What exactly is a secret?
A secret is the only thing that you can have the pleasure of enjoying all to yourself.
Perhaps it makes you happy or causes you suffering, but no matter what, it belongs to you completely.
If it causes suffering, than it is yours to bear alone; if it causes you joy, than you can't share it with others.
Not even with your best friends.
Because if anyone else were to know, then it's not a secret.
× × ×
Some secrets surely are a joy to have.
After a warm bath and a good meal, and you are wearing comfortable, loose fitting clothes, sitting in a comfortable chair, watching the setting sun, and suddenly your secret comes to mind, you will naturally feel good inside...
If you have this kind of secret, you might as well keep it forever, otherwise it's better to let it out right away.
(2)
Big G was sitting on the balcony, he had been sitting there for a long time.
If he had anything else to do he wouldn't be sitting there.
Some people would rather wonder around aimlessly, watching the bustle of the streets, or watch wild dogs fighting in the corner, anything besides staying shut up inside.
Big G was that kind of person.
But all he could do right now was sit there in a daze.
There were icicles hanging from the eaves, long and short, it was hard to tell how many of them there were.
But Big G knew, there was a total of sixty-three icicles, twenty-six long ones, and thirty-seven shorter ones.
Because he had already counted them more than a dozen times.
It was absolutely freezing, there was nobody on the streets, and who knew where all of the wild dogs had disappeared to.
He had lived more than twenty years, had survived more than twenty winters, but these few days had been colder than anything he could remember.
A truly unfortunate person feels that even the weather is out to spite him.
He often came upon misfortune, but he had never felt as rotten as he did now.
Bad luck seems to be a contagious disease, one person's misfortune has a way of dragging down all the people around them.
So he wasn't sitting by himself.
Swally, Dash, and Forest were all sitting there, staring blankly.
Forest suddenly asked, "Guess how many icicles there are?"
Swally: "Sixty-three."
Dash: "Twenty-six long ones and thirty-seven short ones."
Big G couldn't stop himself from laughing, "You all counted them as well."
Swally: "I have already counted them forty times."
Dash: "I only counted them three times, because I am reluctant to count them too many times."
Big G: "Reluctant?"
Dash: "Because I want to save it for later, there's no rush."
Big G wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.
What Dash said was funny, but rather pathetic at the same time.
Big G suddenly stood up and turned around, looking at the table in the centre of the room.
A rosewood table with a large piece of marble inlayed.
"I wonder if I have enough strength to carry this table to our uncle's house?" Big G mumbled.
Dash: "You don't."
Big G blinked, "Why don't I give it a try?"
Dash: "There's no need."
Big G: "Why?"
Dash: "I know you can lift a table with nothing on it, but if there was something extremely heavy on top, that's a lot different."
Big G: "There isn't anything on the table."
Dash: "There is."
Big G: "What?"
Dash: "Honor! And it's not just my honor, but all of ours. We not only accepted rent money, but took a management fee as well, if you go and pawn someone else's things, what would be left of our dignity?" he casually elaborated.
Big G sighed, smiling bitterly, "You're right, I certainly can't lift this table."
Dash: "Nothing in this world is more important than honor, so there is only one kind of person who would be able to lift it up."
Big G: "What kind of person?"
Dash: "Someone who is shameless."
Forest sighed, "Those type of people normally aren't starving."
Swally: "Pigs normally aren't starving either."
Forest smiled, "So if a person wants to uphold his honor, there are times when he has to let his stomach down, in the end honor is more important than your stomach."
Swally: "Because people are different than pigs, only pigs would consider their stomachs to be more important than honor."
Forest: "So some people would rather go hungry than act shamelessly."
Dash: "But we aren't starving to death, isn't that right?"
Forest: "Right."
Dash: "Even though we haven't had much to eat for a few days, we always mange to survive."
Big G puffed out his chest, "You have to admit, we certainly are braver than most."
Dash: "As long as we don't give up, there will always be new opportunities."
Big G's face lit up with a smile, "That's right, since winter has arrived, can spring really be that far behind?"
Dash: "As long as we wait for that day, we can hold our heads high, because we haven't wronged anybody, and we were true to ourselves."
Forest was hesitant, but he finally asked, "Can we last till then?"
"Of course." Big G answered immediately.
He walked over and put his arm around Forest's shoulder, "Even though we don't have anything, we at least have friendship," he said smiling.
Forest was looking at him, he suddenly felt warm inside.
He suddenly felt courageous enough.
No matter what trials awaited them, no matter how cold the weather, it didn't bother him.
He suddenly ran out.
He didn't come back until evening, and he was carrying a wrapped bundle.
He held up the bundle, "Guess what I brought back?" he asked with a smile.
Big G blinked, "Could it be steamed buns?"
Forest laughed, "Correct."
Sure enough, it was a wrapped bundle of steamed buns.
Four big steamed buns, with a big, fat, piece of meat stuffed inside each one.
"Long live Forest!" Big G shouted happily.
He picked up his steamed bun, "You have my respect, even if you threatened to kill me I don't think I would be able to produce half a steamed bun," he said smiling.
Swally had his eyes fixed on Forest, "You obviously didn't make these steamed buns?"
Forest was smiling, "Perhaps they fell from the sky."
He picked up a steamed bun and gave it to Dash.
Dash shook his head, "I won't eat it."
Forest: "Why?"
Dash sighed, "Because I could never bring myself to eat your clothes."
Big G had just finished taking a bite, he froze.
He just realized that Forest was missing a piece of clothing—his warmest layer.
Forest didn't have many clothes to start with.
His lips were so cold they were turning white, but he was smiling happily, "That's right, I pawned my clothes in exchange for these steamed buns. Because I was hungry, when a person is hungry, who can blame him for pawning his clothes."
Dash: "Then, you should have finished eating first, otherwise..."
Forest interrupted him, "I didn't hide away and eat all by myself because I'm selfish."
Dash: "Selfish?"
Forest: "Because the four of us eating together makes me happier than I would be if I was hiding by myself."
× × ×
Friendship.
They shared their blessings and they shared their struggles.
If someone has this kind of friends, then what is the harm of being a little poor or cold?
× × ×
Big G was slowly chewing on his bun, "To be honest, I have never eaten anything so good before in my entire life," he suddenly said.
Forest smiled, "That wasn't honest, it's nothing but a cold bun."
Big G: "Although its cold, even if someone wanted to trade all of the fish and meat in the world for my cold bun, I wouldn't do it."
Forest's eyes seemed to go a little red, he grabbed Big G's hand, "After hearing that I realize just how good this steamed bun is."
Some words are like a mysterious spell, they can make a cold bun taste better, make winter feel warm, and bring excitement to an otherwise boring life.
If you want to learn how to do this, then you have to first learn how to cherish your friends.
Big G suddenly sighed, "Too bad my clothes are too old."
