Chapter 136 Eat and Eat
Manbao and Zhou Xi hadn't been to the county town for a long time. Thinking that Zhou Dalang and his friends wouldn't be that fast, they didn't go to the front of the county government office, but went down the street and walked back to Jishidiang.
Zhou Xi stood at the entrance of Jishitang and said to his brothers and sisters, "You guys go have fun. I'll go see the doctor first."
He also warned Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang, "Make sure to take good care of Manbao."
Zhou Silang said slickly, "Don't worry, big sister. Even if we lose ourselves, we won't lose our little sister."
Although Manbao was also concerned about his elder sister's health, he was also very enthusiastic about shopping. After weighing the pros and cons, he took out a candy from his pocket and placed it in Zhou Xi's palm, saying, "Eldest sister, you go see the doctor first. If the doctor gives you bitter medicine, take a candy first."
Zhou Xi agreed with a smile. In fact, she hadn't come to get medicine for a long time, mainly because she didn't have much money on her. But now she has income again. Zhou Xi is very careful about her life and still wants to get well.
Without his elder sister to bother him, Zhou Silang went crazy, picked up Manbao on his back, and rushed towards the crowd.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang also followed, shouting loudly.
Some people on the street looked at the four of them like country bumpkins, but most of them looked at them with kindness. Many of the people strolling on the street today were young people from the village. Like Zhou Dalang and his friends, they came here carrying grain taxes.
The county town was quite small, with three streets stretching across it. The busiest street was the one in the middle of the county government office. Zhou Silang finished his rounds of the streets in no time. He stopped in front of a bun shop and asked Manbao, who was standing beside him, "Are you hungry?"
Manbao nodded. He had just eaten breakfast in the morning before coming out, but it was almost noon now. How could he not be hungry?
Zhou Silang was drooling as he looked at the delicious buns, but Manbao finally couldn't resist the temptation and took money out of his pocket to buy them.
But she wasn't stupid, so she looked at her three brothers and said, "The eldest, second, third, and eldest sister are all hungry."
Her ten cents were definitely not enough.
The other three people heard this and made a quick decision, "If your money is not enough, we can use ours to make up for it."
Manbao was happy then and went forward to choose the buns.
The buns are very big and are divided into vegetarian buns and meat buns. Vegetarian buns cost one cent each, while meat buns cost three cents for two.
Manbao weighed the pros and cons and decided to buy half.
She counted the number of people and decided to buy eight vegetarian buns and eight meat buns, which cost exactly twenty cents.
Manbao paid out her own ten cents, glanced at her three brothers, and decisively took out four cents from Zhou Silang's share. She also told Zhou Silang, "Fourth brother, you pay four cents. You have the most money, so you have to pay more. You still have four cents on hand with me."
Zhou Silang's eyes widened, and he said dissatisfiedly, "What can I do with the remaining four coins? Why don't you just give it to me?"
Four cents is enough for him to buy two meat buns and one vegetarian bun.
Manbao covered the money and shook his head, refusing, "No, saving money is about accumulating small amounts into large sums. How can you not save it just because it's only four cents? If you can save four cents today and four cents tomorrow, then in ten days it will be forty cents, and in a hundred days it will be four hundred cents."
"Didn't you say that money is only money when it's in circulation? When it's not in circulation, it's just copper coins. Then..."
"You're so stupid," Manbao looked at him with disdain. "This is a precautionary measure. Saving the coins is a way to circulate them when something bad happens. Otherwise, if you spend all the money now and need it later, where will you get it?"
Zhou Silang's face was disheveled and he said frantically, "Why did you get to say all the words? That's not what you just said to Big Sister."
Manbao said as a matter of course: "You are not the eldest sister."
Zhou Silang: ...
Man Bao Qiankun made a decisive decision and waved his hand, saying, "It's settled."
She walked up to the stall owner with the money, smiled sweetly, and asked, "We're buying so much, can you give us an extra vegetarian bun?"
The stall owner had noticed them a long time ago. After all, it was still some time before noon and not many people were eating at this time.
There were four people standing in front of the stall, and they were drooling at his steamer. It was difficult for him to pretend not to see it, so he also heard what Manbao said just now.
He always thought he was quite clever, but Manbao's calculations still made his head swell. He counted on his fingers and found that sixteen buns were indeed twenty coins. After hesitating for a moment, he gave her an extra plain bun and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll give you one."
Manbao smiled sweetly at him.
The buns were wrapped in lotus leaves and sorted into four bags in total. Each of the four people held a bag. They couldn't help swallowing their saliva, and then unanimously decided to go back and find someone.
Manbao ran in front with his short legs, first went to Jishidiang to find Zhou Xi, and then dragged her to the county government office to find Zhou Dalang and others.
Zhou Dalang and others were standing in the queue, moving slowly forward.
There were many people rushing to pay taxes today, so they moved for a long time but it was not their turn. The chief clerk in front was calculating the grain tax with his men, and the people on the side were weighing it. Only after paying the qualified amount of tax grain could they get a sign. They would take the sign to the side to get the receipt, and this year's grain tax would be paid.
Zhou Wulang rushed forward with the buns in his pocket to find Zhou Dalang. After a while, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang came out. Seeing the lotus leaves in their hands, Zhou Dalang felt heartbroken. "Manbao wants to eat them, just buy her two. Why did you buy so many?"
Zhou Wulang: "Fourth brother asked me to buy it."
Zhou Silang glared at him, and Zhou Dalang glared at Zhou Silang and asked, "Whose money is it? Where did you get so much money?"
Zhou Silang said, "Brother, we earn money from selling ginger, but that only happens once a year. We all worked hard for two months during the autumn harvest, so what's wrong with having a good meal? Besides, Manbao feels sorry for us, right?"
Manbao nodded, squatted on the ground and opened the lotus leaf, picked out a bun that looked relatively large and handed it to Zhou Dalang, saying eagerly, "Brother, eat quickly."
Zhou Dalang couldn't help but feel soft-hearted. He took the bun and broke it open. Seeing that it was a meat bun, he handed it to Manbao and asked her to eat the filling.
Manbao took them, chewed them one by one, and then stuffed the lotus leaves into Zhou Dalang's hands.
Everyone squatted on the ground to eat. Knowing that the buns were one vegetarian and one meat, they shared one and ate it.
Zhou Dalang didn't eat much. After eating two, he stood up and said, "I'll go and take the third one over."
Manbao was still trying hard to eat the bun in her hand. She thought it was delicious, but her stomach seemed a little small, and she couldn't eat anymore after finishing one.
She felt a little regretful, so she looked at her brothers and sisters eagerly.
Zhou Silang ate happily and said to her greedily, "You need to grow a little bit more. In two years, you can eat two buns."
Zhou Xi glared at him and told him not to make Manbao angry. She broke open her meat bun, took out the stuffing and gave it to Manbao to eat.
Manbao took a bite and shook his head, "I can't eat anymore. I'm very full."
Zhou Xi touched her protruding belly, smiled slightly, and then ate the rest.
(End of this chapter)
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