In the basement, Goofy, Lisa, Claire and Mario are all listening to Carl Freddy's confession.
Only Simba, the lion, had no interest in what the man was doing. He wandered around like a police dog, sniffing here and there.
The lion returned to the kitchen where he had fought just now, smelled the body of the shifter beast, shook his head in disgust, turned towards the fireplace, and stuck his head into the hearth curiously.
At this time, a slight movement suddenly came from the inside of the wall next to the furnace, which aroused the big cat's alert.
Simba leaned over and put his ear against the wall to listen. As if he noticed something, he turned his head and roared at the door.
Gao Fei heard the lion's roar and turned around in surprise: "Simba, what's wrong?"
"It seems to have discovered a secret door." The animal tamer girl communicated with her lion. "Musk, let's go and take a look. Maybe there are other secrets hidden in this basement."
Mario and Lisa left behind to guard Carl Freddy, while Goofy followed Claire back to the kitchen next door.
As soon as they reached the lion, they heard a slight cry from behind the wall.
"That's the noise!" Claire slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot that when we sneaked in before, we heard the cry of a child in the kitchen. It turned out that we were hiding here!"
Goofy switched out the "thief's mask" and looked closely at the wall. He quickly found the switch disguised as a wall lamp bracket. When he pressed it, the wall made a loud noise and slowly opened to one side.
At the same time, Gao Fei received a side mission prompt issued by the system: rescue the street boy Oliver Twisted!
Behind the secret door, there is only a small room like a birdcage. Apart from the fist-sized ventilation window, there is no other channel to communicate with the outside world.
A boy wearing shabby clothes and a peaked cap was huddled in the corner with his knees in his arms.
Hearing the sound of opening the door, the boy raised his head, his delicate little face stained with tears, and his eyes full of fear.
"Don't be afraid, kid, we are not bad people." Claire comforted the frightened boy softly.
The boy remained silent, as if he didn't trust the stranger.
Gao Fei saw what he was worried about and said gently: "Freddy and his wife have been brought to justice. We are here to rescue the street children abducted by this evil couple. If you are one of them, you might as well tell us about your experience. Maybe
We can arrange a better place for you than the workhouse."
After listening to his words, the boy finally felt relieved, stood up tremblingly, and prayed excitedly.
"Good-hearted lady, kind-hearted gentleman, you must be from heaven and are the angels sent by the Lord to save me!"
Gao Fei smiled helplessly and asked him: "What's your name?"
"Oliver Drizzt is at your service." The boy politely took off his hat and bowed.
"Wow~ You are very polite!" Claire praised the boy with a smile, "You look like a little gentleman."
"I don't dare to take this seriously." Little Oliver looked embarrassed. "I am just a dishonorable illegitimate child, a lonely wandering child. Thanks to the kind-hearted Mr. Brownlow, he took me in and taught me regardless of my humble background.
I can read and write."
"So, you have been adopted by a kind family, why do you want to return to the streets and the workhouse?"
Claire asked in surprise.
"Well..." Little Oliver scratched his head in embarrassment, "Miss, I used to be one of a group of bad boys. They instigated me to steal things. If I didn't want to, they teamed up to beat me. I was beaten.
We were beaten so badly that we had no choice but to let them control us."
"I was very happy at Brownlow's house, which made my street friends very unhappy. They came to me privately and asked me to steal Mr. Brownlow's money. I refused and said that I had given up.
They threatened me and told Mr. Brownlow that I was also a street pickpocket and asked him to kick me out..." Little Oliver's eyes were red.
"What a bunch of despicable little hooligans!" Claire said angrily, "Scumbags like this deserve to be eaten by the old witch!"
"Sister! Don't talk nonsense!" Gao Fei quickly interrupted the red-haired girl, and then asked Oliver: "So you gave in?"
"I didn't." Little Oliver shook his head stubbornly, "Let me steal Mr. Brownlow's money and repay kindness with hatred. I will never be able to do such a thing."
"and after?"
"I refused the threats from my street friends, but I was afraid that they would reveal the bad things I had done. I thought that instead of waiting until Mr. Brownlow learned the truth and kicked me out of the house, I might as well be smarter, pack up and get out."
"Just like that, I returned to the streets and resumed my identity as a street kid."
"Not a few days later, I saw a missing person notice posted on the gas lamp pole on the street. It was Mr. Brownlow who was looking for me. He also said he would forgive me for the mistakes I had made due to ignorance in the past and hoped that I could return to him as soon as possible.
beside……"
Little Oliver couldn't help but swallow more.
"The more Mr. Brownlow treats me kindly and forgives me, the more inferior I feel, and I don't want to damage his reputation because of my background and misdeeds..."
"Even if you don't want to go back to Brownlow's house, why did you come to the workhouse again?" Claire asked.
"Because... there is food to eat here." The boy said the truth embarrassedly.
"When I beg on the street, I may not always meet kind-hearted people giving alms, but here with Mrs. Freddy, as long as I work hard to help her, sweeping the floor, chopping firewood, doing laundry, etc., I can always get a piece of black bread to satisfy my hunger."
"Haha! Our philanthropist Mrs. Freddy will not give you bread for free. If you eat her bread, you have to be careful about being eaten by her." Claire sneered.
Little Oliver shuddered, and the color drained from his face.
"My friends on the street have also said that Mrs. Freddie is not a good person. The orphans adopted by her will soon be put on ships and sold abroad to grow cotton in shackles on colonial plantations...
…But I didn’t expect that the truth is more terrifying than the legend.”
"Did you see the body hanging on the hook outside?" Gao Fei asked.
"Well, those three unlucky guys...were all vagabonds from Pattus Street. We even went fishing together by the river."
Little Oliver answered with a cry.
"Well, poor child, the nightmare is over, and you don't have to worry about it anymore."
Claire touched the boy's head sympathetically.
Goofy asked Claire to stay here to comfort the boy, and went back to the next room, letting Lisa continue to interrogate Carl Freddy on why he locked a street child in the solitary room.
Carl Freddy's confession was somewhat unexpected.
It turns out that Oliver Twister, this little tramp, has a more complicated life experience than he thought.