Forest: "There is nothing wrong with old clothes."
Big G sighed, "Too bad Skinned Alive doesn't think that way, otherwise..."
Swally smiled, "Otherwise you would have stripped down by now and exchanged them for alcohol, isn't that right?"
"That's right," Big G smiled bitterly.
Swally suddenly stood up and walked outside.
Big G: "There is no point in trying, your clothes are older than mine."
Swally wasn't paying him any attention, he walked out quickly, and then came back shortly.
He came back carrying a kettle of water.
Swally: "When you have visitors during a cold night, tea is better than alcohol, since tea can replace alcohol, why can't water?"
"I never imagined you're so sophisticated," Big G couldn't help laughing.
Swally smiled, "When we are dirt poor, how could we not be so sophisticated?"
× × ×
This was their attitude towards life.
When there was alcohol, they drank more than anybody, when there wasn't any alcohol, water would do.
Drinking alcohol made them very happy, but they were just as happy with water.
So they lived happier lives than others.
× × ×
But there was at least one difference between drinking alcohol and drinking water.
The more alcohol you drink, the warmer you become; the more water you drink, the colder you become.
Especially drinking cold water in this kind of weather.
Big G suddenly stood up and started to do somersaults.
Swally laughed, "What are you doing?"
Big G: "I have experience, moving makes you warm, why don't you give it a try?"
Swally shook his head, "Because I also have experience, the faster you move the quicker you get hungry."
Big G smiled, "You are over thinking, as long as you are warm now, what's the point of..."
Before he finished speaking.
He suddenly noticed something fall in front of him.
Something glistening yellow: Gold.
× × ×
The gold didn't fall from the sky, it fell from inside Big G's inner pocket.
During his six somersault, his head was pointing down with his feet in the air, the gold fell out of his inner pocket. It fell in front of him with a thud.
Any amount of gold that made a thud when it fell was sure to be heavy.
It was indeed a very thick gold chain, there was even a golden heart attached to it.
The golden heart was at least twice as big as a real chicken's heart.
It was impossible to imagine that such a poor person who hadn't eaten anything in days would unexpectedly drop such a thick gold chain.
But Dash and them couldn't help but to believe it, because the three of them had clearly seen it happen.
They wished that they hadn't seen it.
They truly did not want to believe that it was real.
Forest pawned his warmest piece of clothing, and Big G had been hiding such a thick gold chain the whole time.
He had a concealed gold chain pretending to be poor in front of his friends, playing the part perfectly.
What kind of friend is that?
They truly did not want to believe that Big G was that kind of friend.
Dash suddenly yawned, "Why do I always feel like sleeping after eating?" he mumbled.
He went to go sleep, he walked past right in front of Big G as if he had never seen the gold chain, as if he didn't even notice Big G.
Forest also yawned, "With such cold weather, what better place to be than snuggled up in bed?"
He also went to go sleep, as if he hadn't seen anything.
Only Swally was still sitting there, staring blankly.
After a long while, Big G slowly brought his feet down, and slowly stood up straight.
He was having difficulties standing up straight.
There were no stars, no moon, only a single lamp.
A very small lamp, because there wasn't much oil left for the lamp.
But the gold chain still sparkled brightly under the dim light.
Big lowered his head, he took a look at the gold chain, "That's strange, why does gold sparkle so brightly even in the dark?" he mumbled.
"Perhaps that's one of the benefits of gold, otherwise why would so many people consider it to be more important than friends?" Swally replied casually.
Big G was stunned, he suddenly looked up, "Why aren't you going to sleep?"
Swally: "I am waiting."
Big G: "Waiting for what?"
Swally: "Waiting for you to explain..."
"I don't have anything to say, if you all take me for that kind of person then that is who I am," he said loudly.
Swally looked at him intently, after a long time he slowly stood up, and then slowly walked away.
Big G didn't look at him.
The cold wind was blowing strong.
The lamp was almost out of oil when a sudden gust of cold wind unexpectedly blew it out.
But the gold chain was still glistening.
Big G hung his head looking down at the gold chain, after who knows how long he slowly bent over and picked up the gold chain.
He held the gold chain in the palm of his hand.
Tears suddenly streamed down his face, wetting his palm one drop at a time.
The chain was cold as ice, but his tears felt like fire.
He knelt abruptly, finally sobbing, but he tried hard not to make a sound.
He wasn't willing to let other people hear him cry.
This was his secret, it was also his most painful memory. He didn't want others to know about this secret, and he wasn't willing to burden others with his suffering.
So nobody knew the depths of his suffering, or how intensely it burned.
Although it happened a long, long time ago, even now, just thinking about it broke his heart.
He knew that this would be his burden for the rest of his life, not even death would free him from this.
What just happened also hurt.
He had preferred death over losing his friends.
But he didn't give an explanation, because he knew that they wouldn't forgive him. He couldn't even forgive himself.
Perhaps the greatest suffering in life comes from holding everything to yourself.
"I can't tell them... How could I tell them? ..."
"How would I have the dignity to stay here?"
The cold wind blew even stronger.
He clenched his teeth and wiped his tears away in silence. He stood up, no matter how cold and cruel the world could be, he was ready to face it on his own.
He made a mistake and it was his burden to carry. He wasn't willing to give an explanation or to ask for forgiveness, not even in front of his friends.
But God knows, he really did value his friends more than his own life.
"Goodbye my friends, one day you will understand. When that day comes, you will still be my friends, but right now..."
His tears started to flow again.
Just as he was reaching to wipe his tears away, he saw Swally.
He not only saw Swally, but Dash and Forest as well.
They had found their way back, standing there quietly, watching him silently.
He couldn't make our their facial expressions, but he could see three bright pair of eyes.
He hoped that they couldn't see his face, that they couldn't see his tears.
He coughed weakly, "Shouldn't you all be asleep?"
Forest: "We couldn't sleep."
Big G forced himself to smile, "You should at least be wrapped in your blankets in this kind of weather, what on earth could be better?"
Dash: "Right here."
Swally: "Right here is better."
Big G: "What is so special about here?"
Dash: "Just one thing."
(3)
Swally: "Friends, blankets can't offer friendship."
Big G suddenly felt a surge of warmth in his heart, it was as if his throat was blocked.
A long time passed before he could finally speak.
He hung his head, "You don't have a friend here, I'm not worthy of your friendship."
Dash: "Says who?"
Swally: "I didn't say anything."
Forest: "Me neither."
Dash: "We came here to say one thing."
Big G clenched his fists, "You... say it."
Dash: "We trust you, we understand that no matter what happened you are still our friend."
× × ×
That is friendship.
Friends can share in your joy, and they can also share your burdens.
If you encounter hardship, they are willing to help.
If you are in danger, they are willing to stand up for you.
Even if you did make a mistake, they would be understanding.
