Chapter 5 Points

Manbao was squatting there looking for a shorter vine. Datou, Daya and the others also came over. Seeing that Uncle Five and Uncle Six were arguing, Datou and Ertou joined in. Daya and the others squatted beside Manbao and asked her what she was looking for.

When they learned that she wanted to dig up a small prickly pear, they were very enthusiastic to help her find it. Soon they found a prickly pear that had just grown out. They dug the soil with a stick and pulled it out in a short while. However, the rhizome was too long and a part of it was torn off.

But no one minds.

Manbao held it in her hand. Since it was still small and had no thorns yet, everyone felt safe letting her hold it.

This kind of thing is often done by everyone.

Daya plucked a bunch of wild flowers from somewhere and put them on her head. She asked her aunt, "Does it look good?"

Manbao stared at her blankly, finding it hard to say whether it was beautiful or not, but not wanting to hurt his niece's feelings, he nodded and said, "The flowers are beautiful."

Daya was delighted and jumped away happily with Erya.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Manbao slid down from Wulang's back and took a snake bubble from his hand. He didn't eat it, but stuffed the food into Koko's hands as he walked.

Over a year later, Manbao had already learned how to secretly hide things for it under Koko's reminder.

The young boys would not notice this at all, and the eldest girl had lost the wild flowers on her head at some point.

After walking a little further, Wu Lang exclaimed, looked around, and asked curiously, "Why can't I see Fourth Brother? Wasn't this the place Youngest Sister pointed to on the mountain just now?"

Everyone looked around, and Datou exclaimed, "Fourth Uncle is gone."

"Wait a minute, listen..." Daya hissed, asking everyone to be quiet, and then the faint snoring sound was heard.

She happened to be next to Manbao, so she was the first to push aside the grass and look, and saw Zhou Silang lying on the grass and sleeping soundly.

Manbao was so angry that he ran up and stepped on his chest, but Zhou Silang didn't wake up.

Just as Manbao was about to continue exerting force, Datou had already pulled out a piece of weed, ran over and squatted beside him, using the weed to tickle his nose.

Manbao was curious and stopped stepping on her brother. She squatted next to Datou and asked, "Will this work?"

Datou scratched Manbao's face with some weeds and asked, "Auntie, does it itch?"

Manbao couldn't help scratching his face and said excitedly, "Itchy, let me do it!"

He took the grass from Datou's hand and began to experiment on Zhou Silang's face. Everyone came over and pulled some wild grass to rub it on Zhou Silang's face. As a result, he just waved his hands, turned over and continued to sleep.

This reaction made Manbao very unhappy, so she threw away the weeds and stopped playing with them. She shouted directly into Zhou Silang's ear: "Snake~~~"

"Ah—" Zhou Silang sat up suddenly, jumped up and spun around. "Where is the snake? Where is the snake?"

Manbao glared at him and said, "Fourth brother, Dad asked you to come and open up the wasteland, but you're sleeping here. I'm going to tell Dad and have him beat you up."

Zhou Silang saw the chubby little sister and couldn't help but feel itchy. He pinched the flesh on her face and asked, "What else can you do besides complaining?"

Wu Lang immediately slapped his hand away, "Fourth brother, you are bullying my youngest sister."

Manbao also felt a bit of pain on her face from being pinched, tears welling up in her eyes. She stepped on Zhou Silang's foot and crushed it hard, saying, "Besides complaining, I will also hit you. Do you dare to hit me back?"

Zhou Silang, Zhou Silang really doesn’t dare!

Zhou Silang was so angry that his nose was about to turn upside down. Seeing that he was suppressed, Manbao snorted coldly and said, "Hurry up and weed and work, Fourth Brother. I'm helping you, you know?"

Manbao, who had learned a lot of words and phrases from Keke, had a lot of reasons. "Mom said that our family has saved money for three years and still doesn't have fifteen taels. That money was originally meant for you and your fifth brother to get married, but you squandered it all in a flash. You even owe money to your eldest, second, and third sisters-in-law, as well as to the village chief's family. You have to pay it back!"

"It's fine if you don't want to marry, but Fifth Brother must marry. And there are also the eldest, second, and third sisters-in-law. How easy is it for them to save a little money? You don't have any other skills. What else can you do besides farming and paying off your debts?"

Zhou Wulang's face flushed slightly, but he still puffed out his chest and said, "Fourth brother, I'm fourteen years old, and I'm going to get married in two years. How much money can you give back to the family?"

Zhou Silang was stunned. "So, I have to pay back all that money?"

"Of course, who told you to gamble and lose money?" Thinking of her niece from the neighborhood who was sold, Manbao felt a surge of anger in her chest that seemed ready to burst out. She looked at Zhou Silang with a slightly cold gaze and said, "Anyone who gambles and doesn't stop should have their hands and feet cut off and thrown into the mountains to feed the wolves, so they won't harm others."

Zhou Silang couldn't help but take two steps back, his body slightly cold, and he pointed at the little brat with a trembling finger, "You, how can you be so cruel? I'm your fourth brother!"

