The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 653 - 642: Sneaking In (Bonus Update for "A Leaf" for their Rewards)

Chapter 653: Chapter 642: Sneaking In (Bonus Update for "A Leaf" for their Rewards)

Manbao glanced at the height and shook her head, "This won’t do, it’s too high."

No sooner had her voice faded than a figure fluttered past her side and then landed steadily inside the wall.

Manbao fell silent for a moment before continuing to look down at Bai Shan, asking, "Is there a ladder we can find?"

Wei Chen, however, was stunned. He looked at Daji landing not far away and then at the two people sitting on the wall, asking Bai Shan, "You have such a servant, why did you call for my help?"

Bai Shan pushed Wei Chen forward, had him stand against the wall, and said to the two above, "No ladder, but we have Brother Wei. Can you guys manage to climb down on his shoulders?"

Wei Chen was displeased and repeated his question, "With your Daji being so capable, why do you need my help?"

Bai Shan sighed, "Daji won’t help us."

Manbao and Bai Eryi nodded in agreement from atop the wall.

They had grown up together, and ever since they came to sense, Daji had followed them. They were accustomed to the rules by which he operated.

He generally wouldn’t stop them from "doing bad things", but he also wouldn’t help, except when they were in danger of getting seriously hurt. Otherwise, he would merely drive them around.

Still, they liked it that way.

Although Nanny Liu was very fond of them and looked after them in every detail, she would also stop them from everything, even fussing for a long time if they ate one too many pastries.

Over the years, the three children had grown used to Daji’s way of interacting with them.

That was, they usually acted as if Daji didn’t exist unless they were in danger, then they would just shout for Daji.

When Manbao was younger, she thought it was pitiful that Daji had no one to talk to all day long, so she always sought him out for conversation, prompting Bai Shanbao to also join in the fun.

Then the two little chatterboxes nearly drove Daji crazy, resulting in several talks before they could maintain the current level of peace.

Seeing Wei Chen’s gaze turn towards him, Daji twisted his head to the side, exuding an attitude of indifference.

Wei Chen’s eyes widened in disbelief, "There are such servants in this world? So, so arrogant? Why should he?"

Bai Shan answered as if it were obvious, "That’s just Daji’s job; it’s based on nothing, do you want to help or not?"

Wei Chen looked up at the two people above again and asked, "Where’s my ice?"

"I’ll buy some for you tomorrow."

"No, I want it now."

"Alright, I’ll go out and buy some for you later." As a boarding student, he had the freedom to come and go from the school after classes.

Only then did Wei Chen stand under the wall, straightening his figure and said, "I say, you can’t always expect me to help you, once or twice is fine, but it’s not possible for you to keep standing on me."

Manbao stepped onto his shoulders first, causing Wei Chen to wobble a bit. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You’re awfully heavy, are you really a girl?"

Manbao ignored him, propped herself against the wall to squat, then slid down from his shoulders.

Wei Chen rubbed his shoulder and let Bai Erlang down from his shoulders as well.

Bai Shan said, "Once they grow a bit taller, they can jump down like the other students, so you’ll just have to bear with it a little longer."

Wei Chen was horrified, "How long will it take for them to grow taller? And what if they don’t grow?"

Manbao said, "Brother Wei, don’t worry, we’ll eat more and grow tall very soon."

"No, you better eat less." Wei Chen rubbed his shoulder, looking at Manbao, and then realized something was off, "Why are you dressed in men’s clothes?"

Manbao then turned around, letting him have a good look, and asked with a smile, "Do I look good? I bought this at the ready-made clothing shop. I also bought two pieces of fabric to have Lijun make me two more sets so I could change and wash."

Wei Chen gestured at them with trembling fingers, "You... you really plan to treat this school like your own private garden?"

Manbao immediately confessed, "We’re not strolling around the school, we’re just visiting the Book Collection Tower."

Bai Shan nodded repeatedly, "We can’t copy the books in the bookshop, and it’s not good to always hang around there, besides, there’s usually no place to sit. In the bookshop, if we can’t memorize on the spot and recite it back at home, we’ll have no material to refer to later. The Book Collection Tower is different; we can bring in our own ink, brush, paper, and inkstone to copy books, and whatever we copy becomes ours."

Manbao nodded vigorously, "I’m here to read and copy books, don’t worry, I’ve been really good at copying books since I was little, I won’t stain the books."

Wei Chen, who had always skipped school since childhood, had never seen anyone sneak into the Book Collection Tower just to read and was dumbfounded for a moment.

Bai Shan had already taken the hands of his two friends and said, "Let’s go, the school clears out before sunset and locks up, so we can only read for about an hour."

Bai Shan led them to a spot not far from the back door of the Book Collection Tower, where there was a window.

Bai Shan whispered, "Wait here for us."

He then pulled Wei Chen away.

Bai Shan had already stored his book basket at the Book Collection Tower, collecting it with a wooden token. After registering their entrance, he led Wei Chen around the bookshelves to a back door, where he slid a wooden bar on a window and quietly opened the door.

Manbao and Bai Erlang quickly climbed through the window and entered.

Daji did not follow them through the window but instead found a tree to lean against with arms crossed, completely silent and nearly invisible.

Even in a bustling area, it’s likely no one would notice a man standing under the tree.

This was Manbao’s first visit to the Book Collection Tower, but the arrangement of the bookshelves was similar to those in the bookshop, and she felt a sense of familiarity looking at the books on the shelves.

Because the place was secluded, the shelves housed offbeat and miscellaneous books not frequented by students.

Bai Shanbao took Manbao’s hand and led her around a few bookshelves. There were more students outside, some walking between shelves, who glanced at them but quickly looked away.

Manbao was still young and although she was rather fair and pretty, Bai Shan was also quite handsome. So dressed in men’s clothing and walking beside him, nobody really noticed she was a girl.

Especially since the lighting in the Book Collection Tower was somewhat dim.

Most people just gave them a brief glance before turning their attention back to their search for books.

Apart from the students walking around the bookshelves looking for books, the majority were sitting at tables and chairs lined up against the walls and windows outside the shelves, deeply engrossed in their writing.

They were mostly taking notes or copying books.

This was the most attractive feature of the school’s Book Collection Tower to students, as most did not have the right to take books out of the tower. However, they could copy inside, and as long as they did not damage the books, they could essentially obtain any book they wanted for the cost of some effort and stationery.

It was much better than the expensive books outside.

Furthermore, the tower housed some books that were not available in bookshops. Bai Shan whispered to Manbao, "I saw many rare books in the tower’s catalogue that can’t be found outside, but alas, I’m not yet eligible to borrow them."