The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 182 - 171: Catching Loaches (Additional release for reaching 140,000 recommendation votes on Yunqi)

Chapter 182: Chapter 171: Catching Loaches (Additional release for reaching 140,000 recommendation votes on Yunqi)

With a belly full of snacks, Manbao returned home only to find her appetite subdued during dinner. Contemplating the importance of not wasting food, she pushed most of the rice from her bowl to her dad.

Old Zhou couldn’t hide his surprise, "Manbao, why aren’t you eating?"

Manbao bowed her head and picked at her vegetables, replying, "I’m not hungry."

Ms. Qian reached out and patted her little belly, asking, "What did you eat at the Bai Family’s house?"

Indulging in the memory of the delicious sticky rice treats, Manbao said, "I had some snacks, they were so tasty, really tasty." Suddenly, she felt her dinner wasn’t that appealing anymore.

So she set down her bowl.

Ms. Qian’s brows knitted slightly, "Manbao, you mustn’t eat too many snacks from now on, understand?"

Manbao realized she had inadvertently spilled the beans and nodded sheepishly, feeling guilty.

Ms. Liu had also noticed that Bai Shanbao’s appetite was lacking that evening, but after glancing at her guilt-ridden daughter-in-law, she decided not to say anything more.

Shortly after finishing dinner, Bai Shanbao was ordered to drink half a bowl of hawthorn tea, while Manbao was given half a bowl of sweet and sour liquid to gulp down.

The next day, when the two little friends met in the school, they still whispered, "I hope it’s your mom who brings us snacks every day."

Bai Shanbao wished it could be so, but he knew it was impossible.

Ms. Liu took back the snack-delivery duty, bringing snacks to them on schedule every day. As long as Manbao came, the kitchen would only provide two sticky rice treats; any more than that was out of the question.

The children went back to their life of looking forward to the next day’s snack, but soon it didn’t seem to matter as much because the Winter Solstice was drawing near. Mr. Zhuang took the opportunity to call them to the small courtyard and asked, "How is your essay coming along?"

The two kids perked up instantly, warily eyeing each other before nodding respectfully in unison, "All done, just need to make some minor revisions and it’ll be ready."

Mr. Zhuang was somewhat amused by their reaction.

The assignment had been given two months prior, and since they studied and wrote together, he didn’t believe their essays were kept secret from one another.

As expected, Manbao now regretted letting Bai Shanbao help her with her spelling mistakes, and Bai Shanbao regretted showing off his well-written essay for her appreciation.

Each wondered if the other had written something better.

Both children resolved to revise their essays again when they got back.

But their abilities were clear, and since they wrote about the same subject using the same data, no matter how many times they revised it, there were no new ideas to discover.

So, after a few days, they handed in their carefully copied, best-considered versions of the essays.

Instead of reading them right away, Mr. Zhuang put them aside with a chuckle, saying, "Alright, you’ve finished this big assignment. I will assign you another long one."

Mr. Zhuang paused before continuing, "Didn’t you dry some Indian pennywort for Jishi Hall this summer?"

The two children nodded.

"Then take that as your next essay topic," he said.

The kids were puzzled, "Is it just about selling Indian pennywort? What’s there to write?"

Manbao said, "Teacher, not only did I sell Indian pennywort, but I also sold candies, ginger, yams, bamboo baskets, and even eggs. Can I write about those things?"

Mr. Zhuang hadn’t expected his young disciple to be such a savvy businessperson and his expression darkened, "No, only write about the Indian pennywort and Jishi Hall. I don’t care how you write it, just don’t go beyond the scope."

Both Manbao and Bai Shanbao couldn’t help but frown, upon which Mr. Zhuang said, "This assignment isn’t urgent. I’m giving you almost half a year. Just hand it in before next year’s Hungry Ghost Festival."

Manbao couldn’t help but exclaim, "Wow, that’s a long time, isn’t it?"

"Yes," he replied, "this is an additional assignment, so you can’t slack off on your regular schoolwork. Since tomorrow is a day of rest, I’ll give you two more problems to solve."

Bai Shanbao shot Manbao a glare, blaming her. If it weren’t for her exclamation, the teacher might not have remembered to assign more work.

Manbao lowered her head, pouting and feeling wronged.

No matter how much they enjoyed studying, they only thought about playing on their rest days—who would like extra homework?

But Mr. Zhuang didn’t care. After giving the children extra homework to show his favor, he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Shouldering their small book boxes, the kids trudged out with drooping heads.

Manbao didn’t need an escort anymore, but Daji still insisted on picking up and dropping off Bai Shanbao every day, and he was waiting outside at the moment.

As soon as the young master stepped out, Daji approached with a smile, seeing the kids’ droopy demeanor, he teased, "Did the teacher assign lots of homework?"

The kids nodded in shared resignation. At the crossroads, Manbao bid Bai Shanbao farewell, "I don’t feel like going to your place today; I want to go home."

Bai Shanbao said, "If you don’t do your homework, you can’t play tomorrow."

Manbao sniffled, "But I don’t feel like doing homework now; I want to catch loaches in the river."

Bai Shanbao’s spirits lifted immediately, exclaiming, "Me too!"

With that, he grabbed her hand and they ran toward the village, "Let’s leave the book boxes at your house. I didn’t catch a single loach last time; this time I will for sure."

Daji hurried to follow them.

It was the coldest and driest time of the year, and the river’s water level had dropped, exposing a vast expanse of damp riverbed.

Some of the puddles hadn’t dried up, trapping a few small fish, so the children liked to feel around for little fish by the river. In the process, they often couldn’t resist catching loaches as well.

Luckily, the iciest parts of the river were only covered with a few thin layers of ice, so the children were safe as long as they didn’t deliberately step into the water.

Lots of kids from the village enjoyed prodding the river mud with sticks, clearly hunting for loaches.

Zhou SiLang was there too, mixed in with his younger brothers and nieces and nephews.

He was notably the most conspicuous among the bunch of kids, simply because he was much older.

But there was nothing to be done, the ginger was sold out, only seeds were left, and after selling all the yams but those kept for seeds and home consumption, they had nothing else to do.

As a notorious kid leader in the village, how could Zhou SiLang miss out on digging for loaches? Not only did he join, but he also confidently staked a large patch of ground, instructing his siblings and nieces and nephews to surround it. Then he rolled up his sleeves and began to dig. No one else was allowed to come near.

By the time Manbao and Bai Shanbao arrived, hand in hand and wailing, he had already dug up a dozen or so.

He was hunched over, feeling through the mud. As Manbao rushed over, he had just grabbed one by the head, sliding his hand forward and flinging it to the side, right at the feet of the approaching kids.

Bai Shanbao reacted first with a start, reaching out to grab it. Using too much force, the loach slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. Manbao, too, realized what was happening and pounced to grab it, leading them both to bump their heads together.

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