Looking back on his childhood, Vogt Sr. thought he was very lucky because his mother gave birth to a total of eight children, and he was the only one who survived to adulthood.

But unfortunately, Vogt also has a father who is a thief.

The occupational risk of a thief is very high. Once caught, he may be beaten severely, or his right hand may be lost in the worst case.

The income from stealing is also not proportional to the risk. After all, Plato is not a prosperous and prosperous Veneta. In the country of galloping horses, almost no thieves can support their families solely by stealing.

Therefore, Vogt's father mainly relied on doing odd jobs to make bread, and he only had the opportunity to do side jobs during markets, celebrations, worship and other crowded occasions.

There are also off-seasons and peak seasons for odd jobs. During the peak seasons - such as spring plowing and autumn harvest - Vogt's father is always hired last, and the employer will take him in because he really has no choice. During the off-season, Vogt's father is

Always the first to be fired, because as soon as they see his wooden prosthetic limb, people know what crime he has committed.

For Vogt's father, losing a hand meant that he would never be accepted by the public again. Even passers-by would tighten their purses and hold their swords when they saw him approaching.

As a result, Vogt's family fell into an endless cycle of "stealing due to poverty, and poverty due to stealing" from which they could never escape.

In the memory of old Vogt, his childhood was spent traveling from town to town with his parents, going to rural farms to find work during the busy season, and returning to towns to do odd jobs in winter.

Of course, there is also stealing.

Being born into such a family, becoming a thief is a natural thing.

Vogt was sent by his father to steal things when he was eight years old - children are more flexible, less conspicuous, and there will be no serious consequences even if they are caught.

Vogt continued stealing until he was sixteen years old. He didn't dare to continue because he had already grown a beard and Adam's apple and was already a young man.

Being caught stealing as an adult is not as simple as a few words of instruction or a slap in the face. Every time he saw his father's prosthetic right hand, the young Vogt felt scared from the bottom of his heart.

So in the dead of night, Vogt said goodbye to his mother, escaped from his father's control, and ran to a town where no one knew him, hoping to start over.

It's interesting to say that Vogt has never missed a move since he was a thief. His skills are not comparable to those of his father who was a monk in the process. He is a very powerful third-rate thief, so powerful that he can live a good life just by stealing.

good.

Vogt planned to change his mind and live a clean life, but found that he could not even make a living.

Since he had no skills, Vogt could only make a living by working hard.

Digging clay, burning the kiln, working like animals from morning to night, but the wages earned can only be used for food and clothing.

Just when Vogt felt that he could no longer hold on, his life ushered in the first glimmer of light - the potter who took Vogt in as a laborer invited him to his home and expressed his vague desire to recruit him.

He is the son-in-law.

The stated reason is that "after repeated inspections, we determined that he is a reliable and honest young man."

The actual reason was that the potter's only daughter had long been secretly committed to Vogt, forcing the old widower to agree.

It is difficult to infer from the appearance of old Vogt today what kind of superior appearance he had in his early twenties. We can only assume that the young Vogt was more in line with the aesthetics of the time.

In this way, Vogt got married, had a virtuous and lovely wife, a father-in-law who was very generous to him, and could inherit a small pottery workshop in the future. He believed that there was no one better than himself in the world.

Lucky, happier people.

Then, there was a war.

To this day Vogt still remembers it clearly: that year there was first severe drought in spring and summer, then heavy snowfall in autumn and winter, and then "Queye Khan" led an unprecedented barbarian army into Plato.

People were saying in horror, "The Hud barbarians are coming this time, and I'm afraid they don't plan to leave again."

The barbarians were fighting against the Platoans, and the Platoon republicans were fighting against the Platoon royalists, and Vogt couldn't tell who was who.

At that time, he was worried about another thing - the war destroyed his father-in-law's pottery workshop, and his father-in-law went bankrupt and owed a deposit.

Vogt was running around trying to borrow money. His father-in-law owed him a small deposit, but no one was willing to lend it to him. There was a war going on outside, and everyone was holding on to their money bags.

Vogt stood in the ruins of the pottery workshop all night and decided to take a desperate risk.

…

…

"Then what?" Pierre frowned and asked, "You didn't steal? Were you caught?"

