The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 656 - 645: Relaxing

Chapter 656: Chapter 645: Relaxing

Zhou Silang placed the ladder on top of the carriage and actually compelled Daji to drive the carriage to the outside of the western wall. Then, under the watchful eyes of Manbao and Bai Erlang, he climbed up the wall, sat astride on top of it, reached down to lift up the ladder, pulled it atop the wall, and then set it down on the other side.

He looked down proudly at Manbao, who was standing below with her head raised, and with a lift of his chin, he crooked his finger and said, "Come on up."

Manbao immediately clambered up the haystack with excitement. Zhou Silang reached down to pull her up to the top of the wall, and then she climbed down the ladder by herself.

"Silang, my basket has ink and brush; put my basket in too," she said.

Zhou Silang then beckoned to Daji, "Hey brother, hurry and give a hand."

With no other choice, Daji picked up a basket of books and passed it to him.

Bai Erlang also grabbed Zhou Silang’s hand and climbed up to the top of the wall. He had never climbed a ladder before, so he was quite terrified.

With one hand on Zhou Silang and the other on the wall, he tremblingly extended one foot towards the ladder.

Manbao, standing below, held the ladder with disdain, "Don’t be scared, just stand firm on the ladder, I’m holding it for you."

"Easy for you to say, I’ve never climbed a ladder before."

When Bai Shan came over with Wei Chen, they saw Bai Erlang standing on the ladder not daring to go down.

He was immediately startled. Fourth Brother Zhou really brought a ladder?

And Wei Chen’s eyes were about to pop out of his head. He turned to look behind him, and only after not spotting anyone did he heave a sigh of relief.

The two of them immediately ran forward.

Bai Shan directed him, "Are you daft? I’ve seen people climb down ladders backwards, why are you facing upwards?"

Bai Erlang replied, "Fourth Brother Zhou didn’t say I couldn’t face up."

Zhou Silang retorted, "I can go down facing up or down, how would I know you’re afraid of heights? Hang on though, you climb trees pretty smoothly, why weren’t you afraid of heights then?"

Meanwhile, Manbao was directing from below, "Turn your foot around, it’s like climbing a tree, facing the tree and back outwards."

Their chatter and arguments were ceaseless. Wei Chen was on the edge of panic, "Keep it down, will you? This is the prefectural school, the prefectural school! If a school official comes by, don’t say you know me."

Finally, under their directions, Bai Erlang managed to climb down the ladder. Only then did Zhou Silang go to receive the basket from Daji and started to climb down with it clanging.

He looked around, seeing nothing but fruit trees, and slapped a tree trunk, asking, "Why do you have so many peach trees in your prefectural school if it’s not an orchard?"

Wei Chen replied, "...These are apricot trees."

"Oh," Zhou Silang withdrew his hand and laughed, "Apricot trees and peach trees do look rather similar. Anyway, where do you plan to hide this ladder?"

Wei Chen shot a look of disbelief, "The ladder is going to stay here?"

"Of course it will stay here. Otherwise, every time you need it, you’d have to carry it all the way from home, right? And it’s not a short ladder; a lot of people were watching when we transported it on top of the carriage today."

The already inside Daji thought: You’re aware that a lot of people were watching?

"If we leave it here, what do we do if it’s discovered?"

Zhou Silang said, "Deny everything."

Manbao suggested, "We just have to hide it really well."

Wei Chen gestured them to look around and asked, pointing at the twenty or so trees in front of them, "How are we going to hide it well?"

Zhou Silang pondered.

"Besides, once you’ve crossed from up here, who will hide the ladder for you?"

Everyone unanimously looked at him, then their gazes shifted in unison once more, landing on Bai Shan.

Bai Shan gave a toothy grin, "Not a problem at all, so where are we hiding it?"

Zhou Silang then looked at Manbao, "When it comes to hiding stuff, no one in the world can outdo my Manbao. Manbao, you say."

Manbao: ...Hide it at Keke’s place, but would she dare to say that?

Manbao looked around and around, up and down, until she couldn’t help but ask Keke for advice, "Keke, what do you think?"

Keke said, "Human vision can be affected by light and shadow. As for using this to your advantage, you should really consult Mr. Daji beside you; he always manages to stay unnoticed."

Manbao then looked at Daji and asked, "Daji, if you were to hide it, where would you put it?"

Daji glanced at her, thought for a moment, and still pointed to a corner.

What could he do? This was obviously an irreversible situation, and even Mr. Zhuang was on their side. So rather than watching them hit a wall, he might as well give them a hand.

Under Daji’s guidance, they carried the ladder to an apricot tree in a corner, where Daji took the initiative to lean the ladder against the tree.

Then, Daji stepped back to take a look and realized that if you didn’t look closely, you really wouldn’t notice the ladder there.

Most importantly, they knew there was a ladder there, so looking with intent, they could spot it. For someone who was unaware, they probably wouldn’t notice even with a careful inspection.

Wei Chen couldn’t help but give Daji a thumbs up, praising, "Impressive!"

Turning away, he quietly inquired to Bai Shan, "Your Daji isn’t just any ordinary servant, is he? He’s really something. Is your family really not of noble birth?"

Bai Shan frowned slightly and said, "I guess we’re not noble family. Just a few generations of officials, that’s all."

Wei Chen asked, "How many generations are we talking about?"

"The main line has some gaps, not consecutive. Based on the genealogy I’ve learned, it’s about seven or eight generations at most, the highest office being third rank."

Wei Chen couldn’t help grinding his teeth, murmuring, "Third rank and it’s not high? They could wear the golden fish bag and enter the palace any time."

"The third rank isn’t from this dynasty; there’s no golden fish bag," Bai Shan explained, not particularly keen on discussing his family. "Why do you ask?"

"I... I’m a bit envious. Do you have any more servants like Daji? If I could get one..."

Having grown up in a village, Bai Shan, aside from feeling his family had more servants and more money than others, didn’t see much of a difference and thus didn’t quite understand Wei Chen’s envy. "Don’t you have servants too?"

"How can Tongjia compare with Daji?"

After a moment’s thought, Bai Shan nodded, "Daji is older and skilled in martial arts; indeed, Tongjia can’t compare."

Wei Chen: ...

Though he hadn’t met many people, he could already tell that Daji was not your typical servant, clearly not someone a normal family could raise.

Seeing Daji looking over, Wei Chen dropped the subject and joined them toward the Book Collection Pavilion, "Do you really plan to come and go like this in the future? If a school official catches you..."

Bai Shan reassured him, "It’ll be fine. Manbao and the others will only come after school, when there are fewer people around and even fewer officials. Even if we run into someone, we can pretend to be other students. If worse comes to worst, I can say I brought them in, as long as we don’t get caught climbing the wall."

However, Bai Shan thought the likelihood of that happening was small. After all, once school was over, the teachers would go home, leaving the prefectural school mostly unattended by any officials, except maybe some clerks and servants who seldom came to the Book Collection Tower.

After all, mischievous students rarely came here, so clerks and servants seldom ventured this way either.