Sharing Money

Zhou Sirlang quickly emerged with an empty basket, his hand covering his pocket, his face beaming with excitement, and his eyes sparkling. He ignored Miss Fu Er, who was standing opposite his sister, and walked directly to Manbao, grinning, "Manbao, let's go back!"

Miss Fu Er, who wanted to talk to Manbao, ...

Manbao felt that their conversation had come to an end, so she nodded and waved goodbye to Miss Fu Er.

Miss Fu Er could only say, "If you have some free time, please remember to come to the county town to spend time with me."

Manbao agreed and walked out hand in hand with Zhou Sirlang.

Zhou Xi, along with Wulang and Liulang, waited outside. They could always see Manbao, so they weren't worried. When they saw the two of them coming, they greeted Miss Fu Er inside the door, then turned and left.

After walking a long way, Zhou Sirlang looked around and, seeing no one, took out the copper coins from his pocket, his eyes sparkling. "The chef mentioned that our family's ginger is superior to what is available for sale elsewhere." Forty winks are not expensive at all. Look, this is three hundred and twenty wen.

Half of it belonged to Zhou Xi. Zhou Sirlang counted out the money and gave it to her, while Manbao and the others looked at her eagerly.

Zhou Xi, puzzled, looked back.

Manbao said, "Big sister, I helped find the customers."

Wulang immediately said, "Big sister, I helped with weeding."

Liulang said, "I helped with fertilizing, and we all helped plant the ginger together."

Zhou Sirlang, on the side, set a good example. He counted out forty wen from his own money, gave ten wen to Manbao, ten wen to Wulang and Liulang, and kept the rest for himself. Then, he put the remaining money in a cloth bag and said, "This is to repay debts."

Manbao stared at the ten wen in his hand.

Zhou Sirlang covered his pocket and said, "Manbao, this time you can't tattle on me again. I am older than Wulang, and he has money in his hand." How can I not have any?

Manbao firmly said, "Wulang doesn't gamble."

Zhou Sirlang said, "I don't gamble now either."

Manbao reached out to him and said, "Give me the money, I'll hold it for you. If you need it, just ask me."

Text: ### Zhou Sirlang didn't want to give it to her, so Manbao threatened him, "If you don't give it to me, I'll tell our parents that you have money on you!" ###

Zhou Sirlang, with a look of sorrow and indignation, took out the ten wen he had just put in his pocket and slapped it on Manbao's small hand. Ten wen was not a small amount, and her hand was too small, so one wen bounced out.

Manbao picked up the money and put it in her pocket. She patted it contentedly and then looked at her big sister.

Zhou Xi: ...

Was she being ignored while dividing the money in front of her? But…

With her younger siblings looking at her, Zhou Xi reluctantly took out money from the recently divided funds, even though she didn't want to give it to them. "You're all so young, what do you need money for?"

She felt that she shouldn't have money before getting married because that's how she had lived since she was young.

Wulang said confidently, "To marry a wife!"

Liulang said, "To buy clothes!"

Manbao said, "To buy meat!"

Zhou Sirlang silently thought to himself, "I just want to have some pocket money!"

Zhou Xi rejected all of their requests. "Your parents will give you money to marry a wife, and Liulang, didn't you just make a set of clothes before the New Year?" Manbao, you should save money, not spend it.

Manbao said, "Money is not saved, it's spent." Only money in circulation can be considered as money. When it's not in circulation, it's just a copper coin. "Big sister, are you going to give it or not?"

"Fine," Zhou Xi replied. She didn't understand a word, but she felt that what Manbao said was incorrect. However, she was unsure how to counter it. Indeed, education is beneficial as it makes arguments nearly impossible.

Zhou Xi sighed and gave ten wen to each of her three younger siblings.

Manbao also asked her, "Don't tell our parents, okay?"

Zhou Xi laughed, "You're asking for a lot." "Isn't that lying?"

"I'm not asking my big sister to lie; it's just that our parents won't ask, and you don't have to tell them." "Not telling isn't lying, right?"

Zhou Xi was speechless.

Seeing her younger siblings standing together, she recognized them as a group, so she could only nod.

Wulang and Liulang became happy and left two wen each for pocket money, giving the rest to Manbao and instructing her, "Write it down in our account book when we get back."

Manbao assured, "No problem."

Zhou Sirlang, envious, looked at the two coins in their hands and said to Manbao, "Manbao, why don't you give me two coins, so I can save eight coins?"

Manbao thought about it and felt that after hitting someone with a stick, you should give them a candy. So, she took out two coins from her pocket and gave them to him, warning, "Sirlang, no gambling, okay?"

It's only two, and even if he wanted to gamble, someone would have to be willing to bet. Oh no, he didn't want to gamble at all.

After receiving the money, Zhou Sirlang felt satisfied and curiously looked around at the stalls on both sides, lamenting, "There are so many people today; we should have dug up more ginger."

Manbao said, "What's the rush?" After all, the busy farming season is over, and you and Wulang can sell ginger every day. "Let them bury it in the ground for a while; perhaps it will sprout anew."

Zhou Sirlang thought Manbao made sense, so he stopped feeling sorry and excitedly looked around.

Because the busy farming season had just passed, and it was time to pay grain taxes, there were many people coming and going in the county town. Even grain merchants from other places came to collect grain, making the county town seem particularly lively.

Correspondingly, there were many food stalls on the street. Zhou Sirlang wanted to eat everything he saw, but he had little money and didn't want to spend it. He urged Manbao, "Younger sister, do you see those candied haws?" "Do you think they look good?"

Manbao swallowed and nodded.

Zhou Sirlang said, "Buy a string."

Zhou Xi, annoyed, patted his head and said, "You, as the older brother, should buy a bracelet for your younger sister."

Zhou Sirlang didn't say anything. In the end, Zhou Xi, who was generous and caring towards Manbao, bought a bracelet for her. The candied haws were made with hawthorn, and they were particularly sour. After eating one, Manbao didn't want to eat any more.

Zhou Sirlang and his two brothers benefited.

Manbao felt that the candied haws were just for decoration and not tasty at all.

Keke explained to her, "That's because the hawthorns here are all wild, so they are more sour." In the future, with additional enhancements, the sweetness of hawthorns will increase, making the candied haws made from them quite delicious.

He also mentioned, "In addition to using hawthorns, candied haws can also be made from apples and other fruits." I just checked and found that historically, candied haws were made from yam beans, and they were said to be very tasty.

Manbao's eyes sparkled as she asked, "How tasty?"

Keke thought for a moment and used an adjective, "It is said to be the best among the various fruits used for candied haws, but it could also be a mistake because yam beans are extinct. When something is gone, humans always like to imagine it beautifully.

Despite his statement, Manbao still drooled at the thought. When the yam vines at home produced yam beans, she would always ask her sister-in-law to make yam bean candied haws for her to enjoy.