Chapter 4: 4. Chapter 4: The Ungrateful Young Lady

Chapter 4: An Ungrateful Young Lady

From the moment she said that everyone would be able to eat meat today and wouldn't have to gnaw on bones, the children had been in a state of disbelief. Once they confirmed it was true, they waited with joyful anticipation. Now, a man on horseback had commandingly ordered that all the roasting game and the uncleaned game on the ground be sold to them. This period of time was not long, but for the children, it felt like being jolted awake from a beautiful dream.

Dreams are wonderful, but they are also fleeting; waking up to find that the beauty in the dream was empty is a harsh reality.

Especially the disappointment that follows expectation—it is truly hard to accept!

Although the man on horseback said he would buy them and pay in silver, not take them for free or by force, the children just wanted to eat the meat. Even if it was just a bite, a tiny bite, that would be enough.

The children all knew that this "mother" who had saved them yesterday dressed quite well, but she had no silver. When they saw someone selling sesame cakes on the road, she had patted herself down several times and even turned her purse inside out, yet she didn't have a single copper coin.

If she had no money to buy food, let alone pay for lodging at night, this mother must surely need silver. Since someone wanted to pay for this game, she would definitely agree to sell it, right?

"Name your price," the man on the horse urged impatiently, seeing that Hong Xiaoduo didn't respond.

Although the carriage looked luxurious, and there were two such guards, and the coachman didn't look poorly dressed—meaning the person sitting inside the carriage likely had a high status—Hong Xiaoduo had no intention of looking up to them. She remained seated on her "throne" of stones: "I'm sorry, we are hungry ourselves and need to eat."

Hm? She actually refused?

It wasn't just the man on horseback; even the seven children were quite surprised.

But her response gave the children hope—hope for eating meat—though they were also worried.

Although the other party had fewer people than them, they were all adults. The two guards on horseback had large sabers at their waists, and the coachman also looked quite sturdy. What if they got angry and tried to snatch it?

No matter how capable their mother was, could she fight them all by herself? And who knew how many more people were in that carriage?

The children looked at each other, wondering if a fight really broke out, should the seven of them rush up together to grab the other party's arms and legs to pin one down? Or should they split into two groups to help their mother?

They knew their own limits, of course; even if they all went up, they wouldn't be of much help. But at least they could help their mother a little!

Hong Xiaoduo wasn't paying attention to the children's expressions at the moment. She was observing the others, noting that their faces didn't look like those of heinous villains, and besides, they had just said they would pay with silver.

Perhaps it was just because of their status, or because they were wealthy, that they were a bit overbearing?

If they really wanted to force a purchase and a conflict arose because she refused, could she beat these two guards?

She had only pulled the sword at her waist out to look at it; she had no idea how capable this "heroine" actually was or how high her martial arts skills were.

Just now in the woods, she hadn't missed a single shot when throwing stones at the game, but she didn't dare assume she could hit the mark every time.

Also, Hong Xiaoduo had been resting on her throne and thinking about another problem: she had been tricked here by that strange old man, and the experience script wasn't the one she had chosen. The opening plot had gone completely off the rails.

But she was equipped with a sword, so even if she wasn't a martial artist, she must at least know some martial arts, right? Otherwise, how could her stone-throwing be so powerful?

The embarrassing part was that she remembered her posture when throwing the stones—it was just the casual way an ordinary person would throw. High-level martial artists using hidden weapons didn't do it like that; they would flick their wrists with a graceful and pleasing motion.

So, the most serious problem arose: did she actually know how to use a sword now?

If a conflict really broke out and they started fighting, would drawing the sword be useful? Would she know how to use it? Should she take advantage of the time before things escalated to quickly gather some stones as a backup?

"Seeing that you have so much game, you must be experts at hunting. Can't you just go back into the woods and hunt more?" The man on the horse was stunned that this young lady would refuse, and he spoke again.

Furthermore, he noticed that this young lady, who wasn't very old, had clearly been distracted thinking about something after refusing him. Perhaps she was annoyed at having said the wrong thing and was actually panicked and afraid inside?

The other party's voice brought Hong Xiaoduo back to her senses. She looked at the man on the horse with some confusion: "What did you just say? I didn't hear you clearly. Could you please say it again?"

"You?" The man on the horse was furious. Looking at the serious expression of the person sitting on the stone, he felt a sense of helplessness, like a scholar meeting a soldier. He thought to himself, which wealthy family's young lady is this? Why isn't she locked in her boudoir learning needlework, and what is she doing out here leading a group of little beggars?

The person on the other horse hadn't spoken until now, watching coldly from the sidelines. Seeing his companion get snubbed, he suddenly wanted to laugh. He didn't know why he couldn't hold it in and spoke up: "He said, seeing that you have so much game, you must be experts at hunting. Can't you just go back into the woods and hunt more?"

"Fan Wu, no one will treat you as a mute if you don't speak." The man who had spoken first turned his head and snapped at him.

Hearing his companion's rebuke, the one called Fan Wu didn't get angry or upset; he just shrugged at Hong Xiaoduo.

Pfft, Hong Xiaoduo was actually amused.

"Hey, you young lady are actually laughing? What's so funny? I've said it twice now, you must have heard it clearly. Hurry up and pack it up and bring it over; the silver you're owed won't be short." The man was in an even worse mood seeing the good rapport between his companion and this stubborn young lady.

Next time he went on a long trip, he would rather die than travel with this kid! Usually, he was taciturn and stingy with his words, but today he suddenly spoke up just to infuriate someone!

Hong Xiaoduo pointed at Fan Wu and asked the man: "Does this count as being so ashamed that he's turned to anger? If I still don't agree, is he going to take action against a young woman and these children?"

Fan Wu gave a noncommittal smile, thinking to himself: *Although this guy is usually a bit reckless and crude, he wouldn't go so far as to bully the weak. But if you keep going like this, young lady, there's no guarantee he won't lose his temper.*

"I'll tell you clearly one more time, listen well: I won't sell the roasting ones for any amount of silver; we need to eat them ourselves. If you want the ones over there, I don't mind selling them to you.

There is plenty of game in the woods, and we are indeed decent at hunting, but this young lady doesn't want to lift a finger today. I'm tired.

Also, if you think this won't work, you don't have to buy from me with silver; you can just go into the woods and hunt for yourselves. Actually, with the time you've spent bickering with me, you probably could have already caught a few things.

So, do you want those or not?" Hong Xiaoduo asked, pointing to the string of uncleaned game on the side.

"You ungrateful wretch, don't push your luck." The man on horseback was so angry his face had turned red.

His master was sitting in the carriage, listening without saying a word. He must be angry, angry that he couldn't even handle such a small matter.

He looked at the pile of game on the ground; it was actually quite a lot, enough for his master and the others to eat. But if he only bought those, wouldn't it just prove that he, a grown man, couldn't even handle a young lady?

Moreover, the reason he wanted the game that was already roasting—the smell of which he could already catch—was because their group had been traveling for a long time and hadn't eaten since morning. If he could let his master eat something ready-made, wouldn't that better demonstrate his usefulness?

No, he didn't believe this. Thinking this, he blurted out: "I, your grandfather, want these roasting ones today. At worst, I'll leave you a portion. As for these little beggars, they should be used to being hungry anyway; it won't hurt them to go hungry for a while longer. They can just take the uncleaned ones over there and roast them themselves.

Is that good enough? This is the biggest concession I, your grandfather, am willing to make. Don't be ungrateful."

He wasn't just speaking fiercely; he was looking at Hong Xiaoduo with an even more vicious expression. *Hmph, this should be enough to intimidate you...*