The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 596 - 585: Seat

Chapter 596: Chapter 585: Seat

Mr. Zhuang always arranged seating according to age and height.

When Manbao and the others first enrolled, because they were the youngest and shortest, they sat in the front for two years. Later, when they surpassed classmates like Bai Erlang, who had started learning together, they were moved to sit with the older students. Still the youngest and shortest, they ended up at the very front table once again after the switch.

She thought it was the same in the government school.

No matter how ambitious Bai Shanbao was, he was only twelve, nearly a year older than Manbao. Yet, now he was almost the same height as Manbao.

Mr. Zhuang said he hadn’t started growing yet, meaning, he was still very short and there was no need to worry.

Manbao asked, "Is the person sitting in front of you tall?"

Bai Shanbao nodded, "About as tall as our cousin."

Manbao was full of sympathy, "Then can you see the front clearly?"

Bai Shanbao sighed sadly.

Manbao could only join him with a sad sigh, "I don’t know if we can adjust our seats at the government school; otherwise, you could negotiate with your classmate in front."

Bai Shanbao: "That’s what I was thinking too."

Manbao was very curious, "Why doesn’t the school official like you? Did you provoke him today?"

"No, I haven’t even spoken to him," said Bai Shanbao, feeling wronged, "and today I spoke very little, just talked to Kang Xiaodong for a bit. When he came in, I was clearly sitting at the first table, but he directed me to sit in the back instead, changing the entire class’s seating arrangement."

Manbao: "By academic performance?"

Bai Shanbao said frustratingly, "No, our Class C only has ten students who passed the government school’s exam, the other ten were specially recruited. Even if it were based on academic performance, I should be sitting in the middle, not at the very last table."

Even though it was the last table near the entrance, it was still undeniably the very last table.

Moreover, Bai Shan thought that although the last table near the door had good lighting, it was also noisy, and so not a very good location.

"It’s okay, as long as the classroom isn’t noisy, sitting in the back is fine," Manbao quickly recovered from her concern, then encouraged him, "Try your best, and you’ll get into Class B by the end of the year."

Bai Shanbao thought it over; by now, that seemed to be the only solution.

They both considered such a minor, non-academic issue something they didn’t need to trouble Mr. Zhuang with, feeling it was within their power to resolve.

However, Mr. Zhuang overheard them outside. He could have changed Bai Shanbao’s seat, but he hesitated and eventually decided that sometimes letting nature take its course wasn’t a bad thing.

They stayed busy until it was completely dark before they could finally get things in order.

The cook had prepared a simple table of dishes and set aside some food to have dinner with the coachman and Daji in the kitchen.

Zhou Silang was quite unused to this and glanced at Mr. Zhuang before pulling them to the table, saying, "Who has so many conventions while traveling? We used to eat together."

Mr. Zhuang also nodded, "There’s no need to be so formal, sit down with us."

The cook was flustered, "How can this be appropriate, sir? We can’t sit down while the master eats."

She then looked to Daji.

Daji looked to his young master.

Bai Shanbao also nodded, "Sit down. When we are away from home, we don’t have such formalities."

Only then did the cook tentatively sit down.

Zhou Lijun whispered to her aunt, "Auntie, where do we go to fetch water here? Should we bring the laundry back to wash, or is there a designated place for that?"

"There’s no need to haul water from the well; the ancient well is too far from us. There’s a service that delivers water right to the door, and it’s not expensive. Just buy the amount you need from them each day," Manbao whispered back. "As for the laundry, it’s washed by the river nearby. Just cross the main street and head down the opposite alley; a turn there and you’ll see it. The river crosses right through the street, flowing in from the city moat; it’s running water."

She continued, "We usually wash our own clothes by the river after freshening up in the evening."

Zhou Lijun then said, "Let me handle that from now on, auntie. You all need to focus more time on studying."

But Manbao shook her head, "No need; we should do it ourselves; washing clothes doesn’t take long."

Bai Erlang nodded emphatically, "Right, it doesn’t take long."

They only had to wash their own clothes and took turns washing the teacher’s every two days. It didn’t take much time, and they also got to go out and play a bit more.

Even Bai Shanbao, who was now busy with schoolwork, nodded in agreement, relishing the rare opportunity to play openly with water. How could he not go?

The three looked at each other and giggled like three little foxes, which puzzled Zhou Lijun. What was there to be happy about with laundry?

She didn’t insist, though; she had been washing clothes since she was young and had no wish to continue.

Zhou Si turned to her and said, "You should help Fourth Uncle wash his clothes."

He dared not let Manbao wash his clothes; if his father found out, he could be severely punished. So he had been washing his own clothes all this time, feeling it was a waste of his time.

Now that Erya had arrived, it was just the opportunity he needed.

Zhou Lijun agreed, but made a request, "Fourth Uncle, take me out tomorrow to familiarize myself with Yizhou City, will you?"

"Fine, I need to go out to buy some things anyway." He then asked the three youngsters, "Do you all want to go out together tomorrow?"

Bai Shanbao said, "I have to go to school."

Bai Erlang looked dejected, "I haven’t finished my schoolwork, and tomorrow is the last day."

Manbao: "I better go to the bookshop. I only glanced at a small portion of the books today and I have to memorize some tonight. Tomorrow, I still need to finish the rest."

Bai Shanbao asked, "About Li Guang?"

Manbao nodded.

Bai Shanbao then said, "There are many books in the government school, and unfortunately, only students from Class A can borrow them to take home. If we want to read them, we can only go in to read or copy. Later, give me the remaining titles, and I’ll look for them in the Book Collection Tower. If they’re there, I’ll copy the essential parts for you to read."

Manbao was delighted, "Can you just copy books from the government school?"

"Yes, as long as you don’t damage the books and bring your own ink, paper, and writing brush."

Manbao was especially envious, "If only I could also go to the government school’s Book Collection Tower to copy books."

Then she could have whatever books she wanted, couldn’t she?

Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhuang looked down, as most of the books he had were copied from the government school; only a few were purchased from bookshops.

Especially certain volumes that couldn’t be found in bookshops could only be copied from the government school.

Therefore, Mr. Zhuang greatly encouraged his students to copy books. To train their copying skills, his favorite form of punishment was making them copy texts.

Copies had to be neat, fast, and with a controlled error rate. Only in this way, when they had the opportunity to access books that needed to be copied, could they start the task quickly and efficiently.

Look, wasn’t this an opportunity right now?

Mr. Zhuang silently ate his meal without interjecting as they exchanged their experiences and insights about copying books.