The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 238 - 227: The Visitor

Chapter 238: Chapter 227: The Visitor

Manbao went to Old Master Bai’s house in utter confusion.

The servants at Old Master Bai’s were very familiar with Manbao, and when they heard she came to see the young master, they let her in.

Manbao rushed to the front hall, but before she could reach it, she heard voices inside. Instead of going forward rashly, she first peeked into the room from behind the door.

Bai Shanbao noticed her right away. There was no helping it—he was standing behind his grandmother, while his grandmother and Bai Shupo sat at the top end of the table, facing the door.

When a familiar round head peeked from behind the door, it was hard for him to ignore her.

Bai Shanbao winked at her, signaling her to wait, and that he’d come to find her in a bit.

Manbao winked back at him in response.

The visitors were three elegantly dressed men, conversing with the Old Madam. They had their backs to Manbao, but strangely, one of them seemed to sense something and abruptly turned around.

There was nothing by the door.

Manbao was crouching behind the door, clutching the kitten that had darted towards her, happily holding it in her arms.

The Little Girl who followed didn’t dare come close, but beckoned to her repeatedly.

Manbao, holding the cat, ran over, "Miss, is this your cat?"

"It belongs to the Old Madam. I was about to give it a bath, but it doesn’t like baths and ran away. Young Lady Zhou, would you give it back to me?"

"Oh, okay then." Manbao reluctantly handed the cat over, and seeing how much she liked it, the Little Girl smiled and said, "You can pet it a bit more if you want."

The person at the doorway withdrew their gaze, unaware that Ms. Liu, sitting at the top end and speaking with a smile, had also discretely redirected her attention.

Bai Shanbao didn’t want to stay there listening to adults talk anymore, mostly because what they were discussing was quite dull. He cautiously glanced at his grandmother, saw she wasn’t paying attention, and slipped away quietly.

Ms. Liu saw this but said nothing.

And the guest sitting at the bottom end also seemed to know Bai Shanbao left because he was bored, so they didn’t say anything.

Once Bai Shanbao slipped outside, he saw Manbao was petting the cat and quickly ran over, "Why are you here?"

Manbao said, "Mr. Zhuang mentioned your grandmother was sick. That’s why you weren’t at school to care for her. But you tricked us! Grandma Liu is clearly fine."

Bai Shanbao then said, "It was grandmother who claimed she was ill. But then, Shupo had someone come over to fetch her, claiming that guests had arrived at home wanting to see us, and suddenly grandmother was well again."

He looked around and then whispered into Manbao’s ear, "I think grandmother just wanted to be lazy, which is why she pretended to be sick."

"Then, why did she have you take leave from school?"

Bai Shanbao scratched his head, "To make it look more believable?"

He said, "For example, if I were to fake being sick, I would put a hot towel on my forehead first. That way, when my mom touches it, she’ll think I have a fever."

"..."

Manbao handed him his school notes and said, "Here are your notes from this morning. Mr. Zhuang said you not only have to copy all of them, but also keep up with homework. Do you think he knew Grandma Liu was faking her illness and did this on purpose?"

Bai Shanbao: "..."

"Are you going back to class this afternoon?"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Shanbao shook his head, glanced back at the front hall, and said, "I don’t know what’s going on, but my grandmother seems very interested in the guests who arrived this time. I might have to accompany her to the village chief’s house later."

"Who are these guests?"

"They are said to be from the court, here to assess the disaster situation. Those who are seriously affected will get extra governmental aid. It seems like everyone gets a share, based on the household registry."

Manbao exclaimed in awe, "Really? My family has twenty-one people!"

Bai Shanbao also realized, "Right, your family could receive a lot of aid."

Manbao was eager, "I’ll go with you guys to find the village chief. Maybe I can listen in."

Bai Shanbao agreed, took her hand, and was about to head back to the front hall when the people inside came out first.

Leading them out, Ms.Liu said with a laugh, "My old sister is feeling a bit unwell. Since you’re sent by the court, I’ll take you to the village chief."

The leader of the visitors’ gaze flickered slightly, responding with a smile, "Then we thank you, Old Madam."

It was a moment of break, and Manbao was full of energy, eager to follow along.

Bai Shanbao grabbed snacks from the hall for them, then they dashed off to catch up with his grandmother and the others.

The two kids had their hands full of snacks, munching away while whispering to each other, "Mr. Zhuang will tell us a story this afternoon, are you really not going back to school?"

Bai Shanbao hesitated for a moment, "I’ll think about it. I have to ask grandmother first."

Manbao nodded.

When the group arrived at the village chief’s house, the three men claimed they were dispatched from the court to survey the disaster. Qili Village had been reported to be severely affected, and after they verified it, they would report back, and the court would provide aid per person registered in the household.

Such a method of compensation was unheard of by the village chief, but seeing them dressed richly and carrying swords, they didn’t seem like swindlers.

Besides, they didn’t ask for money, did they?

So, elated, the village chief asked, "So you’ll compensate based on the household registry?"

"Precisely."

"Does that include daughters-in-law and underage children?"

The visitors, somewhat impatient, still nodded, "That’s right, so you should lead us through each household for verification, to cross-check."

The village chief beamed, "Easy! Let’s start with my household, and just to be sure, do we need to present each person?"

The visitors pondered briefly before replying, "If they’re at home, of course seeing them would be best. Just because it’s written on the registry, what if there are errors or omissions?"

"Ah, official sir, we dare not say so. Our villagers are all honest, and reporting extra people means paying more taxes. Why would we report more?"

"So there’s underreporting?"

"No, no, that neither," the village chief hastily reassured, feigning innocence on his face while thinking of them as fools, explaining, "Once children are eligible for individual field allocations, who would underreport?"

Whether overreporting or underreporting, neither was possible here.

However, since the men insisted on seeing each person, the village chief called his eldest son and said, "Go, tell Mr. Zhuang to give the village kids a half-day off, and have Two call back everyone from the fields. We must account for every household member soon; they’re related to the aid."

His sons responded and ran off.

Bai Shanbao and Manbao glanced at each other, realizing they shouldn’t count on returning to class anymore. But still, they joined hands and raced to the school.

Once Dazhu informed them about taking leave, Mr. Zhuang would surely gather the students to announce it, and Manbao couldn’t be missing.

By the time Mr. Zhuang called back all the nearby children to the school, he found someone sitting next to Manbao and expressed surprise, "Bai Shan, isn’t your grandmother ill?"