The little leprosy smiled, as if to imply that the last few words were a joke, and he drank dry as he spoke.

There is a place to stay, and this sudden offer is too tempting to refuse. The conversation that followed was more friendly and more heartfelt.

By the time they got to the tax card, it was almost eleven o'clock. They passed through the restaurant and arrived at Honghua Avenue, and the little leprosy told Yongchang not to fall a single step, and to run forward like a fly.

Although Yongchang was focused on his guide, he still couldn't help but peek at the sides of the street he passed by several times.

He had never seen anything more filthy or more dilapidated than here. The streets were very narrow and muddy, and the air was filled with all kinds of foul smells. There were quite a few small shops, and the only goods seemed to be groups of children, who were crawling in and out of the door so late, or crying in the house.

In this bleak place, the only thing that seemed to be prosperous was the tavern, where a group of lowest-ranking boatmen were making a lot of noise with their throats.

Black hallways and courtyards diverged from the street, revealing several dilapidated houses huddled together, where drunken men and women were literally wallowing in the mud. At the gates of several houses, some fierce guys were cautiously walking out, and at a glance they knew that they were not going to do anything good.

Yongchang was thinking about whether to slip away, and the two of them had already reached the foot of the mountain. His guide pushed open a door near the alley, grabbed one of Yongchang's arms, pulled him into the hallway, and closed the door again.

"Hey." With a whistle from the little leprosy, a voice came from below.

The little leprosy replied: "Sweet potato burning"

It seems to be some kind of password or code that means everything is normal. A faint candlelight flashed on the wall at the end of the hallway, and a man's face peeked out through a gap in the staircase railing of an old kitchen.

"You're coming with two people?" The man moved the candle farther away, blocked the light with one hand for his eyes, and said. "Who's that one?"

"A little brother." The little leprosy pushed Yongchang forward and replied.

"Where did it come from?"

"I don't know, is the boss upstairs?"

"Here, go up." The candle retracted, and the face vanished.

Yongchang groped with one hand and grasped his companion tightly with the other, and climbed the dark and broken staircase one step higher and lower, but his guide went up with ease and neatness, and he saw that he was quite familiar with the way. He pushed open the door of a back room and dragged Yongchang inside.

The walls and ceiling of this room were stained and swarthy with age. There was a wine bottle on the table with a candle in it, and a few wine glasses, a saucer, and some leftovers.

Meat bones were cooked in a frying pan on the stove, and a rope tied the pot to the mantelpiece. A wizened old man stood beside him with a roasting fork in his hand, a large tuft of unkempt hair hiding the disgusting ferocity on his face.

He was wrapped in a greasy coat with his neck exposed. It seems that he has to juggle both the frying pan on the stove and the distraction of a hanger with many silk handkerchiefs hanging from it.

Several beds made of old sacks lined up one after the other on the floor. Around the table sat four or five children who were smaller than the little leprosy, all in the posture of middle-aged people, smoking long cigarette pouches and drinking.

The little leprosy muttered a few words to the old man in a low voice. The group of children surrounded them, and then turned their heads together, grinning at Yongchang, and the old man did the same, holding the pot in one hand and turning his head.

"Boss, it's him," said the little leprosy, "my friend Yongchang!" ”

The old man bared his big teeth and smiled, shook Yongchang's hand, and said that he hoped to have the honor of being a confidant with him.

When the children saw this, they all gathered around with pipes in their mouths and shook hands with him, especially the one who took over the little burden for Yongchang.

One of the little gentlemen was very zealous in hanging up his hat for him, and the other was even more attentive, and put his hands in his pockets, so that he might not have to empty his pockets while he slept, for he was very tired.

If Fagin's fork hadn't landed generously on the heads and shoulders of this group of enthusiastic young men, I don't know where this hospitality would have gone.

"We are very glad to see you, Yongchang—very, very," said the little leprosy, "scoop up the meat, and drag a stool to the edge of the fire, and Yongchang will sit down." ”

The old man's protégé shouted with joy.

Amid the shouting, they began to eat.

Yongchang ate his share, and the old man poured him a cup of hot rice wine and told him to drink it quickly, and there was a child waiting for the cup.

Yongchang complied. Suddenly, he felt himself gently picked up and placed on the sack bed, and after a while he fell into a deep sleep.