The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 600 - 589: Isolation (Additional content for the birthday of book friend "Nostalgia bean 1968")

Chapter 600: Chapter 589: Isolation (Additional content for the birthday of book friend "Nostalgia bean 1968")

Bai Shan looked at Wei Chen curiously for quite a while and finally dredged him from his memory of yesterday, so he was particularly curious as to how the two had managed to become friends in just one day?

However, that wasn’t important. What mattered was that this person seemed unaware that he was being targeted by the school official, to the extent that most of his classmates had also isolated him.

Bai Shanbao rolled his eyes and greeted Wei Chen warmly, "I don’t know where Brother Wei is from. My ancestors are from Longzhou, but I grew up in Mianzhou."

"Then we are both from the Jiannan Road," Wei Chen responded enthusiastically. He hadn’t had the chance to make friends since he enrolled yesterday, except for one classmate he shared a dorm with, and he didn’t know anyone else.

And that roommate wasn’t from their class C1, so...

Wei Chen introduced himself, "I come from Longzhou, which, incidentally, is not far from Mianzhou."

"Mm, it’s closer than to Mianzhou." Bai Shanbao looked at the books in his hand and asked, "Did Brother Wei skip class today to buy books?"

"Yes, and I owe it to Young Lady Zhou for helping me out, or I would probably have to spend another half day finding them tomorrow."

With a grin, Bai Shanbao said, "Actually, the teacher didn’t really teach much today. He just let us read and practice writing. There were other students from our class who didn’t come because they went to buy books too. I guess it will be another two or three days before classes officially start."

Truth be told, Wei Chen did breathe a sigh of relief.

Bai Shanbao invited him warmly to his house, saying, "My master once studied at the prefectural school and understands some matters better than most. If Brother Wei has any doubts, why not ask my master?"

Wei Chen was tempted.

Manbao glanced at Bai Shanbao and invited enthusiastically, "Come on, go. Aunt Rong must have prepared a lot of delicious food today."

Aunt Rong was their family’s cook.

Wei Chen’s heart stirred even more. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I need to tell Tong Jia, or he’ll panic if he can’t find me."

Manbao: "Then we’ll wait for you at the main gate."

"Alright." Wei Chen agreed and quickly turned to stride towards the dormitory supervisor. When visiting someone’s home for the first time, it was always proper to bring gifts.

Luckily, when he came to Yizhou City, his father had prepared quite a few nice things for him, some of which were specifically for gift-giving.

He hadn’t used up all the gifts he had brought for the school officials, so this was the perfect occasion to use them.

Manbao followed Bai Shanbao out of the prefectural school, where Daji had already led a carriage across the street to wait for them.

Seeing Manbao accompany Bai Shanbao out of the school, Daji was a little surprised.

After greeting Daji, the two leaned against the carriage and chatted. Manbao was puzzled, "Why are you so enthusiastic about Wei Chen?"

"Wasn’t it you who introduced us?"

"Yes, but I didn’t expect you to be so enthusiastic," reflected Manbao. After all, having grown up together since they were young, Bai Shan, though playful and lively, was incredibly shy around strangers and never spoke up unless it was necessary.

Moreover, he was very wary of strangers, rarely initiating friendships. He would only speak up if Manbao was with him, or after he had observed for a sufficient length of time and felt it was appropriate to do so.

But just now, he didn’t wait for Manbao to initiate, and he had taken it upon himself to strike up a friendship with Wei Chen.

This was highly unusual.

Bai Shanbao looked around and then huffed, "I don’t know why the school official and my classmates seem to have an issue with me. They hardly speak to me, except occasionally Kang Xiaodong will come over to say a word or two."

Although Bai Shanbao was not a fan of talking to strangers, there was still a difference between not liking to talk and feeling like people were purposely avoiding speaking with him.

And he had a profound memory of such matters from when he was little; the moment that feeling surfaced, he was acutely aware of it.

Being isolated and targeted felt entirely different when he was unaware, but once he knew, it was undoubtedly uncomfortable.

So Bai Shanbao wasn’t in a very good mood all day today.

If it were his childhood, he would have kept it all inside, no matter how upset he felt, and responded with disdain, fighting back when they came looking for trouble.

But now, although he would still respond with disdain, he wouldn’t take it as seriously as he did when he was younger, or let it make him feel insecure and become irritable.

Originally, he planned to talk to his master after returning home, but upon seeing Manbao and then Wei Chen, he changed his mind.

Isolation? Who’s afraid of that?

There would be a mid-year exam, and even more important was the end-of-year exam. The results mattered not only for the class placements next year but also for staying at the prefectural school.

If a student failed the major exam twice in a row, they would be expelled from the school and sent back to their hometown to continue their studies.

Bai Shan said, "Right now, the only one in my class willing to talk to me is Kang Xiaodong, and we’re merely acquaintances. He wouldn’t offend everyone else just for my sake. And now there’s Wei Chen. As long as I have two friends in class, others won’t dare to bully me too much."

Bai Shan sneered, "We’ll see what happens during the mid-year exam."

"Isn’t that just a minor exam? Don’t you have to wait for the major exam at the end of the year to be reassigned classes?"

"What if my results are among the top?" Bai Shan said, "I’ve thought it all through. If my grades are really good, I’ll go to Uncle Master Lan. When it’s time to use connections, I’ll use them. I can’t be bothered to squabble with that bunch of people."

Manbao clapped her hands, "Well said! A bunch of idiots who only know how to play at isolation, we don’t need to bother with them."

"Then I’ll help you," Manbao considered and said, "Write down your class schedule later. I’ll study with you. I’ll learn from the master, fill in the gaps, and help you find references from the bookstore. There’s no way we can’t do better than them."

Bai Shanbao was also full of ambition and extended his hand, "It’s a deal!"

Manbao slapped his palm and declared loudly, "An honorable gentleman’s promise is worth more than a chariot of horses!"

Wei Chen came out just then with Tong Jia and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much, let’s go. Are you driving your carriage, or will you ride in ours?"

"Let Tong Jia drive his carriage behind us." Wei Chen entered their carriage to chat.

"When did you all come to Yizhou?" Wei Chen asked, "I arrived seven or eight days early and still couldn’t rent a house; I’ve been living in an inn until now."

Manbao said, "We arrived more than a month early. Are houses on Kangxue Street really in such high demand now?"

Wei Chen sighed, "Apparently, this year there are more new students than in previous years, and most have chosen to live outside, as opposed to previous years when most students from out of town would opt to stay in the dorms."

Manbao lamented, "It seems the new students this year are quite wealthy."

Wei Chen gave them a curious look and said, "Don’t you two also have plenty of money?"

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be renting a house outside. He himself had to stay in the dormitories.

Manbao and Bai Shanbao exchanged glances, chuckled, and said modestly, "We’re not wealthy, just lucky, very lucky."