What kind of protagonist is a system novel if he can't even figure out the main quest? Qin Huai said that he hasn't inherited Luo Jun's legacy and reached the pinnacle of life yet, and he doesn't want to be knocked off the protagonist's throne so soon.

Qin Huai's words silenced everyone. Even Qin Huai, the male protagonist of a system novel, couldn't understand why the game system wasn't issuing main quests anymore, so the spirits present were even more confused.

Gong Liang boldly speculated: "Is the mission delayed and will arrive in a few days?"

Shi Dadan, lost in his own thoughts, muttered to himself, "How can there be no main quest? How could this happen?"

Chen Huihong then took out her phone and started searching: What is the usual situation in novels where the male protagonist of a system novel has no main quest, and how will the author develop the plot next?
Luo Jun thought these people were making a fuss over nothing. So what if there was no mission? Could it be more serious than him being about to die?

Luo Jun calmly took a sip of tea and asked, "Do you want to see the dream?"

"Don't leave my house, I want to watch TV."

"Take a look," Qin Huai said hurriedly, opening the game panel and finding [An Youyou's Dream].

Click Yes.

[Dream loading—]
Before entering the dream, Qin Huai heard Chen Huihong ask, "Go brew a pot of tea. What would you like to drink?"

Qin Huai wanted to say "I want to drink black tea," but before he could finish the word, he entered a dream.

When Qin Huai entered the dream this time, An Youyou was arguing with someone.

Yes, they argued.

An Youyou was clearly dressed as if she had just gotten off work; she was wearing tattered clothes, her face was still covered in mud, but her hands were clean, and her hair was still messy. Judging from the weather, it was summer, as it was still bright near dusk.

An Youyou was still the same big kid she always was, not taller at all. She used some kind of bodyguard-like physique she'd picked up somewhere, standing in the courtyard and unleashing a torrent of abuse at the woman opposite her.

"I'm a stinking beggar, you little bastard, I think you're the real ****, you ***, you ****, ****!"

A single sentence of insults can barely be broadcast.

"****!"

"So what if I beg? Every penny I earn from begging is earned by kowtowing one by one. Unlike you, others do the work and then try to renege on their debts. You dare to renege and see what happens? Do you think my fists, the size of sandbags, are just for show? Do you know how your grandpa built his reputation and territory in the city? Do you know how many underlings I have? Do you know what my thirteenth brother does?"

"You think I'm afraid of you? You don't even have a gun, why would I be afraid of you?"

"I'm telling you, if you know what's good for you, pay up right now and get the hell out of here! You son of a bitch, pay up, you hear me?!"

Under An Youyou's magical attacks and physical threats, the woman, who originally had a fierce look, was burly and looked quite well-dressed and probably wealthy, reluctantly counted out a few copper coins, threw them on the ground, and stormed off with her clothes in her arms.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to say something.

"You filthy beggars, you still want money with your clothes washed like this? Let's see if you can get any work in the future. Orphans and widows, how dare you be so arrogant? You deserve to starve to death, I'll wait for you to starve to death!"

"Go to hell! I'll say it again, I'm a beggar, not a laundry worker. I have a legitimate job. And with me begging, Aunt Chen's family won't starve!"

"Also, don't think I didn't know you just threw in three copper coins too few! Give me those three copper coins!"

An Youyou chased after Qin Huai out of the courtyard to collect the debt. Qin Huai noticed that several families seemed to have moved into the bluestone brick house, which originally housed a beggar on the first floor and a farmer's family on the second floor. While An Youyou and the woman were arguing one-on-one, a child was watching the commotion by the window of the room that originally belonged to Xiao Jiu and the others.

The once clean and tidy yard is now cluttered with many items, and the ground is no longer as clean as it used to be.

It seems that a long time has passed since An Youyou last pointed to dumplings as buns, and many things have happened in that time.

An Youyou chased after him out of the courtyard but didn't get very far. Qin Huairen just stood there in the courtyard without moving, and An Youyou returned without even being hit by an invisible wall.

When An Youyou returned, she was holding three copper coins in her hand. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she shouted, "Sister Chen, I got your money back!"

Aunt Chen then slowly walked out of the house.

She walked out slowly, not out of deliberate arrogance or fear, but because she was too weak to walk much. Qin Huai could hardly believe what he was seeing. If it weren't for the fact that the bluestone brick house looked almost the same as before, without having aged too much, Qin Huai would have suspected that this memory was separated from the previous one by decades.

Qin Huai saw Chen Sao in both An Youyou's and Luo Jun's memories, with Luo Jun's memory clearly showing Chen Sao from the earliest period. At that time, Chen Shun was just a chubby boy who couldn't speak clearly and could only call Jiang Weiming "Mingming".

At that time, Chen Sao could barely be described as young. Although she was thin, she was strong and robust, a very typical rural woman.

In An Youyou's earlier memories, Aunt Chen was no longer young, but much fatter. The fact that she could live in a brick house on the outskirts of Shanghai and send Chen Shun to school showed that the Chen family was relatively wealthy and had no worries about food or drink. At that time, Aunt Chen had a normal figure, considered plump by that standard, with a rosy complexion and good health.

Now, Mrs. Chen...

Qin Huai couldn't help but gasp in shock.

It's beyond simply being skin and bones; his entire face looked sickly, devoid of any energy or spirit. He resembled a standing skeleton, skin tightly wrapped around bones, with not an ounce of flesh visible. His cheeks were deeply sunken, making his eyes appear exceptionally large. The veins in his neck were clearly visible, making him look like a bobblehead.

