Chapter 15: Retribution

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If A Kuan had come from the opposite direction, he would certainly have realized that he had wronged the young woman. The expressions on the face of the adult and those of the seven children had absolutely nothing to do with carefree strolling.

The adult’s mind was filled with one thought: What was she supposed to do? Had even ancient times been this troublesome? Why did she need some sort of travel permit?

That old man at the Science Museum was truly unreliable. Weren’t scientists supposed to have exceptionally high intelligence? What was wrong with him? How could he have forgotten something as essential as a travel permit?

Was it carelessness? A mistake?

Surely he had not arranged some kind of test, intending to see how the female protagonist would face one hardship after another in ancient times and how she would solve them.

The script had made her take in seven children. Fine, she had not been given a single coin—but he had not even prepared a travel permit, something so important in ancient times. You rotten old man, were you just playing tricks on her?

The kind reminder from the husband and wife who owned the ready-made clothing shop had made Hong Xiaoduo realize that yet another obstacle had appeared before her.

If she did not buy the children new clothes and change them into clean garments, people would find their group strange wherever they went. Surely she could not change into rags herself and become the leader of a gang of beggars?

She could try disguising herself as a beggar, but the moment she imagined the possibility of lice—those tiny things that could make a person itch until they questioned the meaning of life—she immediately abandoned the idea.

Yet if she cleaned the children up and dressed them neatly, things would become even more inconvenient. Until she found a safe and suitable place to settle them, she would have to keep them by her side. Without travel permits, they would not be able to stay at inns, and entering the gates of a major city or provincial capital would be difficult enough.

On her own, it would not matter. If she could not enter a major city or provincial capital, then she simply would not go in. She was not here as a tourist, after all.

As for lodging, finding an inn for herself alone should not be difficult.

Alas. Hong Xiaoduo turned to glance at the line of children behind her and sighed inwardly. What was she supposed to do?

The seven children were also following behind her anxiously. Their mother had bought each of them brand-new clothes, shoes, and socks, from the innermost layer to the outermost. They had only just begun to rejoice, their hearts bubbling with happiness, when their mother encountered a problem.

They did not have travel permits, but they knew what such things were and had seen them before.

They were beggars. They had never stayed in inns. When entering a city or provincial capital, the guards at the gates merely looked at them disdainfully. As long as they slipped inside quickly and caused no trouble, nothing would happen.

But now, a tiny piece of paper had stumped their mother.

Little Yaoguang had not been carrying anything since they left the clothing shop, because Mother had said she would take them to eat somewhere on this street.

But they kept walking. They passed a steamed-bun shop, yet Mother did not stop. They passed a noodle shop, and Mother did not even look at it.

Her stomach gave a familiar rumble.

“Here, let Big Brother carry that for you.” After the earlier incident with Kaiyang, Tianshu had learned his lesson. If Mother stayed at the very front, then he would stay at the very back, ensuring that none of them got lost.

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Tianshu crouched down to take the bundle from Yaoguang’s arms. Yaoguang was reluctant to let go—not because she distrusted her big brother, but because she wanted to hold it herself. Holding it made her feel secure.

“Yaoguang is hungry, isn’t she? Just bear with it a little longer. Mother is thinking about something right now,” Tianshu whispered. “Let Big Brother carry your new clothes. Don’t worry. Nobody but you can wear them anyway.”

Hearing her big brother tease her, Yaoguang smiled shyly and loosened her little hands.

“Hey, you, the leader of the beggars! Stop right there!”

The shout came from behind Tianshu.

The word “beggars” made all seven children stop and turn around. Even Hong Xiaoduo, who had been lost in thought and had not clearly heard what was shouted behind her, caught those words faintly.

“I’m talking to you!”

A Kuan strode forward angrily.

“What do you want?” They had only just met, but a person would not forget someone so quickly. Besides, Hong Xiaoduo’s impression of this young man was particularly poor.

Her tone was therefore far from pleasant as she answered him.

A Kuan laughed in anger. Rolling up his sleeves, he pointed at her and cursed, “It’s because of you and this bunch of little beggars that I got fired after only two days on the job! And look at you now, strolling around as if nothing happened, looking for a restaurant to eat in!”

The words “a restaurant to eat in” reminded Hong Xiaoduo of something. She instinctively glanced back in the direction they had come from, then looked toward the other side. They were nearly at the end of the street. How long had they been walking? She really was supposed to take the children to eat first. How had she forgotten?

