At the beginning of Hai hour, the carriages arrived at Shangxia Town. Except for Shi Cheng, who drove the carriage to take the master and servant to their destination, the others went directly to find an inn.
The inn has two large shared rooms that can accommodate more than forty guests. Tang Xihua's bodyguards alone number more than thirty, so Hong Xiaoduo felt embarrassed to take up a room with her child.
“You stay here, we’ll go check out other inns,” Hong Xiaoduo said to Tang Xihua.
“We’ve been to this town before, so we know a bit about it. There are two inns, but the other one is very small and doesn’t have shared rooms. How about we let the boys share a room with them, and you and these two girls can stay in the double room?” Tang Xihua suggested to her.
Knowing that she and her children lived in shared dormitories, it wasn't to save money, but because she felt at ease with her children by her side.
"Is that so?" Hong Xiaoduo looked at Tian Shu and the others hesitantly.
"Young lady, we're so familiar with each other, don't you trust us?" Dazhi stepped forward, picked up Kaiyang, and said with a smile.
It was already this late, and the children were tired. Besides, Tang Xihua wouldn't lie. During their rest periods these past two days, the bodyguards would also play with the children.
"Then I'll trouble you all to take care of them," Hong Xiaoduo replied.
"Don't worry, don't worry," Dazhi replied, then told Tian Shu to drive the carriage and follow the escort agency's vehicle into the stable.
Hong Xiaoduo, along with the two girls Yuheng and Yaoguang, went to their room with Tang Xihua and the innkeeper.
As the waiter walked along, he introduced the rooms, saying that the top-tier rooms were still available. Tang Xihua was about to say that she would like two rooms, but Hong Xiaoduo spoke first, saying, "We'll just stay in the regular rooms. If you want to come, please do so."
Tang Xihua smiled and said, "I am a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), so I don't need to stay at that '天字号' (a high-class hotel)."
The waiter then led them to two mid-range guest rooms.
"Put your things away, shall we go out for something to eat?" Tang Xihua asked before entering the room.
Hong Xiaoduo did not refuse, and led the two children into the guest room, putting down her bag.
"Little sister, when we come back later, you and your sister can sleep here," Yuheng said to Yaoguang.
Yao Guang didn't respond immediately, but instead turned her head and blinked her big eyes at Hong Xiaoduo.
Hong Xiaoduo knew that Yaoguang wanted to sleep with her, so she reached out and rubbed her little head, saying, "Yaoguang wants to scratch my itch, so she wants to sleep with me, right?"
“Yes,” Yao Guang immediately shouted.
"Alright, Yaoguang will sleep with me tonight." After Hong Xiaoduo finished speaking, Yuheng looked helpless, while Yaoguang's eyes narrowed with happiness.
As they walked out of the room with the two children, they found Tang Xihua already waiting outside. When they arrived at the lobby downstairs, the other bodyguards were already waiting there.
"What would you like to eat? There's a restaurant run by a foreigner around here that has pretty good roast lamb. Want to try it?" Tang Xihua asked as she walked alongside Hong Xiaoduo.
Roasted lamb? Hong Xiaoduo's eyes lit up at the mention of it. She liked it, but then she thought that at this hour, the children would fall asleep immediately after eating meat, which wouldn't be good for their stomachs.
"Then they must have mutton soup or something, right?" she asked.
Upon hearing that she was interested, Tang Xihua replied without hesitation, "That restaurant has mutton soup, naan bread, mutton soup noodles, and many other dishes."
“Okay, let’s go to that one,” Hong Xiaoduo agreed.
Before long, we arrived at the restaurant. There were hardly any customers left. The waiters were tidying up the tables and chairs, and a chef wearing an apron was putting the prepared naan bread into the oven.
The naan can be made in advance and stored for many days, in case there are too many customers and there is not enough time to make it. When customers order, the cooled naan can be put back into the oven to be heated.
When the waiter saw dozens of people outside, he quickly shouted for the manager to come out.
In no time, Hong Xiaoduo and the others filled the restaurant to capacity.
Tang Xihua told the shopkeeper to quickly roast a lamb, and to bring some other side dishes as needed. She also asked Hong Xiaoduo to order.
Hong Xiaoduo originally wanted to order mutton stew noodles for the children, but when she saw that there was naan, she changed her mind and thought that all the children should try it.
Including her own, she ordered seven servings of mutton soup with naan bread. She also called Tian Shu over to her side and instructed him, "Tell your younger siblings that when the roasted lamb is ready, they can have a little bit, but don't overeat."
Tian Shu responded and returned to his position, relaying the message to everyone.
"It's alright, there's enough to eat," Tang Xihua said, having overheard the conversation.
Hong Xiaoduo realized he had misunderstood her meaning, and explained with a smile, "Children shouldn't eat too much meat at night."
"Oh, I see," Tang Xihua realized. "You're so thoughtful towards them."
"What do you mean by being thoughtful? I just happened to know. When you're traveling, you should avoid getting sick if you can," Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
The roasted lamb wasn't coming out quickly, but the side dishes were starting to arrive: boiled lamb, lamb offal hot pot, pickled vegetables, stir-fried cabbage, and salted beans.
Tang Xihua ordered some more wine. There were a dozen or so people who didn't drink, so they could take turns guarding the goods at night.
The mutton soup and naan were ready-made; they just needed to be heated up and were quickly served to Hong Xiaoduo and the children.
After giving Yao Guang a large portion of mutton soup, Hong Xiaoduo taught them to break the naan into small pieces and put them into the soup. The naan pieces absorbed the essence of the mutton soup, and they were soft and chewy with the aroma of naan and the freshness of meat. It was truly delicious.
Seeing how delicious the food at the Big Seven Snacks was, some of the bodyguards couldn't resist asking for mutton soup with naan bread, including Tang Xihua herself.
While eating, they felt something was off. The last time they ate here, it didn't taste this good. They even asked the waiter if the restaurant had changed chefs, but the reply was no.
Hong Xiaoduo and the children had finished their mutton soup and naan bread, but the mutton wasn't even roasted yet. Tianquan and the others told Hong Xiaoduo they were full, so she told Tang Xihua that she would take the children back to the inn first.
"Third Senior Brother, you've eaten your fill, haven't you? Why don't you head back first?" The bodyguard beside him noticed that Tang Xihua's gaze kept following the group of one adult and seven children as they left, and couldn't help but remind him.
After spending the last few days together, everyone privately discussed how well this young lady and the third senior brother were a good match.
"If you've had too much to drink, then stop." Tang Xihua looked away, glared at the bodyguard, poured herself a glass of wine, and silently drank it.
Hong Xiaoduo led the children to the outside of the inn. Just as she was about to go in, she heard noisy footsteps coming from the side and subconsciously looked over.
"It's her! It's her who bullied Lady Xun!" A woman pointed at Hong Xiaoduo and excitedly complained to a group of young men among the servants.
Hong Xiaoduo then realized that the woman was the one she had hitched a ride with that afternoon, only now she had changed her clothes.
Is this someone coming to get revenge? They've got quite a temper!
She raised her hand and gestured for them to step back. Tian Shu and the others immediately understood her meaning and walked into the inn together, standing inside the door and looking out.
The innkeeper also saw what was happening outside. After recognizing the person, he couldn't help but worry about the young woman with seven children.
How did I end up offending the Han family? And weren't we supposed to be staying with the other镖师 (bodyguards/escorts)? Where are they...?
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