The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 135 - 124: Stealthily

Chapter 135: Chapter 124: Stealthily

Manbao poked Zhou SiLang in the lower back with her finger, but Zhou SiLang just shifted forward a little and didn’t move.

Manbao then poked him harder, and Zhou SiLang moved another step forward, still crouching without shifting.

Manbao got annoyed and pushed him directly, Zhou SiLang hadn’t expected her to be so strong and was knocked to the ground.

Zhou Xi and the others, who were doing chores, looked over. Manbao then punched him lightly on the lower back with her small fist. Zhou SiLang had no choice but to move forward, his face red, and said, "Third Sister-in-law, isn’t it your turn to clean the chicken coop today?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I’ll do it," Zhou SiLang said. "From now on, I’ll clean the chicken coops, as I have nothing else to do."

Since when was Four so diligent?

Ms. He looked at him suspiciously.

Seeing that he had fallen silent again, Manbao rushed to speak for him, "Third Sister-in-law, Brother Four says he’s got the fidgets from doing nothing while sister-in-law and the older sisters are so busy every day. So, let him take over the dirty work at home."

Ms. He glanced at Zhou Xi, who was standing aside, and, thinking she understood, said cheerfully, "Well, that’s nice. Four is showing thoughtfulness for others; seems like he’s really grown up."

Not just Ms. He, but Junior Ms. Qian and Ms. Feng also thought Zhou SiLang was doing this to relieve Zhou Xi of some burden, as it was her turn to clean the chicken coop the next day.

Zhou Xi thought the same. She gave Four a glance, feeling somewhat relieved in her heart, but she didn’t say anything in front of her sisters-in-law and sisters.

Zhou SiLang let out a sigh of relief, immediately grabbed a broom, and went to clean the chicken coop. Seeing Manbao standing at a distance, he waved the broom at her and glared.

Zhou SiLang cleaned the chicken coop and spread a new layer of straw. Then he took the rubbish out.

Looking left and right to see if anyone was watching, he dumped half of the rubbish from the chicken coop into his own compost pile. The rest he poured into a dirty bamboo basket. Making sure no one noticed, he stuffed the basket with the dry grass and rotten leaves he had prepared earlier to cover it, then picked up the basket and ran towards his fallow land.

Manbao had been waiting. Zhou WuLang and Zhou Liulang had swept a lot of dead leaves and muddy residue from the woods with Datou and the others. They threw the muddy residue directly into it, and chopped the dead leaves on a wooden board with a knife before throwing them in.

The three brothers stirred the mixture with thick sticks, added water, and covered the pit with the mat of grass as Manbao had requested. To retain warmth, they also piled up lots of dry grass on top.

Zhou SiLang was skeptical. "Is that all it takes?"

"It’s not finished yet. We need to add stuff every day," Manbao insisted. "Brother Four, you must remember to clean the chicken coop every day."

Zhou SiLang slumped his shoulders and said, "If Dad finds out I’ve been stealing our chicken manure, he’s going to kill me."

"No, he won’t," Manbao reassured him. "Dad never bothers with the chicken coop, so he won’t suspect anything. If you’re worried, you could mix in some soil from the hillside, that way Dad won’t notice."

Zhou SiLang thought it was a good idea. He exchanged looks with Five and Sixth, and they began to sneakily plot.

Manbao had planned well, stealing just half each day and mixing it with soil. Dad probably wouldn’t notice. Yet Zhou SiLang became increasingly greedy. A few days later, when he found no one was paying attention, he secretly dumped all the rubbish he had cleaned from the coop into his own compost pile and left the family compost pile with just the soil dug from the hills.

Old Zhou didn’t notice at first. But by the time February arrived, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang had plowed the fields ready for spring planting. On a chosen auspicious day, they were going to sow the seeds, so Old Zhou went to check the family’s compost. To his surprise, he found a large layer of soil layered on top of it.

Even though the soil looked better than river mud, he’d never excavated anything but river mud. Upon closer inspection, he realized this year’s compost was much less than last year’s.

Old Zhou was infuriated. In the countryside, people would fight over water and a spoonful of compost, so his first instinct was that someone had stolen his compost. He stormed into the house, ready to confront his daughters-in-law about their lack of vigilance, as the compost had been taken without their knowledge.

When Manbao ran home, bouncing with the Small book box on her back, she saw Zhou SiLang kneeling on the ground. The courtyard was eerily quiet, with not a soul in sight.

Manbao paused for a moment. Datou also peeked in cautiously before the two of them tiptoed further in, approaching Zhou SiLang to peek into the main room.

Zhou SiLang glanced up at her and said, "Don’t bother looking; no one’s there."

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief and finally took the opportunity to ask, "Brother Four, what trouble have you caused?"

"I didn’t do anything too bad; just stole the compost from home because I listened to you," he replied.

Manbao instantly felt guilty and asked quietly, "Did Dad and Mom find out?"

"Hmm, Dad told me to wait for you at home. When you got back, he wanted me to bring you to see him." So Zhou SiLang stood up and grabbed Manbao to leave.

Manbao, a bit shorter, was hoisted up and promptly clung to his arm, shouting, "I want to walk on my own!"

Most of the Zhou family was at the compost pit in the fallow land. Old Zhou was at first beside himself with anger. His son and daughter had actually stolen the family’s compost, were they not aware how much it mattered for the year’s harvest?

So, with his three eldest sons, he intended to haul the compost back. But upon arrival and lifting the cover, they were nearly overwhelmed by the surge of heat. They almost threw up.

However, Old Zhou quickly regained his composure, smelled the aroma in the air, and became a bit excited.

Zhou Dalang was also surprised.

An expert farmer, he had been managing the compost with his father since he was nineteen, so of course, he knew what good compost was like.

How it smelled, looked...

When Zhou SiLang escorted Manbao over, Old Zhou and his sons had only shoveled out one scoop before covering the pit again.

As Zhou SiLang and Manbao approached with their heads lowered, expecting a barrage of scolding, Old Zhou instead pulled his daughter close, smiling kindly, "Manbao, Five told me you taught this composting method. Is it also written in a book?"

Manbao, glancing at her father and feeling he was not angry, perked up and nodded. Then she put down the book box, took out the book, and showed her father.

Old Zhou’s hands were dirty, so he didn’t dare to take the book. He just asked Manbao to open it for him to have a look. He couldn’t read, but that didn’t stop him from reverently viewing the text inside.

He sighed deeply, "Reading is really something. I never imagined that even composting would be in books. Tell Dad, what does it say there?"

There were many methods of composting written there, but they were all quite similar, differing mainly in the requirements for materials and some changes in temperature management.

Of course, Manbao couldn’t replicate everything perfectly because she didn’t have the shed or the heat bags mentioned in the book. But Manbao wasn’t foolish; knowing that keeping the compost warm was necessary, she thought of covering the compost pit with grass mats. She was even planning to light a fire if the temperature wasn’t high enough.

Well, that was also written in the book, commonly called "burning poop," but it was too demanding and Manbao didn’t quite understand it all yet, so she didn’t plan to attempt it for the time being.