Chapter 7 Storybook
Breakfast was ready, and a group of children ran out and sat in their seats.
Below old Zhou sat Zhou Dalang, and opposite her should have sat little Qian, but because Manbao was favored, she had always occupied the seat below Qian.
Xiao Qian carried her sister-in-law to sit on a stool, then stood up to distribute porridge to everyone.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang looked at the thin porridge and pouted. They used to have rice for breakfast because they had to work during the day, and they would only eat thick porridge at night.
But since their parents were in charge, they didn't dare to express their dissatisfaction.
The three older brothers handed the bowl to Xiao Qian with sullen faces, while Zhou Silang wished he could bury his head in his chest.
Xiao Qian glanced at her fourth uncle, took his bowl, and the spoon still floated up a lot, so she served him a bowl of porridge.
If everyone's porridge can still be called porridge, then what's in Zhou Silang's bowl can only be called rice soup.
Zhou Silang almost cried out loud. He looked up at his sister-in-law, met her cold gaze, and lowered his head, not daring to speak.
Manbao looked around and thought that she could go to school to eat rice crust at noon, so she poured half of the porridge in the bowl to her father and mother.
Old Zhou and Qian were so moved that they didn't care to talk about little Qian. They just kept praising Manbao, "My daughter is really thoughtful and knows how to respect us."
Everyone ate the porridge in silence. They also wanted to show filial piety, but were afraid of going hungry.
Qian pushed the porridge back and smiled, "Manbao, eat it. Mother doesn't have to work and is not hungry."
Manbao protected the bowl and said, "I don't want to eat anymore. I have a small stomach and I'm almost full."
Seeing that she couldn't persuade her, Qian gave some of the porridge to her three sons and told them, "You have to go out to work, so eat more. If you get hungry on the way, find something to eat first. Once you pay back the money to the village chief, life will get better at home."
The three sons responded.
Old Zhou glanced at his wife and said, "Okay, this is Manbao's gift to you, don't give it all to them."
Then he said to the second brother, "Tomorrow you go to the market, carry a bag of grain and exchange it for some money. The money from the village chief is not urgent. You brothers will be able to earn some money by the New Year. But your mother needs to buy medicine, and we can't leave no money at home."
Zhou Erlang responded in a low voice.
Qian took the opportunity to say, "Bring Manbao and the others with you tomorrow. You should also go with the second son's family and just look after the children."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang immediately said, "Mom, mom, there are still us. We will also look after Manbao, Datou Daya and the others."
Qian didn't really want the fifth and sixth brothers to go, so she frowned and asked, "How is your fourth brother's wasteland going?"
Zhou Wulang had a bad feeling, but he was too far away from Manbao and couldn't kick her. He could only look at her from afar.
Fortunately, Manbao and he were in sync. He looked up at his brother, then at his mother, and finally said, "Mom, let the fifth and sixth brothers go together, otherwise I can't keep an eye on Datou and the others."
Datou immediately raised his head and said, "Aunt, I'm older than you, you don't need to look at me."
There was someone sitting nearby, and Zhou Wulang kicked Datou hard, saying, "You little bastard, I taught you to mess up the place."
Big Head let out a cry, jumped up and shouted, "Mom, Uncle Wu kicked me!"
Little Qian glared at Zhou Wulang, patted her silly son, and said to him, "Eat your porridge quickly. You are the only one who talks too much. Didn't you see that your aunt didn't say anything?"
Big Head lowered his head pitifully.
Old Zhou saw everything. He had just finished his porridge when he put down his bowl and said, "Let them go. They are still children. Datou and Daya are naughty. The second child may not be able to keep an eye on them. Let the fifth and sixth children follow them. Just make sure they don't get lost. The fourth child will continue to open up wasteland."
Old Zhou glared at Zhou Silang, who was working hard, and gave him a deadline. "I'll give you one month. If you can't cultivate an acre of land, you won't even have porridge to eat."
Zhou Silang felt extremely miserable.
But Manbao still stabbed him in the heart. After dinner, he sat next to him and asked, "Fourth brother, do you know why you have fallen to this point?"
She asked herself and answered, "It's because you gamble!"
Siu Si-lang: ...
Manbao sighed like an adult, patted his shoulder with his little hand and said, "Those who gamble are bad guys. I know such a simple truth, why don't you know it?"
"Manbao, we are going to school." Xiao Qian put all the vegetables into the basket and wanted to put Manbao in the backpack to carry him on her back, but Manbao shook his hands and raised his neck proudly and said, "Sister-in-law, I have grown up. I don't need to be carried anymore."
Little Qian couldn't help but laugh, "Our Manbao has grown up?"
"Yes, I am six."
Zhou Silang was so angry at what she said that he ruffled her short hair with his hands and said mockingly, "You are only six years old. You are not even five years old. Do you know what a one-year-old is?"
Manbao was shaken by him and couldn't stand steadily. She yelled and Zhou Silang let go of her hand and ran away without waiting for her to look up. Manbao's hair was a mess and she was so angry that she burst into tears.
