Chapter 477: Chapter 318: A Life Fraught with Hardship (Part 2)
"Hehe, there’s a knack to it!" Xiaotiancheng pointed at the garbage can on the right, lowered her voice and said, "Look at the lid over there, it’s furry, can you see it?"
Sikinkov squinted, after a moment of recognition, he spotted the creature: "A rat."
"Yes, a rat." Xiaotiancheng analyzed seriously, "Rats have keen sense of smell and can discern the scent of food. The garbage can on the left doesn’t have rats, but the one on the right does, which likely means there’s food inside the right one!"
She set her phone up in the corner, ran over, stomped her foot with an "Ah" to scare the rat away, and then began rummaging through the garbage can, pulling things out incessantly.
Soon, she came back holding an apple, displayed it in front of the screen, and exclaimed joyfully, "Director, look! An apple! And no one has bitten it, really lucky!"
She squatted down, rubbed the apple’s dirt casually on her clothes, and eagerly began to nibble it.
Through the live broadcast, this scene was being transmitted to the world, with related bullet comments and reviews refreshing at an explosive rate.
The staff behind the scenes were breaking out in a sweat: "Really not cutting it? The live viewership has already quadrupled since the start; at this rate, it’ll hit a billion."
The field supervisor’s face was turning blue, cursing under his breath: "He said not to cut it, what can I do about it? If you’re capable, go snatch his mic!"
Xiaotiancheng kept nibbling on the apple, eventually even eating the core, and didn’t forget to lick the juice clean from her hands.
Sikinkov stared blankly at the scene in front of him, unable to speak for a while.
After finishing the apple, Xiaotiancheng went back to rummaging through the garbage can, speaking while laughing, "Apart from food, you can find many good things in these treasure boxes, like clothes, shoes, and other stuff."
"I got my phone last year from a big treasure box, got someone to fix it and it’s usable now; don’t know which rich guy tossed it, haha."
While talking, she curiously asked, "Director, have you really never gone rummaging through garbage cans?"
Sikinkov shook his head: "Really never."
Xiaotiancheng, her gaze carrying slight puzzlement, probed tentatively, "Then where do you usually get your food and things?"
The question brought Sikinkov into silence again.
He stumbled over words for a while, feeling it inappropriate to continue this topic.
Just then, Xiaotiancheng held a small box, biting its lid with her teeth, Sikinkov reminded: "Don’t bite with your mouth, it’s too dirty. You can just pry the lid open."
Xiaotiancheng smiled helplessly, pulled out an empty sleeve from her jacket pocket, waved it a few times, and said, "I only have one arm, can’t do the prying action."
Looking at the limp sleeve, Sikinkov felt a pang in his heart and asked with concern: "What happened to your arm?"
Xiaotiancheng bowed her head, her voice very low: "When I was six, once I was picking garbage on the streets near the Rust Wall, accidentally entered the Fire Recognition Zone..."
Sikinkov’s brows furrowed: "How could you accidentally enter the Fire Recognition Zone...aren’t there holographic warning zones there? Didn’t the Rust Wall Defense Team soldiers warn you?"
Xiaotiancheng shook her head: "I knew I couldn’t cross the warning zone, elders had reminded me before. But there was a soldier uncle shouting to me from on the Rust Wall at that time."
"He told me the view is great from on the Rust Wall, you can see the beautiful city on the other side, asked if I wanted to come up and have a look, said he could open the door for me."
"I had heard stories about the Inner City from elders before, it’s supposedly a paradise-like place, I was really curious about it, coupled with the soldier uncle’s enthusiastic invitation, I ran over..."
Hearing this, Sikinkov felt a cold chill run through his heart.
He could already imagine the rest of the story...
Xiaotiancheng pursed her lips lightly, said quietly: "Later he shot me, broke my arm, and kept laughing..."
Sikinkov clenched his fist tightly, his voice filled with repressed rage: "Do you still remember the exact date? Which part of the wall?"
Xiaotiancheng shook her head: "I was too young at that time, and it’s been so many years, I can’t remember anymore."
"I just remember it was an old grandpa who dragged me back, because there was no anesthesia, when using a saw for amputation it was really painful, I cried the whole night."
The entire studio fell into silence.
Some were upset over the uncontrollable barrage of comments backstage.
Some let out a heavy sigh after hearing about this tragic event.
Individual, sensitive female employees even began to shed tears.
Sikinkov, as the main figure of the show, knew he couldn’t let it be cold anymore, he steadied himself and said: "Child, you are truly great, having endured so many tragedies and still able to wipe away tears and live strongly, this moves me deeply."
"I never believe suffering should be celebrated, for celebrating suffering is more vicious than the suffering itself."
"But I still want to say, those matters are all in the past, no matter how turbulent the past was, life has to go on, we need to look forward."
Xiaotiancheng couldn’t help but laugh: "Your way of speaking is like an old-fashioned grandpa."
Sikinkov caught this rare opportunity to liven up the atmosphere, joking: "People at my age can’t help but preach, otherwise why do they say it’s greasy middle-aged men~"
Hearing this, Xiaotiancheng laughed, a light of anticipation began to float in her bright black eyes: "You’re not a greasy middle-aged man, you’re a great hero."
"Great hero?" This title stunned Sikinkov.
Xiaotiancheng said sweetly: "Yes, a great hero, because you defeated Raven’s Nest!"
"Raven’s Nest was really bad when they were King of the Borderlands, there were so many people dying every day."
"You defeated Raven’s Nest’s biggest villain, Hong Quansheng, you’re the hero of New Moon City, and also my hero."
"Last year I saw the news conference of ’Operation Crow Hunt’ on my phone and thought—wow, the director is really great, it’d be nice if I could have the chance to thank him personally."
"I didn’t expect the new year would bring my wish true. Thank you, director, not just me, but everyone around me in the Borderlands is grateful to you."
The Crow Hunt operation has always been a thorn in Sikinkov’s heart.
Hong Quansheng was merely a scapegoat pushed out to take the fall for Raven’s Nest, his death didn’t change anything.
And the so-called special hero commendation was merely a dog bowl Zhao Yiming representing the trio of corporate giants threw at him.
Sikinkov knew very well that the vanity surrounding him was false.
But when this child called him a great hero with an innocent smile, he still felt a warm gush flowing in his heart.
At that moment, he saw staff signaling that time was running out.
Sikinkov cleared his throat and said to Xiaotiancheng: "Hey, kid, I actually really want to keep talking with you, but this is a live show, there are many more viewers to connect with, and we might have to wrap up our conversation."
Xiaotiancheng nodded obediently: "It’s okay, becoming today’s little lucky star, I’m already very satisfied."
Sikinkov said softly: "In the last bit of time, why not talk about yourself, what are your plans for the future."
For some reason, Xiaotiancheng froze at the sound.
She thought for a while, then revealed a very calm smile: "Director, I don’t have a future."
"Children like me who don’t have parents, who can’t eat enough or dress warmly every day, can freeze or starve to death as soon as luck is a bit poor and can’t find food or clothing in the trash baskets."
"Even if lucky enough to survive, I might die from stray bullets in group conflicts, be shot dead by thugs using me as target practice, or be kidnapped, sold to the black market, and then die on some perverted buyer’s bed."
She smiled very indifferently, yet this indifference was full of numbness towards life: "My childhood companions all met this fate..."
"We children of the Borderlands have no future."
