After dinner, Thieren brought in nine men and women who arranged themselves in three rows of three. There were an additional two men beside the nine.
Stacey frowned at the man standing to one side and wearing glasses. Another familiar person. With a bit of searching, she managed to place the name but not who he actually was.
"Jannick?"
Everyone seemed startled at that.
"Am I right?" Stacey asked with hesitation.
"That's right," Thieren scowled a bit, his face darkening. "Why is it you could remember one of my personal assistants but not me?"
Stacey shrugged.
"He must have made an impression on me."
"Get out," Thieren barked at his assistant.
Jannick bowed, rubbing his nose with chagrin. He glanced at Stacey with a wronged expression and exited the room. Thieren was silent for a long moment and then he took a deep breath.
"Huo Guards Nine to Eighteen are now your bodyguards. They will guard you in rotation in groups of three or four. Huo Guard Nine is the head of your bodyguards. According to our customs, you will need to name them all in order to accept them into your service. From this day onwards, they will be loyal only to you and me. Nobody can override your commands to them except for me."
"The Huo Guards greet Lady Huo," the ten guards spoke in unison, kneeling on the ground with one knee at the same time.
Their precise movements and loud voices shocked Stacey for a moment.
"You'll need to think of good names for them," Thieren patted Stacey's shoulder, "but don't take too long. They won't be able to get up until they have their new names."
"Uh," Stacey said.
This was a bit sudden. Where was she going to pull ten names out of a hat from? Should she choose something that has a pattern or just make up random names? Choose names according to what she felt they looked like? In any case, the name for the leader was the most important.
While she thought about it, Thieren sat down to peel and cut some fruit from the fruit basket by her bed for her. Stacey looked at him for help a few times but he didn't look up, obviously leaving it up to her. In fact, she was more curious what those strangely shaped and coloured fruits were than naming her unexpected guards, but she didn't dare to say so.
Stacey stared at the leader and a word popped up in her head. It seemed to suit him. It was just that she didn't know what the name meant.
"The leader," she pointed, "can be called Ning."
The leader immediately rose to his feet and bowed.
"Ning thanks Lady Huo for bestowing this name."
"Then, uh," Stacey stared at the next bodyguard and her mind blanked.
"Open your mouth, wife," Thieren coaxed. "Eat some fruit as a reward. It took you twenty minutes to think of one name. I feel pity for your last guard if you take this long to come up with each name."
"Can you help me then?" Stacey asked helplessly, taking the piece of fruit from him, rather than let him feed her directly. "I really can't think of any names."
"As you wish, wife," Thieren gave her a peck on the cheek and pointed the paring knife at each guard. "Since you called the first one Ning, then I will follow the same line of thinking. Ning, Chai, Shi, Zuo, Miao, Bu, Hui, Yi, Zhuang, Hun."
"Chai thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Shi thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Zuo thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Miao thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Bu thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Hui thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Yi thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Zhuang thanks Lady Huo for this name."
"Hun thanks Lady Huo for this name."
Each guard stood up to give their thanks after their new name had been called out, speaking over each other since Thieren didn't stop to give them time for one to finish before he named the next.
"Uh," Stacey was somewhat dumbfounded. She wasn't going to be able to remember all these names that were given in what she guessed was another language. "What language was that?"
"Chinese," Thieren put a piece of fruit to her mouth and Stacey bit down on it, since her hand was already holding one piece of fruit. It tasted like an apple, although the fruit had definitely not looked like an apple. For one thing, its peel had been blue and its flesh a pale cyan with yellow and white veins. "They have a similar saying in Tadpole but it's pronounced differently."
Tadpole? What was that? He surely wasn't talking about baby frogs. Right?
"What does it all mean?"
"It's better to pull down ten temples than to destroy a single marriage," Thieren smiled at her, putting another slice of fruit in her other hand and then feeding her another piece. "Isn't it sweet? That's what you were thinking, right?"
"What?"
Was he talking about the fruit or the names now? Stacey was confused.
"It doesn't matter if you can't remember their names. So long they know them. They can remind you if you forget," Thieren fed her another piece of fruit.
So he was talking about the names. It was a Chinese saying. An embarrassing one to use to name a person's bodyguards. Stacey shifted uncomfortably and obediently opened her mouth to eat the fruit he brought to her lips. She felt strange about all this. Naming guards. Hearing them named something so weird and embarrassing. Being fed fruit by her 'husband'. It all felt so wrong and yet just a little bit nice. Nice to be treated so well.
"You can all go and be about your business," Thieren waved his hands at the guards as if to shoo them away. Only the leader, Ning, remained in the room, taking up a place in a corner of the room as if he was planning to become a piece of the furniture. "Don't worry about him," Thieren waved a hand to bring Stacey's attention back to himself. "Ignore him. You'll get used to it after a while. Loafer will be coming in to film short clips of you these days. We can't neglect your channel now that you're awake again. Your fans are all worried about you. You'll need to reassure them. I'll get your manager to help you think of things."
She had a cameraman called Loafer? She had a channel and a manager? When had she started being a Tuber? Did she make vlogs? Was she in the entertainment business? Was she a celebrity who was taking part in a television program? When did all this happen?