Reborn and returned, sisters swapped

Seeing that Aunt Wu's momentum had weakened, some onlookers couldn't help but mutter under their breath, "Aunt Wu's statement has no basis."

Although the people in this slum are poor, I've never heard of them doing anything bad.

As time went on, some people began to doubt what Aunt Wu had said.

Someone glanced at her with displeasure and said in a low voice, "There's no evidence for this, but it's been spread around and it's become the truth. Isn't this just harming people unnecessarily?"

Several timid women quickly picked up their baskets and left, afraid of being dragged into trouble again.

Eventually, the crowd dispersed.

Old Yu, Sanyuan, and Gou Dan stood at the entrance of town, and as they looked at the unwilling expressions on the faces of those people, their discontent slowly subsided.

Old Yu let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, "We've made things clear enough. Let's see if they believe us."

Sanyuan patted Lao Yu on the shoulder and smiled: "If we don't do anything wrong, we have nothing to fear."

If these rumors get out, people will believe them anyway, so let's just keep living our lives.

Gou Dan grinned, took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Lao Yu: "That's right! We're living our lives with our heads held high, whether they believe us or not, they haven't done anything to us."

The three exchanged a smile and slowly walked back to the slum.

Although they were poor, they never felt inferior.

In their hearts, character and dignity are more important than anything else.

But Aunt Wu's rumors spread like a winter wind, quickly reaching every corner of Hesha City.

Soon, the city's wealthy residents began demanding that the government rectify these so-called "homeless gathering places."

For a time, people in the alley were filled with anxiety.

Some people started packing their bags to escape, while others planned to band together to protect themselves.

Old Yu also heard the rumors and lowered his head, silently thinking of a solution.

At night, he gathered a group of elderly and children from the slums, and while warming themselves by a fire, they discussed how to cope.

"Old Yu, what do you think we should do? If the government officials really come, how will we survive?" someone lamented.

Old Yu was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I'm afraid it won't work. Since they look down on us, we have to let them know that we're not just useless people who can only eat and do nothing."

His words were few, yet they ignited a faint spark in everyone's hearts.

The next morning, a biting wind blew, and tiny shards of ice hung from the dilapidated eaves of the slums.

The winter sun was slow to rise, with only a faint glimmer of light appearing on the horizon, but activity had already begun in the slums.

At the alley entrance, homeless man Lao Yu huddled in his tattered blanket, brushed the frost off his body, grinned, and revealed a few yellowed teeth.

He stretched his stiff limbs and walked towards the center of the alley, casually tearing off a piece of old newspaper from the corner of the wall and placing it under his feet to keep it steady.

"Hey, are we having a big clean-up in the slums today?" he muttered to himself, half-jokingly.

Gou Dan was the first child to run away. He was thin and small, and his face was dark from long-term exposure to the wind and sun.

He shouted at the top of his lungs toward the other end of the alley, "Sanyuan! Sanyuan! Come out quickly! We're cleaning the alley today!"

Just then, a little black dog peeked out from the corner of the wall, wagged its tail, and ran over to Gou Dan, rubbing against him.

Sanyuan soon came running over from the other side.

He was a bit taller than Gou Dan, and his face was flushed red from the cold as he smiled.

Upon seeing Gou Dan, he excitedly waved and exclaimed, "I'm here! I'm here! What are we doing today?"

"First, pile all this trash up, then find some dry grass and wood, and burn it!"

Dog Egg was giving instructions with great enthusiasm. Garbage was scattered on the ground in the alley, including broken shoes, rotten vegetable leaves, soaking wet cardboard, and even a few worn-smooth pieces of broken bricks.

Together, they shoveled the items into several piles, trying to stack them as high as possible so that they could burn more completely.

On the other side of the alley, Old Li leaned on a bent wooden stick, his cloudy eyes half-open, watching Gou Dan and San Yuan make a fuss.

Old Li is a man of few words who has lived here for many years, and no one knows his origins.

Seeing their efforts, he sighed and said, half-mockingly, "Tsk, I've lived most of my life and never seen this place so lively."

After saying that, he walked over with his cane, picked up an old shovel and began to help dig a hole, piling the garbage on the ground into a large garbage heap.

At this moment, several faces also peeked out from the doors of several households.

The old woman, carrying a bamboo basket full of rags, muttered to herself, "It's almost the end of the year, so it's good to tidy up this place so that passersby don't think it's all mud."

The children kept turning back to look at her, giggling and saying, "Grandma, you have to leave us some hay today so we can start a fire!"

The old woman muttered something under her breath, but still picked out a few clumps of hay from the basket and threw them to them, saying, "Take these, take these, but don't burn them all!"

As dawn broke, people in the slums began to emerge from their homes.

The men began cleaning the alleyways in front of their respective doors in twos and threes.

Some people were picking up bricks, some were sweeping away the water and mud, and a few strong young men were carrying some dead tree stumps to support the collapsed roadside retaining wall.

At this moment, a small incident attracted everyone's attention.

The homeless man, Old Yu, found a long pole with a tattered cloth hanging from the top, which looked just like a flag.

He stood in the middle of the alley, waving a pole and shouting, "Our slums are starting to look like something! Look closely, this is our flag!"

Everyone burst into laughter at his comical appearance, and the coldness and gloom in their hearts seemed to be dispelled somewhat.

