Huang Youdao followed Zhang Si, hiding in a dilapidated house in Beijing. Fortunately, it was spring, otherwise they would have frozen to death if they hadn't starved. After finding a place to stay, the three sixteen or seventeen-year-olds, enduring hunger, came to the cultural market.
They squatted on the ground begging for food. Before long, someone took pity on the half-grown children and gave them a few coins. Huang Youdao saw the coins as if they were steamed buns and was about to pick them up when his hand was stepped on.
"Newcomers, do you know that begging also has territory?"
A burly fellow looked at Huang Youdao with a forced smile. Huang Youdao frowned, and anger surged within him. He wanted to fight everyone. He was starving and it was time to fight for his life.
Zhang Si stopped Huang Youdao and bowed apologetically to the burly fellow.
...
Huang Youdao was unhappy. The steamed buns within reach had flown away. Having been hungry for a day and a night, he now wanted to snatch everything he saw. Zhang Si whispered in Huang Youdao's ear, "Let's follow this big guy and talk about it tonight."
"What about being hungry?"
"Isn't there a steamed bun shop there? I saw the bun seller was an old woman. You grab it and run, and she won't be able to catch you."
Following Zhang Si's words, Huang Youdao went to the steamed bun shop and, without a word, grabbed two large steamed buns and ran. The old woman selling the buns shouted, and a middle-aged man rushed out of the house. He was as fast as lightning and soon caught up with Huang Youdao. Seeing that he couldn't escape, Huang Youdao stuffed the buns into his mouth. He stuffed them too quickly and choked. The middle-aged man grabbed Huang Youdao by the ear and pulled him over. Huang Youdao thought he would be beaten severely, but he had eaten the buns and was willing to accept the beating. To his surprise, the middle-aged man instructed his wife to serve Huang Youdao a bowl of congee and let him drink it...
This bowl of congee brought tears to Huang Youdao's eyes. After understanding the situation, the middle-aged man asked him to help for a few days, pay him, and let him return to Shandong. Huang Youdao was grateful, but he couldn't abandon Zhang Si and Tao Yue. He told the middle-aged man about Zhang Si and Tao Yue's situation. The middle-aged man sighed, "I am not Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves all beings. Saving you is already the karmic connection between our past lives."
Huang Youdao couldn't abandon his brothers. He secretly took a few steamed buns, left a note, and left the bun shop.
...
That night, the well-fed children followed the burly fellow to a small Western-style building. This building was uninhabited. It was said that when Beijing was liberated, the family fled to the south.
The burly fellow occupied this small Western-style building and made it a base for the Beggars' Sect.
Every day, they organized disabled people to come here to pay protection fees, and then helped them demarcate territories, calling themselves the Beggars' Sect. If other beggars occupied their territory, they would help to fight them back.
The three young boys decided to give them a show of force. They took the bricks they had prepared, wrapped them in rags, and rushed in, hitting the burly fellow on the head. The burly fellow was also ruthless. After taking a few blows, he didn't fall but instead knocked the three boys to the ground.
Among the three, Tao Yue was the weakest. The burly fellow had the disabled brothers who had rushed over grab Tao Yue. He picked up a cleaver and slashed Tao Yue's arm. In a few strokes, his slender arm was severed, and Tao Yue wailed.
At this moment, Huang Youdao's eyes turned red. He struggled hard and rammed into the burly fellow. The cleaver flew out of the burly fellow's hand. Huang Youdao picked up the cleaver and hacked at the burly fellow. The burly fellow fell to the ground.
Huang Youdao was also scared, and he sat on the ground, staring with wide eyes, breathing heavily.
Tao Yue was still rolling on the ground in pain, holding his severed arm.
Only Zhang Si remained calm. He picked up the cleaver, walked to the door, closed it, and said to the disabled people, "Brothers of the Beggars' Sect, this bad guy has been exploiting you. You have worked hard all day to beg for money, and it all went to him. From today on, we brothers will protect you, and we will share the money equally."
The disabled people looked at the bloody burly fellow and said nothing. Zhang Si didn't care. He walked up to the burly fellow, stepped on his head, and slit his throat like slaughtering a chicken.
"If you don't agree, no one leaves today."
These people were intimidated by Zhang Si's ruthlessness and willingly recognized Zhang Si as their leader.
...
The burly fellow was also a wanderer from out of town. His death went unnoticed. Because of Zhang Si's ferocity, the Beggars' Sect dared not speak out, and the matter was dropped. Thus, Zhang Si became the leader of the Beggars' Sect, Huang Youdao became his enforcer, and Tao Yue found a barefoot doctor to mend his severed arm. He went begging every day with his arm in a sling and then returned to cook. This made Huang Youdao feel that Tao Yue was cowardly and useless.
