Chapter 45 The Soulful Artist
Liu Shi asked her grandson what he had learned today.
Bai Shan Bao was very experienced in dealing with his grandmother. He only told Grandmother about what Teacher Zhuang taught and said in class, and didn’t mention his and Man Bao’s plan to catch bugs to scare second cousin.
With just a little thought, Liu Shi knew her grandson couldn’t have been that well-behaved in school, moreover Teacher Zhuang had brought up the county magistrate’s responsibilities out of the blue.
There must have been a reason for it, but she didn’t ask too much. Instead she called her grandson over to tell him what a county magistrate was and what a county magistrate needed to do.
Bai Shan Bao listened carefully, deciding he would tell Man Bao about it tomorrow. Hmph, he knew a lot more than her.
Seeing her grandson listening carefully without his usual rebelliousness, Liu Shi spoke in more detail with a warmer attitude.
Bai Shan Bao asked when he didn’t understand. He also mentioned what Man Bao said about their county magistrate being a bad person for collecting extra entrance fees.
Only then did Liu Shi understand why Teacher Zhuang took them to see ants and watch the autumn rain, and also told them stories.
Liu Shi said, “The county needs money to build roads, maintain dikes, and water conservation projects. If Magistrate Fu uses the money for these purposes, raising entrance fees isn’t unreasonable.”
Bai Shan Bao understood this point – everything takes money.
His mother said the reason they moved to the mountains was because the clan bullied the widow and orphan, trying to swallow up all their family property.
His mother said those assets were for making money. In the future he would need money to study, take the exams, get a wife, become an official. That money was to be saved for him.
So from that time, Bai Shan Bao knew money was a very important thing. Even someone as powerful as the clan chief shamelessly tried to rob them of their money.
Liu Shi however felt that moving to Qili Village was the right decision.
Although their relationship with the Zhou family was close, since they decided to live here long term, it wasn’t right to always stay in their home. Her intention was to buy land in the village and build a small compound to move into. That would keep the two families close enough to look after one another, yet have their own separate households. Wouldn’t that be comfortable?
Zheng Shi didn’t have any objections. She was used to listening to her mother-in-law in everything.
Bai Shan Bao on the other hand had a lot of ideas. Playing nearby, upon hearing Grandmother’s words he ran over, “Pick one by the river. In the future bring the water into the house and dig a big pond to raise turtles. I want to raise turtles.”
“Why are you still thinking about raising turtles?” All because of fighting over a turtle back home, this child split open their second uncle’s grandson’s head. Grandmother even paid a lot of gifts as compensation. Just thinking about it now still pained Zheng Shi.
But Bai Shan Bao persisted, “I’m going to raise turtles and when they grow big make turtle soup for Grandmother to drink.”
Zheng Shi’s expression was quite speechless. Liu Shi however understood her grandson’s meaning. She patted his head with a smile, “Good good, we’ll dig a pond for you to raise turtles. What else do you want, tell Grandmother at once to make plans.”
Bai Shan Bao thought a bit, “I need to think carefully about this.”
“Go ahead and think about it then tell me when you’ve decided.”
Since buying land and building a house was not something Liu Shi could decide on her own, it had to be discussed with Master Bai.
Bai Shan Bao wasn’t worried about all that. After reviewing today’s lessons, he started drawing his imagined yard with brush and ink.
He was currently at the “soulful artist” stage. Besides himself probably no one could understand what he drew.
But Bai Shan Bao didn’t know that. Thus the next day he happily brought his masterpiece for Man Bao to see, telling her this would be his new home.
Man Bao looked it over up and down for a long time, holding her cheeks uncertainly asking, “Which side is the front?”
Bai Shan Bao positioned the painting, explaining, “Look, this is my room. I’m going to build a swing here so when I wake up I can swing. Here I’ll dig a pond and raise turtles, so I can swing while watching the turtles. See, this is a turtle.”
Man Bao had never seen a turtle before. She asked, “Can you eat turtles?”
“You can. Turtles can live a very very long time. I’m planning to fatten it up and make turtle soup for my Grandmother to drink, so my Grandmother will also have a long life.”
Man Bao’s eyes lit up, “Really?”
Bai Shan Bao nodded, “Of course it’s true. Back home everyone said turtles represent longevity!”
“Then how many do you have? Can you sell one to me, I also want to raise turtles.”
Bai Shan Bao asked, “Why do you want to raise turtles?”
“To feed my mother. My mother is always sick. After she eats turtle she’ll also have a long life, then she won’t always be sick.”
Bai Shan Bao felt turtles were hard to come by. Otherwise back then he wouldn’t have fought his cousin for that one. But since he had just become friends with Man Bao, it wasn’t good to reject her. So he hesitated and said, “I’ll have my mother buy an extra one. If she can get one I’ll give it to you to raise. If not, then when my turtle has babies I’ll give you one to raise.”
Man Bao didn’t think it was right, “It takes two turtles, a male and a female, to have babies.”
“Who says so?”
“Chickens and pigs are all like this. People too,” although Man Bao was still small, she actually knew a lot more. She listed it out for him, “My family’s hen hatches chicks. My mother checks the eggs, says only eggs from mating with a rooster can hatch chicks. In spring, elder cousin specially invited a boar from the neighboring village to mate with his sow so she could birth piglets. People also have to marry before having babies.”
Therefore, “You have to buy two turtles, a male and a female. Then they can give birth. Have one baby a year, ten in ten years. When they grow up we eat the two grown ones, continue raising the rest to keep breeding…have more and more turtles.” Man Bao counted and shocked even herself, “Wow, then we’ll have a lot of turtles!”
Bai Shan Bao felt she made sense and decided what to discuss with his mother that night.
Seeing he was willing to listen to her advice, Man Bao grew even more lively. Pointing at his blueprint she said, “Besides raising turtles you can also plant lotus roots in the pond. Do you know lotus? There’s lots of them downstream by the riverbank. The summer flowers are really pretty. Lotus seeds and lotus roots are delicious to eat.”
Man Bao got excited, “I’ll take you to dig lotus roots, okay? I went to watch last year and already know how to dig them.”
Bai Shan Bao asked, “Didn’t we say we were going to catch cabbage worms today?”
Man Bao casually said, “We can catch them some other time. Let’s go dig lotus roots first. Lotus roots are much prettier than worms.”
Since Bai Shan Bao wasn’t too keen on catching bugs either, he nodded in agreement.
