Chapter 21: 21. Chapter 21: Dying of Laughter

Chapter 21: Dying of Laughter

Seeing that eye-catching, handsome young gentleman suddenly show an expression of disgust, Hong Xiaoduo felt a bit puzzled, but she spoke up nonetheless: "You... there's something stuck here. A piece of wonton skin?"

At this distance, she couldn't see very clearly, so she wasn't certain.

Having said her piece, she turned her head away; people who were fickle with their moods were never particularly likable.

Hearing this, Mu Zitao raised his hand to touch one side of his chin. Looking down, there was indeed a small crumb of wonton skin on his fingertip—it had been coughed out just now.

His face flushed crimson instantly, as if being scorched by a flame, burning hot.

That small gesture that had offended him was actually... actually meant to remind him that something was stuck there!

Master Counselor Dong had witnessed the scene between the two just now, but he hadn't realized what was happening at the time. Upon hearing the young lady's words and seeing her look toward his good brother, he understood.

Looking at his good brother's expression now, it wasn't just a red face; even his fair neck was stained crimson.

*Pfft, hahaha, hahaha!* Master Counselor Dong tried to hold back his laughter, but he truly couldn't. He burst out laughing. He would laugh, stop, see his brother's embarrassed expression, and then continue laughing. After several such cycles, he tried to stand up while clutching his stomach but couldn't hold himself upright, so he simply squatted down and continued to laugh.

He was truly dying of laughter. In the capital, there were many men who were the dream husbands of countless women—men like Pan An or Caisheng Jian. The General Mu, whom young wives looked up to in their hearts but who remained unmoved, had today brought shame upon himself because of his own arrogance!

Having known him for seventeen years, this was the first time he had seen him in such an embarrassing state, and it was due to his own doing. Master Counselor Dong felt that the grievances and resentment of having spent years as a mere foil to him were instantly balanced.

"Laugh, laugh, laugh until you die for all I care!" Mu Zitao saw the bun shop manager, the seven little bald heads, and the passersby on the street all looking over because of his good brother's unseemly laughter. Feeling his face grow even hotter, he pursed his lips, stood up, kicked the man who was laughing to the point of tears, and strode away quickly.

Master Counselor Dong was kicked to the ground, but it didn't stop him from laughing heartily; in fact, he laughed even more freely.

Hong Xiaoduo looked at the man on the ground who was laughing uncontrollably. That robe, which looked like it was made of quite expensive fabric, was getting all dirty!

She turned back to look at the several little bald heads who had finished eating. Kaiyang and Yaoguang still had nearly half a bowl of wontons left. After Tianxu and Tianji asked the others if they were full, they stepped forward and each finished the remaining half-bowl of wontons.

Then, they called the shop assistant over to settle the bill. After the calculation, the assistant took one of the two silver pieces left by the previous lecher on the table, collected the payment for the buns, paid for the wontons, and returned a large handful of copper coins as change.

Hong Xiaoduo pocketed the other silver piece from the table, looked at the handful of change in the assistant's hand, and asked him, "Is this enough to pay for the two young masters just now?"

The assistant thought for a moment and nodded. "It's enough, it's enough. There's actually two wen extra."

Hong Xiaoduo wanted to say they should just keep the two wen and forget it, but seeing little Kaiyang and remembering how he had previously humbled himself to please a passerby just for a single copper coin he wasn't sure he could get, she accepted the two wen the assistant handed over.

The little ones were quite well-behaved; having eaten their fill, they weren't greedy. They let out small, satisfied burps, looking incredibly cute in their contentment.

"We've just eaten, and it's still early. Let's wander around a bit." Holding Yaoguang's hand, Hong Xiaoduo led the way, while Tianxu took Kaiyang's hand, and they went shopping.

The assistant tidied up the steamers on the table and returned the wonton bowls. Returning to the table, he saw the gentleman on the ground who had stopped laughing but hadn't stood up. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Master Counselor, do you need me to fetch a doctor from a clinic?"

Upon hearing that the young worker actually recognized him, Master Counselor Dong sat up and let out a breath. "No need, no need. Just give me a hand up."

*Sigh*, laughing really did take a lot of energy. He wasn't hurt; he just felt physically weak and lacked strength, and his stomach was a bit sore from the laughter.

He asked for a hand, but the assistant didn't just pull him up; instead, he carefully helped him to his feet and helped brush the dust off the back of the Counselor's robes.

The business owners in town all recognized this young and handsome Master Counselor from the yamen, but no one dared to greet him.

When the Master Counselor traveled with the high official from the yamen, it seemed that the official was the one who flattered the Counselor.

Common folk didn't know the intricacies of such matters, but they knew one thing: someone whom even the high officials feared was certainly not someone they could provoke. They just had to avoid offending him.

"Did that young lady settle the bill for us?" Master Counselor Dong had vaguely heard it while he was lying on the ground laughing, but he hadn't been able to get up to thank her.

"To answer you, Master Counselor, yes, it was twenty-four wen," the assistant informed him.

Master Counselor Dong nodded. Twenty-odd wen meant nothing to them, but the fact that the young lady had paid—and not out of a desire to curry favor—made it quite special.

"Your buns really do taste good." Having said that, he glanced down both sides of the street. His good brother seemed to have left this way, and the young lady and the seven little bald heads were over there.

After a moment's hesitation, Master Counselor Dong headed in the direction his brother had gone.

Seeing him make a fool of himself for the first time wasn't that serious; what was serious was that this was likely the first time in his life his brother had lost face, and because of a woman! He hoped his brother wouldn't lose heart and refuse to come out of seclusion!

After walking a few steps, he glanced in the opposite direction. What should he do? He was worried about his brother, but in truth, he actually wanted to go see the young lady and the seven cute little bald heads more.

Mainly, why on earth did those cute children have shaved heads?

But that wasn't right either. Although his good brother had stopped by to check on him, since leaving the capital for this remote town over two years ago, who else had come to visit him besides Mu Zitao?

Ultimately, brotherly affection triumphed over curiosity, and he chose to find his friend.

"Hey, young lady! I guessed it was you from a distance! My goodness, dear, come out and look!" As they passed the Chengfu Clothing Shop, the proprietress called out to them from afar.

Hearing his wife's shouting, the shopkeeper hurried out to see, and he was also quite surprised.

This morning they were a group of scruffy little beggars; after being washed and changed into new clothes, they had completely transformed into a different group of children.

These clothes were all from his shop, and he had even helped select a few of them.

Seeing the couple looking at the children with great fondness, glancing from one to another, a thought occurred to Hong Xiaoduo. Since they liked children so much and were good people, why not ask if they wanted to adopt them? The children certainly wouldn't suffer if they were with them.

The reason she thought this was because she realized she might disappear from this place at any time. What would happen to these children then?

Would they continue to beg and wander? They were so young; setting aside whether that previous villain was still alive and would come looking for them, even if he hadn't or was dead, would they encounter another bad person who would control them to beg?

The thought made Hong Xiaoduo uneasy.

However, finding a family that was stable enough and could adopt all seven of them at once was unlikely.

As for the government shelters she had only heard of but never seen, she didn't know what the conditions were like.

In that case, could they be placed separately? It might be a bit cruel, but it would be better than wandering outside, hungry and begging for survival, wouldn't it?

Besides, winter was approaching. If they were left unmanaged like this, they would freeze to death!

"Auntie?" Hong Xiaoduo steeled her heart and spoke with a smile, intending to call the proprietress aside to test the waters...

(End of Chapter)