Inside the spacious tent, as the audience dispersed, the only people left were the circus staff.
To call them staff was more accurate to describe them as a close-knit family.
There was a middle-aged man with only one arm, a slightly stout middle-aged woman, two young men who looked about seventeen or eighteen, the dwarf couple who hosted the show, and the little girl at the entrance selling tickets.
As they packed up the items in the tent and were putting the animals back into their cages, they finally noticed Yang Lin, who hadn't left the audience seating.
Out of curiosity, the little girl, who was sweeping the floor with a large broom, walked directly towards him and said with childlike innocence:
"Uncle, the show is over. We're going to take down the tent."
Hearing her words, a hint of confusion appeared on Yang Lin's face.
"Are you only performing here for one day?"
"Yes, we're going to the next city to perform tomorrow."
"It's almost Lunar New Year, aren't you going home?"
"We're not going back this year. We'll go back after the New Year holidays when school starts."
Just as Yang Lin was about to ask more questions, the dwarf couple seemed to sense something and quickly gathered the others around.
After approaching Yang Lin, they first sized him up, then looked at the mobile phone he was holding, and a look of vigilance appeared in their eyes.
"Sir, all our licenses are in order, and we've already spoken with the urban management department about performing here. There shouldn't be any irregularities, right?"
Hearing the dwarf man say this, Yang Lin knew he had been misunderstood and quickly explained:
"No, no, you've misunderstood. I'm a travel blogger. I happened to be in Ziyang today and saw the performance, so I wanted to share it with my fans."
"After all, traditional circus performances like yours are not common anymore."
As if worried the dwarf man wouldn't believe him, Yang Lin quickly showed him the live stream on his phone screen.
Upon seeing that Yang Lin's live stream had nearly a million viewers, the dwarf man was stunned for a moment, then said enviously:
"I didn't expect you to be such a big streamer. You probably earn tens of thousands of yuan a day, right?"
"I've heard that live streaming is very profitable now, earning in a day what an ordinary person earns in a year. It's a pity we don't know how to do it."
The dwarf man then chuckled heartily.
Seeing the atmosphere ease, Yang Lin immediately spoke again:
"By the way, would it be convenient to interview you? I'm actually quite curious about your profession."
"Sure."
"Does this mean we're going to be on TV?" The dwarf man said with a smile, quickly gesturing for the others to come closer.
Even the little girl from before looked curiously at Yang Lin's phone camera.
Especially after learning that millions of people were watching them, her little face was full of excitement.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the live stream, seeing the circus performers like this, had their hostility largely dissipated.
In the end, they were just ordinary people struggling to survive, not as detestable as everyone imagined.
"How long have you been in this line of work?"
"It's been quite a few years. Back then, my father and uncle brought us along. Later, when they passed away, only our two families continued traveling."
As he spoke, a hint of nostalgia appeared on the dwarf man's face.
It was only then that Yang Lin learned that the people in the circus were all family.
The one-armed middle-aged man was the dwarf man's cousin, and the slightly plump middle-aged woman was his cousin-in-law.
The two young men were his cousin's two sons. The ticket-selling little girl was his daughter, but she wasn't his biological child; she was an abandoned infant he had adopted.
Both families came from a small county called Guangshan in Southern Henan. Their ancestors had been making a living by performing acrobatics and circus acts for three generations.
In the early years, their grandfather's generation used the savings accumulated from performing street shows and selling medicinal plasters to start a circus.
Hearing this, the viewers in the live stream let out a sigh.
"No wonder. Southern Henan was indeed difficult in the early years, with a large population and limited land. If they didn't go elsewhere, they couldn't survive."
"I from Northern Hubei can deeply relate to this. When I was little, most of the peddlers who came to our village were from Southern Henan."
"Not just Northern Hubei, but nationwide. It's precisely because of the large population that Southern Henan's reputation has been tarnished for decades."
"The difficulty for Southern Henan to change its destiny through college entrance exams is at least several times that of coastal cities."
"Speaking of that little girl, she looks quite normal. I didn't realize she was an adopted abandoned infant."
"Alas, even though they are already living such a hard life, they still have this compassion."
"It's fortunate that Director Yang is interviewing them. If it were another host, they would probably be asking why they don't start a small business or why they don't farm."
...
As the viewers in the live stream were sighing with emotion, Yang Lin continued to ask:
"Can you tell me where the animals in your circus come from?"
Hearing this question, the dwarf man hesitated for a moment, then chuckled sheepishly:
"There's really nothing I can't say. Some of them were inherited from my father. My father bought them from some animal traders back then."
"The country wasn't as strictly regulated in the early years."
"Some others we bought from fellow performers. They told us those animals were smuggled in from abroad, but I don't know which country."
Yang Lin nodded at the dwarf man's answer.
This was clearly consistent with his understanding of the origin of animals in typical circuses, and not just circuses; many zoo animals in China also came from such sources.
In general, although the sources were not legitimate, they did not violate the law.
Of course, with the increasing standardization of animal protection legislation in recent years, this loophole has been closed. Doing so now would likely result in imprisonment.
"By the way, I just heard your daughter say that you will continue south to other cities and then return after the New Year. That round trip must be several thousand kilometers."
"Yes, it's almost New Year now, and there are more people everywhere, so naturally, there are more people watching circuses."
"We want to earn a bit more during this month of New Year to cover the tuition and living expenses for our three children, so we won't have to worry about it next year."
As he spoke, excitement filled the dwarf man's face.
"When spring comes next year, we can be with Ni'er. It's not good for a child to be left alone in the old home. Her teacher says she's naturally gifted at studying."
"I'll send my two elder nephews to learn excavator operation. Once they learn, we'll pool money to buy them one. That way, they won't have to be like us brothers in the future."
At this moment, his words were filled with hope for a future life.
What surprised Yang Lin even more were his next words.
"Of course, besides earning money, we're also planning to take the children to Ning Nan."
"We've seen online that Ning Nan's Xihong Zoo is very fun. Several children in Ni'er's class have been there during the holidays."
"This time, we'll take them there. I heard the tickets are only 50 yuan per person."
"We calculated the time; we should arrive in Ning Nan the day before New Year's Eve. We'll consider it a trip and a New Year's celebration this year."
As he spoke, a hint of a happy smile appeared on the little girl's face.
ps: These two chapters were actually inspired by a video on Bilibili. The situation in the video is basically like this, only I've adapted it.