CH 46

Chapter 46 – Face to Face

As soon as the school bell rang, the children stood up and respectfully bid goodbye to Mr Zhuang. After Mr Zhuang waved them off, everyone ran off happily.

Man Bao, of course, was not far behind her classmates. She clutched her books and ran out. Shan Bao was faster than her. Once he ran out, he bumped into Da Tou who came to pick up Man Bao.

Last evening, Madam Liu was made aware that all the students make their own way home after school, and the Bai family’s house was not far away from the school.

She knew that if Shan Bao was to integrate quickly into the school, then he could not be treated differently from his schoolmates so they all agreed that they wouldn’t pick him up today. 

That was just what Shan Bao wanted, so he said that he would go and play with his classmates.

So, Madam Liu did not send anyone to pick him up but sent her servants to keep watch at the river side. If Shan Bao goes and play near the river, the servants were to take him home.

When Shan Bao saw that Da Tou was here to pick up Man Bao, he became smug and teased her, saying that she was still an unweaned child.

Man Bao, “Please, you’re the milk-fed kid! I stopped drinking milk when I was eight months. Huh, Da Tou, come here and help me carry my books.”

“OK, I’m here to carry my little aunt’s books.”

Although Man Bao spoke up in her own defence, she has decided that once she gets home, she would ask her mother to tell Da Tou and the rest of her nephews and nieces to stop picking her up from school.

Man Bao felt Shan Bao looked down on her, so she commanded Da Tou as majestically as she could, “We’re going to dig for lotus roots. Da Tou, lead the way!” 

Da Tou felt his little aunt was really a child, her thoughts jumped rapidly from one topic to another. If his diminutive aunt goes to harvest lotus roots, would she really be digging lotus roots, or would she be buried in the mud?

However, when he glanced at Shan Bao who was next to him, Da Tou thought he could not embarrass his little aunt in front of her classmate. With a twinkle in his eye, he said, “Little aunt, let’s take the books home first. Anyway, we have to go home and get the hoe.”

The little girl who was strutting about stopped. She scratched her head, thought hard, and asked, “Do you need a hoe to dig lotus roots?”

Da Tou confidently replied, “Yes, lotus roots grow in deep mud.”

Bai Shan Bao glanced at Man Bao contemptuously. He thought she was rather stupid. Even someone like him who didn’t farm knew that you need a hoe to dig things out of the mud.

He felt that since he was of the same generation as Man Bao, he was also Da Tou’s elder, so he waved his hand and said, “All right, let’s go.

Bai Er Lang who was observing them, saw that they were going in another direction, so he scratched his ears and said, “What now?”

He gritted his teeth, “Keep up with them. We don’t have to be afraid if there are only three of them. After all, we are older.”

The other two boys also felt confident that they could trounce the three of them, so they dragged their sack along.

Da Tou led them back to the Zhou house, put the books down, went around the house, and found that none of the adults were home.

So, he knew his grandmother must have gone to the vegetable garden. The family was harvesting autumn cabbages today, and usually, grandmother was the one who made the decisions on such important matters.

Man Bao and Shan Bao were rushing him. After all, they were kids and very impatient.

Da Tou had no choice but to find Er Ya who was cooking in the kitchen and asked her to go to the wasteland and look for their fourth uncle. Get Si Lang to head straight to the lotus field by the river to find them.

Er Ya glanced at the bubbling pot of rice and ran off.

Da Tou then fished out a rather thick stick and said, “The family has taken the hoe, so, let’s take the stick.”

Man Bao and Shan Bao didn’t have any opinions. They just want to go to the lotus field!

So, they walked towards the river, following the riverbank as far as it would go. A little further on from the end of the village, there is a riverbank where the river has created a large wetland. The river flows in a circle before flowing downstream. The children have no idea where the river ends although they heard that it flowed towards the mountains.

Man Bao actually wanted to follow the river to see where it ends. Da Tou was obviously aware of his little aunt’s dangerous idea, so he cautioned her as they walked along, “You can’t follow the river, you’ll never see us again if you go. You can’t go near the water, in case you fall in the river, I’ll have short hands and won’t be able to catch you.”   

Da Tou had no idea whether Man Bao was listening. In any case, she nodded.

When they arrived, Shan Bao saw there were many tall weeds and thinly scattered withered lotus leaves along the riverbank.

It was called a riverbank but the soil close to where they were standing was actually solid. There were many small puddles filled with water as it rained yesterday. The water was so clear that one could clearly see to the bottom of the puddles.

The curious Shan Bao squatted down to have a better look and stretched out his hand to compare with one of the puddles.

Da Tou just glanced at the puddle and said, “It must have been made by the village chief’s cow which came here to graze.”

He sighed, “The grass here is green, long and delicious.”

Bai Shan Bao asked him curiously, “Have you ever tasted the grass?”

Da Tou felt Shan Bao was stupid, “Cows eat grass, you are the grass-eater!”

“Then how do you know the grass is delicious?”

Da Tou was rendered speechless.

Both Shan Bao and Man Bao were so fascinated by the small and large puddles that they temporarily forgot all about digging lotus roots. Da Tou, of course, would not remind them. Let them play here.

Anyway, now that the river has retreated, this large area is dry, and they can’t fall into the river unless they run into the river.

The two little ones, who hadn’t seen much of the world, ran around the tall reeds and exclaimed excitedly when they saw a small fish swimming around in a small puddle.

The Bai family servants sent by Madam Liu to keep an eye on Shan Bao watched from afar as the two children crouched on the ground, their two little heads close together and chatting around a small puddle. They decided not to come forward for the moment.

Anyway, it was pretty far from the river.

No one knew what the two kids were talking about, but they started to cover their eyes to play hide-and-seek. Da Tou was obviously not involved as he just watched from the side lines.

So, the servants saw their young master hiding amongst the tall reeds and Da Tou pointing Shan Bao’s hiding place to Man Bao, who then quickly found Shan Bao’s hiding place.

Subordinates, …so shameless, but this kid is good, he knows he should not participate in the game so that he can keep an eye on the younger kids.

So, the servants decided to forgive Da Tou. They looked around and found a higher ground and decided to move there so that they could get a better view of the kids.

The servants could only give them at most 45 minutes to play. After which, Shan Bao needs to go home.

Just as the servants moved and took their eyes off the kids, Bai Shan Bao had guessed that Da Tou tipped off Man Bao. He expressed his serious objections. He said he would not play anymore if they conspired.

Man Bao assured him she would not cheat again so the two children reconciled. Because Man Bao cheated, Shan Bao was still the one who would hide while Man Bao had to find him.

Man Bao knew the grass here was very high and it was a bit difficult to find someone but she knew the benefits of frightening the enemy, so she chose a random direction, plunged in and started shouting, “I can see you, I can see you. Don’t move…”

As Bai Shan Bao was afraid of being found, he quickly moved. He couldn’t believe Man Bao could find him so quickly.

Bai Shan Bao was very angry, Man Bao turned around before she reached him and ran to another side…

There were three pals crouching in the grass. The boys were planning to snare Bai Shan Bao in a sack, but before they could complete their planning, the little boy rushed towards him.  

Bai Er Lang’s body moved before his brains. He just grabbed the sack and put it over Bai Shan Bao’s head.

The two friends, …he has seen your face! Was there a need to put the sack over him?