Chapter 59 Begging Artist After leaving Old Pick's auto repair shop, Zhang Ailun walked to his hometown on Skid Row in the Fifth District. I glanced at the time and it was still early, but I had nothing to do. I sent a message to Simone and Rena respectively, but neither of them replied. Zhang Ailun had no choice but to buy a Mexican taco, a chicken roll, and a glass of lemon juice on the roadside. He ate while walking and enjoying the scenery. It felt pretty good. I came to a street and heard music from afar. There were five or six people around. I walked over and found that they were beggars. The girl, who had lip piercings, eyeshadow, and blue hair, was sitting on a suitcase with a guitar in her arms, a hat in front of her with scattered coins and banknotes inside, and a golden retriever tied to the suitcase. Zhang Ailun stood on the roadside and admired the talent show of the beggar artist. The other party sang a cheerful song called "Lemon Tree". Good, I have recalled that distant afternoon when my English teacher played this classic song in class. Zhang Ailun nodded and hummed. "I wonder how, I wonder why. Yesterday you told me that the sky was so blue." The girl's singing skills were good, at least it sounded good, and it was easy to draw people into the atmosphere. Zhang Ailun decisively took out a $5 bill and put it in his wide-brimmed hat, and the girl nodded in greeting while singing and laughing.
He bent down and stroked the golden retriever's head, then turned and walked to the retail store next door and bought two bottles of water. When the song was over and most of the onlookers had left, Zhang Ailun walked over and handed the water in his hand to the girl who was tuning the guitar strings, praising her: "Girl, you sang well." "Thank you for your compliment." The girl smiled and took the water. "Thank you for the water, too." "Are you British?" Zhang Ailun was a little surprised and recognized her pronunciation. Water, it’s so nice. The girl nodded awkwardly and said, "Yes, what's the matter? Do you want to make fun of my accent too?" "That's not what I meant. Isn't English the language of your country?" Zhang Ailun shook his head. It was really ridiculous for an American to laugh at his father's accent. "My name is Hamburg, what's your name?" "Sandy." "Hello, Sandy." Zhang Ailun shook her hand and pointed at her luggage. "Are you in trouble? Are you homeless?" Sandy spread his hands and said, "It's just some minor troubles. I will overcome them. Because I have a great team. I am not alone. You know, it would be dangerous if I were to perform and beg on the street alone." "I understand. This is also where you perform, right? Because I also have a good team in the Fifth Block." Zhang Ailun nodded. Sandy was a little surprised, "Are you homeless too?" "That's true. Due to some problems, I couldn't find a job, rent or buy a house, so I had to stay on the street temporarily. But everything is getting better now. What about you? Why did you end up on the street?" Zhang Ailun leaned against a lamp post nearby, chatting with the girl with a smile. From the conversation, I also learned that the girl actually has a family. Although it is a single-parent family, her conditions are very good, and her mother and siblings are also very good to her. When she was 18 years old, her family sold their property and moved back to the UK. She stayed here alone because of her dream of music and she also did not want to abandon her other bandmates. Before they passed away, her family left her a trust fund, which they used to buy her an apartment and a car, but she messed it up herself. She has loved music since she was a child, and she formed a campus band with her friends, but the road to fame was much more difficult than they had imagined. After graduation, because the other members of the band had no source of income, they could only work part-time and sing on the streets, and they lived in that apartment.
However, due to frequent noises in the middle of the night, the neighbors complained about the band and the police came to mediate several times. Finally, Sandy had to sell the apartment and rent a house in a relatively secluded place. After persisting for several years, the band was always lukewarm. The best time was also because TikTok became popular overseas, and the band had 200,000 fans on short videos. In the end, the bassist of the band was imprisoned for fighting and wounding someone. Sandy sold the car to help him pay the bail, but he was imprisoned again for drug use and causing trouble as soon as he was released. The other two drummers and the keyboardist were also arguing about breaking up because the drummer's secret affair was exposed, and the keyboardist's meeting with the No. 1 player on the list was also dragged out and criticized. The band disbanded because they couldn't hold on, and their account was blocked due to violations. Sandy lost her house, her car, her bank account, her money, and her life... The only dog left by the bassist was this golden retriever. What a miserable woman. However, she has now found a few like-minded partners on the street, all of whom have dreams of becoming a musician, and can barely make ends meet by singing for money every day. As he spoke, he turned his head and saw a few young people carrying drum stands and musical instruments walking towards him from the opposite side of the street. "My friend came to see me. It was nice to chat with you. See you later, Hamburg." Sandy packed her luggage with a smile, took her golden retriever, waved and turned to leave. "Good luck, Sandy, may God bless you." Zhang Ailun waved and watched the other party leave. What a girl with an unfortunate fate. I hope to see her become famous in the future. I took out my phone and followed the other person's TikTok account. I contributed my red heart to the video. He has tried his best and he is not well-off, so he should leave the rest to the other leader. Zhang Ailun turned and left the street. Before I knew it, I arrived at the Sanji Bar at 66 Meiji Street. Seeing the intelligence showing 2 deaths and 16 injuries, he felt that he needed to remind the kind-hearted bunny girl Mary, at least to be more careful at night. If the other person goes to the hospital or has an accident because of this incident, he will not feel guilty, but he will feel regretful to some extent. Good people deserve good rewards! But after coming here, I realized that I seemed to be worrying too much. Because Mary didn't go to work today. "Sir, is there anything else you need?" "No, since Mary is resting, I have something else to do so I will leave now. No need to tell her I was here, thank you." Faced with the temptation of other bunny girls, Zhang Ailun simply didn't look at them, didn't spend a penny on them, and turned around and walked out. The bunny girl didn't take it too seriously, thinking that she was probably just another regular customer of Mary's. After going out, Zhang Ailun saw several black homeless people smoking Leaf brand cigarettes, chatting, and picking up cans from the trash cans in the streets within two blocks. It wasn't until other homeless people who didn't belong on this street came over to rummage through the trash can that a conflict ensued between the two sides. "Hey, man, don't you know this is our territory?" Lao Hei opened his waist bag, revealing a pitch-black crooked-handled pistol, and tried to threaten the homeless man. "Get out of here, okay? We're not just ordinary homeless people, we're from Singed's gang!" "Wait, now that you're here! Don't leave!!" A few black men looked at each other and didn't want to waste the resources that had been delivered to their doorstep, so they dragged the homeless man into the alley, knocking over the cart and garbage bags.
(End of this chapter)