Chapter 9: The Names of the Seven Children

"Well, Big Brother says that a mother's heart is always soft, and she would never abandon her children. As long as we all call you 'Mother,' you won't abandon us either," the little girl said with bright, sparkling eyes.

Hearing the child speak with such adoration for that "Big Brother," Hong Xiaoduo could understand. For a group of children abused by a villain, having an older brother who could look after them made him their backbone.

Whatever Big Brother said, they believed without question.

It was just that Hong Xiaoduo hadn't expected the answer she wanted to be like this—so simple.

The reason for calling her "Mother" sounded quite logical. In this world, many fathers could heartlessly abandon their children without a second thought, but mothers rarely did. That was the flesh and blood they had carried for ten months, birthed with great anticipation and hardship.

Of course, that was a bit of a generalization. Not all fathers were selfish, and it wasn't as if there were no heartless mothers, but those were the minority.

Hong Xiaoduo vaguely remembered a famous person saying that a mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.

But, surely the premise for all of this was that they were her own biological children?

For children who were not her own and were complete strangers, with no binding kinship, a woman facing such a situation would, at most, offer whatever help she could out of maternal sympathy.

Like these children before her, they were treating her as the only straw they could grasp to save their lives.

They pinned their hopes on a title. It was the only method they could think of; anyone else might find it laughable, but they felt it was feasible.

Yet, looking at it from their perspective, they had no other choice.

Although Hong Xiaoduo had only been in this dynasty for a short time, she felt that it didn't seem very peaceful, and people's lives were not easy.

The older boy in front noticed that Hong Xiaoduo’s expression was a bit off. He pulled the little girl’s hand aside and whispered, "Are you being naughty? Did you make Mother unhappy?"

The little girl shook her head repeatedly, turning to look at her mother. Was Mother unhappy? It seemed so!

Thinking that it might be because of what she had said to her mother, and fearing a scolding from her big brother, she pursed her lips and didn't dare tell him.

The two children's small movements had long since fallen into Hong Xiaoduo's line of sight. She pretended not to see and clapped her hands. "Is everyone here? If so, let's go. Let's try to reach that village before dark."

The children immediately looked at each other and counted heads—all seven were present.

The older boy had just crouched down to carry the little girl on his back when Hong Xiaoduo stepped forward, nimbly hoisting the child onto her own back and snatching the cloth strap the boy had been using.

"Mother, I can do it." The older boy had been nervously guessing why this "Mother" was unhappy, but seeing her take the initiative to carry the youngest child, his heart suddenly felt a bit more at ease.

No matter why this "Mother" was in a bad mood earlier, she didn't intend to abandon them, and that was good.

"You take care of the others. Hurry up, don't dawdle." As Hong Xiaoduo spoke, she tried to tie the cloth strap around the little girl on her back, but she couldn't get it right. The older boy quickly stepped forward to help.

One adult and seven children continued their journey. Although they were still afraid of the villain chasing them, they didn't seem as terrified as they were at the start.

Hong Xiaoduo secretly felt relieved that the season was cool but not yet freezing, and it wasn't raining.

Otherwise, it would have been miserable.

Bored on the road, Hong Xiaoduo chatted with the children.

None of the seven children knew where they were from or who their families were; they had been with that villain for as long as they could remember. He took them around begging, and he used the money they collected to buy wine and food.

The children ate the leftovers they begged for. Because of the constant wars, the common people were struggling, so they couldn't always get leftovers every day. When they couldn't, they went hungry. To them, hunger was something they were used to; they just endured it and got through it.

What they feared most was not getting money. If the villain couldn't buy his wine and food, he would beat them to vent his anger. He hit them hard, but never enough to cripple them—just enough to make them terrified and in pain, without hindering their ability to keep begging.

Hearing the children say this, Hong Xiaoduo suddenly stopped worrying about whether she had accidentally killed that man. Such a wicked person deserved to die; his life was not worth mourning.

As for the children's names, Hong Xiaoduo wanted to curse even more, because none of the seven children had a normal name.

Even a name like "Little Stone" or "Dog Egg" would have been acceptable.

But no. The oldest boy was called Piglet, and in order, they were Colt, Calf, Lamb, Puppy, Donkey, and Chick.

