The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 527 - 516

Chapter 527: 516

Manbao was not the least bit scared when she was called upon, as her reasoning was especially solid, "It was originally a present for my sister-in-law, and since Sister-in-law’s last name is Qian, it makes sense to call it Qian’s."

"Your sister-in-law’s belongs to your elder brother, so calling it Zhou’s is even more appropriate."

"Fine, then you buy a new sign," Manbao said generously with a wave of her hand. "I’ll just write on it when the time comes."

Old Zhou stared at the four characters on the sign and asked, "Can’t I take it to the river to wash it?"

Zhou Silang immediately shouted, "Dad, this fabric is not easy to wash. I’m not sure if the characters can be completely cleaned off, but the sign might end up being dyed a different color, which wouldn’t look good."

"How much does one sign cost?"

"One hundred wen."

"One hundred wen!?" Old Zhou exclaimed loudly. "That’s robbery, for just a piece of cloth."

"Dad, what matters isn’t the cloth, but the pattern printed on it. You don’t know, but the government has stipulated that this cloth can only be bought at a specific general store. You can’t find it anywhere else, which is why it’s so expensive."

Old Zhou looked at the cloth, then at his daughter, couldn’t help but grunt, and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Manbao then asked with a grin, "Dad, are you still going to change it?"

"Change what? No changing it; too much money to burn!"

After all, the shop was in his daughter’s name. No matter what it was called, it was mostly the Zhou Family’s property.

Manbao happily took the finished sign to find her eldest sister-in-law.

Junior Ms. Qian had heard all the commotion earlier, stretched out her finger, tapped Manbao’s forehead, and said with a smile, "You, you always have to stir up trouble with Dad."

Manbao stuck out her tongue, and seeing her sister-in-law organizing a chest, asked curiously, "Eldest sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

"Packing a little. I’ll have to stay in the county town soon, and I can only come back every two or three days, so I need to bring some clothes to change into."

"Is elder brother going too?"

Junior Ms. Qian said with a smile, "If the farm isn’t too busy, he’ll certainly go to help."

Junior Ms. Qian said in a low voice, "Your elder brother and I have discussed it, and plan to make some steamed buns and tofu pudding to sell in the morning. That requires grinding beans, and just Sixth and me can’t handle it, so I’m thinking he should go too, and return when it’s busy with farming."

Manbao nodded repeatedly, "Tofu pudding is delicious, and the buns made by sister-in-law are delicious too."

Junior Ms. Qian smiled, stretched out her hand, and touched Manbao’s head, "We visited Old Master Bai today. From now on, the school meals will be handled by your third sister-in-law, her cooking skills aren’t bad either. You’re at school, so you better not cause trouble."

Manbao felt a little sad at first, but then quickly became happy, "As long as it’s not Second Sister-in-law doing it, I’m fine."

Junior Ms. Qian couldn’t resist and tapped her forehead again, whispering, "You imp, be careful your Second Sister-in-law hears you and beats you up."

Manbao smiled without taking it seriously, but in the evening, she suffered her Second Sister-in-law’s retaliation as she insisted on preparing the evening meal, so everyone had Ms. Feng’s cooking that night.

Old Zhou picked up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks first, then everyone else began to eat.

Manbao looked around and felt she had eaten her fill at noon, so she gestured to her dad and took his bowl to shovel half of his portion into it.

Old Zhou never complained about too much food. Having known hunger, he could eat even the worst-tasting food.

However, looking at the dishes Ms. Feng had made, he still couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

They were made with the same oil and salt, the same pots, and the same vegetables and water, but the dishes Ms. Qian cooked were always lush and tasty, while hers were withered yellow, and although she used roughly the same amount of salt, the dishes were bland and flavorless.

Alas~~

The Zhou Family all sighed inwardly at the same time, but no one said anything. They put effort into finishing all the food, and after setting down their chopsticks, those who needed to work went to work, and those who had homework returned to their writing.

