The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 655 - 644 My Idea

Chapter 655: Chapter 644 My Idea

Mr. Zhuang turned around to return to the study, and Bai Shan immediately picked up the book basket and followed, with Manbao and Bai Erlang also standing up to straighten their clothes before following.

Mr. Zhuang took up a pen and wrote a full book list for Bai Erlang, then turned his head and looked at Manbao and Bai Shanbao, saying, "I might as well make a book list for you two as well."

Lest they be like two little mice fallen into a rice barrel, not knowing good from bad, eating whatever rice they come upon.

Having said that, Mr. Zhuang proceeded to write out a book list for each of them, with most of the books being the same on both lists except for a few differences.

He said, "There are some books for the imperial examination, which Manbao you do not need to read; and on Manbao’s list, there are some books that you, Shanbao, also do not need to read. It’s no use biting off more than one can chew. Books should be read in detail. Don’t just skim through them hastily."

Both of them answered in unison, taking the book lists.

Then Mr. Zhuang waved his hand and said, "Alright, go out and play."

The three of them immediately held their book lists and went out, running to find Daji like they’ve been granted a royal decree, showing him the book lists, "This is the book list the teacher gave us."

They were all smart people; the implicit meaning didn’t need to be spelled out, right?

Daji glanced at their book lists and sighed. He just knew it, something even he was aware of, Mr. Zhuang couldn’t possibly be ignorant of.

So this was something Mr. Zhuang condoned, or perhaps, it was even something he instigated, as he was the one who brought up the topic of the Book Collection Tower’s western wall first.

Indeed, scholars are all the same, discrete in their actions, just like grandfathers.

Thinking of the late Grandfather, Daji’s expression softened somewhat. He did not take the book lists from their hands but nodded in agreement, "Alright, little masters, you are all young and nimble with good jumping strength. Learning this should not be difficult."

So, in a short while, the three stood in line in the alleyway, facing Yan Family’s wall.

They had no choice; the walls around their courtyard were lined with flowers and plants on two sides, some of which were already in bloom, which they were certainly not going to step on.

Even if Bai Shan and Bai Erlang wanted to step on them, they had to consider the fists of the person next to them. Therefore, after discussing it together, they came to the alleyway.

Since no one lived in the house across the street, and the Yan Family’s house was also empty, this section of the area was only occupied by their family, causing no disturbance to others.

The boundary wall of the Yan Family looked quite sturdy; it should be able to withstand their continuous stepping... right?

Daji taught them leg-stretching and how to jump, then said, "I’ll demonstrate how to step on the wall, you learn how to get up the wall first. Once you’ve learned that, getting down will be much the same."

With Daji’s skills, he of course didn’t need to crouch down to perform the movements, but he still did so, squatting slightly to teach them how to bend their legs, how to run up, jump, step on the wall, reach up, pull, and then climb the wall...

After a series of movements, the three of them were left with their mouths agape.

Then one after another they ran forward, stepping onto the wall, then falling back down.

At first, the marks they left on the wall were quite low, only slightly higher than the base. As time went on, they became higher and higher, occasionally falling back down again...

Daji said, "This is not something you can learn in a moment; let’s stop here for today."

He really feared they would overdo it and end up with sore legs at night.

Manbao and the others obediently stopped jumping up and stepping on the walls, but they continued bouncing around the yard practicing their jumps. By bedtime, they all felt the pain.

Manbao’s calf even cramped up, feeling as if it were tied in a knot, causing her so much pain that tears streamed down immediately, but she didn’t dare to speak up. Clenching her teeth, she stretched out her leg and then sat up, grabbing her big toe...

It was very painful, but the pain seemed to slowly subside after a while.

Manbao blinked, and several tears fell. She pressed down on her calf several times, feeling it hard and still in pain. She gently pushed the lump with the palm of her hand, massaging for a long while before she lay down again.

Clutching the blanket miserably, she decided that before jumping the wall tomorrow, she would definitely warm up her muscles and tendons first.

The next day, Manbao left the house with slightly red eyes, and both Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were not much better, all appearing somewhat listless.

Bai Erlang didn’t even feel like standing while washing up, asking Bai Shan and Manbao, "Didn’t your legs hurt last night?"

Manbao said, "It was alright, not that sore."

Bai Shan said even more proudly, "I’ve practiced with Daji before; it didn’t hurt at all."

Bai Erlang just pursed his lips and said, "So it’s just me feeling the pain?"

Daji, who had already washed up, was fetching water for the horses, and upon hearing them, he turned around to look at the calves of the three and chuckled, "Since you’re not in too much pain, we’ll continue practicing after school."

"Eh, aren’t we going to the Book Collection Tower first?" Manbao said, "Yesterday, I only managed to copy twelve pages of that book."

Daji asked, "Is Young Master Wei still willing to let you into the school?"

Looking at him with a particularly sincere gaze, Manbao saw Daji turn around and say, "I’m going to harness the cart."

Manbao felt somewhat disappointed and said to Bai Shan, "It seems we need to quickly learn how to climb walls."

Zhou SiLang had inquired about the whole affair the previous night. Squatting down and brushing his teeth, he said upon hearing her, "What’s so hard about that? Just wait, when you come back from school, I’ll give you something that will ensure you can climb up and down the wall without stepping on anyone."

"What’s that?"

"A ladder!" Zhou SiLang said, "I’ll send a ladder over later on. You can carry it over from the western wall. When you’re not using it, just hide it, and set it up when you need to."

After thinking for a while, he added, "If you’re worried about it being confiscated, wait two days until I go back to the village. I’ll ask Second Brother to make a few more. If one gets confiscated, we switch to another. After all, they’re made of bamboo and don’t cost much."

All three of them had their eyes widened, actually thinking this method sounded very good.

Daji:...

He couldn’t help saying, "If you get caught..."

"If we’re not caught by the teachers, they can’t trace it back to us, and if we do get caught, what difference does it make if we have an extra ladder or one less?" Zhou SiLang waved his hand, "Anyway, rest assured in using it. The ladder isn’t worth much. If you get discovered, just worry about getting away; don’t bother about the ladder."

The ladder was actually pretty valuable, but since Zhou Family’s ladders were always made by Zhou Er, they considered them inexpensive.

After Zhou SiLang went around and discovered the ladders were more expensive than he had thought, although better made than those for household use, it didn’t change their price.

But thinking of the little sister who might be waiting at home, Zhou SiLang bit the bullet and made the purchase. He carried it back home, found Manbao, and admonished her, "You need to use this carefully; don’t let it really get taken away. I’m just heading back home and won’t be there for two days, even if I only stop for two days at home, it would take five days to return."

He added, "Copy more books. A book is always more expensive than a ladder; that way, we won’t be at a loss."

Manbao nodded as she looked at the ladder he had brought back and asked, "SiLang, how are we going to get the ladder inside?"

"That’s easy, I’ll go with you when they’re about to finish school," Zhou SiLang said confidently. He was too familiar with such tasks – of course, he had only ever worked on his own family’s walls, not someone else’s.

He just had to climb to the top of the wall, pull up the ladder, and set it on the other side. He had often done this kind of work when helping build houses.

Daji opened his mouth and, in the end, didn’t voice any objections to their plan.