Chapter 523: Mountains and Rivers
"We have rice, noodles, steamed buns, and naan. We will make whatever the guest wants to eat."
Zhou Silang smiled and said, "Then give me a bowl of rice and some stir-fried vegetables..."
"Oh, please forgive me, sir. We are a small stall and cannot afford an iron pot, so the dishes we serve are only stews, boiled dishes and steamed dishes. Please see..."
"Let me see what steamed and stewed dishes you have..." Zhou Silang carefully selected them, and after ordering the dishes, he picked up the teapot from the stove and went over to pour water for Mr. Zhuang and the others. "You must be thirsty. Have some water first."
The young man who had just finished feeding the horses saw this and immediately ran over and said, "I dare not let you, gentlemen, do this yourself. The tea leaves haven't been brewed yet."
Zhou Silang immediately said, "We don't drink tea. Oh, sir, if you want to drink it, sir, would you like to make tea with our tea leaves?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "No need to be so particular. Just drink the tea from the teahouse."
The waiter hurried to make tea. The people at the next table glanced at their table several times. Seeing that the water on the stove had not yet boiled, they smiled and asked the people around them to pour a bowl of their tea for Mr. Zhuang. "I see that Mr. Zhuang is very elegant. I wonder where you are going."
Bai Shanbao was sitting closest to him, so he quickly stood up and bowed to express his gratitude. After glancing at Mr. Zhuang, he took the tea bowl and presented it to him.
Mr. Zhuang sat down and bowed. Seeing the leader also wearing a hat, he smiled and said, "I am taking a few students to Yizhou for a study tour. I wonder where you are from and where you are going?"
The middle-aged man who was asking questions at the next table had an upright and dignified face, a smile between his brows, and a sharp temperament. Although the four people around him were not bad either, he could still be spotted at a glance.
He faced Mr. Zhuang across from two people and said with a smile, "We are from Guanzhong, on business, and are on our way to Yizhou."
Manbao turned his head to look at the stable, then glanced around, and found no other carriages except the two they brought, so he withdrew his gaze and thought to himself: How stupid! Since they said they were traveling merchants, how could they not bring a carriage?
Where to put the goods if you don’t have a vehicle?
Bai Shanbao also took a look and also looked away, ignoring these adults. He and Bai Erlang stared at the direction of the stove.
The steamed and stewed dishes were basically ready-made, so except for some dishes Zhou Silang ordered, the meals came out quickly.
Zhou Silang quickly invited Daji, who was still busy outside, to come in for dinner.
Everyone ate quietly without talking. The middle-aged man who was happily talking to Mr. Zhuang did not disturb them anymore and let them eat quietly.
After dinner, everyone sat down to drink tea and rest. Of course, Manbao and the others drank boiled water.
Zhou Silang took down all the water bags on the carriage and asked the store to fill them with water.
Manbao and Bai Shanbao came forward to help. Seeing that Bai Erlang was drowsy, they reached out and pushed him. "You want to sleep right after eating. Be careful of indigestion. Come and help quickly so that you can be more energetic."
Bai Erlang yawned, took a water bag from Zhou Silang, and muttered, "You used to sleep after eating too."
As Bai Shanbao filled the water bag, he said, "Bai Er, if you dare to wash your hands with the water in the water bag again next time, I will beat you."
"I didn't do it on purpose. My hands are sticky, so what should I do if I don't wash them?" Bai Erlang said, "Besides, I'm not afraid of you. You can't beat me."
"Daji and I learned kung fu."
"I learned it too, but you haven't learned it as well as I have."
Manbao concentrated on filling his water bag with water, then looked towards the woods behind the teahouse and said, "I want to go play in the woods, do you want to come?"
"You're out digging up herbs again. Zhou Ba, are those herbs you're digging?"
Manbao glared at him, "My name is Zhou Man!"
"You are not allowed to call me Bai Er anymore, otherwise, hehe."
Bai Shanbao said happily: "I'm not afraid. If you have the guts, just call me Bai Da. Hahahaha..."
The middle-aged man couldn't help laughing when he heard the three teenagers' playful chatter. He said to Mr. Zhuang, "Your students are really lively."
Mr. Zhuang said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you gentlemen."
He looked towards the stove and raised his voice slightly, "Zhou Man, once the water is filled, take your fellow apprentices to feed the horses and see if they need some water."
Manbao immediately remembered, "Yes, you are my junior brothers, you should call me Senior Sister, Bai Er, no, Third Junior Brother, you should call me Senior Sister quickly."
Mr. Zhuang: ...He just reminded the three children not to reveal anything when they are outside, and to be careful with their names.
As a result, these three dead children...
When Bai Erlang heard this, he picked up the water bag filled with water and ran away. Humph, he would not shout. He had not shouted in the past few years, why should he shout now?
Bai Shanbao also immediately slipped away with the water bag.
Manbao couldn't help but mutter behind him, "You are so mean and lazy. If the master hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten that I am still a senior sister. I am older than you, you have to listen to me, okay?"
Bai Shanbao climbed onto the carriage, took Manbao's backpack down to her, stuffed it into her arms and said, "Okay, go dig your medicine quickly."
Seeing that he was still holding the book, Manbao looked at him sympathetically, "Second Junior Brother, are you going to read again?"
Bai Shanbao sighed.
Manbao said, "How about you come with me to play in the woods?"
Bai Shanbao hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Go by yourself. We should be able to reach Yizhou in two days. Sigh~~"
Manbao went there by herself carrying a basket on her back, and Zhou Silang followed her. They saw many herbs on the way, but she didn't pick any of them. She insisted on finding some that she had never seen before.
He glanced away and saw her squatting to dig a flower. He couldn't help but sit down on the grass and asked, "Manbao, are you sure this is also a herb?"
"That should be it."
Zhou Silang pulled a blade of grass and bit it, shaking his head and saying, "You have this habit of digging grass and picking flowers. Even at this age, you still haven't changed it. You said you were digging herbs. Just now when we walked over, we saw several herbs that you had dug before. Why didn't you dig them just now?"
Manbao put the dug flowers into his backpack, picked up the flower hoe, thought for a while, and said affirmatively: "Because they are not worth much."
Zhou Silang yawned, and seeing that she was still searching nearby, he simply lay down on the grass, crossed his legs, and waited for her. "When I heard you say you were going on a study tour, I thought it was something amazing. Who knew you were just driving around? This is what we call studying."
"The teacher also gave us poetry."
"Poetry can be rehearsed in the village. We have mountains and water in our village. Why do we have to look at the mountains and water outside to recite poetry? Can't we look at the mountains and water at home?"
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "It still feels different."
“I think they’re all the same.”
The next chapter will be around 8 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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