Chapter 401 Cancellation of City Entrance Fee
In the end, Bai Erlang was stuffed into a carriage by Mrs. Bai and went to the county town with Bai Shanbao and others to select an abacus.
The Bai family was not short of money, so Mrs. Bai generously gave Bai Erlang a purse and said, "Buy a better one. When you learn how to use it, you can help your mother with the accounting."
Bai Erlang agreed gloomily, but soon after getting on the car, he put his worries behind him and became happy.
The three little friends crowded together in front of the window to look at the flowers, plants and trees outside.
I see it quite often when I walk, but the feeling of seeing it from the car seems particularly different.
Manbao asked to sit on the shaft of the cart.
Daji, the rickshaw driver, refused.
If Miss Manbao gets out, the two young masters will surely get out as well. This road is not easy to travel on. If the car gets bumpy, people may fall out of the car. Will he just rescue his own young master, or rescue Miss Manbao first, or save his cousin's young master first?
So in order to avoid getting tangled up, he thought they should just stay in the car.
Even if the car overturns, it is safest to stay inside the car.
The three children all expressed regret, then leaned over the window and watched the flowers and trees slowly moving backwards, startled one after another. One said that the yellow flower was beautiful, another said that the red one was even prettier, and another liked the purple creeper even better...
This is the time when flowers bloom most throughout the year. The temperature, soil and water are suitable. Whether it is flowers, grass or trees, they all compete to bloom at this time.
It’s a pity that all these flowers have been ravaged by the treasures, and she hasn’t seen any new varieties appear yet.
Of course, there might have been one, but she just didn't see it because she was riding a little faster in the carriage.
The three of them arrived at the county town after a bumpy ride. As soon as they arrived at the city gate, they had to get off the car and go in by themselves. The county town was so small that they finished the tour in a short time by car. It was not interesting at all.
So it’s better to walk by yourself.
The three of them climbed down from the carriage, left Daji behind and went to line up first.
Manbao took out a penny from his pocket, and Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang also held the penny in their hands as usual. Soon it was their turn.
The three of them lined up in order of age, from youngest to oldest, and also in order of seniority, from oldest to youngest.
Manbao walked closer and spread out his hands to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Go, go, go in."
Manbao's eyes widened slightly, "Don't you want money?"
The gatekeeper rolled his eyes and said, "I would like to, but the county magistrate said that the entrance fee has been cancelled. As long as it's not a large amount of goods entering the city, there is no need to pay the entrance fee."
The guard glanced at the child in front of him and thought he looked familiar, but couldn't remember who he was. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, go in, the next one."
Bai Shanbao had heard it and his eyes narrowed with joy. He took a step forward and looked at the gatekeeper with shining eyes.
The gatekeeper glanced at him, then at Bai Erlang behind him, and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, alright, hurry in. Those behind you, those behind you, hurry up. Those without bulk goods, please go straight ahead. Don't dawdle there. With so few people here, how long do you think you'll have to wait?"
The three little friends ran into the city hand in hand, shouting with joy.
Bai Shanbao didn't know why he was shouting, because he didn't need that penny, nor did he feel bad about the entrance fee, but seeing Manbao so happy, he couldn't help but feel happy too.
Manbao was really happy. She said, "I'll tell Datou and the others the good news when I get home. From now on, they can come to the county town whenever they want to."
In the past year, the big bosses would only come into the city if they were sure there was business to do, after all, entry into the city cost money.
But now they don't want it anymore, so they can come regardless of whether there is business or not. It's good to have business, but they won't lose anything if there is no business.
Daji entered the city one step behind them, but he was not worried about the three of them.
The county town is so small that not only are the three children very familiar with it, but some people in the county town are also very familiar with them. When they can't find it, they can just ask.
But Daji still kept watching them to make sure they were within his sight.
Leading the carriage behind the three children, they stopped and walked until they arrived in front of a restaurant. The three were gathered in front of a small stall looking at toys. Daji glanced at them, led the carriage directly to the restaurant door, handed the carriage and horses to the waiter, and said, "Feed them with good hay. We will get it back when we come back for dinner."
"Okay, don't worry, I'll take good care of you."
Daji then followed the three children with his hands folded, without urging them to go to the bookstore.
As usual, the three of them strolled around the streets of the county town, bought some delicious food, and then went to the bookstore chatting and laughing.
Knowing that they were here to buy an abacus, the bookstore owner narrowed his eyes and praised the three of them with a smile, "I didn't expect that the young master and the young ladies learned so quickly that they could actually learn to use an abacus."
He asked the waiter to bring out two sets of all the quality abacus in the store for them to choose from.
The cheapest one is naturally the wooden abacus. The prices of abacus made of various kinds of wood vary greatly. The most expensive one is a wooden abacus that is dark in color, almost black. It feels smooth and solid to the touch. Manbao couldn't help but imitate Mr. Zhuang and dial it twice.
Slippery and smooth.
Manbao asked, "How much is this?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Not expensive, five hundred coins."
Manbao was shocked. Isn’t this expensive?
No wonder my dad said that studying is not something that ordinary people can afford.
Manbao's eyes fell on the other abacuses. He directly dialed all the wooden abacuses, then selected two and asked, "How much are they?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This one is three hundred coins, and this one is two hundred coins."
He didn't explain why the prices were different, and Manbao didn't need an explanation either. Why else could it be? Because they were different in the first place. She could feel the difference even when she was dialing the numbers.
Manbao hesitated for a moment, and finally chose the wooden abacus worth two hundred wen, then looked at Bai Shanbao.
Bai Shanbao was fiddling with a jade abacus. He asked the price and put it aside after learning it would cost eight taels of silver. He then pointed to the black abacus that Manbao had just picked out and said, "I want this one."
Bai Erlang held a golden abacus, smiled and said, "I want this."
The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and smiled, "This one will cost five taels."
The golden abacus in Bai Erlang's hand was not made of pure gold, but was plated with copper.
In fact, there are pure gold ones, but they need to be made on the spot. At least the shopkeeper is not so stupid as to make such a thing and sell it in the store.
What if it can’t be sold, wouldn’t the labor cost be wasted?
How nice it is to have something like this, a copper-plated abacus that looks like real gold, beautiful and luxurious, yet not expensive.
Only five taels of silver.
The three of them paid their money respectively, and then asked Daji to take the wrapped abacus. Bai Erlang turned around and was about to walk out, but Manbao and Bai Shanbao went into the bookstore to look for books to read.
Now that I'm at the bookstore, of course I want to look for any good new books.
Bai Erlang, who had already walked to the door, saw that no one had followed him. He couldn't help but get angry, but he didn't dare to complain loudly in the quiet bookstore. He could only mutter, "Really? I'm looking for books all day long. I already have so many books at home, and it's not enough to read?"
(End of this chapter)
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