Chapter 366 - 366 355 Farewell

Words : 1503 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

366: Chapter 355 Farewell 366: Chapter 355 Farewell County Magistrate Fu is leaving and is being promoted, so naturally, many people from Luojiang County are coming out of the city gates to see him off. Mainly, his official reputation is quite good. Even though the ordinary folks have some complaints about the current “expensive” entrance fee to the city, at least there are no other excessively complicated donations or taxes. For example, County Magistrate Fu had the County Governmental Office refurbished only once since he started residing there. Therefore, as County Magistrate Fu gets promoted and departs, the people of Luojiang County are somewhat reluctant to let him go, yet deep down, they are more anxious, unsure what the next County Magistrate will be like. Manbao went for the county town early in the morning in Old Master Bai’s carriage, and she didn’t even need to enter the town; after getting out of the mountain road and turning right, they were on the official road, and just a bit further was the Five-Mile Pavilion. Many people had gathered there to bid farewell to County Magistrate Fu. Apart from the officials from the County Governmental Office, there were even more local gentry. As a significant landowner of Luojiang County, Old Master Bai naturally had to come to send off County Magistrate Fu. Manbao knew this, so she took advantage of his carriage to come; Bai Shanbao, out of curiosity, also asked Mr. Zhuang for a day off. Upon seeing this, Old Master Bai thought it was good for the child to be exposed to such scenes, so he asked for a leave for Bai Erlang as well and brought the three children with him. Oh, and some local presents that Manbao had prepared. He didn’t even know what they were, anyway. Manbao instructed the coachman to unload two sealed jars. She struggled to hold one, and Bai Shanbao helped with the other, then they looked for Second Miss Fu in the Fu Family’s carriage. Qiuyue had been looking out all along; seeing Manbao, she beamed and immediately waved, and both sides successfully joined up. Manbao put down the rather heavy jar and handed it to Fu Wenyun, “Inside are sweets, all sealed up by me; you can open them when you want to eat.” Then she dug into her cloth bag, pulled out a large package wrapped in oil paper, “These are for you to eat on the road.” Fu Wenyun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “How much did all this candy cost?” Manbao generously waved her hand, “It didn’t cost anything, it’s a gift for you.” She said, somewhat reluctantly, “Once you leave, it will be hard to eat our family’s sweets again.” Afterward, they would also have to cut back on one line of business. Manbao felt quite regretful. Fu Wenyun also felt regretful, she had few friends, and didn’t know if she would be able to make a friend like Manbao in the new place. Fu Wenyun turned to look at Qiuyue. Qiuyue immediately fetched a box from the carriage and handed it over to Manbao; Fu Wenyun smiled, “Inside are four handkerchiefs made by me, to give you something to remember me by.” Manbao opened it to see that the pure white handkerchiefs each had plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum embroidered on them, and in the corner were embroidered a “Wenyun” and a “Manbao.” This was the first time Manbao had ever received such a gift and was overjoyed. After accepting the box, she nodded, “I really like it, make sure you write to me when you get there, and I will write back to you.” Fu Wenyun nodded vigorously, “Definitely!” Fu Wenxuan peeked out from the carriage window, seeing their reluctant farewell, could not help but chuckle, “Alright, how can you two have so much to say? Get on the carriage quickly, we are about to set off.” Up ahead, County Magistrate Fu was also saying his farewells to everyone, preparing to board the carriage to start the journey. Manbao was unwilling to part, “Take care of yourself on your journey.” Fu Wenyun kept nodding, and after getting on the carriage, she squeezed her sister aside, poked her head out from the window, and waved goodbye to Manbao, “Wait for my letter, and make sure you reply to it.” Manbao waved her hand firmly. By chance, Principal Clerk Zhang glanced over in this direction and frowned, looking at his eldest daughter with a look of frustrated expectation, whispering, “Why can’t you learn something from her?” Eldest Lady Zhang said nothing, glancing at Manbao before diverting her gaze. She of course knew Manbao; in fact, all the daughters and sons of the officials in Luojiang County were familiar with the Zhou Family siblings. They sold very tasty sweets, and even their grandmothers, mothers, and others knew about them, especially Silang and the others, because they often bought yams and ginger from them. These were not very expensive items, but they were fresh, and there was delivery to the door. Initially, they were all strangers, but through frequent transactions, they became acquaintances. So in Eldest Lady Zhang’s eyes, Manbao was just the daughter of a farming household doing some small trade, why should she learn from her? Manbao kept watching until the carriage was out of sight, then she sighed. Bai Shanbao couldn’t help looking at her and frowned, “You didn’t seem this upset when I went to Longzhou.” “But you’ll come back, Second Sister Fu may not return to Luojiang County again.” Bai Shanbao thought that made sense. However, he didn’t have many friends, and he had never had a friend leave for a distant place, so he couldn’t empathize. He looked around, then leaned in close to Manbao and whispered, “Let’s ask Uncle to go play in the county town later.” “What’s so fun about the county town?” “I don’t know, but it has to be more fun than the village.” Manbao thought so too and nodded, then she looked towards Bai Erlang, who was standing nearby, looking obedient. How could he be left out of such affairs? By the time Old Master Bai finally finished speaking with his friends, the three children had secretly coordinated their plan and stood united. When Old Master Bai turned around, the three children, who were huddled together, immediately parted and then looked up innocently at him. Old Master Bai walked over, patted the heads of his own foolish son and Bai Shanbao, and said, “Let’s go, we’re heading home.” Bai Erlang immediately said, “Dad, we’re not far from the county town; let’s go buy some stuff there, shall we?” Old Master Bai asked, “Buy what?” “Books!” Old Master Bai glanced at Bai Erlang and raised an eyebrow, asking, “Are you buying?” Bai Erlang nodded assuredly without changing expression, “Dad, I want to buy a copybook to practice my calligraphy.” Bai Shanbao readily agreed, “Uncle, the teacher said Erlang’s handwriting is not good, he needs to practice more. I’ve seen him practice, he doesn’t follow the copybook, so practicing on his own will certainly not look good; we need to buy a copybook.” Old Master Bai’s spirits lifted instantly, he immediately said, “We have copybooks at home, son, whatever script you want to practice, your father will find it for you.” “Ah?” Bai Erlang couldn’t help but look at Bai Shanbao. Bai Shanbao said, “Uncle, those copybooks at home are precious, Erlang definitely wouldn’t dare to use them.” Manbao added, “And he might not like them. You have to choose a copybook you really like to be happy while practicing. That’s the only way the writing will turn out well.” Old Master Bai pondered, “Is it because the copybooks at home don’t suit his taste that Erlang dislikes reading and writing?” Bai Shanbao and Manbao looked seriously at Bai Erlang, who had no choice but to agree. Bai Shanbao then said, “Don’t worry, Uncle. As soon as he buys the copybook he likes, we’ll include him when we practice writing. With enough practice, his handwriting will improve.” Convinced by this, Old Master Bai nodded, immediately laughing, “All right, let’s go to the county town now. Erlang, besides the copybook, what other books do you want to buy?” Bai Erlang felt like he had fallen into a pit, but without evidence to the contrary, he could only tremble inwardly and shake his head, “No, I don’t want to buy books anymore...” Old Master Bai nodded, “We should indeed buy some more books; the books at home are still too few. Later, we’ll have a look in the bookstore; we also need to stock up on pens, ink, and if we find a good inkstone, that’d be great.” Bai Erlang, for reasons unknown, suddenly felt like crying.

Chapter 366 - 366 355 Farewell

Comments (0)