Bai Shanbao was very experienced in dealing with his grandmother. He only told his grandmother about Mr. Zhuang's conversation with them in class, and did not tell his grandmother about his and Man Bao's plan to catch bugs and scare his second cousin.
Mrs. Liu knew with her toes that her grandson could not be so honest in school, not to mention that Mr. Zhuang brought up the responsibility of county magistrate for the first time.
There was certainly no reason for this, but she didn't ask too much. Instead, she called her grandson and told him what a county magistrate was and what the county magistrate was going to do.
Bai Shanbao listened carefully and decided to tell Manbao the next day. Hum, he knew much more than she did.
Mrs. Liu saw that her grandson listened carefully and was not as rebellious as before, so she couldn't help but explain in more detail and her attitude became gentler.
Bai Shanbao didn't understand so he asked, and also told Manbao that their county magistrate was a bad person and had overcharged the city entrance fee.
Only then did Mrs. Liu understand why Mr. Zhuang took them to see ants and autumn rain, and also told them stories.
Liu said: "The county costs money to build roads, maintain dams, and build water conservancy projects. If County Magistrate Fu has these uses, there is nothing wrong with increasing the city entry fee."
Bai Shanbao understood this, everything costs money.
Mother said that they moved to the mountains because the clan bullied their orphans and widowed mothers and wanted to swallow up all their family's property.
Mom said that all those industries require money. From now on, he will need money to study and take exams, to marry a wife, and to be an official. All the money will be left to him.
It was also from that time that Bai Shanbao knew that money was a very important thing, and even powerful people like the patriarch would be shameless to steal their family's money.
Mrs. Liu felt that they had come to Qili Village at the right time this time.
Although there are many teachers in ethnic studies and Longzhou has more resources than here, grandson is always isolated in ethnic studies, and things at home affect him to some extent.
Although he is smart, he refuses to listen to the lectures seriously. He gets naughty and gets into fights in school. The most important thing is that the teachers in the family school do not find it difficult to treat him fairly.
Over time, he was either led by them to become a playboy, or he became a cynical vulgar person, neither of which Liu wanted to see.
If she could raise her son alone after losing her husband at a young age, she could naturally raise her grandson.
Mr. Liu's eyes were firm, and they had taken the right step. The best thing was that there was such a Mr. Zhuang in this mountain valley. Perhaps, this was the fate of their Bai family.
Mrs. Liu called her daughter-in-law and said: "Although we are close to Lao Qi's family, since we have decided to live here for a long time, we can't always live in his house. What I mean is that we buy a piece of land in the village and build a house."
Wouldn't it be comfortable to move the small villa here so that the two families can be close to each other and can take care of each other, but also have a separate house?"
Ms. Zheng has no objections. She is used to listening to her mother-in-law in everything.
Bai Shanbao, on the other hand, had many ideas. He was playing on the sidelines. When he heard what his grandmother said, he ran up and said, "Choose one by the river. When the time comes, we will bring water into the house and dig a big pond. I want to raise turtles."
"Why are you still thinking about raising a turtle?" In the past, in my hometown, just to snatch a turtle, the child broke the head of the grandson of the second uncle's family. For this, the mother-in-law had to pay a lot of gifts. Until now, Zheng
I still feel heartbroken when I think about it.
But Bai Shanbao insisted, "I want to raise turtles, and when they grow up, I can make soup for my grandmother."
Mrs. Zheng's expression was quite difficult to explain, but Mrs. Liu knew what her grandson meant, touched his head and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I will dig a pond for you to raise turtles. What else do you want? Let me tell you."
, it will be easy to plan when the time comes.”
Bai Shanbao thought for a while and said, "I have to think about this carefully."
"Think about it and tell me if you think of it."
It was difficult for Mr. Liu to come forward to buy land and build a house, so he had to discuss it with Mr. Bai.
Bai Shanbao didn't worry about this. He reviewed today's homework and began to draw the yard in his imagination.
It's just that he is currently a soul painter. Except for himself, I am afraid no one can understand what he draws.
But Shanbao didn't know this, so the next day he happily showed his masterpiece to Manbao and told her that this would be his new home.
Man Bao looked up and down for a long time, scratched his face and asked, "Where is the front?"
Shanbao straightened the painting for it and asked: "Look at it this way, you see, this is my room. I want to make a swing here so that I can swing when I wake up, and I will dig a pond here.
There are turtles inside, so I can swing on the swing and look at the turtles at the same time. Well, this one is the turtle."
Man Bao had never seen a turtle before and asked, "Can turtles be eaten?"
"Yes, the turtle can live a long, long time. I plan to fatten it up and make soup for my grandmother to drink. Then my grandmother will live a long life."
Manbao's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Shanbao nodded, "Of course it's true. When I was in my hometown, they all said that turtles represent longevity!"
"Then how many turtles do you have? Can you sell one to me? I will also raise a turtle."
Shanbao asked, "Why do you raise turtles?"
"Give it to my mother. My mother is always sick. Once she eats the turtle, she will live a long life. That way she won't be sick all the time."
Bai Shanbao felt that turtles were rare, otherwise he would not have fought for one with his cousin. However, he had just made friends with Manbao and could not refuse her, so he hesitated and said, "I asked my mother to
Buy one more, and if you can buy it, I will give it to you. If you can’t buy it, then wait until my turtle gives birth to a baby, and I will raise its baby for you."
Man Bao felt something was wrong, "You need two turtles to have a baby, one male and one female."
"Who said that?"
"Chickens and pigs are like this, and so are people." Although Manbao is young, she actually knows a lot. She listed them one by one for him: "My mother has to check my hens when they hatch chicks.
Eggs, it is said that only eggs laid by roosters can give birth to chicks. In the spring, in order to let their sows give birth to piglets, nephew Dazhu went to the next village to invite a male pig to come and marry the sows. People also want it.
Only when you have a wife can you have children."
So, "You have to buy two turtles, one male and one female, so that you can have babies. One in a year, and ten in ten years. Then we will eat the two grown ones, and the others will be born."
Keep raising them and have more babies..." Man Bao counted the numbers and was shocked, "Wow, then we will have a lot of turtles."
Bai Shanbao felt that what she said made sense, so he decided to tell his mother what he wanted to do when he went back that night.
Seeing that he was willing to listen to her suggestions, Manbao became more active, pointed to his blueprint and said: "In addition to raising turtles, you can also grow lotus roots in the pond. Do you know about lotus roots? There are many of them on the river bank downstream of our village. In summer,
The flowers blooming at that time are beautiful, the lotus seeds are delicious, and the lotus roots are also delicious."
Man Bao became excited and said, "Let me take you to dig lotus roots. I went to see them last year and I can already dig them."
Bai Shanbao asked, "Didn't we agree to catch cabbage caterpillars today?"
Man Bao said nonchalantly: "We'll catch them later. Let's dig up lotus roots first. Lotus roots are much prettier than insects."
Bai Shanbao didn't really want to catch bugs, so he nodded in agreement.