The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 605 - 594: Jealousy (Extra - as a reward for the book friend "Al Pacino")

Chapter 605: Chapter 594: Jealousy (Extra Chapter as a reward for the book friend "Al Pacino")

Kang Xiaodong unconsciously nodded, then shook his head and, after thinking it over, since he should be the person most familiar with Bai Shan in the class, he nodded again.

Seeing him nodding and shaking his head, Wei Chen asked, "Did you kink your neck?"

Kang Xiaodong was momentarily speechless, then glanced at his classmates before lowering his voice to ask, "How have you gotten so familiar with Brother Bai ...?"

Although he had only known him for two days, Kang Xiaodong already had a full understanding of Bai Shan’s pride—it was true pride.

The teacher managing their class had ridiculed him during the first lesson, but Bai Shan had retorted with sarcasm during his self-introduction, not yielding an inch and leaving the teacher so angry he was almost smoking from the nostrils.

Afterwards, some classmates started isolating him and even secretly played pranks on him. If it had been any other twelve-year-old boy, no, even other adult classmates, most likely would have been frightened, but not him.

The entire person was like a hedgehog, striking back fiercely, and by the end of yesterday’s overt and covert struggles, neither side had gained the upper hand.

Although the issue hadn’t been escalated to the teacher, everyone in the class knew that the youngest boy sitting at the back was not someone to be trifled with.

In the whole class, Kang Xiaodong was probably the only person who could have a word with Bai Shan, and that was only because they had met the day before school started.

Yet Kang Xiaodong truly admired Bai Shan. Even though he was the last to pass the exam, to tell the truth, he had seen his examination paper.

It was only because he was the one hundred forty-sixth, and their rankings were similar, so he had looked through the papers of those who ranked behind him.

Even if he had his biases, he had to admit that Bai Shan’s paper was overall better than his. Had it not been for the last question, where he arrogantly questioned the examiners, he could have been placed in Class Yi Three.

It was for that reason, seeing so many people targeting Bai Shan yesterday, that he stood up to mediate a bit, because he felt that although the kid was arrogant, he did have the talent.

Besides, his arrogance was not directed at their students, but at the examiners and the teacher, so why were they joining in the fray without reason?

He thought he was the person in class most familiar with Bai Shan, but seeing the pastries in Wei Chen’s hands, he started to feel unsure.

Many others pricked up their ears along with Kang Xiaodong, all eager to know when the two had become so close.

Wei Chen felt the atmosphere was a bit odd, and holding the pastries in his hand, he asked, "What’s going on? Aren’t we classmates? So I visited Brother Bai’s home yesterday."

Kang Xiaodong felt somewhat bittersweet inside, harboring feelings of sorrow and indignation that he had invited Wei Chen but not himself.

Bai Shanbao didn’t care about their conversation. He laid out his books and writing essentials one by one, then opened the first book to start his initial reading, and attempted to punctuate the text.

Meanwhile, Manbao had just finished reading the texts from yesterday’s lesson and had written her morning’s large characters, storing them all aside, and then turned to Mr. Zhuang, "Teacher, the bookshops are open now, I’ll go buy a couple of books."

Mr. Zhuang looked at her for a while and gave a slight nod, saying, "You may go, but make it quick."

Manbao acknowledged and set off, with Zhou Lijun following her, "Little aunt, are the books here more expensive, or are those in the county town pricier?"

This Manbao had never really considered, but after reflecting for a moment, she replied, "The commonly used books seem to be the same price, while the less common and various other books seem to be more expensive in the county town."

"But the price is not the most important thing. Books are always expensive," Manbao said, "What’s key is that there are very few books in the county town. It wasn’t until I came to Yizhou City that I realized there are actually so many books in the world."

Zhou Lijun: "So many?"

Manbao nodded firmly, "Extremely many!"

And soon enough, Zhou Lijun saw for herself the vastness of the bookshops in Yizhou City.

Manbao said, "This is just one of them. There are a total of four bookshops like this in Yizhou City. I’ve only been to two."

The other two were quite far from here, so Manbao hadn’t yet had the chance to explore those places.

The books to be taught this year at the academy were very common; the Book of Changes, The Spring and Autumn, and the Book of Rites were the most important courses. In addition to these, there were the Book of Documents and the Doctrine of the Mean.

However, Manbao and the others had already studied the Doctrine of the Mean and The Spring and Autumn with Mr. Zhuang, and she had copies of these two books. This time, her main purpose was to buy the Book of Documents and the other three books, along with other lesser promiment books on the syllabus.

Though their proportion was small, they still had to be learned.

Manbao had just helped Wei Chen find these books yesterday, so she knew their positions well and headed straight for the shelves as soon as they entered the bookshop. It didn’t take long for her to find the books she was missing.

The young attendant was taken aback.

Early in the morning, just as the bookshop had opened and there were no customers yet, Manbao came in and bought several books as if they were familiar old friends. Unable to help himself, the attendant asked her, "You wouldn’t be reselling books, would you?"

Manbao: "...Buy them at the original price here and sell them at a higher price? Who would be so foolish as to buy from me, unless you give me a discount?"

The attendant immediately said, "I was just teasing. But why are you buying so many books?"

"I’m actually buying these for myself. The last couple of times were for helping others," explained Manbao, and then paused to add, "Right, isn’t this what you do? I’m helping your bookshop sell books. Shouldn’t you give me a discount?"

The attendant, not expecting her to be so brazen, instinctively looked at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper said with a smile, "We can talk about it. Miss, you indeed helped us quite a bit. How about this, I’ll give you a ream of paper as a gift, how does that sound?"

Manbao glanced at the paper that the shopkeeper offered, feeling a little regretful, as the one thing she had in abundance was paper.

The papers from the system store were high-quality and low-priced, costing her only points, so she never worried about using a lot of them.

Nonetheless, since it was a gift, Manbao, inheriting Old Zhou’s commendable qualities, thought there was no harm in taking what was offered. She gratefully accepted with a sweet smile and heartfelt thanks.

After paying, Manbao placed the books and the paper together in her basket and carried it away.

Zhou Lijun happily took the basket, thinking to herself that although the books were expensive, she had gained a ream of paper for free.

Manbao was jubilant, nodding, "You should also start practicing your writing. Use this paper for that. Oh, and next time my fourth brother comes home, I should ask him to bring some back for Datou and the others. They probably won’t be willing to spend money on paper for practice now that I’m not at home. Their handwriting is like chicken scratch, sigh~~"

Zhou Lijun’s handwriting was also rough. After all, they had been practicing with sticks on the ground for years, and suddenly switching to the soft brushes was rather uncomfortable.

Even after two years of practice, their writing was barely legible, far from being called good.

When Zhou Lijun was at home, even while knowing the benefits of reading, she would still prefer to help her older sister with various chores, and, when there was free time, go out to play—climbing the hills, going to the riverside, seeking playmates.

But once in Yizhou City, with the teacher sitting in his study, the little aunt reading, and the two young masters from the Bai Family studying, she might still feel unsettled and inclined to roam around the yard, yet she would end up taking a book to settle down and read.

In the afternoons, she would go out for a stroll, not daring to wander too far, sticking around Kangxue Street to see if any households were hiring accountants.

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