"It was the Heaven Master who said it," Ms. Qian, who had been paying attention to this conversation while spreading manure nearby, put down her winnowing basket and affirmed with certainty, "When Manbao was just one year old, I had a dream where the Heaven Master told me that our Manbao is the smartest person within a hundred miles. But we only talk about this within our own home; we dare not spread it outside."
The villagers sitting and resting on the neighboring plot of land burst into laughter upon hearing this, joking, "Auntie Qian, Manbao didn’t listen to you, though. I remember hearing her mention this a few years back, ha ha ha, and she even said it was a friend who told her. Turns out it was Auntie who said it!"
Ms. Qian replied calmly, "She didn’t say anything wrong. She said she wanted to be friends with everyone, but the child must have been afraid of getting a beating from me if I heard it, that’s why she said that."
"Then does Auntie want to give Manbao a beating now?"
"Get lost," unable to hold back, a villager’s wife pushed him and said, "Manbao is a reincarnated fairy. If you dare to incite Auntie to hit Manbao, see if the Heaven Master won’t settle the score with you tonight."
Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang: ...
To this day, including Manbao herself, they all still weren’t quite convinced about this.
Yang Heshu had no other questions and felt that he shouldn’t stay with the Zhou family for too long, or else he might not be able to resist being influenced.
A wise man doesn’t speak of monsters and spirits; he certainly didn’t believe that Laozi had truly become an immortal in heaven, who had even accepted a celestial fairy as his follower.
Indeed, he had heard that the Bodhisattvas in Buddhism have celestial fairies under their command, but does Taishang Laojun have them too?
Yang Heshu shook his head, casting out the strange thoughts from his mind, before smiling at Manbao, "May I have the pleasure of touring your village with you?"
Manbao glanced at the time and started feeling hungry. She generously invited him, "Would you like to join me for lunch at my place?"
She shouted toward the field, "Big sister, did you save some food for me?"
"No," Junior Ms. Qian replied, "But your Third Sister-in-law and your other sister-in-law are at home, if you’re hungry go back and they will prepare something for you."
Ms. Qian also waved her hand, "You can go back now."
Manbao didn’t want to eat what Third Sister-in-law and the other sister-in-law made, so she looked at Bai Shanbao.
Bai Shanbao was even less interested; he felt their cooking skills were not as good as the family cook’s, so he suggested, "Let’s go back to my house to eat, shall we?"
Yang Heshu couldn’t help but nod in agreement, yes, indeed, if your family is poor, why bother to entertain guests? Isn’t there a large household here?
When everyone saw him nodding repeatedly, they all looked at him.
Yang Heshu cleared his throat and said, "I’ve long heard of Old Master Bai’s good reputation in the countryside, and it would be good to take this opportunity to pay a visit."
Bai Erlang replied, "That’s my dad, not his."
Yang Heshu: ... going to your house is fine too."
The group headed back to the Bai Family home.
When they passed by the river at the entrance to the large village, Yang Heshu couldn’t help but stop for a moment and remarked, "What a nice river you have here. With the river around, irrigation must be much more convenient."
"Yes, the Land Officer mentioned that although our village is poor, we have a river. With the river, we won’t starve to death. And if we do starve, we would at least die a few days later than others."
Yang Heshu: ... "Do all the people here speak so sharply?"
He looked around and asked, "Haven’t you dug a canal to connect to that side?"
He was referring to the largest plot of land, from which, aside from a few scattered hills, one could see an unending expanse of fields.
"Oh yes, there are two canals."
Manbao said, "Two isn’t bad. Last year, everyone needed to conserve food, so they didn’t do any corvée labor, nor did they work on the village’s water management. In previous years, the County Governmental Office always demanded labor, leaving no time to work on the village’s water management."
"So your village’s water management isn’t included in the County Governmental Office’s labor duties?"
Manbao replied, "My dad says our area is so remote that the officials forget about us."
"That’s not it at all," Bai Erlang contested, "My dad says it’s because our family lives here. The officials at the county want to make my dad pay for the expenses and provide labor for free, so the County Governmental Office saves money."
Bai Shanbao apparently had also heard Old Master Bai say the same thing and supported Bai Erlang, "Uncle said that several of the village’s major water channels were built with his money. Sometimes when people in the village didn’t chip in or didn’t want to do the work, he even had to pay for their grain."
Bai Erlang nodded, "My dad was really distressed about that."
Yang Heshu was unsure whether to praise Old Master Bai for being kind-hearted or being stingy, so he could only respond with a smile.
Old Master Bai was playing chess with Mr. Zhuang.
Mr. Zhuang now had only three disciples to teach, which made his job much easier, and he didn’t even have to follow the old schedules anymore.
Manbao and Bai Shanbao could be taught together as their curriculum was similar; it was just that their extracurricular reading differed slightly, but this wasn’t an issue for Mr. Zhuang.
Bai Erlang’s coursework was even simpler; he learned more slowly, so they had to slow down the pace during lessons. Perhaps because Mr. Zhuang was now better accommodating his pace, Erlang was learning better than when he was at school.
Now, he only needed to supervise their writing in the morning and give them lessons in the evening, leaving him with plenty of free time in between.
Mr. Zhuang would occasionally check on the agricultural state of his disciples, but he spent more time reading in the small courtyard or joining Old Master Bai for chess, a drink, and a chat.
Yang Heshu had heard about both men beforehand and had come to Qili Village specifically to meet Old Master Bai—even Mr. Zhuang’s visit was incidental.
However, after meeting Mr. Zhuang’s three disciples, he felt that later on, Mr. Zhuang should not just be included incidentally.
Old Master Bai was the most famous and the wealthiest landlord in White Horse Pass. When Yang Heshu first arrived in the county, he did so quietly, and aside from having a meal with the gentry of the county town, he had not yet had the chance to meet the gentry from the countryside.
Bai Shanbao might hide Yang Heshu’s identity from the villagers, but he wouldn’t hide it from Old Master Bai and Mr. Zhuang. So before they even reached the door, he whispered a few words to Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang couldn’t be bothered with him, so knowing Erlang’s stubborn streak had flared up again, he turned to look at Manbao.
Manbao coughed lightly and sternly said, "Junior Brother, aren’t you going to listen to your Senior Brother?"
Manbao then pulled two candies from her pocket and handed them to him, waving him off, "Go on now."
Bai Erlang accepted the candies and dashed towards the house, shouting as soon as he entered the courtyard, "Dad—County Magistrate Yang is here to see you at our home!"
He glanced sideways at the two children keeping their gaze straight and remained silent.
Old Master Bai and Mr. Zhuang set aside their chess game and came out to greet him, giving a respectful salute from afar, "Your honor graces us with your presence, Bai regrets not coming to meet you sooner."
Upon closer inspection and seeing how young Yang Heshu was, Old Master Bai couldn’t help but pause in surprise.
Mr. Zhuang’s vision was worse than Old Master Bai’s, and it wasn’t until he was close that he could clearly see Yang Heshu’s face. Considering how young the county magistrate was, he must either come from an excellent family or be extremely talented—and most likely, he had both going for him.
Thus, Mr. Zhuang also welcomed Yang Heshu warmly with a bow, "Mr. Zhuang pays his respects to the County Magistrate."
Yang Heshu quickly helped them up, returning their bows with a circle of his own and smiled, "Old Master Bai and Mr. Zhuang are too courteous. It is I who have come uninvited, so please, do not mind my intrusion."