Chapter 18: Flower Baskets
The Zhou family never allowed Man Bao near the river, so this was her first time being in such close proximity to the waters. Delighted, she happily immersed her hands, playing and splashing with utter glee.
Glancing over, she noticed Er Ya diligently scrubbing clothes, so Man Bao grabbed a garment to mimic the motions. After agitating it in the water, she then tried wringing it out like the other women.
Silently observing, Er Ya planned to simply re-wash everything properly once her little niece had finished indulging herself, swiftly completing the remaining laundry before whisking Man Bao back home resigned to likely facing a scolding later.
But Man Bao remained enthusiastic. “The river water feels so refreshingly cool! This is fun. Er Ya, I’ll come help you do laundry from now on.”
Shaking her head, Er Ya refused, “No need, Little Niece. Not only will you be unable to properly clean anything, if Mother finds out, I’ll get beaten too. You should just stay home playing with Er Tou instead.”
“No, I want to play in the water,” Man Bao insisted stubbornly. “I already discussed it with Second Sister-in-law – I’ll teach you literacy, and in exchange you have to bring me along to do laundry.”
Hesitating, Er Ya asked uncertainly, “Mother really agreed to that?”
“Of course,” Man Bao boasted proudly. “I pleaded with her for so long.”
Only half-believing it, Er Ya tugged her little niece along to the kitchen to verify with her mother upon returning home.
Feng was in the midst of preparing the early meal, instructing Er Ya to stoke the fire while shooing Man Bao out to avoid the smoke inhalation.
As Er Ya tended to the cooking fire, she questioned, “Mother, did Little Niece speak the truth that you agreed to let me learn literacy?”
Glancing at the proudly puffed-out chest of the boastful Man Bao, Feng indulged her placatingly, “Yes, yes, as long as you can earn money through literacy, I agreed to let you.”
Upon hearing that caveat, Er Ya’s whole face fell crestfallen.
Seeing her nearly in tears, Man Bao quickly tugged her back outside, informing Feng, “Second Sister-in-law, Er Ya still needs to hang the laundry to dry. I’ll go help her with that.”
“Oh, well…” By the time Feng could muster a reply, Man Bao had already scampered off dragging Er Ya behind her.
Resigned, Feng could only tend to the cooking fire herself.
Once in the courtyard, Man Bao leaned in to softly admonish Er Ya, “Are you being silly? Mother said to earn money through literacy – so how can you earn if you don’t actually learn it first?”
Tears brimming, Er Ya blinked slowly as the logic dawned on her, sniffling, “So…so you mean I really can?”
“Of course, Second Sister-in-law promised it herself, didn’t she?”
Still skeptical, Er Ya worried, “But what if I study for a while and still can’t earn any money? Will Mother really let me keep learning then?”
Man Bao stated solemnly, “Then it just means you haven’t studied diligently or deeply enough yet to start earning. So in order to earn, you’ll simply need to keep studying harder.”
Nodding contemplatively, Er Ya acknowledged, “You make a fair point, Little Niece.”
Her spirits renewed, Er Ya headed off to finish hanging the laundry while the diminutive Man Bao aided from the sidelines, passing garments up to her.
Sweating profusely, Er Tou came running in from outside, spotting Man Bao standing beneath the drying racks. He rushed over asking worriedly, “Little Niece, where did you wander off to? I’ve been searching everywhere!”
“If you’re not such a dolt, I was just at the river,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Er Tou let out an “Oh”, before suddenly recalling something as he jumped up and down anxiously. “But Mother forbade you from the riverbank! Oh no, Er Ya you shouldn’t have…waaahhhh!”
Quickly clamping his mouth shut, Er Ya glared at him warningly while Man Bao threatened from the side, “If you dare blab about this, I’ll never give you any more candies!”
Utterly dejected, Er Tou felt it was terribly unfair – if you didn’t want me talking, then you shouldn’t have told me in the first place!
Though tears welled in his eyes, he switched tacks obediently, “Little Niece, I retrieved all your manuscript pages already. Why don’t you go study those?”
“No need to rush,” Man Bao waved it off. “Let’s go pick some wildflowers first – I already have a plan for earning money.”