"It's done." The old man lowered his head and fiddled with the campfire: "Although I hadn't done that for many years at that time, my skills were still not completely new."

"That?" Pierre coughed: "Where is your pottery workshop?"

The old man pretended to be relaxed: "No, even the land was sold by the debt collector."

"Then where are you?"

"I was caught."

"Didn't you say you succeeded in stealing?"

"I got the money. But I also got arrested."

Pierre was a little annoyed: "What does that mean it's done?"

The old man was silent for a while and explained: "I was arrested because someone in Xiaolu City accused me of stealing. It has nothing to do with my 'work'."

"I don't understand." Pierre was completely confused.

"Because." The old man raised his head and said flatly: "My job is in Jackdaw Town."

Pierre didn't understand at first: "You mean...you mean they framed you?"

The old man grinned: "It can't be said to be 'framed', because I deserve it."

"What's going on?"

"It's nothing complicated. I went to Jackdaw Town and got a sum of money that could pay off my debt. The day after I paid the money back to the creditor, someone came to the city official and said that his home had been robbed and a piece of money was lost.

The amount of money, no more, no less, just as much as my family’s debt..."

Pierre narrowed his eyes: "A black man eating a black man?"

"Who knows?" The old man scooped up another cup of hot soup and handed it to Pierre: "Drink some more... Anyway, the city official asked me where I got the money to pay off the debt, and I couldn't tell him."

Pierre took the cup and held it in his hand.

"What a coincidence, another 'old acquaintance' revealed my identity. So, everyone knows - I am the son of a thief. The son of a thief is a thief. Is there anything simpler than this?

The old man smiled nonchalantly: "But he was right, I am indeed a thief."

"You didn't defend yourself?"

"At that time, there was a war, and the sentences were very severe. If you didn't plead guilty, you would be punished with death, but if you confessed, you wouldn't have to die."

"You plead guilty?"

"Yes, I admit it." The old man repeated: "They were not wrong, I am indeed a sinner."

The two people surrounding the campfire were silent for a while.

"Are you lying to me?" Pierre suddenly laughed: "Where did you hear the story?"

The old man also laughed: "I hope I am lying to you."

There was another moment of silence.

"What then?" asked Pierre.

"Then?" The old man stood up and patted the dust on his body: "Then I was sentenced to hard labor and sent to the army. At that time, there was a war and the army needed people to work."

"Have you ever been a soldier?"

"I haven't held any weapons, I'm just a civilian, cutting down trees, driving carts, and moving things."

"Oh." Pierre was a little disappointed. He picked up the cup, took a sip of the hot soup, and asked casually: "What about your wife and your father-in-law?"

"They are all dead." The old man exhaled: "My father-in-law committed suicide with a rope, and my wife died of illness soon after."

Pierre was silent for a long time and said hoarsely: "If I were you, I would kill all the people who framed me."

"You are Dusak, you are capable." The old man smiled bitterly and laughed at himself: "What about me? I am just an ordinary citizen, a thief at best, and I have no ability to kill. And I am a sinner in the first place, so I deserve all this."

Pierre snorted disdainfully.

"When I got home." The old man broke off the branches one by one to add firewood to the campfire, and said murmuringly: "I found that my home was gone and my daughter was gone, so I started looking for my daughter again. After I found my daughter, my life became more complicated.

Just go by day by day, and I don’t know why it passed by in a daze..."

"Wait a minute." Pierre coughed violently: "You still have a daughter?"

"Yes, I have."

"Where is she?"

"Where is it?" The old man was confused: "Where else can it be?"

Pierre suddenly had an idea: "Xiaolu City? Your daughter is in Xiaolu City? That's why you are in Xiaolu City?"

"yes."

"Then what about you?" Pierre didn't have the heart to ask the second half of the sentence - "Then why are you still sitting in the dark jail for so long? Why doesn't she come to ransom you?"

The old man saw Pierre's doubts and shook his head: "My daughter is married, has children, and is living a good life. She doesn't know that I am still alive. Why should I tell her? Let her use money to ransom me? Then

What? And then there is a thief father? In fact, if I can stand aside and take a look, I have nothing to be satisfied with..."

Pierre looked at the fire and let out a long sigh. He had no children yet and could not understand what it was like to be a father, but he thought of his father.
To be continued...