The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1034 - 1013: Making a Name

Chapter 1034: Chapter 1013: Making a Name

Upon leaving Mohui Garden, outside there were quite a few gathered teenagers and children. Mr. Zhuang paused for a moment, and took a handful of coins from his purse, gesturing to the group of kids.

The leading teenager saw this and immediately led a group of children to swarm around.

Bai Shan and Manbao Bai Erlang watched, baffled, not understanding what the teacher was planning to do.

Mr. Jiang saw this and smiled faintly, standing to the side waiting for him.

Mr. Zhuang handed the money to the teenager and said with a smile, "A good poem has just come out of there, and it was chosen as the top of the list. Run along the streets and alleys."

The teenager happily agreed.

Mr. Zhuang then recited Bai Shan’s poem slowly, word for word. The teenager repeated it twice, making sure nothing was missed, then turned to the others and asked, "Did you all memorize it?"

"We did." After speaking, one recited the first two lines, and another followed with the next two lines. Some younger children could only remember one line, but they memorized it too.

Seeing this, the teenager nodded slightly and assured Mr. Zhuang, "Elder, rest assured, we’ve memorized it. May I know whose poem it is and how old is he this year?"

"National Academy’s Bai Shan, thirteen years old."

"How impressive, Bai Young Master," the teenager exclaimed exaggeratedly before asking, "Aren’t you going to spread his place of origin?"

Mr. Zhuang laughed and said, "No need, just spread ’Bai Shan from the National Academy’."

The teenager took note, stuffed the money Mr. Zhuang gave into his chest, and then pulled his friends aside to discuss. In a short while they happily ran along the streets, still reciting the poem Bai Shan had written.

The three disciples, unaccustomed to the ways of the world, watched all this with their mouths agape, astonished.

Seeing this, Mr. Zhuang offered Mr. Jiang an apologetic smile and said, "The children haven’t seen much of the world. Mr. Jiang, please forgive their ignorance."

Mr. Jiang withdrew his gaze and smiled, "Youthful innocence is rare and precious."

Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something. "Eh, haven’t you been in the capital for several months? How come they don’t understand this yet?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "Previously, considering their young age, I thought there was no rush for such things, so I just focused on having them study in the courtyard."

Mr. Jiang, while walking, spoke to Bai Shan, "It’s better to become famous sooner. Don’t feel embarrassed. Others wish for your age, your talent, and they do not have it. Since you have what others don’t, you should make good use of it. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be a waste?"

The servants of the poetry competition presented the ink chrysanthemum. Mr. Jiang was particularly pleased and called his own servant to take it, then invited Mr. Zhuang to ride with him, leaving Bai Shan and his two fellow disciples still looking perplexed as they climbed onto their own carriage.

As the carriage began to move away, they could faintly hear people reciting his poem in clear voices.

Manbao and Bai Erlang looked at Bai Shan, one from the left, the other from the right.

Bai Shan’s face turned slightly red, and he somewhat angrily asked, "What are you looking at me for?"

Manbao felt that he really had gained experience today, "So this is how fame is spread."

Bai Shan’s face cooled down as he began to ponder, "No wonder scholars entering the capital spend so much money. My great grandmother mentioned before that if I didn’t have enough money, I should ask Liu Gui for it. So money should be spent like this."

Manbao and Bai Erlang both turned to look at him.

Coming back to his senses, Bai Shan saw their gazes and said, "Stop looking. I haven’t asked Liu Gui for money yet; I’m still using my own."

Bai Erlang rolled his eyes and said, "Then you tell me, if I use that as a reason to ask my dad for money, do you think he would give it to me?"

"Wouldn’t he give you a thrashing instead?" Manbao said, "Can’t your dad figure out how much money you have? Plus, your brother is in the capital too, wouldn’t he know if you’ve spent money or not?"

Bai Shan added, "Moreover, you need to write good poetry to spend money like that. When our cousin asks for a poem, can you write one?"

"I guess I could squeeze out one."

"If it’s not any good, better keep it to yourself," Manbao advised. "Showing it around would only bring embarrassment."

Bai Shan nodded in agreement.

Bai Erlang thought for a moment and could only give up on this grand desire. He leaned on the window and sighed, "Who knows when I’ll be able to spend a big sum of money and have people recite my poems in every street and alley."

"You’re still young, what’s the rush?" Manbao said. "When you’re a bit older and your knowledge is sufficient, even if you don’t have the natural talent, as long as you work hard, you can definitely come up with one or two decent poems."

Bai Shan turned to Manbao and asked, "Do you want to be famous?"

After thinking for a bit, Manbao shook her head, "I don’t want to be famous for poetry, I want to be famous for medicine."

Her eyes shone as she spoke, "I would love it if someday, every street and alley talks about how Zhou Man is a young miracle doctor."

Bai Erlang looked back, "Why not a great miracle doctor?"

"You really are silly. Of course, it’s because she’s still young, so she can only be called a young miracle doctor," Bai Shan turned to Manbao and said. "But I think that becoming a physician is harder than writing poetry."

Curing people is different from writing poetry. Writing poetry can rely on talent, and a little extra effort might suddenly produce a great poem. But healing and saving lives not only requires sufficient knowledge but also experience and opportunities.

Curing one or two patients doesn’t make one famous, let alone become a miracle doctor.

Bai Shan looked Manbao up and down and said, "You’re still young, you have time."

Manbao was full of confidence, "I’ve been learning medicine for many years now; don’t worry, given the chance, I will definitely soar."

When they returned to Changqing Alley, Mr. Jiang looked carefully at the location of their home and decided that he could come by to visit more often in the future.

He and Mr. Zhuang had met by chance while browsing through a bookstore. It wasn’t love at first sight, but as they got to know each other, they felt comfortable and found common ground to talk about. However, Mr. Zhuang seemed to have some reservations, and besides his name, he was not very willing to share his address.

So Mr. Jiang was quite looking forward to being invited over by Mr. Zhuang today.

Upon entering the gate, Mr. Jiang looked around curiously, and Mr. Zhuang invited him to the second courtyard.

When they reached the second courtyard, Mr. Jiang was immediately drawn to the potted plants arranged on the veranda.

These were recently purchased by Manbao from the merchants in the city, not for sale but for her own enjoyment.

Beautiful flowers are a joy to everyone. This time, Manbao didn’t choose any particularly rare colors or varieties. She simply thought about what kind of flowers she and others like Bai Shan and the teacher preferred, and bought them to arrange along the veranda.

So now, the flowers there look quite normal, just brightly colored, making the place look vivid and lifting the mood involuntarily.

Mr. Jiang couldn’t help but be pleased upon seeing them, but he confirmed that Mr. Zhuang’s taste was somewhat common; the flowers were mostly bright colors, dominated by red and yellow.

Mr. Jiang followed the corridor, looking at each pot, and nodded, "Mr. Zhuang has arranged his courtyard very elegantly."

Mr. Zhuang looked at his three students and smiled, saying, "The three kids set this up yesterday. They said we should be festive for the holiday. Mr. Jiang, shall we sit in the