The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 373 - 362: We Should Have Dreams (Additional June monthly ticket for 1500)

Chapter 373: Chapter 362: We Should Have Dreams (Additional June monthly ticket for 1500)

All three long-term workers cried, huddling together in tears, creating quite a commotion that drew the attention of the villagers of Qili Village.

Zhou Dalang saw his younger brothers and sisters gathered there and, fearing they might be bullying someone, quickly approached and asked Zhou Silang in a low voice, "Are you bullying someone?"

Zhou Silang: "...We are clearly helping them! How could such good people as us bully anyone?"

Bai Shanbao looked on with disdain and said, "Enough with the crying. Isn’t it just a wife? Work hard, and when we make a big profit next fall, we’ll give you a big red envelope, and then you can get married."

The three still felt dejected, as they didn’t believe a big red envelope could secure them a wife, especially since they didn’t believe the three young masters could make a big profit.

Old Master Bai giving over such a piece of land to three children to mess around with would be lucky not to incur losses next year.

Manbao said, "If you keep yourselves clean, haven’t we already decided to build mud houses here? Those houses will be yours later on."

The three felt a bit better.

Bai Erlang was about to offer land again, but Zhou Wulang was quick and covered his mouth; what a silly fatty he was, offering such things!

Manbao had already made plans for them, "Save your monthly money, and when farming slows down, take a hoe and just clear any unoccupied land for cultivation. After farming it for a few years, the land will be yours. Then you’ll have land, a house, and money—how could you fail to get a wife?"

Bai Shanbao nodded, "One must have aspirations in life."

The spirits of the three long-term workers lifted, full of hope, feeling that Manbao’s plan was not bad.

Seeing that they were persuaded, Manbao continued, "Then start with the simplest tasks—wash your hair, face, and hands and feet carefully at night and change into clean clothes..."

After arranging for them, Manbao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Shanbao, not understanding, looked at her, "Why are you going to such lengths?"

"They are our people now; we have to take good care of them."

Bai Shanbao, recalling the reminders from his grandmother before leaving that morning, said no more.

Bai Erlang finally broke free from Zhou Wulang’s grip and exclaimed angrily, "Why won’t you let me speak?"

"I’m doing this for your own good, to save you from a beating by your father tonight."

Bai Shanbao immediately shifted his attention and couldn’t help teasing him, "There are so many people who can’t find wives in this world, are you going to give each of them land and houses?"

"Of course not," retorted Bai Erlang indignantly, "why would I give them land and houses when they are not my long-term workers?"

Zhou Wulang mused upon hearing this, "Does your family still need long-term workers? What about me; I’m quite efficient at work too."

Manbao immediately said, "My Sixth Brother is not bad either; he hasn’t married yet."

Bai Erlang: ...

Bai Shanbao couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter, greatly amused.

Because Manbao had promised to give them the finished mud houses, the three long-term workers consulted one another, then came up with reddened faces to quietly inquire whether they could build the three mud houses separately, for if they really did get married, they certainly couldn’t live together.

Manbao thought it made sense and waved her hand in agreement.

Manor Head Bai glanced at Bai Shanbao, and seeing he had no objections, went to make arrangements.

Countryside folks preferred to build houses in the winter, when farming slowed down and there was an abundance of labor, making construction particularly fast.

Choosing a fairly level spot, they cleared away the miscellaneous trees and weeds, and upon digging the foundations, a mud house could be erected in just three to five days.

Due to the many scattered rocks at the foot of the barren mountain where Zhou Silang’s land lay, the three mud houses were built a considerable distance apart from each other.

There was no help for it; since they had built chicken coops first, all the relatively flat ground had been fenced off.

They did not want to live with the chickens, so they all chose spots outside the fence.

Once the homes were built, they would use fire to dry the interior, dispelling the moisture before moving in. Meanwhile, areas on the mountain marked for fruit tree plantation were also cleared.

Junior Ms. Qian had also helped fix the chicken coops and fences, and Zhou Erlang graciously provided them with chicken feeders.

In addition, there were water troughs for the chickens, various tools for cleaning the coops, and more.

In Zhou Erlang’s view, these tools were easy to make, hence no trouble at all, but for Manor Head Bai, they saved a lot of effort and money.

Moreover, Zhou Dalang’s occasional guidance on the agricultural schedule of Qili Village made Manor Head Bai’s impression of the Zhou family increasingly positive.

Ms. Liu breathed a sigh of relief upon learning this, but then remembered that she hadn’t seen the three children go to the fields for several days, nor did they inquire about the farm work.

She sent for Daji to ask, "What have they been busy with these days?"

"Exams," Daji reminded, "The school is about to close for the holidays."

Ms. Liu then realized that New Year’s was approaching, "How is the young master doing with his studies?"

"He should be doing quite well, I guess; Mr. Zhuang seems to be in good spirits," replied Daji.

Ms. Liu was thus reassured.

But at that moment, Mr. Zhuang’s expression didn’t look good as his small courtyard welcomed many parents.

Manbao followed a crowd of classmates squeezed outside the door, stealthily peeking into the yard.

Someone whispered, "It’s your father..."

"Guan San, your grandfather is here too."

"Even the Chief is here; it looks like we really can’t continue our studies."

"Guan San, is your family short of money too?"

Guan San, the one being questioned, didn’t reply. He was tall and older, not peering from the bottom like Manbao and the others, but from the top.

Mr. Zhuang saw that none of the parents were speaking and their gazes occasionally drifted behind him, so he knew what they were reluctant to discuss.

Mr. Zhuang cleared his throat and called out loudly, "Aren’t you going back to study? Do you want me to punish you by making you write characters?"

A group of youths and children scattered instantly, scurrying back to the classroom, but they couldn’t settle down.

Zhou Bin, the son of the village chief, rose to ask Guan San, who was around his age, "Your grandfather came too; isn’t he letting you study anymore?"

Guan San, looking gloomy, replied, "My grandfather said he found me a job in the city, and he wants me to go work there."

"What kind of job?"

"An apprentice in a ledger room."

Many classmates envied him, "Doesn’t that mean you’re going to be an accountant in the future?"

Guan San said despondently, "I don’t want to be an accountant; I want to work as a scribe in the County Governmental Office."

Zhou Bin said enviously, "Finding an apprentice job at the ledger room is pretty good nowadays. My grandfather also wanted me to be an apprentice, but when we went to ask after the harvest, they weren’t taking anyone anymore; they said business wasn’t good this year, and the boss didn’t want to support an extra person."

"We were supposed to study for two more years, but now we have to go out and work," the youths around Zhou Bin’s age discussed, crowded together.

Meanwhile, there were also many children about Bai Shanbao’s age gathered around, their mood even more downcast, nearly crying out, "At least you’ve studied for a few more years than us; we’ve only just finished studying ’The Analects’."

The remaining Bai Erlang, Bai Shanbao, and Manbao looked at everyone, bewildered. They had only realized something was wrong when they arrived at school early this morning, and until now, they still didn’t know what exactly had happened. How could it be that overnight, their classmates were all leaving and no longer attending school?