Smoke began to rise from the alley, and the pile of messy garbage was finally set ablaze. The flames crackled and emitted a strong smell of firewood.

As they gathered around the fire, their frozen hands and feet gradually warmed up. Some people took out hard, dry steamed buns and placed them by the fire to roast, chatting leisurely as they did so.

Gou Dan and San Yuan squatted by the fire, enjoying roasting a dry flatbread that Lao Yu had just brought. They each broke off a small piece and passed it back and forth, as if the dry flatbread was a rare delicacy.

Dog Egg took a bite, his face full of satisfaction: "Sanyuan, wouldn't it be great if our slum was this lively every day?"

Sanyuan nodded, blinked, looked at the people illuminated by the firelight, and whispered, "If everyone works together, winter won't be cold."

Beside the fire, Old Li silently watched the leaping flames, his eyes filled with a hint of melancholy.

He sighed softly, recalling his youth, the past years flowing slowly through his heart.

He suddenly looked up and said to everyone, "Actually, there's nothing wrong with this place. It's a bit poor, but if we all work together, we can still have a lively New Year."

Upon hearing this, the people around the fire quieted down and nodded in agreement.

Everyone worked together seamlessly, chatting and warming themselves by the fire. For a moment, the slum seemed to have lost its former gloom and instead gained warmth and hope.

As the cleanup drew to a close, the men began to build a simple shed to provide shelter for the elderly and children during the heavy snow.

Gou Dan, San Yuan, and other children piled up snow to make a small "snow wall," their faces beaming with satisfaction.

At noon, sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on every corner of the slum.

The cleaned alleyways are no longer so messy. Although they are still somewhat dilapidated, they look much cleaner and tidier thanks to everyone's efforts.

As the event was ending, the old woman carried an old pot with steaming hot porridge inside.

She chuckled and served everyone a bowl, saying, "You've all been freezing all morning, have something hot to warm you up."

The homeless man, Old Yu, took the porridge, deliberately sniffed it, and exaggeratedly said with a smile, "Wow, Grandma's cooking is still so authentic!"

This is a 'delicious dish' from our slums!

Everyone laughed upon hearing this, and the warmth in the cold wind grew even stronger.

Amidst the morning's work and laughter, everyone in the slum seems to have subtly changed.

The weariness and distress of the past were dispelled by the warmth of everyday life.

Even in winter, they remain poor, but the spontaneous smiles on their faces radiate an enduring warmth.

Even the children, including Sanyuan, took the initiative to stand at the entrance of the alley, vigilantly watching the government's patrol team.

A few days later, the government officials finally arrived.

The leader was a young official who seemed somewhat lost upon arrival.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw that the alley had been completely transformed. Although the old houses were still simple, they had been cleaned up neatly and orderly.

The homeless men stood at the alley entrance with their heads bowed and humble, seemingly without any intention of resisting.

The official was taken aback by the situation, then said sullenly, "Behave yourselves, and don't let the rich people in the city complain about us again."

Old Yu smiled slightly, watching the officials' departing figures, secretly rejoicing in his heart.

The slums in the east of the city are finally showing some signs of improvement.

Having a little territory of their own, they had the courage to fight for a bite to eat, even if it was just a little warmth in the cold winter.

The sky was dark in the city, and the cold wind swept through the slum streets like a knife.

People, bundled up in their clothes, gathered in one low shed after another, their faces somber.

Recently, they heard that the wealthy people in the city had secretly hoarded large amounts of grain, and this news was always first spread by Wu Da Niang, the butcher's wife.

"Hmph, you don't know, do you? Those rich people have rice and grain stored up to the roof."

"But we poor people can't even afford porridge made from bran." Aunt Wu's voice was loud, and the indignant expression on her face made those around her sigh.

"That's right, I heard that grain prices are going to go up again this time." Old Yu, the homeless man, sighed, curled up in the corner, and shivered as he huddled under his tattered blanket.

Dog Egg raised his head, revealing a defiant expression: "Do they really have that much grain? I don't believe it. Mother said the government controls it!"

Aunt Wu shook her head, looking like a wise old woman: "Young man, what do you know? The government doesn't care about us poor people!"

"This world... I'm not going to talk about it anymore." She changed the subject, her gaze turning to the end of the street, a secretive expression appearing on her face.

"Sigh..." The group of people sitting around the table looked at each other in silence, and the atmosphere became tense for a moment.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

People looked up and saw a panting little boy rushing in; it was Sanyuan.

"Auntie, uncles! Something terrible has happened! I just heard soldiers near the south gate say that the Black Wolf bandits' forces are approaching the city!"

They said—they said those bandits were coming to rob the rich people's stored grain!

The crowd erupted in an uproar. "Black Wolf? The one who kills without blinking an eye?" Upon hearing this, Aunt Wu's eyes widened, and her voice carried a hint of panic.

"My God, Black Wolf has actually come!" Old Yu's face turned pale, and he trembled even more violently, his lips shaking. "I heard that his gang specializes in robbing the granaries of the rich in the city."

But they don't care about the poor or the rich; in the end, we'll probably be the ones who suffer the most.

The children hid behind the adults in fright, but Gou Dan's eyes revealed a hint of excitement: "Is the Black Wolf really coming to steal our food?"