Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Sleeping Under the Bridge

What happened put the kid in a bad mood. "It's all because of me!" he said. "If I hadn't been sick, nothing would have happened." "It's okay!" Quan Zhi comforted him. "I'm not at all sorry to see this nasty lamprey no more. We'll get jobs. Don't be unhappy!" The kid was happier.In the evening, rumors spread in the inn that the famous rich miser was coming tomorrow, and he would recruit workers for his macaroni factory.People who live in little crappy "de-sacs" are happy.Many of them have long since given up hope of finding permanent employment in factories.

"Happiness finally smiles on us too!" they said. "Our poverty is coming to an end, and we say goodbye to this lousy inn. Let the little lousy live here with the mice!" Rumor has it that the Scrooge wants to increase the production of macaroni, so he needs more workers, and since he heard that St. Mosquito was number one in terms of unemployment, he came here.No one knows where the news got to the inn, but the next day the miser really went to the city of St. Mosquito.With him came one hundred and twenty-seven macaroni trucks.These trucks are now transporting Scrooge's recruits to the macaroni factory in Liar City.

The entire Garbage Alley, as well as the desolate area adjacent to it and several desolate alleys, are all parked with such large trucks carrying macaroni.Two trucks with bright orange paint pulled into the yard of the Little Bad Inn.One of them turned out to be a mobile van selling macaroni products.This time it contained no macaroni products of any kind, but was filled with steaming sausages and bread, ready to be distributed to the new runts at the factory.The miser and his butler came in another car. As soon as the miser and the butler got out of the cab, the driver dragged a small wooden table and two chairs out of the truck and put them in the middle of the yard.The butler took out a thick book with the words "Macaroni Journal" written on it from the file bag, put it on the table side by side with the file bag, and started recruiting workers.

Anyone who wanted to work in the macaroni factory walked up to the table in order.The Scrooge himself scrutinizes everyone for fear of recruiting the lame, the crooked, the dragged, the weak or the sick. "I don't want to spend money on cripples," he said in that squeaky voice. "In my factory, everyone has to work hard and not be lazy. You should know that you are not going to a sanitarium, you are going to a macaroni factory." He turned a dwarf over and over, slapped him on the back with all his strength, as if trying to knock him down, then shook his arm as hard as if he wanted to snap it, and said: " Dear friend, I congratulate you on being admitted, and you can go get the little sausage."

The saleswoman in the mobile kiosk immediately gave the dwarf a piece of bread with a small sausage in it, and the big housekeeper wrote down his name in the notebook and asked him to write the receipt that he had received the sausage.This ridiculous practice about giving out small sausages is the idea of ​​​​a miser, in order to show the new worker how kind he is, so that he can work better for him.Needless to say, the small sausages are not given for free, but double the sausage money will be deducted from the salary, so that you can carry a small amount of money with you. While Scrooge was examining the dwarfs, he talked to several of them, trying to understand their thoughts and moods.He saw nothing and asked sternly, "Are you rebelling?"

"How to rebel?" I don't know. "Who are you, dare to ask me a question?" The miserly will-o'-the-wisp. "It's my business to ask, your business to answer. When people ask you something, you should simply answer: 'Yes, sir. No, sir'. That's it. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir, no, sir," replied Clueless and resigned. "Hmm!" muttered the miser. "Perhaps you are a little fool!" "Yes, sir, no, sir." "Well! Well! It's good that you are a little fool, at least you won't stir up the workers in the factory to be unstable, and you won't instigate them to quit their jobs. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir, no, sir." "All right," said the miser. "Go get the little sausage." After the recruitment was over, all the workers were loaded onto a covered truck and pulled out of the city of St. Mosquito.It was already late at night when a convoy of 127 caravans appeared on the main street of Liar City.The miser had drawn up a plan in advance, according to which the car should drive directly into the macaroni factory compound.Then, all the newly recruited workers should take their positions in front of the dough mixer, forming machine, boiler, macaroni and noodle drying cabinet, that is, they should start working immediately.

However, this plan was known to the original workers of the factory.They were informed from St. Mosquito that the Scrooge had recruited new workers at the inn.The old workers, unwilling to give up their jobs to the newcomers, immediately occupied the factory compound and locked the gates to welcome them. As soon as the covered car reached the gate of the factory, the dwarfs who were ambushing in the yard rose up from the fence: "Brothers, you have been deceived, don't give him a job! They want you to be traitors! This factory belongs to us!" ! Don't take our jobs!" The new little guy got out of the car and stood there in a daze.Miser also got out of the car.

"Don't take their word for it!" he shouted. "They're lazybones! They don't want to work. They want to get paid for nothing!" "We're not lazybones at all!" shouted from within the wall. "It's the miser who wants us to work for nothing. We're fighting for our rights. If you work for him, he'll suck you too." "Go and gag them! Why are you listening? Go and open the gate, or I'll fire you all!" shouted the miser, running to the gate. Some of the dwarfs from Holy Mosquito City followed him to the gate.Firewood and stones were thrown at them from within the wall in answer.The people of Saint Mosquito City backed away in horror.Then the gates were thrown open, and the workers who had been in the factory came out and beat the newcomers hard with sticks, rolling pins, whatever.The newcomers scattered in terror.

