"How have I grown? Mom’s even older than me, and she already knows quite a few characters." Manbao felt that the reason her older sister was being bullied by her in-laws was that she wasn’t smart enough, so her sister needed to become smarter.
Unfortunately, she might not be naturally intelligent, so the only option was to get smarter through learning.
Zhou Xi had no idea that Manbao had categorized her as a "dummy" and nodded with a smile, "Okay, then Manbao can teach me. Do you want to sleep with your sister tonight? There’s plenty of space there."
"No," Manbao rejected firmly, "I want to sleep in my own little bed. I’m already an adult."
She had no intention of sleeping with anyone else; she didn’t even sleep with her parents anymore.
Zhou Xi felt a bit regretful but didn’t insist. After escorting Manbao back to the legitimate wife’s quarters, she left.
Night had completely fallen, and all the rooms were ready for sleep. Manbao’s biological clock chimed in too. She yawned and walked straight into the house, greeted her parents who were talking beside the bed, circled around the bamboo screen to her own little partition, kicked off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and fell asleep.
Old Zhou followed her in and, seeing that she was already fast asleep on the quilt, shook his head and moved her over in the moonlight to cover her properly with the quilt.
Manbao turned over, and in her drowsy state, she heard someone say, "She’s asleep, this child still sleeps so well, out like a light as soon as her head hits the pillow."
Ms. Qian chuckled softly, "She’s busy spinning around all day like a top, this and that, when someone’s tired, they naturally sleep soundly. She’s just like him in this regard; he would also fall asleep the second his head touched the pillow when he was little."
Manbao yawned again in her drowsiness, turned over, and thought fuzzily, who is he, and why should she be like him?
The next day, before dawn, Zhou Dalang woke up Zhou Silang and the others, asking them to go to the fields to help dig ginger.
Zhou Xi got up too, and Zhou Dalang hesitated, "It’s cold; sleep a bit more. The brothers and I can dig just fine."
Zhou Xi shook her head, "I can’t sleep anymore. I’ll go with you. Besides, I need to go to the county town today."
Zhou Dalang frowned, "The ginger selling business can be handled by Silang and the others. Why do you insist on going yourself?"
Zhou Silang yawned, "Big brother, just let our sister go. That way, our ginger will sell even better, plus Manbao has said our sister should go out and see the world. Who knows, she might even find us a brother-in-law."
Zhou Dalang hit him, "Keep your mouth shut, spouting nonsense, what ’find a brother-in-law’?"
"What’s so wrong in saying that? Isn’t mom finding a matchmaker to arrange a marriage for our sister? I think it’s better to let our sister find someone on her own, it’s more heartfelt." Zhou Silang even asked Zhou Xi, "Right, big sister?"
Zhou Xi gave him a look, "Shut up, be careful or big brother will beat you."
Zhou Silang pouted. It was the truth after all, but no one would admit it. He did want to choose for himself, yet it seemed impossible given mom’s intentions, alas~~
Because the earth on Jiangxisong’s land was loose, Zhou Silang often brought his two younger brothers to loosen the soil. Ginger was easy to dig, and they had many brothers; each dug up a clump, quickly filling three woven carriers.
Zhou Erlang looked towards Zhou Liulang and asked, "Sixth, aren’t you going?"
Zhou Liulang was still young and barely awake. Hearing the question, he shook his head, "No, the youngest sister didn’t ask me to go."
After working hard during the autumn harvest two months earlier, Zhou Liulang’s enthusiasm for earning money had decreased significantly. He just wanted to sleep now, as he would still get his share of money even lying at home.
Thinking this, Zhou Liulang yawned again and after looking around, said, "Second Brother, are we done? Let’s go home if we’re done, I want to sleep some more."
Zhou Dalang and the others turned around and said, "Let’s go."
Back home, only Junior Ms. Qian and the other sisters-in-law were up; everyone else was still asleep, especially Manbao, who was sprawled across the bed in deep sleep. Only when the voices outside got louder did she turn over, laze in bed a moment longer, and then got up to peer out the window. She saw Zhou Silang and the others ready to leave with their carriers on their backs.
She knew it was still early, so she lay back down under the blanket.
Manbao thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore, but soon she drifted off again until Junior Ms. Qian woke her from bed, realizing it was almost time for school.
Yawning, Manbao asked, "Big sister-in-law, can I not drink the egg water today and just eat a boiled egg instead?"
"No, boiled eggs don’t have as many nutrients as egg water."
But egg water doesn’t taste good, Manbao sighed like a grown-up, extended her arm for her sister-in-law to help her put on her coat, and then climbed down from the bed to put on her shoes herself.
After breakfast, Manbao went to school. Once school was over, she ran outside because many people had gathered by the river. Unfortunately, her family wouldn’t let her get close to the river, so she could only stand afar and watch, curiously asking, "What are they doing?"
Bai Shanbao was fearless, pushed past her, and ran toward the riverbank. In just a short while, he returned excitedly exclaiming, "They are catching fish, they are catching fish!"
With a "wow," Manbao followed suit, running a few steps, but then remembered Junior Ms. Qian’s admonition and could only tiptoe to look.
Bai Shanbao pulled her forward, shouting, "What’s to fear? The adults aren’t around."
Then he dragged her to the riverbank to happily join the crowd.
Manbao thought he was right and squeezed herself among the children, looking down eagerly. Then she made eye contact with Zhou Erlang.
Manbao instinctively hid behind Bai Shanbao, but Zhou Erlang was already in the water, shouting, "Manbao, stay away from the river. Do you hear me?"
The villagers on the bank had turned around to wave the children away, "Go on, get away from the riverbank. What if you fall in?"
The kids scattered but were back in a flash, laughing and chattering with glee.
The adults on the bank didn’t chase them away this time, as long as they kept a safe distance from the water’s edge.
Soon, Manbao spotted Datou and his friends, who had brought buckets from home, their faces animated with excitement.
Manbao pulled Bai Shanbao closer and asked curiously, "Why are they catching fish?"
Datou was visibly excited, "Dad said the dam upriver broke, letting lots of fish swim down, so we’re catching fish."
Manbao gasped with joy, "Does that mean we get to have fish soup for dinner?"
Datou nodded energetically.
Bai Shan swallows at the thought and asks, "Can I catch one too?"
"You can, I guess," Datou was slightly uncertain, "Everyone in the village will share, and we’ll take turns fishing in the river."
"But nobody from my family is here."
Manbao said, "We should get Daji to come."
Bai Shan thought her suggestion was good and turned to look for Daji to come and help.
Mr. Zhuang, standing at the river’s edge, however, looked somewhat displeased. He approached a villager and asked, "The upstream dam broke?"
"Mr. Zhuang," the villager quickly fumbled to give a respectful greeting, laughing awkwardly, "Yes, they say it broke at dawn yesterday. Several villages upstream started fishing early in the morning, and they’ve caught a lot."