Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-Two

The miser put what he had taken out of his top hat on the little table by the window of the carriage, looked carefully at the hat, found that there were spots of mud on it, and wiped it with his sleeve.He wiped off the mud spots, relieved himself, put back what he had taken out, and hid the top hat under the bunk.At this time, he saw the conductor in the carriage approaching, and learned from him that the time for the train to arrive at City of Lies was three o'clock in the middle of the night, so he asked the conductor to wake him up at that time. "Okay, okay," said the conductor.

"Not 'yes, ok', but please do wake me up!" grumbled the miser. "Please pay attention, I sleep very hard, and I will definitely ask for a little more sleep after I wake up, but please ignore me: just lift my collar and push me out of the carriage." The miser saw the fat traveler sitting across from him reading a paper, and begged him for some copies of the Crush City Humor.He got the paper and read the reports of the various thefts, kidnappings, robberies, murders, arson and poisonings that took place in one day, and then read the jokes, which amused him and lifted his spirits .After reading the joke, he wanted to read a short literary article, and the one we already knew about large plants attracted his attention.After reading this little article, the Scrooge pondered.He knew very well that the "Squeeze City Humor" belonged to the billionaire octopus, so only things that could benefit the billionaire were published in the newspaper.

"That said, it's good for the big octopus to get people to stop buying big plant stocks," said the miser to himself. "Perhaps he wanted to downgrade the stock? . . . Yes, yes! I was foolish for not thinking of that right away. No wonder the big octopus was so eager to let the little wink and the big crook go off with the money. They just need a mess , the stock price will definitely fall. At that time, the big octopus will buy all the stocks at a low price, and then sell them when the price rises again. It would be a great benefit to buy the big plant stocks before him!"

The Scrooge was so pleased that he had come up with an idea that could make a lot of money that he rubbed his hands in satisfaction and even sang something under his breath.But seeing that it was already night and many passengers had already fallen asleep, he thought that he should sleep too, not to mention that he hadn't slept at all the night before.The miser pulled the quilt spread by the conductor, stretched himself on the berth, and said to himself: "Yeah, guys, sleeping on a train isn't the same as sleeping in a tree hole!" He was going to sleep, and he wanted to check whether someone had taken the top hat from the bunk.He put his hand under the bunk to make sure that the top hat was in its place, reassuring the miser, when he somehow remembered the cane again.He groped the floor for a while, found no cane, but found it in his papers, and then in the fat man's berth, which was snoring under a newspaper; I didn't know and looked at the upper bunk lying with the kid.There are no walking sticks anywhere.

"Perhaps I didn't have a cane when I got into the car?" a thought flashed through the miser's mind. "Perhaps I lost it somewhere?" He began to remember that it was indeed a long time since he saw the cane, and he slowly recalled that he had either left it in the hotel when he went to pack his things, or in the car of the little man who pulled him, or simply forgot it. At the little dwarfs who asked him to drink boiled water. "Perhaps in the hollow of the tree?" the miser almost cried. So he decides to go back and get the cane, and he's about to ask for a stop, but then realizes it might cost a lot more than buying a new cane.So he put his head on the pillow again and prepared to fall asleep.

But the thought of having to spend money on a new cane made him restless.He tried to remember where he had put the cane, but all he could remember was holding it when he hit the Big Liar on the head. "I beat him enough," he thought. The thought still didn't ease him, and he was still annoyed, and he remembered how much he had paid for his cane, and he cursed himself for buying a cane with a bone stud instead of a much cheaper one with an iron tip. If it hadn't been for an unexpected event, I don't know how long he would have been troubled. Know-it-all and the kid want some soda with fruit juice before they lie down to sleep.They uncapped the bottle and drank half of it, leaving the remaining half to drink at night.In order not to overturn the bottle at night, the kid put it upright against the wall on his bunk, and pressed it from the side with his own pillow.During the night, the bumps of the carriage caused the pillow to move a little sideways, and as a result, the bottle was tilted, and the soda water dripped out from the mouth of the bottle.The miser who slept under the kid immediately noticed that some liquid was dripping from above.He reached out his palm to take a few drops, licked it with his tongue, and judged that it was soda with juice.He didn't think it wise to let this wholesome drink go to waste, so he opened his mouth as wide as possible to let the soda drip into it.

