The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 250 - 239: Condolence

Chapter 250: Chapter 239: Condolence

Bai Shanbao heard Manbao’s voice inside the house and knew he hadn’t found the wrong place. He left Daji and the servants and ran inside.

The village chief was talking to Manbao, Zhou Dazhu was seriously hurt, counted as a serious injury, and since his father was the village chief, Old Zhou took Manbao to his house first.

They had just talked for a while, and before their seat got warm, Bai Shanbao ran over.

The village chief hurriedly got up to greet him, "Young master, what brings you here?"

I came to play with Manbao!

Of course, he couldn’t say that. Bai Shanbao said earnestly, "On my grandmother’s orders, I came to check on the injured. Are they all right? Has anyone’s condition worsened?"

"No problem, no problem, the doctor saw to them last night, and the medicine your family sent was very effective."

The village chief busily invited everyone to speak inside the house.

Although Bai Shanbao was a child, no one in the village dared to underestimate him, similar to how Bai Erlang wasn’t treated as an ordinary child.

Nanny Liu and Daji came in with people.

She pushed a large box of money to the village chief, saying, "Our Old Madam heard that quite a few people were hurt last night and felt very sorry, so she sent us with some money. Every injured person will get two hundred wen. We’re not sure who exactly is injured, so we’re counting on the village chief to help."

The village chief was shocked and quickly waved his hands, "This won’t do; how can we take the Old Madam’s money? This matter doesn’t concern her at all."

"Our Old Madam said that since she brought the people in, she naturally bears some responsibility. Please don’t refuse, village chief. Just show us the way, and I also need to bring Old Madam’s apologies."

With that, she opened the box, which was filled with strings of copper coins.

She took two strings and said to the village chief, "I’ve heard your Dalang was injured too; this is for him."

"This shouldn’t be, this shouldn’t be..." The village chief quickly looked to Old Zhou.

Old Zhou’s expression grew even more troubled as he helped push the money back, "The fight started in my house, and it’s right for us to take responsibility. The Old Madam is being overly courteous."

"Yes, after all, we are all fellow villagers; it’s just lending a hand," someone added.

When Uncle Jin brought money, the village chief could refuse a little and then accept it; after all, everyone knew, though they didn’t speak of it, what the conflict had been about.

But to take money from the Bai Family would be too conscience-stricken.

Seeing that they refused to accept no matter what, Nanny Liu stood up and said, "If the village chief is unwilling, then we’ll have to find the injured ourselves."

After saying that, she pushed the two strings of money toward him and prepared to leave with the box.

Seeing this, the village chief had no choice but to follow, "Don’t, don’t, all right, all right, I’ll show you."

He turned back to look at Old Zhou.

Old Zhou let out a sigh, "I’ll show you the way, I was planning to bring them some things anyway."

Old Zhou brought things only for the seriously injured, delivering two hundred wen and a basket of rice and eggs, whereas the Bai Family gave two hundred wen equally.

Old Zhou was used to staying for a chat at each house he visited, which made the visits quite lengthy. By the time they finished seeing the seriously injured and got back home, Zhou Erlang and the others had already completed their task.

Old Zhou then asked Nanny Liu, "The rest of the families have lighter injuries; are you still going?"

Nanny Liu smiled, "Of course, we must visit. Please, help show the way, Elder."

Old Zhou nodded and continued to lead Manbao and the rest of them; having just given money from Zhou Family and now leading people from the Bai Family to give money made the injured families somewhat embarrassed.

Before leaving, Old Zhou as usual had Manbao bend her knees to thank and bow to everyone.

Manbao didn’t think it was any trouble; she waved her hand and bowed. Those older than her simply accepted, and there was no issue with those of the same age. The problem was with those younger; they had to hobble to the side to avoid her respect while nursing their injuries.

Bai Shanbao watched with curiosity and quietly asked Manbao, "Why do you bow at every house?"

"To thank them on behalf of my father," Manbao replied. "My father is old, has poor legs and back, and his rank is too high, so of course, it falls to me to do this."

Old Zhou, who accidentally overheard their conversation: ...

Nanny Liu and Daji’s eyes twinkled with amusement, holding back laughs while walking ahead.

Bai Shanbao still had doubts in his mind—wouldn’t his brothers be better suited for this?

And if not them, at least Datou.

Yet he refrained from asking, as he somewhat felt it wasn’t a proper question.

Visiting all eighteen families wasn’t hard; they finished just as everyone was having their morning meal, and Nanny Liu wanted to return to report.

Bai Shanbao wanted to play with Manbao, so he stayed while Daji kept him company.

Old Zhou, thinking he would have to discuss the matter of the three men with the Bai Family, went to find the village chief after eating breakfast.

Manbao took the opportunity to show Bai Shanbao her room, pointing to the roof with a hole open to the sky, happily saying, "You see, my roof has a big hole, so at night when I lie in bed I can see the stars and the moon, and during the day, I don’t even have to take the bedding out to sun them."

Bai Shanbao felt envious, "Are the stars pretty?"

"Pretty!"

"I wish my house’s roof had a hole too."

Zhou SiLang: ...

He set down the thatch and asked, "Then are you going to fix your roof or not?"

Manbao looked unwilling upon seeing him carrying dried thatch, "With this?"

"What do you expect? We need to buy tiles from the county town. Mother said we should save some money for emergencies, so for now we’ll just cover it with thatch, and after the autumn harvest, we’ll buy tiles to replace it."

After the autumn harvest, the results of the crops and taxes would be clear, and whether the family had money or not would be obvious.

Manbao rolled her eyes, looked up at the clear sky, and waved her hand, "Let’s not fix it for now; it definitely won’t rain today."

Zhou SiLang carried the thatch to his side, planning to bundle and place it on the roof.

His family rarely collected thatch, and with the recent heavy rain, many families were diligent in changing theirs, which caused the price of thatch to rise a little.

The thatch in the fields had been harvested clean.

This thatch was borrowed from the villagers, to be repaid when they harvested and dried their own thatch.

Even so, the borrowed amount wasn’t enough, so they planned to prioritize Manbao and the children’s repairs. Since she didn’t want it, he did.

He certainly didn’t want to sleep under a skylight, and neither did his wife.

Bai Shanbao had never seen thatching before and approached to watch with curiosity.

Zhou SiLang saw this and quickly took some thatch, weaving it swiftly into a grasshopper for him.

Bai Shanbao exclaimed in awe.

Zhou SiLang smiled, made another one for Manbao, and then said, "Go play, it’s messy at home. Just don’t wander too far."

The Zhou household was indeed in disarray. It was very late yesterday, and tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes were left uncollected, along with stones, mud, and tiles from the fight, all piled up in the yard.

Zhou Erlang was leading some people in sorting usable tiles, fixing what they could on the spot, putting everything to good use.

Bai Shanbao invited Manbao to his home, "Come to my house to read books. Besides, isn’t your father also at my home?"

He whispered, "The kitchen made glutinous rice mochi today."

Manbao swallowed and nodded vigorously, "Wait for me, I’ll go get my books and bag."