The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 570 - 559: Filling the Hole (Birthday special for the reader "Jinyiwei: Rongrong")

Chapter 570: Chapter 559: Filling the Hole (Birthday special for the reader "Jinyiwei: Rongrong")

Zhou Silang, seeing that Manbao had brought back so many delicious foods, was both happy and pained, but happiness ultimately prevailed. As he bustled about the kitchen, he whispered to Manbao, "Don’t tell Dad when we get back home."

Manbao nodded, "I won’t say anything."

If her fourth brother didn’t benefit, she would get scolded too—sabotaging oneself and others was not her style.

Zhou Silang was then reassured and took a large portion of the chicken soup to blanch the greens and slices of meat.

Bai Shanbao and the others squeezed into the kitchen to join in the buzz, sampling a bite when it was ready.

Zhou Silang asked as he watched them, "How is it?"

Bai Shanbao replied, "It’s a bit bland."

"I’ll add some salt," he said, reaching for the salt.

Bai Erlang noted, "It seems to be lacking in richness too."

After tasting a mouthful, Manbao said, "Never mind, just add some salt. After all, no matter what we do, it won’t be as delicious as what the Zhao family makes or as good as what our sister-in-law makes."

Thinking her reasoning was sound, Zhou Silang brought the dishes to the main room and arranged the piping hot potstickers inviting Mr. Zhuang and the others out for the meal.

Mr. Lan had spent the night in the small courtyard and, together with Mr. Zhuang, had been correcting the essays of Manbao and Bai Shanbao—of course, the focus was on Bai Shanbao’s piece.

Manbao listened in and benefitted a great deal, then she put aside her homework and intended to go back to her room to sleep.

That evening, unable to contain himself, Mr. Lan said to Mr. Zhuang, "I think your eldest disciple is also very talented, why don’t you let her study alongside Bai Shan?"

Mr. Zhuang replied, "She also needs to learn, just not as intensively as Bai Shan. She currently has other homework to do."

Thinking of the stack of notes he had seen that afternoon, Mr. Zhuang couldn’t help but chuckle, "That homework of hers, I’m afraid she won’t be done with it for a year and a half; how could she focus on anything else? So, for these lessons, it’s enough that she just listens and roughly understands."

"What homework did you assign her that takes so long?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled without a word.

Mr. Lan felt quite a bit of pity in his heart, "That child’s writing has such spirit, it’s a shame she’s a girl."

Mr. Zhuang tucked into his quilt and replied as he lay down, "Not every scholar needs to enter the civil service. If one doesn’t enter, what difference does it make between a man and a woman?"

"You’re considering making her a scholar?"

Mr. Zhuang merely smiled and remained silent.

Meanwhile, in the eastern wing, Manbao, who had just yawned, rolled over in bed and checked her system for the progress of the recorded entries and emails, then lazily chatted with Keke.

"There are still so many places in the Yan Residence we haven’t explored, and there must be many flowers and plants we haven’t seen. When I find an opportunity, I’ll go back and look some more," she said.

Keke responded, "Host, I will keep an eye on the progression of the entries. Once there are new entries, I’ll help you place orders on the forum."

Manbao happily agreed, "Great, we should definitely earn more points."

Ambitious Manbao, intent on earning points, paid special attention to the neighboring Yan Residence and then noticed that officers were fixing the large hole.

Not only Manbao, but also Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang couldn’t resist going out to gape, asking a passing officer, "Officer brother, didn’t you say the County Governmental Office was short of money? Why have you come to fix this big hole?"

"We’re short of money, would we be doing this if we weren’t?" The officer lazily pushed the rocks to fill the hole, continuing, "This kind of work should normally be done by craftsmen from the repair shop, or at the very least, the County Governmental Office should pay day laborers from the street. We’re supposed to patrol the streets and protect the citizens, but here we are, building walls instead."

Manbao responded, "Then just don’t bother repairing it."

The officer glanced at her and said, "That won’t do. Although there isn’t much of value left in the Yan Residence, we can’t just leave it open for people to come and go as they please. If word gets out, who would buy the property?"

He lazily used the hod to fill in the gaps, saying, "Young masters, young miss, the fact that you sneaked in can’t be hidden from others’ eyes."

The trio’s eyes widened in shock, "You actually know!"

"Of course, we know," the officer replied. "Since the Xiao Family claimed to have ghosts, the people in these few streets have been very alert. You think you’re unseen, but that’s not really the case."

"It’s just that you’re on good terms with our County Magistrate and there’s nothing of value in there. You going in to pick some vegetables or dig up some flowers and plants is no issue. Otherwise, you would have joined the Xiao Family long ago."

Shocked, the trio soon realized from his amused expression that he was probably just teasing them and breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed they only knew about their digging up the plants and picking vegetables, not about them taking a ledger.

That made sense, as the former left traces, whereas the latter did not.

The trio carefully thought back on the day’s events, reassured themselves that only they three and Daji had been at the Yan Residence, and calmed down.

Seeing that he had frightened them, the officer grew smug and after a pause, curiously asked, "It makes sense for you to pick vegetables, but what do you need those wildflowers and weeds for?"

"Those can’t be considered wildflowers and weeds, can they?" Manbao replied. "They were plants the Xiao Family discarded to the side that came back to life. If properly tended to, they should all be especially beautiful flowers and plants. Not to mention anything else, the Yan family was corrupt and wealthy, so the flowers they nurtured must surely be beautiful."

"Even if the flowers are beautiful, they can’t be eaten as food, can they?" the officer remarked. "Besides, I just passed by your courtyard and glanced inside; are you sure those flowers and plants can survive the way you’ve planted them?"

"Why can’t they survive? Did I not plant them well enough?"

"Of course you didn’t plant them well. Have you seen flowers and plants carelessly planted together regardless of species? There are flowers that look inconspicuous now but grow very tall, or some that spread through vines. If you keep planting them haphazardly, it might look okay for now, but what about in two-three months when they grow up? Will that land still be usable?" the officer explained.

"By then, won’t they just die?"

Manbao was stunned, "Are there so many details to consider?"

"Of course, there are; otherwise, there wouldn’t be gardeners in the repair shop, specialists in planting flowers. The complexities involved are plenty," he said.

Manbao pondered and then nodded, "I know, it’s like farming."

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "My fourth brother knows how to farm. Humph, he must have done it on purpose!"

Leaving the repair work behind, she ran back to settle accounts with Zhou Silang.

But Zhou Silang, quite frankly, said, "You should be content if those flowers and plants live for two-three months because we’ll be leaving in two-three months anyway. What use is toiling so hard to grow them well?"

"Because it’s beautiful! The courtyard full of flowers would look so nice," Manbao argued. "Even if I can’t see it, it can be for the landlord to see, or the next tenant. Besides, you can’t just ruin my flowers and plants like that. I worked so hard to dig them up; how can you just plant them carelessly?"