There were bursts of gongs and drums, and the cheers were loud.
Chen Ping and the others came to the front and stood firm, finally seeing the performance of the juggling class clearly.
The performances are indeed wonderful and varied.
There are children in colorful clothes playing with colorful balls on the rope, flying up and down from time to time, and their bodies are as nimble as a squirrel.
A little girl who performed the stunt of holding bowls was already standing on the two-story human tower, holding the porcelain bowls upside down and rolling them on her toes.
Ye Chongwen and He Qingxuan watched the juggling intently, and from time to time they expressed heartfelt admiration and exclamation at some exciting and dangerous action.
Only Chen Ping, after looking at the sideshow for a few times, turned his attention to the bearded middle-aged man holding a long whip.
This person should be the leader of the juggling class. He is whipping his whip and directing the children to perform.
Everything seemed normal, but Chen Ping, who was careful, quickly discovered something was wrong.
The children in the juggling class seemed to be particularly weak and sallow, so they used cheap white powder to apply a thin layer on their faces.
The surrounding audience is cheering for the wonderful performance, and no one will pay attention to it.
It’s not surprising if the traveling troupe’s income is unstable and their bodies are thin due to insufficient food.
But in this juggling troupe, something is a little abnormal.
The class leader is wearing a Sichuan brocade robe and a silk turban on his head. He has a fat head and a shiny face. The variety of utensils in the entire juggling class is quite rich.
All these show that the income of this juggling class is pretty good.
At least you won’t go hungry.
But if you look at the children again, you will find that not only are they extremely thin, but they also inadvertently reveal shocking scars on their arms and legs.
The sharp-eyed Chen Ping also discovered that some of the old scabs had a few faint traces of blood added to them.
This is a sign that old wounds have not healed and new wounds have been added.
Seeing this, Chen Ping was no longer interested in the wonderful acrobatics, and turned a deaf ear to the cheers around him, appearing out of place in the enthusiastic crowd.
No one noticed the injuries on those children, they were all immersed in the wonderful performance.
Chen Ping is still unwilling to enjoy the happiness based on pain.
If I had seen such a tragic situation in my previous life, I would have called the police without hesitation and sent the juggler to the police station.
But this is a different world after all.
There is no place to receive refugees, let alone an orphanage.
Perhaps for these children, it is already a great gift that someone is willing to give them a bite of food and can barely survive.
If they rush to report to the Yamen, what will they do if the juggler is caught?
The government is unable to take care of them and can only let them fend for themselves.
Chen Ping squeezed his hands tightly, forcing himself not to be impulsive.
At this moment.
The little girl holding the bowl seemed unable to withstand the long performance. Her feet cramped and the porcelain bowl on her toes trembled violently.
The little girl was in mid-air. She couldn't think about it for a moment. She wanted to continue performing, but she couldn't control her slightly twitching legs and feet. She was in a dilemma.
Finally, a porcelain bowl floated to the ground.
"Pa!"
The sound of breaking porcelain bowls sounded, causing the crowd of onlookers to boo.
Many people began to whisper among themselves, thinking that the people in the juggling class were not good at their skills and had lost their reputation.
The bearded class leader stared at the little girl with a fierce look, scaring her so much that she didn't dare to shed tears.
The little girl endured the pain and had to temporarily insert a few movements to stretch her legs and feet for correction. Then she endured the pain and completed one high-intensity movement after another with difficulty.
When Chen Ping thought the twitching in the little girl's legs had recovered, she finally couldn't hold on any longer.
"Crash..."
The two porcelain bowls fell one after another and broke into pieces.
The little girl also fell from the air, and her body hit the ground solidly.
There was a burst of exclamation in the crowd, and then it immediately fell silent.
Several other children who were performing seemed to be frightened by this sudden change, and the movements of their hands and feet were slightly slow for a while.
This time, the class leader’s face turned completely gloomy.
He did not scold the little girl in public, but stepped forward, grabbed her hair, and quickly dragged her to a secluded area backstage.
A little boy quickly came on stage to take over, and several others resumed their performances in an orderly manner.
With the new tricks, everyone's attention was diverted, and the dilemma of the juggling class was resolved.
It's as if everything just now had never happened.
It was at this time that He Qingxuan seemed to have discovered the scars on the children.
He was stunned for a moment, then all the excitement on his face faded, and then he shook his head helplessly.
Ye Chongwen, who was very nervous, was still cheerful and had long forgotten that he had to go to the teahouse to solve the puzzle.
When He Qing chose to hold him down and take him out of the crowd, Ye Chongwen was still a little unhappy.
He muttered: "Why are you so anxious? You don't see such wonderful juggling every day."
"A juggling troupe can only stay in a town for three to five days at most. We won't be able to meet them next time we come out."
Ye Chongwen was so excited that he didn't notice that Chen Ping and He Qingxuan both had serious faces.
Still, Chen Ping couldn't stand it any longer, so he came closer and whispered a few words.
Ye Chongwen was stunned when he heard this, and immediately turned back to carefully observe the arms of the children.
After he had a clear look, he stood up and was about to rush in. He Qingxuan quickly grabbed the person and, together with Chen Ping, pulled him out of the crowd.
Even further away, Ye Chongwen was still saying angrily: "Why did you stop me? Why didn't you let me teach that thief a lesson?"
"Is there any royal law left? How can you be so harsh on children?"
Ye Chongwen was so excited that Chen Ping could only remain silent. Even He Qingxuan just shook his head.
He said to Ye Chongwen sincerely: "Don't be impulsive. We don't know what the relationship is between these children and the class teacher."
"We three kids rushing in hastily will not solve any problem at all, it will only make things messy."
"Besides, if the leader of the juggling class whips his apprentice, it doesn't violate the law anywhere. We really can't control it! Even the government can't control it! At most, he can just give you a few words of reprimand. After being punished, the class leader is not allowed to retaliate against the children.
Ah."
What He Qingxuan said is the most common understanding in the world.
Whether it is a juggling troupe or an actor troupe, if they want to pass on their skills, the apprentices must endure hardships.
But this process is inevitable for the inheritance of skills, and outsiders should not interfere.
After He Qingxuan finished explaining, Ye Chongwen also fell silent.
Ye Chongwen, who has been pampered since childhood and has not suffered much, finds it difficult to understand that there are things in this world that are so difficult to have both.
Some people in the world are not born with enough food, clothing, and warmth, and they don’t even have a roof over their head, so they can only wander around with the sky as their quilt and the earth as their bed.
For some people, one has to choose between dignity and food and clothing!
Otherwise, both will be lost.
After the silence, Ye Chongwen also became less interested in the wonderful puzzles in the teahouse.
Or He Qingxuan realized that the atmosphere was not good, and was afraid that what he had just experienced would affect Ye Chongwen's future mentality.
Then I insisted on taking the two of them to a teahouse to change their mood.
The tea house is still so lively, and the storyteller's new puzzle is still half-hidden in the fog, causing many tea drinkers to think hard.
Only Chen Ping and the others looked out of tune with everyone in the teahouse.