CH 41

Chapter 41 – Ants on the move

Bai Shan Bao said, “Then you have to be as great as Confucius. Zi Gong said, Master Confucius was temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous. Thus, everyone was willing to share stories with him.”  

Man Bao was full of self-confidence, “I should be able to emulate him. By the way, what is temperate, kind, courteous restrained, and magnanimous? Let me know. It just means to be humble, right?”

Bai Shan Bao scorned her, “You don’t even know what these virtues are, yet claim to be able to emulate Confucius. Kids who brag are not good kids.”

“What do you know? Keke said you should set a goal before you do something, so that you can plan. Of course, the bigger the goal, the better.”

System, “……”

Bai Shan Bao disbelieved her, “Really?”

Man Bao nodded fiercely, “Of course it’s true.”

“Then, then I want to be a government official in the future. A more senior ranked official compared to my father. I don’t want to be an official like my father.”

Man Bao exclaimed with surprise and asked with great interest, “What does your father do?”

Bai Shan Bao was slightly proud, but answered in a reserved manner, “My father was a county magistrate.”   

Man Bao didn’t think kindly of county magistrates. She said, “The county magistrates are not good people. They always take money from us.”

Bai Shan Bao became unhappy, “My father was a good official, he even won a commendation from the court.”

Mr Zhuang overheard the children’s conversation the moment he entered the classroom. He frowned. How could Bai Shan Bao be presumptuous about the government’s affairs at such a young age?

Do these two kids know what the county magistrate does?

Mr Zhuang led them to the yard for a discussion.

Initially, Bai Shan Bao was slightly nervous because, in his experience, being singled out by the teacher meant getting into trouble. 

But Man Bao was different; she was more accustomed to reading and chatting in Mr Zhuang’s courtyard than studying in a classroom So, she followed him cheerfully.

When Bai Shan Bao saw Man Bao’s cheerfulness, he thought it shouldn’t be a bad thing, so he relaxed and followed along.

Mr Zhuang sat down on a stone bench, beckoned the two children to him and asked, “What were you talking about just now?”

Shan Bao lowered his head. It seemed as if Mr Zhuang was rebuking them, reprimanding them for talking in class.

But Man Bao didn’t feel that way. When she heard his question, she happily told him everything, and asked, “Sir, are there any good county magistrates?”

Mr Zhuang couldn’t help asking her, “Why do you think the county magistrates are bad?”

Man Bao told him about how she had gone to the county the day before and had to pay an extra penny to enter the town. She also shared the news that her fifth brother had inquired that soon, even pedestrians would have to pay an entry fee to enter the county.

So, she believed all the magistrates were bad and would only take money from them, the commoners.

Mr Zhuang was silent for a while, and asked, “Do you know the responsibilities of a county magistrate?”

Shan Bao looked at Man Bao and then, looked at Mr Zhuang. He felt Mr Zhuang was different from his previous teacher, so he was no longer afraid. “The county magistrate is a parental official (another term for county magistrate) who takes care of the people.”

Mr Zhuang stroked his beard and asked with a smile, “Anything else?”

Bai Shan Bao was not a well-behaved child. If he was, he would not have been singled out by the teacher in the clan school, and he would not have made faces at Man Bao in front of Mr Zhuang and his elders.  

So, with Mr Zhuang’s encouragement, and with Man Bao as an example, he vied to be the first to answer the questions.

Man Bao, “Takes the entry fees!”

Shan Bao, “Judges cases.”

Man Bao, “Grain tax collector, my family just paid the grain tax not long ago.”

That was the time Si Lang followed the villagers to escort the grain to the county and lost money gambling.

Shan Bao said, “Catches thieves and judges those cases.”

He scratched his head and added, “They also have to persuade the people to plant grain, grow mulberry and raise silkworms.”

Man Bao scolded him, “That’s really stupid. We are a farming family, and we’ll plant grains when the time comes. Do we need the county magistrate to persuade us?”

“If you don’t believe me, ask sir. My grandmother said, a county magistrate has to encourage and supervise mulberry farming. My father was doing exactly that when he met bandits and was killed.”

Mr Zhuang didn’t expect Shan Bao to be the son of a martyr and his expression was even more gentle. He stroked the boy’s hair, and said, “Your opinions are based on what you saw. This is not correct.”

The two children were confused.

When he saw their baffled expressions, Mr Zhuang held back the many words he wanted to express. The two kids were still young. They might not understand even if he explained.

Mr Zhuang was pensive, he lowered his eyes, and no one knew what was running through his mind.

The two children waited quietly, and when he was quiet for a long time, Man Bao scratched her head, rocked her body from side to side, and accidentally bumped into Shan Bao.  

Shan Bao glanced at Mr Zhuang, and then bumped Man Bao.

Man Bao nearly fell, blinked, and bumped back.

The two children set themselves against each other. Taking advantage of Mr Zhuang’s inattentiveness, the two small bodies bumped against each other. If you bump me hard, I’ll return the favour!

Mr Zhuang was still contemplating when he suddenly saw an ant nest not far away, and instantly, had an idea. When he looked up and saw the two children jostling and pushing each other, he coughed gently.

In an instant, Man Bao and Shan Bao stood up properly, but because Shan Bao was quicker to pull back, Man Bao slammed into Shan Bao, knocking him to the ground.

The two children entangled into a ball. Mr Zhuang was afraid that they would cry, but they rolled for just a short while, got up from the ground and stood up.

Mr Zhuang found their actions hilarious and was in a good mood, and so he beckoned them, “Come here.”

The two of them came forward, and Mr Zhuang pointed at the ants on the ground, “What are these?”

The two children vied to answer, “Ants!”

“Yes, these are ants. Do you think they are good or bad ants?”

The two children were dumbstruck, “Are ants also divided into good and bad ones?”

“You have divided the county magistrates into good and bad ones. Why can’t we do the same with the ants?”

Man Bao said, “Then the ants are bad because they are stealing rice from us. Look, they are transporting rice, they must have stolen the rice.”

Shan Bao nodded.

Mr Zhuang laughed loudly and asked, “Then, let’s not talk about whether the ants are good or bad. What do you see the ants doing?””

Shan Bao, “They are queuing to move things.”

Man Bao often play with ants, so she knew slightly more than Shan Bao and said, “It will rain if the ants are on the move.”

Mr Zhuang asked her, “How do you know it will rain when the ants are on the move? Is it raining?”

It was a sunny day so the two kids shook their heads at the same time, but Man Bao insisted, “My mother said it will rain when the ants are on the move.”

Mr Zhuang nodded, “Then let’s see if it will rain today.”

Shan Bao quietly said to her, “It’s so hot. How can it rain?”

Man Bao also hesitated, because while her mother and other folks often said these words and so she remembered them, she has never paid any attention to the veracity of the words.