Chapter 41: Regarding why [he/she] called [him/her] Uncle

Yaoguang felt she shouldn't have said anything, because her eldest brother had warned her at the time that she absolutely must not let Mother know.

But if she didn't say anything, she felt she would be doing Mother wrong; Mother liked her so much and even carried her around.

She then remembered the last time Mother asked why she called her "Mother," and it was she who had told her. Mother hadn't been angry then, and she hadn't done anything to her eldest brother afterward—no scolding and no hitting.

So, she figured telling Mother this time wouldn't be a big deal!

She wiggled her body, bringing her small mouth close to Hong Xiaoduo's ear, whispering very softly: "Big brother said that particular Secretary Dong might want to be our father, so if we call him 'Uncle,' he can only ever be our uncle."

Yaoguang's mouth was so close that her breath made Hong Xiaoduo's ear itch. Perhaps because the child was afraid of being overheard by the other brothers and sisters and leaking the secret, her voice was extremely low; thus, to hear clearly, Hong Xiaoduo had to endure it without pulling away.

Now that the answer had arrived, Hong Xiaoduo thought to herself that it was a stroke of luck she was asking now; if she had been eating, she would have either choked to death or nearly lost half her life.

What on earth was this? "Father" had come up?

To prevent Big Brother Dong from wanting to be their father, they had to call him "Uncle"?

But, logically, it seemed to make sense—siblings cannot be husband and wife!

To think she had even wondered if she was overthinking it, thinking perhaps the reason the children called Big Brother Dong "Uncle" was simple: because they heard her call him "Big Brother," so they had to call him "Uncle."

Sigh, this Tianshu!

The only reason she allowed them to continue calling her "Mother" for now was that she treated the title as a mere code. To act as this ready-made mother, one needed to provide maternal love, after all—she herself was still a big baby in need of affection!

Walking ahead while holding Kaiyang's hand, Tianshu felt a slight chill on the back of his neck. Thinking his hat was crooked, he reached up to straighten it, then turned back to look at Hong Xiaoduo. Oh? Mother gave him a very bright smile. How wonderful. Tianshu pursed his lips, turned back around, and continued walking forward, feeling quite pleased with himself.

After walking a bit further, she noticed the pace of the children ahead had slowed down. Following their gaze, she saw a meat pancake shop.

The master making the meat pancakes was frying the finished pancakes in a flat iron pan with oil, the savory aroma of the meat wafting out along with the sizzling sounds.

Seeing people stopping to watch, a waiter hurried forward to greet and introduce the shop enthusiastically.

Hearing that there was also meat porridge and wontons, Hong Xiaoduo led the seven little ones into the shop.

The waiter led them directly to a large square table, and Hong Xiaoduo let the children state what they wanted to eat themselves.

After spending these past few days together, the children's courage had grown somewhat, but Hong Xiaoduo noticed that even though they dared to order food themselves, they were still a bit cautious, glancing at her first before looking at Tianshu.

At this hour, there weren't many diners in the shop. Seeing such a young lady leading seven beautiful children, people couldn't help but steal a few glances. Upon discovering that the seven children seemed to have no hair, they felt curious, but no one was so impudent as to approach and pry.

The ordered food was brought out quickly. Without Hong Xiaoduo needing to instruct him, Tianshu was already reminding his younger siblings to eat slowly so they wouldn't burn themselves.

Nearby, some sharp-eyed diners quickly noticed that while the seven children the young lady brought were quite handsome and pretty, they didn't seem to know how to use chopsticks very well, appearing somewhat clumsy.

In particular, when Kaiyang noticed a diner staring at him, seeing the other person's gaze and expression, his small face flushed bright red instantly. In his nervousness, he tried to pick up meat pancakes with his chopsticks several times, but failed to do so properly and nearly dropped them on the table.

"It's alright, don't mind them. Take your time, like this." Sensing the child's embarrassment, Hong Xiaoduo comforted him softly, demonstrating how to pick up a meat pancake without it falling.

Holding the plate of meat pancakes with one hand, she used the other to pick up a pancake and bring it to her mouth.

Hong Xiaoduo's gentle voice and encouraging smile did more than just soothe Kaiyang; the other children, who had thought many times about putting down their chopsticks to just grab the pancakes with their hands and bite into them, were similarly encouraged.

Sure enough, eating this way made it very easy to bite into the fragrant meat pancakes.

Seeing that they were eating the meat pancakes with peace of mind, Hong Xiaoduo then looked at Yaoguang, who was sitting beside her. Although she was the youngest, she was very clever; she moved the plate of meat pancakes to the edge of the table and leaned down to bite the pancake in the dish, using her chopsticks to help nudge it toward her mouth when it was hard to bite.

The beef-filled meat pancakes had thin skins and large fillings; one bite filled the mouth with fragrance. They were delicious.

As for the diners pointing and whispering, Hong Xiaoduo didn't feel even a shred of embarrassment or shame.

She had noticed when she first brought them to a food stall to eat meat buns that the children didn't know how to use chopsticks. At that time, some children wanted to grab them with their hands, but Tianshu had whispered a reminder that they shouldn't.

But on that day, the only diners at the tables outside the bun stall were them—one adult and seven children—plus Big Brother Dong and his good brother.

Hong Xiaoduo hadn't asked the children, but just thinking about their previous circumstances, she knew why they couldn't use chopsticks. It was because, in the past, they had never needed chopsticks to eat at all.

When they begged for dry cakes or dry rations, they ate with their hands; when it came to soups or liquids, they simply tilted their heads back and gulped them down; for things like noodles, they used thin wooden sticks as chopsticks to scoop the food into their mouths.

Having never eaten a single decent meal, and never having sat at a table to eat, was it their fault they didn't know how to use chopsticks?

It didn't matter if they didn't know; she would teach them.

It would certainly seem clumsy at first, but it would get better with time. It had only been a few days, and they were already much better.

Hong Xiaoduo wasn't sure how long she could protect them, but she hoped that while she was by their side, she could help them become as good as possible.

The group of one adult and seven children ate their fill, paid the bill, and left the pancake shop. Instead of returning directly to the inn, Hong Xiaoduo took them for a stroll through the streets to aid digestion.

"Mother, the inn waiter said there is a shop that sells animal fodder at the end of this street. Shall we go buy some?" Tianshu hesitated for a long while, and seeing that Hong Xiaoduo was about to turn back, he spoke up hurriedly.

"Animal fodder?" Hong Xiaoduo was a bit confused. While resting along the way, Tianshu had already cut a large bundle of hay and placed it in the back of the carriage, saying it was to prepare for when there was no grass for the donkey to eat.

There had been grass all along both sides of this road, hadn't there?

Why was her usually frugal, good son Tianshu wanting to spend money now?

Tianshu quickly explained, "When I was at the inn's stable just now, I asked the waiter. He said there are many types of fodder for horses, and wealthy people give their horses the best kind. Even though ours is a donkey, it is smaller than a horse, yet it works so hard pulling us such a long distance. We should give it better, higher-quality fodder, shouldn't we?"

Hearing Tianshu's words, Hong Xiaoduo vaguely remembered that she seemed to have told this child before to be kind to the donkey.

"Alright, let's go then. But if we buy it now, you'll have to carry it back yourself," Hong Xiaoduo joked.

"Mother, we will carry it!" Tianshu, Tianxuan, and the others all declared together.

The group of one adult and seven children continued along the street, searching for the shop.

Generally, shops selling such goods were located in slightly more remote positions.

They soon found the shop. As soon as she stepped inside, a customer within greeted her with great surprise: "Little lady, what a coincidence to run into you again..."

(End of Chapter)