Chapter 48 - 48 37 Teaching the Son

Words : 1458 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

48: Chapter 37: Teaching the Son 48: Chapter 37: Teaching the Son Mr. Zhuang had the Bai Family take Bai Cheng and Bai Shan back with them, leaving Manbao behind. He returned to the room and produced a stack of paper for Manbao, saying, “Turn in the punishment writing by tomorrow. Next time if you fight again, it won’t be as simple as writing lines.” Manbao obediently agreed, not feeling that writing was a punishment because they had to write when studying anyway. The Qian Family repeatedly bowed and apologized to Mr. Zhuang, leading the two children away. Ms. Liu and her group hadn’t walked far when they looked back and saw Zhou Family members escorting Manbao and Ms. Qian back. Ms. Zheng couldn’t help but say on looking back, “Their family really has a lot of people.” “Indeed,” Old Master Bai said, “they have six sons, which isn’t the most anyone has had in Qili Village, but it’s the most that can stand together; that’s why their family prospers.” Ms. Liu then glanced at Manbao, who was helping Ms. Qian, and asked, “Why is their daughter attending school?” Old Master Bai laughed and replied, “They don’t have the money for school. It is just that the little girl is clever, Mr. Zhuang likes her, so he took her as a disciple, allowing her into school. She doesn’t need to pay tuition fees, and even the books are handwritten copies provided by Mr. Zhuang. I heard that when he accepted her as a disciple, Mr. Zhuang even gifted their family a set of writing brushes and an inkstone. That’s considered complete.” Upon hearing this, Ms. Zheng remarked, “Farmers’ lives are indeed tougher.” “That shows the child is not only clever but also well-behaved. She must be a delightful child, or else Mr. Zhuang wouldn’t be so fond of her talents,” Ms. Liu said. She then looked sternly at her grandson and asked him, “Zhou Family’s young mistress is younger than you and is a girl too. How could you hit someone like her?” Bai Shanbao, feeling wronged, raised his arm and said, “She started it first; she even bit me.” Ms. Zheng, anxious, rolled up his sleeve only to see his arm was clean and smooth, without a mark. Ms. Zheng withdrew her hand, turning to look at her mother-in-law. Ms. Liu’s face darkened further as she asked, “Where did she bite you?” Although there was no mark on his arm, Bai Shanbao still felt the sensation lingered, so he pointed to a spot and said, “Here!” Ms. Liu could not help but lightly tap the table and scold, “Shanbao, your grandmother has taught you from a young age never to tell lies!” Bai Shanbao was stunned and then began to cry loudly, crying out, “I’m not lying, she did bite me. If you don’t believe it, you can ask her. She was the one who hit me first, and it was a sneak attack. She’s the real baddie!” Meanwhile, Ms. Qian was also lecturing Manbao. Having checked and found that Manbao was unharmed, she could now reprimand her with a clear conscience. “You’re a girl. If you have a disagreement, you should talk it out reasonably. Why did you resort to hitting someone?” Manbao replied, “He was beating Second Son.” “Even then, you should have separated them first and then figured out who was to blame. How could you just hit someone? They were guests. To our village, they are strangers. To bully a stranger is impolite.” Ms. Qian said sternly, “How did your mother teach you from when you were small? We must be polite. Just now in front of Mr. Zhuang, not only did you not apologize, but you also made a face at them. Is this how I taught you?” Feeling somewhat aggrieved, Manbao’s eyes started to redden. Ms. Qian turned away and said, “You don’t need to cry in front of me. Go face the wall and think about whether what I said is right.” Ms. Qian wiped away her own tears and continued, “I sent you to school so you could learn and understand reason. As a girl, you can’t earn a living by showing off your knowledge, nor can you become an official. Why do I send you to school? Isn’t it to make you more understanding and well-mannered? If what you learn in school is to fight and brawl, you might as well come home now. I won’t allow you to go to school and eavesdrop anymore.” Tears streamed down Manbao’s face as she felt terribly upset. She rushed over and hugged her mother’s legs, crying, “Mom, I know I was wrong. Please don’t cry or be angry.” Ms. Qian turned her head away without saying a word. Manbao cried uncontrollably, “I really know I was wrong. Please pay attention to me. I’ll go and apologize to him tomorrow...” Ms. Qian’s expression finally softened a bit. Outside, Ms. Feng was scolding Second Son, holding his ears, “I told you to fetch your little aunt, and instead, you ended up fighting over a rock. Are you itching for a spanking?” Junior Ms. Qian was also punishing Datou, “I gave you a task and you found time to slack off, making your little brother do it. How old is he that you send him to fetch your little aunt? It’s lucky she wasn’t hit today. What if she had encountered an older child? What then?” Soon the cries and howls outside rose as Datou and Second Son were being soundly punished. That evening, the three children who had erred sat together heating water in the kitchen. As punishment, they were to boil the water for the night. Of course, Manbao, who had never worked in a kitchen before, didn’t know how, so it was Datou who lit the fire, Second Son who tended it, and Manbao who sat hugging her knees in thought. In reality, she was Seeking Keke out for a chat, seeking confirmation from it about whether she really did something wrong. The system flipped through many educational books, putting itself in the place of Manbao and Second Son, and as their elder, Manbao’s approach to handling the situation when Second Son was hit was indeed wrong. Hearing Keke say the same, Manbao let her shoulders droop, “Then I’ll apologize to him tomorrow. Do you think he would forgive me if I offered him candy?” The system said, “Gifts should be something the recipient likes. Perhaps you could ask them tomorrow.” Manbao thought it made sense, so she withdrew her consciousness from the system, and upon coming out, she saw Datou and Second Son with sullen faces. Having thought it through, Manbao, who was always good at correcting her mistakes, decided there was nothing to be sad about. With her spirits lifted again, she saw her two dispirited nephews and unwrapped two candies, putting them in their mouths to console them, “It’s okay. By tomorrow, Big Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law will have forgotten all about this. Don’t be sad.” Datou and Second Son, having received an unexpected piece of candy, were no longer sad. They perked up and whispered to Manbao, “Little Aunt, don’t worry, in a couple of days, when nobody’s around, we’ll help you get back at him.” Manbao was displeased, “It seems you still haven’t recognized your mistakes. Give me back the candy. I won’t give you any more.” Datou and Second Son, still with the candy in their mouths, paused and then quickly crunched the candy to pieces, telling Manbao, “Already ate it.” Manbao was angry, “Spit it out!” Datou and Second Son hurriedly chewed, then opened their mouths to show Manbao there was nothing left, not even crumbs. Manbao declared, “I won’t give you candy again.” Datou was the clever one. He immediately said, “Little Aunt, we realize our mistake. We won’t fight anymore and won’t go after that boy for revenge.” Only then did Manbao begrudgingly forgive them. At the Bai Family, Ms. Liu was making Bai Shanbao kneel on the ground, tears in her eyes, “You’ve always been bright, and I had hoped you could follow in your father’s footsteps, read and study to shine a light on our ancestors. But look at you, squandering your abilities on trinkets, not even understanding basic etiquette. Fighting is wrong to begin with, and worse still, hitting a younger girl. In front of the teacher, not only did you refuse to admit your fault, but you also glared and made faces...”

Chapter 48 - 48 37 Teaching the Son

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