Chapter 400 Abacus
Mr. Zhuang even refused the Dragon Boat Festival holiday that Liu had requested in advance for Bai Shanbao.
Years ago, Liu planned to take Bai Shanbao to Yizhou during the Dragon Boat Festival because his aunt who married in Yizhou was going to celebrate her birthday.
But Mr. Zhuang refused, refused!
Bai Shanbao was sad for two days because of this, and what made him even more upset was that his grandmother no longer asked for leave, but decided to go to celebrate the birthday alone.
This shows how rare it is for Mr. Zhuang to agree to a vacation at this time.
Seeing the two children rushing in again with their small bookcases on their backs, Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "Let's do it tomorrow. It'll take a day."
The two children cheered and started to run out hand in hand. Mr. Zhuang suddenly said, "If you go to see Bai Er, tell him that if he gets sick any more, I'll go to his house to teach him. I'll let him sit on a recliner and listen to the class."
Manbao and Bai Shanbao looked at each other, both raised their necks and laughed, but they didn't dare to laugh out loud. They could only hold back their laughter and responded, then ran away.
Bai Erlang was hiding in the house eating a melon, which was sent by his uncle's family and his mother had just brought it to him.
Hearing the footsteps outside, he was so scared that he immediately stuffed the plate into the quilt, then lay down and pretended to have a headache, hand pain, stomachache, and all kinds of pain.
Manbao and Bai Shanbao ran in and saw him groaning like an old man, so they said, "Stop pretending. The master and your father are not here."
Bai Er ignored them and continued to cry.
Bai Shanbao said slowly, "Master said that we will have a day off tomorrow and go to the county town to buy some things."
Bai Erlang paused, and he opened one eye to look at them. After rolling his eyes and realizing that there were indeed only three of them in the room, he climbed out of bed and asked, "Really? What did the master want us to buy?"
"Buy an abacus. The teacher is going to teach us how to use it."
"Ah?" Bai Erlang wailed, "Shouldn't we learn this after we turn ten? Why do we have to learn it now?"
Just as Bai Shanbao was about to speak, Manbao pulled him, and he immediately changed his words, "Do you want to go to the county town with us?"
Manbao said, "An abacus will last for many years, so it's best to choose one yourself and pick one you like."
Bai Erlang said with a hopeless look, "But I don't want to learn abacus. I'm still sick."
Bai Shanbao: "The teacher said that if you are still sick, he will move the classroom to your home and let you listen to the class while lying down."
Manbao was so happy that he asked with a smile, "Do you think your father will come to listen to the teacher's class as well?"
Bai Erlang's tears were about to fall. "I knew it. Why didn't they go to school? If they were students in the school, why would the teacher stare at me alone?"
"He was clearly staring at the three of us." Bai Shanbao said dissatisfiedly, "The master stared at us even longer, and we didn't even pretend to be sick."
"That's because you can answer all the questions the teacher asks you. Can I?" Bai Er said angrily, "If I could, I wouldn't pretend to be sick."
"Who told you not to study seriously? You actually followed others to play in the mud!"
"It's not playing in the mud, it's playing war, and I'm still a general," Bai Erlang said unconvincedly. "If you didn't want to play the game of Zhuangzi planting crops, would I have no time to play? If I didn't have time to play, would I use the time I spent studying and doing homework to play? If I didn't use this time to play, would I be unable to complete my homework and answer the teacher's questions?"
It was the first time that Manbao and Bai Shanbao heard someone talk about laziness and playfulness so confidently, and they were stunned for a moment.
Bai Erlang lifted the quilt, took out the fruit plate, and ate it fiercely while saying, "I have to learn the abacus again. I can't play it anymore."
Manbao and Bai Shanbao looked at it with disdain, "Why did you hide the fruit plate in there..."
Bai Erlang looked at the melon in the fruit bowl, then looked at the two companions who could barely be considered friends, and reluctantly pushed forward, "Will you eat?"
The two of them shook their heads.
Bai Erlang took it back and said, "Forget it. This is a melon, which is usually not available until June or July. The only reason I can eat it now is because of my uncle's awesomeness."
Manbao made an agreement with them, "Then we will meet at the village entrance early tomorrow morning and go to the county town together."
Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao both agreed. Bai Shanbao said, "Take my carriage."
Knowing that Manbao wanted to learn the abacus, Old Zhou couldn't help but sit up straight and asked, "If you learn the abacus, can you become an accountant in the future?"
Qian said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Have you ever seen a female accountant outside?"
"But Manbao can teach Datou and the others once she learns," said Old Zhou. "Besides, who says there aren't any female accountants? I've seen many shops in the city run by female proprietresses. In the future, Manbao will marry in the county town and become a female proprietress herself. That way, she won't let down all the skills she's learned."
"The teacher said that we will have a lot of calculations to do on our farm in the future, so he wanted us to learn how to use an abacus so that we can do the math ourselves when we need it."
Old Zhou immediately said to Qian: "Take the money and buy an abacus for your daughter."
Manbao narrowed his eyes with joy and said, "Dad, I have money."
Old Zhou knew that she had not made much money since the beginning of spring. From what the children said, it seemed that it was because the daughter of the former county magistrate, who often bought candy from them, passed away.
So Manbao probably doesn't have much money on him.
Old Zhou smiled and touched her head and said, "Save your money. Go to the county town tomorrow to buy some buns. I'll pay for the abacus."
Of course Manbao would not refuse anymore and nodded vigorously.
Old Zhou advised, "You must study hard. Once you've learned enough, come back and teach your nephews. When they grow up a little, you can become accountants."
Zhou Erlang squeezed in and said, "Manbao, can my second brother learn from you?"
Zhou Wulang immediately raised his hand, "Me too, me too."
Manbao waved his little hand and said happily: "No problem, I will teach you when the time comes."
Fang glanced at her husband and couldn't help but reach out and poke him. Zhou Silang moved his son away, avoiding her hand and whispered, "I don't want to learn. It's just accounting, I can do it myself. Learning those things is a headache."
"You are so lazy."
"It's not laziness, it's unnecessary."
Bai Erlang was also quietly complaining to his mother, hoping to finally get rid of the abacus. He said, "Mom, I'm not lazy, but I don't think it's necessary. We already have an accounting office at home, so why should I learn to use the abacus?"
"Your father also knows how to use an abacus. If you don't learn, what if the accountant cheats you?"
Bai Erlang said, "The accountant is just fooling my father, and he doesn't even know it. Could it be that my father is better at calculating accounts than the accountant?"
Mrs. Bai: ...
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
