The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 609 - 598: It’s More Fun in the City

Chapter 609: Chapter 598: It’s More Fun in the City

Bai Shan knew the reason and became even more fearless, applying himself to his studies with greater effort. Not only did his classmates in Class C feel the pressure, but even Manbao, who had always kept pace with him, began to find it challenging.

After weighing her options, she decided to put the courses in her system aside and took an extended leave from Teacher Mo. Apart from flipping through medical books before sleep to review and refresh her knowledge, she devoted all her attention to her current studies.

Besides studying the same texts as Bai Shan, Mr. Zhuang had also arranged two additional courses specifically for her, which were what she was supposed to learn in the first place.

Seeing her read so many books and write so many assignments every day, Bai Erlang felt nearly bald with vicarious stress.

Manbao, on the other hand, was quite accustomed to it, mainly because there was nothing much fun to do lately.

Moreover, she found it quite interesting to help Bai Shan fight the academical battles against those from the Luojiang County school, and with Bai Shan as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood every morning, she was very motivated too.

Bai Erlang, squeezed between the twin pressures of Mr. Zhuang and Bai Shan, was always nervous, torn between looking for opportunities to slack off and feeling guilty, forcing himself to study.

He couldn’t take it after a few days and took advantage of Mr. Zhuang teaching Manbao to excuse himself to the latrine and sneaked out of the study. He then turned a corner in the yard and squatted down on a piece of land filled with flowers and plants, next to the utility room.

This spot was just out of sight from the study, hidden unless one looked from the entrance of the yard.

Bai Erlang sighed deeply. Zhou Lijun, who had been hoeing weeds, looked up at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

Bai Erlang hadn’t realized there was someone else there and was startled, falling onto his bottom.

Looking up, he only then noticed Zhou Lijun standing next to a wooden bucket, which obscured most of her.

His mind had been elsewhere, and he hadn’t noticed her before.

Bai Erlang, panting and patting his chest, said, "Couldn’t you have made some noise? Don’t you know scaring people could lead to death?"

Zhou Lijun replied wordlessly, "I’ve been here weeding all along, the ’clang clang clang’ hasn’t stopped, how much louder did you want? You’re the one who came afterwards, okay?"

Bai Erlang waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I won’t blame you."

Zhou Lijun examined him from head to toe and asked, "Are you skipping school?"

"Skipping what school? It’s just one courtyard; where could I possibly escape to?" Bai Erlang retorted, "If I were really skipping school, I would flee outside. Would I squat here?"

Now that he was already seated, Bai Erlang couldn’t be bothered to get up again and just hugged his knees, sitting on the ground and sighing, "I’m just taking a break. Your cousin is way too scary, I really don’t want to be her classmate."

Zhou Lijun continued weeding and said simply, "You’re just too lazy."

"I’m way more diligent now than when I was at home," protested Bai Erlang, "They’ve never studied like this before."

Zhou Lijun didn’t find studying that hard and remarked, "Every half hour, your cousin takes a break and plays for a bit, and occasionally she has some snacks. Your rest time is even more than hers; what’s there to be tired about?"

She continued, "During the busy farming seasons, we start working in the fields before dawn and don’t stop until the sunset before heading home. That’s what being tired is."

Bai Erlang thought about it and agreed, but felt something wasn’t quite right. "You don’t always have busy farm work, do you?"

"You also don’t study all the time. You’ve only started a few days ago," Zhou Lijun replied, "From what I understand from your cousin, once the mid-year exam is over, this whole matter will be settled."

"Mid-year, that’s a long time."

Zhou Lijun rolled her eyes and said, "It’s just over a month away, not long at all. I’ve been jobless for so long and haven’t been in any rush."

"Don’t bother looking anymore, you won’t find work as an accountant. You might have a chance as an embroiderer, though."

"That’s even less likely," Zhou Lijun retorted, "At least I can do accounting. As an embroiderer, would I be sticking myself or the cloth?"

Bai Erlang burst into hearty laughter at her words, completely enjoying himself.

Mr. Zhuang didn’t originally know where the youngster was hiding, but after finishing the lesson with Manbao, he stood at the study door and looked out. Hearing the laughter, he knew where the boy had hidden.

He shook his head but didn’t call him back.

There needs to be a balance in study.

Shanbao and Manbao are very clever and resilient, so they can afford to stretch a bit tighter, reaping more benefits from it.

As for Bai Er...

If that boy stretched too tight, he would likely break. So, a little relaxation was appropriate for him.

And so, amidst this atmosphere of you’re seriously studying and I’m ardently skipping, the mid-year hadn’t even arrived when the Dragon Boat Festival did (as if that wasn’t obvious).

The Dragon Boat Festival is a major holiday. The school gave a three-day break and organized some of the excellent students to participate in official ceremonies at the government offices.

Bai Shanbao, of course, was not among them. All his classmates in Class C were not included, so he happily packed up his book basket and went home.

Kang Xiaodong’s family was in Yizhou City, naturally, he went home to celebrate the festival with his family.

Wei Chen, however, came looking for Bai Shanbao and eagerly asked, "Brother Bai, how do you plan to spend the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Bai Shan, who had lived like a frog at the bottom of a well in Qili Village for many years, naturally replied, "Eating zongzi, what else?"

Wei Chen: "...Haven’t you thought about going somewhere to have fun?"

"Oh, right, Manbao mentioned a while ago that she wanted to go somewhere with lots of flowers and grass by the river to play during the Dragon Boat Festival, so we might leave the city."

"What’s there to have fun outside the city?" Wei Chen inquired, "Starting tomorrow, there will be Nuo plays in the city, and I’ve heard the government is even sponsoring a troupe. They will go along the main street all the way to the moat, performing as they go, and there’ll be boat races on the river, too. It’ll be so much fun."

Listening to him, Bai Shanbao was intrigued and asked, "Is it that exciting?"

"Isn’t it? People from outside want to come in, yet you, on the contrary, want to go out. There’s nothing fun outside the city." Wei Chen warmly invited, "How about it? Let’s hit the streets together tomorrow, you know I don’t have any other friends in Yizhou City."

After giving it some thought, Bai Shanbao figured it wouldn’t be difficult to convince Manbao, and as for Bai Er, he didn’t bother considering him – anywhere with fun, he’d be there.

Thus, he nodded and made arrangements with Wei Chen for their meeting time and place the next day.

On his way home, he observed the streets more crowded than usual, and small stalls hung with aromatic sachets, ghostly masks, and more.

Bai Shan was slightly more advantaged than Manbao, sometimes able to go to Luojiang County during the Dragon Boat Festival, but most times, he stayed in the village.

After all, many considered May an unlucky month, and elders didn’t like the children traveling far.

And the buzz of Luojiang County was nothing compared to the current vibrancy; there, it merely meant slightly more crowded streets and a bit more merchandise for sale, but nowhere near as colorful as now.

After taking in the lively scenes all the way home, Bai Shan dashed out of the horse-drawn carriage and ran into the yard, leaving even his book basket behind.

Manbao, who had been nestled at home studying, and Bai Erlang, out of touch with the outside hubbub, were oblivious to the excitement. When Bai Shan arrived, Manbao was engrossed in her book in the yard, muttering to herself as she read.

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