Er Tou and Er Ya both felt rather skeptical about these ideas, but what choice did they have? This was a directive from their precious little niece. Plus, Mrs. Qian had instructed, “Once you’ve eaten the early meal, you two should go accompany your little niece while keeping watch over her.”
So the whole group scampered off to the foot of the mountain again, where Zhou Silang had spent the past two days arduously clearing new land plots. This area looked considerably better now.
Around one mu in size, the overgrown grasses had been slashed down by half already. But the stubborn vines and shrubbery proved far more difficult to uproot, some roots burrowing so deeply that Zhou Silang could only dig out two or three stumps even after toiling all day.
Resting in a weary crouch, his hands were scraped raw as he glared resentfully at a particularly tenacious root he could not dislodge no matter how vigorously he hacked with his hoe.
Joining him in a crouch, Man Bao examined it curiously. “It’s that hard to dig out?”
Red-eyed, Zhou Silang shot her an accusing glare. “Which is why you insisted I clear this plot?”
Indignant, Man Bao retorted, “Well who told you to gamble away all our money?”
Rendered speechless, Zhou Silang could only drop his head in dejected misery. “The blade’s too dull, I can’t dig anything up.”
“You just haven’t found the right technique yet,” Man Bao stated confidently, having received the system’s guidance. She shooed him aside to beckon her Fifth and Sixth Brothers. “Come try digging it out.”
Gripping the hoe skeptically, Zhou Wulang questioned, “Dig out that far of a radius?”
With a lofty wave of her tiny hand, Man Bao commanded imperiously, “Just do as I say!”
Left with no choice, Zhou Wulang brushed the loosened soil aside, gradually excavating a wide pit angling towards the deeply embedded root until Zhou Liulang could finally leverage the entire gnarled stump out with one mighty heave.
Everyone fell into a stunned silence.
Letting out a self-satisfied huff, Man Bao had Zhou Silang resume digging out the remaining stumps while she led Da Tou and the others up the mountainside to gather visually appealing wildflowers.
Taking the opportunity, she outlined her latest scheme. “Have Second Brother weave us some pretty baskets. Then we can decorate them with the flower arrangements like we did yesterday before trying to sell the baskets.”
Skeptical, Er Tou pointed out, “But then we’d just be selling the baskets themselves, which Father wove. He’d never give us the money earned from those.”
“Not those larger storage baskets,” Man Bao clarified. “I mean the smaller decorative ones Second Brother weaves for me.”
Da Ya raised another concern. “But those tiny baskets can’t actually hold anything substantial. Who would want to buy those?”
“All of you loved them when Second Brother wove them for me before though, didn’t you?” Man Bao huffed.
The children debated hesitantly, “Well yes, we liked them. But grownups would never want to buy them.”
Er Ya chimed in, “And other kids don’t have money.”
“Then we’ll just find the wealthy children!”
Everyone scoffed at the notion. “What kids would have money?”
Since they themselves never had spending funds, the group assumed all children must be similarly penniless worldwide. Conversely, Man Bao reasoned, “Of course some do! I have money, so there must be other kids just like me. Maybe even wealthier than me. We’ll just find those kids.”
It was then that Man Bao finally revealed her ultimate plan. “And then we can put candies inside the baskets to sell!”
Upon hearing the baskets would contain sweets, everyone’s confidence spiked as they eagerly joined the wildflower foraging efforts.
Despite being autumn, the mountainside still bloomed with ample wild flora. It didn’t take long before each child cradled an armful of vibrant blossoms. Emboldened by Man Bao’s leadership, even Da Tou and Da Ya abandoned their industrious uncles still toiling away as they merrily skipped back home.
Though envious watching the little ones depart so carefree, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang could only lament having outgrown such privileges afforded their youngest sister.
Yet catching sight of Zhou Silang still crouched diligently weeding only made them feel relieved – at least they could venture to the county town tomorrow while their fourth brother remained stuck continuing this backbreaking land clearance.
Upon returning home, Man Bao sought out Zhou Erlang, only to find he and Zhou Dalang had gone to tend the fields.
Though the harvest was complete, the land still required preparation by allowing it to lie fallow for several months until the following spring planting season.
Unable to locate Zhou Erlang, Man Bao could only ask her father instead. “Dad, can you weave me some small baskets just like the ones Second Brother made for me before?”