In front of these kind of friends, why would you need to keep secrets?
(4)
The cold, strong winds were still blowing outside.
It was still dark inside.
But in that moment, all they could feel was a bright warmth. Because they knew that they had friends, real friends.
You can always feel warm around friends.
"Regardless of what happened, you will always be our friend."
Big G's blood was boiling.
He would rather have died than cry in front of others, but the tears were already flowing.
He would rather have died than to talk about his bitter secret, but now he was willing to share.
No one could make him do this, except his friends.
He finally spoke about his secret.
× × ×
There were a lot of pretty girls from Big G's hometown, and the prettiest of them all was called Pearl.
He fell in love with Pearl, and she loved him.
She was his everything, he told her that he was willing to sacrifice the rest of his life for her.
He wasn't like other men, just saying something sweet.
He was truly willing to live that way.
Pearl was very poor, but when Big G's parents passed away that was no longer the case.
Because he knew that she belonged to him, and she had said that all of her belonged to him as well.
To make her happy, to earn her trust, he was willing to do anything.
And then he discovered something.
Pearl didn't actually love him.
Just like many of the other girls, she didn't really mean what she said.
She had promised to marry him, and other than him there would be nobody else.
They had already set the wedding date.
But the day before they were to marry, she gave herself to someone else.
She betrayed everything that Big G had given her, and had eloped with another.
The gold necklace had been her promise gift to him.
It was the only thing that she had ever given him.
× × ×
Nobody said anything, they didn't know what to say.
Big G was the first person to break the silence. He suddenly chuckled, "You will never guess who she ran off with."
Forest: "Who?"
Big G: "My stableman."
With a big smile he continued, "I treated her as the most valuable thing in the world, like a goddess, but she ran off with the one person I looked down upon the most, is that ridiculous or what?"
It wasn't funny.
Nobody would think that something like this was funny.
Big G was the only one laughing, because he knew that he would probably start crying if he stopped laughing.
He kept laughing for quite some time, "This did teach me an important lesson," he suddenly said.
Forest: "What lesson?"
He didn't really want to ask him the question, but he suddenly felt that it would be better if Big G wasn't talking to just himself.
He felt that he should be very supportive.
Big G: "The lesson is, men should never value women too highly, if you respect her above everything else, she will take you for a fool, and treat you like nothing."
"You're wrong," Swally suddenly replied.
Big G: "Who says I'm wrong?"
Swally: "She never acted that way because you valued her—there is only one reason for a women to behave this way."
Big G: "For what reason?"
Swally: "Because she was never a good person."
Big G was silent, he finally nodded his head, "So I don't blame her, I only blame myself, I blame myself for falling for the wrong person," he smiled bitterly.
"That's not the right way of thinking about it," Dash suddenly said.
Big G: "Not right?"
Dash: "You keep beating yourself up about this because you've never looked at it from the other side, all you can think about is that she lied to you, that you were rejected by her."
Big G: "Isn't that what happened?"
Dash: "You should at least think about it from another perspective."
Big G: "How should I think about it?"
Dash: "Think about the positive side."
"I can't," Big G gave a bitter smile.
Dash: "Did you ever see her do anything with the stableman?"
Big G: "Nope."
Dash: "Then how do you know that she eloped with the stableman?"
Big G was stunned, "I... I wasn't the only one who thought that, everybody came to the same conclusion."
Dash: "And why should you think that way just because everyone else thought that way? If people thought you should go eat shit, would you?" Big G didn't have a reply.
Dash: "Everyone has biases. None of those people understood her, so how could they come to the right conclusions? Not to mention, there is often misunderstandings between the best of friends." He smiled, and continued explaining, "For example, what happened just now, there was a good chance we would all misunderstand you, and think that you were stingy, think that you were a horrible friend."
Big G: "But she really did suddenly disappear on the same day as the stableman."
Dash: "Then maybe that was just a coincidence."
Big G: "You think coincidences like that happen?"
Dash: "Yeah, they happen all the time."
Big G: "Then why did they leave all of a sudden?"
Dash: "Maybe the stableman didn't think that there was any future in what he was doing, so he wanted to try his luck somewhere else."
Big G: "And Pearl? What reason would she have for leaving? I even had the floral bridal litter all ready to go."
Dash: "How couldn't there be any other reason? What if that night, something unexpected happened that you didn't know anything about, and she had to leave; perhaps something beyond her control, like being kidnapped."
"Maybe there was something that she had always wanted to tell you, but could never find the right chance," Forest suddenly said.
Swally sighed, "One of the hardest things in this world is knowing that someone has misunderstood you, that you have been wronged, but there is no way to explain yourself."
Forest: "It hurts even more when you aren't given an opportunity to explain yourself."
Dash: "The hardest is when there are certain issues that you can't explain, like..."
Big G sighed, "Like just now, I really didn't want to have to explain that, if I had already left before you all returned, I might never have had a chance to explain myself."
Dash: "Right, are you thinking clearly now?"
Big G nodded his head.
Dash: "There is always more than one side to the story, if you can find a way to look at the bright side of things, you will have a good chance of finding happiness."
Swally: "Too bad some people never give you the benefit of the doubt, they always think the worst, and make a big deal out of small issues."
Dash: "These people are not only fools, it's practically self abuse, they always cause a lot of problems for themselves. You're not that kind of person are you?"
Big G smiled, "If anyone says I am that kind of person I will break their nose," he said loudly.
× × ×
So if you have a secret that is eating you away, its best to share it with a friend.
Because true friends not only share in your happiness, they can help relieve your suffering.
Big G felt a lot better, much happier.
Because he no longer had any secrets.
Because he was now able to see the bright side of things.
Even if these thoughts came back to haunt him in the middle of the night, they could no longer hurt him, at most they might make him feel a little down.
Sometimes feeling a little down could be a blessing.
(5)
"Even though the both of you were separated, maybe you're happier as a result."
"Maybe she found a nice home, as for you... If things hadn't changed, maybe you would be taking care of kids, changing diapers, and fighting every day about trivial matters."
"But now, you can both look back and remember all of the sweet times you two had together. If you remember all of the good things about the other person, even if you see them again, you will be happier because of it."
"Even if you never see them again, you at least have good memories. When you are sitting by the fire, you have something to warm you up inside."
"Everyone has their own destiny, there is no need to try and force things."
"So there is nothing really to be sad about," —This was the conclusion that Dash and his friends helped him to arrive at.
They never brought it up after that day, and nobody ever mentioned the gold necklace again.
They understood Big G's feelings, they understood the sentimental value that he placed on the gold necklace.
The value of certain things are often impossible to measure.
Dash was still lying down when Big G suddenly shouted, "Uncle has arrived."
He didn't have an uncle.
"Uncle" meant "Skinned Alive," the owner of the pawn shop.
