From Hong Xiaoduo's perspective, you can also see the person lying on the ground. Their clothes are tattered, and their figure doesn't look like that of an adult, or perhaps they are very thin.

Quan Jinghuai was not careless. He gestured for Tian Shu not to go over, and then placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. After looking closely, he bent down and reached out to check if Tian Shu was still breathing.

"She must have fainted from hunger, what should we do?" Quan Jinghuai checked and said to Hong Xiaoduo.

"What should we do? Since we've run into this, we can't just ignore it. Let's get the car up here," Hong Xiaoduo replied.

The carriage behind was a bit emptier, but Fei Yan and the other two were all girls, and Hong Xiaoduo didn't want to put this person in that carriage.

Quan Jinghuai helped the person into the carriage, and Tian Shu and the others had already moved out a bench on one side so that they could put the person who had fainted from hunger on it.

Up close, Hong Xiaoduo and the others could see clearly that it was a boy about the same age as Tian Shu. Looking at his tattered clothes, messy hair, and dirty appearance, he was a beggar.

Although Tian Shu and the others were now wearing fine robes, they had once been beggars themselves. So, even when faced with this dirty little beggar, the four brothers showed no disgust whatsoever; on the contrary, they were all very anxious.

Following Hong Xiaoduo's instructions, they first fed the other person warm water.

Fortunately, the child was still able to swallow, and after being fed a few sips of warm water, he woke up.

When the child saw the people in front of him and his surroundings, he was terrified.

“Don’t be afraid. We found you when you collapsed by the roadside and rescued you,” Tian Shu said first.

"Did you faint from hunger? Eat this first." Tianji handed over some pastries.

Hong Xiaoduo sat there, watching the four brothers gently comfort each other, and felt very comforted. She had been caught in the rain herself, so she always wanted to hold an umbrella for others.

The child sat up and his gaze fell on the pastries Tianji handed him. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the pastries with both hands.

"No need for that, eat slowly," Tianquan said quickly, seeing the other person's actions.

However, the other person seemed not to hear at all, stuffing large mouthfuls into his mouth and swallowing, choking after a few mouthfuls. Tianxuan quickly handed him water.

The child drank water in big gulps, but choked again. Tian Shu quickly patted his back and said, "Eat slowly, no one will take it from you, and there's more if you're not full."

Upon hearing this, the child slowed down his eating pace, but his eyes remained fixed on the snacks on the plate.

"Tianji, let's put the snacks away for now," Hong Xiaoduo said.

Seeing the four boys looking at her with puzzled expressions, she sighed and said, "He must have been starving for a long time. This sudden binge eating is not good."

Oh, Tianji understood. Just as she was about to turn around and put the plate of snacks on the coffee table, the child, upon hearing that she couldn't eat anymore, protested and reached out to snatch the snacks, stuffing them into her arms.

Because the child's movements were so sudden and rough, Tianji couldn't even hold the plate steady, and it fell and cracked on the carriage floor.

In an ordinary carriage, a falling disc might not necessarily cause damage, but this carriage was custom-made by Hong Xiaoduo, and for safety and sturdiness, the floor of the carriage was reinforced with iron plates.

"What's wrong?" Quan Jinghuai asked immediately from outside the carriage.

"It's nothing, the plate for the snacks just fell," Hong Xiaoduo replied, then gestured for Tian Shu to continue on their way.

Tianji seemed to have done something wrong and quickly bent down to clean up, but Hong Xiaoduo didn't let her. She used a small broom to clean up the broken pieces of the plate herself.

"Don't look at me like that. I won't hold a grudge against him and kick him off the bus just because he broke a plate." Hong Xiaoduo was very relieved to see the children's nervous expressions.

Perhaps because she had eaten her fill and warmed up, the child's emotions had calmed down. She looked down at the cloak she was wearing, lost in thought.

"What's your name? How old are you? Where are you from? Where are your parents?" Hong Xiaoduo asked softly.

The child heard but didn't say anything, and Hong Xiaoduo didn't rush to ask again.

The carriage continued on its way, and Quan Jinghuai, on horseback, couldn't help but think, "We only managed to send one of the seven children away, and now we've picked up another one."

In this world, there are countless begging children. She can't just keep taking them in whenever she encounters them. She can afford to raise them, but if it continues like this, Quan Jinghuai imagines the scene of taking care of dozens or even hundreds of children, and suddenly feels a headache coming on.

At noon, the carriage stopped to rest. Tian Shu and the others busied themselves gathering firewood to start a fire and heat up the dry rations and vegetables. They had planned to let the child rest in the carriage first and then call him when it was time to eat.

However, as soon as the child looked up and met Hong Xiaoduo's gaze, he immediately lowered his head and hurriedly got off the carriage to Tian Shu and the others.

After Feiyan led the two little girls to relieve themselves behind the bushes, she came out and helped set up a small table while glancing at the child.

When they found the child earlier, they had been peering through the car window, and now they couldn't help but look on curiously.

"Xiao Duo, he seems to be afraid of you?" Fei Yan walked up to Hong Xiao Duo and said with a smile.

“We were afraid of Mother back then too. She was so fierce to us,” Yao Guang, who had come along, said upon hearing Fei Yan’s words.

"She's fierce, yet you still cling to her and follow her around? If you're afraid of her, shouldn't you stay away from her?" Fei Yan asked Yao Guang, suppressing a laugh.

In fact, Feiyan had already heard the whole story of Hong Xiaoduo and the seven children from the children's accounts, albeit in bits and pieces.

If her seven children became attached to her and called her "Mom" without any regard for her feelings, she would get angry. Who wouldn't get angry in that situation?

"It was my older brother who said we should follow Mother. He said that no matter how angry or fierce Mother gets, we should follow her. My older brother said that Mother is a good person, and only by following her can we survive."

"It turns out that Mom is all bark and no bite, but she's really soft-hearted. And Big Brother is so smart!" Yao Guang said proudly, shaking her head.

Sitting on the recliner, Hong Xiaoduo deliberately sneered, "Don't be too happy yet. Maybe I'm just thinking of raising you all because you're good-looking, and then selling you for a good price."

Upon hearing this, Feiyan thought it would frighten Xiaoyaoguang, but instead, she saw the little girl giggle and rush into Hong Xiaoduo's arms, hugging her waist and saying, "Okay, okay, okay, as long as you're willing, Mother. If you sell me, who will scratch your itch?"

I don't believe what you just said, Mother. Feiyan is old enough, but I haven't seen you sell her.

Anyway, I'm the youngest, so if I'm really going to be sold, I'll be the last one. When it's my turn, I'll tell the buyer that I'm lazy and greedy, can't do any work, cry a lot, wet the bed, and am a jinx, a cursed god of misfortune—whoever buys me will be incredibly unlucky.

Hong Xiaoduo and Feiyan were amused by the little girl's words. Hong Xiaoduo reached out and patted the little girl's bottom, then scooped her up and sat her in her lap, looking at the child following Tian Shu not far away...