The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 342 - 331: Threat

Chapter 342: Chapter 331: Threat

Manbao peered out of the window and spotted Bai Erlang still sitting outside with Datou eating small fish, so she immediately collected the letter and sat down at the desk to start writing a reply.

The letter from Bai Shanbao had arrived along with Ms. Liu’s, as they hadn’t entrusted it to passing merchants for delivery. Such letters could easily get lost and would arrive very late.

Travel in this era was arduous, with too many uncontrollable factors. If a merchant fell ill on the way, or decided midway to go elsewhere, their letters would undoubtedly wander with the merchant.

It could take three to four months, or even two to three years for a letter to finally reach its addressee.

The Bai Family certainly wouldn’t choose such a risky means; they would send their own servants back and forth to deliver letters.

Unlike entrusting letters to merchants for a few dozen coins, sending servants required providing them with a horse, provisions for the journey, as well as covering their lodging and food expenses.

For a single trip from Longzhou to Qili Village, it would cost no less than five taels of silver.

Five taels! Back in the day at the Zhou Family home, setting aside regular expenses, it would have taken them two years to save that much.

Even for the Bai Family, Ms. Liu wouldn’t use this method to contact Old Master Bai unless it was for something important. It was even less likely for mere communication between the two young boys.

As for the adults’ affairs, neither Manbao nor Bai Shanbao paid any attention. They were still young, and hearing too much about adult matters might stunt their growth.

That’s what the teacher also said.

Both Manbao and Bai Shanbao had great trust in Mr. Zhuang’s words.

So, they only discussed matters concerning the children.

In the letter, Manbao complained about the absence of fried small fish, saying, "When you come back, let’s catch small fish again. Otherwise, you won’t get to eat fried small fish this year."

Fried small fish, though not particularly delicious on the dinner table, made for a nice snack with tea for the children.

Not just Bai Erlang, but Bai Dalang, who came home for the holidays, enjoyed them too.

When Bai Erlang was leaving that evening, Junior Ms. Qian took a large dry lotus leaf and scooped out half of the small fish for Bai Erlang to take home to eat.

Bai Erlang was so delighted he shoved the thick letter Manbao wrote into his chest pocket and walked off holding the lotus leaf.

Datou saw him out the door, afraid he would change his mind. He repeatedly reminded him, "We’ll be waiting for you by the river early tomorrow morning. Be sure to bring a wooden bucket."

Bai Erlang nodded vigorously.

The small fish brought home were first taken to the kitchen to be fried in oil, sautéed, then deep-fried, making them even more fragrant and tastier.

After the meal, Bai Dalang couldn’t resist devouring one after another. Seeing this, Old Master Bai no longer restrained his younger son from fishing and told Bai Dalang, "Go and see it with your brother tomorrow. You come home seldom – it’s good to mingle more with the village youths."

Mrs. Bai grumbled, "What’s there to enjoy with them? They can’t even recognize a single character. It’s better to stay at home and chat with us."

She barely saw her eldest son all year long – how could she let him be sent away?

Old Master Bai glanced at her and said, "Who said they can’t recognize characters? Everyone in the Zhou Family can read now. I hear even the youngest child can recognize numbers."

Mrs. Bai: ...

Bai Dalang became interested, "Isn’t that a learned family then?"

Old Master Bai nodded, "Their family has a good tradition. It’s fine for you and Erlang to play with others more."

Thus, the next day Bai Dalang went along with Bai Erlang.

Zhou Silang had been waiting by the river with fishing nets and his younger siblings for quite a while.

Zhou Dalang and the others weren’t interested in the small fish, and with the village people fishing continuously those days, it seemed unlikely to catch any big fish anymore.

So they generously didn’t interfere with them.

Zhou Silang already had a wife and a child, so in everyone’s eyes, he was an adult.

They all felt at ease with him leading the trip to the river.

Zhou Silang was decisive, rejecting the participation of Sanya and Si Tou who were too young to work, and took the rest down to the river.

Manbao couldn’t work either, but he simply couldn’t refuse her.

After meeting with the two young masters from the Bai Family, Zhou Silang led them out of the village downstream.

"People have been fishing upstream these past few days. Some from our village went there, too. There’s hardly any big fish left there."

Bai Erlang immediately said, "We don’t want big fish, we want small fish."

Zhou Silang replied, "Alright, when the time comes, you can take the small fish back to fry. We’ll keep the big ones. Don’t worry, there are more fish, big and small, downstream."

Bai Dalang was puzzled, "Why is that?"

"Because no one goes there to fish," explained Zhou Silang. "Fish are like people – they like to stay in one place. It’s not like last year when the dyke broke, the water rushed, and washed all the fish downstream. If you fish upstream, there won’t be any left downstream."

He continued, "Now the water is calm. Those fish naturally stay in their homes. There might just be fewer visitor fish from upstream, but the number of fish downstream remains the same."

Manbao and the others widened their eyes, actually finding his explanation quite reasonable.

Zhou Silang chuckled, "Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of experience with this. We used to catch fish here just with baskets, let alone fishing nets."

Zhou Silang led them for about half an hour and they finally reached the spot.

It was a wilderness area with harvested paddy fields on both sides that were now dry.

The river was narrower here with a small riverbed and dense aquatic plants along the banks. The water near the bank was also dense with plants, clearly a spot seldom visited.

Zhou Silang took a long stick and motioned for them to watch.

He dipped the stick into the river until it touched the bottom and then lifted it, showing them the mark on the stick. He asked, "Do you know why no one comes here to fish?"

Zhou Wulang and Bai Erlang were baffled, while Bai Dalang’s face changed color, and Manbao exclaimed in surprise, "The water is so deep, much deeper than me."

Zhou Silang grinned, standing the stick upright next to him, comparing the waterline on it and saying, "It’s not just deeper than you, it’s even deeper than me. So if anyone falls in there, unless they know how to swim... huhuhu."

The unknowing and fearless youths and children stood still, their eyes shining with excitement.

Bai Dalang frowned slightly.

Zhou Silang continued, "Even if you can swim, you have to be careful. There are lots of aquatic plants under there that can entangle your legs, so without my command, none of you are to wander off, you hear?"

Bai Dalang felt relieved seeing him speak so clearly.

Zhou Silang then warned the curious Manbao, "You’re not allowed to get close to the river, or else the water ghost will drag you in. Then you won’t have any more delicious food and won’t get to see your parents and sister-in-law again."

Manbao shuddered and nodded.