His real name clearly wasn't Skinned Alive, and he wasn't in fact that ruthless, he just liked to skim a little off of the top—obviously he always did a thorough job.
The strange thing is, people who like to skim from the top are never very fat.
He looked like a dried out, wild rabbit, he was always squinting and never stood up strait. When he spoke to you, he always watched you from the corner of his eye, like he was trying to decide how much money all of your stuff was worth.
Although Dash visited him often, this was the first time that he had come to see them.
So Dash had to get up.
A guy like this, if he was willing to take the half an hour needed to climb up the mountain, there could only be one good reason.
The reason was more or less the same reason why a weasel would go to visit a chicken.
When Dash walked into the living room, Big G was smiling and asking, "What wind blew you over to this side of town, are you interested in buying Dash's house?"
He knew that Dash had previously tried more than twenty different ways to try and sell this house, but even if he wanted to give it away, nobody was interested.
Skinned Alive shook his head furiously, his head looked like it was about to fall off. He gave a dry laugh, "How could I afford such a big house? Ever since I met all of you, I have just about lost all of my money, fortunately I haven't had to buy your house."
Big G: "What if he gave you a good deal?"
Skinned Alive: "What would I do with it?"
Big G: "You can sell it to someone else, or you could come live in it yourself."
Skinned Alive: "Why would any normal person want to come and live here?"
Big G was thinking of some other way to do business, when Skinned Alive abruptly asked, "Are you all in need of money?"
Dash smiled, "When are we not short of money?"
Sinned Alive: "How would you all like to make an easy five hundred silvers?"
Obviously.
But anyone could tell that it wouldn't be easy to make any money off of this guy. Perhaps it would have been easier to pluck a hair from a tiger's head. Ceramic roosters didn't have any hair to pull out at all.
But five hundred silver taels was just too tempting.
Big G blinked, "Did you say five hundred?"
Sinned Alive: "Five hundred exactly."
Big G looked him up and down carefully, "Are you drunk?"
Skinned Alive: "I am perfectly sober, as long as you give me your word I can give you half up front right now."
He had always trusted them, although they didn't have a penny to their name, he knew that their word was worth its weight in gold.
Big G sighed deeply, "What do we have to do for this money?"
Skinned Alive: "Easy, you guys just have to walk with me to the county, and the money is yours."
Big G: "Walk? What kind of walking?"
Skinned Alive: "Obviously it means walking on your two legs."
Big G took a couple of strides, "Just like this?"
Skinned Alive: "Yeah."
Big G: "And then what?"
Skinned Alive: "And then you can bring home your five hundred silver taels."
Big G: "Nothing else?"
Skinned Alive: "Nothing."
Big G glanced at Dash, smiling: "Earning five hundred silvers just to go for a walk, have you ever heard of anything like this?"
Dash: "Nope."
Skinned Alive: "There are plenty of things that you all haven't heard about, that doesn't make them fake."
Dash: "You losing money can't be real."
Skinned Alive sighed, "Business has been a little tight these days, too many people coming to pawn things, but not enough buyers. Even if I stop taking new items I need to sell something, otherwise my profits will shrink to nothing."
Dash nodded his head, he appeared to be very sympathetic.
Big G couldn't help but ask, "Since you're losing money, why are you still doing it?"
Skinned Alive sighed, "What can I do, ah, why did I get into this business in the first place?"
Dash: "So you should keep those five hundred silvers for yourself and make them last."
"That's not the same, I want to help you guys make some money," he interrupted.
"Making money isn't easy, and all we have to do is walk with you for five hundred silver taels, we wouldn't have the heart to do that to you," Dash replied casually.
His pale face seemed to turn a little red, he coughed dryly, "Why not? Not to mention, obviously there is a purpose to all of you walking with me."
Dash: "What?"
Skinned Alive coughed a couple more times, forcing himself to smile, "Don't worry, I don't need to you to steal anything, and I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone."
Dash: "Don't worry, I won't be going anyway."
He was stunned, "You don't want five hundred silvers?".
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"No reason."
Skinned Alive stood there dazed, he suddenly smiled, "That's ok if you don't want to go, I can still..."
Swally: "He's not the only one."
"You won't go either?"
Swally: "I'm not going, and I don't have a reason for not going."
Forest smiled, "I thought I was the only one who didn't want to go, who would have thought that that nobody is interested."
Skinned Alive started to get anxious, "What's wrong with my money? Haven't you received money from me before?" he said loudly.
"If we wanted money from you, then naturally we would come and pawn something," Dash said casually.
"I don't need your things, I just need you all to walk to the county with me for five hundred silver tales, who wouldn't want that?"
Dash: "Yeah."
He started to look very agitated, "What is wrong with you guys? ... Sooner or later you're all going to starve to death... No wonder the likes of you are so poor," he yelled loudly.
× × ×
Dash and them did have issues.
They were certainly dirt poor, and hungry, but they weren't interested in making money under shady circumstances.
There is nothing wrong with taking something to pawn, they had basically pawned anything you could think of.
But they were merely pawning things, not themselves.
They would rather pawn their pants, as long as they could do it with a clear conscience.
They were only interested in doing what they felt like doing, and doing things that should be done.
(6)
Everyone needs to use the washroom, at least seven or eight times a day.
There is nothing funny or dirty about this sort of thing. It's just a regular, normal necessity of everyday life, so there is no point in mentioning it throughout our story.
If someone did want to write about these kind of things, then a one hundred thousand character story would take at least two hundred thousand characters to complete.
But there are moments when these type of things can't be avoided, like, right now—Dash had just finished coming out of the bathroom, it was the first thing he did every morning.
When he returned to the living room, he noticed that there was something peculiar about their facial expressions. It seemed as if there was something they wanted to say, but didn't know how to say it.
So Dash didn't ask, he was always good at keeping his cool. He also knew, that in these kind of situations, it was better to wait for them to just say it.
Swally couldn't help it, "Why didn't you ask?"
Dash: "Ask what?"
Swally: "Didn't you notice that someone is missing?"
Dash nodded his head, "It seems like we are missing someone."
Big G wasn't there.
Swally: "Why didn't you ask where he went?"
Dash smiled, "Why does it matter where he went, but if you are set on me asking, then there isn't any point in me asking."
He slowly sat down, looked around, and then asked, "So where did little G go?"
Swally suddenly laughed cynically, "You will never guess."
Dash: "So you just had to ask, because I will never be able to guess."
Swally was biting his lip, "He went after Skinned Alive, he followed after him as soon as he left."
Dash frowned, he did find it a little strange, "Why is he following him?"
Swally kept his mouth closed, he was holding something in. Dash was looking at him, and finally mumbled, "Did he actually go with him to earn five hundred silvers?"
He shook his head, "No way, little G is not that kind of person."
"I didn't want to believe it either, but I can't help but to believe it now," Swally smiled coldly.
Dash: "Why?"
