Just as she opened her mouth, a young married woman, heavily pregnant, walked over, holding a boy's hand in one hand.
"Father, Mother, please help me take Da Shan and Xiao Shan down the mountain. I'll go buy cloth and cotton to make cotton-padded clothes for them," the young woman said with some difficulty, letting go of Da Shan's hand and supporting her back.
"Go on, go on, but walk slowly." The proprietress hurried forward to greet the two children.
The young wife didn't leave immediately; "Mother, I realized after I went out that I forgot to bring the money."
Upon hearing this, the proprietress quickly went behind the counter, counted a handful of copper coins, and then picked out a silver coin and handed it over.
The young woman said thank you, Mother, and left.
"This is my second son's wife. In three months, their third child will be born. I hope it will be a girl," the proprietress said to Hong Xiaoduo with a smile.
"The second son's family? Auntie, how many sons do you have? Oh, I mean, Auntie, you're so young, and you're already a grandmother?" Hong Xiaoduo blurted out, then realized her question was inappropriate and quickly added an explanation.
The proprietress smiled and said, "The eldest son has two sons, and the second son is about to have his third child. The third son just had his first child last year."
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo immediately abandoned the plan that had previously popped into her mind.
They're grandparents now, with many children and grandchildren, how could they possibly adopt another child? Even if they had the means and kindly wanted to adopt one, I doubt their third son would agree!
After giving up, Hong Xiaoduo looked at the seven little bald boys and enviously stared at the two boys being hugged by their grandmother. It felt like something blunt was stabbing her heart repeatedly. It didn't hurt much, but it was just uncomfortable and unsettling.
"Auntie, you all go ahead with your work. I'll take them for a walk and buy some snacks." Hong Xiaoduo couldn't bear to see the children's envious eyes, so she quickly said goodbye.
"Young ladies, if you're not in a hurry to leave, come over tomorrow. I'll make some hats for them to wear tonight; it's getting colder and colder." The two grandsons whine that they wanted to wear new shoes, and the proprietress didn't try to stop them.
Hong Xiaoduo smiled and thanked her, then led the little bald boys on a stroll forward.
She bought the snacks not because she was particularly thoughtful, but because seeing the envious look in their eyes when they saw those two boys being loved by their families made her feel that she should do something to soothe their young hearts.
In the place she came from, children loved to eat snacks and such. Children in ancient times must have been the same.
However, there were definitely no potato chips, lollipops, or spicy strips in ancient times. On this street, she only saw pastry shops and didn't even see a single person selling candied hawthorns.
On the modern ancient street, there are still sugar blowers and sugar painting artists, but I didn't see these.
"Is Mother really going to take us to buy pastries?"
"Yes, I heard it clearly, Second Brother, you heard it too, right?"
"Um."
Hong Xiaoduo faintly heard a hushed conversation behind her, and she smiled.
Thinking about how he was tricked into making his first hundred taels of silver, and how he took advantage of that scoundrel today and ate a free meat bun, he felt that making money in this dynasty wasn't such a difficult thing, was it?
It's true that you can't be too rich. Too much money makes you arrogant. Look at her, she's so generous that she's even paying for strangers!
Making money isn't that hard. If all else fails, there's always that old geezer at the science museum, isn't there? Just get him to add some silver—no, silver notes—to the system. Then I can lead my seven kids on a spending spree.
If she had money, could she fund a place to take in beggars and orphans herself? And find a reliable person to manage it, and prepare enough funds for him in advance? Even if she suddenly disappeared and returned to where she started, wouldn't the children still be able to live a life free from want?
No, that's not right either. No matter how much money we have, we can't let them spend it recklessly. If we spoil them for too long, they'll become spoiled brats who don't know how to cherish things, are greedy and playful, and only know how to enjoy themselves without being able to do anything. Wouldn't that be like doing good deeds but ruining them?
Hong Xiaoduo realized the seriousness of the children's resettlement problem. Her original idea of simply finding a safe place to settle them was too simplistic.
As she walked, she felt her hand being gently tugged. She stopped and looked down at Yaoguang, thinking that the child needed to urinate.
Before I could even ask, Yao Guang gestured with her little mouth toward the shop next to her.
Seeing the people coming out of the shop carrying bags of pastries, I took a closer look at the signboard and saw it was a pastry shop.
Hong Xiaoduo couldn't help but laugh, and led the seven children into the shop in a flurry.
The bakery was filled with the sweet aroma of pastries, and the fragrance of roasted walnuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds.
Hong Xiaoduo even heard a faint sniffling sound and suppressed a laugh.
The shopkeeper and his assistant looked at the new customers with amusement: a young woman with seven handsome little bald boys. It was quite an interesting sight.
"May I ask what kind of pastries you would like to buy, young lady? Are they for your own consumption or as gifts? If gifts, are they for the elderly, children, or adults?" the shopkeeper asked warmly and in detail.
Hong Xiaoduo really wanted to ask the seven little ones which kind of pastries they wanted to eat, because there were so many kinds of pastries, and they looked so beautiful.
But looking into the children's eyes, it seemed like they wanted them all.
"Shopkeeper, can I buy half a catty?" Hong Xiaoduo asked.
"Of course, my shop can serve you anything, not just half a jin, but even an ounce or two," the shopkeeper replied with a smile, showing no sign of being too lazy to serve you if you thought it was too little.
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo looked at the seven younger children, all of whom were listening intently, but their little faces showed no sign of disapproval that half a jin was too little.
"Not too hard, and not too sweet, give me half a pound of each," Hong Xiaoduo said.
Looking at the other seven, they all had expressions of shock and disbelief.
There are at least twenty kinds of pastries on the counter.
The shopkeeper wasn't surprised. He and his assistant worked together skillfully and efficiently, weighing and packing the items, then tying them together in bundles of three with thin hemp rope.
Aside from the ones she specified as too hard and too sweet, the shopkeeper also proactively explained that two types of pastries were medicinal pastries that were slightly cooling in nature and not suitable for women and children, so he didn't weigh them.
Even so, there were still twelve packages that were properly wrapped.
When settling the bill, they rounded it down to fifty coins for six catties of pastries.
Several of the older children offered to take them, and Hong Xiaoduo didn't rush to carry them either. Each bag weighed half a jin, and even a bunch of three only weighed a jin and a half, which wasn't heavy. Besides, the children were actually happier carrying them themselves.
Just as she turned to leave, Tian Shu suddenly approached her, gesturing for her to look outside. Hong Xiaoduo noticed he seemed a little nervous, so she looked out and saw several constables comparing their heights and asking the shop assistants across the street something. One of them was someone she had seen before—the constable Jin.
They probably weren't here to find the seven of them, adults and children, right? Hong Xiaoduo wasn't sure either. Anyway, because they didn't have a travel permit, and because of that villain who was either dead or alive, she and the children couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
What's meant to happen can't be avoided, what to do...?
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