gentleman's servant

The child whose arm was crushed woke up, but his fate became a problem.Healthy adults live a life of getting up early and staying late, and there is no guarantee of filling their stomachs, let alone a child missing a hand.

My benefactor, Dr. Jacques, asked Monsieur Gabriel what to do with the child.

"His body is very weak and he needs to recuperate for at least two weeks," said Dr. Jacques.

"Two weeks? Are you going to keep him for nothing?" Mr. Gabriel asked in disbelief.

"He worked in your factory, that's why his arm was strangled, shouldn't you be responsible?" Dr. Jacques said with a livid face.

"Why should I be responsible? I've done my best to hire a doctor for him. Everyone will praise my generosity. Could it be that he has a broken arm and I have to take care of him for the rest of his life?"

Dr. Jacques sighed deeply: "For God's sake, he is only a ten-year-old child. If you throw him to the poorhouse, he will probably die in a few days."

The poorhouse is a charity organization undertaken by the state. All orphans, those who are unable to work, or those who have lost their jobs and cannot eat can apply to live in the workhouse, and the state will allocate charitable funds to support these people.However, because they are afraid that people will be lazy and work hard, they will stay in the workhouse and refuse to leave, so the living conditions here are very harsh, the environment is dirty and crowded, the food is seriously insufficient, and infectious diseases are rampant.So this charity can also be called hell, and many dead people are carried away from here every day.

"Anyway, I can't raise him for nothing." Mr. Gabriel said firmly.

Dr. Jacques said angrily: "What a hard-hearted person, I will report what happened here to the parliament."

Mr. Gabriel smiled disdainfully: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

The doctor left angrily, and I hurried to follow.

"Doctor Jacques, please don't be angry." I didn't expect the doctor to lose his temper. In fact, this is the norm in the factory. It seems a fantasy for the factory owner to support employees who are unable to work.

"I'm not angry. They don't deserve my anger. I just pity the child with the broken arm. How will he live in the future? I saved his life, not letting him die immediately." Dr. Jacques said angrily explain.

Looking at the gray-haired old gentleman in front of me, I felt admiration from the bottom of my heart.For a stranger who has nothing to do with him, he strongly argued with Mr. Gabriel, which may cause him to lose an important source of customers.

It took a long time for Dr. Jacques to calm down. He smiled awkwardly at me: "I'm sorry, I'm rude, you must think my behavior is very weird, I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this."

"No, I think your actions are worthy of respect, because you speak for poor people like us." I said moved.

Dr. Jacques sighed deeply, and said as he walked: "No matter how many times I experience it, I can't get used to this kind of thing. In this era, rich people don't take the lives of the poor seriously at all, even the poor themselves They don’t take their lives seriously either. They don’t understand that no matter they are poor, high or low, we are all equal before God, and anyone’s life and dignity are priceless.”

I felt that the old gentleman's thoughts were unheard of, so I said: "Do you think that a humble person like me can be as valuable as a nobleman?"

"Humble?" The old man asked me with a smile, "Why do you think you are humble?"

"I, I'm just a servant." I replied tangled.

"A servant doesn't mean humble, it's just your occupation, it doesn't mean you as a person." The old man said in a very helpless tone: "I can't blame you for having such thoughts, because you are distinguishing between superior and inferior." Growing up in a social environment, especially in a country like ours, where everyone is told to stay strictly within their own class and not dare to go beyond the threshold, the aristocracy has reached its peak."

It was the first time I heard someone say such a thing, and I was stunned for a while.

Dr. Jacques was still talking to himself: "Everyone has an independent personality, and will not always be attached to someone or be inferior to someone. Even though our identities are completely different, our personalities are all equal. "

Then Dr. Jacques stopped, and he looked at me seriously, his old eyes full of smart light.

"True freedom and dignity do not exist in other people's ideas, nor in the eyes of the world, nor in the limitations of social rules, they only exist here." The doctor smiled and pointed to his forehead: "Only here, even if The world says you are humble, but as long as you don't think so, your dignity is above all else."

I stared at him in shock, speechless for a long time.

The doctor patted me on the shoulder and continued on my way. I followed him silently, but I couldn't calm down from the beginning to the end.

Dr. Jacques' hospital is in the East District. Among the entire slums, only his hospital looks very formal.It was a three-story building with nuns coming and going, and what appeared to be a pharmacist and other doctors.I didn't expect him to be a doctor in such a formal hospital. Could it be that he is a physician?Is it a gentleman?But how can a physician do the work of a surgeon?I questioned him.