What exactly is a secret?
A secret is the only thing that you can have the pleasure of enjoying all to yourself.
Perhaps it makes you happy or causes you suffering, but no matter what, it belongs to you completely.
If it causes suffering, than it is yours to bear alone; if it causes you joy, than you can't share it with others.
Not even with your best friends.
Because if anyone else were to know, then it's not a secret.
× × ×
Some secrets surely are a joy to have.
After a warm bath and a good meal, and you are wearing comfortable, loose fitting clothes, sitting in a comfortable chair, watching the setting sun, and suddenly your secret comes to mind, you will naturally feel good inside...
If you have this kind of secret, you might as well keep it forever, otherwise it's better to let it out right away.
(2)
Big G was sitting on the balcony, he had been sitting there for a long time.
If he had anything else to do he wouldn't be sitting there.
Some people would rather wonder around aimlessly, watching the bustle of the streets, or watch wild dogs fighting in the corner, anything besides staying shut up inside.
Big G was that kind of person.
But all he could do right now was sit there in a daze.
There were icicles hanging from the eaves, long and short, it was hard to tell how many of them there were.
But Big G knew, there was a total of sixty-three icicles, twenty-six long ones, and thirty-seven shorter ones.
Because he had already counted them more than a dozen times.
It was absolutely freezing, there was nobody on the streets, and who knew where all of the wild dogs had disappeared to.
He had lived more than twenty years, had survived more than twenty winters, but these few days had been colder than anything he could remember.
A truly unfortunate person feels that even the weather is out to spite him.
He often came upon misfortune, but he had never felt as rotten as he did now.
Bad luck seems to be a contagious disease, one person's misfortune has a way of dragging down all the people around them.
So he wasn't sitting by himself.
Swally, Dash, and Forest were all sitting there, staring blankly.
Forest suddenly asked, "Guess how many icicles there are?"
Swally: "Sixty-three."
Dash: "Twenty-six long ones and thirty-seven short ones."
Big G couldn't stop himself from laughing, "You all counted them as well."
Swally: "I have already counted them forty times."
Dash: "I only counted them three times, because I am reluctant to count them too many times."
Big G: "Reluctant?"
Dash: "Because I want to save it for later, there's no rush."
Big G wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.
What Dash said was funny, but rather pathetic at the same time.
Big G suddenly stood up and turned around, looking at the table in the centre of the room.
A rosewood table with a large piece of marble inlayed.
"I wonder if I have enough strength to carry this table to our uncle's house?" Big G mumbled.
Dash: "You don't."
Big G blinked, "Why don't I give it a try?"
Dash: "There's no need."
Big G: "Why?"
Dash: "I know you can lift a table with nothing on it, but if there was something extremely heavy on top, that's a lot different."
Big G: "There isn't anything on the table."
Dash: "There is."
Big G: "What?"
Dash: "Honor! And it's not just my honor, but all of ours. We not only accepted rent money, but took a management fee as well, if you go and pawn someone else's things, what would be left of our dignity?" he casually elaborated.
Big G sighed, smiling bitterly, "You're right, I certainly can't lift this table."
Dash: "Nothing in this world is more important than honor, so there is only one kind of person who would be able to lift it up."
Big G: "What kind of person?"
Dash: "Someone who is shameless."
Forest sighed, "Those type of people normally aren't starving."
Swally: "Pigs normally aren't starving either."
Forest smiled, "So if a person wants to uphold his honor, there are times when he has to let his stomach down, in the end honor is more important than your stomach."
Swally: "Because people are different than pigs, only pigs would consider their stomachs to be more important than honor."
Forest: "So some people would rather go hungry than act shamelessly."
Dash: "But we aren't starving to death, isn't that right?"
Forest: "Right."
Dash: "Even though we haven't had much to eat for a few days, we always mange to survive."
Big G puffed out his chest, "You have to admit, we certainly are braver than most."
Dash: "As long as we don't give up, there will always be new opportunities."
Big G's face lit up with a smile, "That's right, since winter has arrived, can spring really be that far behind?"
Dash: "As long as we wait for that day, we can hold our heads high, because we haven't wronged anybody, and we were true to ourselves."
Forest was hesitant, but he finally asked, "Can we last till then?"
"Of course." Big G answered immediately.
He walked over and put his arm around Forest's shoulder, "Even though we don't have anything, we at least have friendship," he said smiling.
Forest was looking at him, he suddenly felt warm inside.
He suddenly felt courageous enough.
No matter what trials awaited them, no matter how cold the weather, it didn't bother him.
He suddenly ran out.
He didn't come back until evening, and he was carrying a wrapped bundle.
He held up the bundle, "Guess what I brought back?" he asked with a smile.
Big G blinked, "Could it be steamed buns?"
Forest laughed, "Correct."
Sure enough, it was a wrapped bundle of steamed buns.
Four big steamed buns, with a big, fat, piece of meat stuffed inside each one.
"Long live Forest!" Big G shouted happily.
He picked up his steamed bun, "You have my respect, even if you threatened to kill me I don't think I would be able to produce half a steamed bun," he said smiling.
Swally had his eyes fixed on Forest, "You obviously didn't make these steamed buns?"
Forest was smiling, "Perhaps they fell from the sky."
He picked up a steamed bun and gave it to Dash.
Dash shook his head, "I won't eat it."
Forest: "Why?"
Dash sighed, "Because I could never bring myself to eat your clothes."
Big G had just finished taking a bite, he froze.
He just realized that Forest was missing a piece of clothing—his warmest layer.
Forest didn't have many clothes to start with.
His lips were so cold they were turning white, but he was smiling happily, "That's right, I pawned my clothes in exchange for these steamed buns. Because I was hungry, when a person is hungry, who can blame him for pawning his clothes."
Dash: "Then, you should have finished eating first, otherwise..."
Forest interrupted him, "I didn't hide away and eat all by myself because I'm selfish."
Dash: "Selfish?"
Forest: "Because the four of us eating together makes me happier than I would be if I was hiding by myself."
× × ×
Friendship.
They shared their blessings and they shared their struggles.
If someone has this kind of friends, then what is the harm of being a little poor or cold?
× × ×
Big G was slowly chewing on his bun, "To be honest, I have never eaten anything so good before in my entire life," he suddenly said.
Forest smiled, "That wasn't honest, it's nothing but a cold bun."
Big G: "Although its cold, even if someone wanted to trade all of the fish and meat in the world for my cold bun, I wouldn't do it."
Forest's eyes seemed to go a little red, he grabbed Big G's hand, "After hearing that I realize just how good this steamed bun is."
Some words are like a mysterious spell, they can make a cold bun taste better, make winter feel warm, and bring excitement to an otherwise boring life.
If you want to learn how to do this, then you have to first learn how to cherish your friends.
Big G suddenly sighed, "Too bad my clothes are too old."
