Chapter 619 - 613_1
"Uncle, please, let me get in line. My mom and I have been hungry for two to three days. If we don’t get something to eat, we’ll starve to death. Please let me line up with you," the boy pleaded, his face yellowed and emaciated from hunger. In these past days, following his mother and wandering from place to place, he was filthy, his clothes sticky with dirt and everywhere smeared with grime, his face was also dirty, and his hair was a complete mess, looking utterly humble as he begged.
"Go away, go away, isn’t everyone here hungry? Scram, and if you cause any more trouble, see if I don’t beat you." The man said, even raising his fist to threaten the boy. The boy’s mother had already followed over and shielded her son behind her. However, instead of leaving with her child, like her son, she started begging too. She wasn’t even afraid of actually taking a punch from the man. She understood in her heart that this was her only chance for survival; if she failed, she and her son would starve to death in a foreign land, to say nothing of waiting for the day they could reunite with the boy’s father.
"Big brother, please have mercy. We are just standing in line; we won’t get in your way," the woman said, her heart also filled with resentment toward the man’s bullying. But a weak woman with a child was already at a disadvantage and couldn’t provoke the man by herself. She could only swallow her pride and plead in a soft and gentle voice.
The women, children, and elderly who had initially stayed away, not daring to approach, now also began to gather around. Despite feeling hopeless, people have an instinctive desire to live, and they were unwilling to give up at the sight of even a sliver of hope.
"How can you not get in the way? If the master sees you all and thinks you only serve as burdens who don’t have the strength to work, he might get unhappy. What if he changes his mind? That would ruin everyone’s chance at work," the man retorted. He wasn’t an inherently evil person, just rather selfish, and didn’t want women and children to interfere with his opportunities.
Not everyone, however, was so heartless. Although they shared the man’s reluctance to have these women, children, and elderly affect their chances, compassion and sympathy prevailed. "Let’s just let them stand in line behind us. If the master doesn’t want them, the people in charge of the registry will refuse them."
"Humph, who knows? It’s hard enough to find a way to survive. I don’t want any complications," the man grunted, obviously not appreciating the kindness of others. In these times, it was difficult enough to take care of oneself; there was no energy left to worry about the lives or deaths of others.