Chen Pi watched the cockfighting pit all day and night, but didn’t place any bets. He was waiting for Qinhuai Murderer to come out, but it appeared the rooster wasn’t fighting that day. His anger had finally calmed down some, so he bought some wine and walked over to the rear coop. As he peeked through the curtain from a distance, he could see that “Qinhuai Murderer” was locked in a carved mahogany cockfighting cage. The cage was half a man high, and the two pole buckles on top made it look like a sedan chair. Chen Pi glared at the rooster through the curtain, and the rooster glared right back without a trace of fear. There were several rooster servants on both sides who were using sheep knives to cut meat into strips to give to the rooster. Upon seeing Chen Pi approach, everyone stopped working and looked at him coldly.
Chen Pi had to turn and walk away silently. He stretched his arms and then sat by the riverbank for a while.
As dawn approached, the fishing boats got to work. The river had been peaceful for several days after Chun Si’s family had died, so most of the fishing boats started returning from the lakes. But there was an underlying sense that it was the calm before the storm.
At dawn, he went back to the bathhouse and found Chun Shen asleep on the steps. He was leaning sideways against the wall, and his bowl had fallen to the side. There were some leftovers in it, and when Chen Pi picked it up, he saw that half the bowl had been carefully eaten. Chun Shen obviously didn’t dare finish eating while waiting for Chen Pi to come back, and had left half a steamed bun for him.
It was already starting to smell, so Chen Pi poked around it, but still didn’t find a coin. He felt around Chun Shen’s pocket, but didn’t find anything there either.
Chen Pi glared at the sleeping Chun Shen, angry beyond words. He threw all the leftovers on the ground and raised his hand to slap Chun Shen awake, but suddenly rethought it and put his hand back down.
He remembered his goal and knew he couldn’t wait anymore. He thought of Qinhuai Murderer, and hated that a rooster was living a more comfortable life than him.
He took out a coin from his pocket, threw it into Chun Shen’s bowl, and then walked into the bathhouse.
After taking a few steps, however, he stopped and looked up at the sky.
He felt that Xi Qi was watching him, so doing it this way wouldn’t work. Xi Qi Xiucai was an accountant, after all, so he would never miss a coin.
He stepped over Chun Shen dejectedly, took his money back, huddled into a corner, and soon fell asleep. He was exhausted after spending days watching the cockfighting pit, and the rage had slowly worn away. Tomorrow’s the last day, he told himself. No matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll get a hundred coins.
When Chun Shen woke up, Chen Pi was already asleep. He saw the leftovers lying there and picked up the half-eaten bun, breaking it in half. As he ate one of the halves, he looked at Chen Pi and put the other half on the sleeping man’s chest. He then picked up his bowl and limped out.
The air was so crisp that morning that Chun Shen had to squint as he walked to the market with his bowl.
Most of the shops were opening one right after the other.
The boss of the rice shop in the eastern part of the city had closed it and fled to the northwest. That day had been the last day before he left, so he gave the remaining tofu to Chun Shen. But Chun Shen didn’t understand the ways of the world. If a begging bowl was full, people would think he no longer needed charity and was just being abhorrently greedy.
Chun Shen walked among the crowd, holding his bowl up, but no one looked at him. He walked to the end of the street and then came back.
He sat at the door of the rice shop, put his bowl at his feet, and then looked at the pedestrians passing by in front of him. His clothes were too thin and his feet were covered in frostbite, but all he could do was curl in on himself to try and stay warm.
He stared blankly. The steamed bun stall opposite closed at noon, but no one gave him steamed buns this time. It was a lot colder today, and the stall owner’s little daughter was wearing a red cotton-padded jacket. She and Chun Shen looked at each other.
It was getting colder and colder, and the clouds were rolling in.
He retracted his little hands into his sleeves and curled up into a ball. As he sat there in a daze, he suddenly felt a figure sit down.
He rubbed his eyes, looked up, and saw a large, half-naked man with especially white skin sitting beside him.
As if he wasn’t afraid of the cold at all, the big man took a few deep breaths of the cold air, looked down at Chun Shen, and then said slowly, “Little boy, when I visited your boat last time, I forgot something. Where’s my flag?”
Chun Shen’s body shook. He recognized that this man was the hitmen’s leader who killed his whole family.
“It wasn’t easy to find you. I also heard from the people at the dock that there was a small survivor. Fortunately, our boss said I only needed to get the no-contribution flag back. Since everyone on your boat is gone, I have to take the flag back. I went to your boat, but the flag’s gone. Someone saw you take it.” The hitmen’s leader touched Chun Shen’s hair. “Little boy, give me back the flag and you’ll get to see your father and mother again, ok?”
Chun Shen was shaking all over as he stared blankly at the leader and remained silent.
The leader picked up his bowl, put it in his hands, and then tried to pick him up.
Chun Shen immediately shrank back, refusing to let him hold him. All the nearby people stopped and watched as the leader tried to drag Chun Shen away.
The leader looked around impatiently, but didn’t let go. He then squatted down, took out a coin, and put it in the bowl. “Little boy, little boy, go with uncle now.”
Chun Shen sat there stiffly, watching the coin roll around in the bowl. He stared at the copper coin, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to catch it. As soon as he dropped his guard, the hitmen’s leader picked him up and started walking towards the riverbank.
Chun Shen lay on the leader’s shoulder without struggling and watched the street fade away. People looked at them a few times, but then turned to keep on walking, not caring anymore.
Chun Shen clutched the coin tightly, as if he were holding on to his only hope.
MereBear's Translation 
😢😢😢
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thank you for the chapter
poor kid..sigh
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