Forest: "There is nothing wrong with old clothes."
Big G sighed, "Too bad Skinned Alive doesn't think that way, otherwise..."
Swally smiled, "Otherwise you would have stripped down by now and exchanged them for alcohol, isn't that right?"
"That's right," Big G smiled bitterly.
Swally suddenly stood up and walked outside.
Big G: "There is no point in trying, your clothes are older than mine."
Swally wasn't paying him any attention, he walked out quickly, and then came back shortly.
He came back carrying a kettle of water.
Swally: "When you have visitors during a cold night, tea is better than alcohol, since tea can replace alcohol, why can't water?"
"I never imagined you're so sophisticated," Big G couldn't help laughing.
Swally smiled, "When we are dirt poor, how could we not be so sophisticated?"
× × ×
This was their attitude towards life.
When there was alcohol, they drank more than anybody, when there wasn't any alcohol, water would do.
Drinking alcohol made them very happy, but they were just as happy with water.
So they lived happier lives than others.
× × ×
But there was at least one difference between drinking alcohol and drinking water.
The more alcohol you drink, the warmer you become; the more water you drink, the colder you become.
Especially drinking cold water in this kind of weather.
Big G suddenly stood up and started to do somersaults.
Swally laughed, "What are you doing?"
Big G: "I have experience, moving makes you warm, why don't you give it a try?"
Swally shook his head, "Because I also have experience, the faster you move the quicker you get hungry."
Big G smiled, "You are over thinking, as long as you are warm now, what's the point of..."
Before he finished speaking.
He suddenly noticed something fall in front of him.
Something glistening yellow: Gold.
× × ×
The gold didn't fall from the sky, it fell from inside Big G's inner pocket.
During his six somersault, his head was pointing down with his feet in the air, the gold fell out of his inner pocket. It fell in front of him with a thud.
Any amount of gold that made a thud when it fell was sure to be heavy.
It was indeed a very thick gold chain, there was even a golden heart attached to it.
The golden heart was at least twice as big as a real chicken's heart.
It was impossible to imagine that such a poor person who hadn't eaten anything in days would unexpectedly drop such a thick gold chain.
But Dash and them couldn't help but to believe it, because the three of them had clearly seen it happen.
They wished that they hadn't seen it.
They truly did not want to believe that it was real.
Forest pawned his warmest piece of clothing, and Big G had been hiding such a thick gold chain the whole time.
He had a concealed gold chain pretending to be poor in front of his friends, playing the part perfectly.
What kind of friend is that?
They truly did not want to believe that Big G was that kind of friend.
Dash suddenly yawned, "Why do I always feel like sleeping after eating?" he mumbled.
He went to go sleep, he walked past right in front of Big G as if he had never seen the gold chain, as if he didn't even notice Big G.
Forest also yawned, "With such cold weather, what better place to be than snuggled up in bed?"
He also went to go sleep, as if he hadn't seen anything.
Only Swally was still sitting there, staring blankly.
After a long while, Big G slowly brought his feet down, and slowly stood up straight.
He was having difficulties standing up straight.
There were no stars, no moon, only a single lamp.
A very small lamp, because there wasn't much oil left for the lamp.
But the gold chain still sparkled brightly under the dim light.
Big lowered his head, he took a look at the gold chain, "That's strange, why does gold sparkle so brightly even in the dark?" he mumbled.
"Perhaps that's one of the benefits of gold, otherwise why would so many people consider it to be more important than friends?" Swally replied casually.
Big G was stunned, he suddenly looked up, "Why aren't you going to sleep?"
Swally: "I am waiting."
Big G: "Waiting for what?"
Swally: "Waiting for you to explain..."
"I don't have anything to say, if you all take me for that kind of person then that is who I am," he said loudly.
Swally looked at him intently, after a long time he slowly stood up, and then slowly walked away.
Big G didn't look at him.
The cold wind was blowing strong.
The lamp was almost out of oil when a sudden gust of cold wind unexpectedly blew it out.
But the gold chain was still glistening.
Big G hung his head looking down at the gold chain, after who knows how long he slowly bent over and picked up the gold chain.
He held the gold chain in the palm of his hand.
Tears suddenly streamed down his face, wetting his palm one drop at a time.
The chain was cold as ice, but his tears felt like fire.
He knelt abruptly, finally sobbing, but he tried hard not to make a sound.
He wasn't willing to let other people hear him cry.
This was his secret, it was also his most painful memory. He didn't want others to know about this secret, and he wasn't willing to burden others with his suffering.
So nobody knew the depths of his suffering, or how intensely it burned.
Although it happened a long, long time ago, even now, just thinking about it broke his heart.
He knew that this would be his burden for the rest of his life, not even death would free him from this.
What just happened also hurt.
He had preferred death over losing his friends.
But he didn't give an explanation, because he knew that they wouldn't forgive him. He couldn't even forgive himself.
Perhaps the greatest suffering in life comes from holding everything to yourself.
"I can't tell them... How could I tell them? ..."
"How would I have the dignity to stay here?"
The cold wind blew even stronger.
He clenched his teeth and wiped his tears away in silence. He stood up, no matter how cold and cruel the world could be, he was ready to face it on his own.
He made a mistake and it was his burden to carry. He wasn't willing to give an explanation or to ask for forgiveness, not even in front of his friends.
But God knows, he really did value his friends more than his own life.
"Goodbye my friends, one day you will understand. When that day comes, you will still be my friends, but right now..."
His tears started to flow again.
Just as he was reaching to wipe his tears away, he saw Swally.
He not only saw Swally, but Dash and Forest as well.
They had found their way back, standing there quietly, watching him silently.
He couldn't make our their facial expressions, but he could see three bright pair of eyes.
He hoped that they couldn't see his face, that they couldn't see his tears.
He coughed weakly, "Shouldn't you all be asleep?"
Forest: "We couldn't sleep."
Big G forced himself to smile, "You should at least be wrapped in your blankets in this kind of weather, what on earth could be better?"
Dash: "Right here."
Swally: "Right here is better."
Big G: "What is so special about here?"
Dash: "Just one thing."
(3)
Swally: "Friends, blankets can't offer friendship."
Big G suddenly felt a surge of warmth in his heart, it was as if his throat was blocked.
A long time passed before he could finally speak.
He hung his head, "You don't have a friend here, I'm not worthy of your friendship."
Dash: "Says who?"
Swally: "I didn't say anything."
Forest: "Me neither."
Dash: "We came here to say one thing."
Big G clenched his fists, "You... say it."
Dash: "We trust you, we understand that no matter what happened you are still our friend."
× × ×
That is friendship.
Friends can share in your joy, and they can also share your burdens.
If you encounter hardship, they are willing to help.
If you are in danger, they are willing to stand up for you.
Even if you did make a mistake, they would be understanding.