They were all named after livestock. He had never considered these seven poor children as human beings.

They hadn't thought anything of it at first, but after being mocked and called "little animals" by other beggars, they realized the names were unpleasant, so they never called each other by them.

She had started chatting with them because walking was boring, but the more she heard, the heavier Hong Xiaoduo's heart became.

That villain must have been a psychopath, enslaving them to support himself and giving them such names?

"Mother, why don't you give us new names?" the older boy asked tentatively.

"Hmm, let me think." Hong Xiaoduo agreed without a second thought.

The children were all very happy to hear her agree to name them.

As Hong Xiaoduo walked and thought, she felt that naming people was a simple task. For boys, something like Mountain or Peak; for girls, Cloud, Grace, or Flower—inspiration was everywhere, surely it would come easily!

But when she turned back to meet those pairs of excited, expectant, and pure eyes, she suddenly felt guilty for being so casual and dismissive.

Seeing that she wasn't asking anything else, the children didn't dare to speak to her, fearing they would disturb her while she was thinking of good names for them.

Finally, as the sun was about to set, the group of eight saw a village.

But the moment they stepped into the village, the villagers stared at them with guarded eyes.

Hong Xiaoduo was a bit puzzled. Seeing a middle-aged man standing at a doorway, she walked up to him. Before she could even speak, the man said in a harsh tone, "We have no food here. Go further away."

Hong Xiaoduo wanted to say she wasn't begging, but wanted to buy food with silver, but the man quickly turned around and slammed the courtyard gate shut with a loud bang.

The next few houses were the same. Hong Xiaoduo felt a bit depressed and pointed at herself, asking the children following her, "Do I look like a villain?"

The children shook their heads in unison, but their expressions suggested they weren't surprised by this.

"Mother, let's just forget it. We ate meat today, and we aren't very hungry right now," the older boy said in a low voice.

"Yes, Mother, we can go a few days without eating, it's fine," another younger one quickly chimed in, and the other children nodded along.

Hong Xiaoduo wanted to say she didn't believe this—couldn't she even buy food with silver?

But looking at the children's uneasy expressions, she couldn't bear it. "Alright then, let's walk a bit further and find a sheltered place to spend the night. Tomorrow morning, I'll catch some birds for you to eat."

Just like that, Hong Xiaoduo led the children toward the edge of the village. As they reached the exit on the other side, an elderly voice called out to her.

"Young lady, don't blame the villagers for being heartless. We just don't dare to be kind anymore. Half a month ago, some beggars came by. A villager named Da Niu kindly let them in, steamed a pot of grain, and stewed a vegetable medley for them.

"But who would have thought? They returned in the middle of the night, jumped over the wall, and not only stole his savings of several years but also tried to assault Da Niu's wife and daughter. Da Niu fought to the death with a cleaver and shouted for help. Only when the neighbors rushed over did they escape the disaster.

"Even so, Da Niu was severely injured and will need a long time to recover. Although his wife and daughter kept their virtue, they have nightmares every night.

"Sigh, in these chaotic times, there are all sorts of people. After such an incident, the village is naturally terrified!

"I have a few steamed buns here. Divide them among the children to fill their bellies. There's an empty house not far down the road. Although half the roof has collapsed, it should at least block the wind for tonight."

So that was it. Hong Xiaoduo understood. She signaled the older boy to take the buns from the old man and thanked him.

She walked a few steps, then stopped and turned back. "Sir, please wait."

The old man stopped and turned to look at her.

"May I ask, sir, what happened to those wicked beggars in the end? Were they caught and sent to the magistrate?" Hong Xiaoduo asked.

The old man shook his head and sighed. "Although they were beggars, they were very strong, and some knew martial arts. How could the villagers catch them? They had long since run far away. We did report it to the magistrate, but don't expect them to actually go and catch them."

"Why is that?" Hong Xiaoduo was very confused.

"You don't know, young lady. No one died, and the victims were just villagers from this small mountain village. The yamen officials won't waste their time and effort investigating or making arrests unless someone happens to recognize them and reports it again," the old man said with a sigh.

"Then, what if... what if those beggars were beaten to death? What would the yamen do?" Hong Xiaoduo blurted out...