The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 577 - 566: Making a Kite

Chapter 577: Chapter 566: Making a Kite

The exams were over, and not only was Bai Shanbao feeling completely relaxed, but even Mr. Zhuang and the others were much more at ease. So after everyone had finished eating, they didn’t rush to go home but sat around chatting for a while.

Knowing that they had all been quite tired for more than a month, Mr. Zhuang generously gave them a three-day holiday without requiring them to wake up early to study the next day.

So when Manbao woke up the next day, she rolled around in bed, hugged her blanket for a moment, and decided to close her eyes again to sleep.

But after a while, she opened her eyes again, unable to sleep. What should she do?

She usually felt so sleepy when she had to rush to morning classes.

Feeling especially spirited, Manbao stared at the mosquito net for a while with her big eyes, glanced out of the window, and then slipped into the system to play on the forums.

Bai Shanbao also wanted to sleep in, but he couldn’t fall asleep either.

Without a system to play with, he got out of bed after realizing that no matter how long he kept his eyes closed, sleep eluded him.

Since he couldn’t sleep, he certainly didn’t want others to sleep either. He first went to knock on Bai Erlang’s door, waking him up, then proceeded to knock on Zhou SiLang’s door. After getting Silang up as well, he went to knock on Manbao’s door.

After knocking for a long time, Manbao finally responded from inside. Pleased, Bai Shanbao went to wash up and then strolled around the yard. He saw that Bai Erlang and Zhou SiLang, complaining, had gotten up, and even the teacher was awake, but Manbao still hadn’t left her room.

So he knocked again.

Reluctantly leaving the system, Manbao climbed down from her bed to open the door. She confronted Bai Shanbao, who was about to knock again, and couldn’t help but put her hands on her hips, "What do you want?"

With an embarrassed smile, Bai Shanbao explained, "The spring weather is so nice, let’s go fly kites."

Bai Erlang, who had been feeling a bit down, perked up instantly upon hearing this and came running over, "Yes, yes, yes, kite flying! We started the year early and haven’t had the chance to fly kites yet."

Manbao’s attention was immediately diverted, "We still have to make the kites then."

The kids from Qili Village made their own kites because buying kites in the county city was not only expensive but also a long way off.

It’s not clear which year it was, but Mr. Zhuang personally taught them to make kites, and since then, students in the school have been making their own.

After the students learned how to make them, the other village kids followed suit.

They had developed the habit of flying kites in the spring.

Because they weren’t used to buying kites, they didn’t think to go to the market to buy them this time either; they wanted to make their own.

Having something to do, Manbao was invigorated and immediately went to wash up and change clothes. She rolled up her sleeves and started looking around the yard for kite-making materials, "We need to go to the general store to buy paper and string."

So the three decided not to have breakfast at home. They would have it while heading to the street to buy kite-making materials.

Mr. Zhuang said to them, "Buy extra, I’ll come fly with you."

Since the exams began, Lan Cheng and the others had been staying in the academic supervisor’s residence, not to leave until after the results were announced, so he had nowhere else to go.

Perhaps he hasn’t been out and about for a while, so it would be good to take them out of the city for some fun.

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "I know the best place to fly kites, we don’t need to leave the city. Just finish making your kites, and then I’ll take you there."

Mr. Zhuang cautioned, "Make them look pretty." So as not to lose face.

Confident, the three disciples eagerly went out to buy supplies.

Since they needed to make the kites prettier, they had to buy some paints and brushes as well.

The three, who had been making kites for several years, were very familiar with the process. Although their creations might not be as beautiful as the ones in the shops, they were certainly more interesting.

Most importantly, they had confidence in their own kites.

They were in no hurry, leisurely enjoying breakfast on the street, then wandered around to buy the necessary items for their kites. They also bought many attractive and fun little trinkets, and this excursion lasted until noon.

They considerately brought lunch back with them.

Upon seeing them, Zhou SiLang said, "It’s like once you go out, you forget to come back. It’s this late and you’re still thinking of going out to fly kites?"

Manbao, unconcerned, said, "We have a three-day holiday. We can go tomorrow. Today, we’ll focus on making the kites."

"Right," Bai Er added, "I want to make a big bug kite."

Manbao said, "I want to paint really beautiful flowers on mine."

Bai Shanbao declared, "I want to make a tiger kite."

"They sound nice, but can you actually make them?" Zhou SiLang asked, "Don’t you not only have to know how to paint but also how to cut?"

Manbao said, "It’s okay, we bought lots of paper, so we can take our time experimenting."

"You might as well spend money to buy them from the street."

"What we buy won’t be as interesting as what we make ourselves," the three insisted on making their kites.

So after lunch, they didn’t feel sleepy at all, with no signs of wanting a nap, and got straight to work on the kite frames using bamboo strips Zhou SiLang provided.

Although Zhou SiLang had already split the bamboo strips quite finely, they still needed some extra work. After hastily making a simple frame, they took out paper and pencils, planning to sketch their kites before actually constructing them.

Mr. Zhuang occasionally peeked at them through the window of his study, seeing them sitting under the Chinese parasol tree in the courtyard for half a day at a time, and actually being able to sit still, he couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Over the years, the children had grown up a lot.

Not to mention Bai Erlang, even Bai Shanbao and Manbao used to be restless in class, as if they had ants in their pants.

While they were serious most of the time during classes, they occasionally got distracted and played, but now, even Bai Erlang could sit for an entire half afternoon just to make a kite.

That would have been impossible before.

Speaking of which, all three children were quite restless, and he didn’t know how many books he’d made them copy or how many characters they’d written to calm down their temperaments.

Mr. Zhuang chuckled softly, withdrew his gaze, and thought for a moment before getting up and pulling out a simple map.

Although the results hadn’t been announced yet, he thought it was likely that Bai Shanbao hadn’t passed, so they wouldn’t need to stay too long in Yizhou.

After the announcement of results, they could stay in Yizhou City for a month, visit some places, meet some people, and then set off for the next destination after one or two months.

But where should they go next?

Mr. Zhuang opened the map and looked at it.

His map was very, very simple and disproportionate, but some of the houses representing cities had the names of counties written in them, places he had traveled through before.

Mr. Zhuang pondered carefully and eventually wrote down two place names on the map, planning to take them along these two routes, then turn back home afterward.

Mr. Zhuang had made a good plan, but what he didn’t know was that at that moment in the academic supervisor’s residence, the examiners were sealing the final selected papers and presenting them to the Prince of Yizhou, Lord Zhang, the Prefectural Governor, and other officials for review.

The final admission quota and rankings would have to be discussed with the officials. Of course, the examiners had a say as well, but their influence was weaker in front of these high-ranking officials.