Dongzi’s eyes widened when he saw the child, and he said in surprise to Zhou Huan, "Brother, look, that kid is still there!"

Zhou Huan remained silent. He slowly walked toward the child, squatted down, his expression softening into something kind and approachable, a slight smile curving the corners of his mouth. "Little friend, why are you still lingering here? You must be hungry?"

The child looked at Zhou Huan, his gaze somewhat vacant. Suddenly, a flicker of panic crossed his face, and he murmured, "I’m waiting for my big sister. I won't leave until she comes."

Zhou Huan casually reached into his food bag, pulled out a sausage, and held it out to the child. "Here, eat this first if you’re hungry!"

"No!" When the child saw the sausage Zhou Huan offered, he pushed Zhou Huan's hand away with both small hands. "Big sister told me not to take anything from strangers. Besides, I don’t want your things. I only love steamed buns!"

Hearing this, Zhou Huan took out bread and a can of soda from the bag. "How about this for you? We just bought all of this from your big sister’s supermarket. Think about it, if this stuff wasn’t edible, your big sister wouldn't sell it. See!" With that, Zhou Huan took a bite of the bread himself. "Look, I'm eating this too. It’s delicious."

Dongzi shuffled closer, snatched the sausage from Zhou Huan’s hand, and took a huge bite. "Yeah, he's right. See, we’ve eaten it, and we’re fine. Here, you try some too. If I’m lying to you, I’m a puppy!" Dongzi then thrust the sausage right under the child's nose. "Smell that, isn't it fragrant?"

At this moment, the child felt no gratitude for the help offered by the two earnest men; on the contrary, he was deeply repulsed. He pulled a brick from beneath his bottom, clutching it in his hands, his brows furrowed tightly. "I told you, I don’t want your things! You two need to leave now, or I’ll hit you with this."

"Oh, kid, I didn't learn to swing a brick until I was eighteen. You’re so young to know that trick! You're not even an adult yet, playing games with me!" Dongzi truly had the manners of a ruffian. He reached out, snatched the brick from the child’s grip, and tossed it aside. "You little brat, if you won’t eat it, fine! I’ll eat it myself." He then stuffed the entire sausage, skin and all, into his mouth and began chewing loudly.

Zhou Huan looked at the child, slowly rising to his feet. "Dongzi, let’s go. If it doesn’t work out, we can come down later."

Dongzi nodded repeatedly, hoisting their things and walking ahead, with Zhou Huan following close behind. As he walked, Dongzi kept glancing back at the child. When he looked again, the child's eyes had suddenly turned shockingly fierce, staring intently at Dongzi. There was a glint of killing intent in that gaze, yet it also seemed laced with an overwhelming sadness.

Zhou Huan and Dongzi entered the derelict building where their few old friends were still residing. Upon seeing Zhou Huan carrying provisions, they were beside themselves with joy.

"Brother Huan, Brother Dong, you’re here! We missed you guys so much!" The group of beggars swarmed them, grabbing the things from their hands, opening the bags to divide the loot, and immediately starting to eat.

Dongzi looked around, realizing one of their brothers was missing. "Huh? Where's Sanlu Zi? Why isn't he here?"

"Brother Huan, Sanlu Zi is on watch today. He’s upstairs keeping an eye on the spot you mentioned!"

"Forget it, call him down. I’ll take the watch."

"Alright!" Da Niu stuck his hand in his mouth and let out a long, piercing whistle.

Moments later, a flurry of scuffling footsteps could be heard running down from upstairs. "Brother Huan, Brother Dong, I knew you were here, hahahaha!"

"If you knew we were here, why didn't you hurry down!" Dongzi’s sharp retort immediately met Sanlu Zi.

Sanlu Zi crowded up to Zhou Huan, hands planted on his hips, grinning widely at Zhou Huan. "Brother Huan, were you two starving already?"

"No, why would you say that?" Zhou Huan countered.

Sanlu Zi looked smug, as if he had caught Zhou Huan in some major secret. "Were you two secretly eating something in the corner just now? And talking to yourselves?"

This statement sent Dongzi into fits of laughter. "Brother, I thought you had something important to say! So it’s just about that. We saw that little beggar again near the corner, and we tried to give him some food, but he refused. We had no choice but to eat it ourselves."

"Cut the crap. I didn’t see you talking to any little beggar. I only saw you two messing around with bread and sausages."

At this, a nerve in Zhou Huan’s head suddenly snapped taut. He then asked, "You really didn’t see a little beggar?"

Jiucaihua, chewing his food, nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, that's right. We’ve been watching that spot for days, and we haven't seen any little beggar, or that beautiful older sister Dongzi mentioned."

Dongzi didn't believe them when they said that. "How is that possible? Come here." He wanted them to see the little beggar downstairs with their own eyes, because there was no point arguing; seeing it would convince them completely.

