The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 614 - 603: Invitation

Chapter 614: Chapter 603: Invitation

Lan Cheng was on a business trip, and since he had just returned to Yizhou City last night because of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, he decided to invite these people to the Ganxiang Pavilion today because Huang Chuan had something to ask of Mr. Zhuang and had requested him to mediate.

Furthermore, it was not the Ganxiang Pavilion on Kangxue Street, but the one on the main street, precisely because the main street was exceptionally lively today. However, they had not expected that just as they started discussing serious matters, they would see this group of youngsters loitering below.

Mr. Zhuang then suggested they come up.

Mr. Zhuang indicated the only middle-aged man they did not recognize and said, "This is your great-uncle master,"

Then, pointing to the young man, he said, "This is the eldest son of your Uncle Master Huang Chuan, Huang Jiming. You should call him Senior Brother."

Manbao and the other two immediately greeted them with a bow.

Huang Han sighed after listening and nodded to Manbao and the others, then looked towards Bai Erlang.

Huang Chuan also vaguely understood that Senior Brother Zhuang was tactfully refusing him. With the children present, there was much he could not say, so he could only smile and say, "It’s getting late, you must be hungry after playing half the day. Let’s have the restaurant serve the dishes."

Then he turned to Wei Chen, the only outsider in the private room, and invited him to start with some snacks.

There was no choice, in this room everyone was either a junior or senior brother or sister, except for Wei Chen, the outsider.

Wei Chen was clearly aware of this and behaved very obediently while the elders chatted.

Wei Chen wasn’t a timid person, and all the adults present, except for Huang Han, were teachers. They wouldn’t offend a student when trying to have a pleasant conversation.

With the lively juniors like Manbao and Qi Jue on both sides, the atmosphere quickly became lively.

Everyone happily finished lunch, and after a cup of tea, Mr. Zhuang took his three disciples and prepared to leave.

Lan Cheng stood up, deciding to leave with them, "You came in my carriage this morning. With the streets so crowded now, you obviously can’t walk back, so come back with me."

Mr. Zhuang looked at his disciples.

Manbao immediately said, "We came with Big Brother Wei in the carriage this morning."

Mr. Zhuang mentally complained that his three disciples had not been of help and could only leave with Lan Cheng.

Naturally, Manbao and the others continued to ride back with Wei Chen.

Huang Chuan led a group of disciples to send them off in the carriage before lifting his foot to leave. Then, he glanced at Qi Jue and others, saying, "Don’t play too wildly; don’t forget your homework."

Qi Jue and the others obediently agreed, and only after the teachers left did they let out a long sigh and happily continued playing.

Wei Chen dropped them off at the mouth of the alley and said to them, "Are you going again tomorrow?"

Bai Shanbao: "Yes, isn’t the Prince of Yizhou also going to be there tomorrow? We’re going to enjoy the spectacle."

Manbao: "And there’s the boat race; I’ve never seen one before."

"Alright, then we’ll meet here again tomorrow."

The three of them indicated there was no problem.

Once home, Manbao squatted under the eaves to tend to her newly bought flowers. She planned to carefully separate them and then secretly include one of the separated plants for Keke to record.

Bai Shanbao brought over two empty flower pots for her, and they squatted together figuring out how to transplant them.

Behind them was the study.

Mr. Zhuang asked Aunt Rong to brew a pot of tea to bring up, and was just about to pour a cup for Lan Cheng.

As Lan Cheng held the hot tea and saw his indifferent expression, he couldn’t help but sigh, "Huang Brother’s place is quite good; why don’t you consider it?"

"I’ve taken the Bai Family’s stipend, so naturally, I should educate the Bai Family’s children properly. There’s no sense in taking a stipend here and then turning around to teach at the academy."

"Huang Brother also said, you could take your two disciples to the academy. The academy’s dismissal times are in line with the official school’s, so you could still teach Bai Shan after dismissal."

Mr. Zhuang shook his head.

Lan Cheng then sighed, "You won’t agree, and they will think you’re still harboring feelings."

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and smiled, "Why would that be? It’s been so many years, the master has passed away, what do I have left to mind?"

Outside the door, Manbao looked up and exchanged a glance with Bai Shanbao.

Mr. Zhuang continued talking to Lan Cheng, "You’ve seen it too, I’m not young anymore, and my energy is limited. Each of my three disciples is different, and it takes considerable effort to teach them well. I really can’t manage what Junior Brother Huang has proposed."

"Bai Shan is smart, and I see Bai Cheng’s foundation is very solid, why would you need to put in the effort?"

"It’s because he’s smart that I need to exert effort," Mr. Zhuang said. "The child learns quickly, so I can’t prepare lessons leisurely. Furthermore, Manbao needs to learn different things, so I have to put in extra thought."

"As for Erlang, he’s completely different in temperament from the other two. Without supervision, he’d be lazy enough to lean on his bed all day, so my energy is indeed limited." Mr. Zhuang further complained, "You should have mentioned such a big matter to me in advance. Today wouldn’t have been so awkward."

Lan Cheng was somewhat embarrassed and said, "I ran into Junior Brother Huang Han on my way back to the city, and he mentioned it to me. I was just happy last night, and it was late, so I didn’t talk to you about it."

He never expected that Senior Brother Zhuang would refuse.

In his memory, Senior Brother Zhuang loved teaching very much.

Lan Cheng knew he couldn’t persuade further, or Mr. Zhuang would probably get really angry.

He could only sigh with regret.

Manbao placed the separated plants on the ground and asked Bai Shan to help get some wood ash from the kitchen. Then, checking to see that nobody was paying attention, she covertly transferred a small plant into the system using her body to shield the action.

As Lan Cheng exited the study, he saw the two squatting together transplanting flowers; they had finished transplanting, and Bai Erlang was haphazardly pouring a bowl of water over the flowers.

Lan Cheng silently watched them for a moment before saying, "Pouring so much water, be careful not to drown the flowers."

Lan Cheng also squatted down to look at their planting and asked, "Do you like flowers so much? I see you’ve planted flowers and plants on those two vacant spots in the front yard, and you have all kinds of them."

Bai Shanbao pointed at Manbao and said, "She likes them; it’s her wish to plant them."

Lan Cheng then smiled, "Girls indeed tend to like flowers and plants more."

Manbao looked up at him, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Uncle Master Lan, are you trying to persuade the teacher to go teach at Dazhi Academy?"

Lan Cheng looked at her in surprise, "How did you know?"

"I overheard just now and then guessed," Manbao immediately said, "We didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it’s just because during lunchtime, this was the only spot with shade, and we couldn’t possibly bring dirty mud into the house to transplant."

Lan Cheng then realized that they were squatting on the side of the study room door and no wonder they could hear.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "You don’t want your teacher to go to Dazhi Academy, do you?"

"It’s not good if it’s too tiring," Bai Shanbao said. "It would be too exhausting for the teacher to have to teach us and then to go to Dazhi Academy to give lessons."

Manbao nodded, "Yes, the teacher is getting on in years; he can’t work too hard."

Bai Shanbao said, "Unless he occasionally goes to give a lecture, that would be more feasible, similar to the officers at the official school who take time once a year to give students a major lecture."

Manbao nodded and added, "That’s a good idea; then is there a stipend involved?"

Mr. Lan: ...

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