The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 20: The Merchant's Little Thoughts

"Elsa." After saying her name, she fell silent again. Elsa was somewhat fearful; at her father's place, she always upheld the principle of speaking less and doing more, because that way she could avoid being beaten as much. Transferred to her current environment, Elsa naturally couldn't avoid choosing this way of interacting - speaking as little as possible to avoid saying the wrong thing and making the Knight unhappy. The idea that one thought could lead to heaven and another to hell was something that could truly happen.
"So your name is Elsa?" Beihai muttered to himself. He had thought it would be Alice, after all, many characters with golden hair really liked to be called Alice. Besides, the Little Match Girl - her name really wasn't officially given.
"Then Elsa, can you tell me about the situation in this castle?"
After Elsa had calmed down somewhat, Beihai posed his next question.
Beihai tried to be gentle, starting his inquiry with the tone of someone who had just arrived, like a traveler genuinely curious about this place, and without any ill intentions - no ill intentions toward any aspect, whether toward Elsa here or the foolish King. He only showed a traveler's curiosity about this place during his journey.
Elsa became nervous again at this, though her nervousness had never really subsided. Her mouth opened and closed, and she hemmed and hawed.
"I'm, I'm sorry, I don't know, I'm really sorry."
"It's alright, I was being presumptuous."
Beihai also rubbed his forehead. Wrong judgment! And it was his fault - who couldn't he ask, but had to ask a little girl? Leaving aside the age issue, with Elsa's family environment, how could she find time to pay attention to the King's management of this city? Not to mention having an abusive father - she had her own pile of troubles and simply couldn't free her mind to care about such things.
Elsa immediately became anxious, then little pearls began falling like they were free, immediately streaming down. She clearly wanted to help. Elsa wanted to tell this kind Knight about this country's situation, to repay him for the matches, or for his current kindness. But her little head turned and turned, and she really couldn't think of anything. Moreover, Elsa still preserved a child's innocence; she wouldn't open her mouth to lie either. If she lied, she would be the mischievous type of protagonist, and she wouldn't have lost her shoe just because of a child's nonsense, grandly claiming it was to make a cradle for her future child. Some children's innocence can bring warmth and healing, while others appear innocent on the surface but are actually malicious underneath.
Beihai sighed, finally stood up and came before Elsa, took her little feet out of the warm water, pulled out a towel and wiped her feet dry.
"The weather is so cold already, the water is almost cool, and you're still soaking? Soaking in warm water is to help you resist the cold, not to let you continue suffering in icy water."
You should know that according to the story's plot, or the winter depicted in Hans Christian Andersen's location, it was a Nordic winter!
When Beihai reached out and grabbed these little feet, he could clearly feel Elsa trembling, even somewhat wanting to pull back, but afraid of displeasing Beihai. Mainly, she felt she was too dirty and didn't deserve such good treatment.
"I'm fine, actually I wanted to put my shoes on earlier." Elsa said softly, her words still carrying a tremble.
Beihai maintained his patience. For this type - the kind that cries at the drop of a hat - he really hadn't dealt with them before. Today he was encountering the first one. After helping the little one put on her socks, he carried her down. She was very light, and soft. No wonder so many people liked children - but well-behaved children.
Beihai moved his fingers to wipe her tears away.
After wiping, miraculously, Elsa stopped crying. Subconsciously, she grabbed Beihai's hand, seemingly treating it as support. Gentle companionship and this kind of patience successfully made Elsa let go of her nervous emotions.
As for the little one's feet just now, Beihai had no particular thoughts. Leaving aside that she was still young, the main point was that they were frozen red and somewhat purple; if not treated properly they would swell up. No aesthetic appeal. But Beihai really hadn't encountered the kind described in flowery terms. Later, when looking for the Princess, he'd take a look to see if he could encounter such descriptions. Beautiful legs and the like, describing jade feet, jade toes. For example like this: ten slender jade toes tensed, fair and tender, still showing a healthy pink color. The jade toes were arranged very neatly, curved and hooked together slightly. Holding the fine jade foot gently, taking off her sock, it looked very elegant. Toenails, silk socks. Switching to the other foot, when both feet were bare, what appeared before the eyes was a pair of exquisite objects. The jade toes were rounded and slightly pointed, the toenails crystal clear like jade, transparent like ice.
Holding Elsa's little hand, they walked together to the shop's entrance. As soon as he pushed the door open, the big fat shop owner immediately came over. The snow outside was heavy; the fat man had only stood for a moment, but snowflakes were already on his eyebrows. But he was still smiling, not showing any resentment at all, instead adding a bit of comical effect.
After Beihai came out, he immediately tipped several gold coins to this merchant. The chubby merchant almost lost his balance when receiving the gold coins. So extravagant, too extravagant! If only such errands came more often - this was much more enjoyable than serving the King!
"Let me ask you, is food relatively scarce here?"
"This, oh, sir, you want to know about living conditions here?"
"More or less. I see it's deep winter and nearing the holidays, yet there are still people performing on the streets."
"Sir, your heart is truly kind. Food might be a bit lacking, but if one is willing to put in some effort, they won't starve to death. Some deserve it - pure lazybones, and others also deserve it - pure gambling addicts. Don't blame us for being cold. Although the King here doesn't govern well, he's not completely worthless. If willing to endure hardship, one definitely won't starve to death. But the problem is, we only barely survive even with effort, so naturally we have no extra capacity to help others. Moreover, with so many on the streets, who knows which are truly pitiful and which are just gambling addicts?"
Beihai only believed about thirty percent of this merchant's words. Or, to think from another perspective, from a merchant's viewpoint, it's common sense that you can survive by selling your labor. Usually there's this attitude: if you can't survive, it's because you're not trying hard enough. Furthermore, that little girl was so pitiful - she hadn't sold a single match, and no one gave her alms. Probably if she entered this shop without him appearing, even if Elsa just sat on the steps, she would be driven away for fear of dirtying the storefront and bringing bad luck. Now speaking like this was nothing more than wanting to maintain a good image. For merchants, it's about profit, making money - there's no shame in that.
It seemed that after going to Elsa's home, he would have to solve the root problem here. As a Knight, he naturally had to meddle in others' business. If the land is no good, then till the land; if the people are no good, then replace the King, find a Prince to put on the throne, directly implementing a Xuanwumen-style succession system.