The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 311 - 300 Play and Learn

Chapter 311: Chapter 300 Play and Learn

Birds, like most meats, have many ways to be eaten: they can be stewed, braised in soy sauce, diced and stir-fried, or even roasted.

Keke even searched for more ways to cook them for Manbao. Of course, since she wasn’t adept at cooking, she simply remembered to tell the cook.

However, the Bai Family’s cook was not Junior Ms. Qian. When she heard that Miss Man wanted to wrap the birds in mud and bury them in the ground to cook, she chuckled and refused, "Miss Man, how can you eat birds with feathers? How about I braise a few for you and stew a few as well? If you want roasted, I’ll also roast a couple for you, how does that sound?"

Bai Shanbao counted and felt that was about enough, then whispered to Manbao, "My grandmother and mother will also want to eat. Let’s catch more tomorrow and cook by ourselves, but will it be tasty to cook with mud?"

Manbao hesitated a bit, "It should be tasty, I guess."

After all, it was a cooking method given by Keke.

The meat of birds is rather tender, but there isn’t much of it. Even the leg, which has the most meat, doesn’t have much.

But Manbao and Bai Shanbao enjoyed eating it immensely, delighted beyond words.

The two unanimously decided they wanted to catch more the next day.

When Ms. Qian hurried over upon hearing the news, the two children were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen doorway, each holding a roasted bird in their hands, eating away, and the pile of bones beside them showed they had eaten more than one.

Ms. Qian took a deep breath and approached.

When the children saw Ms. Qian, they excitedly and warmly invited her, "Grandma Liu (Grandma Qian), are you here to eat bird too?"

Ms. Qian’s gaze fell on the plate beside them.

The cook hurried out of the kitchen and bowed her head to explain, "The young master asked to prepare the dishes together and then send them to the Old Madam and Ms. Qian."

Ms. Qian took another deep breath, squeezed a smile on her face, and asked the children, lowering her head, "How many have you eaten?"

Both children held up three fingers.

Ms. Qian then laughed, "Then that’s enough. Eating too much of anything isn’t good. Someone, pick out two of each kind and send them to the Old Madam next door and say it’s from the young master and Miss Man’s filial piety."

The children watched reluctantly as the cook picked out the prepared birds from the plate and handed them to a servant to take away.

Ms. Qian pointed to the rest and said, "You can send these to my room and Ms. Qian’s. We’ll eat them later."

What remained wasn’t much, at most two of each kind.

The two children’s eyes followed the last of their bounty as it was taken from them.

Ms. Qian patted their heads with a smile, "Drink lots of water after you finish eating, then head back to the study to work on your lessons. Manbao, would you like to have dinner at my home tonight?"

Manbao thought of the birds at her own home and decisively shook her head.

Ms. Qian did not press the issue and left with a smile.

The two children watched her leave and then glanced down at the last bird they had yet to finish, deliberately slowing down their eating.

They planned to make it last longer, since they only had one left.

The cook watched silently, remembering how the Old Madam had quietly spoken to her earlier, asking her not to make any snacks for the children in the afternoon to avoid overeating.

No matter how slowly they ate, there would always come a moment when they finished.

The two children sighed deeply, washed their hands and faces, and then trudged off to the study with their heads hanging.

Manbao reached into her bag and took out a medical book from Keke, then diligently studied and took notes.

Her method of studying medical books was always like this: read it through and understand it once, then go to the lecture hall to listen to the class for faster and deeper comprehension.

Bai Shanbao had gotten used to this and took out his own book to read. After a while, both sighed in unison. Manbao commented, "The meat was tender."

Bai Shanbao added, "And flavorful."

Together, they turned to look out the window, wishing they could run out and continue catching birds. What were they to do now?

However, looking back down at their books, they managed to concentrate on studying. After all, their teacher had said that one can play at any time, but studying was not always possible. Therefore, they should do what needs to be done in the right time before doing what can be done at any time.

Manbao felt somewhat restless inside, and the words on the page did not sink in. But after reading the same lines over again, her mind slowly calmed, and she was able to focus on her reading.

Her studying efficiency gradually increased, and she turned the pages faster.

Bai Shanbao had a harder time focusing, so he walked around the study with his book for a while, played by himself for a time, and even perched quietly nearby, all without Daji interrupting.

But after Bai Shanbao noticed Manbao’s serious little face deeply absorbed in reading, he too discarded his toy and picked up the book from the floor to read again. After a couple of back and forths, he too settled down.

When Bai Erlang burst into the study smelling of meat, he found the two of them each occupying a corner, quietly reading.

Hearing the noise at the door, they calmly looked up at him, then both pursed their lips and returned to their books.

The excited Bai Erlang complained, "Why are you ignoring me?"

Bai Shan replied, "Didn’t you see we are reading? Did you come to us to read?"

"What book is it? I just ate some really delicious birds..."

"We know," Manbao flipped a page without looking up, "We caught them."

Bai Erlang, "...You’re lying!"

Even he couldn’t catch them; how could these two bookworms manage it?

But neither Manbao nor Bai Shanbao had any intention of arguing with him. After one comment, they both returned their attention to their books, leaving Bai Erlang to the silence of the study.

Daji sat in the corner and cast a sympathetic glance at Bai Erlang. If he had arrived two minutes earlier or half an hour later, perhaps the scene would have been more lively.

Unfortunately, he had come right when they were immersed in their reading.

Seeing that neither was paying him any mind, Bai Erlang huffed, "If you say you caught them, then catch another to show me."

Manbao pondered for a moment, "I have to go home for dinner and do my homework later. I won’t have time to catch any today. Maybe tomorrow."

Bai Shanbao also nodded in agreement; his schedule was equally full.

But Bai Erlang was free; he neither wanted to do homework nor read. With the midday sun so fierce, of course, he played games and napped indoors. Now that the sun wasn’t so harsh, wasn’t it the perfect time to go out and play?

But he couldn’t win over the other two, so after circling the study and finding he still disliked reading, he ran out to find his friends to play with.

However, before sprinting off, he made them promise, "You two better invite me to go with you tomorrow, got it?"

They nodded noncommittally and continued burying themselves in their books.

Having read section after section, Manbao decided to go to the classroom that evening to review the day’s lessons.

Bai Shanbao too, satisfied, closed his book, determined to finish his homework and practice calligraphy. He aspired to be like the calligraphy masters described in books, so one day people would kneel before him, begging for his autograph.