"Then Da Ya, Er Ya, and San Ya are also my nieces. Next time you gamble and your family can't pay you back, the casino people will come and take them away. After they're all taken away, it will be my turn. And Da Tou and Er Tou and the others, after selling off my nephews and nieces, my eldest brother and the others will have to pay off your debt for the rest of their lives. Although you are a relative, you are the only one. We can't let so many of our relatives suffer because of you, so..."

Daya and Datou had not thought so much before, but after hearing what their aunt said, they looked at Zhou Silang with some unfriendly eyes.

Even Wulang and Liulang couldn't help but step forward and stare at Zhou Silang.

Zhou Silang quickly shook his head and said, "Manbao, don't talk nonsense. I have made up my mind to change and never gamble again."

Manbao snorted coldly and said, "Then let us see your determination."

"Yes, it shows determination!"

So Zhou Silang could only pick up the sickle and cut the grass under the gaze of everyone. The others gathered around and watched, pointing out from time to time, "Uncle Si, there is more grass here, cut here!"

"Fourth brother, the soil down here is quite thick, cut here quickly."

Manbao, under the guidance of Daya and Erya, picked a lot of flowers, and watched them make a wreath for her to wear on her head.

Daya and Erya exclaimed sincerely, "Auntie, you are so beautiful!"

Manbao was happy: "Of course, you guys look good too."

Zhou Silang listened and watched, feeling very angry. "Why don't you come and help me? How long will it take me to open it by myself?"

Manbao felt that he was still very diligent, so he immediately brought people to help.

When the others saw that Manbao had started moving, they rolled up their sleeves and started to help.

Zhou Wulang took over the sickle and was responsible for cutting the grass, Datou was responsible for transporting the grass out, and Zhou Wulang and Zhou Silang took the hoe to dig the bushes in the field.

Manbao led the rest of the people to pick up stones, and took out the stones and dead wood from the grass. The stones were placed around the land, and the dead wood was placed aside so that they could be carried back as firewood later.

It is really difficult to open up new land. There are all kinds of things in the ground. You have to be careful not to get pricked by thorns when mowing the grass. The system saw this and sighed slightly. It no longer asked the host to find plants for him. It will be done tomorrow.

I just hope the host will be willing to come out tomorrow.

Manbao was tired of looking for stones, so he chatted with the system for no reason, "Koko, are there any of these grasses that have not been included?"

"No."

Manbao was disappointed. "Why do you have so many items in your encyclopedia?"

Koko said: "These weeds will be very common in the future, and the host may not be able to recognize them. You have collected these things yourself, but they are shorter near your house and longer here."

Manbao was a little embarrassed, "So it was me who recorded it."

Keke said seriously, "Yes, for every type included, you will be awarded one point."

This is still an encouragement point. If it weren't for her young age and need of encouragement, the system wouldn't even be able to get these encouragement points.

But even so, it had to allocate some of its points to buy candy for her because her efficiency was too low.

It was also because the Zhou family doted on her too much. The other children in the family were left to their own devices. From the time they could walk at the age of two, the older children were allowed to take the younger children around the village, as long as they didn't go to the water.

But Manbao is not like that, she has always been accompanied by someone.

While her nephews and nieces were rolling around in the mud, she was sitting on the kang at home in clean clothes and being taught to speak.

When her nephews and nieces were weeding and planting in the fields, she was taken to the school to eat rice crust. It can be said that the farthest place she had been to in her life was the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village. This was her first time on the mountain.

The reason they were able to go under the big banyan tree was because Old Zhou had nothing to do during the New Year holiday, so he took his little daughter to go under the banyan tree and talk with his old friends.

Of course, Manbao was the only one in the family who had this treatment, because every time she walked around, she would always get a few cents of lucky money.

The plants in the village were the most common ones. She picked one by one and gave it to the system. That year, the system was busy identifying the plants for her. She had just picked one and given it to it the previous second, but the next second she picked another exactly the same one. The system was mentally devastated.

Fortunately, Manbao now knows to ask the system directly if there are any new plants that need to be entered, instead of holding a handful of weeds and asking it to enter them one by one, and then the system helplessly tells her that this plant has already been entered.

Manbao felt tired even from moving the stones. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her little hand and asked the system, "Keke, you're so confused. Why did you include this kind of weed? Look, we have to get rid of it. It's so annoying. How long will it take to clear it?"

"It's because the technology in this plane of the host isn't advanced enough. In the future, clearing wasteland will just be a matter of machines. And while these weeds will still exist in the future, their numbers will be greatly reduced. Some plants will even become extinct and no longer exist. That's why I exist."

Manbao's focus was a little off. She opened her mouth in surprise. "So much grass, trees, and rocks? I just walked through them once and they were all opened? What kind of machine is this? Can I buy it?"

The system was silent for a moment before saying, "No, this technology far exceeds the technology of this plane, so it cannot be purchased. Moreover, even if it could be purchased, host, you don't have the points."

Manbao blinked and began to take the points seriously again. She used to think that points were useless. Weren't they just exchanged for candy?

She could eat candy even without points, because her second brother or father would buy her candy every time they went to the market.

(End of this chapter)