Chapter 67 - 67 56 Petty

Words : 1629 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

67: Chapter 56 Petty 67: Chapter 56 Petty Manbao’s eyes shone brightly, clutching the two vitex seeds she had found without speaking. Old Zhou and Ms. Qian sat by the bed, and in the light of the fire, they saw the brightness in their daughter’s eyes, shining like Venus in the sky, leaving the couple somewhat dazed and silent. Manbao happily raised her head and stretched out her little hand to show Old Zhou and Ms. Qian, “Dad, Mom, look what this is?” Ms. Qian slightly returned to her senses and asked with a smile, “What is it?” “It’s vitex seeds! Today, Fifth Brother picked two strings for me. They look like this when they’re dried, and can even treat Mom’s illness.” Ms. Qian, smiling, touched Manbao’s head and watched as she knelt on the floor, excitedly telling her that from now on, they could buy one less herb when they went shopping for medicines. Ms. Qian listened with a smile and did not tell her that the medicines were prescribed in complete sets, not individually. Manbao said, “Let Dalang and Sanlang go and pick all the vitex seeds, dry them and give them to Mom to eat.” Ms. Qian nodded with a smile, “Alright, Mom will have your big brother go tomorrow.” Manbao was very excited and suddenly didn’t want to sleep by herself. She put down the vitex seeds in her palm and climbed onto her parents’ bed, rolling right into the middle and staying still. Then, she looked at her parents with her eyes twinkling. Old Zhou couldn’t help but pat her chubby bottom, “You’re already so big and still want to sleep with your mom and dad, aren’t you ashamed?” “Not ashamed, not ashamed, Sanlang still sleeps with Dalang and his wife.” Old Zhou thought that since Sanlang had only just stopped being able to say that recently and was still young, of course, he should sleep with his parents. Although his grandson was the same age as his daughter, and even two months older, in his heart, his daughter was much older. There was no helping it; country kids were late bloomers, able to do chores, but slow to understand things. Their own children were considered early bloomers, but that was only because they had enough food and drink. In some families, due to a lack of food and clothes, children of seven or eight still looked and spoke like they were four or five. But none were as early as Manbao. At least no one in the entire village, not even Landlord Bai’s eldest son, could walk shakily at nine months old and call out to his mom and dad at ten months. Therefore, they unanimously believed that their Manbao was the smartest child in the village, and possibly even in the entire township. Because she was smart and understood things early, that’s why she had moved to sleep in her own small bed at an early age. There was no helping it; when she was just over a year old, she would go to Ms. Qian and tattle that her dad snored so loudly she couldn’t sleep at night. Heaven knows she was actually the one who would fall asleep at the drop of a hat, like a dead pig, and not even thunder could wake her up. By the time she was two, she complained even more, telling her mom how her dad didn’t wash his feet and that they smelled bad. So Old Zhou clenched his teeth, stamped his foot, and took his sons to cut down a tree on the mountain. They paid someone to make her a small bed and had Erlang make a bamboo partition to divide the room. Only then did the complaints cease. After that, Manbao rarely made a fuss about sleeping with her parents. But it’s good for a child to be close to her parents, so Old Zhou didn’t chase his daughter off the bed. Instead, he got off the bed and brought her small blanket over to her. Manbao hugged her small blanket and rolled around on the bed, then began talking to her mother about the interesting things that happened at school. Ms. Qian listened quietly, occasionally asking a question or two to encourage her to say more. Thus, Ms. Qian learned that Manbao could now recognize many characters. Mr. Zhuang didn’t just teach them to read and write, but also arithmetic. Her current best friend was the young master from the Bai Family known as Shanbao. Speaking of Bai Shanbao, Manbao had quite a bit to say. She spoke of him being bullied by Bai Erlang and seamlessly transitioned to the topic of his family planning to build a new house. Manbao had also spoken to Old Zhou about it, “Dad, I’ve already spoken to Shanbao