Farmer’s Blessed Girl

Chapter 49 – Making amends

“Your fifth uncle was a good student. He was also a good official and entered the capital to become the imperial censer at a young age. Unfortunately, he was wounded by a stray arrow and died a hero while accompanying the late emperor on his eastern expedition. In the generation of your master and Qi’er, you ask your master, how did he fare in his studies?”

Master Bai bowed his head in shame.

“But Bai Qi is a scholar, and he passed the Jinshi exam at a young age. If it wasn’t for bad luck, we would be the ones taking refuge in their home now.”

Madam Bai added, “Don’t think of Shan Bao as just a child, he has already demonstrated he is different. How old is he this year? He has already memorized the “Analects of Confucius”. Ask your son, can he recite the first chapter of “The Analects”?

Bai Er Lang immediately cowered and kept quiet.

Madam Bai continued, “Even if we don’t count these gains and losses, in terms of friendship alone,” she grabbed Master Bai’s hand and shed tears, “She is not only your aunt, but also your maternal aunt. We are paternal cousins and grew up together and share the same grandparents. We are the only ones left now so consider this as taking care of your mother’s family and treat them with care.” 

Although Madam Bai was talking to Master Bai, her words were clearly addressed to Mrs Bai.

Mrs Bai hastily knelt down and apologised, stating, “Don’t worry, Mother. Master and I will serve our aunt and younger siblings well in the future.”

And then, she turned her head to scold Bai Er Lang, “Er Lang, don’t ever bully your cousin again, if I ever find out you are bullying him again, I, I ……”

Mrs Bai gritted her teeth, “I will beat you.

The depressed Bai Er Lang did not dare to cry under his father’s scrutiny and felt his butt hurts.

Once the four of them have had their say and calmed down, everyone went back to their respective yards.

Just then, the steward who went to the Zhou family to deliver the compensation gifts returned, and he reported to Master Bai,”…… sent a bottle of medicinal wine for bruises, two pieces of meat, two fish, and two packs of dim sum (aka snacks).”

“The Zhou family’s old gentleman was very kind. He said the child was not seriously injured. She was just slightly bruised, and that she would be fine after resting.”

Master Bai scolded his naughty son again, and then said, “She is a baby girl, so it’s good if she doesn’t have any scars on her body.”

The steward bowed his head and said, “I don’t think. I took a look at the young lady of the Zhou family. There were no injuries on her body, but her forehead was slightly bruised and swollen, but there were no wounds.”

Master Bai waved his hand and dismissed his steward.

At the Zhou’s, the children, led by Man Bao, were crouching in the courtyard watching the two fish, two pieces of meat and two packets of snacks. All of them drooled.

Da Tou and the others were so envious, “Little aunt is really different. There are people who will gift her with meat and fish to eat after she gets into a fight.”

Da Ya emphasized, “There is still dim sum!”

Man Bao touched her forehead and said, “How about looking for opportunities to fight with Bai Er in the future?”

Old man Zhou who overheard the conversation wanted to smack his daughter’s head. But when he thought about her injuries and that smacking Man Bao’s head might make her stupid, he settled for a verbal reprimand, “Don’t spout nonsense, is fighting fun? You are physically smaller than others, so you will get beaten up.

“You want to provoke a fight, and then get people to send gifts? There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

Old man Zhou added, “When the time comes, we’ll need to make amends to the Bai family but our family wouldn’t be able to afford two pieces of meat and two fish.”

Man Bao regretted her not so brilliant idea, then looked at snacks and drooled. She turned around and threw herself into her eldest sister-in-law’s arms, and acted like a baby, “Eldest sister-in-law, let’s open the snacks and eat them.”

Although she doesn’t like sweets, she likes snacks.

She smelled the delicious aroma of the dim sum just now, it’s just so tantalisingly delicious.

Xiao Qian did not hesitate and asked her mother-in-law’s opinion. After getting Mrs Zhou’s approval, she opened a package, gave two pieces of snack to Man Bao, and then gave one piece each to all the kids. She wrapped up the rest with the intention of saving the snacks for Man Bao to eat over several days.

Man Bao quickly stuffed her father and mother with the dim sum, and then looked at her sister-in-law eagerly.

Xiao Qian was helpless, so she gave Man Bao two more pieces of snacks.

Man Bao smiled repeated her actions. This time, she gave the dim sum to her second and third sisters-in-law, and then, looked at Xiao Qian.

When Xiao Qian saw that her two sisters-in-law were given the dim sum, she couldn’t help being annoyed. She opened the oil paper and stuffed the remaining two pieces to Man Bao, “Okay, that’s the end of it.”

Man Bao took a piece and placed it by Xiao Qian’s mouth, and said sweetly, “Eldest sister-in-law, please eat! I smelt it and it smelt so delicious.”

Xiao Qian’s anger disappeared immediately, and she couldn’t help laughing out loud, “Smart alec!”

He did not eat the dim sum, and laughed, “Man Bao treats her eldest sister-in-law differently. She didn’t place the dim sum at our mouth.”

Feng also jokingly said, “Of course, she grew up on her sister-in-law’s milk.”

Xiao Qian was slightly proud, but modestly said, “This child treats everyone in the family the same. Her words are as sweet as honey and all the children in the family combined can’t match up to her.”

The three sisters-in-law stood around and flattered each other. Mrs Zhou who was sitting by the side instructed, “Cut up the meat and fry it, we don’t have a well at home, so it’s not good to keep the meat raw.  The meat can only be kept longer once it is cooked.”

She added, “Although the evening meal is ready, take some of the meat and do a stir-fry with vegetables. Man Bao is injured and needs to be nourished.”

Her three daughters-in-law stopped gossiping and rushed off to do their work.

The women didn’t eat the snacks but gave them to their respective husbands.

Of course, Zhou Da Lang and his brothers are not stupid, and naturally, they dare not eat the snacks either. They placed the snack in their respective rooms and plan to divide it amongst their own family members later in the evening.

Mrs Zhou beckoned her daughter to her side, gave her a snack, smiled, touched the wound on her forehead and said, “Hurry up, eat good things and the injury will heal quickly.”

Man Bao pushed the dim sum back, “Mother, you eat.”

Mrs Zhou shook her head, “Mother is taking medicine. I can’t eat the dim sum. Hurry up and eat.”

Man Bao didn’t doubt her mother as Mrs Zhou had to abstain from many types of food due to her poor health.

Man Bao happily took the snack and took a bite, and then happily went to play with Wu Lang and the others.

Old man Zhou who was sitting next to his wife broke the snack into two and gave his wife the much larger portion.

Mrs Zhou smiled and accepted the snack.

Man Bao was particularly interested in Wu Lang and Liu Lang’s trip to the county today, and asked many questions enthusiastically.

Wu Lang and Liu Lang felt they had seen the world today. Surrounded by a group of siblings and nephews, they felt so proud that they told them about the day vividly.

Ever since adults were kidnapped in their village area, the villages have agreed on the rules to go to the county.

Whoever wants to go to the county the next day would give a shout out in the village, and those who want to go would agree on the time to meet at the village entrance the next day. If there were no takers, the villagers would go on their own, but they need to pay attention to the time they leave the village.

Wu Lang said, “The best time to leave for the county is 6am. Everyone’s feet are about the same. So, everyone calculated backwards from the county. If the villagers in the different villages want to get together, they will know what time they should be waiting at their respective village entrance…”