The boy ran back and forth at the entrance of the alley.

The woman’s loving gaze followed the boy’s footsteps, while her hands stitched the torn clothing, occasionally glancing towards the alley entrance.

“Dad, Dad is back!”

The boy suddenly shouted in excitement.

A Wolf Race man, with a pair of brown wolf ears, came into the alley carrying the exhaustion of the day, and in the boy’s expectant eyes, took out a small package wrapped in oil paper from his coat pocket.

“This is great, thank you, Dad.”

The man, with a smile on his face, patted the boy’s head: “Go eat it over there while I talk to Mom.”

The boy, understanding, nodded and ran away.

The man squatted down in front of the woman.

The woman, with a bit of heartache, complained: “You’re doing all the Physical Strength work, with this money, you might as well buy yourself some meat to replenish your body.”

The man laughed: “I already ate, there was meat, don’t worry. Luck was good today, found an employer willing to pay daily wages, plus the bread given by the kind person last night, in a few days we can move into the apartment by Po Riverbank.”

“Thank God.”

His wife’s face showed a look of anticipation.

The apartment by Po Riverbank they went to see together, was now, for their family of three, the place with the best value for money, and the owner of the apartment was a generous and kind person, agreed to reduce part of the rent.

She couldn’t help but cough a little.

The man gently patted the woman’s back, asking: “Is your health better?”

“I rested all day today, sweated a bit, feeling much better now.”

The man, hearing her say this, reached out with some anxiety to feel his wife’s forehead: “Don’t be complacent, two nights ago, you shivered from the cold, today you’re sweating with a fever, I’m worried you might have malaria. Tomorrow, I’ll get a doctor to diagnose you.”

“Forget it, Yorick.”

The woman quietly pleaded: “I want to move into the apartment first, at least let Jack not have to hide with me in this secluded corner every day. Today afternoon when you weren’t here, we almost got robbed by a man. If it weren’t for Robert living in the neighboring alley, hearing the commotion and coming out to stop it, I wouldn’t dare imagine what could’ve happened.”

The man couldn’t help but hesitate.

They urgently need a place to settle, the hostels in the slums are filled with thieves, robbers, gangsters, living there would be even worse than staying in this wind-shielded and hidden alley.

Getting a doctor would undoubtedly cost a substantial amount.

Not only the diagnostic fee, but also the costly quinine water for treating malaria, reportedly a drug from the New Continent, if they first treat the wife’s illness, it might devour all the savings accumulated from his daily labor in recent times.

For a moment, the man couldn’t help but deeply furrow his brow.

“Don’t worry, Yorick, I’ll be fine.”

The woman grabbed his hand, showing a weak yet gentle smile: “I swear, I’m already much better.”

Her face looked very pale, and the temperature from her hand was frighteningly cold.

In a hurry, the man picked up the blanket, covered the woman, his voice steady and powerful: “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”

Saying this, he made up his mind to call a doctor, even if it meant spending most of their savings, if necessary, he could also team up with the “neighbors” in the adjacent alley to co-rent an apartment.

Originally, he felt the neighbors were unreliable.

But today’s incident showed at least Robert’s family is trustworthy.

Thinking about it, he began bustling, setting up the tent into a smooth arc to avoid it collapsing under accumulated snow while sleeping at night.

…

At this moment.

Losa was riding in a carriage with Lavinia, heading towards the street where the wanderers gathered.

Turin City’s road conditions were terrible, most places were cobblestone roads, only a few main roads were paved with flagstones or wooden boards.

Although the sky was already very late at the time, perhaps because of the festival, the gas street lamps lit the streets sporadically, and a few carriages still passed by. The iron wheels clattered over the cobblestone roads, the axles and carriage body clashing, producing creaking sounds.

The lamp-lighter carried a ladder, climbed the tall street lamp one by one, and lit them.

Losa suddenly felt a chill on his nose.

He instinctively looked up and saw countless tiny snowflakes swirling down in the dark night sky, the whole world unknowingly covered with a layer of white snowflakes.

“Wow, it’s snowing!”

Lavinia, somewhat surprised, opened her palm, watching a glistening snowflake melt in her hand.

But the delight on her face quickly turned into distress.

For most people, snow isn’t a good thing, it complicates transportation, makes roads slippery, and causes a sudden drop in temperature — especially for the poor and wanderers, as it’s even harder for them to find shelter from wind and snow.

Under bridge, inside alley deep with balconies, couldn’t accommodate everyone.

