The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 926 - 904 Who Will Go

Chapter 926: Chapter 904 Who Will Go

Zhou SiLang and Zhou Wulang exchanged a glance, one of them said, "Dad, my wife has just gotten pregnant. Let her give birth first, then I’ll go. Plus, with autumn and winter approaching, I still need to sell our medicinal herbs in Yizhou City. There’s quite a lot of them this year."

The Ligustrum lucidum planted in the past two years, along with old ginger, yam, and other such things, all seemed set for a good harvest this year. Last year, they made quite a profit selling these in Yizhou City, and it was Zhou SiLang who had made the connections with the owners of the medical shops there.

Old Zhou turned to look at Zhou Wulang.

Zhou Wulang scratched his head and asked, "I don’t mind going, but if I do, can I find work in the capital?"

Manbao looked left and right, noticing that Datou and Second Son on the side were itching to try, and Erya kept winking at her incessantly, almost as if her eyeballs would fall out.

Junior Ms.Qian saw this from the sidelines and slapped Datou on the head to make him behave.

Manbao cleared her throat and spoke, "Dad, it’s not good for Fifth Brother and Fifth Sister-in-law to be separated. Why not let Datou, Second Son, and Erya come with us?"

Old Zhou was reluctant, "They are young; what can they do there? What if they end up causing trouble for you?"

He pondered and said, "At least Four and Five are married and sensible. Once there, they could run errands for you."

Manbao replied, "Dad, I am going to learn skills and study, and with Sixth Brother and Datou there to watch over me, that will be enough."

Old Zhou stared at her and said, "Don’t think that just because you don’t say it, I don’t know. This trip to the capital is for a big cause. You’ve grown up with big aspirations, and you’re doing the right thing. I don’t dare to stop you. I haven’t been too far away from home my whole life, so there’s not much help I can offer. Your brothers have seen a bit of the world, so let them go to help you."

Saying this, Old Zhou’s preference for Zhou SiLang grew even stronger, since he was the son who had experienced the most of the world.

Zhou SiLang, noticing the old man’s gaze upon him, couldn’t help but reach out and poke Manbao in the lower back, which happened to be seen by Old Zhou, who became furious and started snatching at him with the sole of his shoe, shouting, "Now I get it, Manbao didn’t want you or Five to go because you’ve been stirring things up from behind. Now that you’ve got a wife, you forget about your sister. I’ll beat you to death, you ungrateful..."

Zhou SiLang jumped up and ran...

Old Zhou chased him halfway around the yard, feeling that this was all too undignified, and called for Zhou Dalang and Zhou ErLang, "Hold him down for me, I’m going to thrash him to death..."

Ms.Fang, who was unintentionally dragged into the fray: ...

Ms.Qian sat quietly above, watching Old Zhou smack Zhou SiLang several times before finally saying, "That’s enough, Manbao will be setting off in a few days. It’s more important to choose people to go with her now."

Old Zhou then spared Zhou SiLang.

Zhou SiLang rubbed his backside and, turning to see his son staring with wide, frightened eyes at them, realized he might have scared him.

He quickly embraced his son, muttering under his breath, "That was really humiliating," then comforted him, "Grandpa was just playing with Dad."

Old Zhou glared at him again.

Ms.Qian said, "Now that we have some extra money at home, and there’s no land for sale in our village, to buy land we’d have to go to other villages, which are too far to cultivate anyway. I think it’s better to give the money to Manbao and Sixth to take with them. Once in the capital, see if they can rent a shop and open a small restaurant. It could cover their expenses in the capital, and it would also be an asset for our family. In the future, when Third Son and Fourth Son have finished their studies and go to the capital, they could use it as well."

The Zhou family members were all gaping in surprise.

Only Manbao was nodding vigorously.

Old Zhou’s hands trembled as he looked at his wife and said, "You...you’re really buying into Manbao’s nonsense huh."

Manbao wasn’t pleased and called out, "Dad, how can you call this deception? Although Second Son and Four can’t compare to me in their studies, they’re not that bad either. If they study for a few more years and then go to the capital to attend an academy, even if they can’t pass the civil service exams, it would still be impressive to say that they’ve been to the capital. Afterwards, they can do just like Mr. Zhuang—open a school and teach, and do some farming in their leisure time. Wouldn’t that earn more money than just farming?"

Second Son replied discontentedly, "Little sister, Mr. Zhuang doesn’t farm at all; he only teaches."

"And are you as capable as Mr. Zhuang?" Manbao responded. "Mr. Zhuang supports his family just by teaching; can you do that?"

Zhou Dalang and Junior Ms. Qian immediately turned to look at their youngest son.

After wrestling with the question for a moment, Second Son admitted, "I’m afraid that might be a bit difficult."

Zhou Dalang and Junior Ms. Qian were disappointed, but a spark of motivation still flickered within them. They felt that nothing was impossible—wasn’t Manbao about to go to the capital now?

If Datou could go, then one day Second Son going to the capital to study wouldn’t be out of the question either.

The first time Manbao brought this matter up to Old Zhou and Ms. Qian, Ms. Qian, like Old Zhou, was taken aback, but she was always bold and after pondering for a while, she thought what Manbao said made sense.

Why couldn’t their children study in the capital? Why couldn’t they become officials?

Wasn’t Manbao going to study in the capital now?

If she had been a boy, it wouldn’t have been a difficult feat to become an official after a few years. Even if Three and the others were not as good as their little sister, they shouldn’t fall too far behind.

With a burst of determination, Ms. Qian agreed to Manbao’s proposal, and they began planning. She said, "This time you’re traveling with the Bai Family, which means more people and greater safety, so take all the family’s silver with you. When you get to the capital, don’t be in a rush. Look around first and find out whether it’s better to rent a shop or to buy one outright."

"If you really can’t make up your minds, ask the Bai Family’s Old Madam for advice, if she happens to be in the capital by then. If she isn’t there, write back to us and ask for our opinion. We’ll help you decide—better to be slow and careful."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang nodded in agreement.

Ms. Qian said, "Manbao will definitely be staying with Mr. Zhuang, and Erya can stay with Manbao as well. But for you two brothers, taking your nephews and also staying with the Bai Family wouldn’t be proper, so whether you’re buying or renting a shop, make sure it’s a big one with enough space for you to live."

Zhou Silang felt a chill at the mention, "Mom, do we have enough money?"

Although his mother mentioned renting, he could tell from her tone that she was pretty much set on buying.

Ms. Qian spoke confidently, "How could we not? There’s currently over thirteen hundred taels of silver in the family’s public fund."

As she spoke about the silver, Ms. Qian felt a bit of regret; if they hadn’t distributed money to her sons earlier, there would have been more in the public fund.

But they couldn’t ask for the money back once it was given; the public fund had its own business to attend to, and asking for contributions again would mess up the accounts. Once the households started to have grievances, life would become difficult to carry on.

Hearing about the silver, Zhou Liulang also began to hesitate, "The capital is bigger than Yizhou City, right? This amount of money could buy a large shop in Yizhou, but in the capital..."

Zhou Silang stated decisively, "It’s definitely not enough."

"Oh, if it’s not enough, I’ll just add more to it," Manbao said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand. "I have money. So, Mom, you’re agreeing to let Datou and the others come with me to the capital, right?"

Ms. Qian smiled as she stroked her head, "They aren’t young anymore; it’s time for them to go out and see the world."

Sitting quietly to the side, Old Zhou added, "Datou is old enough to discuss marriage as well."