The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 899 - 877: Making Alliances (Extra update for the reward from the book friend "Huang Juzi")

Chapter 899: Chapter 877: Making Alliances (Extra update for the reward from the book friend "Huang Juzi")

Manbao and his companions had no intention of going shopping or even leaving the County Governmental Office.

For they believed that it was too dangerous outside by now—who knew whether the Prince of Yizhou was aware of their existence?

What if he was aware and had people watching them at this very moment?

What would they do if they went out and something unfortunate led to their deaths?

Both the faint-hearted Manbao and Bai Shan, who unanimously believed they could live a long life and wanted to do so, decided not to go anywhere today. They would simply stay at County Magistrate Yang’s home to read books, admire the scenery, and chat.

Bai Erlang, who really wanted to go out, was successfully persuaded by them. The main reason was that he didn’t have many friends in Luojiang County’s city; with the other two unwilling to leave, it wouldn’t be fun for him to go out alone.

Therefore, the three of them settled into County Magistrate Yang’s study to flip through books or do some writing.

The three managed to behave earnestly for a while in the morning, diligently practicing their calligraphy and seriously reading scholarly books. But after just a little over an hour, Bai Erlang couldn’t resist touching this and fiddling with that any longer. He grew restless, looking around restively.

Manbao also dropped his book to rummage through the shelves for other reads.

Seeing this, Bai Erlang couldn’t resist joining in, leaning over to ask, "What book do you want to read?"

"I want to see what books Lord Yang has; I want to read some storybooks."

Bai Erlang whispered, "I want to read storybooks too, but I have a feeling that Lord Yang doesn’t have any. Lord Tang might have some, though."

He thought County Magistrate Yang was too cultured.

Bai Shan, too, couldn’t help but put down his book and came over, confidently asserting, "There won’t be a lack of assorted books. We should search in the more secluded places. I usually place my miscellany in inconspicuous spots on the shelves so that they are less likely to be discovered."

The three then split up to search.

Wantian, who was also serving in the study, thought: ...If they wanted to know, they could have just asked - why bother searching themselves?

However, glancing at Daji, who was nearly dozing off at the side, Wantian opened his mouth but eventually said nothing.

It was Ms. Cui, with Hongxue carrying some refreshments, who came in at this moment. Wantian hesitated for a moment but didn’t stop her as usual and opened the door to let her in.

Ms. Cui nodded at him with a smile and upon entering the study, she saw the three crowding together flipping through books. "Are you hungry? I’ve brought you some tea and snacks."

Startled by the sudden sound, the three who had just found some casual reads instinctively hid the books behind them, guiltily turning around to face Ms. Cui.

Ms. Cui looked at them curiously, "What’s wrong?"

The three shook their heads in unison, "Nothing."

Manbao passed the book behind him to Bai Shan, then cheerfully stepped out from behind the shelf, "Sister Cui, you’re so thoughtful, always remembering to send us snacks."

Ms. Cui’s keen eyes caught Bai Shan stuffing something back into the shelf.

She sneaked a glance at Wantian and saw his amused posture, which told her that Heshu had allowed their behavior, so she did not inquire. Instead, she had Hongxue bring out all the snacks and said with a smile, "I wasn’t sure what you’d like to eat, so I picked a little of everything for you."

Manbao said, "We love all kinds of snacks."

Since they couldn’t continue reading the miscellaneous books, Manbao simply invited Ms. Cui to sit down; everyone began drinking tea, eating snacks, and chatting in the study.

This was Ms. Cui’s first time in Heshu’s study, and certainly the first time doing such things there. Knowing Heshu’s passion for cleanliness, she felt a little nervous when handed a piece of snack.

Manbao had already begun to chirp happily beside her, "Sister Cui, what do you usually do for fun at home?"

Smiling, Ms. Cui responded, "Having just arrived, I don’t know many people, so I just take care of household chores and do some sewing—in short, I don’t have much to do."

Manbao sympathetically said, "It must be lonely not having your friends here."

After thinking for a while, she sighed, "It’s a pity I don’t know many friends in the county either. My friends are in the village, or else I would introduce you two and you could chat occasionally. But you could ask Lord Yang to take you out and meet a few friends, then you all could go out and have fun together."

Ms. Cui smiled, "He’s busy; how can he have time for me?"

Manbao, with experience, said, "It will be better after spring - then he’ll have some free time."

"The County Governmental Office is usually busy as well, isn’t it?"

Manbao shook her head, "Our Luojiang County has few affairs. It’s only busy during spring planting, summer harvesting, and autumn collecting; the rest of the time we are quite idle. Hence, Lord Yang often takes a break to stay in the village for a while. By the way, you could accompany Lord Yang to our village. Bai Er, your family has allocated a separate courtyard for Lord Yang to use, right? If it’s cleaned up nicely, Sister Cui could stay there too."

Bai Erlang nodded in agreement, "No problem at all."

Thinking of how their days of studying back in Yizhou City were indefinitely distant, Manbao enthusiastically invited Ms. Cui, "When you go, we’ll take you to our estate to play. We have many fruit trees there, and in summer and autumn, there’s a lot of fruit you can pick; we’ll take you to pick them."

Manbao became more excited as he spoke, "You can also go fishing, but we won’t trap fish anymore. Now that we’re bigger, we’re not allowed to go into the river."

Ms. Cui was stunned and took a moment to find her words, "Does... does Lord Yang often go to your village? Does he also pick fruits and go fishing?"

Manbao nodded, "Yes, last year he picked two big baskets of fruits in our orchard."

Ms. Cui murmured, "But he’s so particular about cleanliness..."

Hearing this, Manbao disagreed, "Not really. He goes to the countryside every spring to encourage farmers, rolling up his sleeves and getting into the fields himself, often coming back completely dirty. He’s not that particular about cleanliness."

Bai Shan remembered Lord Tang saying that County Magistrate Yang had some cleanliness habits, but those were different concerns. Interjecting, he suggested, "Eldest Grandma Yang must have meant that County Magistrate Yang is meticulous in choosing friends, right?"

"Ah?" Ms. Cui looked utterly perplexed.

Wantian, with heart in mouth, quickly spoke up, "Eldest grandma, Lord Yang should be about finished with his work, and it’s almost lunchtime. Should we go and look for him?"

Smiling, Ms. Cui nodded, "Sure."

So Manbao and the others accompanied them.

Wantian let out a relieved sigh, wiping the sweat from his forehead. In the past, Lord Yang was indeed very particular when forging friendships, even researching people’s ancestors thoroughly, and this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Unknown to Wantian, County Magistrate Tang had already divulged everything about Heshu, so he was on tenterhooks, fearing the conversation might lead to unfavorable revelations, jeopardizing both Lord Yang’s friendships and his marital relationship with Eldest Grandma Yang.

Fortunately, Manbao had a knack for changing topics rapidly; she already began regaling Ms. Cui with their amusing fishing exploits.

How could Ms. Cui, a rich man’s daughter, know about catching a net full of lively fish by entering the river during the winter water release?

She was utterly baffled just listening to Manbao’s descriptions.

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