In front of these kind of friends, why would you need to keep secrets?
(4)
The cold, strong winds were still blowing outside.
It was still dark inside.
But in that moment, all they could feel was a bright warmth. Because they knew that they had friends, real friends.
You can always feel warm around friends.
"Regardless of what happened, you will always be our friend."
Big G's blood was boiling.
He would rather have died than cry in front of others, but the tears were already flowing.
He would rather have died than to talk about his bitter secret, but now he was willing to share.
No one could make him do this, except his friends.
He finally spoke about his secret.
× × ×
There were a lot of pretty girls from Big G's hometown, and the prettiest of them all was called Pearl.
He fell in love with Pearl, and she loved him.
She was his everything, he told her that he was willing to sacrifice the rest of his life for her.
He wasn't like other men, just saying something sweet.
He was truly willing to live that way.
Pearl was very poor, but when Big G's parents passed away that was no longer the case.
Because he knew that she belonged to him, and she had said that all of her belonged to him as well.
To make her happy, to earn her trust, he was willing to do anything.
And then he discovered something.
Pearl didn't actually love him.
Just like many of the other girls, she didn't really mean what she said.
She had promised to marry him, and other than him there would be nobody else.
They had already set the wedding date.
But the day before they were to marry, she gave herself to someone else.
She betrayed everything that Big G had given her, and had eloped with another.
The gold necklace had been her promise gift to him.
It was the only thing that she had ever given him.
× × ×
Nobody said anything, they didn't know what to say.
Big G was the first person to break the silence. He suddenly chuckled, "You will never guess who she ran off with."
Forest: "Who?"
Big G: "My stableman."
With a big smile he continued, "I treated her as the most valuable thing in the world, like a goddess, but she ran off with the one person I looked down upon the most, is that ridiculous or what?"
It wasn't funny.
Nobody would think that something like this was funny.
Big G was the only one laughing, because he knew that he would probably start crying if he stopped laughing.
He kept laughing for quite some time, "This did teach me an important lesson," he suddenly said.
Forest: "What lesson?"
He didn't really want to ask him the question, but he suddenly felt that it would be better if Big G wasn't talking to just himself.
He felt that he should be very supportive.
Big G: "The lesson is, men should never value women too highly, if you respect her above everything else, she will take you for a fool, and treat you like nothing."
"You're wrong," Swally suddenly replied.
Big G: "Who says I'm wrong?"
Swally: "She never acted that way because you valued her—there is only one reason for a women to behave this way."
Big G: "For what reason?"
Swally: "Because she was never a good person."
Big G was silent, he finally nodded his head, "So I don't blame her, I only blame myself, I blame myself for falling for the wrong person," he smiled bitterly.
"That's not the right way of thinking about it," Dash suddenly said.
Big G: "Not right?"
Dash: "You keep beating yourself up about this because you've never looked at it from the other side, all you can think about is that she lied to you, that you were rejected by her."
Big G: "Isn't that what happened?"
Dash: "You should at least think about it from another perspective."
Big G: "How should I think about it?"
Dash: "Think about the positive side."
"I can't," Big G gave a bitter smile.
Dash: "Did you ever see her do anything with the stableman?"
Big G: "Nope."
Dash: "Then how do you know that she eloped with the stableman?"
Big G was stunned, "I... I wasn't the only one who thought that, everybody came to the same conclusion."
Dash: "And why should you think that way just because everyone else thought that way? If people thought you should go eat shit, would you?" Big G didn't have a reply.
Dash: "Everyone has biases. None of those people understood her, so how could they come to the right conclusions? Not to mention, there is often misunderstandings between the best of friends." He smiled, and continued explaining, "For example, what happened just now, there was a good chance we would all misunderstand you, and think that you were stingy, think that you were a horrible friend."
Big G: "But she really did suddenly disappear on the same day as the stableman."
Dash: "Then maybe that was just a coincidence."
Big G: "You think coincidences like that happen?"
Dash: "Yeah, they happen all the time."
Big G: "Then why did they leave all of a sudden?"
Dash: "Maybe the stableman didn't think that there was any future in what he was doing, so he wanted to try his luck somewhere else."
Big G: "And Pearl? What reason would she have for leaving? I even had the floral bridal litter all ready to go."
Dash: "How couldn't there be any other reason? What if that night, something unexpected happened that you didn't know anything about, and she had to leave; perhaps something beyond her control, like being kidnapped."
"Maybe there was something that she had always wanted to tell you, but could never find the right chance," Forest suddenly said.
Swally sighed, "One of the hardest things in this world is knowing that someone has misunderstood you, that you have been wronged, but there is no way to explain yourself."
Forest: "It hurts even more when you aren't given an opportunity to explain yourself."
Dash: "The hardest is when there are certain issues that you can't explain, like..."
Big G sighed, "Like just now, I really didn't want to have to explain that, if I had already left before you all returned, I might never have had a chance to explain myself."
Dash: "Right, are you thinking clearly now?"
Big G nodded his head.
Dash: "There is always more than one side to the story, if you can find a way to look at the bright side of things, you will have a good chance of finding happiness."
Swally: "Too bad some people never give you the benefit of the doubt, they always think the worst, and make a big deal out of small issues."
Dash: "These people are not only fools, it's practically self abuse, they always cause a lot of problems for themselves. You're not that kind of person are you?"
Big G smiled, "If anyone says I am that kind of person I will break their nose," he said loudly.
× × ×
So if you have a secret that is eating you away, its best to share it with a friend.
Because true friends not only share in your happiness, they can help relieve your suffering.
Big G felt a lot better, much happier.
Because he no longer had any secrets.
Because he was now able to see the bright side of things.
Even if these thoughts came back to haunt him in the middle of the night, they could no longer hurt him, at most they might make him feel a little down.
Sometimes feeling a little down could be a blessing.
(5)
"Even though the both of you were separated, maybe you're happier as a result."
"Maybe she found a nice home, as for you... If things hadn't changed, maybe you would be taking care of kids, changing diapers, and fighting every day about trivial matters."
"But now, you can both look back and remember all of the sweet times you two had together. If you remember all of the good things about the other person, even if you see them again, you will be happier because of it."
"Even if you never see them again, you at least have good memories. When you are sitting by the fire, you have something to warm you up inside."
"Everyone has their own destiny, there is no need to try and force things."
"So there is nothing really to be sad about," —This was the conclusion that Dash and his friends helped him to arrive at.
They never brought it up after that day, and nobody ever mentioned the gold necklace again.
They understood Big G's feelings, they understood the sentimental value that he placed on the gold necklace.
The value of certain things are often impossible to measure.
Dash was still lying down when Big G suddenly shouted, "Uncle has arrived."
He didn't have an uncle.
"Uncle" meant "Skinned Alive," the owner of the pawn shop.
