Chapter 42 Conversation

This person was a retainer of that narcissistic fellow, and also the one who stepped forward to inquire after she had subdued the bandits.

Although it was a bit after the fact, he had finally come over to ask, and even helped capture the three bandits and deliver them to the magistrate's office.

Hong Xiaoduo smiled politely and nodded in acknowledgment.

"I'm here to buy fodder, what about you?" Jiao Tu asked with easy familiarity.

"Well, we're buying fodder too," Hong Xiaoduo replied.

The shopkeeper walked over and asked what grade of fodder they needed, prompting Hong Xiaoduo to look at Tianshu, signaling him to answer.

Tianshu hesitated for a moment: "Medium grade. How is it sold, and what is the price?"

Seeing the modest attire of Hong Xiaoduo and the children, the shopkeeper didn't give it a second thought and explained in great detail what each type of fodder consisted of. Hong Xiaoduo hadn't expected that horse feed could have so many varieties and such meticulous distinctions.

What feed warhorses ate, what ordinary cart horses ate, and the most expensive alfalfa, known as the king of forages—though such pasture grass wasn't sold in a small town like this.

Hong Xiaoduo didn't take any of it in, but Tianshu listened with rapt attention.

Upon hearing the price of the medium-grade fodder mixed with wheat bran and soybeans, he thought it was expensive, yet he desperately wanted to buy it, so he looked at Hong Xiaoduo with a troubled expression.

"Buy it. As for how much, just decide for yourself," Hong Xiaoduo said, pulling out a small silver ingot and handing it to Tianshu.

The mention of "how much" reminded Tianshu that if he bought too much, the donkey cart would exceed its weight capacity.

Having never received formal schooling, he lowered his head to calculate clumsily for a long while before looking up at the shopkeeper and saying, "Fifty catties."

"Well now, young master, you're driving a donkey cart, and you want to feed the donkey such good fodder?" Jiao Tu, who hadn't rushed to leave after paying his own silver, remembered to ask.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper was also taken aback and looked at Tianshu.

"What's wrong with a donkey? It works hard too, shouldn't it be fed just a little bit better?" Tianshu couldn't help saying when he saw the expressions on their faces.

There was nothing wrong with that logic, and upon hearing it, both the shopkeeper and Jiao Tu smiled and nodded.

"The young master has a kind heart and knows how to cherish his draft animal. Wait right here, I'll go weigh it for you," the shopkeeper said, telling a shop assistant to weigh out the fodder.

Soon, the assistant came over carrying a large, half-full sack of fodder and asked where their cart was so he could load it on.

"Our cart isn't here, I can carry it myself," Tianshu said, looking at the sack with a hint of worry.

"The three of us can carry it back together," Tianxuan and Tianji said, stepping forward.

Just as Hong Xiaoduo was about to step in and lift it, Jiao Tu walked over and said, "Assistant, just send their fodder along with the batch I bought straight to the inn."

Eh? Catching the keyword, Hong Xiaoduo and Tianshu asked, "Are we staying at the same inn?"

"Of course. Isn't it the Four Seas Inn?" Jiao Tu said.

Right, it was indeed the Four Seas Inn, but they hadn't noticed them there at the time.

"Don't worry, I won't steal your fifty catties of fodder," Jiao Tu joked, looking at Tianshu.

Hong Xiaoduo didn't refuse the other's kindness and offered her thanks.

Hearing this, the nearby shop assistant felt something wasn't quite right. Shouldn't she be thanking him instead, since he was the one delivering it?

Well, since the man had bought three hundred catties of top-grade fodder and even tipped generously, thanking him was fair enough.

As long as he got his tip and didn't have to haul it over himself—the shop's wagon would be transporting it anyway.

Once outside the fodder shop, Jiao Tu walked alongside them. Hong Xiaoduo glanced at Tianshu to see how he would react to this man tailing them, wondering if he too worried that this fellow wanted to become their father.

However, there was no such concern; Tianshu kept turning his head back to look at the wagon being loaded at the entrance of the fodder shop.

Ah, for Tianshu at the moment, fodder seemed much more important! With her assessment complete, Hong Xiaoduo had to suppress a smile.

"Young lady, if I may be so bold, who is your master?" Jiao Tu asked, eager not to miss this rare opportunity.