At this time, the bottle was tilted even more, and the soda water flowed out of the bottle like a trickle.The miser gulps down the sweet, flavorful, numbing drink that drips on his tongue with satisfaction.The miser wondered how much he would have to pay for the soda if he had to spend money on it.He deducted this amount from the amount he would have spent on the cane, and was satisfied that he lost less money by throwing things away.At this time the bottle tilted even more, and the soda kept dripping.Correspondingly, ideas flicker in Scrooge's head.He gradually fantasized intoxicatedly, how great it would be if he could drink even a bottle of soda for free every time he took the train.He divided the cost of the lost cane by the price of each bottle of soda and calculated how many train rides it would take to get back the money for the cane.

As the miser made this delightful calculation, he gradually forgot his troubles and became better.Just at that moment the bottle turned over completely, and fell, upon the Scrooge's forehead. "Always!" muttered the miser, putting his hands to his brow. "Before you are satisfied, you have to pay the price! Damn life, you will be hit by thunder!" He touched his forehead, and took out a bag from the place where he was hit. He felt that the pain was relieved, so Relieved and fell asleep. The train was galloping forward at this moment, the wheels were spinning evenly, and time did not stand still.When the miser fell asleep, it was already past midnight, and in less than two hours, the lights of the City of Lies flickered ahead.The wheels rattled on the switches.The train gradually slowed down and stopped after a while.

But the miser was still asleep, and the conductor forgot to wake him up, and did not think of it until after the train had left the station. "Look at this!" exclaimed the conductor, stopping beside the sleeping miser. "Looks like this weird guy wanted to get off at City of Lies... yes, yes, that's him! Come on, I'll let him get off at the next stop, he can take the suburban train back to City of Lies, there's no other way now .” In order to avoid unpleasant explanations, he decided not to wake the miser for the time being, but to start pulling him as soon as the train stopped at the next station—a strangely named Saddle Town.

"Get up, it's time for you to get off the train!" the conductor snorted, shaking the miser by the shoulder. Scrooge just waved his hands and continued snoring, as if it wasn't talking to him.When the conductor saw that the train was about to leave one stop soon, he was really angry, and shouted into the miser's ear, "I said, my good sir, don't make trouble, otherwise, you will have to pay a fine for riding without a ticket, and your ticket will go to the city of lies." The miser heard that he had to pay some money, but not knowing why, he woke up suddenly, jumped up from his bunk, and looked sleepily at the conductor.The conductor took this opportunity to grab him by the collar, dragged him to the door of the carriage, and pushed him onto the platform.He came back and picked up a newspaper that had fallen on the floor, dragged the top hat full of miscellaneous objects from under the bunk, went to the door, and stuffed it all into the dazed miser's hands.The miser had already opened his mouth to ask something, but just at that moment the train started to move, and he remained on the platform with his mouth open.

