Ch4 - Little joys and little pains

The two children were full of a sense of accomplishment from making money. Their lives became busier.

They woke up at 7 in the morning and went around the restaurants and mills to polish shoes. Then in the afternoon, Morel went to the Truro Market to help the flower shop transport and sell flowers. On good days where they sold a lot, he could earn 5 silver franc coins, and on days where business was bad, he could still earn 1 silver franc coin. 

Morel had multiple reasons for choosing this job. First, the market was where the people gathered. There were people selling vegetables and people selling accessories, and it was a convenient place to inquire about someone’s whereabouts. He might be able to find some information on Bill here. But most people only laughed at him, saying if he had said this at a church, he would’ve been spanked. On the other hand, a few people also said that Bill had been missing for a long time and had perhaps died. But no one knew where Bill lived…As for his second reason, it was because he and Hania loved flowers.

Every evening, the two children would wait outside the shop with the other poor kids.

Not long after, the large cart filled with flowers swaying gently rolled over with a loud rumbling of its wheels and the group of children jumped up. The large cart passed through the clean and spacious street in an unhurried manner and a flock of white doves flapped their wings and flew towards the sky.

A young lad wearing a white smock came down from the cart and the group of children lined up in an orderly fashion. 

The youth passed basket after basket of flowers from the cart to them. There were lilies, tulips, yellow roses, and red roses. The fragrance of flowers permeating the air couldn’t be tired of no matter how much they smelled.

The children carried the flowers into the flower shop and together with the proprietress, they placed the flowers into suitable spots. Then, with the remaining tulips and such, they used a ribbon to tie a bow on each of the flowers. Each person got around 20 flowers and they ran outside to sell them. The more they sold, the more they earned.

Dusk was the peak time for lovers wanting to take a stroll.

Quick-witted Morel had asked the proprietress for help in order to learn what to say.

He and his didi were both sweet talkers. They would say to the young man in front of his lover, “Monsieur, on such a happy date, why not buy her a flower to make the memory even more beautiful?” or “Three roses represent ‘I love you’, monsieur, do you want to buy a flower to relay your feelings?”
……
If an adult said the same things, it would sound unbearably corny.

But when two children said it in clumsy French, it became a novelty and was very well-received.

Morel didn’t know that in the future, he would use his pen to write all sorts of sappy love poems for a certain person and that he would become known as a “Master of Love” and countless people yearned for a rose from him…but his roses and love poems were only for one person. It had always been that way and would continue to be so.

Anyway, after a week’s effort, the two finally upgraded to living in a hotel. 

It was a low-grade hotel with tiny rooms and no private bathrooms or baths, but it still cost 2 francs a day.

But children were easily satisfied.

It was their first time living in a hotel. Hania gleefully jumped up and down on the bed. Morel chased after him with a wet cloth, wanting to wipe the other’s body, and finally managed to subdue Hania who was like a naughty monkey after half a day. He trapped Hania’s legs with his knees and began stripping him.

Hania dodged left and right and used his legs to push Morel’s stomach. Morel, with a dark expression, slipped his hands under Hania’s armpits and tickled him. Hania howled with laughter, curled up like a worm, and obediently retracted his legs. Heh, Morel knew very well that his didi was extremely ticklish! 

When his didi begged for mercy, Morel continued to strip him with fast hands.

He used the towel and wiped every inch of his brother clean. Occasionally, he bent over and washed the towel in the basin, wrung it, then continued wiping.

Tuckered out, Hania lay on the bed like a corpse and allowed his gege to do with him as he pleased.

He opened his eyes wide. His limpid eyes and sapphire irises stared at his gege who continued to busy himself. His golden curls enveloped his face and he looked like a little sunflower. 

After a while, Hania asked, “Gege, why do we have different eye and hair colors?”

“Huh?”

“Back at home, Aram once told me that you weren’t my real brother…”

When Hania said this, he pressed his lips together and his eyes became a little red. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Morel pinched his cheek, “Your gege is your gege. Don’t listen to other people’s nonsense.”

“But…we don’t look alike at all! Gege’s hair is just like gold but mine looks white like the hair of a grandpa and our eyes…”

Morel threw the towel into the basin and lay down beside his didi.

He gently held his didi’s hand, “Hania, whether we are blood brothers are not, it’s not important. It doesn’t matter at all whether we look alike. I’m your gege, I’ll always be together with you. That’s what counts.” 

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“Like what?” Hania raised his head, his eyes sparkling. 

“Yes…” With a wicked laugh, Morel said softly, “Just like a little puppy!”

As expected, Hania was stunned for a moment before exploding in fury. He wrapped his arms and legs around his gege like an octopus and bit his gege on the head…

This, Hania, this little dog, he’s even biting people!

That night, Hania slept soundly as usual and wouldn’t be roused even if thunder were to strike. But Morel was unable to sleep, not from worry, but because his skin felt a little itchy and uncomfortable. Truthfully, he has had these symptoms for a while now, but it had never been serious. 

Morel had always lived in a harsh environment so he merely attributed his symptoms to lice, which was quite common.

He remembered from his hometown, there was an old man who would often pick out a louse from his jacket while muttering to himself: What an excellent specimen of louse this is! Look at its round abdomen, its powerful legs, and its noble head. This must be a show louse with a pedigree!

What was a show louse? Well, a group of old men would often gather together to bet on which louse could run the fastest.

There was a bad premonition in his heart. Before the sun was even up, he got off the bed and looked at himself in the mirror, paying special attention to his stomach and underarms but didn’t find any lumps. 

