Ji Huan walked down the street, lost in thought. She kept bumping into people or being bumped into, her scoldings and apologies both mechanical.
In a daze, she walked out of the city gates and waited for a mule cart at the crossroads.
A few people were sitting scattered in twos and threes under the shade of a tree, also waiting for a ride. There was no telling which villages they were headed to.
Ji Huan found a clean spot to sit and listened to two men nearby who were chatting.
"A kid that small... how could they make him do this kind of work?"
"If he doesn't work, he doesn't eat. He'll go hungry... That's just how it is for a kid with no parents..."
Ji Huan turned her head to look at the person they were pointing at and discussing.
A canal ran past Yeyang County, and where there was a canal, there was naturally a wharf. Many able-bodied men supported their families by finding odd jobs there.