Don't know and the little goat didn't even hear what happened that night. They slept quite soundly, because they didn't sleep well the night before due to nightmares after watching the movie.It was dawn early, and they were still sleeping. If the conductor hadn't woken them up, they would probably have slept through the Holy Mosquito City. "Hi!" shouted the conductor. "It looks like you guys want to sleep over the station too! Quick, get up!" Seeing that he and the little goat didn't even move, he knocked on their berths with the steel pliers that cut the ticket, and he woke up when he heard the knocking sound. Just in time to wake up! The train was about to enter the station, and many passengers gathered by the doors of each carriage with their suitcases and baggage.Quanzhi and the little goat jumped out of the bunk and squeezed towards the door. St. Mosquito City is a big city, so many tourists get off here.As soon as the train stops, the wide platform is immediately crowded with passengers arriving by train, and they are immediately mixed with those who come to meet, those who want to go on the train, and those who see off.Quan Zhi and the little goat got out of the car, looked around, hoping to see the little debaucher and the big liar among the colorful crowd.Countless faces flashed before their eyes, but not a single one resembling Little Wink or Great Liar. "They may be picking us up next to another car," Quan Buzhi said his estimate, while standing on tiptoe to see the situation next to other cars clearly from the heads of the crowd. "Let us wait," said the Kid. "Let's not worry, the people on the platform will be gone in a while, and they will see us." "Either we saw them." Quan Mo said. "Of course: either we saw them," said the Kid firmly. The people who got off the bus and those who picked them up soon gradually dispersed, and after the car drove away, the people who saw them off also left.The platform was empty, and there was no one else except Quan Wu and Kid. "What's going on here?" said the little goat inexplicably. "Honestly, I've never been able to trust Little Blink and Big Liar. I always thought they were going to play a nasty joke on us. But maybe they're mistaken, and they'll pick us up on the next bus?" At this moment a railroad clerk in a cap came up to them and asked what they were doing. "For us, do you understand, someone should have come to meet him, but he didn't," explained the kid. "Oh, I didn't come to pick you up, so I will come to pick you up next time, so don't stay here. This is not allowed by the regulations," the staff said. "When's the next bus from Squeeze?" asked the Kid. "Tomorrow at this time," the clerk said and left. "Well, let's come back here tomorrow. They probably got the day wrong," said the Kid.They walked out of the station and into the street. "Then what do we do now?" Don't know what to do. "Should get some money somewhere," said the Kid. "We don't even have money for lunch. We need to save some money for accommodation." "Where can we get money?" "Hey, gotta get a job. Have you ever worked in a restaurant?" "No," admitted Omniscience. "The best way," said the Kid, "is to get a job as a waiter or cook in a restaurant, closer to the food." He explained: "I once worked as a porter in a restaurant, I've seen how the hostesses work, nothing complicated, it's just that it's not easy to sit down and the seats are usually always full." The little goat saw a restaurant on the road, bravely opened the door, and walked in without knowing it.It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so there were no customers in the restaurant.The owner of the restaurant was standing behind the wine cabinet, worrying about his plans, not knowing whether he was calculating income or expenditure.the kid asked: "Don't you need a cook or a waiter?" The boss stopped his calculations, glanced at Quanzhi and the little goat, and asked, "Which of you is the chef?" "I am a cook," answered the Kid. "He's the usher." "What kind of chef are you?" The boss sneered. "All chefs are chubby, but you are so skinny." "I'll be fat if you hire me," replied the kid. "You'd better get fat first, then I'll hire you again!" The boss muttered angrily. "Then can we let him be the cook?" The little goat pointed at Omniscient and said. "He seems fatter than me." "Didn't you say that he is a waiter, not a chef?" the boss asked back. "It doesn't matter, he can be a chef." "You really know how to cook?" the boss asked without knowing. "I can't tell because I haven't tried it once," Quan Mo said. "Need to try." "No," said the boss. "I don't want a cook like that. And I don't need a cook at all. I already have a cook." "Then you hire him as a cook," suggested the Kid. "I don't need to help cook either." "Then leave us two as ushers." "Nor ushers. My current usher has to be fired. You see, there are no customers." "It's okay to leave us to wash the dishes." The little goat was still not reconciled. "I have dishwashers." The boss waved his hand. "What a stubborn donkey!" said the little goat, Tong Quanzhi, as he walked into the street. "Oh, you see, since he doesn't need a cook at all, what does it matter to him which of us is a cook? What a waste of time talking to him!" The conversation in another restaurant was much the same.The boss heard that No Know and Little Goat were willing to work in his restaurant as chef, waiter, bartender, pastry chef, accountant, dishwashing worker, floor cleaner, manager, watchman or janitor, so he decided to Ask: "You know all of these things?" "We can all do it," assured the Kid. "Can't you predict the future?" "No, no." The little goat said, spreading his hands. "Unfortunately, we do not predict the future." "I'll predict the future for you," said the boss. "You're going to roll out the door right away and never come back here again." "What is that for?" asked the Kid. "Because that's how I predicted." "It's a donkey too!" asserted the kid when he was outside the