nycdaug Chapter 355 Poor Man
Chapter 355 Poor Man
Lin Jingyu peeled the sugarcane and cut it into five sections neatly. He asked A Biao to wash it, then he washed his hands, took out his mobile phone and started making a call.
After exchanging a few words with his friends from Sanao, Lin Jingyu looked up and saw Su Chen putting the pen cap on.
Is everything figured out so quickly?
He walked across the bluestone street and said, "Not bad. Uh, I called you to ask if there was a fire in Sanao recently..."
"No... there was an older woman who came to me to raise money. I could tell from her accent that she was from your area..." Lin Jingyu's body stiffened, then he slowly straightened up. "Really? They burned down a dozen buildings? How did they do it? Are the people there okay?"
Before the person on the other end of the line answered, Su Chen's voice rang out: "Someone's dead."
Lin Jingyu: “???”
There was also a sigh from the other end.
"The fire started in the early morning of the 16th. Everyone was asleep at the time. You know, the old houses in Sanao are all made of wood, so they burn very quickly. Many of them were too late to put out the fire..."
"By the way, since you're such a kindhearted person and called, would you like to donate something? One hundred or two hundred is not too much, and one or two dollars is not too little."
Lin Jingyu hummed, "Rebuilding the house will cost a lot of money, right? It's winter, it's not easy..."
"Of course, the leaders have been in meetings lately, trying to raise money. Any help is appreciated, but you know, we're a small place... where can we get the money?"
After hanging up the phone, Lin Jingyu sat down.
"Hey~ There's no peace anywhere!"
Su Chen returned the document to him.
"Let me count how many there are and tell you how much it costs..."
"Forget about the money, I'm just helping you do a good deed."
While Su Chen was speaking, his eyes were always fixed on Lao An.
"Okay, then I won't be polite with you, buddy," Lin Jingyu put the document away and looked in the direction of his gaze. He saw that the woman had sat down on the small stool in front of Lao An at some point.
"what?"
Lao An has been repairing shoes for half his life.
The woman had just passed by so many shops and stalls, and when she came in front of him, Lao An's attention was immediately attracted by the woman's shoes with the soles taken off.
"Shoe repair?"
The woman waved her hands hurriedly.
"Brother, please help me..."
Old An was stunned for a moment, then he noticed the simple sign placed in front of the woman.
He was not very literate, but he knew the words "fire" and "house". His eyes moved down to the woman's feet. Soon, Lao An rummaged into his pocket, took out all the money inside, and stuffed it into the woman's pocket.
The woman bowed to express her gratitude and tried to leave, but was stopped by Lao An.
"If you don't mend your shoes, you won't be able to walk far. Take them off and I'll mend them for you," he said, moving sideways to fetch the kettle, opened it, poured a cup, and handed it to the woman. "After all that talk, you must be thirsty, right? Have some water."
The woman was stunned, her eyes red.
As she walked along, many people would subconsciously close and lock the door when they saw her, or simply avoid her.
She has figured out a pattern. She has to look for elderly people in their fifties, sixties, or seventies, or young people in their twenties or thirties. They can't afford to lose face and are willing to give some money.
But, no one...
No one could do what Lao An did, giving her hot water to drink and asking her to sit down.
"Thank you, thank you, brother. Thank you so much."
The woman choked up and said a few words, then drank some hot water and held back her tears.
Someone came over, looked at the woman with a somewhat unfriendly look, and whispered something into Lao An's ear.
The woman's heart was lifted.
Lao An shook his head: "No, look at this ankle, the blisters haven't gone away yet, are you really going to use fire to roast it?"
The man was stunned for a moment, scratched his head and stepped back awkwardly.
After a while, she came over again, stuffed 10 yuan into the woman's arms and ran away.
"Hey, sister, thank you~"
The woman used her thick red fingers to smooth out the money bit by bit and put it into her pocket. Then she stood up again and bowed on one leg to express her gratitude.
When she stood up, she staggered and was about to fall, so someone supported her arm.
"Thank you, thank you~"
Lin Jingyu waved his hand: "You're welcome."
Su Chen patted her shoulders twice.
He pulled the two old men who were leaning over his back down.
The old man's body was charred black. After being pulled down, he screamed and struggled, and was directly caught by Su Chen's net.
The woman felt her body lighten, and subconsciously lowered her body, turned around and gave Su Chen a dry laugh.
Su Chen nodded slightly.
Lin Jingyu dragged a stool from the side and sat down. "My friend is in Sanao. He said the fire started in the early morning of the 16th. Where did your family get treatment for the burns?"
When the woman mentioned this, her nose felt sore and she quickly lowered her head. When she looked up again, her voice had recovered: "I asked my relatives for money, but they were unwilling to lend me money. I don't have money for treatment, and my relatives won't let me stay. Now I'm with the village committee. They are helping me take care of him while I come out to raise money..."
As she spoke, she rubbed her fingers subconsciously.
Those thick red fingers looked like they had frostbite.
Lin Jingyu restrained his gaze and said, "It's quite far from Sanao. You didn't walk all the way here, did you?"
The woman said nothing.
"Okay," Lin Jingyu handed her two hundred, "I'll go home and get you something to eat."
Lao An waved his hand: "Go ahead, the shoes won't be repaired that quickly."
When the woman left Chunming Street, the snakeskin bag around her waist was bulging.
She bowed again and again: "Thank you, thank you everyone, thank you..."
Chai Daqian said happily, "What are you thanking me for? You are really in trouble. When one family is in trouble, all families should help." He also secretly reminded the woman, "If your family's burned people can't be cured, remember to come here. We have a miracle doctor here. I won't lie to you."
The woman's eyes lit up and she bowed to him again: "Thank you, brother, thank you..."
Seeing her walking away, Chai Daqian sighed: "Poor thing."
When he turned around and saw Lao Liao, he asked, "How much did you give?"
"10 yuan." Lao Liao was still embarrassed to say it. He had previously misunderstood the woman as a scammer. He changed the subject and asked, "Is your store renovated yet?"
"It's almost time. Your grandson is going to start school, right?"
Lao Liao became alert: "What?"
"Look at you..." Chai Daqian said helplessly, "I found some new red scarves during the inventory a few days ago, and you asked if you wanted them?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Come on, I'll get it from your store."
Lin Jingyu also walked back. When he returned to the bookstall, he found that Su Chen had not left yet. He went over and took a bite of the sugarcane: "Dude, how many people died in her family?"
Su Chen shook his head: "I don't know."
"Oh, it never rains but it pours." Lin Jingyu sighed. "Look at her. Her family was already poor, and now their house has burned down, and their family members have been injured..."
"But we raised quite a bit of money today. It should last us for a while, don't you think?"
Lin Jingyu took another bite of sugarcane and when he looked at Su Chen, he found that he was in a trance.
"Dude, what's wrong?"
Su Chen came back to his senses, smiled and shook his head.
He had originally wanted to give the woman 10 yuan, but when she turned around, Su Chen saw two scenes.
"It's getting late. I'm going back to eat. Brother Yu, please close the stall early."
"Hey, okay."