Looking at the seven tense little faces staring at her, Hong Xiaoduo felt annoyed with herself. What was she doing?

She had eaten roasted birds that morning and had gone without food ever since. She was already hungry, let alone the children.

“It wasn’t me who fired you. Why are you coming to me?” Hong Xiaoduo had no desire to argue with someone of such poor character.

By then, the pedestrians on the street had stopped to watch. Some even gathered around out of curiosity.

Considering the character of the shopkeeper and his wife, it was not surprising that they had fired this young man. At the time, however, the shopkeeper had said that A Kuan was new. She had thought it was merely an excuse, but it turned out to be true.

“You’re laughing? What are you laughing at?” A Kuan demanded. “Ask everyone here. You brought this whole group of little beggars, dressed in rags and reeking from head to toe, to stand outside the shop, and then you wanted them inside. Was I wrong to stop them and drive them away?”

A Kuan still believed he was in the right, so he recounted what had happened with complete confidence.

The onlookers said all sorts of things, but most of them also felt that A Kuan had done nothing wrong.

Some even said that since A Kuan had been a shop assistant, if he had failed to stop those little beggars from entering the shop, the shopkeeper would have been even angrier.

Hong Xiaoduo heard every word. When A Kuan looked at her smugly and demanded, “Did you hear that?” she shook her head.

“No, that’s not right. That shopkeeper would not have fired you merely because you drove us away. There must have been another reason.

“He is a reasonable man. Even if he thought it inappropriate for you to drive us away, he would have stopped you first and then spoken with you after we left. He might have explained how you should properly deal with people like us if you encountered them again.”

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“I only had dealings with that shopkeeper because I bought a few sets of clothes from him, but I simply feel that he is not the sort of person who refuses to give others a chance.”

Hong Xiaoduo spoke with absolute certainty.

What? How did she know? They had already gone a long way by then.

A Kuan had been struck right on the mark, and guilt suddenly rose within him.

“If you insist that it wasn’t like that, why don’t we return to the shop together and ask him directly? It isn’t far. We can also ask everyone here to come along and bear witness.

“They are beggars, that much is true. But who is born wanting to be a beggar? Did they have a choice? Do they enjoy wearing tattered clothes? Do they enjoy going hungry one meal and eating their fill the next?

“They became beggars. What could children this young possibly do?”

Hong Xiaoduo saw A Kuan’s reaction, and when she spoke again, her presence was even more imposing than his.

Her words were directed at him, but they were also meant for the onlookers. She had noticed the looks of disgust on many of their faces as they stared at the children, and it pained her deeply.

“The ready-made clothing shop you mentioned, young lady—is it the Chengfu Clothing Shop on the right side of Cross Street?” an elderly man among the onlookers asked.

Hong Xiaoduo nodded. “Yes, sir. It is the Chengfu Clothing Shop.”

Leaning on his cane, the old man tottered forward and addressed the crowd surrounding them.

“You all heard her. It is the Chengfu shop. Then this is no surprise. I have watched young Cheng grow up. After he started a family, he took over his father’s clothing shop.

“The Cheng family has been making clothes in this town for three generations. Every one of them is honest and always willing to help others. Has anyone in this town ever heard anything bad about them?”

At his words, everyone shook their heads. That was indeed true. When they looked at A Kuan again, their expressions had changed.

“If Old Cheng fired you, then you must have been in the wrong,” someone else said. “I know him well. He is upright and cannot stand the slightest dishonesty, that much is true. But he is not the kind of person who strikes someone down with a single blow and leaves them no way to live.”

“If you are unwilling to accept this, why not do as the young lady suggested and return to the clothing shop together? You can confront Shopkeeper Cheng face-to-face and see who is really twisting right and wrong,” a middle-aged man proposed.

The tide of opinion changed in an instant.

Seeing that matters were going badly, A Kuan no longer dared to confront the shopkeeper. If he went, he would only humiliate himself further.

Driven to desperation, he pointed at Hong Xiaoduo and shouted, “Don’t listen to her nonsense! Do you really think she’s a good person? She’s a trafficker! She specializes in abducting little beggars who have no one to care for them. You think she bought them new clothes out of kindness?

“She wants to clean them up so she can find buyers and sell them for a good price!”

The moment those words were spoken, everyone’s gaze turned toward Hong Xiaoduo once more...