When Dongzi walked onto the terrace and looked toward the corner, the little beggar was still sitting there. Dongzi flashed his teeth and pointed toward the corner. "Look over here! I wasn’t lying to you, was I!"

The brothers followed Dongzi’s gaze, scanning intently, looking left and right, then turning back to Dongzi, waving their hands in front of his eyes twice. "Brother Dong, are you alright? There's no one in that corner!"

"But he’s clearly there, you..." Before Dongzi could finish his sentence, the little beggar in the corner turned to look at him and suddenly burst into a laugh—a laugh so bizarre and eerie that it sent a chill down their spines, causing Dongzi to stop mid-sentence.

Zhou Huan quietly walked behind Dongzi and looked toward the corner. He could still see the little beggar. He turned back to look at his brothers' expressions. "Tell me the truth, did you not see the beggar?"

"No!" all the beggars shook their heads, their expressions so firm that Zhou Huan felt compelled to reconsider everything.

Then, Zhou Huan pulled Dongzi up and turned to leave. "Let's go. We’ll go down and check again, then head back to Fushou Hall. Tell the others to eat first."

He and Dongzi ran downstairs. They saw the little beggar again at the corner. The child glared at them furiously, stood up, and ran over to shove Zhou Huan and Dongzi. "Go away! I don't want to see you! Because of you, my sister couldn't come today, wuwuwu!" The little beggar burst into tears and ran off.

Dongzi and Zhou Huan followed closely, intending to track where the child lived. How fast could a small child run? He turned the corner, and in just a few seconds, when Zhou Huan and Dongzi rounded the bend, the little beggar had vanished. It was a straight avenue; within a hundred meters, there were no doors, windows, or alleys. Where did this child go?

When Dongzi saw this, he was truly stunned, slack-jawed, his upper and lower lips refusing to meet. "Brother, this..."

At this moment, Zhou Huan’s expression became composed and relaxed. "Let's go, Dongzi. We’ll come back tomorrow. That child has gone back."

"Brother, he..." Dongzi hadn't recovered, still looking panicked. He wanted to say something, but Zhou Huan cut him off.

Zhou Huan pulled Dongzi back toward Fushou Hall. The four beggar brothers stood upstairs, watching Zhou Huan and Dongzi’s retreating figures. They chewed the food Zhou Huan had brought, and question marks bloomed in all their minds. What was wrong with these two older brothers today? It was all too strange.

Back at Fushou Hall, Zhou Huan casually went to the kitchen, prepared a few dishes, and sat down with Dongzi to eat. Just then, Zhou Huan’s phone rang.

Zhou Huan hurried to answer it. On the other end was a strange voice. "Hello, Master Zhou Shou, I need to trouble you with something."

"Who is this?" Zhou Huan felt like he had heard the voice before but wasn't sure who it belonged to, so he asked.

A burst of laughter came from the receiver. "Master Zhou Shou, I think you should recognize my voice by now. We’ve met a few times. If you can’t even recognize me, then your memory is quite poor."

Hearing this, Zhou Huan became certain. He realized the caller was Li Tianxiong. Zhou Huan’s tone immediately shifted, becoming light and smooth. "Little Brother Li, you said you needed a favor? Go ahead and tell me. I'll do my best, as long as it doesn't compromise morality."

"I wouldn't ask for something immoral. My request is very simple: sell me one of your urns for ashes."

"Oh, that’s easy. If you need an urn, come and get it. I’ll give you a discount!"

"Haha, excellent. I'll come by in a few days to pick it up. I’ve already made arrangements; don’t let a faulty urn ruin my plans then." Li Tianxiong on the other end hung up.

Zhou Huan smiled, shook his head, and sighed. "That kid is too audacious, utterly lacking in courtesy. I’ll have to teach him a lesson sooner or later."

When Zhou Huan put the phone down on the table, Dongzi had already started eating. He was devouring the food ravenously, like a starving wolf.

"Brother, where did you learn to cook? This is delicious!" Dongzi’s mouth was stuffed with food, rice grains clinging to the corners of his lips, and a bit of snot was running down. His appearance while eating was pitiful; how could a person who lacked for nothing look like this when faced with a meal?

Zhou Huan frowned slightly. "Dongzi, next time, could you wait a bit for others before eating? It’s fine between us, but if it were someone else, they would be very displeased."

Upon hearing Zhou Huan’s words, Dongzi immediately dropped his chopsticks, stopping his chewing. "Brother, I’ll wait for you! I’m not eating!"

"Alright, eat!" Zhou Huan slowly sat down, his mind still preoccupied with the little beggar. He started eating, but after only a few bites, he said, "Dongzi, you keep eating first. Clean up when you’re done. I have to go out for a while."