Chapter 81 - 81 70 Eating Meat (Additional release for 10,000 recommendation tickets at Qidian)

Words : 1574 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

81: Chapter 70: Eating Meat (Additional release for 10,000 recommendation tickets at Qidian) 81: Chapter 70: Eating Meat (Additional release for 10,000 recommendation tickets at Qidian) Manbao searched for quite a while before she found a book with illustrations. She looked at it for quite some time before realizing it was a book that recorded various herbs, some of which were depicted in pictures, while others were described with text only. The names of the medicinal herbs were followed by details of their primary harvesting locations, therapeutic effects, and preparation techniques. Manbao’s spirits lifted, and she was overjoyed. She sat down on the floor and began reading with great interest. She asked Keke about the characters she didn’t recognize, and she asked about the sentences she couldn’t parse. Although her reading was choppy, she continued with enthusiasm. Bai Shanbao, on the other hand, had found a book dedicated to tales of ghosts and spirits, filled with mysterious and profound stories. The book began with a self-praise from the author, who claimed these were true stories collected during his travels through various mountains, villages, and famous cities. Bai Shanbao, just like Manbao, loved storybooks the most. He didn’t care much for other books, but he read this type of book with rapt attention. Why did he have a particular fondness for “The Analects” and enjoyed listening to Mr. Zhuang’s lectures? Because “The Analects” are accounts of Confucius’s words and actions, composed of many individual stories, and Mr. Zhuang’s teaching emphasized entertainment. Every sentence, its source, and the scene at that time were narrated by Mr. Zhuang, making it just like listening to a story, which he absolutely loved. The two children sat side by side, each absorbed in a book. Ms. Liu came over with her daughter-in-law to check on them and seeing the children so engrossed, she instructed her daughter-in-law to almost silently leave the snacks on the table and tiptoed out. Ms. Zheng was thrilled and whispered, “Shanbao is actually taking the initiative to read, and he’s so focused too...” You have to know that Bai Shanbao used to hate reading at home; he had even hidden books several times to avoid going to the clan school. Every time after school, he would play with the young pages and the Xiaos, climbing trees, going into the water, catching bugs, and fighting. He was up to all sorts of mischief. Ms. Liu also smiled, “So, we made the right decision to move this time.” Ms. Zheng nodded in agreement and no longer minded that her mother-in-law was adamant about moving to this remote place in the hills. Originally, she had suggested taking the children back to her parental home. If they were worried about feeling uncomfortable, they could buy a house near her parental home to live in. With the support of the Zheng Family, life would certainly be a bit easier. But she never expected her mother-in-law to insist on moving to Qili Village, where access was inconvenient and there were no famous teachers. She had wept secretly in the night, but now she felt everything was worthwhile, as long as their family’s Shanbao could study well. Ms. Liu said, “The land has been chosen, and I will go to the county town tomorrow to exchange some copper coins. We’ll start digging the foundation as soon as possible. Since we’ve decided to settle here, we should make the house a bit better.” Ms. Liu had no objections. Bai Shanbao and Manbao, unaware that adults had visited, read with relish for a long time. Feeling their eyes tire, they got up from the floor to go outside for a walk. Seeing snacks and water on the table, Shanbao immediately called Manbao over to eat. The two enjoyed the snacks heartily and then simply sat in the chairs to read, continuing until a servant came to report that Datou had come to pick up Manbao. Manbao put the book back and then, with her Small book box on her back, she said goodbye to Shanbao and skipped away. Of course, Bai Shanbao saw her out, mainly because he no longer had anyone to read with him and didn’t want to continue reading. So, he escorted her to the main gate and watched her leave with Datou. He didn’t go back to his reading but instead hopped off to find his grandmother. On his way, he noticed pretty insects on the flowers in the garden and forgot about his intention to find his grandmother, catching insects in the garden instead. After causing his fair share of havoc with the flowers and plants in the garden, he guiltily ran back to find his grandmother. Manbao, walking back with Datou, recalled that he hadn’t come to pick her up in the afternoon and hurriedly asked him where he had been. Before coming, Datou had been warned not to tell the young lady about these matters, so he said, “I went to play and forgot the time.” Manbao then generously said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Mom or my elder sister-in-law.” Datou thought silently to himself, “Even if you don’t tell them, they know it.” Nonetheless, it was admirable that his younger aunt was so aware, so he thanked her. There was quite a distance from the Bai Family to the Zhou Family, and the Zhou Family was not far from the village entrance. However, there were still several houses outside, and people loved to gather and chat under the big banyan tree near the village entrance, so every time Manbao passed by, she would see many people. But this time there was not a single person there, not even the children playing in the streets. Manbao was extremely curious, “Where are all the people in the village?” “At their own homes,” Datou answered. Manbao asked, “What are they doing at home, why haven’t they come out to chat?” At that question... Datou couldn’t help replying, “They’re doing chores and eating dinner at home. It’s dinnertime now.” “But there are always people here every day, and they even like to bring their meals out and squat to eat—how come I don’t see a single person this time?” Datou felt slightly uneasy, “Maybe they have meat at home today?” Only when there was meat at home would those people not take their bowls out to squat and eat. At the mention of meat, Manbao’s eyes lit up, and she jumped up and ran towards home, shouting, “Meat, meat, chicken meat, we are going to eat chicken meat tonight at our house.” Datou froze for a moment and followed, his mouth watering. Before they arrived home, the two kids could already smell the scent of meat, and they swallowed their saliva and sped home. Junior Ms.Qian had not yet taken the pot off the stove; when she came out of the kitchen and saw her niece carrying a Small book box while her silly son was empty-handed, she tapped his forehead and said, “What a blockhead, your niece is so much younger than you and you didn’t even take the book box from her?” Datou immediately reached out to take his younger aunt’s book box, placed it back in the room, and then joined his younger siblings outside the kitchen, eagerly watching the steaming earthenware pot. It smelled so good! Feeling its host’s desire, the system spoke at the right moment, “So host, do you now understand the benefits of points?” Smelling the fragrance of the meat, Manbao felt a bit hungry, and her mind slowed down a bit, “Huh?” she uttered, not understanding. The system explained, “Points can be exchanged for sweets, and sweets can be exchanged for currency of your era. Money can buy all sorts of delicious things. As long as you have enough points, it’s not hard for the host to live a good life.” Then Manbao said, “Right, when are you going to give me the points for the ligustrum seeds? Haven’t you calculated them yet?” After a pause, the system “Hmm”ed and asked the host to wait patiently. Manbao felt she couldn’t just wait for that one set of points; it seemed she needed to pick some flowers and herbs she hadn’t picked before for Keke. But her brothers were really dumb, with so many flowers and herbs in the forest, they couldn’t even find one for her. Sigh, it seemed she would have to go herself. Manbao was calculating when she would find time to go up the mountain, which of course she couldn’t do by herself; she would have to have someone accompany her. At dinnertime, the whole family looked at Manbao with affectionate eyes. Zhou SiLang even split a piece of meat from his bowl and gave it to Manbao, saying, “Little sister, if someone bullies you, tell SiLang; SiLang will help you beat him up.” Zhou Wulang and the others were no less competitive, each contributing a piece of meat from their bowls to her, expressing the same sentiment. Manbao ate until her mouth was greasy and looked up confusedly, “Nobody has bullied me.” “We know, it’s just in case, okay? So, if you’re bullied in the future, no matter if it’s fighting or arguing, just tell your brothers, and we’ll beat them up for you.”

Chapter 81 - 81 70 Eating Meat (Additional release for 10,000 recommendation tickets at Qidian)

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