Chapter 38 - 38 27 Cockfighting

Words : 1353 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

38: Chapter 27: Cockfighting 38: Chapter 27: Cockfighting Zhou Wulang and the others also thought Manbao was very impressive and asked, “Manbao, how did you figure that out?” Zhou Liulang said embarrassingly, “I have been calculating for a long time and couldn’t figure it out.” Daya testified for him, “Sixth Uncle started calculating when we had four or five baskets left, and by the time we finished wrapping them up, he still hadn’t figured it out.” Manbao explained while counting on her fingers, “It’s very simple, there are twenty-four baskets in total, and each costs five coins, so twenty baskets are exactly one hundred coins, two baskets are ten coins, and four are twenty coins, so one hundred plus twenty coins is one hundred and twenty coins, right?” The four Wulang’s eyes sparkled as they counted on their fingers for a long time without understanding, “Why are twenty baskets one hundred coins?” Manbao said as if it was the most natural thing in the world, “Because ten baskets are fifty coins.” The four Wulang’s were even more confused. Regardless, they had made a lot of money. Wulang put all the money into a cloth bag for candy, touched it, and his face turned red with excitement, as he had never felt so much money before. Seeing this, Liulang also wanted to feel it, so the five of them took turns touching the copper coins, finally feeling content and saying, “Our family has money now.” Wulang carefully placed the cloth bag in his embrace and asked Manbao, “What do you want to do, tell Fifth Brother, and I will take you to play.” Manbao said, “I want to buy a big rooster.” Wulang instinctively clutched the cloth bag, “What do you want a big rooster for?” “To nourish mother’s health,” Manbao said with sparkling eyes, “Father said mother is weak because she suffered too much before, so she needs to replenish her health, and big roosters are nourishing.” Wulang, holding the cloth bag, was somewhat reluctant, “But that big rooster costs sixty-five coins, that’s too expensive.” Daya and Erya also thought it was too expensive, nodding in agreement. However, Manbao was insistent, feeling that money was still easy to earn, and what could be more important than their mother’s health? Unable to argue with her, Wulang could only say, “Let’s find another one to buy, one that’s a little smaller. After all, it’s just for mother, and she can’t eat that much in one meal. This way it’s cheaper, and we can buy several.” Manbao thought his idea made sense, “Then where else can we buy roosters?” Of course, it was the same street they had come from, dedicated to selling all kinds of poultry and vegetables. However, Zhou Wulang, not getting to the county town often, didn’t want to go back to that street, so he turned his eyes around and pointed ahead, “Let’s look ahead, we might find cheaper ones.” Everyone happily agreed. Zhou Wulang took Manbao’s hand, held the cloth bag tightly, and Zhou Liulang, with a niece in each hand, and baskets on their backs, happily led everyone to have fun. Manbao, seeing so many people for the first time, was extremely excited. She was also not shy, squeezing into wherever the crowd was thickest. At first, Wulang held her hand, but soon she was dragging Wulang along, and eventually, Wulang was chasing after her. Liulang also had places he wanted to visit, and after chasing a while, he became too lazy to continue chasing. After all, it was just one street; if they moved forward, they were bound to run into each other. Daya and Erya didn’t feel like chasing either, so they cheerfully played in the back with Sixth Uncle. But poor Zhou Wu had a hard time, both worried someone might snatch the money from his cloth bag and that Manbao might get lost. Most importantly, he wanted to have fun too! Manbao zipped in and out of the crowd and eventually found herself in a place where a group of adults were shouting loudly. She got very curious and squeezed through the crowd to get a closer look. Zhou Wu, following behind and sweating profusely, “Manbao, Manbao, don’t run off...” Carrying a basket on his back made it difficult for him to squeeze in, so he could only jump to see what was happening. When he saw it, his face turned pale with fear, and he shoved the basket aside and squeezed his way in, holding the cloth bag tightly. As soon as Manbao got inside, she saw two roosters standing in the center, their feathers on end, fiercely fighting each other. She paused, confused – what was so interesting about two roosters fighting? The onlooking adults, however, were very excited, shouting with clenched fists, “Peck it, peck it, harder! Go for the eyes, the eyes... Ah!” Manbao looked up at the thrilled faces on one side, then those frustrated on the other, completely baffled, “Keke, what are they doing? Should I help and tell the roosters to stop fighting?” The system said, “It is advisable for the host not to interfere; this seems to be what is known as cockfighting.” Manbao asked curiously, “What is cockfighting?” “It’s a form of gambling. Two roosters fight, and the owner of the rooster that loses is the loser,” the system explained, sharing a historical tale about cockfighting. For instance, there was an emperor who really liked cockfighting. Someone spent a lot of money to present him with a rooster, and for this, he was scolded by a certain famous minister. Manbao watched curiously for a while when Zhou Wu finally squeezed in and grabbed hold of Manbao, covering her eyes, and said, “Manbao, who told you to come here? This is gambling; we can’t be like Fourth Brother.” Manbao pulled his hand down from her eyes, and just then, one of the roosters in the center had been defeated, with a pecked eye that made it blind, and it was now trying to flee, flapping its wings. The victor, with its head held high in pride, crowed triumphantly. The defeated rooster’s owner, enraged, kicked the bird to the ground and pulled out a handful of silver to hand over to another person. Manbao’s eyes widened as she looked at the man and then at the rooster, deep in thought. Seeing his little sister with such an expression, Zhou Wu got scared and tugged her to leave. But Manbao was not pleased, she said, “I wouldn’t be as foolish as Fourth Brother. What’s fun about watching roosters fight? It’s not like watching people fight.” Zhou Wu was startled, “You, you want to see people fight?” Curious, Manbao asked, “Is there really a gambling game where you watch people fight?” Zhou Wu hadn’t seen it himself, but he had heard about it from Fourth Brother. However, could he dare to tell Manbao? Zhou Wu shook his head repeatedly, “No!” Manbao said “Oh” and broke free from his grip, “I’m going to talk to that big brother over there.” Without hesitation, she approached the man who had just lost money and was now looking upset. Manbao was small, barely as tall as the man’s thigh. Although the man looked upset, he wouldn’t lash out at a child. Frowning, he yelled to the people around him, “Whose kid is this? Take her away quickly.” Zhou Wu had already caught up to Manbao and was about to drag her away when she pushed against him and called out, “Big brother, do you still want to buy a rooster? A very beautiful, very beautiful rooster.” The man looked down at Manbao, asking with a frown, “You have a rooster at home?” Manbao nodded vigorously, “I saw a very, very beautiful big rooster, with feathers red with black, sparkling eyes, straight and bright red comb. It’s just so beautiful, so very beautiful.”

Chapter 38 - 38 27 Cockfighting

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