Chapter 139 Admit Mistake
Manbao pursed his lips and stretched out his hand, saying, "Give it to me!"
Zhou Silang was unwilling, so he ran over to block the door. Zhou Liulang, Datou and Daya looked at Zhou Silang with a fierce look.
He felt a little aggrieved. Everyone had money, but he didn't. When he went to the county town and wanted to buy a bun, he could only watch.
Zhou Silang's eyes turned red with grievance. He wiped his eyes, reached into his pocket and took out all the copper coins, and slapped them on Manbao's hand. Because there were too many copper coins, they fell down with a crackling sound. He couldn't take out all of them in one go, so he took them out three times in a row before he finished them all.
Datou Daya and Ertou Erya immediately squatted down to pick it up.
Zhou Silang squatted on the ground wiping his tears, feeling extremely aggrieved.
Manbao squatted across from him and said, "Fourth brother, if you do something wrong you will be punished. This is what we agreed on early in the morning. You can't break your promise."
Zhou Silang pursed his lips and said nothing. He felt a little guilty, but... it was embarrassing to apologize.
He dug the dirt from the ground without saying a word.
Manbao continued to ramble, "How could you withhold money privately? Every time Fifth Brother goes to the county town, he brings back whatever amount of money is due. You still owe money to the family, aren't you worried? The private money Dad has saved for many years is not as much as what you withheld this time..."
Zhou Silang didn't feel so uncomfortable after hearing her nagging. Datou and the others put the copper coins they had picked up on the bed and motioned Manbao to look at them.
Don’t mention it, it’s quite a lot. Daya secretly said to Manbao, “It’s eighty-six coins.”
Manbao looked at his guilty fourth brother, put all the money into a cloth bag, and asked him to return it to his mother.
Zhou Silang said awkwardly, "Just take it. What do I have to say if I take it?"
"If you feel embarrassed, just say you forgot. As long as I know it, that's all."
Zhou Silang: ...
He was reluctant to go, thinking it was too embarrassing and shameful.
Manbao stuffed the money into his hand, then took his hand and led him to the main room.
Qian's money box had not been put away yet, as if it was waiting for them.
Zhou Silang felt extremely guilty, lowering his head and not daring to raise it. He walked over to his mother and handed her the purse with a grumble, blushing and saying, "Mom, I forgot this just now."
Qian raised the corner of her mouth slightly, took the purse, counted it, and the smile on her face faded slightly. She thought that the child might withhold the money, but she didn't expect that he would withhold so much.
She found a piece of string and strung the copper coins together one by one. She didn't say anything and didn't let the two children go out. Even Manbao couldn't help sweating on his forehead.
Not to mention Zhou Silang, he was covered in sweat, and the sweat on his forehead quickly soaked his hair. Compared to his father, he was actually more afraid of his mother.
Qian strung the eighty-six coins together with the loose change from before, making a hundred coins, tied it in a knot, and put it in the box. Then she counted out ten coins from the remaining loose change, thought for a moment, put five coins back, and handed it to Zhou Silang, saying, "You have to go to the county town to sell things every day, so it's not good to be without some money. Now your sister-in-law has to go to the school to cook, so she can't make your dry food. Lao Wu, don't worry about having money on hand. You can also carry a few coins with you. If you feel hungry, buy some buns in the county town."
Zhou Silang's eyes lit up, and he happily took the money and smiled again, "Don't worry, mother, I will definitely sell all the ginger in my field and get a good price."
Qian smiled and nodded, "Okay, go ahead. Once you pay off the family debt, there will be enough money for you to marry a wife. You can keep the rest of the money yourself. After you get married, you can't be extravagant."
Zhou Silang happily agreed, turned his head, winked at Manbao, and went out.
Manbao wiped the sweat from her forehead, let out a long breath, and leaned against her mother, looking at her.
Qian smiled and touched her little face, then asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Mom, is this just a good thing followed by a good reward?"
Qian was stunned for a moment, then she touched her head and nodded with a smile, "Yes, your fourth brother is a scoundrel. He doesn't remember to eat or be beaten. Compared to being beaten, he obviously remembers to eat a little more, but the benefits can't be given too much."
Qian touched her little girl's head and felt a little worried. Manbao was getting smarter and smarter, especially after reading. She was getting smarter day by day. This was a good thing, but also a bad thing.
There are some truths that she only understood when she was older, even after falling countless times. She knew them at a young age, which allowed her to avoid some detours, but it also meant that she would encounter more difficult problems in the future.
"Mom, make a small notebook for the fourth and fifth brothers and let them use it to keep accounts."
Qian laughed, "How can they remember anything?"
"Yes, yes. Although Fifth Brother doesn't know many words, he knows how to write numbers. Just remember the numbers, such as how many kilograms you sold the first time and how much money you made in total. This will be the account book. When we come back and check it, we'll know if there's any money missing."
Qian was thoughtful. "That's a good idea, but the writing brushes and ink are valuable, and they can't carry them around everywhere."
Manbao also began to think hard. After a moment, she rolled her eyes and ran out of the house. The remaining money of Daya and her family had just been taken away by her parents. They had planned to keep it for buying food, and gave the big money to her aunt for safekeeping. But she didn't expect that her parents would not let go of even the small money and took the money away directly.
So at this moment they were turning their grief and anger into strength, using sticks to write fiercely on the ground.
Manbao rushed over and saw Daya writing on the ground with a fire stick. The words she wrote were slightly black. She had discovered a long time ago that Daya and Erya liked to write with burnt sticks. They also felt that the words written in this way were clearer, so everyone started writing in this way recently.
Manbao thought this was a good idea. He went back to the house, took out a piece of paper, and wrote on it with Daya's fire stick. The words were also black, but they were too big, so it was waste paper.
She lamented, "It would be better if the fire stick was smaller, only as big as the tip of a brush.
Daya and Erya came over and asked, "Auntie, what are you going to do?"
Manbao told them his plan and said, "When the time comes, have Fifth Brother bring a piece of charcoal so we can record the accounts directly on paper."
"That's easy. Just use a thinner stick to burn it. A big one can be split, but it's too dirty and hard to carry." Erya said with some disdain, "If Uncle Wu carries charcoal on himself, I don't want to wash his clothes."
Daya said, "I don't want to either."
Manbao: "Then do you need something to wrap it up?"
"You want some rags?" Daya lowered her voice and said, "I know there are some rags in my mother's box. You can go and get a small piece."
Erya thought this was a good idea, and Manbao also thought it was feasible.
Keke couldn't help but said: "Host, you can try bamboo."
Manbao blinked, "Bamboo?"
Koko opened the store for her and showed her the various pens inside. He said, "Although e-books will be very advanced in the future, and even signing documents can be done electronically, handwriting is still one of the most important traditions for cultivating children's abilities. Therefore, the store has all kinds of beautiful pens. Of course, I don't recommend that you buy them and use them, but you can take a look at them for reference."
(End of this chapter)
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