The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 839 - 817: Being Human

Chapter 839: Chapter 817: Being Human

Both of them felt that something was amiss and hastily asked, "Then, who else knows about this?"

Bai Erlang said, "Everyone knows about it already."

Bai Shan and Manbao exchanged a glance and silently shed a tear for County Magistrate Tang in their hearts, then unhesitatingly said, "County Magistrate Tang must have gone to do some unspeakable secret."

Bai Erlang became excited. "You all think so too, don’t you?"

He said, "That’s exactly what I think, which is why I’ve been waiting in the observatory, but unfortunately, he hasn’t returned even as it’s getting dark, and Daoxu was so unsympathetic to kick us out."

Manbao said gravely, "You don’t even know what County Magistrate Tang is doing; that’s not a secret."

"How is that not a secret?" Bai Erlang became anxious and exclaimed, "This has to count as at least half a secret, and you need to tell me half as well."

Bai Shan: "Go ask your father."

"I haven’t told my father the secret, so what’s the point of asking him? You can’t go back on your word; otherwise, I won’t ever come to you to play again."

Bai Shan and Manbao looked at each other, exchanging a glance, then Bai Shan said, "Fine then, we’ll tell you half a secret. We are recently searching for a significant treasure."

"What treasure?"

"The treasure left by Fourth Brother Zhou’s uncle, which has fallen in the forest. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly where, so we need to search slowly. You can’t tell anyone about this; currently, only our three families’ adults know and are the ones looking."

Bai Erlang looked at them suspiciously. "Then why hasn’t my family sent anyone?"

"Isn’t Liu Gui and the others your family’s people?" said Bai Shan. "The people from my family and your family are no different. If you don’t believe it, you can go back and ask your uncle."

Bai Erlang looked at him for a while, then glanced at Daji, deciding not to seek out his father since he always felt it was a trap.

Having exchanged half a secret, Bai Erlang reconciled with them and complained all the way, "You also lied to me about searching for Ganoderma. Our teacher said, ’A gentleman should be open and upright.’ How could you lie?"

Manbao said, "I am trying to be a gentleman, but I’m not there yet. I’ll work even harder in the future."

Bai Erlang: "Liar!"

Quietly, Bai Shan nodded his head to the side.

Manbao seemed to notice and turned his head to stare at his head.

Bai Shan continued to walk forward without a sideward glance.

They had ventured too deep and exited too late; it had only been halfway through the day when darkness fell. Zhou Hu had anticipated this and started to make torches out of dry grass with Zhou Erlang and Zhou Silang.

They made the torches very tightly, with each person making two. Liu Gui and the others obviously also had experience venturing into the woods in the dark, so they each started to feel around for the torches.

After making the torches, Zhou Hu applied the lamp oil he had brought with him on the tightly packed torches, and as soon as it got dark, he lit three of them. Everyone in the front, middle, and back held one, following each other out of the forest.

By the time they came out of the mountain, it was already late. The Bai Family and the Zhou Family had both sent out people to wait for them. As soon as Zhou Sanlang saw them, he immediately went up to them and asked, "Why are you so late? Father and mother are extremely worried."

Zhou Erlang said, "We went too deep."

Zhou Sanlang lowered his voice and asked, "Did you find it?"

Zhou Erlang shook his head slightly.

Zhou Sanlang felt a slight disappointment.

The servants from the Bai Family also caught up with their young masters, escorting them back home.

Zhou Erlang took Zhou Hu home as a guest. Manbao thought for a moment and told Bai Shan to give Liu Gui to them, "We’re going back to Yizhou City tomorrow, so it’s good to let Liu Gui and Zhou Hu get acquainted. If Zhou Hu has time, he can take Liu Gui up the mountain for a stroll."

Bai Shan asked her, "Should we tell Zhou Hu?"

"There’s no need to tell him everything, lest we drag him into this. Just say we’re looking for something my father left behind," Manbao said, "just like we told Bai Eryi."

Bai Shan nodded and then asked Liu Gui, "You go ahead and take Miss Man back."

Liu Gui was stunned and looked towards Manbao. All three brothers of the Zhou Family were here, along with Zhou Hu. Was it necessary for him to escort her?

After Bai Shan coughed lightly, Liu Gui hurriedly walked towards Manbao.

Manbao then smiled and said, "Thank you, Liu Gui. Join us for dinner tonight."

Only then did Liu Gui belatedly realize and quickly agreed.

Upon returning to the Zhou Family home, Junior Ms. Qian personally cooked them a meal. The others had already had their meal, knowing they had things to discuss, so with a wave of her hand from Ms. Qian, Ms. Feng and the others took their children each to their respective rooms, leaving just the Zhou Family brothers, Manbao, Zhou Hu, and Liu Gui in the main room.

Ms. Qian did not want Manbao to be involved in such matters, so she called her out and let Zhou Erlang speak to Zhou Hu.

She stuffed Manbao into the kitchen, saying, "You’re going back to school tomorrow. Sleep well tonight, and pack up your things. Let your brothers worry about the family matters."

She added, "As a young girl sitting at the table, you won’t enjoy your meal. I asked your sister-in-law to save some food for you; just eat in the kitchen."

Manbao took her bowl and sat in the kitchen to eat while watching her mother. "Mother, do you dislike me investigating this matter?"

Ms. Qian sighed, "I know, no child wants their parents to die so uncertainly, but I’m also very afraid that something will happen to you."

She glanced outside and whispered, "That Prince of Yizhou sounds terrifying just by the name."

"Mother, I’ve seen him; he is not as formidable as we think." Wasn’t he also in a pitiful state when the assassins attacked him?

Thinking of the assassins, something stirred in Manbao’s heart. The assailant who had attempted to kill the Prince of Yizhou was rumored to be a displaced person from previous years. Ultimately, the incident related to Bai Shan’s father involved the Qianwei Dam. She wondered whether those people had any belongings in their possession.

Ms. Qian then sighed, "You might think he is not formidable, but I feel he is mightier than heaven itself. Look at the Bai Family, with their countless servants and even raising a formidable figure like Daji. Old Madam Liu kept this secret for so many years and even dared to capture the detectives investigating the case. The Bai Family is powerful, right? But when it comes to the Prince of Yizhou, they still tread carefully, not daring to make a single misstep."

"Compared to the Bai Family, our family is just an ant, and in comparison to the Prince of Yizhou, we don’t even count as ants."

Manbao pursed her lips, "Mother, I think what you’re saying is right, but also not right."

Ms. Qian asked, "What is not right?"

Manbao thought carefully, then said, "I am a person, and I want to be a person, not an ant."

Ms. Qian was taken aback and speechless for a long while.

After a long time, she reached out to touch Manbao’s face and sighed, "You’re a good child, a very smart child. Perhaps in the future, you really can become a person, and you might even lead our entire family to be a person."

"Then you must remember, you have to stay alive because only living people are considered people," Ms. Qian said, "otherwise, once you’re dead, what you are and what you aren’t is no longer up to you to decide."

Manbao nodded firmly, meeting her mother’s gaze, and said earnestly, "Mother, I remember, and I will always live well."