As he sighed a breath of relief, he turned around and out of the corner of his eyes, saw something in the mirror…his back!

The feeling of shock almost knocked him off his feet.

There were two black lumps on his back…to think he never noticed them until now!

His body trembled and the feeling of fear made him shudder. 

Like the reaper appearing when a person was at the peak of their bliss, telling them “You only have 3 more days to live”.

Morel knew the Black Death well.

He saw many people growing a few lumps, just like this, and they breathed their last a few days later. …Maybe, he would really die in a few days!

Death…death… 

No, he hadn’t found Bill yet…

Morel’s mind was in turmoil.

“Gege, what’s wrong?”

Hania rubbed his eyes, pushed himself up, and looked at his gege standing in front of the mirror. 

Morel quickly pulled down his shirt and smiled, “Gege was using the bathroom. Why don’t you sleep more, it’s still early.”

“Okay.”

Hania lied down with a reassured heart and fell asleep again within a minute.

But there was no way Morel could fall asleep now. He didn’t even dare to touch his didi. 

He hated how stupid he had been. The Black Death was contagious, what if…if his didi caught it because of him, what would he do? He didn’t even dare to think about it.

But he had wiped his didi all over yesterday and there was nothing wrong with his didi.

Morel forced himself to calm down. He took out the money they had earned during this period of time and counted them. There was a total of 350 centimes and 25 silver franc coins.

He didn’t dare to waste any more time and ran out to the pharmacy. 

A little past 7, Hania woke up.

Morel busied himself with this and that as usual. Hania watched his gege for half a day and said, “Gege, why are you wearing gloves?”

“Oh, I thought they looked nice, so I bought them.”

Hania sat on the bed in a stupor. 

Morel raised his head.

He looked at his gege and reached out his hands.

Yes. He was waiting for Morel to help him dress.

But Morel didn’t walk over. He said with a stern expression, “Hania, you’re a big boy now. Shouldn’t you learn to dress by yourself?” 

“Hania is only 7!” Hania protested with indignation.

“7 is already grown. Gege started dressing himself when he was 4!”

Hania pouted but he started moving his hands in the end. He was very conscientious as he dressed by himself, even though he often wore the clothes inside out, or fastened the button to the wrong hole…Morel saw him and wanted to go over and help him several times.

That day, Morel announced a few things that were very disadvantageous to Hania. 

From henceforth, Hania must wash his face and wipe his body on his own. He must also dress by himself, sleep by himself, and during mealtimes, he could only eat his own bread and wasn’t allowed to eat gege’s, nor could he drink the water gege had drunk, wear the clothes gege had worn, or use the towel that gege had used…

Hania was still alright hearing the first half; he only pressed his lips thinly. But when he finished hearing the entire thing, he instantly burst into tears!

Morel wanted to hug him, but he didn’t in the end.

“Why…Hania doesn’t want to grow up. Gege, don’t you love Hania anymore after Hania grows up?!” 

Morel’s heart ached. It wasn’t like that…

If it was in the past, Morel would’ve gone over to ask for forgiveness. In front of his didi’s tears, his principles disappeared.

But this time was different!

Morel turned around and continued to be busy, turning a deaf ear to his didi’s tears. 

The cold wind blew and the windows rattled. The lively atmosphere outside remained the same as before.

Hania cried for a long time…but little did he know, his gege with his back to him was also crying, just silently.

At this very moment, Morel’s mind was in turmoil and was replaying the scene from that morning in the pharmacy.

The doctor was relatively calm, but the women who saw it all fearfully left on the spot. After all, the Black Death had always been a source of terror for them…it was like simply standing too close could get you infected. 

The doctor said they could try to treat it, but the treatment would be very complicated. It would involve bloodletting, the use of herbs, grinding emeralds into powder to drink every day, and such. But when he told him the price, Morel could only leave.

He said the cost would be 300 francs.

He doubted he could make that much even if he polished shoes for a year!

As Morel was about to leave, the doctor sighed and said his situation would depend on his luck; if he was unlucky, he might die in another 2 or 3 days, but if he was fortunate, he might live for another few weeks. And if there was blood in his urine that day, then he was truly beyond saving. 

Later that day, while waiting in the plaza for the flowers, Morel suddenly felt itching and pain in his abdomen. Then everything in the surroundings became blurry, and he actually fainted.

He dreamt that he was struggling in a pitch-black vortex.

His entire body hurt. It was like there were countless bugs squirming inside of him.

“Drip…drip…” 

He heard the echoing of the water droplets.

Then, before he could react, he felt a sudden sense of warmth.

Ah, it belonged to a person’s hug…en, a hug.

He smelled a familiar fragrance of flowers. 

“Morel, don’t be scared…don’t be scared…”

That person didn’t do anything else, he only repeated the three words.

But those three words were like magic and drew out the bugs in him, bit by bit…

Morel tightly clutched that person! 

Don’t go! Bill…don’t go!!!

He wanted to speak but was unable to…he wanted to grab the other but had no strength.

His entire worlding was rocking…

When Morel woke up, he was still in the plaza and his didi was beside him, shaking him back and forth. 

The flower cart had already arrived and everyone had gone to get the flowers.

“Gege, why did you suddenly fall asleep…” Hania’s voice carried hints of sobs, “I thought…”

Morel suppressed his discomfort and stood up. He fought against the sensation of toppling over at any moment, and smiled, “It’s nothing, I just suddenly felt sleepy, that’s all. Hania, let’s go and sell some flowers!”