Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1069 - 521: Beggar (Part 7)_2

"Also, being a king on the mountain here isn't the same as what I heard before. They said brute strength and fighting would suffice, but what's with guns? I'm the Three-legged Golden Toad; I'm just tough to beat. I can't spit fire, summon winds, spray water, or cause earthquakes with a stomp."

"When I first arrived, I begged for two months and thought it was too slow to make money, so I considered robbery. You know Director Huang who works for the government? He's super rich, with lots of gold bars at home. I scouted him for a long time, planning a big hit, but I almost got shot to death."

"If I hadn't run fast, I'd be dead now."

"If I just die like that, it'd be a disgrace. I'm not a Plant Spirit. Wherever us Three-legged Golden Toads go, there's always a gang of underlings following. Even if I don't have hundreds underlings ruling a mountain, if I die such an unclear death, I'd be laughed at by other frogs."

"It was after that incident that I realized, robbery might be quick cash, but it's too dangerous. Begging is better; it's stable, free, and not too risky. If you rob rich families, they'll pull out guns, but if you beg, the most they'll do is kick you twice. Bullets are expensive; it's not worth shooting a beggar."

An Youyou spoke sincerely, her eyes earnest, clearly pouring out her heart as she shared her experience with Chen Shun.

"Chen Shun, listen to me, stop reading those books. If you feel your parents treat you well and there's some affection, pretend you're going to study, and then come beg with me in the city."

"What's the use of studying? Can it make money as fast as begging? Don't be fooled by how Thirteen seems to be earning a lot now. Wait until New Year's Eve; you'll see. I can get a day's begging worth several months of Thirteen's wages!"

"Trust me, aside from robbery, begging is the best and most stable way!"

Chen Shun refused An Youyou's advice, swallowing his porridge, "Impossible."

"Begging might be quick money, but it's undignified and not a proper job, and it's risky. My parents sent me to school hoping I'd change my fortunes and not be a farmer, so I could get a proper job and support the family later. If I beg with you on New Year's Eve, my dad will definitely hang me up and beat me."

"My dad has been farming for decades; he's not weaker than you."

"You wouldn't want me to reincarnate early, right? I know you don't care, but if I reincarnate, you won't have anyone to talk to."

Chen Shun's words immediately persuaded An Youyou; she had to give up, "Alright, bad luck for you."

"If I beg a lot on New Year's Eve, I'll share a piece of pork raised with you that night!"

"If Fu Ji's pork hock weren't so expensive, I couldn't afford it; I'd want to buy it directly from Fu Ji. Do you think Thirteen's cooking is good for pork hock? This big pork hock isn't cheap; what if Thirteen is only good at cooking small dishes and making porridge not pork hock?"

"Oh, I'm kind of regretting letting Thirteen make the pork hock. I've never eaten pork hock; it's sad. After begging so much money, I've never even tasted a pork hock."

Chen Shun laughed, "Besides letting Jiang Weiguo do it, who else can you let do it? You do it? Me do it? Or my mom do it? My mom's never cooked pork hock either. You've already entrusted the task to Jiang Weiguo, so you can only trust him. His skills aren't bad and he's stable, never boasting. If he dared to accept it, it means he can make pork hock, so just wait to eat."

An Youyou was persuaded again and could only nod, glancing wistfully at Chen Shun's bowl, "You haven't cleaned your bowl. Are you going to lick the rest? If you don't, I'll lick."

Chen Shun: ...

Chen Shun silently picked up the bowl and licked it again.

After eating and drinking to his satisfaction, An Youyou returned to his room and slept well, the quality of sleep was very good, but being pressed by two big quilts, An Youyou couldn't move much, not turning over all night.

The next morning, An Youyou followed his routine, first scolding and assigning work to his underlings, then heading to the river to plaster mud and beg in the city.

Qin Huai discovered that An Youyou's breakfast was fixed, while dinner was more random. What he ate at night depended on what Jiang Weiguo could bring back from Fu Ji.

The reason An Youyou got poorer as the year neared its end was not just because winter income from begging decreased as the underlings didn't enter the city, but mainly because An Youyou's quality of life improved.

