The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 659 - 648: Making a Ruckus

Chapter 659: Chapter 648: Making a Ruckus

The two of them happened to be on either side of Bai Shan, chattering away and driving him crazy until he angrily smacked the water with a wooden board and shouted, "Stop it! My ears are going to go deaf."

Water flew up, slapping right across Manbao’s face.

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were both stunned.

Manbao closed her eyes, wiped her face with her hand, and with dripping hair turned to look at Bai Shan.

Daji’s heart leapt with dread, sensing trouble, and sure enough, as the thought crossed his mind, Manbao had already smacked the water back towards Bai Shan with a splash...

The water doused not only Bai Shan but Bai Erlang as well, and the three of them instantly began cavorting and splashing, even Daji at the stern got caught in the fray.

Daji wiped his face and silently shifted his position, deciding to ignore them.

Had he not feared capsizing the boat and not being able to save all three of them, he would have preferred to let the boat tip and leave them to their fate.

Amid the splashy chaos, Manbao couldn’t keep her eyes open, so she simply closed them and flailed her arms in the direction she had last seen her targets...

Bai Shan, nimble as ever, dodged to one side and was only splattered a bit, while the bulk of the water surged toward Bai Erlang’s face.

Bai Shan saw it and laughed uproariously, clapping his hands, "Serves you right, serves you right..."

Bai Erlang, furious, struck back at Manbao while splashing him with water as well.

Manbao opened her eyes and retaliated against Bai Erlang, also managing to splash Bai Shan, who found himself caught in the middle and soaked through and through...

By the time the three of them were laughing and steering the boat back to shore, not only were all three drenched, but even Daji’s clothes were soaked through.

They snatched some grass from the side of the road to tie up the lotus pods, handing them to Daji to carry out, while they set their sights on the connecting wall between the Yan Residence and their own house and scurried up it, hopping over the wall and then looking down at the flowers blooming brightly below. Bai Shan braced against the wall and quickly stepped down two paces, then closed his eyes and leaped down, crushing two or three flowers.

Zhou Lijun heard the noise and turned back just in time to see Bai Erlang leap down onto her aunt’s precious plants and cried out in alarm, "What are you doing? Auntie, they’ve trampled your flowers..."

Before she finished speaking, she saw Manbao also appear on top of the wall, Zhou Lijun: ...

Manbao also noticed her flowers had been trampled and pursed her lips, "Can’t you be a bit more careful?"

Bai Shan retorted, "If you can, don’t step on them."

Manbao assessed the situation, found it somewhat challenging, and eventually sighed, stepped on the wall, and jumped down. She didn’t quite land where Bai Erlang had been but accidentally stepped on another flower. Luckily, the roots were still intact, and it looked salvageable.

Daji, too, climbed atop the wall, glancing at the flowers and grass below, and then at everyone’s gaze fixed on him.

He paused, then turned and stepped off the wall onto the rooftop, and leapt down from the roof like a roc spreading its wings...

Everyone gaped, and couldn’t help but give a soft round of applause.

Zhou Lijun had no more thoughts of fussing over the crushed flowers and instead ran to Manbao’s side and asked, "Auntie, I want to learn."

Manbao nodded again and again, looking to Bai Shan.

Bai Shan sighed, "That’s probably difficult, I couldn’t learn it when I was even younger."

Zhou Lijun was surprised, "If you didn’t learn it when you were young, you can’t when you’re older?"

Bai Erlang said, "Learning martial arts isn’t like studying, the earlier you start, the better. That’s what all the tales say."

"That doesn’t sound right," Manbao hesitated, "Shouldn’t it be that whether it’s studying or martial arts, the earlier you start, the better?"

Bai Erlang choked for a moment, "Anyway, he didn’t learn it when he was young, so he definitely won’t now. And if he can’t learn it, neither can we, so we might as well give up."

Zhou Lijun, not convinced, "You can’t learn it, but that doesn’t mean my aunt can’t, she’s very clever."

Bai Er thought for a moment, then said, "I think she won’t be able to learn it either. Look at us climbing the wall, Bai Shan and I are better at it, we got over it half a day sooner than she did."

With that distraction, Zhou Lijun forgot about wanting to learn martial arts and took the lotus pods Daji had untied for them, while he himself sat down on the steps and munched on one.

Manbao chose the two largest pods to give to Mr. Wu, then also ran outside to peel lotus seeds and eat.

Only then did Zhou Lijun notice that all three of their clothes were wet, and she promptly snatched the lotus seeds, insisting, "Go bathe and change clothes quickly, what if you catch a cold and get sick?"

The lotus seeds were very sweet. Manbao hadn’t even dried her hair after bathing when she found a quiet spot to sit and peel lotus seeds to eat.

Zhou Lijun sat beside her and rambled on, "Auntie, next time, don’t run off to the Yan Residence again, I heard it’s about to be sold."

"Who said that?"

"The neighbors, they’ve seen people from the County Governmental Office going there several times to look at the property. Haven’t you noticed the hole in the wall down the lane was dug out and carefully re-bricked?"

Manbao thought it over seriously and exclaimed, "That’s true."

Ever since County Magistrate Tang found out they occasionally snuck over there to play, he had ordered someone to roughly block the hole with stones to prevent further trespassing.

Manbao took her lotus pod and went out to take a look at that hole. With the remaining daylight, she noticed the wall now re-bricked fairly smoothly. However, she wasn’t sure if the work was half-hearted since the entire surface of the wall where the hole was had recessed half a finger’s width inward. That’s why she and her friends had never realized the fill-in material in that hole had been replaced.

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang too, joined the excitement and took a look before the three soggy-haired youths turned on their heels without looking back and went their way.

The three plopped onto stools and began discussing. Bai Shan said, "The grass in that residence is still so tall and messy."

Bai Erlang added, "We were making such a racket and no one came, it’s clearly deserted."

Manbao concluded, "So, it definitely hasn’t been sold yet."

The trio chimed in, "So while it’s still not someone else’s property, why don’t we eat some of the better lotus pods from there?"

Zhou Lijun, having peeled several lotus seeds, was eager, "I’ll come with you, and we’ll bring baskets this time."

"But won’t it be too much to carry back?"

Zhou Lijun explained, "No worries, we can hoist it up with a rope to the top of the wall. Lotus pods are not heavy; we can bring several baskets over."

Manbao nodded, "Lotus pods can keep for a few days, right? Although the fresh ones taste better, I don’t mind the less fresh ones."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang nodded in agreement.

Manbao looked down at the lotus pods at her feet, picked out two large ones, and handed one to Bai Shan, "Keep this one, give it to Mr. Wu tomorrow."

Mr. Wu was the one in charge of the Book Collection Tower. Although Manbao had never met him at the front door, she had encountered him several times between the bookshelves.

She felt guilty about reading the books covertly and often dragged Bai Shan to bring Mr. Wu some gifts. Of course, Mr. Wu never knew they were from her; he just thought they were Bai Shan’s offerings.