Chapter 65 - 65 54 Battle of Wits

Words : 1443 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

65: Chapter 54: Battle of Wits 65: Chapter 54: Battle of Wits Manbao nodded and began by inputting the plain paper. What came out was a large assortment of various goods, including large sheets of white paper that looked similar to what they had here. There were well-bound notebooks that looked very nice and some that were housed in strange boxes, clearly labeled as printing paper. The most astonishing to Manbao was a colorful portrait that was said to be 8D printing paper, capable of printing anything. It was also the most expensive among the recommended types of paper. Manbao looked them over carefully, very tempted to buy some to see for herself, but just as she was about to make the purchase, Keke couldn’t help but flash the potion in her shopping cart to show her. Manbao withdrew her hand immediately. Though Keke wanted Manbao to spend more, it wasn’t about spending recklessly. He said, “You have printing paper, but without a printer, you can’t print anything.” It was then that Manbao reluctantly pulled back her finger, but curiously asked, “Is it really like it says, that you can make cars and clothes out of paper?” “It’s printing paper,” the system educated her. “In the future, it’s possible to print even materials that perform just the same, but, strangely enough, in recent years, humans haven’t liked this method. They favor things made by hand and from raw materials.” The main system didn’t prevent the sub-systems from spreading knowledge of the future world to their respective hosts. In fact, this was also a way for the sub-systems to motivate their hosts. However, Manbao just took these stories to heart. Keke was not sharing them to motivate Manbao, but simply because she wanted to listen, and so he spoke. Manbao listened with great interest and concluded, “People in the future really don’t know how to enjoy life. Why do things yourself when you could have robots do them?” Keke deeply agreed, but the complexities involved were many, and he felt Manbao’s little brain might not be able to ponder such profound questions, so he didn’t continue the discussion. Seeing her gaze continually returning to those good-looking notebooks, Keke reminded her, “Host, there are some differences in writing, and these notebooks are clearly not the kind currently made by bookshops. I suggest you buy sheets of plain paper and cut them yourself.” Despite this, Manbao couldn’t resist and bought a pack of white paper to put in the system, then went to look at those lovely-looking notebooks. She discovered a buy-one-get-one-free page that wasn’t expensive—just two points each. Without waiting for Keke to speak, she quickly purchased a notebook with a pink rabbit on the cover and selected another with a cover full of flowers as the freebie. The system silently watched. Once the items were delivered, Manbao first took out the two notebooks to touch them under the quilt. Only then, satisfied, did she put them away in the system. She solemnly told the system, “Keke, this way, we don’t have to cut anything. I won’t take them out, just keep track of my own little accounts.” Keke hummed in agreement, acknowledging her action. Seeing her good friend didn’t object, Manbao cheered up and went to look at the stack of white paper she had bought. The white paper from the mall was cheaper than sugar, with a thousand sheets for two points and an additional two hundred sheets of a different kind of white paper thrown in. Manbao took them out and saw they were thicker than the ones Mr. Shanbao had given her and also quite large. She scratched her head, thinking it impractical to carry such large sheets to school, so she struggled to spread them on the bed and started folding them. After folding them into several layers, she finally put them in her treasure box. She decided to have Second Brother make her a bamboo basket for carrying books, just like the other students, so she could put all her things inside. No sooner had Manbao come to this conclusion than she scurried off to find her mother. She first counted out one hundred and thirty-two wen and handed it to her, declaring that this represented sixty percent of today’s earnings from Fifth Brother, to be contributed to the family pool. Ms. Qian frowned, “Who did this calculation?” Manbao proudly lifted her chin, “I did.” Ms. Qian: “How did you calculate it? How much did they earn in total?” Manbao scratched her head, not understanding what was wrong, and was about to count on her fingers for her mother when Zhou Erlang chuckled from the side, “Little sister, even you make mistakes. They took thirty bamboo baskets to the county this morning. Even if all were sold, that only adds up to one hundred and fifty wen. How could sixty percent be one hundred thirty-two wen?” Ms. Qian glared at her foolish second son, irked by his excessive talk. Zhou Erlang didn’t understand what he had done to upset his mother, and he looked at his eldest brother with confusion. Zhou Dalang was even more naive, utterly clueless. Manbao, meanwhile, jolted back to reality. She took the money back from her mother’s hands and said with a serious face, “Mother, I miscalculated. I’ll go calculate it again.” She hugged the money and scurried off to the room shared by Zhou SiLang and the others. To say nothing of Zhou Wulang and the rest, even Zhou SiLang felt a chill run down his back. They all stayed put near the doors and windows, not daring to step out. Ms. Qian watched her daughter’s disappearing figure and then withdrew her gaze. She glanced at her three bewildered eldest sons, then at the indistinct chatter from the eastern wing and suddenly shook her head with a smile. Forget it, a bunch of fools—no use getting worked up over them. Zhou Dalang, Zhou Erlang, and Zhou Sanlang were unaware that their own mother had ranked them among the fools. They were busy diligently making small bamboo baskets since the floral baskets made by Zhou Wulang and the others had brought in good money; now they did nothing else in the evenings but help to weave bamboo baskets. Having taken the money back, Manbao returned to her room and scribbled calculations on paper. Everyone saw but did not understand, but they all knew another ledger was needed. At the least, earnings from selling candy couldn’t be recorded in the same account since that was done behind their parents’ backs. While Manbao scribbled, she consulted with Keke in her mind, and soon, one system and one person had devised a more reasonable principle for allocation. First off, for every five wen a floral basket earned, they had to put three wen in the public pot, and only then would the two remaining wen be split among them. This group included the three elder brothers who helped them weave bamboo baskets, so after calculating this way, the money they all got to split was much less. But that didn’t matter—they also had the income from selling candy. Zhou Wulang and the rest were quite generous, offering to give their elder brothers a bit more. So Manbao planned to allocate half a wen for each small bamboo basket to them. It sounded meager, but the total wasn’t insignificant once calculated. With the new policy set, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang made several admonitions to Datou and the others, telling them they absolutely must keep it secret from their parents; if discovered, their money would surely be confiscated—just like the money that had been taken from them before. Without a second thought, Datou and the others nodded in agreement. They were also more than happy to leave more money with Manbao for safekeeping, the reason being quite valid, “Little auntie, my parents will search our clothes and beds, but yours won’t.” Even Zhou Wulang hesitated for a moment before entrusting Manbao with his money, “Manbao, father won’t search your bed, but he will definitely search mine, Four’s, and Sixth’s. Keep this money for me too, and don’t forget to keep a record.” Manbao readily waved her hand in agreement, but instead of taking the money directly, she asked them to put it in bags and later, she would label them so there wouldn’t be any confusion. After all, her money wasn’t in the treasure box under the bed; it was with Keke. Even if father wanted to search, he wouldn’t find it.

Chapter 65 - 65 54 Battle of Wits

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