One day, they found an abandoned little girl, about three or four years old, wearing a dirty cotton jacket. How she had survived at such a young age was a mystery. The problem was that the child wet her pants often, making the room smell. Huang Youdao had a bad temper and wanted to abandon the little girl, but Tao Yue took care of her, feeding her congee every day, playing with her, and making her clean clothes from adult clothes. He even gave her a name, Tao Xiaoniu.
Zhang Si wanted Tao Xiaoniu to beg. Huang Youdao took the little girl to the market. The little girl didn't know how to say nice things or pretend to be pitiful. The two of them worked hard for a whole morning and didn't get a single penny.
When they returned, Zhang Si was very unhappy. He wanted to break the little girl's legs. With a limping little girl, people would give money even if she didn't pretend to be pitiful. Huang Youdao didn't want Zhang Si to do this, but he didn't stop him. This was because in the past year, Beijing's public security had been rapidly improving, and it was not easy to maintain the Beggars' Sect through violence. Therefore, their lives were already difficult, and raising a child was almost impossible.
But at this moment, Tao Yue stood up. He smiled bitterly, pointed to his arm, and seriously asked, "Brother Zhang Si, do you really want to be like that person for the rest of your life, breaking people's arms and legs and driving them out to beg on the streets?"
Huang Youdao had the same question. The few of them were physically healthy. As long as they left Beijing and went to the villages in Inner Mongolia to participate in labor construction, they could support a little girl.
Zhang Si sighed, "What else can we do?"
"How about I try to sell the antiques we found?"
The three of them had long occupied the small Western-style building and discovered a cellar inside. There were several antiques in the cellar. Zhang Si had taken them out to ask, but no one bought them. In the past, Tao Yue had never handled such matters. Most of the time, he cooked for everyone with his injured arm.
Hearing Tao Yue offer to take on the task, even Huang Youdao expressed doubt, "Can you do it?"
"Let's try, for Tao Xiaoniu!"
...
In the 1950s, Beijing was filled with people riding bicycles, coming and going, and all industries were rapidly recovering. Of course, the pawnshop owners of the old society also quietly hung up their signs.
There was a pawnshop called Dewang Pawnshop in Xizhimen. One evening, Boss He, the owner of the pawnshop, was about to close. Huang Youdao and Tao Yue squeezed in.
"What do you need?" Boss He, who was calculating accounts, asked his assistant to inquire.
Usually, Huang Youdao took charge, but today Tao Yue was the one making decisions. Moreover, Huang Youdao didn't understand. They had several antiques, why not bring them all to be appraised? Why did they only bring a painting bitten by insects?
"I have a painting here. Can you appraise it for me?"
"Alright!"
The assistant unrolled the scroll. He had been with Boss He for many years and had some discernment. Seeing Tao Yue's painting, he adopted a distant attitude. "This painting is an authentic work from the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was not stored properly and was bitten by insects. I'll give you two yuan."
Several pawnshops offered two yuan, and that was probably the value of the painting. Huang Youdao accompanied Tao Yue to several pawnshops, and they all offered the same price. He was getting impatient and wanted to urge Tao Yue to sell it. Two yuan was not a small amount!
However, Tao Yue's demeanor remained as calm as ever. He rolled up the painting, smiled, and said, "Sorry to have bothered you."
"Why don't you let me take a look."
Boss He had just finished his accounts and, seeing the situation, came over. Boss He wore a long robe and glasses, looking shrewd and capable. When Tao Yue was stopped, he didn't say much and handed the painting back to Boss He.
Boss He looked it over for a few moments, about the time it took to drink a few cups of tea. He smiled and said, "Young man, I'll give you five yuan, how about it?"
This evening, Tao Yue finally showed a smile. "Deal!"
...
On the way back, Huang Youdao was confused and asked, "Tao Yue, everyone else offered two yuan, but this Boss He offered five yuan. Is he an idiot?"
"Does Boss He know how to do business?"
"Does giving more money mean knowing how to do business?"
Tao Yue smiled. "A truly shrewd businessman can see that my painting is a probing move. That's right, this painting is only worth two yuan, but what Boss He sees is not this painting, but the future. If he gives five yuan, I can send my future antiques to his shop, and they won't be redeemed."
Huang Youdao was stunned and looked at Tao Yue, saying, "Well, I never realized you were so good at business before."
"My family has been in business for generations. The war ruined my family. I am now an orphan, so what business am I doing? Oh, and one more thing, I'm lazy! I'd rather squat in the market begging than rack my brains!"