"Stop!" cried the miser. "You have no right to run away. You have to work in a factory! What, I'm giving you little sausages for nothing? Stop, damn it! You must at least earn your money!" However, no one listened to him.People from Holy Mosquito City are not familiar with the streets of Liar City, they are like a group of piglets breaking into other people's cabbage fields, running around in the dark; people from Lie City chase from here and there. them.Some of the dwarfs caught Omniscient and the Kid, dragged them to the river, and threw them into the river. "Have a bath in the cold water. Do the greedy miser a favor!" they cried.

Don't Know and the Kid almost choked to death in the water. After climbing ashore, they found that Don't Know's shoes had sunk into the river, and the Kid's hat was gone. "This is the worst thing that can happen to us!" said the Kid, shivering with cold. "We can only let the police catch it and send it to Fool Island this time." He and Quanzhi decided to sit on the bank until morning, and then go to the river to look for the lost things after dawn. As soon as it was dawn, Quan Zhi and the kid took off their clothes and got into the water.They groped for a long time until they were blue from the cold, but they still couldn't find the shoes and hats—probably washed away by the river. The city soon woke up.There are pedestrians on the riverside road.In order not to be seen by the police, Quan Zhi and the kid walked along the river bank for a while and hid under a bridge. "We can't go into town in this state," said the Kid. "The first policeman we meet will take us. We'd better do this: You give me your hat and sit here while I get something to eat." "It's best to give me your shoes while you sit here," said Quan Zhi. "You can't walk much when you're sick." The kid said he could, but he insisted on knowing nothing.However, his suggestion could not be carried out, because he could not fit in the kid's shoes.I had to let the little goat get food, and I didn't know to stay under the bridge, barefoot and without a hat. It's boring to be alone under the bridge, so I don't know how to use my brain to find a way to entertain myself.He first sang all the songs he could sing, and then came up with his own riddles to guess, and then recalled various proverbs and slang, such as: "Some people are happy and some people are sad", "When you are hungry, you know it in your heart", or: "Yakov has a hobby, and eats a cat with poppies."Of course, none of this took very long, so he recalled the events of his life one by one, recalling all his friends and acquaintances. Without knowing it, Little Bread was still sitting in the rocket, feeling sorry for being unable to help him at all.He remembered that Little Bread loves to eat very much. "Don't let anything happen to him!" Don't know what to think. "Before someone rushes to help, he shouldn't eat up all the food in the reserve!" Before long, he was so hungry that he couldn't think of anything.There was only one thought running around in his mind: "Where did the little goat go? Why didn't he come back?" In order to relieve hunger, he sang, recalled proverbs, and guessed riddles.By the end of the day he had lost all patience.He was just about to get out of the shelter to look for the kid when he saw a dwarf coming down from above the bridge.At first he thought it was a kid, but on closer inspection he saw that it was not a kid. The little man was approaching now; he saw nothing, and asked, "What are you doing here?" "Wait." Don't know the answer. "Why haven't I seen you here before?" "Maybe it's because I haven't been here before," Quan Mo explained. "Are you new or something?" "What is a newcomer?" "Hey, a newcomer is someone who spends the night under the bridge for the first time." "Am I staying overnight?" "Then what are you doing here? Don't you just stay overnight?" "no." Quan didn't know that he wanted to talk about what happened to him, but at this moment he heard footsteps again, and a few dwarfs came under the bridge. "Hey, Cranberry, Baker, and Nutella!" cried the first Dwarf. "Look, here comes a strange man: he got under the bridge and said he didn't come to spend the night." The dwarfs surrounded Omniscient. "Suspicious fellow!" said the little man named Cranberry. "Probably a detective in disguise," the baker muttered. "Beat him and throw him into the river!" Little Walnut said. "Brothers, I'm not a detective at all!" Quan Zhi said. "Let me go. I must find the kid." "What kid?" asked the baker suspiciously. "Don't let him go, or he'll go and tell the police that we're spending the night here." Knowing nothing, he told the dwarfs everything about himself and the little goat.The dwarfs knew he was telling the truth. "Okay then," said Cranberry. "You can't go anywhere in the way you look. You have neither shoes nor a hat. The police will take you at once. To-morrow we will get you a pair of shoes and a hat, and then you will go. Your The kid probably tricked you." "What, did you lie?" Quan Wu asked strangely. "Just take your hat and run away. He can't walk around town without it," explained Little Walnut. "No, brethren, the kid is not that kind of man. He's my friend!" "We know what kind of friends there are!" muttered the baker. At this time, the night has come.Street lamps lit up the bridge and the riverside road.The lights reflect under the bridge through the river, so it is not very dark under the bridge. The little ones started packing up and going to bed.Above, on the slopes of the stone piers supported by arched iron girders, were many secret places.Everyone hauls bits and pieces of junk from these secret places for luggage.A little