I started out with seven husbands, and I worked hard to support my family while crying.

Chapter 438: The Poor Child

To be honest, these people's analysis is really insightful.

Fang Xiaoxiao stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching the group of people go crazy with great interest.

Humans are capable of making low-IQ decisions to a certain extent.

Having studied psychology, she could understand the motivations of this group of people.

Pei Yan stood to the side, tugged at his wife's sleeve, and whispered.

"Xiao Xiao, what time is it? How can you still be in the mood to watch the show? I think these people are going to blame all the problems on you."

Fang Xiaoxiao responded with two soft "hmm" sounds.

"Isn't this obvious? Since they like to make up their own ideas, let them imagine as much as they want. Anyway, I've already done what I needed to do. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. I've saved millions of people in the city in one fell swoop. As for the remaining few dozen, let them do whatever they want."

"If they think I'm lying to them, then they can choose to leave this place, go back to their own home and enjoy these few hours in comfort."

As she spoke, she glanced at Prefect Yang, whose brows were furrowed.

Prefect Yang felt a headache coming on and wanted to order his yamen runners to chase the twenty or thirty people away.

But he didn't do that; he just listened to these people complain.

"Boom!"

"All of you, shut up! If you want to die, no one will stop you. But if you dare to slander Madam Fang again, I, Su, won't mind having my servants teach you a lesson."

Old Master Su's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he surveyed the group of poor people who had amassed some wealth through speculation and profiteering.

In his eyes, this group of people were far inferior to the real elite families. They were selfish, only concerned with immediate gains and losses, disregarding the consequences, greedy for immediate pleasure, and unwilling to make any sacrifices. Such people were completely unworthy to stand with his major families.

Just like when they were distributing medicine to the entire city, this group of people actually hid behind the scenes and sent people to collect it for free. If they hadn't been on guard, they would have really let such despicable people succeed.

Just then, a little girl walked up to Fang Xiaoxiao.

The little girl's face was covered in mud, and she was wearing patched clothes.

"Sister, it's been a long time. They are all bad people. With Xiaohua here, they won't let the bad people bully you."

Fang Xiaoxiao looked down and realized that this girl was the same child she and Li Wan'er had met on East Street.

She was surprised by his courage, and couldn't help but admire him.

"Little sister, thank you for protecting me, but don't worry, I won't let them bully me. If anyone's bullying someone, it's me who's bullying them."

Fang Xiaoxiao squatted down, took out a piece of icing sugar from her bosom and handed it to the little girl. Then she glanced sideways at Pei Yan and the spy standing behind him.

Pei Yan didn't waste any time and ordered everyone to surround and protect Fang Xiaoxiao, while he stood in the center of the crowd.

"Don't worry, I don't take these people seriously."

"Come on, I'm not worried about that. I'm just asking you to fulfill your duties as a bodyguard. I just paid for the security fee, you know."

'Security costs? You mean these five copper coins?'

"Oh dear, do you think I gave you too much? If you think it's too much, give me back three copper coins!"

Fang Xiaoxiao complained, hands on her hips.

Upon seeing this, Pei Yan quickly put the copper coins into his money bag, fearing they would be robbed.

Their actions made the little girl giggle.

"My sister and brother are so funny. They actually argued over five copper coins. If my sister needs money, I have a little bit of money here. It was given to me by my sister last time."

As Xiaohua spoke, her eyes unconsciously dimmed.

Fang Xiao glanced at the girl and saw that she was still holding the one or two taels of silver that she had given her last time. She immediately thought of a possibility: the girl's mother had probably passed away.

She didn't take the money; instead, she forced a smile and reached out to pat the little flower's head.

"Little Flower is such a good girl, a child who knows how to repay kindness. Your older sister and brother will not take this money. Keep it safe and buy whatever you want to eat or buy when the time comes. Don't worry about spending it all."

Little Flower drooped her little head and nodded without saying a word.

Seeing her expression, Fang Xiao felt bad, but didn't know how to comfort her.

I had originally thought that if things didn't work out, I could take Xiaohua back to Kyoto with me, but the journey was too long and not particularly safe for a child.

Thinking of this, she suddenly thought of someone: Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family.

In her memory, Su Muwan was kind-hearted and sincere. Since she was in charge of the Su family, it wouldn't be a problem for Xiaohua to stay by her side as a maid.

Think about this.

Fang Xiao asked in a low voice.

"Little Flower, would you be willing to do a job if your older sister found you one?"

“Yes, yes, Mom said before she left that as long as Xiaohua can find something to do, she shouldn’t be afraid no matter how hard or tiring it is. Xiaohua will always remember Mom’s words…”

As Xiaohua spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face.

Fang Xiaoxin tenderly pulled the child into her arms, comforting the poor, lonely child.

As for those nouveau riche, faced with pressure from the old man of the Su family and the indifference of the prefect, they resolutely chose to go home and pack up their money.

Prefect Yang did not stop them, nor did Old Master Su.

In the eyes of these people in power, the deaths of these people were no big deal. Their usual practices of exploiting the people and deceiving the government were already deeply abhorrent. However, these people were too good at hiding their true intentions, and all the things they did were done by their subordinates, so no one could do anything to them.

Now that such a good opportunity has presented itself, it's impossible to stop it.

After comforting Xiaohua, Fang Xiaoxiao followed the others into the cave ahead.

The area behind Suzhou city is vast, with countless peaks and caves, enough to easily hide a million people.

Fang Xiaoxiao and her group chose the mountain peak closest to Suzhou City. The entrance to the cave was halfway up the mountain, where many trees provided cover, forming a natural barrier. It would be difficult to find the location without careful searching.

Upon entering the cave, it was already brightly lit.

Aside from the muddy smell and dampness, it was pretty good overall; at least there was a place to rest and plenty of food.

As soon as Fang Xiaoxiao and Xiaohua walked up to Li Wan'er, Li Wan'er recognized her at a glance.

"Oh, isn't this Xiaohua? I've missed you terribly since we last parted."

Little Flower blinked her eyes sweetly and obediently.

For some reason, Su Muwan, who was behind Li Wan'er, stepped forward and stared intently at Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua said unconsciously, "The same goes for her."

"Sister Su, what are you doing here?"

Su Muwan's heart trembled. She rushed to Xiaohua, embraced her, and cried.

"Hua'er, why aren't you with your mother? I haven't seen you two since Sister Su got sick last time. I've sent people everywhere to look for you, but we haven't been able to find you."

Little Flower cried.

"Mommy has gone to another world, leaving Xiaohua here all alone. Waaah, Sister Su, Xiaohua has no mommy anymore!"

For a moment, the entire cave was filled with the sound of the two crying.

The disheveled Taoist priest Li Shizhen couldn't help but turn away and secretly wipe away his tears.

Wan Wuyao's eyes were red and swollen, and he lowered his head, remaining silent.

And his wife beside him was no exception.

Back then, she always complained that Wan Wuyao was always taking care of the widow and her child, saying that he was a lecherous old man who wanted to seduce the beautiful widow.

Now, when she hears the child say that his mother has passed away, she no longer feels the same blame as before.

Russian qing.

Su Muwan led Xiaohua to a relatively clean corner with dry grass to lie down and soothed Xiaohua into sleep.

The others kept a certain distance from the child to avoid disturbing the child's rest.

The entrance of the cave.

Fang Xiaoxiao leaned on Pei Yan's shoulder, watching the dawn gradually break.

In summer, the sky always brightens so early that it makes people completely forget the beauty of the night.