His real name clearly wasn't Skinned Alive, and he wasn't in fact that ruthless, he just liked to skim a little off of the top—obviously he always did a thorough job.
The strange thing is, people who like to skim from the top are never very fat.
He looked like a dried out, wild rabbit, he was always squinting and never stood up strait. When he spoke to you, he always watched you from the corner of his eye, like he was trying to decide how much money all of your stuff was worth.
Although Dash visited him often, this was the first time that he had come to see them.
So Dash had to get up.
A guy like this, if he was willing to take the half an hour needed to climb up the mountain, there could only be one good reason.
The reason was more or less the same reason why a weasel would go to visit a chicken.
When Dash walked into the living room, Big G was smiling and asking, "What wind blew you over to this side of town, are you interested in buying Dash's house?"
He knew that Dash had previously tried more than twenty different ways to try and sell this house, but even if he wanted to give it away, nobody was interested.
Skinned Alive shook his head furiously, his head looked like it was about to fall off. He gave a dry laugh, "How could I afford such a big house? Ever since I met all of you, I have just about lost all of my money, fortunately I haven't had to buy your house."
Big G: "What if he gave you a good deal?"
Skinned Alive: "What would I do with it?"
Big G: "You can sell it to someone else, or you could come live in it yourself."
Skinned Alive: "Why would any normal person want to come and live here?"
Big G was thinking of some other way to do business, when Skinned Alive abruptly asked, "Are you all in need of money?"
Dash smiled, "When are we not short of money?"
Sinned Alive: "How would you all like to make an easy five hundred silvers?"
Obviously.
But anyone could tell that it wouldn't be easy to make any money off of this guy. Perhaps it would have been easier to pluck a hair from a tiger's head. Ceramic roosters didn't have any hair to pull out at all.
But five hundred silver taels was just too tempting.
Big G blinked, "Did you say five hundred?"
Sinned Alive: "Five hundred exactly."
Big G looked him up and down carefully, "Are you drunk?"
Skinned Alive: "I am perfectly sober, as long as you give me your word I can give you half up front right now."
He had always trusted them, although they didn't have a penny to their name, he knew that their word was worth its weight in gold.
Big G sighed deeply, "What do we have to do for this money?"
Skinned Alive: "Easy, you guys just have to walk with me to the county, and the money is yours."
Big G: "Walk? What kind of walking?"
Skinned Alive: "Obviously it means walking on your two legs."
Big G took a couple of strides, "Just like this?"
Skinned Alive: "Yeah."
Big G: "And then what?"
Skinned Alive: "And then you can bring home your five hundred silver taels."
Big G: "Nothing else?"
Skinned Alive: "Nothing."
Big G glanced at Dash, smiling: "Earning five hundred silvers just to go for a walk, have you ever heard of anything like this?"
Dash: "Nope."
Skinned Alive: "There are plenty of things that you all haven't heard about, that doesn't make them fake."
Dash: "You losing money can't be real."
Skinned Alive sighed, "Business has been a little tight these days, too many people coming to pawn things, but not enough buyers. Even if I stop taking new items I need to sell something, otherwise my profits will shrink to nothing."
Dash nodded his head, he appeared to be very sympathetic.
Big G couldn't help but ask, "Since you're losing money, why are you still doing it?"
Skinned Alive sighed, "What can I do, ah, why did I get into this business in the first place?"
Dash: "So you should keep those five hundred silvers for yourself and make them last."
"That's not the same, I want to help you guys make some money," he interrupted.
"Making money isn't easy, and all we have to do is walk with you for five hundred silver taels, we wouldn't have the heart to do that to you," Dash replied casually.
His pale face seemed to turn a little red, he coughed dryly, "Why not? Not to mention, obviously there is a purpose to all of you walking with me."
Dash: "What?"
Skinned Alive coughed a couple more times, forcing himself to smile, "Don't worry, I don't need to you to steal anything, and I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone."
Dash: "Don't worry, I won't be going anyway."
He was stunned, "You don't want five hundred silvers?".
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"No reason."
Skinned Alive stood there dazed, he suddenly smiled, "That's ok if you don't want to go, I can still..."
Swally: "He's not the only one."
"You won't go either?"
Swally: "I'm not going, and I don't have a reason for not going."
Forest smiled, "I thought I was the only one who didn't want to go, who would have thought that that nobody is interested."
Skinned Alive started to get anxious, "What's wrong with my money? Haven't you received money from me before?" he said loudly.
"If we wanted money from you, then naturally we would come and pawn something," Dash said casually.
"I don't need your things, I just need you all to walk to the county with me for five hundred silver tales, who wouldn't want that?"
Dash: "Yeah."
He started to look very agitated, "What is wrong with you guys? ... Sooner or later you're all going to starve to death... No wonder the likes of you are so poor," he yelled loudly.
× × ×
Dash and them did have issues.
They were certainly dirt poor, and hungry, but they weren't interested in making money under shady circumstances.
There is nothing wrong with taking something to pawn, they had basically pawned anything you could think of.
But they were merely pawning things, not themselves.
They would rather pawn their pants, as long as they could do it with a clear conscience.
They were only interested in doing what they felt like doing, and doing things that should be done.
(6)
Everyone needs to use the washroom, at least seven or eight times a day.
There is nothing funny or dirty about this sort of thing. It's just a regular, normal necessity of everyday life, so there is no point in mentioning it throughout our story.
If someone did want to write about these kind of things, then a one hundred thousand character story would take at least two hundred thousand characters to complete.
But there are moments when these type of things can't be avoided, like, right now—Dash had just finished coming out of the bathroom, it was the first thing he did every morning.
When he returned to the living room, he noticed that there was something peculiar about their facial expressions. It seemed as if there was something they wanted to say, but didn't know how to say it.
So Dash didn't ask, he was always good at keeping his cool. He also knew, that in these kind of situations, it was better to wait for them to just say it.
Swally couldn't help it, "Why didn't you ask?"
Dash: "Ask what?"
Swally: "Didn't you notice that someone is missing?"
Dash nodded his head, "It seems like we are missing someone."
Big G wasn't there.
Swally: "Why didn't you ask where he went?"
Dash smiled, "Why does it matter where he went, but if you are set on me asking, then there isn't any point in me asking."
He slowly sat down, looked around, and then asked, "So where did little G go?"
Swally suddenly laughed cynically, "You will never guess."
Dash: "So you just had to ask, because I will never be able to guess."
Swally was biting his lip, "He went after Skinned Alive, he followed after him as soon as he left."
Dash frowned, he did find it a little strange, "Why is he following him?"
Swally kept his mouth closed, he was holding something in. Dash was looking at him, and finally mumbled, "Did he actually go with him to earn five hundred silvers?"
He shook his head, "No way, little G is not that kind of person."
"I didn't want to believe it either, but I can't help but to believe it now," Swally smiled coldly.
Dash: "Why?"
