Today's Tarot Club ended relatively early. Looking at his pocket watch, it was only 4:15. Lex picked up his formal attire and left the hotel.
He arrived at Red Moon Street, at old Hardy's pie shop, and saw the old man closing up.
Next to the old man was a cardboard box, its contents unknown.
After the old man closed the small shop, he bent down to pick up the cardboard box, but his movement suddenly froze.
He had twisted his waist.
Just then, someone supported him and helped him slowly straighten up. Then, the old man saw Lex's face.
"It's you?"
"You've come to buy pie?"
Hardy chuckled, pointing at the cardboard box on the ground: "There's plenty in there, take whatever you want."
Lex looked at the cardboard box and realized it contained unsold desi pie and sweet iced tea.
"Are you going to throw these things away?"
"Do you need my help?"
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Lex say this, the old man said angrily: "Throw away? How can you be so wasteful? Do you know how many people can't even afford black bread? Let alone desi pie!"
He himself was about to pick up the cardboard box.
Lex squatted down, quickly picked up the cardboard box, and said: "So you're planning to take these home to eat yourself?"
"Do you think I, one person, can eat all this stuff?"
"Eyes are a good thing, but it seems you don't have them. I almost feel sorry for you, sir." Old Hardy shook his head with a look of regret.
Lex felt the muscles in his face twitching and could only say: "Then what do you plan to do with them?"
"I'm going to Iron Cross Street's Lower Street. I'm going to take these things to the Poorhouse there." The old man's expression gradually became solemn, "Actually, I think instead of interviewing me, you should go interview those poor fellows there."
"They deserve more attention."
"Poorhouse?" Lex looked at the old man in surprise, "So that's why you close up early every day?"
"What else?"
"How about it, do you want to help me out?"
A moment later, Lex and old Hardy boarded a public carriage heading for Iron Cross Street. During this journey, Lex learned that after deducting the shop rent and ingredient costs, all the income from the old man's pie shop was donated to the Poorhouse.
Additionally, every day he would deliver the unsold pies and sweet iced tea to the Poorhouse for the people there to distribute to the homeless and impoverished who had no food to fill their stomachs.
He had been doing this for one year and five months.
"After my wife left me forever, for a long time, I couldn't find a purpose in life and fell into a state of confusion."
"Until one day, when I passed by the Poorhouse, I saw the poor people there forming a long line, waiting for relief."
"Suddenly, I felt I had to do something, just like my father."
On the public carriage, the old man seemed to be in a good mood, his mouth never stopping.
Lex followed his lead and asked: "Like your father?"
"Yes."
The old man looked towards the ceiling of the carriage: "He was a quiet man; he only smiled in front of my mother."
"When he was young, he was a sailor and was often away from home. I saw him less than five times a year, and each time he returned, he was in a hurry, so we didn't get along very well."
"My mother contracted lung disease and passed away at a very young age. So I could only stay with my grandmother until I became an adult and started my own Family. Only then did my father end his life as a sailor and settle down in Tingen."
"But at that time, he often lived alone. Although one or two friends occasionally visited him each year, I could feel that he was very empty and lonely."
Old Hardy took out a rolled cigarette but didn't smoke it, as they were on the carriage. So he just smelled it and put it back in the cigarette case.
"I tried to find him some entertainment, like watching plays or going to the circus, but nothing could get him to leave that cursed house."
"At that time, he was in a state of refusing to communicate with the outside world. He was waiting for death. Then one day, he suddenly found me and asked for my help."
"He wanted to be a teacher at a night school. He said he wanted to pass on the knowledge he had learned from the Sea as much as possible."
"He hoped to do something meaningful in the last moments of his Life."
"At the time, I didn't know what kind of motivation urged him to make such a change. Now I understand, it was compassion, sir."
"Just as I pity those poor people, my father must have been touched by similar people and similar things."
"So, until the moment of his death, his Life always radiated light and warmth."
Lex said sincerely: "Your actions are admirable."
Hardy waved his hand and smiled: "We don't do this to be admired; we just want to do something for this world to make it better, that's all."
A moment later, they arrived near Iron Cross Street. The old man led the way, and Lex followed, carrying the cardboard box.
Soon they arrived at the Lower Street. It was already past five o'clock, and Iron Cross Street was crowded with people. The roads became congested, and the hawkers' hoarse cries always made pedestrians slow down, making the traffic situation even worse.
When they reached the entrance of the Poorhouse, Lex saw a long line. He had only seen such a scene at the entrances of those popular snack shops in his previous Life.
But the same scene, presented in this world, carried a completely different meaning.
Nearly two hundred poor people, their clothes tattered, their expressions numb. Occasionally, they would gaze at the entrance of the Poorhouse, showing anxious expressions.
More often, they were like Zombies, cold and gloomy, as if they could find no hope.
Living, purely out of instinct.
"In recent months, whether it's factories or any other industry, things haven't been good. This has led to more people losing their jobs, more people unable to pay rent, and only able to join the ranks of the homeless."
Hardy said with a hint of sadness in his voice: "I'm luckier. I have two good children. When I was young, I made a few successful investments."
"These enable me to own my own house now. In winter, I can enjoy the warmth of the fireplace in the hall, instead of having to desperately search for shelter from the wind and rain like them."
"At least half of the people here won't receive relief. They will go hungry for a day or two and then lose the ability to find work. The weather is already very cold now, and under these circumstances, they will rush towards death at an extremely fast rate."
Hardy glanced at the cardboard box in Lex's hand: "Although I want to help, what little I have can only save a few lives."
"People, in many cases, always think a lot but are powerless."