The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 818 - 796: In a Daze

Chapter 818: Chapter 796: In a Daze

Manbao frowned in contemplation.

Old Zhou was quite uneasy, "Manbao, if the truth about your father comes out, will our family and you be held accountable? And the villagers, everyone helped to hide it, will the county magistrate arrest us all?"

Manbao asked, "Does the whole village know?"

Old Zhou nodded, "The older ones all know. It was quite the scene when your dad came back, everyone came over to our house to join the commotion."

Manbao thought for a moment and then comforted, "Don’t be afraid, even if it’s about hiding a fugitive, there are so many involved; they’ll only arrest the ringleaders, like the village chief grandfather and the local chief, as well as dad and my eldest brother."

Old Zhou was not comforted at all, clutching his chest and said, "How can this be?"

Having learned the truth, Manbao felt much more relaxed, and she kept asking her mother, "Mom, are you sure, my dad really isn’t a bad person?"

Ms.Qian didn’t hesitate to nod, "Sure!"

Manbao clenched her fist, "Then there’s nothing to fear. Rest assured, the investigation is led by County Magistrate Tang, who is very clever and not wicked, he won’t play the fool. If my dad is not a bad person, then the person who killed him must be found."

Ms.Qian couldn’t help but sit up straight and took her hand to ask, "So, this is still a good thing, right?"

Manbao nodded, "Yes."

But Old Zhou was doubtful, "They won’t be like the previous officials, rushing in and saying your dad is a bandit and then arresting us all?"

Manbao said, "That won’t happen. When I get back to Yizhou City, I’ll go to County Magistrate Tang and ask for his help with the case. It’s a pity that County Magistrate Yang went back to the capital to get married; we don’t know when he will return. Fortunately, County Magistrate Tang is especially formidable in solving cases. I’ve heard from his aide, Mingli, that he’s much better at it than County Magistrate Yang."

Old Zhou sighed with relief, "That’s good, that’s good."

After the important matters were discussed, the room fell silent.

Old Zhou looked at his daughter awkwardly and said, "Manbao, even though you weren’t born to me, we share the same blood. Dad loves you just as much as before; don’t take it to heart, do you understand?"

"I understand, Dad."

Hearing her call him "Dad," Old Zhou finally felt reassured and reached out with his rough palm to hold her hand and patted it, "Manbao, your dad was younger than your eldest brother and sister when we brought him up, like a son. And you, we’ve raised you too, through all the hardships. Dad’s heart aches for you the most. When you get married and bring a husband home, your mom and I will not live with your eldest brother. We’ll stay with you, help you with the kids. And when we get old and can’t move, we’ll have your brothers bring us over to be looked after until our last days..."

Ms.Qian glared at him, "Why are you talking about such things?"

"Why can’t I talk about it? I’m just trying to give Manbao some peace of mind and let her know, no matter if she’s our biological child or not, we cherish her the most."

"Are you the one who cherishes her the most?" Ms.Qian said indignantly, "When did we ever discuss arranging a stay-at-home son-in-law for Manbao? What good man would agree to that?"

"What do you mean no good man? Two is a stay-at-home son-in-law, isn’t he a good man?" Old Zhou said, "Manbao is so capable and has such a strong temper, which family’s son out there could be worthy of her? If she marries and goes out, what if someone bullies her? It’s better to pick a good-looking one to be a stay-at-home son-in-law. Build a house nearby, and with her six brothers watching, who would dare to bully her?"

"You still think about keeping her in the village? Manbao has read so many books, and Mr. Zhuang even says she has great prospects ahead. How can you think about confining the child to the village..."

The couple immediately started arguing.

Manbao looked at her dad, then at her mom, and then quietly slipped out of bed and ran off, leaving them to argue among themselves.

Manbao ran back to her room, and when she climbed back onto the bed, she was still calm, but then her heart started pounding. Was she really not her parents’ child?

Manbao scratched her head, wanting to talk to someone, so she turned to Keke, "Keke, it turns out my dad isn’t my dad, and my mom isn’t my mom either."

Keke hummed in response, and seeing that Manbao didn’t continue speaking for a while, he asked, "And then?"

Manbao: "Don’t you find it strange?"

Keke: "No."

Manbao: "Forget it, I won’t talk to you about it anymore. I’m going to talk to Bai Shan."

She turned her head to look outside the window, hoping aloud, "I don’t know when dawn will break. I still want to pay my respects to them. I never knew my uncle was actually my dad, and I didn’t know my mom was buried there with him."

Keke did some calculations and then said, "There are nine hours and thirty-eight minutes until dawn."

Manbao silently lay down, pulled the blanket up to cover herself, and placed her hands on her stomach, saying, "Then wake me up in eight hours."

Keke took note, and so he woke Manbao up before dawn.

Manbao got up, dressed, looked at the fog outside, and hearing the noise from the main yard, she knew her eldest sister-in-law must be up. She then shrank her neck and crawled over.

Junior Ms. Qian and Ms. Feng were already up making breakfast and boiling water. Upon seeing Manbao sneak over, Junior Ms. Qian quickly grabbed her small hand, felt that it was still warm, and let out a sigh of relief. Then she asked, "Why are you up so early? It’s not even dawn yet."

"I’m going out to find Shanbao in a while."

"There’s no need to be up this early. Young Master Shan might not even be awake yet."

Ms. Feng, smiling, asked from the side, "Little miss, would you like some hot water to wash your face?"

Manbao nodded.

Ms. Feng then filled a wooden basin with hot water for her, "Go wash up, and wear more clothes. It’s only February now, it’s still very cold."

Manbao, holding the wooden basin, didn’t leave but asked, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, is our family going to the temple fair today?"

Ms. Feng: "Yes, everyone in the family is going."

Junior Ms. Qian thought for a moment and said, "Dad and mom probably won’t go this year. Yesterday mom asked me to collect the incense, probably for us to go offer it."

Manbao said, "I won’t go either."

Ms. Feng looked at her curiously, "Didn’t you come back just to go to the temple fair? Why aren’t you going now?"

Manbao scratched her head and said, "I will go, but not so early. I need to talk to Shanbao and see if he’s going. I don’t know about these scholarly things," she said with a nod, "Alright then, but you’ll need to tell mom about it when she gets up."

Manbao nodded, turned around but then pulled Junior Ms. Qian out with her.

Junior Ms. Qian asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Eldest sister-in-law, can you gather some incense sticks, candles, and paper money for me?"

"What do you need incense sticks, candles, and paper money for?"

Manbao then lowered her voice and said, "To offer respects to my real parents."

Junior Ms. Qian looked at her with an uncertain and questioning gaze, not sure whether she really knew or was just fooling her.

Manbao didn’t look up at her, just kept sighing and said, "My dad’s one thing, we pay respects and offer incense to him every year, and we’ve invited him to come over and dine with grandpa and grandma. But we never invited my mom, so I want to go see."

Junior Ms. Qian opened her mouth, and after a long pause, she finally nodded and said, "Okay."