Very obvious severe malnutrition.

He had aged terribly, and even his hair had turned completely white.

Aunt Chen forced a smile at An Youyou: "Thank you, sir."

An Youyou waved her hand: "It's nothing. Chen Shun told me to take care of you before he left. Sister Chen, Thirteen is making porridge tonight. I'll have him send you two bowls so you can drink more. If necessary, when Chen Shun comes back, I'll have him pay me back the porridge with interest."

"You're too thin. I feel like you don't eat at all. Ever since you got sick in the winter, you haven't eaten much. If you keep going like this, you'll starve to death."

"The beggars who starve to death on the street in winter are much like you are now."

An Youyou spoke frankly, but it was her genuine concern.

Knowing that An Youyou was concerned about her, Aunt Chen forced a smile: "I have a small appetite, I'm full after a couple of bites. I spent a lot of money on medicine for the cold I caught in winter, so eating less will save some food. It's not easy for Ashun to work in Jinling alone, and now the family depends on him alone. I can only earn money by washing clothes for others."

“I used to be able to embroider, but now my eyesight is failing and my hands are useless. Eating less won’t be too much of a burden to Ah Shun.”

An Youyou muttered under her breath, "What's so good about cooking? Everyone wants to be a chef. I've told you that following me to beg for food is a promising career path, why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"What did you say, sir?" Aunt Chen asked, not having heard An Youyou's mutterings clearly.

"It's nothing. It's windy tonight, Aunt Chen, you should go back inside quickly. When Thirteen comes back, I'll have Xiao Jiu bring the porridge to you once it's cooked."

After saying that, An Youyou went back to her room.

An Youyou's house is also very different from before.

An Youyou used to have a single room with a bed, a cabinet, and some small furniture. Now all of those things are gone, leaving only a bed.

Of course, the room wasn't empty either, as the floor was covered with bamboo mats, blankets, and straw. After returning to her room, An Youyou found the cleanest and softest patch of straw, sat down directly on it, and began counting her money.

Compared to her previous financial situations, An Youyou is now so poor it's heartbreaking.

Her entire fortune consisted of only one silver dollar and 63 copper coins, along with some loose legal tender. Judging from An Youyou's attitude towards the legal tender, it was clear that it was worthless.

After counting the money, An Youyou sadly lay down on the haystack and lamented, "Why am I so poor?"

"I have fewer and fewer underlings, and less and less money. How can I face going back home if I keep going like this? If all else fails, I might as well rob a couple of guns from a gang and become a mountain king. But where are there any mountains around here for me to take over?"

An Youyou felt sad about her stagnant career.

While An Youyou was grieving, Qin Huai walked around the entire bluestone brick house and discovered that the Chen family must have fallen on hard times. Originally, An Youyou had rented all four rooms on the first floor, but now only the room she lived in belonged to her. Her neighbors were Chen Sao's family, and the other two rooms were occupied by two different families.

The same was true upstairs; every room was very crowded, except that An Youyou's room was particularly cramped.

Qin Huai counted the number of quilts. There were six quilts on the ground. Even if two of his underlings shared one quilt, the maximum number of people who could lie on the ground in this room was eight or nine.

An Youyou originally had 13 followers.

The remaining underlings, combined with what An Youyou just said...

Qin Huai could only say that life was probably tough; An Youyou was so poor that she couldn't afford to hire new underlings.

An Youyou lay there sadly on the straw, lost in thought, until her younger brothers returned one after another from begging for food.

Qin Huai recognized the faces. The remaining underlings were Xiao Yi, Xiao San, Xiao Qi, Xiao Jiu, and Xiao Shi. The other quilt should belong to Jiang Weiguo.

Each of the underlings returned dejected, and Xiao Jiu even had a bruise on his face.

Upon returning, Xiao Jiu reported dejectedly, "Boss...we all...we all..."

"You didn't get anything, did you?" An Youyou said weakly, then sat up with a jolt. She looked at her underling who was about to scold her, but had no intention of doing so. "I didn't get anything either. I only managed to get two cornbread buns to eat on the way."

"Boss, those gangsters are really wicked now. They not only beat us up, but they also steal our jobs. Begging used to be our job, but now they're even stealing our begging jobs!" Xiao Shi said indignantly.

“What can we do?” An Youyou stared blankly out the window, her eyes wide like those of a dead fish. “They have guns, and we can’t beat them. There’s fighting everywhere now. It’s already hard to get food, and now they’ve taken over our territory.”

Xiao Jiu was eager to try: "Boss, how about I join the army? I heard that joining the army pays a settlement allowance of two silver dollars!"

An Youyou glared at Xiao Jiu with annoyance: "Didn't you hear them say when you were begging for food that you were owed two silver dollars as a resettlement allowance? You'd be lucky to get 20 copper coins. I've raised you for so long hoping you'd give me a silver dollar every month like Thirteen, not for you to buy your way out and go die for 20 copper coins."

Xiao Jiu lowered his head: "I'm sorry, boss, I've let you down."

An Youyou lay down on the straw pile again, exhausted: "I think you guys shouldn't call me 'boss' anymore. I didn't take care of you guys these past two months. Even I was taken care of by Thirteen. From now on, let's just call Thirteen Boss."

"Okay boss."

"I was just saying, you guys really call yourselves Thirteenth Boss? Remember this, I've been supporting you all for years, and Thirteen only supported you for a few months? He wants to be the boss? I'm the boss!"

"Okay boss."

(End of this chapter)