The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1023 - 102: Social Interaction

Chapter 1023: Chapter 102: Social Interaction

Bai Shan had been attending school for about a month now, and although there were three factions in his class that looked down on each other at heart, there were actually no significant conflicts between them.

And since they were all about ten years old, it was somewhat easy to get along with them. Once they grew a little older, they would be involved in more family affairs, which would make it harder to get along.

Thus, he thought that making his way in the Imperial Academy was both easy and difficult. If you called it easy, it indeed was, but it was also difficult to say it was hard.

In the past, he hadn’t been too willing to put the effort into this because he had to keep a low profile after all, and even the reason for that was ready-made. But now he knew he was like a fish on the chopping board, with just a breath of life left in him. By his side, there lay a similar fish companion, and another one in the bucket below, which could be scooped up and placed on the board at any time.

Thinking of the little lives of the three of them, Bai Shan was still very willing to take the trouble to comply.

Therefore, the next day, he took a food box of Aunt Rong’s most delicious moon cakes to school.

As soon as Bai Erlang saw it, he also picked up a box; and when Manbao saw it, she couldn’t help but reach into her embrace to take out a food box.

Aunt Rong just looked helpless, dividing the moon cakes for them while saying, "You didn’t say you wanted to eat them before. It was only because the young master instructed me to make some extra for his classmates that I made these. Now that you have divided them all, what will the teacher and Master Zhou Wu eat?"

Manbao took a moon cake out of the food box and placed it on a plate, "This one is for the teacher, my Fifth Brother and the others are not in a hurry, they can make more tomorrow."

Aunt Rong looked at the solitary moon cake on the plate, silent for a long while, "Which family would display their pastries like this?"

That seemed too stingy, just a single one on a plate.

Bai Shan also looked and nodded, "It doesn’t look very nice."

He then reached out to take it and handed it to Bai Erlang, "Here, take it directly to the teacher."

Bai Erlang accepted it in a daze, and Manbao urged him, "Hurry up, we’re going to be late."

So Bai Erlang ran off with the pastry to find the strolling teacher in the garden and offered him some cake.

Mr. Zhuang took it, baffled, and seeing the child had already dashed off, shook his head and took a bite of the moon cake in his hands.

It had been prepared by Aunt Rong the night before, and she had gotten up before dawn that day to make it. Fresh from the pan and still warm, it was exceptionally delicious.

Mr. Zhuang nodded in satisfaction. When he returned to the second courtyard after his walk, the pastry was finished. He glanced at the usual osmanthus cakes on the desk in the study and then leisurely walked to the kitchen to ask Aunt Rong, "Where are the moon cakes?"

Aunt Rong wiped her hands and replied, "Teacher, the young lords have taken all the moon cakes with them. If you want to eat some, I’ll make more in a bit."

Mr. Zhuang had a vague realization, "... all taken away?"

Aunt Rong said somewhat anxiously, "The young lord and the hall’s young lord said they wanted to bring some for their classmates, and Miss Man said she wanted to bring some for Shopkeeper Zheng and his people..."

Mr. Zhuang felt somewhat deflated.

Aunt Rong was still busy adding, "Miss Man also said that you can’t eat too many moon cakes at once, it will cause indigestion."

So he was left with just one?

Mr. Zhuang decided it was time to ponder seriously the homework assignment for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Manbao brought a box of pastries to Jishi Hall, and it wasn’t until lunchtime that she found a moment to join them for a meal.

Upon tasting the moon cakes, Doctor Ding exclaimed, "It’s another Mid-Autumn Festival already, huh."

Shopkeeper Zheng nodded, "Time really flies too fast."

Manbao took a bite of the mooncake and asked, "Are there any particular customs for Mid-Autumn Festival in the capital?"

Shopkeeper Zheng then laughed and said, "It’s similar to the customs in Yizhou, admiring the moon, having a family reunion dinner, going out to see the lanterns—there’s nothing particularly special."

Manbao nodded. That wasn’t anything extraordinary, but the capital was certainly more lively than Yizhou City.

After finishing her pastries and taking a sip of water, Manbao asked, "Shopkeeper Zheng, is there any peculiar news in the capital lately?"

"What peculiar news could there be?" Shopkeeper Zheng leisurely sipped his tea and said, "Recently, all the princes have come to the capital, so it’s a bit more festive. But with Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, nobody wants to stir up too much trouble. Haven’t you noticed that these past few days, we’ve had fewer patients with injuries at our pharmacy?"

"By the way, I heard that the young master from the State Duke’s household broke his leg yesterday. Was it Doctor Zhao from Hundred Herbs Hall who treated him?"

Shopkeeper Zheng replied, "I asked about it. It’s not a serious problem; the bone has been set right. After resting for a couple of months, he should be fine."

He laughed, "They say he fell off his horse, but in truth, he had a run-in with the Prince of Hejian. The two have had a longstanding feud, so they decided to have a horse race, and ended up fighting at the racetrack. It was an accident that led to the broken leg. The young master from the State Duke’s house was embarrassed and insisted that he fell himself. Neither family wants to turn this into a feud over such a minor injury—a bone fracture, after all, so they just glossed over it."

Manbao: "... A broken leg isn’t a serious injury?"

"It depends on how it breaks. Anything that can be properly mended without issue is not considered serious. Those that don’t heal right and result in a limp—that’s serious."

Manbao couldn’t help but shiver inwardly, "People in the capital are truly frightening."

When she and Bai Shan and Bai Erlang fought, if someone made her bleed, she could hold a grudge for a year. For a grudge like a broken leg, she’d remember it for a lifetime.

Manbao said with some regret, "Why doesn’t the Prince of Yizhou like to fight?"

Shopkeeper Zheng: "... What are you talking about? The Prince of Yizhou is already quite old. It would be unseemly for him to fight. It’s his sons who are more likely to get into scuffles."

"Is the Prince of Hejian young?"

"Not particularly young either. He must be in his early twenties," Shopkeeper Zheng said. "He was the late emperor’s youngest son. When the current emperor ascended the throne, he was still young, just twelve, and was appointed as the Prince of Hejian. Then he took his noble mother to assume his duties in Hejian. As he was young and Hejian is not too far from the capital, he always got called back during festivals, and that’s how he’s familiar with many young nobles here."

And once they became familiar, they couldn’t help but fight—thinking, ’you don’t respect me, and deep down I look down on you,’ which inevitably led to brawls.

Sometimes, for minor injuries and ailments that were not serious enough to call on an imperial physician, they would come to the pharmacy for a doctor, so Shopkeeper Zheng knew these nobles well because he had treated injuries on their limbs, heads, and backs for them.

Shopkeeper Zheng also remarked with a hint of regret, "Legs and abdomens are the parts most prone to injury, a shame really—you won’t be able to view those."

Manbao, without an ounce of self-awareness, asked, "Why?"

"Because you’re a young lady."

Manbao: ...

While Manbao was gathering information at the pharmacy, Bai Shan was also making his move in the Imperial College. After finishing lunch, there was some time for rest, and Bai Shan opened his lunchbox, shared one with Yin Huo, and then brought the rest over to Peng Zhiru.

Lu Xiaofu was also there, having invited the two over. The schoolmate who was chatting with Peng Zhiru and Lu Xiaofu also casually took the pastries Bai Shan passed them. After tasting and finding them quite good, he asked, "Is this mooncake made in the Mianzhou style?"

Bai Shan nodded, "More or less. This is based on the Yizhou style..."

Following the topic of mooncakes, the group started a conversation.