The town was lively in the early morning. By the time the two of them reached the town center, many stalls were already set up—a common sight here.
Merchants always woke up early. A good merchant would never miss a single business opportunity. Sometimes, the reward for waking early was just a few more sales.
But there were rare occasions when a wealthy customer might buy out all their goods in one go, though that was a luxury that didn't happen often.
After walking all morning, the two were exhausted, but the first problem to solve was breakfast. Fortunately, they had their own way of handling that.
At Uncle Sam's bakery, Uncle Sam was kneading dough when he spotted the two paupers at the entrance, and his face immediately darkened.
"Hey, Uncle Sam, do you have any leftover black bread from yesterday? Could you spare us a little?" Oliver pleaded, rubbing his stomach now and then.
"My stomach is about to cave in, and Noel's too. Plus, he got hurt today. Could you please spare just a little bit for us?" Oliver added, giving Uncle Sam a pitiful look.
If they were lucky, Uncle Sam might give them some bread, but it was clear that today wasn't one of those lucky days.
"Get out of here. You're not welcome in my shop. You're scaring away customers. Can't you see how busy I am right now? Damn brats, you really know how to pick your timing," Uncle Sam said with clear annoyance.
"But Auntie Sam said that if you have black bread left over that doesn't sell in a day, we could come by the next morning to get it. Besides, you wouldn't want to sell day-old bread to paying customers, would you?"
Oliver put on a pained expression. "Even if it's that kind of bread, it would still keep us from starving. You'd be doing a great deed, Uncle Sam."
Noel was trying hard not to laugh, his face turning a little red. Oliver was truly something else, using Auntie Sam against Uncle Sam when everyone knew Uncle Sam was terrified of his wife.
"What are you laughing at, Noel?" Uncle Sam's mustache twitched as he glared.
"Maybe it's just too cold, and my face turned red?" Noel quickly covered, "If we had some bread, we wouldn't be so hungry, and we wouldn't feel this cold."
"That's all in your heads. Damn beggars, I never believe a word you brats say." Uncle Sam picked up a wooden stick, ready to chase them away.
"But it's what Auntie Sam said! And Auntie Sam is the kindest person in the world. Uncle, you're so lucky to have someone like her as your partner in life."
Noel's words were like honey, but this was how they survived.
"Is that really what you think?" Auntie Sam suddenly said, laughing. "Aren't you two sweet, knowing how to compliment others like that."
Uncle Sam's voice dropped instantly as he turned to discuss something with Auntie Sam.
"See? Uncle Sam is terrified of Auntie Sam. That's what happens when a man has no status at home," Oliver whispered to Noel.
"But it's thanks to that we can always get bread when we come here," Noel thought silently.
Uncle Sam was left speechless. They were running a bakery, not a charity. If this kept up, wouldn't his bakery go bankrupt?
They were supposed to be doing business, but it was turning into a bread distribution center.
Auntie Sam soon returned with some bread. It was black and looked rock hard, but they had no choice.
Just having something to eat was a blessing. Who were they to be picky?
"Thank you, Auntie Sam! If you don't mind, this is a copper coin Noel and I managed to get from begging yesterday."
"I know this isn't a charity, so I'd like to offer something in return to ease my conscience," Oliver said as he handed over the copper coin.
"Keep your coin. You two brats, just don't come back next time, alright? Do you even know how dirty you are, hanging around in front of my shop and scaring away customers?" Uncle Sam grumbled.
"Thank you, Uncle Sam," Noel said gratefully.
As expected, Uncle Sam and his wife were good people. Uncle Sam might be gruff, but on this street, he treated them the best.
He just had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, though dealing with that sharp tongue was always a challenge.
But for orphans like them, Uncle Sam still cared. Whenever they were starving, they could always manage to get some bread from him.
"We'll come back next time," Oliver called out cheekily as he dashed away like a mischievous child.
Noel quickly followed. Otherwise, he'd be the one to get scolded later. Oliver was always causing trouble, and Noel always had to clean up the mess.
"Slow down! How do you have the energy to run so fast when you're starving?" Noel shouted after him.
"Is Uncle Sam not chasing us?" Oliver called back.
"Of course not! You think he has time for that? Didn't you see how busy he was with the bread? He doesn't have time to deal with you," Noel shot back, annoyed.
"Good!"
Oliver let out a breath of relief, finally slowing down.
"We only have one loaf of black bread today, so we'll split it in half. Depending on how much we get today, we might have something more for lunch. If not, this half might have to be lunch too," Noel sighed.
He tried to tear the bread, but it was so hard that it was more like breaking it apart.
"Uncle Sam really needs to improve his baking. This bread is like a rock," Oliver complained.
"At least we have something to eat," Noel said dryly.
"Uncle Sam is actually really kind, you know. Don't be too hard on him."
"I know. It's just fun to tease him a bit. For orphans like us, being able to act spoiled around adults is a rare luxury, isn't it?"
"Being able to be this cheeky with someone, it makes me happy. It makes me feel… warm," Oliver said contentedly.
As he spoke, he took a bite of the bread. "Though, it really is hard. We should tell him next time to improve it. No wonder his business never takes off. The bread is too hard and tastes terrible."
"Maybe he keeps this bread aside for us on purpose, so we won't feel guilty taking it," Noel guessed.
"Is that it? I hadn't thought of that! You're really smart, Noel. If you awaken your magic, you'll definitely become an amazing mage one day."
"Whether I become a mage or not doesn't really matter. As long as I can live happily in this world, that's enough."
"One day, I want to have a warm family and a home of my own. That's my lifelong goal. I'm not someone with big ambitions—just that would be enough."
They talked as they ate, finishing the bread in a joyful atmosphere, not even leaving behind crumbs.
Afterward, they licked the crumbs off their fingers. Even bread crumbs couldn't be wasted. Wasting food was shameful.
Especially when you didn't even have the right to waste. Such an act would earn the scorn of others like them. A person who didn't respect food would never know the warmth of a full stomach.