Chapter 33 - 33 22 Seeing the City

Words : 1504 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

33: Chapter 22: Seeing the City 33: Chapter 22: Seeing the City This is pretty easy, Manbao might not have strong hands, but her feet are strong. Worried about crushing the flowers, she first picked several for Keke, then pressed down the flower branches to the ground, stepped directly on them, and after stepping down hard a few times it snapped. After hopping around a few times, Manbao indeed snapped the branches and, without caring if they were smeared with mud, picked them up and handed them to Keke. System: ... The system silently recorded the branches and flowers respectively, thinking, well, the host is still young; one cannot demand too much. Turning around, Manbao went to pull at the purple vines. These purple flowers were so pretty that, without realizing it, she pulled too many. She gave a bunch to Keke, and held onto another bunch herself. Daya and Erya had picked a variety of pretty flowers and grasses nearby and already put some back into their baskets and bamboo containers. Running back to find their little aunt, they saw her pulling at the purple vines. Daya said, “Little aunt, we already pulled a lot of those, we’ve got enough.” Manbao said, “I want to wear some on my head. It would look so pretty.” Hearing this, Daya and Erya were tempted and joined in pulling at them. Zhou Dalang stood up to stretch his limbs. Ready to leave, he saw the three little girls huddled together pulling at the flower vines and couldn’t help shaking his head. Children are children; they can play half a day with just a wildflower. Then, seeing Five and Sixth hanging their heads, drowsy and sleepy, Zhou Dalang couldn’t help but lightly tap their bottoms with the tip of his foot, “Aren’t you going to look after the youngest sister?” Neither wanted to move, “Daya and Erya are there.” “They’re young themselves; what if they run into a beehive? Hurry up and go!” Having no choice, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang could only buckle their belts and go. It had been a whole night, and their evening meal had long been digested. At this moment, they were very hungry, and they really didn’t understand why their sister had so much energy. While Zhou Wulang helped them pull at the flower vines, he also had to listen to the three little girls chirping, scolding him not to damage the flowers or drop any, making his face even more bitter. Manbao searched in her clothes pocket and found a small handkerchief she had placed there last night. Opening it, there were eight pieces of candy inside. She stuffed a piece of candy into the mouths of Wulang and Liulang, then gave one each to Daya and Erya and popped one into her own mouth. The remaining two pieces she gave to Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er. Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er were hungry too, but they smiled and pushed the handkerchief back, “Keep it for yourself, Manbao.” “I have more! Big Brother, Second Brother, eat up.” With Manbao almost climbing onto them, Zhou Dalang had no choice but to eat it, but he couldn’t help but whisper a warning, “Don’t always take Mr. Zhuang’s candy in the future. You are a disciple; you should show filial piety to Mr. Zhuang, understand?” Manbao nodded continuously, not mentioning that the candy was given by Keke, not from Mr. Zhuang. Having eaten the candies, Wulang and Liulang were a bit more dedicated and took the initiative to pull a lot of vines. In the process, they discovered some blue vines which also looked pretty. Manbao was thrilled and gave a piece to Keke, keeping most of it for herself. Keke, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke, “Host, turn your head and look at that tree on the left, see if it’s covered in a lot of fruit?” Manbao turned her head and saw a tree full of small, black-purple berries. Instantly hankering for them, she yelled out, “Berries!” Zhou Wulang turned his head to look and said, “Those don’t taste good; they’re not edible.” Keke then said, “Host, move a little closer, let me scan it.” Manbao ran up and stood right under the tree, looking up with great care. She still couldn’t help drooling, “They look so delicious.” After the system had scanned them, there was no record in the encyclopedia, but it found some pictorial records that had been left a long time ago, and this thing had a points reward offered for it. The system said, “Host, this is Ligustrum fruit. If you record it, you can almost open the shopping mall with the points...” Before Keke could finish speaking, Manbao was already scooped up by Zhou Er, “You can’t eat this fruit, Manbao. In the future, you mustn’t eat random things outside, got it?” “Second Brother...” Zhou Er didn’t wait for her to respond before stuffing her into the bamboo container and calling for everyone to start moving, “It’s getting late. We still need to find a place to set up stall in the county town. Let’s get going.” Zhou Wulang and the others also placed the pulled vines into the bamboo containers, baskets, or backpacks and set off carrying their loads. Seeing this, Manbao closed her mouth. She was always a sensible child. She felt that her brothers were already tired from carrying things and pushing carts. She couldn’t let her brothers put down their loads and go back for a string of berries that looked delicious but were not edible, could she? The system didn’t insist either. Although it was very intelligent, it was not human after all. It didn’t have many emotions, it was just feeling regrets on behalf of the host and itself. Regret that it just missed out on some points. Children wouldn’t dwell on such things; Manbao quickly put the berry-laden tree out of her mind and got excited about the surrounding scenery, happy for half a day just to see a little bird. Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er saw her excitement, her little cheeks flushed red, and thought it wasn’t a bad idea to bring her out more often. Otherwise, always staying at home, though well-behaved, it was always a worry. Now she seemed much better. After what felt like a long walk, they finally saw the city gate. Everyone showed smiles. Manbao, seeing such a tall wall and such a big gate for the first time, was momentarily wide-eyed in awe. Manbao pointed at the three large characters over the city gate and said, “Luojiang County!” Zhou Dalang looked at her, surprised, “Manbao, you recognize these three characters?” Manbao looked up proudly, “I recognize many characters.” Though she couldn’t write them. Zhou Dalang happily patted her head, queuing up and saying, “Once we sell the grain, Big Brother will buy you paper.” People queuing nearby turned their heads to look at them and smiled, asking, “What a handsome young master you have there, knowing how to read at such a young age, eh?” Zhou Dalang quickly replied, “This is my little sister, not a young master.” Those who heard them were quite astonished, and couldn’t help but take another glance at Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er, praising, “It seems you’re from a family of scholars and tillers. May I ask which family you belong to?” Zhou Dalang felt awkward. “My family doesn’t have scholars; you misunderstood, misunderstood.” Both he and Zhou Er were a bit red-faced and hurriedly moved the cart forward a bit to avoid further conversation. Manbao, with sparkling eyes, said, “Big Brother, I’m learning to read, and later, Datou and Daya will also learn to read with me.” Zhou Dalang just laughed and said, “What people mean by learning is not the kind of reading you’re doing; you have to attend school for that.” Zhou Dalang didn’t bother explaining any further. Reaching the city gate, he took out a coin to give to the guard. The guard looked at the pushcart they had and said, “Two coins.” Zhou Dalang was taken aback, “How did it become two coins?” “The more things you bring, the more you pay. Two coins, hurry up and pay up, or get out of the way if you don’t want to come in.” Zhou Dalang and Zhou Er hesitated; they only had one coin between them. Manbao peeked out from the bamboo container, watching eagerly. The guard’s face softened a bit when he met Manbao’s gaze, and he added unexpectedly, “The county magistrate’s order is that from the beginning of the year, anyone coming in or out with a basket, a backpack, or a carrier will be charged one coin. A pushcart is two coins. I’m only charging you for one cart; I’ve not even charged for those two backpacks.”

Chapter 33 - 33 22 Seeing the City

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