Hong Xiaoduo thought to herself: *Not this question again, how am I supposed to answer? If you ask me, where on earth would I know?*

"Very well, it was presumption on my part. Here, let me hold her for you." Not discouraged by failing to get the answer he wanted, Jiao Tu kindly reached out toward Yaoguang in her arms.

Before Hong Xiaoduo could even refuse, Yaoguang reached out her hands toward Jiao Tu.

With Yaoguang making that move, Hong Xiaoduo couldn't bring herself to decline and allowed him to take the child.

"Young lady, you know my master, don't you?" Jiao Tu probed further.

There was still some distance to the inn, and he refused to believe he couldn't extract a single useful clue.

"We've met, but we're not close," Hong Xiaoduo replied after some deliberation.

There was no need to mention the episode where they treated his master to meat buns, and she certainly didn't want to bring up the misunderstanding either.

"My master and Young Master Dong are good brothers," Jiao Tu offered.

Hong Xiaoduo nodded to show she understood.

Why was this young lady so averse to chatting? "Did Young Master Dong ever mention my master's background to you?"

As his voice trailed off, the young lady beside him shook her head.

"Weren't you curious? Didn't you want to know?" Jiao Tu asked, unwilling to give up. He had prepared himself to tell her everything she wanted to know—all for the sake of winning this young lady's favor and figuring out why his master was acting so strangely.

Hong Xiaoduo turned her head slightly to look at him, desperately wanting to say that, compared to his master's identity, she was actually more curious as to whether men could be this brazenly familiar and talkative.

In truth, she didn't genuinely dislike this sort of person. After all, the impression he left wasn't bad, even though he hadn't stepped in during the incident on the road that afternoon.

Then again, his failure to act might have been because his master was present and hadn't given any orders.

The reason she was unresponsive wasn't out of an affectation of cold aloofness, but rather to avoid getting too close. Once the conversation became too familiar, wouldn't it be rude not to answer when people asked questions?

What could she possibly say? To this day, she hadn't prepared how to introduce herself to outsiders, nor had she made up a backstory! She simply didn't know how to fabricate one.

"Not interested, don't want to know." This time she didn't shake her head; she actually spoke up, but the result remained the same.

Jiao Tu opened his mouth, then ultimately chose to give up—this conversation was completely dead.

He suddenly wondered: could his master's uncharacteristic interest in a young woman like her be simply because she was different from every other woman his master had ever laid eyes on?

He felt as though he had found the answer!

By the time they reached the inn entrance, Hong Xiaoduo took back the drowsy Yaoguang, thanked him once more, and headed toward the shared dormitory rooms they had booked.

Tianshu told her he would go wait for the fodder at the stable, and after a moment's thought, Hong Xiaoduo had Tianquan go along with him.

Upstairs in the private room, Jiao Tu—who had just returned after delivering the fodder—was blinking in confusion as his companions exchanged knowing smudges.

"Hard work," his master remarked the moment he stepped inside.

"Not at all, it's what this subordinate should do," Jiao Tu replied casually, only to realize belatedly the sarcastic undertone in his master's voice.

Mu Zitao looked at him with a half-smile: "I really had no idea. When did you become such a considerate fellow?"

Sensing the oppressive atmosphere and having no idea how to respond properly, Jiao Tu looked to his companions for help.

"What are you staring at? Can you blame the master for calling you out? Let me ask you, on the walk back, did you notice anything amiss?" one of his companions asked.

Jiao Tu thought for a moment and shook his head—he genuinely hadn't noticed a thing!

"The entire way back with that young lady and her group, you were targeted. The target must have been the young lady; judging by that fellow's looks and expression, he's likely a flower-picker," another companion stated bluntly.

"Ah? Then I need to go warn her to be on her guard! No matter how skilled she is, those scoundrels use drugged incense," Jiao Tu panicked upon hearing this and made to rush out.

*Cough, cough!* Several companions exchanged glances to silently signal him not to be a fool.

"Halt! Did I give you permission to go?" Mu Zitao said with a darkened face.

Huh? This again? Speechless, Jiao Tu looked at his master, thinking that after miscalculating once, why wouldn't he learn his lesson and try a different approach...