They parked at the place where the two parted last night.

Losa took out his wallet and settled the travel fare with the coachman.

In this era, being a coachman was considered a relatively decent job. If one owned their own carriage and was licensed, they were definitively middle class.

“Esteemed gentleman, beautiful lady, I must advise you that if you’re seeking adventure, this place is still too dangerous. Those deserted alleyways and under bridges are now filled with farmers and scavengers who’ve come to the city for work. Recently, I’ve heard stories of respectable girls being defiled or night workers being robbed.”

Even though this gentleman was not at all extravagant, not even paying extra fare despite the terrible weather, the coachman still offered a kind reminder out of professional duty.

Seeking adventure…

Losa couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “Thank you for your reminder, but we’re not afraid of danger.”

Losa removed his hat, revealing distinct beast ears.

After shaking off the snowflakes on them, he placed the hat back on his head.

The coachman quickly took off his hat, holding it in his hands, saying with great humility, “Ah, it’s a family member, I was rude.”

At this point, he lost all interest in probing what these two were doing in such remote areas—this was usually the attitude of ordinary people towards the Wolf Race in Turin, fearful and distant.

The carriage departed in the distance.

Losa tightened his coat, leading Lavinia as they retraced last night’s path.

A large number of outsiders have flooded into Turin. While this has brought a vast pool of cheap labor, it has also severely affected the public security and sanitation in Turin City, with many bridge entrances and secluded alleys becoming big piles of garbage, exacerbating conflicts between locals and outsiders.

As for this secluded alley, the environment was considered rather decent.

It’s just that occasionally, when turning corners, one might find patches, or sometimes several pieces, of frozen excrement.

Losa instinctively observed Lavinia’s expression and found that she merely frowned slightly. He couldn’t help but laugh and said, “No wonder the coachman said this isn’t a good place for adventure, last night I almost stepped on it.”

Lavinia said seriously, “Luckily, the snow hasn’t fallen heavily yet, otherwise who knows if we’d step on something unexpected.”

She didn’t understand at all what “seeking adventure” meant in the coachman’s words.

Lavinia held a folded cheap cotton coat in her arms, while Losa was carrying a bag of black bread, all of which were low-cost items but precisely what the vagabonds desperately needed at this moment.

“Someone lives here, please leave!”

Ahead, the man they met last night spoke again.

Losa raised his voice, “We met last night.”

The man, surprised, stepped out of the shadows, looking at the man and woman who stood out starkly against the surroundings. His ears perked up instinctively, showing a cautious emotion: “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry, we’re not bad people. I’m Losa, and this is Miss Lavinia. This winter is exceptionally cold, and so many vagabonds have flooded into the city. We were thinking, within our limited capacity, of helping some people.”

Losa flashed a kind smile.

The man was somewhat incredulous.

During his time in Turin, he hadn’t encountered many good people.

Would these well-dressed people really be willing to unconditionally help those like them, who are seen as potential thieves, robbers, criminals?

But upon seeing Losa and Lavinia’s appearances, his vigilance slightly relaxed. Both of them had very upright appearances; especially Losa, who looked very kind, offering a sense of intimacy.

Rather, the woman had a sort of… um, lofty feeling?

“I’m Yorick, inside is my wife Alice and my son Jack.”

Losa stood in place and said, “Good evening, Yorick. We want to talk with you. Our ability is limited, and not all vagabonds are worth helping, so we hope to gather some information from you.”

Yorick hesitated for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the bags they were carrying, but then he said, “Please, come with me. If you don’t mind the simplicity of our resting place. Also, thank you for the bread you brought last night.”

As he spoke, he slightly nodded towards Losa.

Losa took off his hat in return, Lavinia also lifted her skirt slightly and bowed.

At this point, Yorick had almost completely relaxed.

Because he didn’t believe his humble possessions were worth such beautiful people spending so much effort to covet.

“Who is it, Robert?”

From afar, came the inquiry of a woman’s voice.

Yorick glanced at the two and explained, “No, it’s the kind-hearted people who gave us bread last night.”

“Ah, quickly invite them to warm by the fire.”

Losa and Lavinia stood beside the campfire.

Yorick’s family of three had a very simple camp, just a tent and a piece of waterproof cloth hanging with ropes to create a shaded area. The cramped space was enclosed by low buildings on all four sides.

But this temporary residence must have been hard-won; if it weren’t for Yorick having some skills, he surely wouldn’t have been able to occupy it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep