Chapter 49 - 49 38 Desk-mate

Words : 1569 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

49: Chapter 38: Desk-mate 49: Chapter 38: Desk-mate Early the next morning, while the family was busy, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang sneaked into the house and cornered Manbao, each taking one of her arms and carrying her to the backyard. They quietly gave her the money they had made from selling candy the day before, “In total, it’s forty coins, which is just right including the deposit. Miss Fu really seemed to like them and said she’d buy from us again. Can you ask Mr. Zhuang where he gets his candy and if it’s expensive?” Zhou Wulang had clearly thought of the idea of reselling. Manbao counted out twenty coins for herself and divided the rest between the two boys, saying, “I asked the teacher already, and he introduced that person to me. Now we’re friends; don’t worry, I will buy a lot of candies and bring them back for you. Only we have this kind of candy. Next time you go to sell, tell her it’s one coin per piece.” Zhou Liulang felt it was too expensive, “Won’t it be hard to sell?” “We’ll definitely be able to sell them. Miss Fu’s father is the county magistrate. Look at how many people enter the county every day; how much do you think he’s making?” Zhou Wulang thought Manbao made sense and whispered, “I chatted with the soldiers guarding the city today, and they said the magistrate is going to implement a new policy. From now on, everyone who enters the city will have to pay an entrance fee of one coin, whether they’re carrying a basket or not.” Manbao clicked her tongue. Her eyes twirling, she said, “Then entering the city empty-handed is a loss for us too. You go into the mountains and find some pretty flowers, let Second Brother make you small bamboo baskets, place a piece of candy inside, and sell them for five coins each. You will definitely be able to sell them.” Zhou Wulang thought this was a good idea. He counted out ten coins from the twenty Manbao had given him and handed them to her, saying, “Manbao, buy some more candy with this. These ten coins are from Sixth and me.” Manbao accepted them without any pressure, and confidently slapped her small chest, saying, “No problem!” Ms. He brought out egg water but couldn’t find Manbao, so she called out, “Manbao, where have you gone?” Manbao then raised her little arms, and Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang each grabbed one and quickly carried her over. Manbao laughed gleefully, even calling out, “Faster, higher!” Seeing how the brothers were carrying Manbao, Ms. He couldn’t help but slap their backs and rushed them to put her down, “It’s so early in the morning, and there’s still mist outside. You’re making her laugh so much, she’ll get sick if she breathes in the cold air. Be careful or dad will beat you.” Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang dropped Manbao and ran off. Manbao thought it was fun and spoke up for them, “I think it’s pretty fun, Third Sister-in-law, please don’t scold them.” Ms. He had her drink the egg water and said, “Sister-in-law has gone to make breakfast. Eat up and head to school. Bring the characters you wrote yesterday with you.” Manbao agreed and ran back to find her masterpiece from the night before, a grimy sheet of paper. This was Manbao’s first time touching ink to paper to write characters; before, she always used a stick to trace shapes in the dirt. Since it was a stick, long and thick, she grabbed it however was convenient. Manbao had seen people using a brush more than once and knew how to hold one, but it was still a bit difficult when it came to doing it herself. The main issue was that her ink grinding was poor, and it took her a long time to get the ink ready yesterday. But she was nonetheless full of confidence in her writing. She believed she was the only one who could write on her first day of school. Manbao admired her calligraphy for a moment, then carefully stored it between two copied books before going to have breakfast. By the time she arrived at the school, the sun had already risen quite a bit, and many students were there, reading books on their own in the classroom. Manbao, holding her books, ran inside, and immediately saw someone at her desk—it was Bai Shanbao. Manbao was about to run up and drive him away, but she remembered she was in the wrong yesterday. She had also promised her mother, Keke, to apologize to him, so she couldn’t drive him away now. She could only go up and greet him. Seeing Manbao approaching him, Bai Shanbao immediately tensed his back, placing his hands on his knees. His knees still ached from kneeling for a long time the night before. Bai Shanbao glared at Manbao, but he knew his grandmother and mother must still be in the teacher’s yard next door, so he dared not start a fight and did not want to quarrel with her either. Little did he know, Manbao ran up to him and said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you yesterday.” Bai Shanbao: ...Is this person still the bad person he knew from yesterday? Seeing that he was glaring and not speaking, Manbao thought he was still angry, so she took out a candy wrapped in oil paper from her pocket, held it up to him, and said, “Here, I’m offering you candy, will you stop being angry, okay?” Bai Shanbao looked at the candy in her palm but didn’t say anything. To the onlookers outside the window, this scene made Bai Shanbao seem ungracious—a little girl was initiating an apology, yet he wouldn’t accept it. Ms. Liu’s face looked somewhat unpleasant, while Ms. Zheng appeared a bit anxious as she watched her son in the classroom. Old Master Bai quietly offered an explanation on Bai Shanbao’s behalf, “Shanbao is still young; it’s natural for him to have a temper, and perhaps he’s just shy about talking to a little girl.” If he’s brave enough to fight, how could he be too shy to talk? Manbao, seeing that he remained silent, took it as acceptance and peeled the oil paper off, shoving the candy straight into his mouth, saying, “This is my favorite kind of candy. It’s not too sweet, but it’s not greasy and still fragrant.” Bai Shanbao tasted the sweetness and finally snapped back to reality. He looked down at the book in front of him, then looked up at Manbao before softly “mm-hmm”ing in response. It took Manbao a good while to realize he was responding to her earlier question. Manbao couldn’t help but exclaim, “You’re really slow to react.” Bai Shanbao just “hmphed” in reply. Manbao put her book on the table and then watched him. Bai Shanbao also looked at her, and with big eyes staring into big eyes, they glared at each other for quite a long time. Just when the adults outside were about to intervene, Manbao said, “You’ve forgiven me, so it’s time for you to go, right?” Bai Shanbao was taken aback and asked, “Go where? I’m here to study!” “I’m here to study too, and this seat is mine!” Bai Shanbao, displeased, pressed his hands on the desk and said, “It’s clearly mine, Mr. Zhuang told me to sit here.” Manbao also placed her hands on the desk, angrily saying, “Mr. Zhuang told me to sit here too, and I came before you, so this seat is mine!” A classmate couldn’t hold back and said, “One desk is for two students, you two take one side each. This was specially arranged by Mr. Zhuang.” Bai Shanbao and Manbao simultaneously looked at the other students and only then did they notice that indeed everyone was paired up, two per desk. Consequently, they both said in unison, “I don’t want to share a desk with him/her.” The classmate said, “There’s nothing that can be done about it, you two are the shortest and the youngest in class. If you don’t sit together, who would want to sit with you?” They looked at each other again, and finally pouted reluctantly, agreeing to the arrangement. Sitting down, Manbao placed The Analects on the desk, and then set the Thousand Character Classic and her homework to one side. Only then did she notice a box at the corner of the desk. She said to Bai Shanbao, “Move your box out of the way; this side is my space.” Bai Shanbao glanced at it and said, “That box isn’t mine.” Manbao’s eyes lit up with a sense of adventure as she dragged the box over, and to her surprise, when she opened it, she found it was filled with more than a dozen bugs. Manbao was stunned. Bai Shanbao, too, stretched his neck curiously and took a look, then he was also stunned. Both kids were baffled for a moment before they cried out “Wow” and both shut their eyes, bursting into tears. The adults outside the classroom were startled and rushed in all at once.

Chapter 49 - 49 38 Desk-mate

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