The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 558 - 547: Life Skills

Chapter 558: Chapter 547: Life Skills

Manbao turned to sneak away, but Mr. Zhuang had already spotted the ladder placed in the corner of the wall. He reached out, grabbed Manbao’s collar, and scolded, "Go back and copy the ’Etiquette and Ceremonial’ once!"

Manbao’s eyes nearly popped out as she exclaimed, "Mr., we didn’t bring ’Etiquette and Ceremonial’."

"I’ll go borrow it for you. Mr. Lan has a copy."

Manbao felt like crying and immediately turned her head to look at her two junior brothers.

Bai Erlang was huddled up like a quail, and Bai Shanbao returned her gaze with a look of helpless sympathy.

Manbao wasn’t afraid of copying books, but she dreaded copying ’Etiquette and Ceremonial.’ Not to mention its complicated and difficult content, even the characters were hard to write. With thirteen Chapters in a single book, her head would be empty by the time she finished copying.

Although she was often punished by copying books, this was the first time she was directly penalized to copy ’Etiquette and Ceremonial.’ Mr. Zhuang, however, was adamant, writing a letter and handing it to Zhou SiLang, instructing him to find someone at the intersection to deliver it to the Lan family.

Zhou SiLang was reluctant to spend money, and since the Lan Family wasn’t too far away, he pocketed the letter and left without giving a glance to his punished sister.

Manbao had no choice but to slump her shoulders and return to the study, preparing the ink as she waited for the book to arrive.

Mr. Zhuang still wasn’t ready to let her off the hook and added, "Make sure it’s neatly copied. The characters must be meticulous, and once you’re finished, bind it into a book. Then in the future, if you all make mistakes again, you can use it as a template for copying."

Now even the looks in Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang’s eyes became more active.

When Zhou SiLang returned with the book, Manbao could only muster her energy, dip her brush in ink, and then begin to write earnestly.

Because neatness was required and the content was still somewhat unfamiliar to her, with difficult characters and meanings, she risked making mistakes and consequently her speed slowed down substantially.

Manbao had only managed to copy five pages by the time the sun set.

She placed her finished work aside to dry before tidying them up.

Bai Shanbao also stopped studying early, tidied up the desk, and ran outside.

As soon as Manbao stepped outside, she saw them clumsily helping Zhou SiLang chop wood. She went to sit beside them.

Zhou SiLang glanced at her during a pause and curiously asked, "Have you finished copying?"

Manbao: "How could it be so fast? It will take at least ten days to finish."

Zhou SiLang was astonished. "It’s just a book. You all used to copy books quite quickly, didn’t you?"

Bai Shanbao chuckled with schadenfreude, "How can that be the same? We’ve memorized the ’Thousand Character Classic’ and ’The Analects’ by heart and could write them with our eyes closed. But ’Etiquette and Ceremonial,’ heh heh heh..."

"What are you so proud of?" Manbao said. "Mr. said, if you make mistakes, you will also have to copy ’Etiquette and Ceremonial.’"

"I won’t make mistakes."

Erlang immediately said, "Neither will I."

Manbao huffed and turned her head away, touching her stomach and feeling a bit hungry. "Silang, what are we eating tonight?"

"We’re having dishes from the eatery at the alley’s end. I’ve already arranged it with them. They will deliver shortly, and I’ve steamed the rice."

Everyone disdained the dishes Zhou SiLang cooked, so for the three meals a day, they mostly ate out.

For breakfast, Zhou SiLang usually bought it back himself, or they picked something up during their morning walks. Lunch and dinner, however, were often delivered to their doorstep by a restaurant Zhou SiLang chose.

They steamed their own rice.

Sitting on a small stool, Manbao, as usual, missed the meals cooked by her sister-in-law.

Zhou SiLang felt the same way. "It’d be good if sister-in-law were here; we wouldn’t have to spend so much money every day."

Manbao said, "It’s not really that much."

Zhou SiLang looked at her and commented, "I truly suspect you’re not a child of our family. You spend money as though you come from a wealthy household."

"My family isn’t rich, but I have money."

Zhou SiLang actually found her reasoning quite compelling.

"We have honored guests tomorrow. Should I buy some pastries to have on hand?" Zhou SiLang changed the subject.

The three children immediately nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, yes."

They hadn’t enjoyed pastries for a long time, inevitably because Zhou SiLang, who handled their finances, was more generous than Old Zhou, but was still frugal with unnecessary expenses.

For example, pastries.

Erlang said, "Get some Osmanthus cakes."

Shanbao: "And Chestnut cakes, too."

Manbao: "Glutinous rice dumplings aren’t bad either, the snow-white kind."

"You have so many requests. Tomorrow I’ll see what’s cheap and buy that."

The children chuckled, knowing that Zhou Si was just saying that; if they didn’t like the pastries he brought back, it would still end up being a waste.

Since they were expecting honored guests, it was not enough to just buy pastries. They had to purchase tea leaves and brew tea as well.

Zhou SiLang calculated what he needed to buy, then told the children, "Tomorrow, you’ll have to wash your clothes by yourselves; I won’t help you with that anymore."

Bai Shanbao and Erlang immediately turned to look at Manbao, who pleaded coyly, "Silang, can you help us for a few more days? We’re still not ready for it."

"It’s been days, and you’re still not ready? I’ve taken you to learn how to do it two or three times already," Zhou SiLang categorically refused, "No more help. Do it yourselves!"

With that, he patted the axe down, gathered the chopped wood, and went back to boil water.

The three children sighed in unison and decided to wash up earlier that day.

After washing up, they put on shorts, wrapped their hands, and carried their laundry out the door.

Zhou SiLang looked on in bafflement and asked, "Aren’t you supposed to wash clothes in the morning?"

Manbao replied, "Everyone has the same idea as you, so there are a lot of people washing clothes in the morning. You can end up waiting in line for an hour, which is a waste of time."

Shanbao nodded, "Besides, it’s not dark yet; we can wash the clothes quickly."

Of course, the task was quick; it was the three of them washing clothes for the first time. Although they had watched the process several times, when their turn came, they simply threw the clothes into the river, dragged them out when soaked, smacked them a few times, wrung them out, and placed them in the wooden tub.

Daji, who was trailing behind the three, was dumbfounded by their approach. His forehead twitched, and he couldn’t help but interject, "They’re not clean."

The three children looked at Daji, then at the clothes in their hands, tossed them back into the river, stirred them around, and then, with the help of friends, wrung them out again.

Daji hesitated, contemplating whether to speak up, but ultimately decided not to say anything further.

After all, they would learn with time.

Zhou SiLang had just finished boiling the last pot of hot water and was about to wash up when he saw them returning with the wooden tub.

He asked with a smile, "Why didn’t you keep washing?"

Manbao replied, "We’re already finished."

Zhou SiLang instinctively glanced at the sunset and felt something wasn’t right, "No, how long have you been out? Did you even reach the riverbank?"

"We did. We washed for quite a while."

Zhou SiLang gaped, wanting to ask where exactly they spent their ’quite a while.’

He looked at Daji, whose expressionless face followed behind, and exhaled a sigh of resignation. Let them be. After all, it’s not him wearing those clothes.

If it were up to these few kids, they could all become slovenly in no time, but it wasn’t the case.

So when Mr. Zhuang came out and saw the damp clothes hanging on the sticks in the yard, he commanded, "Take the clothes out and wash them again. Clothes that aren’t wrung out properly are not allowed to be hung up."

He felt that he still had to teach the children some life skills. He wasn’t just a teacher; he was like a father with a heart worn to a frazzle.

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