The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 929 - 908: Entering the Capital

Chapter 929: Chapter 908: Entering the Capital

Erlang Bai rushed to his family’s large cart and, upon inspecting the items loaded upon it, pointed at the trunks and asked in shock, "All of these are for my elder brother?"

Gao Song nodded, "Yes, Second Young Master."

Erlang Bai pursed his lips, "Why didn’t anyone tell me, huh? What all has been packed for him? How come it looks more than what I have?"

"It’s not more than yours," Bai Shan said fairly, "Only a bit more than half of this cart is for Eldest Cousin. There’s also a bit for you in here, and the cart behind this one is all yours."

Erlang Bai grumbled, "That’s not the same. When Eldest Brother first went to the capital, he took two carts’ worth of goods with him."

Although Old Master Bai was stingy, he was actually not poor. On the contrary, he was quite wealthy, especially in recent years, having earned a substantial amount of money with the new wheat varieties.

Rich in possessions, poor at home, so when it came to his sons leaving home, he was always quite willing to spend money.

However, the items provided did vary.

When Bai Dalang left for the capital, Old Master Bai felt sad that he would be alone there studying, so naturally, he packed more complete provisions for him, even the money given was the most.

But now, as Erlang Bai departed, he not only had classmates with him but also a teacher leading the way, and after a while, Old Madam Liu and the others were going to the capital as well. Since Bai Dalang had already settled down there, Erlang Bai would have a place to stay upon arrival. Things were quite different.

But Erlang Bai still felt a bit envious, pointing to those trunks, "These trunks are so big, mine aren’t as large."

Bai Shan directly dragged him back, "Just be content. You have brothers, which is something I wish for myself."

Manbao added, "You can only hope for the next lifetime."

Erlang Bai quipped, "Just how bad must a person be to end up as your brother in their next life?"

Hearing this, Manbao burst into loud laughter, while Bai Shan, annoyed, chased after Erlang Bai, hitting him as he demanded, "What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me?"

Gao Song glanced at the sun, feeling the time was about right, and hurriedly said, "Young masters and young lady, it’s about time. Shall we set off?"

The three of them climbed onto the carriage.

The thrill faded within a couple of days; after all, green mountains and clear waters were much the same, and the view grew boring after a while. Plus, the weather turned hot, so they all felt somewhat listless.

It was only Manbao who, every day when they stopped for noon to rest, reached out her ’claws’ toward the surrounding flora and fauna, both large and small.

Not all things she collected were medicinal. She would dig up anything that caught her eye, and after a while might just throw it away. Sometimes, she’d even fold a leaf to catch an insect and then watch it intently.

Sometimes, watching the insect struggle, Erlang Bai would feel pity for it.

Manbao tossed all these things into the system for collection, and the sound of chimes and coins echoed continuously throughout the journey, indicating both unidentified species being scanned and credits being added to her account.

Whenever Manbao had the chance, she’d collect whatever Keke scanned, and if there wasn’t an opportunity, she could only regret what they missed.

But such regrets were fleeting—one figured they were still young with plenty of opportunities, and the other was used to it by now; after all, things were much better now than before, right?

As they traveled northward, the frequency of encountering unique plants increased. Every few days, they collected a plant with great value and no counterparts in the future, with rewards of tens of thousands of points.

Not only did Manbao make a good profit, but even Keke leveraged the points earned to level up once more.

After nine days of travel, with the sun extremely bright and not a drop of rain throughout the journey, they reached the gates of the capital. The group of young boys and girls had successfully tanned a little, even Mr. Zhuang, who always preferred to stay inside the carriage, had darkened a shade.

Datou and Second Son’s tans were not as noticeable, simply because their complexions were dark to begin with.

Meanwhile, Manbao, Bai Shan, and Bai Erlang stood out strikingly. It was mainly because the three had always been so pale, especially Manbao and Bai Shan, so even a slight tan was particularly noticeable.

Others might not care about this, but Gao Song did, since they were about to meet the Eldest Young Master. He was known to be very imposing, and Gao Song worried what the Eldest Young Master would say about not taking good care of the Second Young Master. No, about him getting so tanned, might be blamed for not taking good care of him.

But the Second Young Master was not so easily managed. During the summer, the sun was scorching, and they needed to rest for over an hour at noon. Otherwise, not only the people but also the livestock would not be able to bear it.

Whenever Miss Man wanted to burrow into the woods to dig things up, the Second Young Master would follow her. Gao Song’s advice was to no avail.

While Gao Song worried endlessly, the three people on the cart were brimming with excitement as if resurrected. As they saw more carriages and people on the imperial road, they pulled back the curtains, leaned out through the windows, and caught a glimpse of the towering city gate tower in the distance. They couldn’t help but exclaim, "Wow, it’s even taller than the city towers of Yizhou City."

Bai Shan said, "The city gate seems bigger than Yizhou City’s too."

Passersby who saw their wide-eyed wonder couldn’t help but cast a disdainful glance before striding ahead with heads held high, passing them by.

Manbao noticed and commented, "The people in the capital city hold their heads even higher than those in Yizhou City."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang couldn’t help snickering at this remark, then quickly stifled their laughter, remembering they had agreed to keep a low profile to avoid trouble. So, they lowered their heads and held back their giggles.

The people who had just passed them heard this comment and laughter, gave them a covert glare, spurred their horse, and quickly moved away.

Only then did the three inside the cart burst into hearty laughter.

The city gate looked close, but it was actually quite a distance away. The cart took about a quarter of an hour more to finally arrive beneath it.

Unable to keep still, everyone crowded towards the cart windows, or climbed on the shaft to look up at the city towers of the capital.

The two big characters atop the city tower - Chang’an!

The three of them were profoundly moved as they looked up, sighing, "So this is Chang’an City."

Mr. Zhuang in the cart behind also lifted his curtain to steal a glance at the city tower, silently observing for a while before letting it drop, "Chang’an~~"

Zhou Liulang also looked and, hearing Mr. Zhuang’s murmur, turned back to ask, "Sir, have you been to the capital city before?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly, "I visited in my youth to take the imperial examinations."

"Did you pass?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled and shook his head, "I did not succeed."

Zhou Liulang chuckled naively, "I know, those exams are very difficult. We’ve inquired; Luojiang County hardly produces a single official in a year."

Mr. Zhuang simply smiled and said nothing more.

Zhou Wulang, Datou, and the others in another mule cart were also craning their necks and marveling, "This city gate is really big."

The big gate allowed for quicker entry, and soon it was their caravan’s turn to go in. Inside, Manbao and the others were captivated by the dazzling array of goods and the variety of people coming and going, so much so that they failed to notice someone on the opposite side of the road waving and shouting at them.

Suddenly someone darted up to the cart, "Young Master, Young Master of the main house, Miss Man, why didn’t you respond to me?"

They all looked more closely and realized it was Liu Gui. Bai Shan breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me. We didn’t hear you calling. Are you here to meet us? Is everything arranged at the courtyard residence?"