The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 668 - 657 Mid-Autumn

Chapter 668: Chapter 657 Mid-Autumn

Bai Shan didn’t attend school until the next day, and before he could reach the classroom, he was stopped by Wei Chen waiting on the road. He asked, "Was it you who told the Ji Family about Ji Hao’s injury yesterday?"

"No, I’m not close with Ji Hao and have never visited, what’s wrong?"

Wei Chen said, "Not long after you left yesterday, the Ji Family came and took Ji Hao back. Before he left, he threatened to make you guys pay when he returns."

Bai Shan sneered, "When I left yesterday, County Magistrate Tang was also on his way out."

He didn’t finish his words, but the meaning was clear enough. Wei Chen laughed and said, "I guessed it wasn’t you. When he recovers, he’ll surely find out. You two should stop quarreling. After all, you are in the same class now. Shouldn’t your relationship be better than mine?"

Bai Shan huffed and turned to leave.

Wei Chen didn’t chase after him but waved his hand and called out, "I’ll go with you to the Book Collection Tower after school this afternoon."

It wasn’t that Wei Chen had suddenly become studious, but as a boarding student, his entertainment options were limited, and he had recently discovered that some of the books in the Book Collection Tower were quite good.

This was also one of the reasons why Bai Erlang would occasionally climb the walls to sneak into the Book Collection Tower with Manbao and the others.

That afternoon, Manbao slipped into the Book Collection Tower alone. Wei Chen quietly asked her, "Why didn’t Bai Er come?"

"He said he had too much homework today and wouldn’t come."

Wei Chen whispered disdainfully, "Scared out of his wits, right? Don’t worry, Mr. Wu’s eyesight isn’t good, he won’t notice."

Manbao looked up at him and whispered back, "He probably knows already, doesn’t he?"

Wei Chen blinked, "Who knows? Knows what?"

Manbao glanced at him and said, "Nothing."

Wei Chen hated people who stopped halfway through a story. Just as he was about to get angry, he saw Mr. Wu patrolling closer. He immediately straightened up and pretended to read his book seriously.

Mr. Wu turned a corner and came over to them. He glanced at the books, paper, and writing brush spread out in front of Manbao and nodded in approval.

Then he walked away with his books.

Wei Chen quietly lifted his head and watched Mr. Wu’s figure disappear among the bookshelves. He swallowed hard and whispered, "Why, why is this happening?"

Manbao didn’t answer. Regardless of the reason, they owed Mr. Wu a favor. Manbao decided to have Aunt Rong make some well-made pastries tomorrow.

Shanbao said Mr. Wu seemed to like sweet things, but the books state that too much sweetness is not good for the health of the elderly...

As Manbao copied from the book, her thoughts turned to pastries, and she put Wei Chen out of her mind.

Bai Shan, returning with a book, saw him still muttering quietly and smacked him with it, "Let’s go."

Annoyed by the noise he was making nearby.

Wei Chen muttered quietly, "I didn’t want to come with you all anyway."

After saying this, he turned and left.

Time slipped quietly by, and in a few days, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Ji Hao had not yet returned to the prefectural school from the Ji Family, and all was quiet.

The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday was combined with the regular break, and the prefectural school had a total of five days off. The various schools in Yizhou City usually followed the prefectural and county schools’ schedule, with holidays generally being longer rather than shorter.

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was natural for Manbao and the others to go home.

This time, because the weather had cooled down, they left home early and arrived even earlier than the last time. Zhou SiLang took the opportunity to drop off Mr. Zhuang in the county town at the Zhuang Family home before making a detour to notify Junior Ms. Qian that they had returned.

Junior Ms. Qian then closed the shop, took some items, and went back to the village with them.

Junior Ms. Qian quietly said to Manbao, "Is there a happy event at home?"

"What happy event?"

"Your eldest sister is pregnant. The family was planning to send word to you once Four comes back. But then you all returned. How long can you stay this time?"

