The days of eating soft rice in London

Before Oscar left, Winston also generously gave him the fine wood easel at home.

At this time, the young man was carrying the easel that he had received as a gift, and was queuing up at the relief station to buy the food he needed on the way.The UK is now in a special period, and prices are rising all the way. Oscar didn't bring much money with him, so he only bought some ordinary dry bread.

There were only two undershirts in the backpack for a change of clothes, and the young man planned to buy some more on the way, if he was lucky enough to find a clothing store open.

Winston is a frequent visitor to the salon. The little money he earned from painting when he was young was all based on boasting about himself, not to mention when he became rich.Winston himself was terrible at drawing, but he was good at speaking theories. With just one mouth, he could coax the ladies into a happy mood and open their pockets willingly.

Almost every woman in London who wants to enter the upper class owns an Oscar painting, and they hang all these style paintings in their bedrooms to show their extraordinary taste.

A spendthrift like Winston, who would never carry cash, sent Oscar a large check and sent the young man away.

So now, Oscar urgently needs to find a bank to withdraw them all.

Thinking of what happened to him in the last village and town a few months ago, the young man no longer dared to go south.He turned back and asked the owner of the relief station: "Excuse me, is there a bank nearby?"

The bearded boss was concentrating on fiddling with the products on the shelves, so he had no time to talk to him, and just pointed to the south casually.

"Where's the north side? Is there one there?" Oscar didn't see the bank at all on the way here, but he still asked the boss uncertainly.

"No, not a single one," the bearded man gave him a bad look, "unless you go back to Oxford the same way."

God!You must know that it took him several months to finally get here!

Oscar clenched the cardboard box containing the dry bread in his hands, and fell into deep thought. These dry breads were not enough to eat. He was afraid that if he continued walking like this, he would still starve to death on the road.

Oscar walked for two full days, and finally arrived at the gate of the bank. He took some cash and put it in the inner pocket of his close-fitting shirt.With this money, he thought, he would be able to ride back to Ireland in a carriage, and with some careful management he might be able to use the rest of the money to get through this period of cholera.

As soon as the young man left the gate of the bank, he heard a noise and commotion not far away.

Sudden accident.

The danger came unprepared.

A fiery red foal rushed out from nowhere. Looking at the exquisite silver ornaments on the horse's head, it should belong to a rich man.

The horse lost control and rushed forward in a frenzy.As a result, just as Oscar stepped out of the gate, his back foot was instantly knocked out.

The dry bread in the box swayed in the air, showing a high arc.Several passers-by quickly gathered around, and an enthusiastic bookstore clerk went to hold the rein of the horse to prevent further injury to others.The bank female clerk who had just served Oscar also screamed and ran out from behind the glass door. She looked at the man in a pool of blood and was at a loss.Fortunately, because of bumping into Oscar, the coachman caught up with the house's horse and brought the crazy horse under control.

When Oscar fell, his chest landed on the ground, his ribs hit the steps, and the pain was so painful that his eyes were filled with stars.Enduring the excruciating pain, he turned over and realized that his leg had also been broken.

After a long time, a magnificent carriage arrived from the street and stopped slowly in front of the bank.

The people inside opened the carriage, leaned on the gorgeous backrest and looked at it.

The horse's leather was worn away, so thin that it was cut into the flesh, which caused it to go crazy for a while.

Countess Carmel looked at the blood-stained man on the ground with a dissatisfied expression, as if she was looking at something dirty.

She preemptively: "what's the matter with you?"

"Didn't you see?" said the bank clerk, pointing to the broken belt in front of the other's carriage. "Your horse hit someone."

Oscar was sweating from the pain. He propped his hands behind his back, and the center part from his knee to his calf was strangely sunken. The pain made his lips tremble and he couldn't speak.

"I see," said the countess, "I'm sorry, but please take him to the hospital."

She took out her wallet, threw ten pounds into the arms of the saleswoman as she had done before, closed the door and left.

"You..." The clerk seemed to be humiliated, her face flushed, but she saw the other party leave, and she couldn't fight back, and immediately cared for the safety of the injured.

Oscar was carried to the clinic by this kind girl and waited with two cholera patients.

It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel panic. Oscar's face was pale. It was the first time he saw the appearance of these cholera patients up close, and he only felt a nausea in his stomach.He thanked the clerk and advised the clerk to leave here quickly.

By the time they got in line, the young man's legs were already showing signs of swelling.

The doctor simply pressed Oscar's leg, and then hastily concluded that it needed to be amputated (a common treatment for broken bones at the time).

This frightened the blond young man, and he begged the doctor not to do it.But the doctor said there was no other way, Oscar struggled violently and would never compromise.

He's going back to Ireland!He just made enough money to go home!How can you lose a leg at this time!

In the end, the doctor only chose a simple fixation method. When the broken bone was forced back to its original position and the bandage was tightened around the calf, nothing could stop the pain from spreading.Oscar was convulsed all over, sweating profusely. He tried his best not to push his hands away, his lips had completely lost their color.

Cold sweat spread all over the body, sticking to the skin, and there was a cold wind blowing, it was cool and itchy.Oscar sat on a bench in Oxford Park, not knowing where he should go.

Why did this kind of bad luck befall him?What's more tragic is that he can only accept it painfully, but he can't fight back against fate.

