Chapter 3 - An act of benevolence

"Taf, I see you have been beaten once more. Child, when will you learn to avoid those that are up to no good?"

Mr. Ming stated as he looked at him rubbing his bruises.

"Sigh! Go and let Little Sue rub some ointment on them in order to help with the healing, and start your work for the day. After that, you can eat some of the leftovers from the day's meals."

Make sure to eat some meat and vegetables too. I swear only God knows how the wind hasn't blown you away.

Walking around with those chicken legs, your knees hit together like maracas."

Mr. Ming laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Taf smiled and replied, "Old Senior Ming, how am I supposed to grow to my full potential on these 'substitute' meats I see you providing your guests?

Flaunting around saying you sell premium meats that have been imported from lands far grander and beyond the city walls— let us not forget who gave you the link to Teng's butchers up in the north-west corner."

Smack!

Taf held his head up with a big smile on his face.

Mr. Ming had a smug look as he replied, "I said the meats are premium from the outside, and yes, I source it from the Tengs, but I never lied."

He coughed while stating, "All meats have their own origins from somewhere else, and those beast meats are no different.

They may not directly come from outside and are herded, but their ancestors certainly did and were of premium quality. Though the generation gap was not mentioned, it does apply."

They both looked at each other and bursted out into laughter.

"I hear you, Old Man Ming," Tafari replied as he headed inside.

After he reached inside, he headed to where little Sue was. As it was night, she was stacking up the plates for him to start washing. She saw him all covered in bruises and had a little worried look on her face.

Little Sue was Old Senior Ming's youngest daughter and was 16. She is engaged to be married to a scholar in a couple of months.

"Taf, after two days of being given a good dusting, I see you are still up to no good once again. What did you do this time to warrant this amount of beating, or should I ask what did you steal?" asked Little Sue.

"I did nothing at all, Big Sis Sue, I swear." He now had a baby face with an innocent smile on display.

"I was just completely minding my own business when I saw some members of the Bing Gang pestering few females and males on the street."

"Being the man of honor I am, how could I possibly watch that happen and not do anything?" He smugly replied.

"So after that, I hid and saw them stealing the purses from the young ladies and their male counterparts. I saw them place together everything they looted and put it in a cattle made bag.

I remembered the heroic feats of the knights in shining armor in the books I have read. In my mind, I thought I would save them from their beatings but after all, I am but one man.

So, I had a change of heart and then two choices were available to me. I had the choice of leaving them to their beatings or leave them to their beatings and at the very least 'carrying' their collected belongings with me for safekeeping until it could be returned."

With a righteous tone, he continued, "Seeing the pitiful faces of those that lost their belongings, I had a moment of benevolence and decided to secure their belongings for them. So I pounced when no one was looking.

Who would have thought that they had been recruiting new members? As soon as I grabbed the loot and reached the corner, I was stopped by some of their members. I was even chased and beaten up each time they caught me."

A wronged looked started to show on his face as he spoke, "Sigh! I tell you Big Sister Sue, it is hard for a man to do good in this world. I swear that is the last time I try to do any more noble acts. The ends surely doesn't justify the means."

He ended his speech with a shake of his head.

Little Sue shook her head as well after she had listened to his story. She knew what he was like, as he has always been like this— robbing the gangs of their loot and then hiding like a mouse.

No matter how much she and her father spoke, and encouraged him to stop, he would still take part in these acts.

He started washing with a smug look on his face as he went on about it. She understood him somewhat though. He was only a kid, and even though he seemed a somewhat mature, he was still a kid sometimes when he spoke.

Kids liked mischief, and he was just the mischievous type sometimes. In his eyes, he was surviving how he should. He did this by doing what he had to, although it was indeed dangerous.