Dr. Jacques smiled and said, "Physician? No, I'm not qualified to be a physician. I'm just a man who works as a butcher."

"But..." I looked at the people who came and went to salute him, and I was even more surprised. There were many well-dressed gentlemen among them. Dr. Jacques must be a big man, but why would such a respected person be given to him in a poor area? What about textile workers?

"In the established social environment, we may not be able to change our identity and status, but we can change our way of life. I think that all people who live seriously deserve the respect and appreciation of others." Dr. Jacques nodded towards me , took the suitcase in my hand and said, "Thank you for sending me."

"It should be." I hurriedly bowed to him. As a servant, I rarely hear the person I serve thank me, let alone such a respected person as him, which made me feel at a loss.

"Goodbye, young man." He waved with a smile and walked towards the hospital.

Looking at his back, I sighed in my heart. He didn't know that he had saved my life. It was my luck to meet such a doctor with superb medical skills, kindness and enthusiasm, and what he said just now made me feel ponder.

Can people really be equal?Even if status and status are worlds apart.

That night, when I was about to go to bed, a servant came to me and said, "There is a woman outside who is clamoring to see you."

I went out to have a look, and it was indeed Anne.

"Owen, help me." She was pale and trembling like a sieve.

"What happened?" I asked, grabbing her arm.

"I'm going to find Andre." She looked at me, her eyes were red, obviously from crying.

"It's so late, where did he go? What do you want him for?" I asked.

Anne hesitated for a moment, and refused to answer.

"For God's sake, if you sent me to him, you should let me know why."

After a while, Anne cried out with a 'wow': "Andre took out a loan, and the bank came to ask for money again. If we can't pay the money again, we will go to jail."

"How much did you borrow?" I asked.

"Fifty pounds," said Anne.

"My God! Fifty pounds!" I said in disbelief. "What have you done? How can you owe so much money! I have never seen so much money in my life."

"Andre needs paint to paint," Annie cried.

"What about the others? Where did he go?" I asked.

"He...he went to Apple Lane." Annie said hesitantly.

"Apple Lane? What's that place?"

"It's...it's not a decent place, I can't go there." Annie burst into tears.

I had nothing to say, so I patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll go find him, you go home first."

Annie listened to what I said, and walked away step by step and looking back.

I put on my coat and walked towards Apple Lane.

Whether in my previous life or in this life, I have never been to a brothel.I don't need to spend money to find a woman, as long as I want, there are women with hook fingers, and even many times, it is the slutty women who pay to have sex with me.

It was already past nine o'clock in the evening, and there were almost no pedestrians on the road, but Apple Alley was very lively, and the street was full of people.

Under the dim light of the fire, there stood many women with heavy makeup.It's already autumn, but they still show their plump breasts, and some of them even lift up their skirts, revealing their snow-white legs and buttocks. Whenever a man passes by the roadside, they scramble to grab it.The prices of these women are mostly the same, no one woman is particularly high or low, but men can choose to settle on the side of the road or go upstairs, and it is naturally cheaper to settle on the side of the road than going upstairs.

As soon as I walked into this alley, four or five women approached me. Their bodies smelled like a mixture of strong perfume and sweat, which was disgusting.And they are generally very spoiled, their hair looks like it hasn't been washed for many years, strands and strands.

I didn't let them all lean over, but quickly put my arms around one of them, and shook my head at the others.

The rest of the people left cursing, and the woman in my arms hooked my neck and said, "Handsome, do you want to go upstairs?"

The woman is very young, only about seventeen or eighteen years old. She is very beautiful and has a very plump figure, with curved eyes and a very coquettish appearance.

I smiled at her frivolously: "Do you know a gentleman named Andre Robben?"

"What? Are you here to find a man?" She touched under me, squinted her eyes and asked, "Am I okay?"

"Of course you're fine, baby. I'm crazy about you. But I have business today. If you know, let me know. I'll appreciate it."

"Well, because you are so handsome, it's not every day that you meet a handsome man like you here." The woman sighed and said, "Is that Mr. Andre? That poor painter? I know where he is, but what benefit do you give me? I can't do less."

"Since I'm so handsome, can't you give me some convenience?" I joked to her.

The woman touched my face and said, "Then you will stay with me for one night."

No way, I took out a few pennies and gave her: "Next time, baby, I'm really in a hurry."

The woman only took a penny from my hand, and she nodded my nose with a smile: "It's because you are so handsome."