CH 38

Chapter 38 – Desk mates

Early the next morning, while the family was busy, Wu Lang and Liu Lang sneaked into the house and carried off Man Bao to the backyard, and quietly gave her the money they made from selling the sweets yesterday.

“The total is 40 wen including the deposit. That Miss Fu really likes the sweets and says she’ll buy from us next time. Little aunt, can you ask Mr Zhuang where he buys his sweets and whether they are expensive?”

Obviously, Wu Lang thought of the idea of ​​reselling at a profit. Man Bao counted out 20 wen, kept the money, and divided the remaining money between her two brothers.

She said, “I have asked Mr Zhuang and he introduced that person to me. We are friends now. Don’t worry, I’ll buy many, many sweets for you in the future. We are the only ones who have this kind of sweets. The next time you sell sweets, tell her that we want one wen for a sweet.”

Liu Lang thought the price was too high, “What if we can’t sell them?”

“She’ll take them. Miss Fu’s father is the county magistrate. How much does he make since so many people enter the county every day?”

Wu Lang felt Man Bao’s words were reasonable, and he whispered, “When I left the county today, I chatted with the guards. They said the county magistrate is about to issue new regulations. You’ll have to pay one wen to enter the county regardless of whether you have baskets or not.”

Man Bao was speechless.

Her mind churned and she said, “Then we’ll be at the losing end if we enter the county empty handed. Go into the mountains and find some beautiful flowers. Get second brother to make small bamboo baskets, and then put a candy inside, and sell them for five wen each. I guarantee we’ll sell them all.”

Wu Lang felt this was a great idea. He took 10 of the 20 wen she gave them earlier, gave the money to Man Bao and said, “Man Bao, buy more sweets. Take this 10 wen as mine and old sixth’s share.”

Man Bao took the money without feeling any pangs of conscience, patted her chest confidently and said, “No problem!”

After making Man Bao’s daily eggy drink, third sister-in-law, He couldn’t find Man Bao. So, she shouted, “Man Bao, where are you?”

Man Bao raised her two small arms, and Wu Lang and Liu Lang both picked her up to He.

Man Bao chortled happily, and shouted, “Faster! Higher!”

When He saw the way the two brothers were carrying Man Bao, she quickly patted them on the back and told them to release her, “It’s early in the morning and there’s still fog outside. You make her laugh so loudly, what if she falls sick after being exposed to the cold wind? If that happens, father will beat you both.”

Wu Lang and Liu Lang dropped Man Bao quickly and ran off.

Man Bao had fun and interceded for them, “I think it’s good, third sister-in-law, don’t scold them.”

He got her to drink the eggy water, and said, “I’m going to make you a morning meal. After eating, go to school and bring the big characters you wrote yesterday.”

Man Bao then ran inside the house to find her masterpiece, a large piece of black paper.

This was Man Bao’s first time writing on paper with ink. In the past, she used a stick to write on the ground.

A stick was naturally long and thick, and it was convenient to use. Man Bao has seen people using the writing brush and knew how to use a brush, but when it came down to actually writing with the brush, well, it wasn’t as simple as it looked.

The most important thing was that she couldn’t grind the ink well. It took her a long time to get the ink right yesterday.

However, she was full of confidence in her own writing. There was no one like her who could write on the first day of school!

Man Bao admired her beautiful handwriting, carefully folded it, sandwiched the sheet of paper between the two hand-copied books, and went to eat the morning meal.

When she arrived at school, the sun was already quite high in the sky, and many students had arrived. These students took their books and read in the classroom.

Man Bao ran in with her books, and saw a person sitting at her desk. It was Bai Shan Bao!

Man Bao wanted to run up and chase him away from her desk. But when she recalled that she was in the wrong yesterday, and that she had promised her mother and Keke that she would apologize to him, she found that she couldn’t chase him away.

She can only step forward to greet him.

When Bai Shan Bao saw Man Bao walking towards him, he immediately tensed up, and placed his little hands protectively over his knees. He knelt for a long time last night, and now, his knees hurts a little.

Bai Shan Bao glared at Man Bao, but he knew that at this time, his grandmother and mother must still be in Mr Zhuang’s yard next door. He didn’t want to fight or argue with her.

Who knew Man Bao would rush over and said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you yesterday.”

Bai Shan Bao…Was this still the bad person from yesterday?

When Man Bao saw a glaring and silent little boy, she thought he was still angry, so, she took out a sweet wrapped in greased paper from her pocket. She held it in front of him, and said, “I’ll give you a sweet. So, don’t be angry anymore, ok?”

Bai Shan Bao looked at the sweet on her palm and continued to keep quiet.

The adults watching outside the school window felt Bai Shan Bao lack magnanimity. A little girl took the initiative to apologise, and he didn’t accept it.

Madam Liu looked very unhappy while Zheng looked anxiously at her son in the classroom.

In a whisper, Master Bai tried to speak for Bai Shan Bao, “Shan Bao is still young and has a strong temperament. He might be too shy to talk to a little girl.”

Really? He was not embarrassed to fight, so how could he be shy to talk to a girl?

When Man Bao saw Bai Shan Bao was silent, she assumed he accepted her apology.

So, she unwrapped the sweet and stuffed it directly into his mouth, saying, “This is my favorite type of candy. It’s not that sweet, it’s not greasy, and it’s fragrant.”

When Bai Shan Bao tasted the candy’s sweetness, he woke up from his trance. He glanced down at the book in front of him, then looked up at Man Bao, before saying a soft “um”.

Man Bao was stunned for a while before realizing that he was answering her previous question.

Man Bao couldn’t help sighing, “Your reaction is so slow.”

Bai Shan Bao went “um” again.

Man Bao placed her books on the table, and then looked at him.

Bai Shan Bao also looked at her. The two of them stared at each other for a long time. When the adults who were watching outside couldn’t help but want to intervene, Man Bao said, “Since you have forgiven me, shouldn’t you go?”

Bai Shan Bao was stunned, and asked, “Go where? I’m here to study!”

“I’m here to study too, this seat belongs to me!”

Bai Shan Bao became unhappy, placed his hand on the table and said, “It’s obviously mine. My teacher asked me to sit here.”

Man Bao also placed her hand on the table, and said angrily, “It was my teacher who asked me to sit here. I was here before you. This seat is mine!”

Their classmates couldn’t help interjecting, “One table seats two, take a side each. This is teacher’s special arrangement.”

Bai Shan Bao and Man Bao looked at their classmates at the same time, only to realize that it was really two students to a table. So, they said in unison, “I don’t want to be seated at the same table with him (her).”

The student said, “That can’t be helped. The two of you are the shortest and the youngest in the class. If you don’t sit together, who wants to sit with you?”

The two of them looked at each other again, pouted, and reluctantly accepted the seating arrangement.

Man Bao sat down, put the “The Analects of Confucius” on the table, and then put the “Thousand Characters” and her homework aside, only to find a box in the corner of the table.

She said to Bai Shan Bao, “Take your box away, this side is mine.”

Bai Shan Bao glanced at the box and said, “The box is not mine.”

Man Bao’s eyes lit up. With an adventurous spirit, she dragged the box over, opened it, and saw that there was around a dozen bugs inside.

Man Bao stayed stunned for a while.

Bai Shan Bao also craned his neck and took a curious look, and then, stayed stunned too. The two children were dumbfounded, and then, they closed their eyes and started to cry.

The adults outside the classroom were startled and rushed in simultaneously.