door. "In his position, I can't predict worse than him." The conversation was even briefer in the next restaurant. Before the kid could speak, the boss slammed his fist on the table and said, "Go! Don't let me see you again!" "Very brief, but impolite!" said the Kid. It goes without saying that this was only said on the street. The first few setbacks did not make Little Goat lose confidence. He and Quan Zhi walked in various restaurants for a long time, being rejected and ridiculed everywhere, and then went to various stores to recommend themselves as salesmen, but the result remained the same. The buyer is more interested than the salesperson. Before long, night fell, and the bright lights of the advertisements flickered everywhere.At this time, I don't know and the little goat came to the central street in the city. The street is full of lights, cheerful laughter and music, and there are walking and dancing dwarfs everywhere. The creaking of other facilities for spending time.In this respect, Holy Mosquito City is no different from any other great city on the Moon. Know-it-all and Kid looked enviously at the little man sitting at the restaurant table tasting all kinds of delicacies.It is very uncomfortable to watch this situation and not be able to quench the hunger. "The best way to suppress your hunger is to look in a distorting mirror," said Kid. "I always do this: When you smile, you feel less hungry." So they wandered around the distorting mirrors that lined the sidewalk, examining their reflections.There was a distorting mirror that distorted the appearance of the two of them so much that Don't Know and Little Goat couldn't help laughing even though they were very sad. After laughing for a while, I didn't know that I really didn't want to eat that much anymore.At this time, there was a signboard hanging on the stage, which read: "Happy Playground".There is a curtain made of ordinary bed sheets on the stage, and a funny little man stands behind the curtain.He sticks his head out of the round hole in the middle of the bed sheet, and the audience standing in front of the stage are hitting him in the face with rubber balls.The little man was making funny faces, moving his head up and down, side to side, trying to avoid the rubber ball, which made the audience very happy. Quanzhi and the little goat heard the laughter, stepped forward, and laughed at the ridiculous grimace of this cute little man. "What is he doing?" Quan Zhi couldn't breathe from laughing and asked. "Hitting the ball in the face, it probably hurts, right?" "Of course it hurts," replied the Kid. "However, he has to find a way to earn money to survive, so that the boss can give him money." At this time, Quan didn't know that he saw the owner of the amusement park. He was standing beside a big white basket with rubber balls piled up into sharp ends.Anyone who wants to take the ball and throw it in the little man's face is going to give the boss a Sanjik.Just at this time, a spectator wanted to make fun of others. He paid for five balls at once, picked up the balls and threw them in the face of the little man. The first four balls were all dodged by the little man. But the fifth ball hit one of his eyes so hard that the eyelids immediately swelled up.The poor man closed his eyes and couldn't see.The wounded little man said he couldn't work today and went home.However, the owner of the amusement park was not flustered. He went to the stage and shouted: "I said, friends, who wants to earn three Fieldings? Whoever can persist until the stall is closed, I will give him three Fieldings." "Stand up yourself!" someone in the audience shouted. "Come on, put your face on!" At this time, the little goat quickly passed through the crowd, jumped onto the stage and said, "Let me try." "Try, try! But don't yelp if the ball hits your nose," yelled the crowd. Everyone around burst into laughter.The kid tried not to heed the jeers of the dwarfs, but he hid behind the scenes and put his head out of the hole.He immediately felt that the curtain made you unable to dodge to the side, and you must be as flexible as possible.Before he could look around, the "game" began, and a well-thrown ball hit him on the forehead. The little goat was taken aback and felt that there was nothing to be careless about here.After one hit on the forehead, there were several hard blows to the face, and one even hit the nose with a ball.But the heaviest blow was on the ear.The little goat couldn't help but shed tears from his eyes due to the pain.In order to avoid the flying ball, he squinted his eyes hard and dodged left and right, trying to protect his eyes from damage as much as possible, but his strange appearance was very ridiculous. The audience is having fun.Some passers-by were drawn into the crowd by the laughter.The business of throwing balls is very lively, and the boss is busy collecting money. But knowing nothing but not being happy, he watched his friend's movements anxiously, feeling as if the ball had hit himself instead of the kid.He wanted to beg the dwarfs not to bully the poor kid, and he even wanted to beat up all the people who threw balls in the kid's face, and beat up the owner of the funhouse because it was for his own sake. Interest devised this unseemly diversion. However, time passed and the weather turned cooler. After a while, the crowd began to thin out, and finally dispersed completely.The proprietor counted three Fieldings out of the smallest coin, paid the kid, and closed the fairground. Five minutes later, Quan Zhi and the kid were sitting in the warm interior of a restaurant, gorging themselves on pies, drinking barley rice soup, and eating buckwheat rice mixed with butter.The little goat clicked its mouth in satisfaction and squinted its eyes, as if it had been carried from the cold.Feed the kitten with cream.Knowing nothing and raving about soup, rice, and pies.After some worrying, he felt that the food he ate was extraordinarily sweet.