CHAPTER 579: CHAPTER 308: BEGGAR (PART 3)

"What do you want today?"

Seeing the boss suddenly starting a work inspection, Little Ninth shivered, "O... o... one sweet potato."

An Youyou sighed deeply, "No wonder Thirteen keeps advising you all to find jobs, your begging skills are really not as good as mine."

An Youyou threw the bag at her waist to Little Ninth, taking big strides forward with a kingly demeanor: "Let’s go, I want to see what kind of job Thirteen can find."

Little Ninth carefully caught the bag, holding it in his hands and following closely behind An Youyou, sneaking his hand into the bag to secretly munch on black beans as they walked.

Qin Huai: ...

What a fantastical turn of events.

Chen Huihong taught me how to be a person during the years of disaster, Luo Jun was my elder in Shanghai, Cheng Gong was my "Boss" in the human world, Qu Jing was my savior in the countryside.

When it came to An Youyou, it unexpectedly turned into me being the boss in a beggars’ den.

Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover; don’t underestimate An Youyou, who now works so hard to climb the corporate ladder that she’s become Lady Radish Cake. In her first life, she was a leader with 13 little followers.

It’s no easy feat to beg and support 13 little followers. No wonder she’s so good at begging yet still seems so poor.

An Youyou and her 13 little followers live in a rundown temple on the outskirts of town.

In the literal sense, it’s a rundown temple, with half the structure collapsed and only a few earthen walls left to shield from the wind. On rainy or snowy days, everyone has to huddle in a corner to avoid getting soaked or frozen.

All of An Youyou’s 13 little followers, including Little Ninth who trails behind her, live in the rundown temple.

Eleven of the followers gathered together, all of them teenagers. The youngest looked only three or four, while the oldest appeared about the same age as An Youyou. Surrounded by the 10 others was the tallest boy, who not only seemed the eldest but also the tallest, and whose background seemed well-off once. He was thin but not pitiable, and even appeared relatively robust.

"Brother Thirteen, you’re amazing! You actually got into the Fujian Restaurant as a worker! We usually dare not even beg near the Fujian Restaurant; the staff there are fierce and chase us away with sticks. Last time Little Seven had his leg broken by one of their workers, and Boss spent a lot of money to get it treated."

"Yes, yes, the staff at Fujian are really mean!"

"They never throw out or sell leftover food and swill; they just dump it directly into the river, claiming that even noble leftovers can’t be eaten by others, as it would taint the noble leftovers."

"I’ve seen Fujian dump leftovers in the river, they smelled so good. After their people left, I jumped into the river to fish them out, but found nothing."

"Brother Thirteen, is the pay at Fujian particularly high?"

"Brother Thirteen, how did you get into Fujian? Can I also go to Fujian? I want to be a worker there."

"Didn’t you just say the Fujian guys are mean?"

"That’s...that’s different."

An Youyou strode towards her little followers, and when they saw her return, they crowded around, excitedly saying, "Boss, Boss, you’re back!"

"Boss, Brother Thirteen got a job at Fujian as a worker!"

"Boss, Brother Thirteen brought back cornbread today! Just two, we’ve saved them just for you!"

"Boss, I got a bowl of meat soup today. I drank the soup and brought all the meat back for you! A whole piece of meat!"

"Boss, I got a bag of black beans!"

"Boss, I grabbed a lot of leftover rice, but it’s all spoiled, I don’t know if we’ll die eating it."

The little followers chatted noisily, but An Youyou ignored them, her eyes fixed on Thirteen as she asked, "You really found a job at Fujian?"

"What’s the pay?"

"Each day comes with one meal, and it’s one silver coin a month. If I become a kitchen assistant, it’s three silver coins a month, with two meals included."

"Crap," An Youyou blurted out, "Turns out there’s really a job better than begging in this world."

Thirteen: ...

"So, are you going to leave?" An Youyou asked.

Thirteen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "You saved me half a year ago, I won’t leave, but I can’t give you all my monthly salary. I can give you half of it."

An Youyou thought about it, deciding that earning half a silver coin monthly wasn’t bad, so she nodded in agreement: "Alright, then in the future, you’ll still have a share of the food I bring back."

After speaking, An Youyou took out her treasure pouch, picked out the Copper Coins and francs, and gave them to one of the younger followers, merely a bit younger than Thirteen: "Go buy some stuff, the usual, I want salted fish."

The little follower grabbed the money and dashed off, night was soon falling, and going slowly could be dangerous.

"Earlier, Little Eleven said you brought back two cornbreads, where are they? I haven’t had cornbread in a long time," An Youyou asked.

A little follower quickly went to get the cornbread.

An Youyou contentedly gnawed on the cornbread, looking at Thirteen in puzzlement: "Thirteen, I really don’t get it, why won’t you just be a beggar with me?"

"You’re in such good shape, strong, and good at fighting. If we beg together, we’d be unbeatable in the city."

"Even though the job at Fujian is nice, I still think begging is better."

Thirteen: ...

"Maybe it’s because I wasn’t a beggar before," Thirteen said a bit speechless, "besides, I have a name."

"I’m called Jiang Weiguo."

"I know, but Thirteen just rolls off the tongue, we’re all numbers, you can’t be the only one with a name, otherwise I’d have to come up with 12 more names, that’s too much work."

Jiang Weiguo looked at An Youyou even more speechless, "So that’s why you named yourself Boss?"

"Exactly!" An Youyou proudly lifted her chin, "What a great name! I thought about it for so long, it’s definitely the best name in this world!"