The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 767 - 756

Chapter 767: 756

Three people stood in a row in front of Mr. Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang stroked his beard while looking at them and said, "Copying books is something you’re all used to, so I think we’ll change the punishment today. Wait another couple of days until your ’ailment’ has cleared up, then take a broom and go sweep the streets: just sweep our alley and a hundred paces in front of and behind the main street outside, until your end-of-year exam results are out and you return to your hometowns."

The three of them opened their mouths in shock.

Mr. Zhuang continued, "While sweeping, think over where you went wrong. If something like this happens again, will you still resort to fighting others so readily?"

Feeling guilty, Manbao asked, "What if we still end up fighting someone?"

Mr. Zhuang gazed at them with a profound look and said, "Do you think Kangxue Street here is big enough? If not, you can sweep over at Huanxi Street as well."

At that, the three of them shuddered and immediately bowed their heads, speaking in unison, "Teacher, we realize our mistake; we will reflect on it seriously."

Only then did Mr. Zhuang harrumph, sending Zhou SiLang out to the street to pick out three decent brooms for them.

Zhou SiLang, who was enjoying the ruckus, hadn’t expected that he’d end up having to spend money himself. He glanced cautiously at Mr. Zhuang and replied, "Mr. Zhuang, are we just going to leave it at that with Old Master Bai?"

Mr. Zhuang said dismissively, "Bai Ning is merely a concubine’s child, and he’s young. By inquiring a little around the courtyard, you can easily learn what happened. If Bai Yu knew about Bai Ning scheming against Manbao, he would not have the face to come over..."

His gaze fell on the faces of Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, and he added indifferently, "As for you two families, it’s time to carefully consider whether or not you still wish to maintain relations."

Scratching his head, Manbao said, "Bai Ning is a concubine’s child?"

Mr. Zhuang shot her a glance and said, "You dared to hit someone even though you hadn’t yet figured out their identity. Starting from today, you will also be responsible for the household cleaning."

Manbao and the other two: ...

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang simultaneously turned to look at Manbao.

Manbao innocently looked back at them and, after a moment, could only hang her head in defeat, feeling ashamed.

On hearing this, Zhou SiLang immediately went out to buy the brooms, delighted.

The bruises they had sustained from their bumps and bangs seemed trivial, so as soon as the door was closed, Mr. Zhuang picked up their lessons again.

During the break, they went to fetch water to scrub and wash, and they had to clean the courtyard, trim the flowers and shrubs, and weed.

Not only Zhou SiLang but also Daji found himself at leisure, so they each commandeered a chair, sitting under the warm sun to bask.

The three of them were incredibly busy, having to study, attend classes, do homework, and clean every part of the house, winding up much busier than usual despite not going to school.

Moreover, they were still nursing injuries, and as time went on, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang threw more and more glaring looks at Manbao.

What could Manbao do?

She felt she was wronged too, right?

She had merely asked a question that none of the three knew the answer to.

Only when the sun had set were they finally able to rest.

Sitting on stools in the courtyard, they basked in the last bits of sunset, looking at the twilight sky with sorrow and saying, "What are we going to do in a couple of days?"

"Indeed," Bai Shan mused, counting on his fingers, "We have to go to school, sweep the streets, and clean the house."

Bai Erlang added, "And we have homework, too."

Bai Shan said, "I can finish my homework at school."

Manbao also said, "I can complete my homework after class."

Bai Erlang glared at them angrily.

Since he was the youngest Junior Brother, both Manbao and Bai Shan still cared for him deeply, so they consoled him, "Don’t worry, we’ll help you after we’ve finished the chores."

Bai Erlang said, "There’s reflection, too!"

Knowing their teacher’s ways, they would surely be asked what they had reflected upon after finishing their punishments, which meant another essay.

After thinking for a moment, Manbao said, "Don’t worry, the punishment lasts until your end-of-year exams, we have plenty of time to ponder slowly."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang didn’t feel comforted in the slightest.

Zhou Si, listening nearby, was utterly amused. Zhou Lijun realized that she no longer felt as much pity for her little cousin as before, which bothered her, so she took the initiative to speak up, "Cousin, I can take care of watering the plants for you; I will look after them well."

The three of them happily agreed, then simultaneously turned their heads to look at Zhou Si and Daji who were sitting nearby.

Daji closed his eyes, pretending to rest, and Zhou Si said, "This is a punishment from the teacher to make you reflect, and I can’t help with that."

The three of them withdrew their hopeful gazes, then glanced at Aunt Rong, who was busy making pastry molds on the side.

Aunt Rong immediately said, "Master, Young Master of the hall, Miss Man, I dare not help either."

Mr. Zhuang, in the study, let out a couple of emphatic coughs, and the three immediately stopped looking around. Silence fell over the small courtyard as everyone quietly enjoyed the sunset and the twilight.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Bai Residence was abuzz with activity.

Bai Yu had left for the government office early in the morning and only found time to investigate Bai Ning’s affair after returning home from work in the afternoon.

Without alarming Bai Ning, he took the Xiaos and two maids who served Bai Ning for questioning.

After questioning them separately for a good while, he finally found out about the incident on the day of the Winter Solstice feast, and Bai Yu was infuriated.

He had not anticipated such an early inception of the incident, nor the use of such sly methods typically found in women’s quarters. Enraged, he went to Bai Ning’s bedside wanting to discipline him but couldn’t bring himself to hit the already bruised face; instead, he ended up quarreling with Ms. Duan in the main courtyard.

The issue arose in the back courtyard, naturally making Ms. Duan responsible.

As a result, the couple got into a fierce argument, creating quite a commotion.

Unfortunately, their residence was separated from this side by a large garden, so the folks here knew nothing about the quarrel. After digesting their food and listening to two stories from Mr. Zhuang, everyone went to wash up and prepare for bed.

They were unaware that next door, Bai Ning had been grounded by the master of the house after their fight, grounded for half a month, in fact—and by the time he could come out, he might as well go directly to the year-end exams.

After waiting two days and seeing no further developments from the Bai Residence next door, Mr. Zhuang knew the matter was settled. Thus, he waved his hand, and the three disciples set out with brooms to sweep the streets.

Every day, after school let out, they were required to start their street cleaning.

After a day of traffic and business, the streets were at their dirtiest after evening school, so for the first day the trio only brought brooms with them. By the end, they realized they couldn’t sweep away the piled-up trash, so the next day they added shovels. After adding shovels, they found that the place to dump the garbage was far away, so on the third day, they somehow managed to produce a battered hand-cart.

They dumped the swept-up trash onto the cart and then pushed it to the dump. People up and down the street watched, highly amused, as the three noble young masters and mistresses did this rough work.