The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 230 - 219: Betting

Chapter 230: Chapter 219: Betting

Manbao burst into laughter, "If you don’t wear it and you get sunburnt, you’ll be even uglier. Wearing a straw hat only makes you look half as bad for a while, but getting tanned means looking bad for a lifetime."

Bai Erlang hesitated a bit but still talked tough, "Nonsense, how could I get tanned just by being in the sun for a short while? I often play outside in the sun with my classmates, and I don’t get very dark."

That was indeed true, but Manbao scratched her head and, looking at his sunburnt face, she chose to believe Keke over him and Erlang.

She remembered clearly that once when she went out to play, the sun made her feel dizzy. She thought she had a fever, but Keke said it was heatstroke and that having a sunburned face meant she would definitely turn darker the next day and that it would get increasingly worse.

Getting sunburnt was the second step toward getting a darkened face.

Since she indeed got a bit darker afterwards, she always kept this conclusion in mind. Now, looking at Bai Erlang’s bright red face, she asserted, "You’ll definitely turn darker tomorrow. Wanna bet?"

"Bet what?"

Manbao blurted out, "Bet your zodiac figurines."

Bai Shanbao glanced at her and knew she had been planning this for some time.

The torrential rains that came before had forced Bai Dalang, Bai Erlang’s own brother, to take shelter back in the village. When he returned, he brought back twelve colored clay sculptures, one for each zodiac animal, which were lifelike and especially attractive.

Manbao wasn’t the only one envious of them; even Bai Shanbao really wanted a set for himself.

Bai Erlang glared, "Don’t even think about it."

"If I lose, I’ll give you my box of peculiar stones," she said.

Bai Erlang hesitated, torn.

Bai Erlang liked to collect pretty stones, and unfortunately, both Manbao and Bai Shanbao shared that interest.

Even less fortunately, Bai Shanbao had an eye for finding peculiar stones, and Manbao not only had such an eye, but she also had a bunch of nephews and nieces at her beck and call. At her command, pretty much all the best-looking peculiar stones in and around Qili Village ended up in her hands.

Those attractive stones really were very appealing, and Bai Erlang had long drooled over them.

But to exchange his equally beloved zodiac figurines for them was something he was reluctant to do.

He thought for a moment and said, "Can I use something else to bet with you instead?"

"No, I’m not interested in your other toys right now; I just like your zodiac figurines," she insisted.

"Then I won’t bet at all. I’ll just bet two, the snake and the rat," he bargained, as those were the zodiac animals he liked the least because he was afraid of them. "If you lose, you have to give me two nice-looking stones, and I get to pick them myself."

"No way," Manbao objected, "If you’re going to pick my stones, then I also want to pick your zodiac figurines to bet. If you’ve decided on your zodiac figurines, then I’ll also decide on the stones I’m wagering."

He would surely choose the ones he liked the least, so she would also need to sort her stones and give him the last two on her list.

Bai Erlang knew he couldn’t argue with her, so after some thought, he said, "Fine, but first, I need to see those two stones. If I think they’re attractive, I’ll agree to the bet."

"Then come to my house later to see them," she proposed.

The agreement made, they both grabbed Bai Shanbao and ran off to catch up with the adults ahead.

Bai Shanbao looked at Bai Erlang with sympathy, thinking he never learned his lesson. He had bet with Manbao many times, but when had he ever won?

He never seemed to learn from his mistakes.

County Magistrate Fu and the others were standing on a narrow ridge; he bent down to pluck a rice ear, felt its empty husk, then noticed snails clinging to the rice plants and their numerous seeds, and couldn’t help sighing, "Why didn’t you catch all of these?"

It was Zhou Dagou’s field, and Dagu’s father almost bent double to the ground as he replied, "Sir, almost every plot of land is in this condition; this one was hit particularly hard by the flood, and the water is still deep. Given the limited household manpower we have, we can’t attend to such fields anymore. We basically can only focus on the best patch and start re-fertilizing and de-pesting."

Although County Magistrate Fu understood that his decision was the right one, he couldn’t help sighing repeatedly. The field near the riverbank used to be fertile land, but now the flood had washed away both the nutrients and the good soil along with the crops.

The green, lush rice that should have covered the fields was now sparse and patchy.

Considering such conditions, even if the weather were to become perfectly sunny and the rain favorable, he could conclude that the previous fertile land’s yield could now be counted on one hand.

The worst part was that the most fertile layer of soil had been carried away by the floodwaters. From now on, this once-fertile land had become barren and would likely need five years or more to recover.

In the past, County Magistrate Fu might not have understood agriculture, but after six years as a magistrate, he did possess some basic knowledge of it.

County Magistrate Fu sighed again, looking over the bleak fields and then turning to ask the village chief, "Where in the village are the fields that are in better condition?"

He felt he needed to find something cheerful; otherwise, his constant worries might really be the death of him.

The village chief pointed in a direction and said, "That patch is a bit further from the riverbank and somewhat higher in elevation, so it’s slightly better off."

County Magistrate Fu and everyone else went to take a look.

That patch wasn’t rice paddies but dry land. Part of it near the fields was planted with wheat, and further up, they grew beans.

At that moment, however, there was water in the dry fields, and the wheat looked listless.

Its condition was staggering; unlike rice, wheat is more drought-resistant and is usually grown in dry fields. Having water was not a good thing since it could flood the plants—just like people could be overwhelmed.

County Magistrate Fu nodded and followed the land elevation upward, feeling slightly relieved to see the beans were fairing just passably.

Walking along the narrow ridges and turning a corner, they saw wheat seedlings waving in the wind, lush and green, rustling wave after wave in their direction as the breeze blew through them.

County Magistrate Fu was overjoyed. Anyone who had seen so much damaged crop and then came upon a good stretch would feel elated.

He asked, "Whose land is this?"

Before Old Zhou could answer, Manbao, standing at his feet, raised her hand and called out loudly, "It’s ours!"

Seeing her pride, County Magistrate Fu smiled and asked, "How come your wheat has grown so well?"

How could Manbao possibly know about farming?

She immediately turned to look at her father.

Old Zhou bowed his head and shot her a covert glare before stepping forward and saying, "Sir, our plot of land is a bit higher than others’, so it didn’t flood too heavily. Also, we started draining water out sixteen days ago (although it wasn’t very effective since as we drained it, the heavens continued to pour), and immediately after the downpour stopped, we carved out two extra outlets to speed up the drainage. With the sun coming out these past few days, the crops just naturally perked up."

County Magistrate Fu went to pinch a wheat ear, his eyes lighting up, "Good, it’s not quite full, but much better than the rice.

At least you can feel there’s wheat inside."