The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 329 - 318 Shared Efforts (Additional update for "Thousand words are not as good as one silence")

Chapter 329: Chapter 318 Shared Efforts (Additional update for "Thousand words are not as good as one silence")

Old Zhou scanned his gaze between Datou and Second Son authoritatively and said, "Datou, Second Son, you must study well the characters your younger auntie teaches you. When you grow up a little more, I’ll have your father find you apprenticeships with an accountant in the county town. In the future, you both will also become accountants."

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang almost spat out the rice in their mouths and stared wide-eyed at their father.

Upon meeting their gaze, Old Zhou glared back and said, "What are you looking at? Your sons already recognize so many characters, what’s wrong with being an accountant? Do you really want them to end up like you, toiling in the fields all their lives and working for others when idle?"

Datou stuffed the egg he had snatched into his mouth and mumbled, "Grandpa, I like tilling the land. When it’s my turn to farm, I’ll plant all my fields with ginger. I’ll sell it for a lot of money, then buy lots of meat, and eat to my heart’s content, tossing some with every bite."

Old Zhou was dumbfounded.

Junior Ms. Qian slapped him firmly and scolded, "You haven’t even made it yet and you’re already thinking of wasting, even talking about eating one bite and throwing away the next. Don’t you know wasting food invites lightning from the heavens?"

Datou protested, "I was just saying it offhand; besides, I didn’t come up with that—little auntie did."

Manbao looked up from her bowl and denied bluntly, "I didn’t say that."

"You did say it," Datou insisted with a grievance. "It was you, little auntie, who said that when you make money, you’d buy us meat to eat till we can eat one bite and toss the next."

Manbao spoke earnestly, "That might be you tossing, not me. Even if I didn’t have anything to eat, I would still save it to give to Dad, Mom, and eldest sister-in-law."

Junior Ms. Qian turned to Manbao with a smile, then turned back to glare sternly at Datou.

Datou felt like crying.

The discussion about becoming apprentice accountants was dropped just like that.

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang heaved a simultaneous sigh of relief, knowing that they had no such ability to become accountants.

The most prestigious person the two knew was Zheng, the manager of the drugstore, and they were well aware that he wouldn’t think highly of their children.

The matter was settled, but everyone now understood just how hard it was for Manbao to study, and they realized why she could recognize so many things and find so many ways to earn money for the family. It seemed that reading really was very useful.

Junior Ms. Qian’s gaze shifted back and forth between Datou and the Third Son, while Zhou Erlang watched Second Son, and Ms. He looked at the Fourth Son and then rubbed her belly.

She had wanted a daughter to have both a son and a daughter, but now she felt content with the idea of a son. If he could be smart, she would send him to school when he grew up...

Ms. Fang, too, rubbed her belly, growing fonder of Manbao by the minute. She resolved to have Manbao roll on the bed again later, hoping that a child as bright as Manbao might result.

Reading is so useful!

This became a unanimous recognition among the adults of the Zhou family, three years later, and it was much deeper than before.

Although Manbao didn’t want to eat eggs, the next day Junior Ms. Qian still took one from home to the school. When the rice was cooked, the egg was steamed.

She took out the bowl with the steamed egg, served the rice into it, added the vegetables on top, and then set the bowl aside.

When Manbao rushed out of the school, Ms. Qian handed her the bowl, urging her to take it outside to eat.

Manbao liked to mix her rice with vegetables, digging down to discover the steamed egg. She mixed it in, took a bite, and her eyes lit up.

Junior Ms. Qian had just finished distributing the meals and came out to see. She couldn’t help but laugh, "How is it, tasty?"

Manbao nodded vigorously, "Sister-in-law, can we have steamed eggs instead of egg water in the mornings from now on?"

Junior Ms. Qian, smiling, stroked her head, "The physician said that although egg water might taste a bit fishy, it’s the most nutritious."

Manbao, though slightly disappointed, didn’t say anything.

She ate the steamed egg contentedly, then looked up at the river in front of the school and wondered, "I don’t know where Bai Shanbao has gone to, whether he has any steamed eggs to eat."

Of course, Bai Shanbao didn’t have any steamed eggs; eggs were easily broken, and the Bai family didn’t prepare such things for the journey.

At that moment, he was sitting under a tree eating a flatbread that had just been made by the cook. He always felt it wasn’t as tasty as the ones made by Manbao’s sister-in-law, or perhaps it was the sun affecting his appetite as he sighed, telling Daji to bring down his book box. He wanted to read later.

Daji agreed and turned to get the book box from the carriage.

Ms. Liu was very pleased with her grandson’s studiousness but also advised him, "Take a nap at lunchtime; we have to continue traveling in the afternoon."

Bai Shanbao replied, "It’s okay, I’ll just read a while. I sleep better on the caravan."

He couldn’t help it—the wagon shook too much, making him dizzy when he tried to read. It was better to just cover his head and sleep. So, he would study during the midday break.

He still had so many assignments to do and texts to memorize.

He would read them through a few times now, memorize them, and then recite them with his eyes closed on the carriage later. With such limited time for studying now, he couldn’t keep up with Manbao’s pace and wondered if she would laugh at him when he returned.

Across a long road, Manbao was also listening attentively to Mr. Zhuang’s private tutoring. She felt that Shanbao must be sitting in the carriage with nothing else to do but read, read, and read.

With so much time and being just a bit smarter than her, what if she didn’t work hard, and there was a big gap between them when he returned? What if he teased her?

So she had to work hard.

Mr. Zhuang looked on with satisfaction from above, nodding to himself. It was clear that she had been somewhat distracted during yesterday’s lessons, probably not used to Bai Shanbao’s departure, but today she was very focused.

Mr. Zhuang was very pleased with this, mmm, no need to have a heart-to-heart with the younger student.

After finishing the private tutoring session, Mr. Zhuang glanced at the hourglass and told her, "You’ve rested enough; take a nap for quarter of an hour, then we’ll resume classes."

Manbao complied, put away her books, and lay down on the couch to close her eyes. As she couldn’t fall asleep, she went over the knowledge she had just learned in her mind.