Spending a fortune to rent a blue brick house, and living there, couldn't be cheap. Eating couldn't be shabby either. Previously, when An Youyou lived in a ruined temple, as the leader, she only ate two more pieces of salted fish than her underlings. The porridge mixed with various ingredients was the best food they got.

Now An Youyou drank millet porridge and ate eggs in the morning, drank rice porridge and ate stir-fried dishes at night. Her quality of life significantly improved, and her underlings also enjoyed better days, with grains and beans at each meal.

Eating like this, it's no wonder the money flows away.

No wonder in just a few months, compared to the last memory, An Youyou was obviously poorer.

Qin Huai's evaluation was: previously An Youyou was a leader, but all her followers were beggars and only met other beggars. They hadn't seen the world; the best meal they could imagine was spending a fortune for a few stuffed buns.

Now An Youyou is still a beggar, but one of her underlings found work in Fu Ji as an assistant, he's living in a blue brick house and has made spirit friends, he's familiar with Yu Chen. This circle obviously achieved a leap, eating well means pork hock, not buns.

Qin Huai could foresee that even if An Youyou begged a large sum on New Year's Eve, she'd probably not keep the money.

This time An Youyou might choose to feast in Fu Ji.

In the following days, An Youyou begged in an orderly manner.

The begging was very regular; morning speeches, city begging, in the evening squatting by the wall at Fu Ji's waiting for Jiang Weiguo to get off work, every night anticipating what to eat.

An Youyou's dinner differed daily.

The first day was fish giblet porridge and stir-fried white radish with minced meat; the second day was sweet potato porridge and stir-fried duck intestine with celery; the third day was fish head porridge and stir-fried greens; the fourth day was cured meat porridge and stir-fried cabbage with chicken giblets. Notably, the cured meat on the fourth day was bitten by a mouse and slightly spoiled. An Youyou deliberately spent 5 minutes before bed hoping for Fu Ji's mice to bite more of the cured meat upon hearing it would be discarded.

The fifth day was New Year's Eve.

This was the highlight for beggars.

An Youyou unusually didn't stay in bed until all underlings woke up pretending to just wake up, but got up early while it was still dark to rally all the underlings for a New Year's Eve begging mobilization.

Sleepy-eyed, dressed in layers for warmth and windproof, stuffed with straw in their clothes, the underlings lined up to hear the leader's speech.

"Do you roughly know what today is?"

"I know, boss, it's New Year!" Little Ninth eagerly replied, as An Youyou's longest-serving and most cherished underling.

"That's right." An Youyou gave Little Ninth an approving look, "It's New Year; the city's wealthy will give out porridge and food. Today's a festive day, so put away your crying voices and start saying lucky phrases!"

"Do you remember the lucky phrases I taught you before?"

"We remember!" the underlings chorused.

"Speak nicely, sell pitifully. Limp when you walk; crawl if you can. Bend your backs. No matter how thick your clothes are, those young masters and misses won't know what beggars wear in winter. In their eyes, it's all the same."

"We've got plenty of bowls now; each person at least takes three. Today's task is to get at least 10 bowls of food! Take back all the meals we missed last month. Got it?"

"Got it!" the underlings chorused again.

"Good, let's shout our slogan one more time. What's our slogan?"

"Begging is the best job in the world!"

"Okay, let's go! Whether we can eat pork hock at Lantern Festival depends on today!"

"Pork hock?" Xiao Si burst into cheers, "Boss, I'll beg well so you can eat pork hock at Lantern Festival!"

"Great." An Youyou was pleased with Xiao Si's awareness, "If the boss gets a bite of pork hock, you'll get a plate to lick. Only you get to lick the Lantern Festival pork hock plate; no one else is allowed."

With that, all the underlings cast envious, jealous, and resentful glances at Xiao Si.

Jiang Weiguo, Chen Shun, and Sister in law Chen quietly watched all this: ...

Jiang Weiguo awkwardly explained, "Our boss is just like that."

Sister in law Chen understandingly smiled, "I know. She's just a child, yet has to care for so many children. She's a kind-hearted good kid."