Chapter 17: The Sudden Appearance

The boy named A-Kuan stood frozen in place, watching the onlookers point at him with mocking expressions, then looking at the one adult and seven children following the innkeeper away.

"She really is suspicious," he muttered to himself.

"If you don't get lost, kid, do you believe I'll drag you back and lock you up? Isn't it good enough that the people in this town are living in peace? Do you have to go looking for trouble when there isn't any? Do you think I’ve been a constable for all these years for nothing? Can’t I tell if that young lady is suspicious or not?" The head constable, seeing that A-Kuan still looked unwilling to give up, suddenly grew angry.

A constable who had been silent on the side saw this and stepped forward to kick A-Kuan. "Still not getting out of here?"

Having been kicked and scolded, A-Kuan didn't dare to talk back, let alone fight back.

He was only brave at home, acting tough with his mother and stepfather. Outside, he only bullied the weak. The people in front of him were constables; they could easily pin a crime on him and toss him into the yamen’s jail to starve for a few days.

Then, after they "investigated" and found he was innocent, they would let him out, and he wouldn't even dare to cry foul for being wronged.

Meanwhile, Hong Xiaoduo and her group had already followed the innkeeper, Wan Quan, to the Fuyunlai Inn.

"This is it. You’re all staying in one dormitory room? How about fifty wen for the room fee?" Wan Quan asked, pointing inside.

The price for a dormitory room was calculated per person, and he usually charged fifteen wen each. Seeing that the children Hong Xiaoduo brought were all pitiful, he didn't have the heart to charge more.

Besides, it was empty anyway; earning a few extra dozen wen was good enough.

Hong Xiaoduo didn't know much about the local prices, but she felt the owner wasn't overcharging her, so she nodded and agreed immediately.

"Shopkeeper, let me discuss something with you. How about this: I’ll pay one hundred wen total. Could you provide two bathtubs, trouble yourself to boil a few pots of hot water, and find an auntie or uncle who doesn't mind the grime to help me bathe them? Is that possible?" Hong Xiaoduo asked with a smile.

Otherwise, the children were covered in such thick, grimy dirt that if she let them wash themselves, she was afraid they wouldn't get clean. If she had to do it all herself, the workload was too heavy—she was exhausted!

"That’s fine. Don't you worry, young lady. I’ll arrange it and ensure these kids come out squeaky clean." Wan Quan hadn't expected this young lady to be so generous.

Fifty extra wen—why wouldn't he do it? So what if they were dirty? They were just children.

"Young lady, if you want to bathe, the single room next to the dormitory is empty. You can go wash there first. That bathtub was just made by a carpenter last month and hasn't been used yet." Wan Quan had a very good impression of this kind-hearted young lady.

If it weren't for the fact that he had a whole family of old and young to support, and needed to save silver for his grandsons' schooling and building a house for them to marry, he would have treated today's matter as a good deed and charged nothing at all.

"Listen up, everyone. Take your new clothes and wait for the shopkeeper to find someone to help you bathe. Then, put on your clean new clothes, and after that, I’ll take you to get something to eat. Did you hear me?" Hong Xiaoduo instructed the children beside her.

"We heard you, Mother." The children were overjoyed at the prospect of bathing and changing into new clothes, and they answered in unison.

"Mother?" Wan Quan thought he had misheard.

Hong Xiaoduo gave a dry laugh. "Hehe, they’re young and don't know any better, so they just call me that. Please don't take it to heart."

Oh, oh, oh, Wan Quan understood. He shook his head and laughed, "It's a good thing that even if they call out like that, no one will believe it. Otherwise, it might affect your chances of a good marriage, young lady."

As they spoke, two people walked out from the back. One was the wife of the clothing store owner, and the other was quite a bit older.

"Oh, Auntie?" Hong Xiaoduo greeted her affectionately.

The woman introduced her to the old lady, saying this was the kind-hearted young lady.

"You're here? Wan Quan found you? I was worried he wouldn't be able to," the old lady said with a very kind smile.

Hearing this, Wan Quan hurried forward. "Mother, I found them as soon as I went out. That clerk from her shop who got fired went to the street to cause trouble for this young lady. Fortunately, Jin Hu and the others weren't foolish; they didn't believe them and even asked me to let them stay here."

When the old lady and the woman heard this, they were both amused and said that the clerk deserved it.

Hong Xiaoduo also understood what had happened from their conversation and thanked the woman again.

After seeing the woman off, Wan Quan told his mother about helping the children bathe. His mother took the initiative to take on the job, saying she would handle the two little girls, and for the other five boys, they could just give Uncle Tong, who did odd jobs in the back, some money for wine to help wash them.

"Young lady, what about the clothes these children are wearing now?" Wan Quan’s mother asked.

"Please, Auntie, just throw them away. Also, if their hair is too tangled to comb, please help me trim it." After saying this, Hong Xiaoduo remembered she should ask the children first if they would allow their hair to be cut.

Because she was afraid the children would resist having their hair cut, she had to ask for their consent.

However, the children all nodded obediently, indicating they were willing. Mother was doing this for their own good, so they would listen to Mother.

Besides, Tian Shu had secretly warned them earlier to try not to call her "Mother" in crowded places.

The one adult and seven children split into three groups and went off to bathe.

Hot water was soon delivered to Hong Xiaoduo's single room. The bathtub was indeed new, and the cotton towels provided were also new. She dropped the door latch and began to undress.

Soaking into the warm bathtub, all her exhaustion vanished. It was so comfortable.

It was just a pity there was no shampoo or body wash, only a piece of ugly soap that didn't smell very good.

That damn old man, he didn't arrange anything properly. She was lucky today; otherwise, if she had really been detained for not having a travel permit, she would have just sat in that jail until the end of time to see what use it was for him to trick her into coming here.

Hong Xiaoduo closed her eyes, grumbling indignantly, when suddenly a voice called her, "Hong Xiaoduo?"

She opened her eyes immediately. "Ahhh!" She covered her chest and screamed.

Because right in front of her, in that empty space, there was a projection on the wall, and the old curator from the science museum whom she had just been cursing was inside it.

He was so close, and the projection was so clear, that Hong Xiaoduo could even see the nose hair of the old curator.

"Calm down. I swear I can only see the bathtub and your head; I can't see anything else," the old man declared in the projection.

"Calm down my foot! How did you suddenly pop up without giving any warning?" Hong Xiaoduo looked down at herself, confirming the old man probably wasn't lying.

But anyone would have been scared in that moment, wouldn't they?

"Cough, cough, sorry. The system isn't very refined yet, so it just connected accidentally," the old man in the projection said, with an apology and undisguised excitement.

"You still have the nerve to say that? Do you know how miserable this broken system you made has made me? There’s nothing, absolutely nothing here!" Hong Xiaoduo protested unceremoniously.

"For example?" The old man immediately pushed up his glasses and asked...

My dear fairies, if you like Hong Xiaoduo, please vote for her! Hehe.

(End of chapter)