CH 22

Chapter 22 – Luojiang County

This was very easy. Man Bao’s hands were not strong enough, but her feet were strong. As she was afraid of trampling on the flowers, she first picked several flowers for Keke, and then, stomped on the branches. She kept stomping until she broke the branches.

Once that was done, she didn’t care if the branches were stained with mud or otherwise. She just picked them up and gave them to Keke.

System…

Keke silently collected the branches, leaves and flowers separately. Forget it, the host was still young. Couldn’t demand too much.

Man Bao turned around and tugged the purple flowering vine. The purple flowers were gorgeous. Oops, she accidentally tugged too many, so she gave a handful to Keke and kept the rest for herself.

Da Ya and Er Ya managed to pick a lot of beautiful flowers and grass. They placed them in the pack baskets and the large bamboo baskets, then backtracked, and looked for Man Bao.

When they saw her tugging the purple vine, Da Ya said, “Little aunt, we’ve picked quite a lot of the purple flowers. It should be enough.”

Man Bao said, “I want to wear them in my hair. I’ll look so beautiful.”

When Da Ya and Er Ya heard that, they were also tempted, and went over to help.

Da Lang stood up and stretched. He was about to leave. When he saw the three little girls huddling together to pull the flowering vines, he couldn’t help but shook his head.

A child is a child. Who else can play with wildflowers for half a day?

Then he looked at Wu Lang and Liu Lang. The boys’ head were drooping, and they looked drowsy. He kicked their buttocks lightly, “Hurry up and go help Man Bao.”

The two boys didn’t want to budge, “Da Ya and Er Ya are there.”

“They’re still young. What if they run into a beehive? Hurry up!”

The boys had no choice but to tighten the belt around their pants.

It was morning, and the dinner last night was digested a long time ago. They were so hungry, and as such, they couldn’t understand why Man Bao had so much energy.

Wu Lang went over to help them. For his troubles, he had to listen to three little nagging girls who reminded him repeatedly to be careful with the flowers. He was thoroughly exasperated by them.

Man Bao rummaged through her pocket and found the small handkerchief she stuffed into her pocket last night. She opened it, and there were eight sweets in her hanky.

The little girl stuffed one each into Wu Lang and Liu Lang’s mouth, and then, gave one each to Da Ya and Er Ya. She ate one, and gave the remaining two to Da Lang and Er Lang.

The two men were also hungry, but they smiled and pushed the handkerchief back to Man Bao, “Keep this for yourself.”

“I have more. Big brother and second brother, hurry up and eat.”

Man Bao was about to climb on them. Da Lang had no choice but to eat the sweet. In a whisper, he advised her, “From now onwards, don’t always take Mr Zhuang’s sweets. You’re a disciple, you need to be filial to Mr Zhuang, do you understand?

Man Bao nodded repeatedly, but she didn’t clarify that it was Keke, and not Mr Zhuang, who gave her the sweets.

After eating the sweets, Wu Lang and Liu Lang worked harder, and took the initiative to pull out many of the flowering vines.

As they were tugging, they discovered blue flower vines which also looked beautiful. Man Bao was very happy. After giving Keke a section, she tugged out the rest.

The silent Keke suddenly said, “Host, turn your head and look at the tree on the left. Does it have a lot of fruits?”

Wu Lang looked at the tree and said, “Those are not delicious. You can’t eat them.”

Keke said, “Host, walk closer to the tree. I’ll scan it.”

Man Bao did as asked, and stood under the tree. She tilted her head and looked at the fruits careful. She couldn’t help drooling, “They look delicious.”

The system scanned the tree. There was no actual record of the plant in the Encyclopaedia. Although a few pictures were recorded, these were recorded a long time ago, and as such, they would be rewarded with points.

Keke said, “Host, this is Ligustrum*. You can submit it to the Encyclopaedia, and will soon have enough points to open the mall…”

Before Keke could finish his words, Er Lang had already carried her off, “These fruits cannot be consumed. Man Bao, in the future, you’re not allowed to simply eat outdoor things.”

“Second brother…”

Er Lang stuffed her into the basket before she could finish speaking, and got everyone to set off, “It’s getting late. We still have to find a place to set up a stall when we get to town, so let’s hurry up.”

Wu Lang and the others also placed the flowers in the big bamboo baskets, small baskets, and pack baskets. Then, they set off.

Man Bao kept quiet when she saw this. She was always a sensible child. She felt her brothers were exhausted from carrying things and pushing the cart.

She couldn’t ask her brothers to put down their things again and pluck those pretty looking yet inedible fruits for her.

The system didn’t insist. Although he was very intelligent, he wasn’t human and wouldn’t have too many emotions.

He just felt regretful towards the host and himself as they had lost out on quite a number of points.

Children wouldn’t be too obsessed over things. Man Bao quickly threw the tree to the back of her mind. She looked at the surrounding scenery enthusiastically. Upon catching sight of a bird, she was happy for a long time.

The two men saw an excited little girl with rosy cheeks. They felt it was good to take her out more often. Otherwise, she would just be stuck at home. Although she was well-behaved, everyone was worried about her.

She seemed to be healthier too.

Man Bao felt they had walked for a long time. Finally, they saw the city gates.

Everyone smiled. This was the first time Man Bao saw such high walls and such large doors. Her eyes widened for an instant.

She pointed to the three big characters on the gate and said, “Luojiang County!”

Da Lang looked at her in surprise, “Man Bao, do you know these three characters?”

Man Bao raised her head proudly, “I know many words.”

Although I can’t write.

Da Lang happily stroked her hair. While they were queuing up to enter town, he said, “When we sell the grains, eldest brother will buy paper for you.”

The people in the queue turned to look at them and asked with a smile, “Such a good-looking little boy. He’s already literate at such a young age.”

Da Lang quickly replied, “This is my sister.”

The people who heard what Da Lang said were slightly surprised. They looked at Da Lang and Er Lang and praised, “Looks like it’s a family of farmers and scholars. May I know where you live?”

Da Lang felt awkward, “There is no scholar in my family. This is a misunderstanding, misunderstanding.”

He and Er Lang blushed, and hurriedly pushed the cart forward, avoiding the questions.

Man Bao said with bright eyes, “Big brother, I’m studying. In the future, Da Tou, Da Ya and the rest of them will also study with me.”

Da Lang smiled and said, “They didn’t mean this. Those kinds of studies require you to sit for exams.”

Da Lang didn’t intent to explain anymore. When he arrived at the city gate, he took out one wen and handed it to the guard. The guard glanced at the cart and said, “Two wen.”

Da Lang was surprised, “Why two wen?”

“You’ve to pay two wen as you’ve a lot of things. Hurry and pay up. Otherwise, go away if you don’t want to enter.”

Da Lang and Er Lang hesitated. All they had was just one wen.

Man Bao poked her head out of the basket and looked at him anxiously.

When the guard saw Man Bao’s gaze, his expression soften, and he went out of his way to explain, “This is the district magistrate’s instructions. Since the year before, you’ll need to pay one wen if you enter town with baskets, pack baskets or small baskets.

“A pushcart is two wen. I am only charging you the fee for the cart. I didn’t even charge you for the pack baskets.”

In ancient times, taxes were not considered to be heavy, but there were donations and corvee on top of taxes. In addition to certain donations and taxes imposed by the central government, local officials also have the authority to introduce donations, taxes and corvee.

Therefore, there were two very interesting sayings in ancient times. The county magistrate was the parental official, but there were magistrates who destroyed families or provincial governors who exterminated families.