Oscar lost the ability to walk, so he could only buy a pair of crutches, and found a dilapidated hotel nearby to live in.That night, he was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep.

The next day, he found that his leg was getting more and more swollen, and the bandages that had been opened had lost their effectiveness.The inhabitants of Oxford kept their eyes on the sad-faced young man, for Oskar, with a lame leg, hung around the inns and clinics like an outlaw.

He refused to agree with the doctor's method, even though amputation has always been considered the most sensible choice, but he knew nothing about medicine.

Oscar fell asleep in numbness all day long, and woke up in pain again. He lost several rounds of weight, and his chin became sharper.

He hated himself who was decadent now, and he hated that Lady Carmel even more.

The young man sat on the bed, looking at his calves.It was originally a part of his body, and he was very clear about its healthy and powerful appearance, but now——

Looking at the inflamed pus that was faintly visible under the skin, Oscar completely fell into a kind of self-loathing and confusion.

Is he really going to have his legs amputated! ?

Oscar covered his face in pain, but soon, he decided to act.He was going to use the money to go back to his hometown to find a way, instead of sitting here and dragging himself to death all day and all night.

He asked the clerk in the nearby bookstore to run errands and bought a ticket for the nearest train.Cholera was very serious in the south, so he decided to go on to the cities in the north.

But when we got there, the doctor also claimed that there was no cure other than amputation.

The young man took the train all the way north, and finally arrived in Leicester, where the doctor cut his calf to open the pus, applied wound medicine, and fixed it again with wooden boards.

After several tosses, fortunately the leg was saved, but all the money I earned was almost exhausted...

A huge sense of hunger swept through his body, and Oscar leaned on a street bench—that was the most sought-after position in Leicester City.

The stomach suddenly made a loud sound, expressing its protest.After a few seconds, the young man reached out and rubbed his belly, thinking about the money left on hand.

Forget about today's dinner, he thought, maybe he won't feel hungry after a long time.

This sudden accident plunged Oscar into a worse situation than before. He could only follow the exiled army, like a pile of bones and skeletons, to avoid the cholera from the south and move silently to the north.

The broken leg bone seemed to be slowly healing, but it was growing into a weird and ugly protrusion.

never mind.

The young man with blond hair is on crutches, he is aimless, he doesn't know where to go, and he doesn't seem to worry about his tomorrow at all.

The people in exile all noticed that there was such a strange cripple in their ranks, who obviously couldn't even eat enough to eat, and still wanted to stop and paint.

Sometimes I won’t complain when I get beaten up for occupying a bench or blocking someone’s way because of my inconvenient legs and feet.He didn't say a word all day long, just focused on drawing, as if possessed by Raphael.

Others persuaded him to eat something, but the young man just smiled and said that he was not hungry, and then changed hands and went to paint again. It makes people think that this young man did not go north to escape for his life, and there is a romantic meaning in it.

Oscar put down his pen, he took a sip of water, moistened his mouth, and took all the remaining water to wash his hands.

Sewage was poured onto the ground between his fingers, attracting malicious looks from around. He heard someone say, "What a waste! Let's see what he will do when he dies of thirst."

Oscar was unmoved. He stretched out his five fingers, dried his hands in the sun, and wrapped the oiled paper he was carrying with his clean hands to protect the paintings carefully.

Today's relief station is different from the past. There is a carriage parked in the street next to it.Oscar hung his head in the crowd, waiting for the charity of delicious porridge from the relief station.

More and more clear voices came from the house, and with the sound of the door opening, the conversation was completely exposed to the air.

Louis came out from there, and the local councilors behind him chatted happily with him.

A slender man wearing a hat, typical gentleman's attire.When he spoke, his expression was steady, his manners were well-proportioned, and he was about to look this way.

And Oscar lowered his head again.

He would never recognize himself, Oscar thought.The young man stared almost blankly at his fallen, dirty blond hair, which was still caked with mud and weighed down its curls.

Even he couldn't look directly at himself in this embarrassment, let alone Louis.

There are a few more people who will be in line for him. Oscar dropped his crutches on the ground, then squatted down in a funny and awkward posture, ready to pick up the free meal trays on the ground.

The pair of polished leather shoes suddenly stopped in front of her eyes, and all movements of her hands stopped abruptly.

The blond young man raised his head slowly, only to meet the other party's dark as night eyes, which were as black as usual.

The official was also staring blankly at the unexpected situation.

The other party tore his heart with silence, making him almost turn around and run away.

In the end, Oscar just pulled out a more decent smile unnaturally.

"Louis, what a coincidence."

The man called Louis looked down at him, who averted his gaze and lowered his eyes.

Louis is always like this, somehow, it makes people want to accept his looking down.

What's next, greetings?

Now he was embarrassing enough, or would it be better for each other to stop talking?

There was an alarm bell in his heart, and he jumped wildly. Oscar hesitated for a few seconds as if he had been lingering. All the greetings flashed in his mind, and a sentence came out of his mouth unexpectedly:

"I... miss you very much..."

After he finished speaking, he even froze.

The air was almost frozen, and after a long time, he heard the gentleman's answer——

"Me too."

Louis laughed, but Oscar clearly saw that the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Dear Oscar."

The author has something to say: Gong Appears!