CH 14

Chapter 14 – Official pupil (1)

Old man Zhou glanced at Man Bao, and asked, “Why do you want to go to town?”

Man Bao couldn’t divulged that she wanted to sell sweets because her family had always guessed her sweets were given by Mr Zhuang or the students. She was afraid they would mention this at school tomorrow.

She could only find another excuse, “I want to learn more.”

Er Lang, “You’re a baby. What do you want to learn? Let’s wait until you are older before going to town.”

But when she grows up, the family won’t be short of money anymore. Furthermore, Man Bao learnt many things today. She wanted to verify her analysis.

So, she insisted, “No, I want to go the day after tomorrow. Fifth and sixth brothers will also go, let them take me. Eldest and second brother needn’t worry about this.”

Old man Zhou’s eyes’ bored into her.

Was Man Bao afraid of him?

Of course not. She slid off Da Lang’s lap, pounced on her father, and wrapped herself around her father’s arms, “Father, father, please let me go.”

Seeing that he was indifferent, Man Bao squeezed her small fist and pounded his shoulder (an action which shows filial piety), “Father, I’ll buy you sweets, allow me to go, please?”

Can Old man Zhou be bribed with sweets?

He was not a child, but he asked, “Where did you get the money?”

“Father, I’ll make money. I’ll make money if you allow me to go to town.” To persuade her father, Man Bao moved to pound her father’s right shoulder after pounding his left shoulder a couple of times.

Da Lang couldn’t help laughing when he saw this, and interceded for her, “Father, let her go. It just so happens that the day after tomorrow, in addition to bringing the grains, we’ll need to bring the eggs.

“Second brother have exchanged many eggs, and these can’t be placed on the cart. Needs to be carried in the pack basket.”

Er Lang agreed, “Youngest sister haven’t been to the town before. Since the fifth and sixth are also going, I want to bring the dustpans and baskets. The prices in town are slightly higher than the market. Perhaps we could make a sum of money.”

Old man Zhou kept quiet.

Man Bao worked harder to pound his shoulders, “Father, please agree, agree, please.”

Old man Zhou was so perturbed by Man Bao who, while pounding his shoulders from left to right, was also whining into his ears.

He agreed, “Okay, okay, just go. But your brothers will leave the house before dawn. Can you wake up?”

“Yes, I can get up early!”

He wouldn’t trust her as far as he could throw her. He said, “If you can’t get up, we won’t call you. If you can’t go, you can’t cry.”

Man Bao was full of confidence, “I’ll definitely get up.”

She instructed the system, “Keke, you must wake me up the day after tomorrow.”

The system didn’t expect he would have to work as a part-time alarm clock!

However, since he also wanted the host to experience more of the world, he agreed.

Mrs Zhou had assigned the tasks of making the clothes and shoes. Clothes made by farmers were not refined. They could be sewn after the cloth were cut, as long as the stitches were fine and there were no faults.

Third sister-in-law, He was the best tailor at home. Once she received the task, she took the cloth and cut it. It just so happened Mr Zhuang’s stature was about the same as that of Er Lang, so it would be fine to cut the cloth according to Er Lang’s size.

As He had to do a rush job, she didn’t have to do any other work in the afternoon, other than tailoring and sewing. Mrs Zhou was, in this rare occasion, magnanimous, and even lit an oil lamp for them once it was dark.

But it didn’t take long before the clothes were ready.

Mrs Zhou was responsible for making the shoes. The soles were also ready-made. These were soles made for Er Lang. As he was often on the move, his wife made thicker soles for his shoes, and this resulted in a very comfortable pair of shoes.

The upper part of the sole was made from specially purchased cotton cloth, which was way better than the homespun cloth.

The next day, Old man Zhou and his two eldest sons turned out in their best clothes. After washing their faces and rinsing their mouths, they asked Xiao Qian to dig Man Bao out of bed, so that they could go to school and formalised the teacher-pupil relationship.

Man Bao spent a long time unwrapping sweet wrappers last night, so, she just turned over, stuck her butt up and was unwilling to get up.

As Man Bao was burrowing into her blanket, Xiao Qian took her coat, lifted the blanket, and patted her little butt, “Little sister-in-law, you’ll be late if you don’t get up now. You must attend the ceremony. Be a good girl.”

Xiao Qian helped her to put on her clothes, then carried the still sleeping child to the chair and wiped her face with a towel.

The water was warm, but Man Bao was startled, and was finally forced to wake up.

Today was Feng’s turn to cook. She brought out a bowl of eggy water from the kitchen, put it on the table and said, ” Little sister-in-law, remember to drink the eggy water before leaving.”

As soon as the sun emerged, Old man Zhou and his two sons took Man Bao to school.

Mr Zhuang knew Man Bao would come to formalise the relationship today, so, he got up early in the morning. He was practising shadowboxing in the yard when they arrived.

When Old man Zhou saw Mr Zhuang, he subconsciously bowed. He has always been in awe of scholars.

Mr Zhuang smiled slightly, “Mr Zhou is here? Please come in.”

“Yes, yes, after you, Mr Zhuang.” Old man Zhou bowed and invited Mr Zhuang.

Man Bao was very familiar with Mr Zhuang. She was so familiar with him that she first helped him to take a sit in the study, and then, went to help her father.

She looked around the study which she often frequented and saw the heating stove. She was very attentive and served them water.

Da Lang and Er Lang quickly took over. Man Bao had never done these things at home. What if her hands were scalded?

Mr Zhuang looked very satisfied, stroked his beard and smiled at Old man Zhou, “Mr Zhou, you have raised a good girl. She is the most intelligent child within these 10 miles and eight villages.”

“That’s because Mr Zhuang taught her well.” Old man Zhou had always known about Man Bao’s behaviour of climbing up the window and stealthily studying from Mr Zhuang.

At first, he was distressed but subsequently, he could only endure the distress and allowed his daughter to learn as much as possible.

Because he knew that the greater the ability, the better a person could live.

If Mr Zhuang didn’t restrain Man Bao, he as a father wouldn’t hinder her.

As such, Old man Zhou had always been in awe of and felt grateful to Mr Zhuang. He bowed even lower towards Mr Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, “This child is wonderful. She is not only smart, but also filial. She knows how to clean the yard for me, and she also thinks about her parents and family.

‘’Zhou’s family way of bringing up children is commendable. I have decided to accept this child as my pupil, but I can only teach her informally. You’ll have to ask Master Bai about attending classes in the school.”

After all, the school was opened by Master Bai who also invited him to teach.

Old man Zhou’s head lifted up and he immediately said, “Actually, it’s good enough to study with Mr Zhuang. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t go to school.”

Old man Zhou was afraid Man Bao needed to pay school fees if she attended classes. His face flushed, “Mr Zhuang knows my family is poor…”

Old man Zhou was stammering and didn’t finish his words, but Mr Zhuang understood.

He laughed loudly and said, “Mr Zhou, don’t worry. Since I want to take Man Bao as my disciple, I’ll treat her as my own child, so naturally, I won’t take any remunerations.”

He paused and said, “I also know your family is going through a difficult time. Man Bao is still young, so you don’t need to buy anything for her. In the future, once she can read and write, she can copy the textbooks here.”

In fact, before the Zhou family came, he wasn’t sure whether they would allow Man Bao to acknowledged him as her teacher.

Now that the Zhou family was here, Mr Zhuang couldn’t help but sighed, the Zhou family really loved this little girl.