Little Qian was frightened. Her sister-in-law seldom cried, and she cried even less after she turned one year old. When she saw her sister-in-law crying so hard, she was so frightened that she was stunned for a moment before she went to hug her.
Qian in the room dropped her sewing basket with a bang, jumped off the bed nimbly, and ran out with her shoes half-put on. "What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong with my Baoer?"
Manbao felt wronged for a moment, but she almost recovered after crying for the first time. She didn't feel wronged at first, but when she saw Qian, she felt even more wronged. She cried and threw herself into her mother's arms, complaining, "Mom, my fourth brother bullied me. Look, he messed up my hair."
Qian immediately straightened her messy hair and was so angry that she ordered directly: "This brat really needs to be beaten. Don't cook for him at night. Let him starve."
Xiao Qianshi responded without hesitation and immediately answered loudly.
Qian felt sorry for her daughter. She wiped her tears and said, "Okay, Manbao, stop crying. Mother will cook you some eggs, okay?"
Xiao Qian asked, "So you're not going to school?"
"No, I'll boil eggs and cook rice for Manbao."
Qian felt a little pained, but thinking that her aunt had been made to cry this time, it was only right to comfort her, so she nodded and was about to agree. However, Manbao was unwilling and broke free from her mother's arms and said, "No, I want to go to school."
Her reason was very good. "I have to go to the market tomorrow and can't go to the school. I have to tell Mr. Zhuang."
Xiao Qian said, "Don't worry, little aunt, I will help you tell Mr. Zhuang."
"No, I said so myself. Besides, I have to go and see if Mr. Zhuang has finished writing his manuscript today. If he has, I have to bring it back."
"Then..." Xiao Qian looked at Qian hesitantly.
Seeing that her daughter was no longer sad, Qian touched her little face and said with a smile, "Okay, go if you want to."
Manbao turned around and happily went to school with Xiao Qian.
As soon as the two aunts and sisters-in-law left, Qian stood up from the ground, her face darkened, and she said to the two daughters-in-law and two young sons who were watching, "Go and bring the fourth child back to me. He is really a rebel. He has the guts to make trouble outside, gamble and lose money, and now he has the guts to come back and bully the family."
The four men obeyed the order and went around the village to capture Zhou Silang.
As soon as Manbao arrived at the school, she lay on the window and listened to Mr. Zhuang's class. Today they were talking about "The Analects of Confucius". Manbao had heard a few sentences before, but she had not memorized them systematically. This time Mr. Zhuang was teaching a large class and all the children were learning "The Analects of Confucius", so they started from the first lesson.
Manbao listened to the whole thing, but Mr. Zhuang only taught everyone to recite repeatedly in this class and did not explain the meaning of the scriptures.
Manbao didn't even have a book, she just followed along and recited vaguely. She had always had a good memory, so she memorized it after just reading it three or four times, but she didn't know the specific words, let alone the meaning.
I saw Mr. Zhuang still teaching these things over and over again.
If it were usual, Manbao would have continued to recite with great interest, but today she was in a bad mood and was a little affected, so she couldn't concentrate.
She felt that after she got it down, she slipped down the windowsill and secretly ran to Mr. Zhuang's yard.
Mr. Zhuang's study is never closed. It is not known whether it is out of habit or to make it convenient for a child who always sneaks in to clean for him.
Manbao walked around the yard and the study, and finally sat on the steps, resting his chin on his hand in a daze, actually talking to the system.
"Koko, do you think Fourth Brother hates me?"
The system said: "Host, no one in this world can always be liked by others. Even money can be hated by others sometimes."
"But I'm not money. I'm Fourth Brother's sister. How can he not like me?"
The system was silent for a moment and then said, "In this world, it is normal for fathers to hate their children, mothers to despise their children, and brothers and sisters to hate each other."
"You're talking nonsense. How can there be parents in this world who don't like their children? Aren't brothers and sisters supposed to love and help each other?"
"That is the host's wishful thinking." The system felt that it might be too lonely, so it said these things to the little host, but it felt that this was also laying the foundation for his safety and future development. If his host was too naive, then he would really be extremely worried in the future.
So he searched in the encyclopedia and found a book called "The Ten Evil Fathers in History" and gave it to Manbao, saying, "Host, this is a loan from me. Borrowing books costs points. Remember to return them to me when you earn points in the future."
A book suddenly appeared in Manbao's hand. Her eyes sparkled. She had long forgotten the hurt her fourth brother had caused her. She asked happily, "Is this for me?"
The system emphasized, "This is loaned to the host. You must return it after reading it."
Manbao was very touched, "Koko, you are so kind. This is my first book."
The system emphasized again, "Host, you must return it after reading it, otherwise you will lose a lot of points."
Manbao was very generous and waved his hand, "Go ahead, buying books costs a lot of money."
System: "...Host, you have no points."
Manbao has already lowered his head to flip through the book.
The words in the book were replaced with the words of this era. Manbao already knew many, many words, and it was written in vernacular Chinese, so she read it with great interest, just like she was reading a storybook.
In fact, this is also a story book that tells the stories of the top ten scumbag fathers in history.
