Manbao felt that although the questions posed by the local official needed to be asked, those from the laborers were also important, but she wasn’t in a hurry. So, she squatted down in front of the local official with Bai Shanbao and asked him his name first, whether he had always been a local official, or if he had been temporarily recruited to supervise the laborers because of the construction work.
The local official found the children’s questions quite detailed and asked curiously, "Does your teacher also care about this?"
"Our teacher doesn’t, but we want to know," Keke had said, one shouldn’t judge the value of their investigation by the insignificance of details. Each tiny detail could potentially affect the bigger picture, so they needed to collect as much information as possible.
That was how they could comprehensively reflect upon the issues and find solutions.
Of course, Manbao did not understand all of this, but she knew one thing: collect as much information as possible. And Keke had given her a reference template too.
After discussing it with Bai Shanbao, they continued to add more to the list, reasoning that since they were asking his name, might as well ask about his age. And having asked his age, why not ask if he had a wife or children at home...
The two children chatted back and forth, adding many more questions to their survey list.
Keke watched without a word. Now, the two of them, armed with their little notebooks, squatted in front of the local official, confronting him with these questions one by one.
To keep him from getting irritated, Manbao took out a candy from her pocket and placed it in the palm of his hand, inviting him to eat it.
The once stern face of the local official softened. Taking gifts softened hearts, and with Manbao and Bai Shanbao being such adorable kids, he sat down on the grass and with a wave of his hand, said, "My father worked in the government office, so I ended up working there too. I have two brothers, and I’m the oldest..."
Bai Erlang also enjoyed listening to these casual conversations, squatting nearby and listening intently.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang looked around furtively and started to edge closer to Zhou Sanlang. Seeing that the other two local officials had no objections, they took over their Third Brother’s work. The three brothers sharing the job of one laborer meant they could work slower, take occasional rests, and chat.
The laborers all looked at Zhou Sanlang with envy.
Zhou Sanlang had always been honest and was not accustomed to being looked at with such eyes, and for a moment, he was at a loss whether it was the panic or the cold wind that made his face turn red.
After questioning the local official, Manbao and Bai Shanbao then went to interrogate the laborers, and the other two local officials also came over out of curiosity. Manbao generously gave each one of them a candy and enthusiastically interviewed them.
And of course, the laborers got a piece of candy, too.
Whoever Manbao questioned got a candy. The laborers were very willing to answer their questions because not only could they stop working and rest while answering, but they got a candy too. And the local officials had no objections.
Bai Shanbao, whose hand was tired from writing, noticed Bai Erlang squatting off to the side, enjoying his candy and listening intently, and shoved the pen into his hand, asking him to take over the writing.
Not fond of writing, Bai Erlang reluctantly accepted the pen.
Manbao added, "If you don’t, I will!"
"No way," Bai Shanbao refused without a second thought, "We won’t have enough paper, and not only is your handwriting ugly, but it also wastes ink and paper."
Although Manbao knew Bai Shanbao was telling the truth, she still pouted in displeasure.
She had just started learning to write, of course, it wasn’t good yet, but it would surely improve in the future!
The three local officials couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, "Who is your teacher, letting you take down all this information?"
Bai Shanbao, having tired himself out from writing, sat down and started bragging about how amazing Mr. Zhuang was...
In Bai Shanbao’s heart, Mr. Zhuang was truly remarkable, certainly far more so than any teacher from their clan school.
The local officials’ children were about the same age, so they were quite tolerant of them and did not mind them causing a commotion on the construction site. They began chatting with them enthusiastically.
The atmosphere became increasingly harmonious, and laborers who hadn’t been interviewed yet occasionally looked over. The local officials, upon seeing this, stopped scolding them, let alone cracking their whips.
Surprisingly, with everyone relaxed, the progress on the construction was quick.
One man would swing his hoe to loosen the soil, another would dig up the loosened soil into a basket, and then the two of them would carry the basket to fill holes on the official road...
Everyone’s cooperation improved, and taking occasional breaks appeared to actually speed things up.
In the afternoon, someone came to deliver the evening meal. The local officials promptly rang the gong, signaling everyone to gather their belongings and line up to receive their bread.
Each person received a piece of gray bread. Because Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang had worked in the afternoon, looking at the three children, the local officials gave them two pieces of bread each.
Of course, the brothers didn’t eat them; instead, they handed the bread over to Zhou Sanlang.
Zhou Sanlang gave them a smile, tucked the bread into his chest, and went to get his own bowl. He directly fetched a bowl of water.
The water had been brought along with the bread, which was cold, so naturally, the water wasn’t warm either, but at least it was boiled. He guzzled down a bowl and then ate the bread with cold water.
Manbao squatted next to him, swallowing hard with Bai Shanbao at the sight.
After thinking for a moment, he broke off a piece of bread for the two children.
Bai Shanbao and Manbao, seeing him enjoy his meal without knowing how unappetizing the bread was, bit down eagerly. It was a bit cold and a bit hard, but like hungry wolves, they tore off a piece, chewed, and commented, "It’s a bit sweet."
After chewing, Bai Shanbao struggled to swallow and said, "If it were softer and the flour finer, it’d be better."
Zhou Wulang couldn’t help but scold them, "You should be grateful to have something to eat and not be so picky. You two, hurry up and pack up and head home."
Manbao also drank a mouthful of cold water from Zhou Sanlang’s bowl, looked at her Third Brother for a while, and then gave him her leftover bread.
Seriously grabbing his rough large hand, she said, "Third Brother, we’ll come to see you tomorrow, and I’ll make you meat soup."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang: ...
Zhou Sanlang quickly said, "Don’t come again. If our parents find out, they’ll thrash you. This place is for laborers, what are you doing here?"
He added, "Five said you’re writing an essay. You’ve asked a lot of people today; that should be enough."
"Not enough, not enough," Manbao said. "We haven’t finished asking yet."
Reading was something they didn’t understand, and although Zhou Sanlang wanted to persuade, he didn’t know how. He simply said, "Make sure to bring your Fifth Brother with you when you go out, alright?"
With that, they reluctantly left.
No sooner had they left than they heard the local official beat the gong, shouting, "Hurry up, after you’ve eaten, dig a bit more, there’s only a little section left. We must finish it before the sun sets."
Manbao turned back to look for a moment before clutching her small bundle.
Bai Shanbao also felt a heaviness in his heart. Turning to talk to Bai Erlang, he saw that he was already cheerfully hopping along the road, so Bai Shanbao could only turn back to chat with Manbao, "My mom says drinking cold water can make you sick. They should drink something hot."