Grape Hairpin

"Him again," Akai became instantly vigilant. Normally, these beggars had their own territories.

"Hey." Mel Carlo stood up, his gaze fixed on the chubby kid.

People who were weak themselves but liked to bully those even weaker – he couldn't stand those kinds of people. Whether in his past life or now, people's personalities didn't change much.

Sensing Mel Carlo's stare, the chubby kid shrunk his head, but the drool at the corner of his mouth couldn't be stopped, and his eyes were even more pleading.

They said nothing, yet it was as if they had said everything. They weren't exactly mortal enemies with this chubby kid; they were all just trying to survive.

"Akai, do you want to take the bread back? Will there be any problems?" Mel Carlo first posed this question. Gangsters were not good people; by the time they got it, this bread would probably be fed to dogs.

Akai quickly thought of this problem too. They were already full and couldn't take the bread back. At most, they could find a place to hide it, but even hiding it wasn't safe. If someone saw it, someone else would covet it.

"Why don't we give him some? He looks very hungry," Lily was still too gentle.

"Then there's no need to take it back. Chubby kid, listen up. Go call everyone who's been hungry for a long time. We can't let them starve." Mel Carlo grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it to the chubby kid in front of him.

It couldn't be hidden, and they couldn't eat it all. So, they might as well let the bread serve some value, perhaps even have some use.

The chubby kid began to devour it. The loaf of bread was quickly finished, and without any delay, he ran off to call the other hungry people.

Some people hadn't just skipped dinner yesterday; they might not have eaten the day before either. They were swaying as they walked.

"Akai, can we give the bread to them?" Mel Carlo looked at Akai. After all, this bread was obtained by Akai, so how it was handled was naturally up to Akai.

"Mel, no problem. We're already full anyway," Akai agreed readily.

"Fatty, you help Lily distribute the bread. Everyone needs to eat."

Seven or eight people shared more than half a bag of bread. At least everyone had something to eat. They might not be full, but they definitely wouldn't go hungry.

The children's throats bobbed. A group of raggedly dressed, barefoot children stared longingly at the bread.

They had clearly heard Mel Carlo's words, so no one fought over it.

The chubby kid seemed to still be hungry. He stuffed another piece of bread into his mouth before starting to distribute the remaining snacks and bread to the others.

"Thank you..."

"Thank you..."

The remaining children took the bread one by one and began to wolf it down. Mel was very worried they would choke to death, but he didn't say anything. Perhaps choking to death was better than enduring this cruel reality.

Many children cried as they ate. As orphans like them, no one cared about them.

"Aren't you getting something to eat? What are you crying about!" Mel Carlo looked at these children. When he was little, he never cried as long as he had something to eat.

"No... no, it's just too delicious. I've never eaten anything this delicious before." One child even had a snot bubble forming.

They weren't crying out of sadness, but because they had never eaten such good food. Even plain, dry black bread wasn't something they could eat every day.

After eating, the children still stood in place, as if waiting for Mel and the others' orders. Whoever gave them food was their boss.

"Why are you still standing here? Have you earned your money for today? Or are you planning to go back and get beaten? Disperse." Mel Carlo certainly wouldn't be soft-hearted enough to distribute all the money. What he needed most now was to accumulate some funds, which would create an opportunity for escape.

After everyone dispersed, the sun had already begun to set. If they didn't get money, it would be very difficult to get another chance.

Mel Carlo had already tried to open his wallet in the system space using the system menu bar. The currency inside had been cleared out: 2 gold coins and 10 silver coins, totaling 3000 Oren.

It was just that gold and silver coins weren't that easy to spend. They could convert the silver coins into copper coins first and then use them for the transaction.

They couldn't steal money every day, nor could they beg for more than 20 Oren daily, so they didn't need to pay the gang every day.

On this point, Mel Carlo was certain without even needing to ask.

"What should we do, Akai? We haven't earned any money yet. We'll get beaten if we go back."

"It's okay, I'll protect you," the blond kid patted Lily's shoulder.

"Don't worry, everyone. I've got the money, but I still need to exchange it for copper coins."

Mel Carlo took out 1 silver coin from the system. That was 100 Oren! Of course, he couldn't hand it over directly.

He looked towards the jewelry shop not far down the street.

Because the sun was starting to set, most of the shops were already packing up.

They had to hurry. Ignoring the confused looks from the other two, Mel Carlo led them towards the jewelry shop.

"Excuse me, how much is this Grape Hairpin?" Mel Carlo called out to the merchant who was packing up.

Seeing that the three were dressed raggedly, the merchant raised an eyebrow but finally said, "If you want it, just give me 5 Oren."

"Okay, we'll take it. Can you give us the remaining copper coins?"

Mel held the silver coin between his fingertips but didn't hand it directly to the merchant. Instead, he waited for the exchange. One had to be wary, especially these little rascals.

If the merchant tried to bully them, it would be difficult for them to resist.

The merchant quickly counted out 95 copper coins and gave the hairpin directly to Mel Carlo. The two parties quickly exchanged silver coins and copper coins.

A small bag of copper coins didn't even need counting. Mel Carlo stuffed the copper coins into his chest, actually putting them directly into the system space. The storage compartment could count the number at a glance and was safer than carrying them on his person.

"Lily, this hairpin is for you." Mel Carlo gave the hairpin to Lily.

Among the three, she was the only girl, and he didn't need this hairpin.

"Thank you." Lily happily accepted the hairpin.

"But you'd best not wear it, at least not for now, or you'll easily attract the attention of those gangsters. Those wicked people just love to trample on what others hold dear," Mel Carlo warned. They were orphans and beggars now, so it wasn't appropriate for them to do things beyond their station.

Then, he slipped the two of them twenty copper coins. That would be enough to avoid a beating; just hearing the sound of the whip made one's scalp tingle.

The three returned to the gang's territory and walked into the courtyard. Things were a little different from yesterday. The leader who should have been sitting in the center, intimidating them, was now sprawled drunkenly on the stairs.

Seeing that everyone else around looked normal, he must have just gotten drunk. Mel Carlo kind of hoped he'd die, since he was a scumbag anyway.

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