Manbao was elated, "Big sister is going to have a baby?"

"Yes, she’s just been diagnosed, it’s still early days. Father and mother don’t want the news spreading yet, they plan to wait another two months until the pregnancy is more secure." Junior Ms. Qian was also very happy, "Now, half of the worries of father and mother have disappeared. Fifth Sister-in-law is also about to give birth. It’s just Sixth who’s causing concern. Recently, mother wanted him to check on a girl for marriage. But he didn’t even go, and father is still angry with him."

Zhou Lijun said, "Sixth Uncle doesn’t want to take a wife yet."

"Your elder brother can already speak of marriage but if he doesn’t take a wife, does he intend to remain a bachelor all his life?"

Zhou Lijun and Manbao looked at each other and both snickered gleefully.

This time back home, Zhou Liulang was exceptionally well-behaved. Busy with any work, he hid in the kitchen, helping Junior Ms. Qian prepare meals. He was now the best cook in the house, apart from his sister-in-law.

Surpassing even several of his sisters-in-law.

When idle, he would hide next to Manbao. Essentially, whenever Manbao was around, Old Zhou and Ms. Qian would restrain themselves from nagging him.

Manbao said, "Sixth Brother, you can’t always avoid father and mother, what will you do when I leave?"

"When you leave, I’ll go to the county town and not come back home." Zhou Liulang paused then carefully glanced outside before asking in a low voice, "Manbao, how much money have I saved with you?"

Manbao pulled out a small account book and flipped through it, saying, "You have twenty-eight taels of silver and sixty-two strings of copper coins."

"How expensive is a shop in Yizhou City? How much does it cost to rent one?"

Manbao raised an eyebrow at him, and Zhou Liulang smiled cheekily at her.

Manbao then mused, "I haven’t asked, but it’s definitely much more expensive than in the county town. The price of meals at restaurants there is also higher than in the county town. If you want the specifics, you’d do better to ask Silang or Lijun rather than me."

Manbao thought of something and whispered, "Lijun is managing the accounts for Silang now, she’s familiar with outside affairs, and she’s even looking for work as an accountant."

Zhou Liulang rolled his eyes.

The siblings exchanged a knowing look, both giggling sneakily and tacitly understanding each other.

The two were sitting idly in Manbao’s room and through the window saw Zhou Wulang helping Fifth Sister-in-law back to their quarters.

Zhou Liulang said, "Right after the autumn harvest, Wulang talked to father about clearing out both the mountain behind Big Brother’s house and the one belonging to Third Brother to plant Ligustrum seeds. Father called him crazy and didn’t agree."

Manbao asked, "Then what?"

"Then Wulang talked to Big Brother and the others, they all chipped in to hire people, and now they’ve started clearing the wild grass on the mountains. It seems they want to preserve some of this year’s Ligustrum seeds to sow directly on the mountain."

"Why didn’t you join them?"

Zhou Liulang said, "I prefer cooking, I’m not too interested in growing medicinal herbs. After I come of age next year, I’ll let them plant on the land and mountains I get."

Manbao scorned, "We don’t even know where your mountain lot will be yet, Wulang and Silang’s mountains are still untouched."

"That’s not necessarily true; this year the village reclaimed two mountain lots."

Speaking of this, Manbao became somewhat silent. People only had their mountains reclaimed upon death; Yongye Fields could be inherited, but individually allotted fields could not.

Zhou Liulang grew silent as well before saying, "Mother mentioned that the elderly struggle to survive the extremes of summer and winter; if they get through one winter, they usually live half a year longer."

"Why do you mention this?"

"Manbao, father and mother are aging too, you need to diligently learn medicine. In the future, when they grow old and seeking divine intervention doesn’t work, you could use your medical skills to save them. Also, don’t neglect the Heaven Master. Deities always have more say than mere mortals. Have you visited the Heaven Master after coming back?"