Chapter 32 Spending Money
Before it got dark, Manbao dragged a bag onto the ground, poured out all the copper coins from the cloth bag and counted them, then took out the copper coins and silver bars from his own cloth bag.
Everyone opened their mouths wide. Although they knew they had made a lot of money, they didn't know it was so much.
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang had always known about it, so they were not too frightened. However, Zhou Sanlang and Si Silang could not help but widen their eyes and stare blankly at Manbao who was squatting on the ground counting money together with their parents.
Zhou Wulang found a rope to string the money together, and then everyone started counting the money.
Although Zhou Wulang could barely count to one hundred, he always made mistakes, so he counted by tens, making piles. When he could count out ten piles, that would be one hundred coins.
Manbao looked down on him and asked him to string money behind him and count it himself.
Big Head and the others joined in the fun, counting one, two, three, four. But when Big Head reached twenty, he became confused and couldn't help shouting out seventeen, then twenty-two.
Manbao seemed unaffected at all and continued counting on his own.
Old Zhou sat aside, touched the tobacco on his waist that he was reluctant to smoke, squeezed out a pinch and put it into the pipe and lit it.
He just looked at Manbao, not knowing what he was thinking.
Manbao successfully counted to one hundred, pushed all the money to his fifth brother to string it, and then counted it again. Zhou Liulang also held a rope and waited behind to string it.
Datou and others joined in the fun, counting fifteen and sixteen with Manbao while secretly touching the money.
It’s a lot of money, it would be nice to touch it.
Manbao quickly calculated the money.
Including the ten-cent deposit given by Fu Wenyun, the total was two hundred and seventy cents.
She took out the small change and asked Qian to help her weigh it to see how much it was.
Qian weighed it and said with a smile, "Three qian and four fen, that's three hundred and forty wen."
Everyone exclaimed, and Manbao started counting on her fingers, sweating profusely. No one helped her, but just watched her calculate what seventy plus forty equaled.
After a long while, Manbao finally figured it out and shouted, "It's six hundred and ten coins."
Qian smiled and nodded, "So how much do you want to pay to the public school?"
Of course, Manbao couldn't figure it out out of thin air. She scratched her head and finally asked Datou and Ertou to help her find six big stones and six small stones.
He placed six large stones in a row and pointed at them, saying, "This is one hundred coins. I want to give my mother sixty coins..."
Manbao placed a small stone in front of the big stone and said, "This is sixty cents."
"This is also one hundred coins, and I have to give mother sixty coins... a total of six sixty coins." Manbao counted, added one by one, and finally clapped his hands and said: "Three hundred and sixty coins, and give mother six coins. That's it."
Manbao gave the small change to Qian and counted out twenty-six coins from the scattered copper coins and gave them to her, which was considered to be the money he had handed over to the public treasury.
The remaining money was theirs, a total of two hundred and forty-four coins.
Manbao called all the friends who had helped her to her side, counted the number of people, and generously gave each of them ten cents.
Including Old Zhou and Mrs. Qian who helped her weave bamboo baskets, that's eighty cents.
Considering that Da Ya and Er Ya and the fifth and sixth brothers accompanied her to the county town today and also made great efforts, she gave them ten cents each.
Everyone watched Manbao running around the room like a money-giving boy, and the children would look at their parents before taking the money.
Seeing Manbao giving out money like this, Zhou Dalang and the others subconsciously wanted to refuse, but then they thought, wouldn't the money come out of Manbao's hands?
Then they became cheerful again and gestured for them to take it.
It was impossible to snatch money from Manbao, but it was okay to snatch it from one's own child. They even joined in the fun, "Manbao, we also helped you with the bamboo basket. Don't we get paid?"
Manbao thought the same, so he gave some money to his three brothers. Turning around, he saw his sisters-in-law and felt that they were working very hard, so he gave some money to them as well.
The strings of coins all fell apart, and only sixty-four coins were left in Manbao's hand. She didn't care and happily put the coins into her pocket. When she found that her pocket was too small, she even discussed it with Xiao Qianshi, "Sister-in-law, can you help me make the cloth pocket on my clothes a little bigger so that I can hold more money?"
He's needlework was the best. She smiled and said, "Little aunt, you are so small. No matter how big the cloth bag is, it won't be much bigger. When we have scraps of cloth at home, I will make you a cloth bag, just like a purse."
Manbao was happy, "Okay, okay." She rolled her eyes and said, "I want to design the style myself."
He agreed with a smile and kept the ten cents that Manbao gave her. Last time, in order to pay off Zhou Silang's gambling debts, all the money in each family was used up. Now she finally had some money.
Although Manbao still had a lot of money left, compared with the more than 600 yuan before, these 64 cents were no longer worth the adults' attention.
They also knew that it was impossible to take over the money from her, so they all set their sights on their own sons and daughters.
Old Zhou looked at Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang first, took a comfortable puff of his cigarette and said, "Just leave two cents for the two of you, and let your mother keep the rest for you. She will use it to marry you off in the future."
Zhou Dalang also said to Datou and Daya, "Let your mother keep them for you and buy you new clothes later."
Zhou Erlang also looked at the two children in their family and coaxed them, "Come, Daddy will keep it for you and buy you some candy later."
The children held the coins tightly, wanting to cry but not daring to.
The only ones who didn’t get any money were Zhou Silang and the three little kids.
Manbao's eyes fell on Fourth Brother, and quickly slid past him. Then he took out three coins and divided them among Santou, Sitou, and Sanya, saying very generously, "This is given to you by your aunt."
The three little kids quickly caught it and said to Manbao in a baby voice, "Congratulations, little aunt, on your prosperity."
Manbao was very happy.
Zhou Silang squatted aside, almost crying. Manbao squatted beside him and sighed, "Fourth brother, you are still a bad man, so I can't give you money."
Zhou Silang asked her with red eyes, "I'm not your brother, so why am I a bad guy?"
"Those who gamble are all bad people," Manbao said with certainty, "Only those who reform themselves can be liked by others, otherwise everyone will hate you."
Zhou Silang lowered his head and squatted on the ground in silence for the first time. When everyone else had it but he didn't, he finally realized the difference in treatment he had received because of gambling. His eyes couldn't help but turn red, and he whispered, "I, I know I was wrong."
"That's great! Keep up the good work and let Mom, Dad, Brother, and Sister-in-law see your sincerity." Manbao imitated his second brother, patted his shoulder, and asked, "How's the land reclamation going?"
Zhou Silang sighed and said, "It should be able to bloom before winter."
Manbao said, "I'll help you tomorrow."
No, apart from giving blind orders, he couldn't see what use she had. Zhou Silang said sullenly, "Aren't you going to school tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I can go for a walk in the fields first, and then come back to go to school with my sister-in-law."
Manbao has not yet realized that he is a student. He feels that he can come and go freely and do whatever he wants as before.
Some children guessed correctly. The chapter last night was for Mo Yan’s pig baby, and this chapter is for the book friend Half Sunshine’s pig baby. I wish their babies are healthy and beautiful.
I heard that babies born in the Year of the Pig are very blessed.
(End of this chapter)
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