The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 874 - 852: Late

Chapter 874: Chapter 852: Late

The next morning, County Magistrate Tang picked a few people to go to the countryside with him; Mingli stayed at home waiting for the delivery of a case file. After sending off the case file, Mingli took another letter from a box and went to find Manbao.

At the entrance of the alley, he bumped into Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, who were hurriedly rushing out to go to school.

Mingli was surprised, "Young Master Shan, you’re leaving for school so late?"

Bai Shan’s anxious expression then eased. He coughed lightly and pretended to be calm as he nodded, "Yes, our home is close to the academy. There’s no rush."

However, Bai Erlang in the carriage was almost panicked to death. He lifted the curtain and exclaimed, "You’re not in a rush, but I am! We have homework due today, and we have to leave early. The teacher said if we don’t behave, we won’t be allowed to leave early at noon."

Bai Shan couldn’t help but glance at him, while Mingli on the ground struggled to hold back his laughter.

Bai Shan didn’t let Daji go, but asked, "Why have you come so early in the morning?"

Mingli then pulled a box from his bosom and said, "The master sent me to deliver a letter to Miss Man for Young Master Yang. If you send someone back to Yizhou City, please take this letter with you."

Bai Shan finally breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, "Okay, Manbao is still at home. Go ahead."

After saying that, he let the curtain down and signaled Daji to go.

Bai Erlang, sitting restlessly, complained in a low voice, "It’s all your fault for waking up late. Otherwise, we’d have already arrived at the school by now."

Bai Shan was displeased, "I might have gotten up late, but you didn’t wake up early either. If you did, wouldn’t I have woken up too?"

Bai Shan said, "Is it only permissible for you to sleep in every day, but not for me to occasionally wake up late?"

Bai Erlang was left speechless and simply turned his head away, ignoring him.

In the early morning, there weren’t many pedestrians on the street, and even fewer carriages. Listening to the two argue, Daji sped up. Just as they finished arguing, Daji stopped the carriage and jumped down to pull back the curtain, "Young Master, the academy is here."

Bai Erlang didn’t ask for his help, nor did he wait for Daji to lower the carriage step; he just jumped out of the carriage. Bai Shan handed out his book basket, which he took and then ran towards the academy.

Watching him bound into the academy, Bai Shan then let down the curtain and said, "Let’s go."

Daji delivered Bai Shan to the academy just as the school bell rang. By then, no one else was entering or exiting as all the students and teachers who were supposed to come had arrived.

Bai Shan stepped down from the carriage step, grabbed his basket, and with a badge in hand, walked in.

The gatekeeping elder stared at him for quite a while, worrying, "Young Master, you don’t look well. Are you sick? If you’re sick, you should ask the teacher for a few days off."

Bai Shan politely smiled at him and said, "It’s nothing serious. It wouldn’t be good to miss classes."

Holding the book basket, Bai Shan walked to the classroom. The teacher had already started lecturing. Seeing Bai Shan standing outside with his head lowered, the teacher immediately waved, "Come in since you are here."

The teacher also asked with concern, "You look unwell. Is it something at home that wasn’t handled well, or are you sick? Do you need to take a couple of days off to rest?"

Bai Shan politely declined, indicating he could manage, as missing classes wouldn’t be good.

The teacher nodded approvingly and asked him to sit down quickly.

Bai Shan, who had no issues, sat down. Wei Ting, sitting at an angle behind, couldn’t help but glance at him repeatedly. As soon as the class ended, he couldn’t help but rush to Bai Shan’s desk and asked, "What’s wrong with you? You were absent yesterday, and today you look unwell."

Bai Shan replied, "I didn’t sleep well last night."

Wei Ting enviously said, "Luck is on your side. Even if you’re late, the teacher doesn’t punish you but is even willing to give you a couple of days off. If it were me being late..."

Ji Hao, overhearing this, intervened, "Can you be compared to him?"

He said, "Someone’s never been late throughout the year, always arrives first and leaves last at school, completes their homework the fastest and the best, visits the Book Collection Tower as often as you visit eateries..."

Wei Ting replied annoyedly, "If you want to compliment him, can’t you make it sound nicer?"

Ji Hao blushed and exclaimed, "I wasn’t complimenting him!"

Then, he turned and walked away.

Watching him leave, Wei Ting said to Bai Shan, "That guy is tough on the outside but soft at heart. He’s worried about you, otherwise he wouldn’t have come all the way here."

Bai Shan nodded nonchalantly.

Seeing this, Wei Ting sighed deeply, feeling utterly worried.

He really liked Bai Shan and had already considered him a close friend; Ji Hao, moreover, was an old friend for many years, having skipped classes and thrown mud together with him.

It was troublesome that one wanted to be friends but wouldn’t soften his tone while the other truly did not want to be friends; he was indeed very troubled.

Wei Ting scratched his head and finally thought of another topic, "Today is Qi Jue’s birthday, did he invite you?"

Bai Shan hummed affirmatively and looked at Wei Ting, "Are you going too?"

"Of course I am. I’ve already asked for leave from our teacher, and I’ll go right after school ends this afternoon. I’ll stay at home tonight and come back to class tomorrow." Wei Ting said, "Ji Hao is also going; shall we go together?"

Bai Shan shook his head, declining, "I still need to pick up Bai Eryi, you guys go ahead."

"Why not pick him up and we all go together?" Wei Ting suggested with a smile, "We’re all so familiar with each other anyway."

"I still have to go pick up Manbao too; it’ll take too long. You guys go ahead."

Wei Ting laughed, "Even better, let’s all go together. By the way, last time she tricked me and said she’d repay me a pack of sweets—does she still remember that?"

Bai Shan... He didn’t know if she remembered, as he certainly didn’t.

Thus, Wei Ting and Ji Hao followed Bai Shan back to the alley. All the way, Wei Ting kept nagging, "You tricked me into picking up Bai Er, but he had already left after his class. Admit it, didn’t you just not want to hang out?"

Different from Ji Hao, Bai Shan quite enjoyed hanging out with Wei Ting and shook his head, "No, I just forgot about it."

"Who are you fooling? You have a good memory." But Wei Ting only muttered that phrase and as soon as they reached the entrance to the alley, he rushed inside, startling Manbao.

Manbao was standing under a tree reciting from a book with her back turned. Suddenly, a loud roar, especially since Keke gave no warning at all, made her jump, turning around to see it was Wei Ting. She asked irritably, "What are you doing?"

Bai Shan entered with a book basket and gave Wei Ting a warning glance, "If you scare her into having nightmares, be careful Fourth Brother Zhou comes back and bags you."

Wei Ting shrank his neck, "It won’t happen. It was just a yell; surely your courage isn’t that small?"

"My courage is indeed that small."

Manbao flipped open her book and glanced at the contents she needed to recite. Realizing she had almost memorized it all, she then closed the book and said, "Wait a moment, I’ll go get the gift."

Wei Ting exclaimed, "Oh, you’ve prepared gifts separately? Oh right, he only invited you guys, and your family isn’t here."

Bai Shan stood in the courtyard talking with him, "Is your gift given along with your family’s?"

"Yeah, my mother went early. I’m just going to join the crowd, send blessings, and have a meal," Wei Ting said with a smile. "We are still young, so our families are not in a rush to celebrate birthdays. But Ji Hao suffered a lot last year; he should have a celebration this year. You should come too when the time comes."

After saying that, he winked at Ji Hao, who was not far from the door.