The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 234 - 223: Fear of Cows

Chapter 234: Chapter 223: Fear of Cows

Junior Ms. Qian gave an awkward smile, and whispered, "Manbao, you go and get in line, sister-in-law can handle it by myself."

Manbao shook her head, checked on the soup she was stewing, and Bai Shanbao also ran in, helping her carry the soup to the table.

Once Ms. Qian had laid out the dishes and rice, the fast-arriving students had already queued up amidst noise and chatter. Only then Ms. Qian began to serve the meals.

Manbao and Bai Shanbao took their bowls and joined the end of the line.

Bai Erlang rushed to the front, and quickly got his share. Seeing them standing at the end of the line, he expressed his surprise, "Why are you two lining up here?"

Bai Shanbao said, "Guess!"

Bai Erlang was too lazy to guess. Cast a glance at Manbao, he huffed twice and left with his head held high.

Turning to Manbao, Bai Shanbao said, "He’s still angry."

Manbao conveyed understanding.

Last time they made a bet, Bai Erlang lost, but he insisted he didn’t lose, convinced he didn’t get a suntan, and accused Bai Shanbao of bias for taking her side.

But when they asked Old Madam Bai, Mrs. Bai, Old Master Bai, Ms. Liu, and Ms. Zheng, to everyone’s surprise, they all said that Bai Erlang looked darker than the day before. Reluctantly, he handed over the two zodiac figures he lost to Manbao.

It was then that Old Master Bai and the others realized why the kids had come to ask them so early in the morning if their silly son really was darker than yesterday.

After Manbao and Bai Shanbao got their food, they did not rush off but curiously asked Ms. Qian, "Sister-in-law, did you go plowing today?"

"No plowing. Mother asked Fourth to go plow. I took him to check the fields to see if they were workable, which delayed us a bit."

"Poor Fourth Brother."

"And your Fifth Brother."

Manbao immediately said, "Eldest sister-in-law, last time we found some scraps in the county town, can you sew them into two thick straps for me? Then I’ll wrap them around Fifth Brother’s hands and place one on his shoulders, so it won’t hurt as much."

While eating, Bai Shanbao interjected, "Why bother with all that trouble, just come ask for a cow from my place."

Manbao turned to look at him, "Aren’t the cows at your place working?"

Bai Shanbao shook his head, "No, we only have that small piece of land, it’s not busy."

Their family’s farmland wasn’t located here; the small plot they currently held, obtained from Old Master Bai, wasn’t much; they just grew some vegetables, raised chickens and ducks, and planted some rather unique crops.

Manbao got excited, "Then after we eat, I’ll go with you to get the cow."

Bai Shanbao was surprised, "You know how to lead a cow?"

Assertively, Manbao proclaimed, "No!"

"..."

Although they didn’t know how, both children still went, and, of course, Junior Ms. Qian went too.

Seeing the glossy black water buffalo from afar, Manbao and Bai Shanbao stopped in their tracks, not daring to approach.

Bai Shanbao goaded her, "Didn’t you say you were going to lead the cow? Go on, then."

"It’s your family’s cow, you go."

Seeing the two children fearful, the farmhand in charge of cattle and plowing joked, "Young Master, Young Lady Zhou, this cow won’t butt you, rest assured."

Perhaps the cow understood, as it mooed twice and even cocked its head towards them, prompting the two children to scream and turn tail to run, disappearing in an instant.

Ms. Qian: ...

The farmhand: ...

The embarrassed farmhand scratched his head and sheepishly said to Ms. Qian, "The kids are a bit timid... haha... oh yes, the Old Madam said that you can take the cow and not to hurry to bring it back. You can return it once you are done using it."

Gratefully accepting, Ms. Qian took the rope and led the cow away.

Manbao and Bai Shanbao ran across the bridge and only stopped, gasping for breath, when they felt safe. Still cautious, they glanced back to ensure the fearsome cow hadn’t followed before flopping down onto the grass.

"Your family’s cow is terrifying."

"Wasn’t it you who wanted to lead it?"

Manbao remained nervously silent.

Ms. Qian appeared in the distance, leading the cow. Seeing the kids about to run again from the opposite side of the bridge, she called out, "Manbao, I’m taking the cow to your Fourth Brother—"

Little Bay’s fields were across the bridge, so Manbao no longer hurried, choosing instead to observe the cow from this side of the bridge, asking, "Eldest sister-in-law, can cows eat people?"

Ms. Qian: "... Cows eat grass. Don’t let your imagination run wild all the time, go back to school. Young Master, take Manbao back to school with you, have a rest. You’ve got more classes this afternoon."

Bai Shanbao agreed and pulled Manbao back to school.

"How come you’re afraid of your own cow?"

"I don’t often see it. You see cows more often; why are you afraid of it?"

The two kids bickered as they walked away. Zhou SiLang, who was miserably plowing in the field, almost cried at the sight of his big sister-in-law leading a cow over.

He simply sat down on the ground and called out, "Eldest sister-in-law, where did this cow come from?"

"Manbao and the young master borrowed it."

Ms. Fang handed Zhou SiLang a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and whispered, "Look at you—even your younger brother isn’t complaining of tiredness."

Zhou SiLang glanced at his side and retorted, "True, he’s not complaining, but look at him."

Ms. Fang turned to look and saw Zhou WuLang lying flat on the ground. Upon hearing their conversation, he feebly raised his arm and waved it weakly.

Unable to help herself, Ms. Fang asked, "Is it really that exhausting?"

"Absolutely exhausting. You have no idea unless you’ve pulled the plow yourself," Zhou SiLang responded. "Every time we do the spring plowing, I could just lie down and fall asleep, wishing I didn’t have to move at all."

He glanced at Zhou WuLang and added, "But Fifth has it worse this time; he’s never plowed before. This is his first."

Zhou WuLang nodded sorrowfully. With four older brothers around and not being of age yet, he rarely had to do such heavy work.

This was his first time realizing how tough plowing really was.

Thinking of their family fields, with only some parts occasionally plowed by oxen and the rest done by his brothers, especially Eldest and Third, he couldn’t help but sigh, "My elder brothers really have it tough."

"Isn’t that the truth? From now on, you’d better treat your Fourth Brother better. Don’t go upsetting me all the time, avoiding work whenever I ask for help."

"I was talking about Eldest, Second, and Third Brother, not you."

Once Zhou SiLang had caught his breath, he carefully stood up to lead the cow to the plow while kicking Zhou WuLang’s backside with the tip of his foot. "Get up and don’t be in the way. How am I any less? I’ve pulled the plow too, and you can’t just enjoy the easy life and avoid hardship because you’re two years younger than me. When I was your age, I was already out in the fields plowing."

Zhou WuLang, unable to recall such distant memories, asked doubtfully, "Really?"

"Of course it’s true."

Zhou WuLang then got up from the ground. "Alright, I’ll ask Father tonight; he remembers everything about the fields."

Zhou SiLang waved his hand, unafraid, for he had indeed started plowing with the eldest brothers at the age of fifteen. Back then, he had it far worse than Zhou WuLang, coinciding with spring plowing, and they had far more than just one mu of land to plow.

The spring plowing lasted nearly two months, and he cried for two whole months; it was truly too hard.

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