In front of the dilapidated hut.
Aililan soothed the little one.
The young parents looked at their child, now peacefully asleep, their faces flickering between surprise and a sorrow that would not fade.
Instinctively, the two searched themselves for anything of value, wanting to offer it to Aililan as a token of gratitude, but the most precious thing they owned was nothing more than a few pieces of hard, dry black bread.
“After you return…”
Aililan wanted to explain some matters about caring for the baby, but after the young parents exchanged a glance, as if having made some firm decision.
They left their child behind.
Hand in hand, they ran toward the depths of the shadowy alley.
Perhaps they were gambling! Gambling on Aililan’s kindness, believing that the child at Aililan’s side would surely fare better than with them—at least she wouldn’t starve?
“Sigh, you two!”
Aililan let out a sigh.
This damned poverty!
But it’s a shame—they couldn’t get far. Not long after, the Knights caught them and brought them back.
The young parents knelt on the ground, wailing, “Kind Miss, please take this child! When she grows up, she can even become your slave—anything is better than staying with us, watching her starve to death before our eyes.”
Aililan solemnly returned the child to them and said, somewhat helplessly, “Tomorrow you can go to the relief center for food. It may not fill your stomachs, but at least you won’t starve.”
The sorrow still lingered on the young parents’ faces; perhaps they felt that this was no long-term solution.
Aililan couldn’t say much more.
All she could do was sigh and leave.
Yet in the end, her compassion was stirred.
She had Knight Arkernard recruit one of them into the Sewing Workshop. Surely, tonight, they would receive this exhilarating news, wouldn’t they?
It wasn’t that Aililan didn’t want to take them all in, but everyone in that workshop was someone with a bitter life; none were in a better plight than these young parents.
And the workshop hadn’t even started operating yet.
Everything was still uncertain.
Aililan’s plan was to wait until the Sewing Workshop was up and running, then expand its production scale.
Once the number of people reached five hundred, with money in their hands, they would spur at least a thousand others in the surrounding service industries.
Later, she would add other businesses, like drinks, preserves, animal husbandry, and so on.
But as the saying goes, a single move affects the whole situation.
Her methods certainly benefited the Slums.
But at the same time, it hurt the interests of the merchants in the Inner City. After all, the cake was only so big. What once made a few people fat and wealthy, she now wanted to divide among hundreds or thousands of the poor?
Seeking win-win cooperation?
That’s too difficult!
The cake is only so big, unless she could find a way to make it bigger.
But the problem is… is there ever an end to human desire? If the cake grows larger, won’t those few people just want to eat the entire bigger cake themselves?
“Sigh.”
“I!”
“Ah… better not to overthink it, just do well what needs to be done now.”
Aililan hesitated for a moment.
Then gave up thinking and stopped worrying.
Sometimes, she wondered if her actions were a bit too much like a saint?
But she couldn’t bear to see the poor suffer. What did that have to do with being a Saint Song, and what was so shameful about that?
Just as she was troubled.
A young girl with her eyes covered by a cloth came over.
“Miss Aililan, your song is truly the most heavenly music I’ve ever heard!”
“Theresa, when did you get here?”
“I’ve been here ever since you started performing good deeds, since you offered help to the poor.”
“Theresa, do you think I’m foolish? My kindness, my compassion, is it nothing more than the actions of a fool? Maybe everything is just my own wishful thinking.”
Theresa reached out, hesitated for a moment, then gently stroked Aililan’s cheek and said, “If there could be more fools like you in this world, it would surely be as beautiful as the God Nation above, wouldn’t it?”
“You seem lost?”
“My request may be presumptuous, but please, continue to bring that last thread of Hope to them!”
Theresa paused, her tone becoming somewhat regretful, then softly apologized, “Forgive me, Miss Aililan, for my overstep and selfishness. I have no right to ask you to do all these things.”
Aililan: “Ha.”
The girl broke into a bright laugh.
And her mood immediately improved so much!
No need to sing the Saint Song for the nobles, no need to ponder the livelihoods of the poor—simply chatting with the blind girl before her was a pleasant thing, too!
“Thank you,” Aililan said.
“You needn’t say so.”
“Miss Theresa, I feel that, given our relationship, you don’t have to be so formal with me, do you?”
“Friends are friends. As for the honorifics, this is just the one good deed I could do for you. The respect I can express for your compassion is pitifully small.”
“…”
The two went to Theresa’s home.
Inside the modest cottage, there were now some small changes. Bottles and jars covered the table, filled with honey water that Theresa had carefully prepared.
To keep this white-haired blind girl from wandering about and being discovered by Feng Aotian the blond, Aililan placed many orders for honey water from Theresa, who made fragrant, delicious honey water for the Knights working in the Slums every day.
Aililan picked up a bottle and drank.
‘Gulp, gulp!’
“Delicious!”
Through the window, a beautiful Flower Garden bloomed outside, and beside her, a beautiful girl busied herself making honey water. Aililan thought that such moments were wonderful, so leisurely.
Until evening.
The arrival of Knight Arkernard broke this rare tranquility.
“Lord Aililan, it’s been found.”
As Knight Arkernard was about to report, he hesitated and looked toward Theresa.
Aililan was about to say that Theresa was one of her own and it was fine.
But Theresa had already nodded at them, considerately heading into the inner room.
As the door closed.
Theresa seemed to smile, seemed to feel comforted?
Because she knew that Aililan had always held to her heart. The earlier confusion might have been nothing more than a momentary hesitation.
“Miss Aililan.”
“She must be a beautiful young lady!”
At this moment, she thought, how wonderful it would be if she could see you!
Theresa touched her own cheek, slender and white like green onions. Unconsciously, she wiped away a patch of deliberately applied black ash, revealing a stunning face.
Suddenly.
“I really want to see what Miss Aililan looks like!”
Such a thought sprang up in Theresa’s heart, and then she felt it was a bit too much. Besides, she was just a lowly, impoverished blind girl.
“Father once said,”
“Do not overstep.”
“Do not harbor delusions.”
A girl in the dust.
It is right not to chase the light.
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