64 Petty Thief

Deceived, this was the conclusion after my research and analysis was completed.

Luo Luo had told me some stuff about the process of human beings giving birth…..the human men actually were unable to give birth to children, and a human woman the age of 65 was also unable to give birth to children. Because even if they had set their minds on having children, they were incapable, and as to how they were powerless, Luo Luo turned red and did not say. Jian Nan and Shao Zhong were also unwilling to tell me, with a stomach full of curiosity, I was only able to give up.

In addition, human beings also needed ten months before giving birth, and I had thought it was two months like a cat. So many wonders ah! I must tell Bi Qingshen Jun later! But…..he doesn't seem to have any children, is it possible that he is incapable as well?

I don't want to think anymore, in any case, it is impossible for that 15 years old boy to have a five year child. After understanding this, I became angry, so I moved to a nearby tree and sharpened my claws against it, indicating that I was determined to get revenge.

At the sound of the tree crashing down, we began to investigate the whereabouts of youth. After Luo Luo thought about it, she told us that in the past, she met this youth before. It seems he frequently comes and goes out from Fish Gut Alley. And after I had sniffed the ground, I also felt that this was the right direction.

Fish Gut Alley was located on the northern street, and was very narrow, only one person was able to walk through at a time. The walls there were old and cracked, and there was garbage everywhere, causing an unpleasant odor to leak into the surrounding.

This alley way was home to 78 families, with most consisting of the elderly, women, and children. They all wore ragged clothing, their bodies had an unpleasant stench, and most did simple embroidery and sewed shoes for a living. Occasionally, there would be scenes of parents beating their child or arguments between drunkards. The very old and elderly people just sat in chairs and basked in the sun, and their eyes were cloudy, as if they had accustomed to this lifestyle, or just did not care.

As Luo Luo walked, she suddenly turned her head and quietly said, "Miao Miao Shifu…..let's just forget about it, the people living here are very poor. Although the kid deceived you, he…..he might really have a reason for it….."

Shao Zhong scratched his head, and then stared at our surrounding and hesitated. Jian Nan took this chance to advise, "We should just forget about it, it wasn't even that much money, so let's stop chasing him."

"No!" I strongly disagreed with their suggestions, "Normally when I steal and lie to people, I will be taught a lesson from Shifu, he stole both money and tricked us! We have to go and give him a lesson!"

They helplessly continued to follow me down the alley, and as I went down the path, I discovered the youth's scent in the innermost region. The little courtyard and house in front of my eyes was probably the cleanest and tidiest in the entire Fish Gut Alley. The inside exuded the scent of herbs and medicines, which reminded me of the hateful Mo Lin.

He should be right inside.

Thinking back to the past at Luoying Mountain and the 'kick down the door and beat the people' Yin Zi taught me, I ruthlessly knocked down their door, and screamed inside, "Stinking brat! Come out! You dare to actually deceive Granny Cat!"

That youth was carrying a medicine bowl and walked towards the house as I shouted, and from the shock, his hands trembled and he had dropped the bowl, shattering it into many pieces. The medicine inside the bowl was also spilled, which in turn, also increased the scent of medicine in the air.

In an imposing manner, I walked over to him, lifted him from the ground, and shouted, "Admit your mistakes! The ones who lie are bad children!"

Beside me, Shao Zhong held onto his, and said with a wry smile, "If you offer us an apology, then we won't make it difficult for you."

But the youth roared something unexpected, "Why should I apologize?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Hmph! You still want to trick us!" The angry me had decided that it would be good to leave with him a few scratches on his face as souvenir. But from his feet, appeared a small little hand that grabbed at my skirt, as well as pulling and hitting me, and said, "You're not allowed to bully my Gege! You are a bad person!"

Since when did I become the bad guy? I lowered my head in surprise, and found a little girl around the age of four or five with big eyes staring at me. Her face was full of tears, and had kept hitting me with her pink and tender little fists.

From the house, suddenly came a hoarse voice, "Who has come this time? Diu Diu, did you steal other people's stuff again?"

"No! I didn't steal, so don't fret mother." The youth hurriedly shouted, and did not stop trying to free himself from my hands.

This…..how did this happen? We were all perplexed at this current development, did the 60 plus years old woman really give birth to a child?

Shao Zhong walked forward, approached me, and made the me who was still in a daze to release the youth. The young boy named Diu Diu immediately layed on the ground and stared at the medicine with a face full of pain. Tears also began to roll down his face and onto the ground.

I didn't know what to do, so I embarrassingly opened my mouth, "That…..I…..how did this happen….."

Diu Diu wiped his reddened eyes and cleaned his face from his tears. His face had a smile as he touched the little girl's head and said, "Douzi be good, Gege is alright, it's just friends that came to look for me, so go and play with Xiaohu Zi off to the side."

Douzi was a bit skeptical and turned her head to stare at us. Shao Zhong and Jian Nan immediately nodded, "We came to look for your Gege for some stuff." Thus she happily ran out the door.

Diu Diu did not make us wait and lead us inside the house. I quickly went inside to take a look, and was surprised that in this small little house, there was a flat wooden bed on the ground, and on that wooden bed was a wrinkly and old lady. This old lady had tears in her eyes, and with trembling and shaking hands, she pointed at Diu Diu's nose and scolded, "You child, where did you get the money to buy medicine? You must've stole it from other people, right? Speak!"

Shao Zhong and the others also came over to take a peek, but were only able to see Diu Diu fixing the old lady's quilt. He said, "Mother, what kind of words are those? This money was bestowed upon me by the lords earlier, Diu Diu is filial, so he went to buy medicine with it."

"Then…..how come I heard a ruckus from the outside?" The old lady was skeptical.

"They were just joking with me, it's alright, it's alright. See, there's no more ruckus, right?"

"It's my fault that I have dragged you with me, if I had died earlier, then wouldn't it be better?" The old lady was unable to put her finger down, she half-closed her eyes and stared at the ceiling, and then fell into a deep slumber under Diu Diu's coaxing.

Seeing that she had peacefully fell asleep, Diu Diu finally came out, brought us to a small room, and whispered, "Lords, even if you guys want to take back that money, it's not possible. I took the money to buy medicine, and right now, it's all on the ground, so can you guys please let me off the hook?"

"Why is your mother so old? And why is the child so young?" Shao Zhong asked the thoughts that were bottled in everyone's hearts.

"This…..so it was for this….." Diu Diu let out a sigh and told us about the whole matter. That old granny, surname Chen, was a detached widow, and her husband had died long ago. She normally lived off of doing needlework. Diu Diu and Douzi were orphans that were kindly picked up and raised by her, they had long since regarded her as their biological mother.

"Mother was paralyzed and started coughing up blood half a year ago. To treat her illness, all of our savings were spent, and because we really didn't have any choice, we started stealing….." Diu Diu explained to us, "I really didn't trick you guys, and I've never once said that Douzi was my child…..so please just forgive me, and if you aren't willing, then you can beat me once, but please don't send me to the government office (yamen), the two of them still need me to take care of them….."

After he finished speaking, he lowered his head in silence. Jian Nan and Luo Luo appeared to be familiar with these sort of things, but Shao Zhong and I who have never experience what it was to be in poverty were forced into being quiet, not knowing what to do…..