This was the place where Lawrence had made an appointment to meet Anna, but it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun above her head had begun to set, and Anna still did not see Lawrence's figure.
At noon yesterday, Anna was excited for the whole day after accepting Lawrence's commission.
The reward of three gold coins and the possibility of a decent job made Anna, who was huddled in the shabby shack at night, unable to help but smile happily and sleepless all night.
Therefore, when it was just dawn today, Anna got up from the bed, rushed to Haibei Street early, and waited in advance.
"Where's that gentleman...did he forget to come..."
Anna stared at her big blue eyes and carefully looked at all the pedestrians walking on the street, hoping to see the kind and young gentleman.
Three hours have passed since the appointed time, and Anna has been waiting anxiously at the spot, holding tightly the gold coin that Lawrence paid her in her hand.
Although the citizens of Beicheng District are not wealthy, they all maintain the lowest level of respectability. Dirty Anna looked out of place on the street where this group of decent people passed by.
"Huh? Why are the children from the slums here? Why don't you go back!"
A fierce and strong man was wandering on the street doing nothing. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of Anna in a tattered robe. He frowned and shouted at Anna.
Anna bit her lip, her face a little pale. Over the years, in order to earn a few silver coins to fill her stomach, she didn't know how many such stares and insults she had received.
"I'm sorry, sir, I...I'm waiting for someone." Anna lowered her head and whispered.
"Waiting for someone?" The strong man curled his lips in an exaggerated manner and said with a sneer:
"Who else are you waiting for? You look like you crawled out of a pigsty. We can smell your stench even from here."
Anna buried her head in her hood, not daring to look into their eyes, so she could only keep saying: "I'm sorry, sir, I'm sorry..."
"What's wrong? Go back quickly!"
When the man saw Anna still standing there, he couldn't help but frown. He was used to doing evil, but he didn't expect that a girl from the slums would dare to turn a deaf ear to his words.
"You little beast! I have to do it, right?" As he said that, the strong man came up to her with a ferocious smile and forced Anna to the wall.
The passers-by just ignored what was going on. Occasionally, some people frowned and glanced here, but they didn't mean to stop him.
She is a girl from the slums anyway, and no one will take the risk to stand up for her.
I saw this strong man with a ferocious face, reaching out to grab Anna's arm and dragging it outward vigorously.
Anna's body, as thin as a bamboo pole, could not struggle open even if she tried her best. In desperation, she opened her mouth wide and bit the strong man's arm.
"Ah, damn! You pig!"
The strong man yelled and threw his arm away, and there were two rows of shallow blood marks on it. Then in anger, he raised his fist as big as a casserole and started to punch the thin Anna.
Anna closed her eyes in fear, unable to even cry out.
And in the midst of the flash of lightning, only a loud explosion was heard.
boom!
Suddenly a crater appeared in front of the strong man's feet, and at the same time several stone fragments were thrown into his face.
"Who...who the hell dares to shoot in the street!" The strong man was startled, he quickly put away his fists and shouted at the top of his lungs, looking back at the shooter.
Lawrence looked at them expressionlessly, and blew gently into the muzzle of the gun, blowing away the snow-white smoke.
Since there was no time to change his clothes, Lawrence was still wearing the patrol uniform from the morning, and his blue and white jumper was stained with a large amount of prisoners' blood.
"Wait...you're the one in the morning!"
The strong man's eyes widened, he pointed at Lawrence and said repeatedly, having recognized Lawrence as the patrol officer who presided over the execution in the morning.
Lawrence ignored his words and lowered his head to reload lead bullets and gunpowder into the barrel.
"gentlemen!"
Anna didn't open her eyes in fear until a long time after the gunshots. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the husband she had been waiting for for a long time was right in front of her.
"You...what do you want to do..."
The strong man swallowed uneasily and took two nervous steps back.
Even though he was much taller than Lawrence, the finely crafted flintlock pistol in Lawrence's hand was not a decoration. In addition, he had witnessed Lawrence's ruthless execution of three people in the morning, and the strong man was already extremely frightened.
Anna quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and hurriedly ran behind Lawrence.
