The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 221 - 210 Friends (Good health during Dragon Boat Festival)

Chapter 221: Chapter 210 Friends (Good health during Dragon Boat Festival)

Manbao and the others didn’t go directly to the County Governmental Office, but instead brought their flower baskets to the main street where they usually sold them, yet strangely, the children who often played there were nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Liulang looked around and approached a vendor who seemed more amiable and looked familiar to ask about it.

The stall owner recognized Zhou Liulang, finding it hard not to since these kids were young and conducted a unique business different from their own. The street wasn’t so crowded that you could easily forget faces.

When he learned they were looking for children, he said with a smile, "Nowadays, who dares let their kids run outside? Haven’t you noticed even the candied haw vendors aren’t setting up their stands?"

Glancing at the flower baskets in their hands, he commented, "Nowadays, even snack vendors are struggling to sell, never mind your stuff that can neither be eaten nor used. I think it’s even harder to sell, might as well save the time and use it to weed the fields instead."

Zhou Liulang didn’t believe in giving up so easily. He knew their baskets were not only beautiful, but also contained tasty sweets, which was always the reason their baskets were more popular.

Even if they couldn’t sell them all, they could surely sell three or four, right?

At the very least, they should be able to earn enough for their midday meal.

So the four of them didn’t leave. Carrying the baskets, they strolled down the street, calling out to any children they saw. Manbao even deliberately ran past people with a basket in hand, but although the kids stared longingly, the adults didn’t take out their money to buy.

By the time they had walked all the way down the street to the County Governmental Office, they hadn’t sold a single basket.

The four of them looked at each other, and Daya said, "Maybe we really can’t sell them, I just noticed that the street vendors selling snacks weren’t doing well either."

Datou said, "It must be because of the heavy rain, their families don’t have money either."

Zhou Liulang held a flower basket in his hand and asked, "So what do we do? We’ve made so many of them."

The key point was the bamboo baskets could be taken back, but the flowers couldn’t last overnight.

Besides, honestly, the last thing their family lacked was bamboo crafts. Taking these small bamboo baskets back home would just be a hassle for him.

Zhou Liulang’s shoulders slumped; it seemed their flower basket business couldn’t be carried on this year.

Manbao also sighed and said, "If we can’t sell them, let’s just give them away."

"Give them to who?"

"Later, we’ll go find those sisters who always buy a lot of sweets from us and give them all away to them."

Daya had no objections, and Zhou Liulang, after thinking for a moment and considering the hassle of storing them if they took them back, decided to give them away as well.

Thus, the four of them made their way to the back of the County Governmental Office and knocked on the door.

The doorman, seeing them, smiled and said, "The sky has cleared, and I figured you’d be coming soon. Sure enough, here you are. Wait a moment, I’ll go and send word inside."

Fu Wenyun came running quickly, lifting her skirt. She pulled Manbao into the courtyard to talk, "Is everything okay at your home? I sent Qiuyue to look for your brothers on the street, but the vendors said they hadn’t seen anyone from your family lately."

"It’s nothing, but it’s been raining, and the mountain roads are hard to navigate," Manbao said. "There was a mudslide and so much water rushing down the mountain that it blocked the road. It took our village and the neighboring one two days to clear it."

Fu Wenyun was astounded, "Isn’t that very dangerous?"

Manbao nodded emphatically, telling her about the houses in their village collapsing. Fu Wenyun had heard of such things from her father, but it always felt far removed from her. Now, hearing Manbao talk about their neighbor’s houses that could collapse at a kick made it seem very close to her.

Manbao told her many stories from the village, and Fu Wenyun shared the village news and rumors known only to those in government circles.

Lately, the steward and the Assistant County Magistrate had been dining at her place often. Over time, even without wishing to hear, Fu Wenyun had passively overheard a lot of their conversations.

Her mother forbade them from discussing such gossip, and her elder sister wasn’t interested in such matters, so even if Fu Wenyun wanted to talk about it, she had no one to discuss it with. Now with Manbao there, there was no end to their conversation.

Zhou Liulang and the others were also invited into the courtyard for a rare occasion, and Xiaos quickly moved some stools and wooden stumps out from a small room nearby for them to sit on.

Then he closed the door, curious enough to squat nearby and listen in on the idle talk.

"I heard from my father that the military commissioner and the Governor of Yizhou were scolded by an imperial envoy from the capital, and even the Prince of Yizhou was impeached. They’re currently involved in disaster relief, so the sage emperor hasn’t held them to account yet, but once it’s over, I fear all the officials in Jiannan Road might be questioned," Fu Wenyun said with some concern. "I don’t know if my father will be implicated too."

Manbao said, "Our Luojiang County didn’t have a dike break, and it’s not your father’s fault that it rained, so he should be alright, shouldn’t he?"

Fu Wenyun whispered back, "According to my father, though, it doesn’t just come down to the immediate issues – if the resettlement of refugees doesn’t go well, or if there’s an outflow of locals resulting in a severe population loss, our county might not be spared even though we didn’t have a dike break."

Manbao felt a stir of concern and whispered back, "There’s a way around that. As long as the common people don’t starve to death, they generally don’t want to leave their homes. The rain has certainly caused the crops to fail, but as long as people didn’t die and the fields weren’t completely flooded, some disaster relief grain from the County Governmental Office should see them through."

"That’s what the Assistant County Magistrate also said, but my father mentioned it’s difficult, because the influx of refugees is only going to increase. The County Governmental Office has to save some relief grain for them, otherwise, they’ll definitely cause trouble."

"But what about the autumn tax? People have nothing to eat, how will they pay taxes in autumn? Things will definitely be even harder, and it could really lead to chaos if not handled well."

Fu Wenyun considered the matter, something she hadn’t really thought about before.

Manbao asked her, "What book have you been reading lately? Because of the rain, our teacher had us read many history books, and he lectured us about the Jinyun Canal."

"The Jinyun Canal?" Fu Wenyun found the name rather familiar.

Manbao nodded vigorously, "That’s the part of the Jin Dike that was involved in the disaster in Yizhou; our teacher said the Jin Dike is only a part of the Jinyun Canal."

No wonder, it must have been something she overheard her father discussing.

Fu Wenyun said, "I’ve finished reading the Classic of Poetry; I wanted to read The Great Learning you talked about, but my mother said that’s a book my younger brother should read and told me to focus on the musical skills that the teacher is instructing me in."

Manbao exclaimed, "Wow, you can play the zither, too?"

Fu Wenyun nodded, though her expression was somewhat bitter, "Now I have to practice for two full hours every day, and I only have a little time in the morning and evening to read."

Manbao expressed both sympathy and a touch of envy because she couldn’t play the zither herself. She thought that those who could play were very impressive.

As the conversation went on, they touched on the topic of the refugees outside. Manbao gave her the six already-made flower baskets she brought, "You can put them in your study, or even hang them by the window. If you find beautiful flowers, you can add them; I think the baskets are very pretty."

Fu Wenyun also found them pretty and accepted her kindness.

Feeling it was about time, Manbao asked, "Are you still buying sweets?"