The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 416 - 405: Discussing Business (Part 1) July Monthly Pass 500 Plus More

Chapter 416: Chapter 405: Discussing Business (Part 1) July Monthly Pass 500 Plus More

Old Master Bai steadied the bowl and asked, "Is this wheat seed made of gold?"

Bai Erlang thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head, "No."

Old Master Bai truly wanted to smash the bowl onto his face.

He put down his chopsticks, rubbed his forehead, and said, "Forget it, I won’t talk to you. Finish your meal and go find Bai Shanbao and Manbao for me. I’ll talk to them."

Bai Erlang ate a big mouthful of rice unhappily. It was clearly agreed that he would handle the matters with Dad, and they would talk to Grandma Liu; why did they also have to come here to talk about Dad’s matters?

Old Master Bai glanced at his son and seriously said, "Erlang, Bai Shanbao and Manbao are your Senior Brother and Senior Sister. You should not address them by their names directly; you must call them Senior Brother and Senior Sister, understand?"

Bai Erlang looked at his father with teary eyes.

Old Master Bai felt a bit of compassion and softened his tone, "Even if you don’t call them Senior Brother and Sister, you can call them by their nicknames, right? Bai Shanbao is your cousin, and Manbao is younger than you, isn’t she?"

"Then I’ll call them by their nicknames!" Bai Erlang decided on the spot and then took the opportunity to promote their wheat seed, "Dad, you won’t lose out by buying our wheat seed. We’ve been to the grain shops in the county town today. They sell their wheat seed for one hundred and forty-four wen per dou, and theirs can’t compare to ours."

"How do you know it can’t compare?"

"Of course, I know it can’t. Didn’t we buy our family’s wheat seed from a grain shop? But the seeds from our small farm were bought from Manbao’s family. We get up to five stone per mu at most and at least three and a half stone."

Old Master Bai’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help but sit up straight, "What did you say? What’s the highest yield per mu you’ve got?"

So loud was his voice that Bai Erlang almost fell off the chair, and Mrs. Bai, who had been quietly eating, couldn’t help but give him a stern look, "Just talk nicely, what are you shouting at the child for?"

Old Master Bai was about to speak, but Mrs. Bai suddenly said, "Enough, you’re supposed to be literati, yet don’t even understand ’do not speak while eating’: no talking during the meal. Everyone must eat first."

Old Master Bai’s breath caught in his chest, nearly suffocating him.

He looked at his foolish son, wanting to speak, but under the stern gaze of his mother, he dared not say another word and could only bow his head and eat quickly.

Then, as soon as the utensils were put down, he grabbed Bai Erlang, not caring whether he had eaten his fill, and went straight out the door, "Mother, Erlang’s had his fill too, I’m going to test him on his studies."

Mrs. Bai and Grandma Liu could not stop him in time and could only watch as he took the child away.

Mrs. Bai looked worried, and Grandma Liu said, "It’s alright, don’t worry. The manner of his speaking sounds positive; he won’t beat Two."

Bai Erlang also felt that his father wouldn’t beat him, so he obediently went along.

Old Master Bai took his son to the study, turned around, and instructed the servant, "Go to the kitchen and have them prepare some more food, hmm, pastries, meat, and some sweet soup. Make a bit more and also invite the young master and Miss Man over, tell them I have something to discuss with them."

After everyone had left, Old Master Bai let his son sit down in the chair and asked, "Tell me, is your wheat really that high-yielding?"

"Of course, we were there when Manor Head Bai and three workers were weighing it. We watched it being stored," Bai Erlang had already been through a headache of calculations with Bai Shanbao and Manbao, and remembered only a few simple numbers, then understood a principle, "Dad, if you use our wheat seed, in one year your granary will overflow, and in two years you will be as rich as a nation."

Old Master Bai: "... Who taught you to say that?"

"Nobody taught me, I heard it from Manbao."

Knowing it sounded like boasting, he became somewhat concerned, "Why haven’t you learned anything good, only these kinds of things?"

"Who says I haven’t learned anything good? I know how to farm now, do you? I also know how to weigh, do you? I can even tie up grain bags with a rope, can you?"

Old Master Bai: ...

It was time for dinner, and naturally, Manbao was eating at home, but the Zhou Family ate a bit later than the Bai Family, so she had just sat down at the table and picked up her chopsticks when the door was knocked.

Datou ran to open the door.

The Bai Family’s servant stood at the door, bowed and, with a smile, expressed his intrusion, "Old Master Zhou, my master invites Miss Man to come over to discuss some matters."

Old Zhou hesitated and said, "Let this child finish her dinner first, and then I’ll have her brothers take her over."

"This..." the servant hesitated, "Old Master Zhou, our master has specially prepared meals for the three young masters and miss. The young master should have already gone over, we’re just waiting for Miss Man now..."

Old Zhou immediately said, "Alright, take her over then. She’s young, so if she doesn’t understand something, please look after her a bit more."

Then he turned to Manbao, "Don’t eat now; I’ll have your sister-in-law save it for you. You first go see what Old Master Bai has to say."

At Zhou Family’s house, they had already divided into two tables for meals, and Manbao was the only child at this table. Hearing this, she put down the bowl and chopsticks she had just picked up and left with the servant.

As Datou closed the door behind them, Old Zhou took the rice from Manbao’s bowl and shared some with his old wife, putting the rest into his own bowl.

Junior Ms. Qian, who was about to tidy up...: ...

Old Zhou glanced at her and said, "Could the Bai Family possibly lack food for Manbao?"

Ms. Qian gave him a glance, handed Zhou Sanlang Manbao’s sweet custard, and said, "Take this to Fifth."

Zhou Sanlang agreed.

The Zhou Family began their meal.

Over at the Bai Family, Bai Shanbao had indeed arrived and was already sitting at the desk in the study eating. Seeing Manbao, he waved at her.

Bai Erlang, who had not eaten his fill, saw the two of them enjoying their food and sat down to eat as well.

Old Master Bai happily sat on the side and talked to them, "Shanbao, how much did you harvest from those twenty-odd mu of wheat?"

"Not much, just eighty-three stones."

Old Master Bai did some quick calculations, his heart quivered, "How did you plant them?"

"Just planted them like that."

Old Master Bai thought about it and realized he couldn’t ask like this, so he changed his question, "Who taught you how to farm?"

Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang both looked at Manbao.

Manbao said, "My father!"

She continued, "I told Manor Head Bai to plant it the same way as my family does. If he still didn’t understand, he should ask my father, and my father would tell him."

Old Master Bai nodded, "And the seeds..."

"The seeds are from my family too."

"Where did your family buy them?"

"We didn’t buy them; we kept them ourselves," Manbao explained, "After last year’s flood, only our wheat was the best. So the villagers swapped wheat seeds with us, and my father decided to keep all our wheat as seeds."

Manbao knew what he was doubting and explained in detail, "Later, when we had a small farm and wanted to plant wheat there, I talked to my father and had Manor Head Bai buy the wheat seeds from us."

It wasn’t much anyway, just about four hundred catties of wheat seeds, which was about enough to bag up the rest of the wheat.

Old Master Bai was nonetheless very skeptical, how could the Zhou Family’s wheat seeds be so good?

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