A flattering smile appeared on the strong man's face, he rubbed his hands and said:
"Monsieur Bonaparte...Monsieur Bonaparte, we don't have to do it for a slum bastard..."
Before he finished speaking, Lawrence shot another shot on the ground just a few inches in front of the strong man.
The strong man was so frightened that as soon as he heard the gunfire, he fell to his knees on the ground, crying and begging for mercy.
Pedestrians passing by had already noticed what was going on here, and recognized Lawrence in uniform, and gathered in a circle.
Lawrence looked at Anna guiltily and apologized: "I'm sorry Anna, I was late today."
Anna was still in shock, sobbing and saying repeatedly: "It's okay, sir, it's okay."
Reaching out and touching Anna's head, Lawrence couldn't help but sigh, then walked up to the strong man kneeling on the ground and asked condescendingly:
"Who did you just call a bitch?"
"Sir," the strong man's voice trembled a little, and he glanced at Anna and said, "Isn't she just a lowly slum girl?"
Lawrence snorted coldly and asked loudly:
"You say she is a bitch? Is she a Corsican? Do you want to say that all the Corsican compatriots are bitches?!"
"I...I didn't..." The strong man opened his mouth and wanted to defend something, but was interrupted by Lawrence's cold voice:
"Open your mouth."
"Ah?" The strong man was stunned, but when he thought about the fate of those people who were shot mercilessly by Lawrence in the morning, he quickly opened his mouth.
Lawrence waved his right hand and stuffed the barrel of the pistol directly into the strong man's mouth.
The barrel of the gun, which had just been fired twice, still had scalding residual heat, and as soon as it was put into the strong man's mouth, it made a sizzling sound and faint white smoke.
The onlookers crowded into a circle, but no one felt sorry for this strong man. Everyone who lived here knew that he was a well-known rogue in the neighborhood.
"Ahhhh!" The strong man's cry lasted for several seconds before Lawrence pulled out the barrel of the gun, took out a handkerchief in disgust and wiped the saliva on the barrel.
The man's mouth had been covered in blisters so densely that he couldn't even make a sound. It would be difficult to recover without recovery for a few months.
"Go away." Lawrence looked at this bully with disdain and spat out two words.
The strong man who had been granted amnesty quickly stood up, pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers, and quickly disappeared around the corner of the street.
"Compatriots! As you can see!"
Lawrence looked around at the surrounding citizens, put the pistol back on his waist, raised his hands and announced loudly:
"All Corsicans are created equal! I will never allow the oppression and bullying of Corsicans to happen before my eyes. If so, I will definitely use the power given to me by my compatriots to punish it!"
There was silence in the crowd for a moment, and then loud cheers broke out, and people excitedly repeated Lawrence's words, "All men are created equal."
Lawrence waved to the crowd for a moment, and pulled Anna out of the crowded crowd under people's attention and cheers.
"Sir...are all the things you just said true?"
After staying away from the crowd, Anna tugged on Lawrence's clothes with some hesitation and asked carefully.
"About which ones?" Lawrence responded casually.
"Things about human equality." Anna said timidly:
"But I don't feel that I am equal to other people. Sometimes I see the houses where people live in Dongcheng District from a distance. They are so bright, so spacious, and so... beautiful. Occasionally, I can see them traveling, with their...
The clothes are of a style that I could never imagine. Even if they go three miles away, they have to hire a luxurious carriage. I never dare to think of being equal to those people."
After hearing this, Lawrence stopped and said softly:
"Anna"
"Yes, sir." Anna lowered her head and looked at Lawrence carefully from the corner of her eye.
"There is indeed no absolute equality in this world. The superiors call this inequality destiny and force us to accept it. But one day, people will understand that this is wrong. People will resist, fight, and
Erasing these injustices imposed on them. Maybe they will not succeed, and even their sons and grandsons will not succeed; but as long as some people continue to go through fire and water for this, equality for all mankind will be achieved one day in the future?"
"Can we see that day?" Anna raised her head and looked at Lawrence.
"We may not see the day when we succeed, but the day when the struggle begins may not be far away."
Lawrence said, looking to the other side of the sea, in the direction of Paris.