The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 358 - 347: Good Friend

Chapter 358: Chapter 347: Good Friend

Manbao, holding a book and standing in the corner with Bai Shanbao, still wore a bewildered expression. She clearly did not understand why she was being punished with standing during class for merely leaning over to take a glance at the book Bai Shanbao thought was so interesting.

Bai Shanbao was initially somewhat angry, feeling that she had failed to do what good friends do by not giving him a heads up, but seeing her utterly clueless face made him feel a bit guilty.

It seemed like he had gotten her into this mess.

Class hadn’t started yet and some students hadn’t arrived; those who were there were expected to read morning lessons in the classroom first.

Mr. Zhuang only made a round and then left.

Bai Shanbao pretended to read studiously, but once the teacher had gone, he whispered to Manbao, "Why didn’t you tell me the teacher was coming?"

Manbao had already regained her composure, snorted, and said, "Did you, like Bai Eryi, look at a bad book? Otherwise, why would the teacher punish you?"

"Not at all, the book I was reading was about benevolence and righteousness, not the sort that Bai Eryi reads."

Manbao remained skeptical, "It’s all your fault, dragging me into getting punished too."

"It’s clearly because you were looking at extracurricular books that you were punished."

"The book I looked at wasn’t a bad book."

Bai Shanbao insisted, "I’m reading a good book too, so tell me, what is your book about?"

"It’s about how to increase the yield of crops."

Bai Shanbao’s eyes nearly popped out, "A farming book? You actually find that interesting!"

Of all the books in the study room, he least liked the farming books, sometimes even falling asleep while reading them.

Manbao carefully looked out the window before whispering to Bai Shanbao, "It’s a very impressive farming book, even more detailed and incredible than any I’ve read before. It even discusses things that don’t exist yet now."

Bai Shanbao expressed doubt, "Aren’t farming books written based on what already exists? Maybe Qili Village just doesn’t have them."

Manbao thought about it and agreed, realizing the author of the paper was someone from a very distant future, who indeed was writing based on things that had existed; it’s just that some things didn’t exist yet for them at the moment.

So, with a nod, Manbao confidently declared, "Your family definitely doesn’t have it either."

So what?

Bai Shanbao was lackluster in his response.

Manbao encouraged him, "I think the things written in the book are important. Your family has more land, as well as oxen and people. Why don’t we try it out on a piece of land?"

"My family’s land isn’t here, and besides, your family has plenty of land too. Why not use yours?"

"I’m afraid of failing. If that happens, my family would end up drinking the northwestern wind."

"...My family could fail too." Feeling righteous, Bai Shanbao considered ending their friendship there and then.

Manbao replied, "But if your family fails, you won’t be drinking the northwestern wind."

Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and then said, "My family’s land isn’t around here."

Bai Shanbao frowned sorrowfully, then his gaze unwittingly drifted towards someone not far off who was playing with his desk-mate behind the cover of a book.

Following his gaze, Manbao hesitated slightly, "That doesn’t seem right, cheating people is wrong."

Bai Shanbao got irritated, "Then why do you want to cheat me?"

"But you are my good friend. If I cheat you this time, I could make it up to you later. But if I cheat Bai Er, how can I live with the guilt every time I see him afterward?"

To Bai Shanbao’s surprise, he found her reasoning sound, but then something didn’t add up, "Isn’t your farming book any good?"

"Of course it is. If it’s successful, we could make lots and lots of money, and grow plenty of food."

"Then that’s wonderful! Every venture comes with risks. That’s his risk to take, and with risk comes opportunity." Bai Shanbao made a decision on the spot, "After school, we’ll go see him."

At noon, after school was let out and Bai Shanbao and Manbao got their meals, they cornered Bai Erlang in the corridor.

Bai Erlang, holding his bowl, stared blankly at the two, then hesitantly extended his bowl forward, "Do you want it?"

Bai Shanbao looked at him disdainfully, "Do we look like those kind of people to you? We just have something to discuss with you."

The three children then sat on the steps, eating their meals in the sun while talking.

Of course, with Bai Erlang seated between them, it was a rare moment of attention that left him feeling uneasy.

Bai Shanbao said, "We want to play a big game with you."

The mention of playing a game immediately piqued Bai Erlang’s interest. He asked, "What kind of big game?"

Bai Shanbao looked at Manbao.

Manbao then pulled the book out of her embrace and stuffed it into Bai Erlang’s arms.

Bai Erlang covered the book and looked around, then without so much as glancing at the cover, he shoved it into his chest, chuckling, "Is this the random book that the teacher caught you with this morning? So, how do we play?"

Manbao: "...The book that was discovered was Shanbao’s book. This is mine, a very, very impressive farming book."

Bai Erlang blinked, took the book out, flipped it open, glanced at it, looked at Manbao, quickly flipped through several pages to the middle, and there he saw very clearly printed farm tools.

Don’t ask how he knew what they were, having grown up in the countryside, he’d seen them even if he didn’t know how to use them, okay?

Bai Erlang closed the book, handed it back to Manbao, and with a huff said, "You guys aren’t thinking of getting me to farm, are you?"

Bai Shanbao praised him, "You’re so clever, we haven’t even said anything and you’ve guessed it."

Bai Erlang stood up at once and declared, "I’m not playing. If you want to play, go do it yourselves."

Bai Shanbao tried to convince him, "It’s so much fun, why wouldn’t you want to play? You get to learn about agriculture, help make money for the family, and it will keep you from being bored. Sounds great, right?"

"Not the least bit great," Bai Erlang shouted. "Last spring you said the same thing to me, claiming it was a fun thing to do together, but then you dragged me to Zhou Man’s house to work the land. I almost died of exhaustion. It was no fun at all."

Bai Shanbao scoffed, "You seemed quite happy while playing, and what you call farming was just scattering a few seeds without even walking ten steps. You were tired because you were building huts on the ridge with Second Son and the others, not from farming."

Bai Erlang felt a little guilty, but he firmly rejected the idea of "fun" in farming, "There are so many fun games out there, why do you want to torture yourselves by farming?"

Bai Shanbao thought about it, then turned past Bai Erlang to look at Manbao, "Yeah, why do we want to torture ourselves with farming?"

"Isn’t that what you said about learning the ways of agriculture to become an official? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have called for you, I would’ve just asked my elder brother to do it."

Bai Shanbao: "You just said you didn’t want to risk your land at home and end up drinking the northwestern wind."

"Yes, but we could try out a few things on a few acres of land," Manbao said. "It was you who said you wanted to learn farming, and your family has land, people, and even oxen and horses, that’s why I thought of you."

Bai Erlang glanced around and asked, "And what does all this have to do with me?"

That was when Manbao and Bai Shanbao both fixed their gaze on him, smiling in unison, "Because you’re our good friend, that’s why."