The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 657 - 646: Disobedience

Chapter 657: Chapter 646: Disobedience

Bai Shan and Wei Chen went into the building to open the windows for them, and Manbao and Bai Erlang, familiar with the route, slipped in through the window.

Zhou SiLang poked his head in for a look and could only see rows of tall bookshelves, their tops out of sight due to limited visibility. He couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement, muttering to Daji who was silently by his side, "This County School really must be loaded with cash, how much money would all these books cost?"

Daji said, "Most of the books in official schools are provided by the book bureau."

"Huh?" Zhou SiLang didn’t understand.

Daji explained, "The book bureau is where they print books. Normally, official schools like the County School and the County School mostly have books printed by the bureau."

"Doesn’t that mean the book collections in the County School and the County School are all the same then?"

"In addition to that, there are books left over by former official schools, books donated by students, and books purchased with the school’s own funds, so there will always be some differences."

Zhou SiLang listened but didn’t quite understand. He waved his hand dismissively, "Who cares where they come from, the point is there are a lot of books here, they are treasures and they’re valuable, that’s for sure."

The consensus in the Zhou Family was that, apart from the house and oxen, the most valuable things were the books in Manbao’s room.

Old Zhou, who had visited the bookstores in the county city, even vaguely placed books above oxen.

A single book may not be as precious as an ox, but what about a shelf full of books?

Seeing his sister successfully infiltrate among a pile of money, Zhou SiLang closed the window and then pulled Daji to fetch a ladder for him, "I’m off first, you guys carry on. Oh, is it alright to leave the carriage outside like that? Should I take it somewhere to store for a while?"

Daji thought for a moment with his eyes downcast, "I’ll go out with you."

The reason he followed them in yesterday was because he had been worried. But from now on, it wasn’t necessary. After all, now that they had found a solution to the most dangerous part, climbing the wall, what danger could the young master face among a bunch of students at the County School?

Daji and Zhou SiLang reached the wall, and without needing to move a ladder, Daji simply picked him up and flew them out.

Zhou SiLang was not pleased with this at all, grumbling, "Look at you, when you could have easily sent them inside, you had to make me go through all this hassle. It’s not just the effort but also the money. Do you have any idea how expensive ladders are in Yizhou City?"

"Don’t know," Daji said, "and don’t want to know."

Zhou SiLang was momentarily speechless.

Daji climbed onto the carriage and said, "I’ll make my way around. Are you taking a shortcut home, or should I drop you off?"

Zhou SiLang glanced forward at the long alley and turned away, "Never mind, our home isn’t that far from the County School. By the time you get around, I’ll have already walked home."

Zhou SiLang left on his own.

Daji then drove the carriage to the front gate of the County School and waited there for them.

Manbao and the others roamed through the sea of books. Bai Erlang, with the book list provided by the teacher from yesterday, found the first miscellaneous book and then sat down with Wei Chen in a spot with good lighting to read it.

Bai Shan was especially happy today, even happier than yesterday.

After all, yesterday was just a trial, but today they could be certain. After school in the future, when coming to the Book Collection Tower, he would have company.

No longer would each visit to the Book Collection Tower be a solitary affair, making him feel like reading here was less enjoyable than going home after school to flip through books with his buddies.

Bai Shan glanced at Manbao, who was diligently copying, then slipped between the shelves to find books.

He already had a target in mind, so he found it immediately.

He sat down next to Manbao and whispered, "Take a look at this book."

Manbao glanced at it and couldn’t help putting down her pen to take it, "Eh, there’s actually a sequel here."

Bai Shan smiled and nodded, "You didn’t expect that, did you? The Book Collection Tower has quite a collection of travelogues. Just about anything available in the bookshops outside should be added here."

He whispered, "Each year the book bureau sends over a batch of new books."

Some books need to be copied down and read repeatedly for study, but others are read for pleasure, like the miscellaneous record in Bai Shan’s hands.

However, intriguing miscellaneous records can sometimes be more captivating than other books.

Especially for someone young like Manbao. At that moment, she put down her pen and sat down with Bai Shan to flip through the volume of miscellaneous records he had brought.

This was a collection of tales, said to be a travelogue, but Manbao felt it was more like a fabricated historical narrative, telling stories the author had heard while traveling in the north, many of which were related to historical figures and covered various types.

So Manbao called it a book of tales wearing the disguise of a travelogue.

The two shared the reading, or rather, wasted an hour’s time until the closing bell rang. Only then did they remember that they hadn’t checked any of the books on the teacher’s list.

Not only had they not looked, but they hadn’t even found the books.

The two exchanged a guilty look and hastily gathered their things from the table. Along with other students, they returned the books before Manbao and Bai Erlang sneaked out of the back window, and Bai Shan closed the window and left through the door.

On the way back, Bai Erlang was bubbling with excitement as he said to the two, "The miscellaneous books the teacher introduced are pretty good."

Manbao replied, "The teacher introduced more to you than just miscellaneous books."

"No rush," Bai Shan, seeing her guilty haste, comforted her, "There’s plenty of time ahead. The teacher might not ask today; we’ll read them tomorrow."

Bai Erlang turned his head to look at them and understandingly said, "Oh, I get it now, you didn’t really study today, did you?"

"We weren’t distracted."

"I know. I mean you didn’t read the serious books."

"Only people are classified as serious..." Arguing playfully, the three of them returned home where Mr. Zhuang was waiting for them. Upon their entry into the study, he asked, "What books did you read today? Did you gain anything?"

Bai Erlang waited for his senior sister and senior brother to speak first, but seeing them remaining silent, he eagerly stepped forward to report first.

Mr. Zhuang had always been lenient with Bai Erlang’s achievements. As for sharing reflections on the readings, if he spoke in a scattered manner, Mr. Zhuang would listen in kind. Generally, as long as he read and comprehended some main points of good books, he wasn’t required to recite or jot down a great deal.

He was never asked to summarize everything brilliantly.

Seeing his excitement, Mr. Zhuang knew he had seriously read books that afternoon. It was not in vain that they had gone through so much trouble.

After Bai Erlang finished, Mr. Zhuang turned his gaze towards his two proud disciples.

From the moment they walked in, Mr. Zhuang had guessed that they had either gone off to play that afternoon or hadn’t read serious books, otherwise, they wouldn’t appear so guilty.

Mr. Zhuang tapped on the desk and asked, "Why don’t you two talk about what books you’ve read this afternoon?"

Manbao quietly looked towards Bai Shan, and Bai Shan also sneaked a glance at her. After their eyes met, they couldn’t help but look up quietly at their teacher.

As soon as they looked up, they met the teacher’s amused eyes, and then they both bowed their heads, feeling defeated.