CH 43

Chapter 43 – Looking past appearances

The sun was shining brightly at noon but come the end of the classes, the sky was clouded over.

Man Bao and Shan Bao laid on their table and looked out. The two kids were rather excited. It looked like the saying was true, it would rain if ants were on the move!

Mr Zhuang also noted the overcast sky. When lessons were over, he asked the students to stay in the classroom and wait for their family members to pick them up. Then, he took Man Bao and Shan Bao to the courtyard next door where he lived.

He led the two kids into his study, and said, “You saw the ants moving in the morning. What do you see now?”

Man Bao said, “It’s raining. If ants are on the move, it will rain.”

Mr Zhuang laughed and said, “Silly girl, you have reversed the order. It is not that it will rain because the ants are on the move. Rather because it is about to rain, the ants are moving their house to a safer place. When people saw ants moving, they knew it was going to rain. “

Mr Zhuang spoke slowly. The two children counted back and forth with their fingers, and realised what their teacher said was true, so they nodded.

He pointed to the pouring rain outside and continued to ask, “What do you see now?”

They answered in unison, “It’s raining.”

“These are appearances,” Mr Zhuang explained, “Man Bao, your parents told you that it will rain when ants are on the move, and so, you believed that. Shan Bao, you have never heard of such a thing. So, all you saw were ants moving. But do you know what I thought of when I saw the ants?”

The two children shook their heads.

“Not only will I think that it’s about to rain, but that there are many ants under my house. The ants gnaw on the house and furniture. I need to think about prevention and eradication methods. I will also think that one ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-mile dike…” Mr Zhuang told them many details about ants.

The two kids were stunned. They never knew a tiny ant could gnaw a big tree to death, empty out a house and destroy a thousand-mile dike.

When Mr Zhuang finished the lesson on ants, he talked about the autumn rain. He said while they only perceived that it was raining, the autumn rain has different meaning for different people.

For the children, the autumn rain would only temporarily confine them to the classroom, but for the farmers, the autumn rain meant that they could start ploughing and composting the grass in preparation for the coming year’s cultivation.

For those who want to venture outdoors, the autumn rain is causing more harm than good as it is delaying their plans.

Mr Zhuang explained all these things to the children in detailed. It seemed irrelevant, but then, the conversation returned to the issue of the county magistrate.

“This morning, I asked you what a county magistrate does. What you said was the most intuitive impression you gathered from what you saw and heard but in fact, what you said was incomplete.”

Mr Zhuang continued, “Sometimes what you see and hear might not be the same as your thoughts. If you are feeling emotional, hold off and don’t make any conclusions. Take some time, then think about these things again when you are calm, and you might reach different conclusions.”

The children didn’t fully understand what Mr Zhuang was trying to teach them, but he was totally fine with it. He just wanted to plant seeds of knowledge and when the time comes in the future, Man Bao and Shan Bao would understand the lesson today.

When he was done, the Bai and Zhou families had arrived to pick up the two children. Man Bao and Shan Bao said goodbye to their teacher and ran out, hand in hand, into the rain and were drenched. They were so happy that when they ran out, they looked for a puddle, jumped in, and splashed water everywhere.

Outside the courtyard, one could hear adults warning and reprimanding the kids. Yet the two little monkeys stepped on water puddles along the way as they dashed towards their respective families.

Mr Zhuang stood at the doorway watching, stroking his beard repeatedly while pondering on Man Bao’s words.

The county magistrate wants to increase the entry fee into the county. What’s his purpose this time?

Naturally, Mr Zhuang knows more than the Zhou family. In fact, as early as three years ago, when magistrate Fu first came to Luojiang county, he increased the entry fee into the county. In addition, taxes, corvee and donations were increased. Within two years, magistrate Fu had a section of the official road repaired, reinforced the the Luojiang dam, and dug a canal for Xianguo.

Magistrates were appointed for a three-year term, and the fact that he has not been transferred this year means that he would be here for another term. One doesn’t know if the magistrate planned to do any public works this time, or nothing at all.

Mr Zhuang was slightly concerned. Obviously, he couldn’t discuss these with the two kids.

Man Bao was carried home by Feng, and as soon as they got home, she was taken to the kitchen for a hot water bath. They didn’t have any choice as Man Bao’s shoes and pants were totally drenched.

While rubbing Man Bao’s hands to warm her up, Mrs Zhou scolded her, “I’m getting more and more worried. I feel you have become more mischievous ever since you started school.”

Man Bao defended herself, “Bai Shan Bao also stepped on the water puddles.”

“That’s his prerogative but you are responsible for your own actions. Perhaps he learnt this from you. You are going to school to learn good things, not bad things, let alone lead other children astray.”

Man Bao sighed, “Ok, I won’t step on water puddles in the future.”

Man Bao’s guarantee was totally unreliable!

Mrs Zhou asked Feng to bathe Man Bao, after which, she gave her a full bowl of hot water, and then, she was allowed to go play. But Mrs Zhou warned repeatedly, “Don’t splash around in the rain and get wet. Otherwise, I will not allow you to go to school tomorrow.” “

Man Bao loves learning, so how could she bear to miss classes?

So, she could only sit in the central room of the house and wait for her brothers to come home.

Si Lang and his two younger brothers took refuge under a tree during the rain. They ran home when the rain eased off, but they were also drenched.

Wu Lang and the others helped to clear the wasteland today, and they also cut down a lot of bamboo. The moment they entered the house, they winked at Man Bao.

The smart girl understood the meaning of the winks. Once Er Lang was home, she would pester him to weave the small flower baskets.

Zhou Er Lang was actually very excited that Man Bao’s flower business made a lot of money although he didn’t verbalise this to anyone.  Unfortunately, he was just very busy recently and couldn’t spare the time.

When Man Bao asked him to weave the baskets, he knew Wu Lang and Liu Lang were the ones behind this. He didn’t refuse and said, “Get old five and old six to spilt the bamboo and make strips for weaving, and I’ll weave the baskets.”

Even Old Man Zhou said, “I’ll also help once I get home from farming.”

After thinking about it, he felt that his fourth son couldn’t be trusted to clear the wasteland. He hesitated, “Let’s not allow old four to continue clearing the land at the foot of the mountain. Even if we cultivate the land for two years, it may not be fertile enough for farming, so why bother? It’s more practical for him to help out at home.”

Si Lang was energised and wanted to nod in agreement.

However, Man Bao disagreed. She said, “Father, fourth brother is not obedient. That is a punishment. Teacher said, issuing an order at dawn and rescinding it at dusk is a taboo. What if the fourth brother thinks there is nothing wrong with doing something wrong in the future?”

“If he dares to do that, I’ll beat him to death!”

Man Bao scoffed, “You definitely will not be able to kill fourth brother.  Otherwise, you would be devastated.”

Old Man Zhou was rendered speechless, and he waved his hand, “Fine, your fourth brother will continue to clear the wasteland. Let’s see if your fifth and sixth brothers can sustain the flower basket business long term.”

– End of this chapter –