Chapter 780: Riddles
The door of the box closed in front of County Magistrate Yang. He shook his head and walked into his own room with his hands behind his back.
He walked to the window and took a look at the gradually bustling street outside, nodded with satisfaction, turned around and ordered: "Light a few more lights to make the house brighter."
The bailiff agreed, lit a few more lamps, and then stood aside with his hands folded.
County Magistrate Yang stood by the window with his hands behind his back, watching the bustling scene below. "Go tell County Lieutenant Zhang that everyone should work hard tonight to ensure the safety of the city. After the Lantern Festival, the county will reward you handsomely."
The yamen runner happily agreed, and the county magistrate said it was a big reward, so it was a big reward.
Manbao pulled the two friends back to the private room, and Bai Erlang asked, "Will your family split up?"
"No," Manbao said, "My father said that as long as he and my mother are still alive, my family will not be divided."
Even Bai Shan couldn't help but gasp in amazement. "Your parents can still work in the fields. How many years later would that be? No wonder County Magistrate Yang is so anxious. By then, your eldest nephew and his sons would have grown up, right?"
Manbao calculated and it was true, but "it's better to benefit my family than the government, right? Humph, if the family splits up, my six brothers will have to go out to do hard labor every year. It's okay now that County Magistrate Yang is here, but if we meet a bad county magistrate, won't we never come back?"
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang both went to see the forced labor and found it was indeed very hard. Basically everyone would be emaciated after returning from the service.
But the laborers said that County Magistrate Fu was quite good to them. At least they went to work on time in the morning and evening, and stopped working when it rained or snowed. He would not make them work all night in the rain or snow, otherwise that would be life-threatening.
Thinking of this, Bai Shan nodded and said, "Then let's not split up the family."
Manbao finally understood her father's reluctance to divide the family, and chuckled, "No wonder my father refused to divide the family no matter what."
Bai Shan: "No wonder the villagers always say that having an old person in the family is like having a treasure. Every time an elderly person in the village passes away, their family members are so sad, even though they didn't seem to be very filial when they were alive."
"Hey, whose family are you talking about? Why do I feel that everyone in our village is quite filial?"
Bai Shan said: "It's just so-so. It's not unfilial, but it's not very filial either."
He didn't say whose house it was, but walked to the window and said, "Look, the lanterns are about to be lit."
Manbao and Bai Erlang's attention was instantly diverted. They ran up and looked outside, and saw that the mountain of lights in their field of vision lit up little by little. In less than half a minute, the entire mountain made of lanterns was lit up. It was the first time that Manbao had seen such a mountain of lights in his life. He couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow" and opened his mouth wide.
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang had met each other before, but they were only teenagers after all, so they were still very excited to see him again. They couldn't help but follow Manbao in shouting "Wow".
County Magistrate Yang, who was standing in front of the window next door, couldn't help but shake his head and smile when he heard the wow coming from the private room next door.
He looked at the people outside cheering and smiled with satisfaction.
In fact, it was not that lively, not even one-tenth of the liveliness he had seen before, but he still felt that this liveliness was very comfortable.
County Magistrate Yang thought, perhaps it was because this was the county he governed?
Isn’t this liveliness due to his contribution?
Manbao and the other two tiptoed to the window and watched as all the lights within their sight were lit up. Then they turned around and happily called their friends, "Let's go down and take a look."
The three of them led Daji downstairs. Bai Shan took out a small piece of silver and threw it to the shopkeeper, saying, "We've reserved the private room. We'll be back for a late-night snack soon. Remember to keep the door open for us."
The shopkeeper quickly agreed and watched the three people run out of the restaurant.
Daji followed the three of them and followed Bai Shan closely as soon as they went out.
Although there were many people on the street, it was not crowded, so they would not get separated, but running was also impossible. So the three of them walked forward together, occasionally stopping to look at the things sold at the roadside stalls or the lanterns.
Then……
"Wow, this lantern is so beautiful. Hey, Fourth Brother, what a coincidence, you're here too?"
Zhou Silang turned around and saw the three people. After greeting them, he took his wife away and continued shopping.
After strolling around for a while, Bai Shan thought a toy on a roadside stall was very interesting. He went up to take a look when someone called out, "Auntie, why are you guys here too? But we've finished looking. You guys can look around. We're going to play over there first..."
When they walked all the way to Dengshan, the three of them met several acquaintances, including Lao Zhou's family and people from the village. However, no one exchanged pleasantries. After all, if they wanted to talk, they could talk every day in the village, so they basically just said hello and went on to have fun.
The three of them finally arrived at the foot of the mountain of lights. They looked up at the lanterns and followed the crowd around the mountain of lights.
"Look, there's a riddle on it. If you guess it right, you can take the lantern away." Bai Erlang noticed the words on the lantern with his sharp eyes.
Bai Erlang squinted his eyes to look at the riddles on the lantern. Manbao and Bai Shan became interested and also squinted their eyes to look.
After a round, each of the three had an extra lantern in their hands. They subconsciously compared the lanterns in each other's hands, and then laughed. Manbao held up the lotus lantern in his hand and said, "Mine is the tallest and the most beautiful."
Naturally, riddles are also the most difficult.
Bai Shan said: "That's because you have the best eyesight. If I hadn't missed the riddle of the lantern at the top, I would have won it."
Manbao: "I can do that too."
Bai Erlang also followed suit: "I can do it too!"
Anyway, it’s impossible for them to climb up there to read the riddles, so they can brag without thinking.
This is also the rule of the Lantern Mountain Fortune Lottery. The lantern hanging at the top is often the best and most expensive, and the riddle is also the most difficult. In order to prevent others from winning it, you have to find a way to see the riddle clearly on it.
Of course, some places don't play like this, such as Yizhou City and the capital. There are many rich people in these big cities, and they don't mind giving away lanterns, so the riddles are hung. If you like any of them, there are copies prepared below. If you guess it right, someone will take down the lantern and give it to you.
Bai Shan looked at the people gathered around the mountain of lanterns and found that many people were watching, but few were trying to guess the riddles. He rolled his eyes and pulled Man Bao aside, saying, "Come on, let's guess at all the lanterns and then pick the one we like."
Manbao thought this game was good, his eyes lit up, and he nodded and said, "Okay!"
Bai Erlang naturally followed them. He was a little timid and said, "If I can't guess, you have to help me."
Bai Shan and Man Bao sandwiched him between them, comforting him: "Don't worry, we will definitely help you. Besides, I think the riddles in our county are not difficult."
Good night
(End of this chapter)
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