Ms. Feng herself felt that the dish she made wasn’t tasty, but she wasn’t discouraged at all. After setting down her chopsticks, she cheerfully returned to her room. Today, it was Zhou Xi’s turn to clean up the dishes.

Seeing her happy, Zhou Erlang couldn’t help but ask, "What are you so happy about?"

"Nothing," she replied upon seeing Zhou Erlang ready to go out with a basket full of pen holders, and asked, "Are these for Manbao and the others?"

"Yeah, they said the previous ones got dirty, so they asked me to make new ones and to carve a monkey on them. But how can I carve a monkey? I just randomly sketched with the knife and carved a few flowers for them."

Ms. Feng glanced at them and thought they looked quite decent. "While you’re there, tell Manbao to speak a little less loudly next time she talks behind my back."

Zhou Erlang, perked up, asked, "What did Manbao say about you?"

Ms. Feng snorted, "She said my cooking is terrible."

Zhou Erlang: "...So, that’s why you cooked yourself tonight?"

Ms. Feng snorted again.

Zhou Erlang was astounded, finding himself unable to say a word to his wife. After a while, he took the basket and left the house.

As soon as he entered the small courtyard, he saw his daughter opening the window to do her homework, while his son was plotting with Third Son how to trick Bai Erlang the next day, bad-mouthing him.

Zhou Erlang just sighed, they say a son is like his mother, a daughter like her father; he didn’t quite believe it before, but now he began to feel there might be some truth to it.

Zhou Erlang walked over and handed the basket to Second Son, said, "Second Son, no, Liwei, distribute these pen holders to everyone. Once you’re done, go do your homework, and don’t be mischievous, got it?"

"Got it, Dad."

Zhou Erlang didn’t believe him one bit, but he was a little tired today and didn’t feel like lecturing him, so he waved his hand and went on his way.

This year, Qili Village’s New Year celebrations were livelier than in previous years, mainly because this year, the villagers had selected some really good wheat that Old Master Bai and County Magistrate Yang had purchased at the price of seeds, so everyone had made some money.

Having earned money, they couldn’t resist buying some tasty treats, and with treats came the desire for new clothes, and with new clothes came the inability to resist buying more toys for the children.

So, the village was busier than in previous years, and the Zhou family was even more bustling.

Firstly, because they had a large family, and secondly, because the Zhou family had just bought a shop, which aside from the Bai family was a first for Qili Village.

Even the village chief’s family hadn’t managed to buy a shop in the city, so everyone was excited. It was the New Year, there wasn’t much to do, so they couldn’t help but gather at Zhou’s place to chat and gossip.

They also admired the flag Manbao had written, taking turns to praise, "Great, great, education really is beneficial."

"Such good handwriting, just like the flags in the city."

"Do you even know how to read?"

"I may not, but I know it’s good."

"That’s why education is important. Look how bright Manbao is now."

"That’s because she was born smart by her parents. Manbao has always been clever since she was little."

"Not necessarily, she was smart as a child, but she wasn’t as bright as she is now. How old is she, and she’s already earned back a shop? I think education has something to do with it. Does studying make people smarter?"

"No, that’s wrong. Intelligence is innate. Even if you don’t study, you’re dumber than others. You’re still dumber than others even after you study."

"Come off it. Look at Uncle Jin’s Datou and Second Son, didn’t they used to be well-behaved and simple, just like the other kids in the village? But since they started studying, don’t they seem cleverer than the other kids?"

"How do you know they weren’t naturally more clever than the other kids from birth? They study, and so does Manbao, but haven’t they still not surpassed her?"

The other person couldn’t come up with a rebuttal, and then over this question, the two nearly came to blows.

Manbao, afraid of being dragged out for various pleasantries, climbed over the wall with the help of Datou and the others, jumping from the wall to the outside. Then, with a bag loaded with books and homework on her back, she ran off to do her homework at the Bai family’s house.

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