Chapter 1042 The Poor Die Of Cold

All his punches landed on their lips, knocking off their teeth in the process!

Yang Pojun broke out into cold sweat. He hadn’t fought in years and he almost got hurt because of his wound.

Yang Chen had already taken care of everything by the time he realized what was going on. He was both relieved and conflicted at the same time to see this.

It was impossible for him to thank Yang Chen. After all, weren’t his injuries because of him?

Fortunately, Yang Chen wasn’t even expecting his gratitude as he did it for the sake of Guo Xuehua.

Liu Yue almost peed himself when his subordinates were all knocked down by Yang Chen in one fell swoop.

As for Sister Hua and her gang, they had retreated to a corner of the property.

The children looked up to him in awe when they witnessed his abilities.

Yang Chen pointed to Liu Yun’s chin with the stun baton. “What happened? I suggest you tell me everything. We have our ways of extracting the truth. If you lie, I’ll cave your head in. I believe that you’re the leader here but I’m sure you won’t dare to risk your own life…”

Having said so, Yang Chen patted Liu Yue’s bald head with the baton.

Liu Yue could clearly feel the icy chill from Yang Chen which was starting to seep through his bones.

“I…I’ll tell you…I’ll tell you everything…”

Cold sweat beads formed on his forehead.

It turned out that the children’s parents were farmers from other places.

In a well-developed city like Beijing, it was hard for them to get a permanent job. Their children couldn’t even be registered residents. Due to a lack of contraceptives, they gave birth to many children.

They were poor and homeless. Schooling wasn’t even an option if they couldn’t put meals on the table.

Even though some of the kindergartens allowed the enrollment of children from such families, how would they afford it?

So the parents were left with no choice but to leave their children here.

The residents here mostly get some simple jobs from the small scale factories nearby.

They also dealt with morally grey businesses. For example, selling expired mooncakes, low-quality clothes or stock clearance.

As for the plastic bags and paper boxes, the factories nearby passed it to the kids to organize it since it was an easy job.

Their parents would get some money out of it and their children could sleep and eat here. It was a way to survive.

Well, obviously since the parents were desperate to leave their kids here, it would mean that the people here could do anything to them. They had the right to scold or hit them.

It can be said that even though the adults benefited from it while the children suffered on their behalf.

It wasn’t a rare sight here since there were at least a dozen houses that were doing the same thing.

Law enforcement officers like Liu Yue and the others chose to keep things hidden in order to earn bribes from the factories and local residents.

Guo Xuehua and Lin Ruoxi were on the verge of tears as they listened to Liu Yue.

The children were suffering from malnutrition and were constantly surrounded by smelly plastics. This was basically poisoning their future!

“Big brother and sister, it really isn’t our fault. If it wasn’t for us, they couldn’t have lived till now. Even if they are facing hardships now, it’s still better than death!” Liu Yue muttered softly.

“Shut up!!”

Guo Xuehua’s eyes were red with fury and with dewy eyes, she yelled at him, “How could you say such a cruel thing!”

“Big sister! It’s not our fault. We didn’t do it…” Liu Yue pulled a long face.

“Keep bullshitting and I’ll tear your mouth apart.” Yang Chen threatened him.

Liu Yue covered his mouth.

Lin Ruoxi wiped her tears before walking to Xiao Jia. She bent down and held her hand to roll her sleeves up.

A pained smile formed on her lips when she saw her scarred arm. “Your name is Xiao Jia, right?”

“Mmh.” Xiao Jia nodded.

“Do you guys always get hit? Where have they hit you? Tell me. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be afraid.”

Xiao Jia glanced over at Sister Hua and her gang before turning to look at Yang Chen who was calm and composed. She mustered her courage and lifted her shirt while turning around.

They could see terrifying whip marks on her back and there were even bloodstains on her undergarment!

Xiao Jia pulled down her shirt and turned around to face them, “If we fail to sell the things or if we couldn’t finish our work, we wouldn’t get any food and we would also get beaten up.”

“Scums…such scums…” Yang Pojun cursed. “I never would’ve thought this kind of thing would happen in Beijing. Wouldn’t it be worse in other places?!”

Guo Xuehua was worried too and she sounded disappointed with herself. “I’ve been doing charity work for a long time but I can’t believe I was so uninformed about my hometown.”

Lin Ruoxi who had been quiet for a while held Xiao Jia’s hands. “It must have hurt a lot, to be beaten up so badly…”

Xiao Jia shook her head and answered frankly. “It only hurt a little. I couldn’t eat anything so I was starving…”

“How can it only hurt a little when you’re bleeding?”

“It really doesn’t hurt.” Xiao Jia lowered her head.

Yang Chen sighed from the side. “Ruoxi, she’s telling the truth. She really doesn’t think it’s painful.”

“What do you mean?” Lin Ruoxi and Guo Xuehua looked over with a curious gaze.

Yang Chen’s facial expression was hard to read and his gaze was dark.

“If you’re subject to beatings every day, it’ll eventually become a normal thing to experience. It’ll feel like a daily routine like eating and sleeping. Who feels pain while they sleep or eat?”

Yang Chen gave a self-deprecating laugh while saying this. Didn’t he share the same past, being filled with pain all the time? If it wasn’t for this incident, he would never bring up the memory once again.

It felt as if he was back to the training field in Siberia. A skinny abused kid who was struggling to survive in the unforgiving wasteland that was Siberia.

Guo Xuehua, Lin Ruoxi, and even Yang Pojun realized he was talking about his personal experience.

Guo Xuehua was stirred up the most. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck her heart and she trembled while sobbing, “Yang Chen…it’s all Mom’s fault…”

Lin Ruoxi bit her lip, not daring to look at Yang Chen’s smile.

Yang Pojun watched from the side silently and his fists had tightened unknowingly. His eyes were filled with pain when he noticed the children’s confused faces.

It suddenly dawned on Yang Chen that his words caused his mom and wife to feel a grieving pain. He grinned and said, “Why are you guys crying? I’m doing fine now. Isn’t there a proverb that says no pain no gain? If I wasn’t beaten like a dog, how would I beat others like a dog?”

“How can you joke about these things?!” Guo Xuehua wiped her tears.

Yang Chen shook his head while chuckling before bending down to stroke a boy’s head. It was the boy who talked to Xiao Jia earlier.

“Kiddo, what’s your name?”

“I…am Liuzi.” The boy replied to him with a soft voice.

Yang Chen nodded his head. “Liuzi, getting beaten up is a part of life. It’s fine if you get beaten today but you must remember to never give up! You can return the favor when you are bigger and stronger! If someone bullied you today, you have to bully them tomorrow! I was beaten up by a lot of people when I was young too. They stole my food just because they were bigger and stronger than me. But when I was older, I beat them up to the point they could no longer eat! Remember, as long as you are alive, don’t give up”

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