Chapter 331: Fighting with Literature
Bai Erlang and Datou sat on the stools and ate the small fish with gusto. Datou asked him, "Is it delicious?"
Bai Jilang nodded, "Last year's was even better."
"That was made by the young master's cook. Of course it tastes good if it's fried in lots of oil."
Bai Erlang immediately said, "I have oil at home too."
Then look at the big head.
He has no say over the fish at home, and he cannot touch the fishing net.
So he rolled his eyes and said, "I'll ask my fourth uncle to catch the fish, and you take it home to fry it. You have to give us half of it."
Big Head knows how expensive oil is, but Little Fish doesn’t spend any money, only effort.
But Bai Erlang didn't think so. He felt that the oil was already available at home and didn't cost any money, but the small fish was rare.
So the two of them looked at each other and made a deal.
Manbao opened the envelope with great effort. Bai Shanbao was probably afraid that Bai Erlang would peek, so he sealed the envelope tightly.
I opened the envelope and found a thick stack of letter paper inside.
Of course, Bai Shanbao did not write so many pieces of letter paper in one go, but had accumulated them. He was very considerate and arranged them for her in order.
This is more like a diary than a letter to Manbao.
It just starts with Manbao.
The first page was written on the day Bai Shanbao left. They had just left Luojiang County and found a shady place on the road to stop and write during their afternoon break.
At that time, his homesickness had dissipated a lot, and he was very excited about the journey, so the mountains, waters, trees, and even the chirping of insects in the woods that he wrote about were much more lively.
Manbao felt excited just looking at it.
But enthusiasm always waned, especially since they spent most of their time traveling in a carriage.
The trees on both sides of the road were similar, and in the end even the mountains were similar, without any interest at all. So most of the letters Bai Shanbao wrote to her later were about complaining about the boring journey, the bumpy carriage, or discussing schoolwork with her.
Obviously, out of boredom, he could only complete the homework assigned by Mr. Zhuang.
It was not until he arrived in Longzhou that the content of the letter became richer.
Bai Shanbao obviously didn't know what it meant to keep dirty laundry in the family and what family secrets meant. He hadn't even told his grandmother and mother what he wrote in the letter to Manbao.
They were not just traveling along the way. After entering the Guannei Road, the Bai family gradually acquired some businesses.
They certainly cannot be compared with the wealthy and powerful families, but having a farm on the left and a shop on the right still makes their journey much easier.
Unlike the last time when they rushed to Qili Village and were anxious and worried, this time the Bai family was relaxed and calm, so they didn't feel the journey was so tiring.
After inspecting the industries all the way back to Longzhou, the most important thing was to take a look at the industries that were being watched by the Bai family. Seeing that everything was fine, Liu calmly took Shanbao back to Longzhou City.
Mr. Bai suffered a serious disaster this year because most of his family’s businesses were in Jiannan Road, especially in Yizhou and Mianzhou areas, but the Bai family, no, it should be said that Bai Shanbao’s businesses would not.
Most of Bai Shanbao's industries were still in Guannei Road, in the Longzhou area and its vicinity.
Including Liu's dowry and Zheng's dowry, they were all within Guannei Road.
Guannei Road was not affected by disasters this year, and because it is close to Jiannan Road, it can be the first to transport grain to the Yizhou area.
Ordinary people have a grain merchant above them, so they may not earn much, but the Liu family is different, as they own many farms.
There is no need to go through local grain merchants. You can just organize a caravan in the village and transport the grain to Yizhou to make a fortune.
However, she has always been cautious and is not willing to take such risks. After all, there are bandits on the road, and who knows when they will encounter bandits?
But she was also unwilling to sell the grain to local grain merchants at a low price, as that would be too much of a loss.
In June, grain prices in the Yizhou area soared, but grain merchants in Guannei Road still kept the prices down and were only willing to buy grain from ordinary people at a fair price.
Family like the Bai family, which has more grain, might get a discount, a few more cents per stone, but would the Liu family care about those few cents?
She was in the disaster area and knew how much the grain prices had risen there. She thought that if the grain merchants bought the grain at a fair price and sent it here, it would help to lower the price a little, so she would not say anything.
But when they transported the grain here, the price went up to the sky.
She is not stupid, so she won't suffer that loss.
Therefore, she directly found a grain merchant here and traded with him at the junction of Guannei Road and Jiannan Road, making a lot of money.
The situation in Guannei Road was relatively stable, mainly because she had property there and some connections with the government, so she was not afraid of being robbed.
But it’s different once you enter Jiannan Road.
Somehow the news leaked out, and some people in the Bai clan became jealous when they learned that Liu had made a fortune, so they started thinking about "buying" her property near Longzhou.
Especially those farms that are said to have made a lot of money.
Unlike three years ago when they left Longzhou in disgrace, this time Liu returned in glory.
As soon as the carriage entered Longzhou, the Bai family's steward took the servants back to the ancestral home and cleaned the house where they lived first.
While the Bai clan members were watching, Liu took her daughter-in-law and grandson to visit the farms and shops first, and only entered Longzhou City two or three days later.
In the letter, Bai Shanbao told Manbao that every morning, Aunt Liu, who was by my grandmother's side, would come to wake me up, wash me clean, dress me in beautiful new clothes, and then take me out to show off.
Bai Shanbao told Manbao that he didn't like wearing new clothes at all because the patterns on them were so elaborate that he couldn't even squat on the ground and play with stones.
But as soon as he returned to Longzhou, he no longer liked Longzhou.
But there was also a happy thing, that is, as long as he went out for a walk, several of his little enemies would be beaten up that night.
"...My grandmother took me to see the clan leader. He asked if I was still studying. When he heard I had already read the Book of Rites, he was very skeptical and tested me." Bai Shanbao wrote in the letter, "I know he wasn't among those who wanted to buy my family's property, but he was the one who was in charge of everything. Although my grandmother didn't say it, I always felt that he was accepting benefits from others and that was why he was always accommodating them."
"As the master said, those who are greedy will inevitably seek benefits, and our clan leader is clearly a greedy person, so I questioned him about the Great Learning. When we said goodbye and left, his face was very grim." Bai Shanbao said, "Unfortunately, I ran into his annoying grandson while I was out, so I stopped to ask him what book he was reading recently. That night, I deliberately lay outside their house and listened. His grandson was screaming miserably. I heard he had to go to school the next day, so I decided not to rest tomorrow and go to the clan school to borrow some books."
Manbao laughed out loud with joy. When he flipped through the letter, he found that it was the last letter. Apparently, he did not have time to write the letter for the next day before sending it out.
(End of this chapter)
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