about it. When the time comes, we’ll have Eldest Brother and the others help out. Call more people, and in three to five days, we can finish building their house. Then he won’t be bullied by Bai Er anymore.” Old Zhou’s gaze flickered and he asked, “Did the young master say when his family plans to start building their house?” Manbao yawned lightly and said, “Soon, soon, as soon as the site is finalized.” Old Zhou fell silent and didn’t speak. Manbao prodded him quietly, “Dad, have you agreed or not?” Old Zhou replied, “Agreed, now go to sleep quickly. You still have school tomorrow.” Manbao’s breathing gradually became deep and steady. Seeing that she fell asleep in the span of a single sentence, Old Zhou couldn’t help but shake his head with a chuckle, “This child is just like her father, falls asleep as soon as she closes her eyes.” Ms. Qian gave him a warning glance. Old Zhou hurriedly changed the subject, “I was planning to speak to Dazhu about taking Dalang and Sanlang out to do some hard labor. But since the Bai Family is going to build a house, there’s no need to go out anymore. We might as well stay at home.” Ms. Qian slightly nodded in agreement, “Building a house for a wealthy family is different from us. They won’t skimp on stone or wood—both require labor. There will be work to do until after winter.” The family needed money. Although Landlord Bai needed short-term labor to manage his fields, that work only came after the autumn harvest and was limited. Lately, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang had almost run out of work to do. Ms. Qian had been considering sending the two sons to the county to work as laborers. Even if they couldn’t earn money, it would be good enough if they could at least work for their keep. It would save the family some grain. For the Bai Family to build a house was like a godsend. Early the next morning, while Manbao was washing her face with her eyes closed, Ms. Qian called her three sons in and said, “Go with Five and let him show you what privet is. Pick all the ripe fruit you can find and bring it back.” Manbao, who was at that moment washing her face, immediately perked up. She eagerly ran back to her little bed, pretended to reach under it—actually taking from Keke—and handed the string of privet berries to Eldest Brother, “Like these. If you see any unusual plants in the mountains, like the ones we don’t have around here, whether they are flowers, grasses, or fruits, be sure to pick them and bring them back to me.” Zhou Dalang and his brothers knew that Manbao had always enjoyed meddling with plants since she was little. She used to wreak havoc in the family’s vegetable garden, disturbing the growing seedlings; anything she saw, she had to pull up and inspect. He glanced at their mother and agreed, taking the privet berries with him as he headed out. Then Ms. Qian told Manbao, “Go and have your breakfast. You’ll be late for school if you don’t hurry.” Manbao agreed and ran to the main house, but instead of going to the kitchen to eat, she first slipped into Zhou Silang and his brothers’ room. Brothers Zhou Si, Zhou Wu, and Zhou Liu shared a room. Zhou Silang was about to leave with a hoe in hand, and Zhou Wulang was also ready to go. Manbao started whispering to him, “Fifth Brother, pay attention on the way. If you see more privet, pick it all. It’s Mom’s medicine.” Zhou Wulang didn’t quite understand why the berries had overnight become Mom’s medicine, but he still nodded in agreement and asked, “Manbao, could you talk to your friend and ask for a bit more sugar next time? A hundred pieces are a bit too few.” He continued, “I’m planning to ask Second Miss Fu to introduce us to a few more customers. I think selling sugar is more profitable than selling flower baskets. Isn’t it one coin for ten pieces of sugar that you buy?” Manbao was reluctant to spend her points like that; she wanted to save them to buy medicine for Mom. Therefore, she refused, “One hundred pieces a day is not too little. Aren’t you selling a little less to Second Miss? She’s alone; eating too much sugar will lead to cavities. Next time you go to the county, if she still wants to buy, tell her that people with cavities look especially ugly.” Zhou Wulang: ... To say such a thing to a girl—did he not want to live anymore, or did he not want to do business with the Fu Family anymore?

Chapter 67 - 67 56 Petty

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