My Name is Chen Xia

"Buying things requires money, stealing doesn't."

"When you see someone chasing you, run."

"You can take things from dogs, no one cares."

The skinny child counted these things on his fingers, when suddenly his stomach growled. He frowned, knowing he was hungry, and began walking through the small alley towards the end of the cobblestone lane.

A light rain fell from the sky, drizzling steadily, accompanied by a misty fog, giving the scene a touch of the smoky rain typical of regions south of the Yangtze River.

The skinny child, however, couldn't appreciate such things. He only knew he was hungry and needed to eat.

The meat bun shop at the end of the cobblestone alley was very good, although every time he went to steal, he would get a severe beating. But the child would recover in a couple of days, so exchanging a beating for meat buns was a fair trade.

He walked barefoot, wearing tattered clothes, squeezing between pedestrians as he headed towards the end of the alley.

On the way, he passed the old tree teahouse, where a chessboard was set up at the entrance.

The child stopped for some reason, putting his hands behind his back, looking at the chess game with interest. Suddenly, he shook his head and said,

"This won't work, you need to move the horse at the beginning."

"Get lost, you little brat, move your own horse!" The chess players waved their hands to shoo the child away, pretending to hit him.

The child naturally ran away, winding his way to the bun shop, looking greedily at the fragrant buns in the steamer.

He had no money, so he naturally had to use other means.

First, going up and taking them directly wouldn't work, because that wasn't stealing, that was robbery, and if caught, he'd be hanged in the marketplace.

He had to steal quietly, unnoticed if possible, and if discovered, it would just mean another beating.

If he could steal meat buns, that would be a win. If he got sugar buns, that would be a loss.

Because even dogs wouldn't eat sugar buns.

Literally, dogs wouldn't eat them.

He hid by the wall, not seen by the bun shop owner, otherwise he'd get a beating right away, as he was a repeat offender.

Waiting for the shop owner to get busy, he would crouch and quickly walk out, preferably using both hands and feet, a technique he learned from dogs.

The key was to be unexpected.

He moved extremely fast, causing a disturbance in the crowded market.

In a nearby luxurious restaurant above, at a table of three, a woman resting her head on her hand looked down with boredom, suddenly tilting her head, her eyes lighting up with curiosity as she gazed with interest.

The child, taking advantage of the bustling market, crawled to the bottom of the bun shop. With no time to choose, he grabbed the entire steamer and ran.

The bun shop owner saw it all and couldn't help but curse,

"Son of a bitch!"

You little bastard, if you're going to steal buns, just steal the buns, why the hell did you take my steamer too, you little shit!

The skinny child, carrying the heavy steamer, obviously couldn't run far and was quickly caught.

The bun shop owner grabbed his head and cursed again,

"You little beast, didn't get enough of a beating last time, huh? No father to teach you, no mother to raise you, you don't even know who you are, can't even say a word when asked, looking like an idiot, but so quick when it comes to stealing!"

The child had his own thoughts. Knowing he couldn't escape, he first stuffed a bun into his mouth.

Hmm, not bad, it had meat.

A win.

He couldn't help but grin.

Smack!

Then he got a hard slap.

What followed was the usual beating in the marketplace. The bun shop owner was used to it, and the passersby were used to watching it.

Mainly because no one really cared about this child. His clothes were picked up from who knows where, he slept under other people's eaves every day, hiding in the straw in winter, and the mischief he did was countless.

Pure selfishness.

The bun shop owner whipped him with a rattan cane for half an hour, perhaps knowing the child had a special constitution, he beat him with particular enthusiasm.

The skinny body was hit by the cane, bruises appearing constantly, even bleeding.

But the child didn't make a sound, even recalling the taste of the meat bun from earlier.

It was delicious.

He couldn't help but smile.

This made the bun shop owner laugh angrily, his hand movements becoming more forceful, putting all his strength into it, sweat flowing out.

The woman in the luxurious restaurant became increasingly curious, her eyes flashing with intrigue as she looked at the child.

The beating ended when the bun shop owner was exhausted.

The child's body was covered in blood, his frame trembling involuntarily.

"Ptui!" The shop owner spat on the ground and cursed again,

"If you dare come again, I'll beat you to death, you little beast. No one cares about you anyway, if you die, you just die!"

The child said nothing.

The passersby dispersed.

It was now dusk.

He dragged his blood-covered body back to the old alley where he usually stayed, sitting blankly in the long-collapsed ruins.

The sun was setting.

This was his home.

A stray dog passed by on the roadside, seeming to carry something in its mouth, glaring at him fiercely.

"What are you looking at?" The child frowned and asked.

He saw what was in the dog's mouth, it looked like a bun, so the dog was protecting its food.

As it happened, he was also protecting his food.

So he fought with the stray dog for a moment, finally winning by a narrow margin, and got half a bun. He took a bite and immediately frowned.

Sugar.

A loss.

This dog had a rebellious bone!

He felt unusually dejected.

Usually, he didn't think about anything. Thinking too much made his head spin, as if something was missing, always feeling like he had forgotten many things.

A nearly dry stream flowed slowly past the collapsed ruins.

An old crow stood on a nearly dead old tree by the road, cawing, singing an unpleasant song.

In all this decay,

Only the child remained young.

"What's your name?" Suddenly, a clear voice rang out.

A woman tilted her head, blocking the sunset, smiling as she asked the child.

The child was stunned for a moment, as if countless things were spinning in his mind. He couldn't understand anything, but suddenly two words surfaced, so he naturally said,

"Chen Xia."