At the beginning of the famine, I became famous all over the world with my useless system

The stall owner stopped waving the palm-leaf fan in his hand, and his gaze on the two children changed from indifference to pity and sympathy.

Seeing his strange expression, Lin Qing thought he would not reply to her, but the stall owner raised his palm-leaf fan and pointed her in a direction.

"Look, turn south at the intersection ahead. The shop with the wooden sign at the southeast corner is the largest preserved fruit shop in town."

Lin Qing hurriedly thanked him and was about to leave with her two children when the man suddenly called out to her.

"Sister, I don't think you're stupid. You're dressed so neatly and you're young and polite. You still have a long life ahead of you. Don't give in to any evil thoughts. Remember, a murder case is a lifetime responsibility!"

"what?"

Lin Qing was completely confused and puzzled.

"Why do you say that, brother?"

The stall owner looked at her with a knowing expression, not even looking at her, and said with disdain:

"Ever since the famine hit Anping Town, I've seen at least eight people like you every day. Because they're poor and have no food at home, they don't want to raise children.

"They lied to them that they were going to buy candied fruit, but in fact they were taking the opportunity to abandon the children who didn't know the way on the road, or they bought the candied fruit and poisoned them after returning home. Am I right?! How dare you give birth to a child but not raise him like this?!"

"what?"

Lin Qing was impressed by the other party's rich imagination and brain power. He wanted to refute but couldn't find where to start and was a little speechless.

She originally thought the stall owner was exaggerating, but she didn't expect that what she saw and heard next proved that what he said was true.

Seeing that Lin Qing had nothing to say and even looked a little helpless, the stall owner snorted coldly and pointed at the shadow at the base of the city wall.

"I've hit the nail on the head, so you're speechless now, right? Your two sons are just the right age to be abandoned. If you don't believe me, just look at the beggars over there. They're all boys around their age."

Only then did Lin Qing notice the horrible reality beneath the "prosperity" of Anping Town.

Those abandoned children huddled together under the wall or in the shade in front of shops. Their faces were so dirty that their age could not be seen. They were poorly dressed and looked pale and thin. Their faces, which should have been innocent, were filled with a dullness and fear that was completely inconsistent with their peers.

When he saw soldiers from afar, he turned his back, as if this would prevent him from being seen.

When the officers and soldiers approached, the child in charge of keeping watch blew a whistle, and they immediately dispersed; when the officers and soldiers disappeared, they came together again, like a group of little animals that were used to being driven away by humans and huddled together for warmth.

Lin Qing's heart tightened as he watched, and a feeling of sourness surged in his chest.

If possible, she would find a way to help as many children as possible and solve the problem of food and clothing for these children.

The two children also stood there in a daze, not daring to speak.

Gu Sihe only took a quick glance and didn't dare to look again. He was so scared that he hugged Gu Ermiao tightly and said to the stall owner with great confidence: "You are talking nonsense. Mother would never do this to us. Mother would not abandon us!"

Gu Ermiao originally thought that his brothers were miserable enough, but when he saw these homeless beggars with his own eyes, especially the "king of children" who was even younger than himself, he almost cried.

He withdrew his gaze with a cold expression, and angrily asked the stall owner who slandered his mother:

"Uncle, you're not resorting to such a ruthless scheme to frame him just because you see your preserves shop doing better than yours, are you?"

The stall owner was stunned and stopped fanning himself with the palm-leaf fan.

He really didn't expect that not only did this family not acknowledge his kindness, but the ignorant little kid actually dared to bite back at him!

This is intolerable!

The stall owner stood up and said angrily, "You little bastard, you're talking nonsense without any evidence. If you keep saying that, I'll take you to the government office!"

Gu Ermiao imitated him and snorted coldly, sneering, "So you also know that you can't speak without evidence."

The stall owner was stunned again.

This yellow-haired brat actually used this to accuse him of falsely accusing his own mother.

I didn't expect that he could actually outmaneuver me. I was so angry that I was speechless.

Lin Qing originally wanted to ask the stall owner in detail what was going on with these beggars, but when he heard the two children speaking up to defend him, he felt relieved. However, the opportunity to ask in detail was gone.

She squinted at the stall owner's expression and thought to herself that if the situation was not right, she would quickly take the children and run away.

But unexpectedly, a moment later the stall owner suddenly looked at Gu Ermiao and burst into laughter.

Hey, I didn’t expect that this skinny guy has such a quick mind!

Seeing that he was not angry at all, but reached out and picked two small apples from the stall and handed them to him, Gu Ermiao, who had been so majestic and imposing, suddenly became wilted and looked timidly at Lin Qing on the side.

The stall owner saw Gu Ermiao huddled together like a chicken and thought to himself that this child was really filial. If it weren't for his mother, he probably wouldn't dare to be so rude to him.

"Good boy, I admire your eloquence. Don't be afraid. Take it and consider it a gift from me!"

But when he saw that the little kid still didn't reach out to take his hand after he had extended it for a long time, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"Hey, brat, you were so brave just now, why are you so scared now that you can't even take an apple? Are you afraid that I'll poison it?"

Seeing that Gu Ermiao was still hesitant, he became even more angry.

"You really don't know what's good, you little brat! I brought this stuff back from Jiangzhou at a high price! Others might not even be able to afford it!"

Lin Qing patted Gu Ermiao on the shoulder and encouraged her, "Ermiao, if you want, go ahead. I believe you can handle it yourself."

Gu Ermiao nodded, no longer hesitating, and stepped forward and said, "Uncle, I can accept the gift you gave me, but my mother always taught us not to accept gifts without merit, so I can't take your gift for nothing. How about this, I'll give you some advice, and you can decide if it's worth these two apples."

The stall owner didn't expect such a 'surprise' and became even more interested in Gu Ermiao, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh? Okay, okay, go ahead and I'll listen."

How could Gu Ermiao not hear that he was speaking in a perfunctory tone, as if he was listening to a child bragging, but he was not discouraged by it and his expression remained neither humble nor arrogant.

"Just look at these two apples you casually picked up for me. They are well-proportioned, beautifully colored, and have a rich aroma. I can't help but want to take a bite."

The stall owner was very pleased with Gu Ermiao's praise and was about to say a few humble words, but he didn't expect that this little brat would use such a sophisticated trick of first praising and then criticizing.

"But once you put them in that pile, I don't even want to look at them. Do you know why?"

The stall owner couldn't help but follow his thoughts: "Why?"

“Because your products are displayed in a disorganized manner, customers who want to buy don’t know where to start.

"Think about it: is it easier to pick up a pebble from the sand or to scoop out rice from a bucket of rice?"

Although Gu Ermiao didn't know what the fruits were, he could tell that they were not of the same kind. Thinking of the peddler his mother had mentioned before, he made this suggestion.

The stall owner was grinning at first, but after hearing what Gu Ermiao said, he immediately put away his playful smile, looked back at the fruits piled up like a small mountain with a serious expression, and seemed to be thinking about something.