In the end, Zhou Wulang failed to get more candy from Manbao. He shook his head and sighed as he led Lao Liu and Erya on the road. Yes, it was Erya.
Today it is Erya's turn to go to the county town with them.
Zhou Dalang and his friends also went out with them, carrying baskets on their backs, to pick the Ligustrum lucidum that their mother had mentioned.
Manbao also followed them out. She was going to school!
When she arrived at the school, she found that half of the classmates had already arrived. Bai Shanbao was sitting upright in his seat, reading seriously. She ran up, put her book on the table, opened it, and then turned her head to look at her deskmate.
Bai Shanbao finished reading this section while shaking his head. Then he stopped and looked at his friend, and asked with a stern face, "What's the matter?"
"It's okay. I just want to tell you that my father agreed to let my eldest brother and his family help build a house for your family. Have you chosen a place?"
Speaking of this, Bai Shanbao's shoulders slumped a little, and he said, "My great-aunt didn't want us to move out, and insisted on keeping us. My grandmother didn't even mention this yesterday."
Manbao asked in confusion: "Why should we let outsiders live in our house? It would be so uncomfortable and waste food."
Bai Shanbao: "..."
Waste of food?
What does this mean?
Manbao said: "I have an uncle who is very lazy. He quarreled with my aunt and was kicked out. He came to my house to find my mother and wanted to live in my house, but my mother did not let him stay. She pulled his ears and took him back to apologize to my aunt. Only then did he go back."
Manbao said, "My mother said that this is for the good of my uncle and our family. Living in someone else's house means you have to look at other people's faces. How can it be as comfortable as living in your own home? And it's not comfortable to have an outsider living in the host's house. When there are no outsiders, you can quarrel and smash bowls, or be affectionate, but when there are outsiders, do you feel embarrassed?"
Bai Shanbao shook his head fiercely and complained, "I used to be able to play in the mud, but now my mother won't let me. Yesterday I saw a big yellow flower in the flowerbed, it was so beautiful, I wanted to pluck it and give it to my grandmother, but my mother wouldn't let me. Humph, if this were in my own home, I could pluck it if I wanted, and my mother would never care, and would even praise me for being filial."
Manbao encouraged him, "So you have to move out. If you want to plant flowers, I can take my nephews to the mountain to help you dig them. Let me tell you, there are many beautiful flowers on the mountain."
Bai Shanbao's eyes lit up slightly, and he looked at her with some envy, "You've been up the mountain before?"
Although Manbao had only been there twice, she was still very proud, as if the mountain was her backyard. She raised her little head and said, "Of course, I can go up whenever I want . There are also wild fruits to eat on the mountain."
Bai Shanbao's eyes were filled with envy. Seeing , Manbao was so excited that he patted his chest and said, "If you want to go, I'll take you with me."
Bai Shanbao's eyes lit up, "Really?"
What’s so difficult about this? I’ll just take him to find Fourth Brother later.
Manbao nodded modestly.
Bai Shanbao cheered, and Mr. Zhuang appeared at the door. Bai Shanbao immediately picked up the book and pushed Manbao, signaling her to be careful of the gentleman.
Unfortunately, Manbao had never experienced being followed by a master, so she didn't understand what Bai Shanbao meant. She turned to look at the door and saw the master. She smiled at him and greeted him very attentively, "Hello, master!"
Students: ...You are really asking for trouble. Doesn’t the teacher see that you are gossiping?
Mr. Zhuang, who was about to lose his temper, suddenly paused. Facing the smiling face of his young disciple, he could only smile back and then said majestically: "A day's plan begins in the morning. Why don't you study hard?"
Manbao opened the book obediently and followed Bai Shanbao in reading, nodding his head.
Students: ...Are they dazzled? They must be dazzled, right?
But Mr. Zhuang let them go so easily.
But during the break, Mr. Zhuang took the two children to the next yard.
The students thought that Mr. Zhuang was going to teach them a lesson, and they felt relieved. Just like that, how could they not be punished for talking during morning class?
The teacher clearly said that if you want to gossip, just go outside and do it. Once you are in the classroom, you can only study.
What they didn't know was that Mr. Zhuang was asking the two children about their thoughts on reading today.
Today they are still learning a text from "The Analects of Confucius". Mr. Zhuang has already explained the meaning. Manbao always has a lot of questions. Before in class, because the teacher was talking , she couldn't interrupt and ask questions. Now that she has the chance, of course she asked all the questions.
Mr. Zhuang answered her questions one by one with a smile.
Bai Shanbao originally did not dare to ask his own questions, because according to his experience, if he dared to ask those questions to the master, he would definitely be scolded for being tricky and then slapped on the palm. The next time the master saw his grandmother, he would complain, saying that he was not focused and was thinking about some unorthodox and tricky methods every day.
Now that Manbao dared to ask any questions, he was no longer afraid. With shining eyes, he asked Mr. Zhuang his own questions and also asked the questions he had asked when reading "Thousand Character Classic".
There are too many questions, and the short time between classes is not enough.
Mr. Zhuang patted his little head and said with a smile, "Don't worry, after lunch, come to me to rest and I will teach you again."
After a pause, he continued, "If your classmates ask you what you are doing here, just say that the teacher asked you to clean the room, okay?"
The two children nodded together. Their round little heads and round little faces were so cute.
Seeing that Bai Shanbao looked a little dazed, Mr. Zhuang gently patted his head and said with a smile: "What are you thinking about? Come back to your senses and go back to class."
Manbao grabbed Bai Shanbao and turned to run towards the classroom.
Bai Shanbao whispered to her, "The master actually touched my head."
Manbao looked at him curiously, "Yeah, what's wrong?"
Bai Shanbao said, "My former teacher never touched my head, nor did he touch other children's heads. He would only beat us."
Manbao was filled with righteous indignation, "Then your previous husband was a bad guy, but Mr. Zhuang was a good guy. Only bad kids would be spanked. But once the bad kid changed for the better, Mr. Zhuang would pat his head again."
Bai Shanbao lamented, "If only I had come earlier, when I was in the academy..."
Bai Shanbao couldn't stop talking and told Manbao everything about his past experiences in the school. When Mr. Zhuang returned to the classroom, he could hardly stop talking.
He thought with lingering regret, what a pity that he was sitting right under the teacher's nose, it would have been better if he was sitting in the back row so that he could continue talking to Manbao.
Manbao was also not satisfied with what he had heard, so he did not go to look for the teacher after class. He ran to the kitchen to get his meal, then found a patch of grass outside the classroom and continued talking while eating.
It was not until Mr. Zhuang waited in the yard for a long time and came out to see the two little kids sitting side by side on the grass, talking excitedly about something, that he realized why they didn't go to find him.
Mr. Zhuang was so angry that his beard was blown up. He shouted and carried the two little kids to the yard, and decided to explain to them at noon today what it meant to be trustworthy and what it meant to respect teachers!