guy named Little Million somehow even had two old cushions.He spread one and covered the other.A little guy named Bubble has a rubber inflatable pillow.He pulled the pillow out of the stone bed and blew hard on the drum.Then put it under his head and say: "What a fine thing! Of course, for someone who understands that." The first dwarf who saw nothing (his name was Little Squirrel) said, "You must get something, too. I'll give you this for now." As he spoke, he threw a full load of rags to Quan Wu.The little titmouse didn't know how to spread the rags clumsily on the ground, and said, "You learn, brother, learn! I think you'll get used to it. It's even good to sleep in the open air." .And there's no bedbugs here, which isn't bad. I don't like that kind of infestation! Anyway, if it wasn't for the patrolman, everything would be fine," he sighed. "These damn things don't let people sleep under the bridge!" Everyone finally lay down, and the little bubbles were even snoring on the inflatable pillows. "It's such a good night's sleep!" laughed Cranberry. Suddenly there was a rustling sound.Someone was walking cautiously down the slope. "Be quiet!" Little Walnut said in a low voice as he stood up from the ground. "Someone is crawling towards us." "Is it the patrolman?" Cranberry reckoned. Except for the little Bubble who fell asleep, everyone became uneasy. "Maybe we have to mess with it?" Little Wanwan crawled out from under the mat and said. "Catch him," replied Cranberry. The dwarfs crawled on the ground and hid themselves. In the darkness, on the river bank shimmering with sparkling light, a black shadow came quietly towards the bridge.No sooner had the figure approached than Baker and Cranberry jumped up and knocked him down, covering him with a mat. "What should we do now?" Little Wanwan pressed his whole weight on the mat and asked. "Beat him and throw him into the river!" said Little Walnut. "Wait a minute, maybe it's not the patrolman," said Cranberry. Xiao Wanwan punched the mat and asked, "Honestly, are you a policeman?" From under the cushion came a whining scream: "I'm a kid!" "Brothers, this is the kid coming back!" Quan Zhi shouted. Everyone immediately lifted the cushions and rushed to hug their friends without knowing it. "Why haven't you come back for so long, Kid?" "Me, you know, I've been walking up and down the store front. I figured I'd make some money. But I didn't make a single shankik. Look, I'm still hungry Stomach, you brought nothing." "Look, we thought the kid had run away!" said the little ones happily. The baker said, "Brothers, maybe someone has a loaf of bread? Let's give them something to eat." The little bubble that just woke up looked around inexplicably, and took out a piece of bread from under the skirt.He broke the bread in half and handed half to Quan Shi and the little goat.The two friends ate hungrily.The dwarfs sat around and looked at them both with smiles on their faces. "You see, brethren," said Cranberry, "that is to say, there is friendship!" This remark pleased everyone, and no one wanted to go to sleep.Only Xiao Bubu was snoring again on his beloved pillow alone. The bread was finally eaten, and everyone went to bed quickly.After a while, the street lights on Binhe Road went out, and it became dark under the bridge.Traffic finally came to a complete stop. After another half an hour, a black police car with a canopy drove quietly to the end of the bridge, and the small windows on the car were equipped with cheap iron railings.Under the command of Inspector Levigli, ten policemen jumped out of the car. "Five people over there, five people over here! Go under the bridge and don't talk," Levigli said in a low voice, swinging a modified electric baton. Without a word the policemen divided into two teams.The first team goes off the bridge on the left side of the road, and the second team goes off the bridge on the right side of the road.At the foot of the bridge, Levigli turned on the flashlight and whispered, "Forward!" The police also turned on their flashlights to illuminate the road, and walked forward from both sides under the bridge. "Stand still!" Levigli said hoarsely when he saw the dwarfs sleeping on the ground. "Surround them!... Get electric batons ready!... Shhh... Catch them, don't talk!" The policemen jumped on the sleeping little boys from both sides. Cranberry was the first to wake up, and when she saw that she was in the hands of the police, she yelled, "Run for your life, brothers! The patrolmen are coming!" He was immediately hit on the head with a baton and lost consciousness.The other dwarfs tried to escape from the police, but one blow of the electric baton quieted him down.Only Bubbles didn't panic.He snatched the electric baton from the policeman Punigri who grabbed him and stuck it under his opponent's nose.There was a clicking sound.A green spark flashed between the cop's nose and the electric baton.Punigli fell down like a sheaf of wheat, while Bubble threw the electric baton at the policeman Skoligli who rushed towards him, grabbed the air pillow by himself, and jumped to the shore side, jump into the river. Panicked police officers watched as he swam quickly in the river away from the shore. "Fuck it!" Levigli muttered. "Let's catch this guy next time. Let's go now and don't talk!" The policemen dragged the little man, who was still powerless to resist, and the policeman Punigri, who couldn't wake up after a green spark shot out from under his nose, up the slope. Five minutes later, it was all over.The police car drove away, leaving only a pile of junk under the bridge, and two dilapidated mattresses with straw sticking out from the inside.