The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 774 - 763: Homecoming I

Chapter 774: Chapter 763: Homecoming I

"I wonder what punishment he got," Manbao said with some curiosity, her eyes darting around as she lowered her voice, "Let’s go to the County Governmental Office later and ask."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang exchanged glances, both nodding with a bit of schadenfreude.

The exams were over, and they were now quite eager to pay attention to these matters.

So after they finished eating, they leisurely strolled towards the nearby County Governmental Office.

It was still working hours, and most of the yamen runners had gone out to work, either patrolling the streets or solving cases, leaving only a few squatting at the yard or the entrance on duty. As soon as they saw two young masters and a young mistress approaching, they felt a chill down their spines and couldn’t help but stand up from the ground.

Manbao, holding some freshly bought pastries in her hand, enthusiastically greeted them to have some snacks.

The yamen runners looked at her warily, "Young Lady Zhou, are you here to file another case?"

Manbao thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No one has bullied me recently."

The yamen runners sighed in relief, their tension easing as they asked while standing askew, "Then what brings you here?"

"Just passing by and saw you guys here, so I came over to chat," Manbao said as she lifted the pastries in her hand, "Want some? They’re freshly bought and still warm."

The yamen runners certainly did, and they made room for the three guests; six or seven people squatted together to enjoy the snacks.

Seeing that Bai Shan and his companions were very amiable and indeed didn’t seem like they were here to cause trouble, the yamen runners completely relaxed and asked with a smile, "Are the young master and young mistresses also going back home for the New Year soon?"

"We’re leaving in a couple of days," Bai Shan said.

The yamen runners were happy; good riddance, good riddance. With them gone, Yizhou City could be a bit quieter.

The first yamen runner said, "The New Year is indeed great. Every year when it comes, the city seems to empty out a bit."

The second yamen runner said, "It can also get more crowded, and there are plenty of troublesome affairs. Don’t get too happy just yet."

The first yamen runner said, "What’s there to be afraid of? The eldest son of the Ying family has gone to the capital. I overheard the Wei Family’s purchasing steward the other day saying they are also returning to their ancestral home this year for the ancestral rites. Even if Young Master Ji heals and can go out, he can’t stir up trouble all by himself."

Manbao asked curiously, "Do they usually turn things upside down during the New Year?"

All the yamen runners looked down at her and after a moment replied, "More or less. But they are a bit different from you, young mistress."

"Of course, it’s different," Manbao said without a second thought, "I never cause trouble."

"No," the first yamen runner said, "The difference is that they always sneak around us. Even if they fight or, God forbid, kill someone or start a fire, they always sneak around us. You, young mistress, do quite the opposite."

Manbao: "...You don’t like good citizens like me?"

The yamen runners, compromising their conscience, said, "We like."

Manbao then broke into a wide smile.

Bai Shan, holding back a laugh, changed the subject, "Right, we’ve been so focused on the exams these past few days that we forgot to ask how the case we reported last time was dealt with?"

"How else could it have been dealt with? Lord Tang called in the person, scolded him, and fined him a few taels of silver before letting him go," one of the yamen runners explained.

The three asked in unison, "A few taels is how many?"

The yamen runners’ bodies tensed up, looking at them warily as they said, "It was either eight or ten taels, what do you want with that? The silver goes to the public accounts of the office; it’s not for personal use..."

That little bit of money was supposed to be saved for their New Year’s bonus; they couldn’t let it get snatched away.

Upon hearing this, Manbao became happy, "We’re not up to anything; the more he’s fined, the happier we are."

The yamen runners breathed a sigh of relief, chiming in, "That’s considered a heavy fine, ten taels of silver."

Manbao nodded in agreement, "That is quite heavy, just for throwing some mud and leaves, and he gets fined the equivalent of three cows. If he does it a few more times..."

"Don’t, right now we are the ones sweeping the streets," Bai Shan quickly cut off her bad idea, calling out, "Although it’s satisfying to see him fined, I don’t want to end up sweeping extra trash every day."

The yamen runners found it odd, "Young Lady Zhou even knows the price of cows? You really have a wide range of interests."

Manbao said, "My family has bought cows before, of course I know."

The yamen runners, "...Do matters like buying cows really require the young mistress to tend to them personally?"

Manbao hadn’t picked up on the undertone of their question, but Bai Shan had, so he said, "Their family is poor."

Manbao nodded repeatedly, "Right, our family is poor."

The yamen runners looked incredulous.

Who are they trying to fool?

A poor family’s child, and a girl at that, able to go out to study?

To have such an air about her?

To do business with the county magistrate over a convoy of more than a dozen carts of grain?

Deceiving ghosts, maybe?

The yamen runners didn’t think the Zhou Family was poor; nowadays, the entire Qili Village and even the nearby villages didn’t think the Zhou Family was poor anymore.

Ever since Zhou Dalang and the others started traveling far and wide to collect all the high-quality new wheat from everyone and could pay on the spot, people had realized one thing: the Zhou Family had money!

Even though there were rumors that the only reason they could dish out so much cash was because their employer had given it to them in advance.

But even if the money was advanced, with such a big deal done, they must have made a decent profit.

Plus, they had a shop in Yizhou City, and Four and Sixth were practically living there without coming back. Their grandchildren occasionally drove ox carts or horse carts to Yizhou City, so the villagers had no shortage of guesses about the Zhou Family’s wealth.

After calculating it over and over until they confused themselves, the one thing that stuck was: the Zhou Family was not poor; they had money!

Consequently, the number of families seeking to arrange a marriage with the Zhou Family increased.

The first to be targeted was naturally Zhou Liulang, the senior son of the family.

Old Zhou wanted to resolve a marriage for his son, but having seen quite a few young women, he felt they were a bit unworthy of his son.

Occasionally when Datou and Second Son came back from Yizhou City, they brought back Zhou Liulang’s words, "Sixth Uncle said he’s going to marry a girl from the city in the future, ideally one who can cook with him so they can open a store together in the future. So, Grandpa, you can’t just go arranging a marriage for Sixth Uncle without him knowing, or he’ll mourn his fate back in Yizhou City."

"Go on, would I do such a thing?" Old Zhou retorted.

Datou and Second Son laughed.

Old Zhou was skeptical and asked in a lowered voice, "Tell me honestly, did your Sixth Uncle run off with someone else’s girl in Yizhou City? Maybe a shopkeeper, or a rich family’s daughter?"

Old Zhou was anxious, "That scoundrel isn’t planning to become someone’s live-in son-in-law, is he?"

Datou and Second Son: ...

These words were entirely fabricated by Fourth Uncle for them to bring back; what Sixth Uncle actually said was: Marry? My money is for buying a shop and opening a restaurant. If I marry, then that money has to be split in half. No marriage!

The two bowed their heads to hide their expressions, thinking: If only Sixth Uncle were as enlightened as Grandpa.

But that managed to mislead the family, and with Zhou Liulang’s marriage prospects not looking good, people began to turn their attention to Datou and Daya.

Both were of marriageable age; wasn’t it time to start arranging weddings for them?

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