Eat and Eat
Zhou Xi stood at the entrance of Jishi Hall and said to a group of younger siblings, "You guys go play, I'll go see the doctor first."
She also instructed Zhou Siliang and Zhou Wulang, "Make sure to take good care of Man Bao."
Zhou Siliang, with a glib tongue, said, "Big sister, rest assured, even if we lose our way, we won't lose track of our youngest sister."
Although Man Bao was very concerned about her older sister's health, she was also enthusiastic about shopping. After weighing the options, she took out a candy from her pocket and placed it in Zhou Xi's hand, saying, "Sister, you go see the doctor first." "If the doctor gives you bitter medicine, have a candy first."
Zhou Xi smiled and agreed. In fact, she hadn't come to get medicine for a long time, mainly because she didn't have much money with her, but now she had some income. Zhou Xi was now very frugal and really wanted to regain her health.
Without her older sister around, Zhou Siliang became playful and suddenly lifted Man Bao onto his back, rushing into the crowd.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang also followed, shouting loudly.
Some people on the street looked at the four of them like country bumpkins, but most of them looked at them kindly. Many of the young people who strolled on the street today were from the village, similar to Zhou Dalang and others, all there to pay their grain taxes.
The county town was not very large, with three main streets. The busiest street was the main one in front of the county office. Zhou Siliang finished walking down the street briskly and then stopped in front of a steamed bun shop. He lowered his head and asked Man Bao, who was standing beside him, "Are you hungry?"
Man Bao nodded. She had only eaten breakfast before coming out, but now it was close to noon. How could she not be hungry?
Zhou Siliang looked at the fragrant steamed buns and couldn't resist the temptation. In the end, Man Bao took out her own money from her pocket to buy them.
However, she was not foolish. She looked at her three brothers and said, "Big brother, second brother, and third brother, you are all hungry too."
Her ten coins were definitely not enough.
Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately said, "Your money is not enough; we'll chip in to make up the difference."
Man Bao was happy and went to select the steamed buns.
The steamed buns were large, with a clear distinction between plain buns and meat buns. Plain buns were one coin each, while meat buns were two for three coins.
After considering, Man Bao decided to buy an equal amount of both. She counted the number of people and decided to buy eight plain buns and eight meat buns, totaling twenty coins.
Man Bao took out her ten coins and then decisively took four coins from Zhou Siliang's share. She also made it clear to him, "Fourth brother, you need to contribute four coins." As the oldest, you should contribute more. "You still owe me four coins."
Zhou Siliang widened his eyes and said, "What can I do with the remaining four coins?" "You might as well give them to me as well."
Four coins could buy him two meat buns and one plain bun.
Man Bao covered the money and shook her head, refusing, "No, saving money means accumulating little by little. Why would you not save just because it's only four coins?" If you can save four coins today, you can save four coins tomorrow, and in ten days, that's forty coins. In a hundred days, that's four hundred coins.
"You said that money is only money when it circulates." When it doesn't circulate, it's just copper coins, so…"
"You're really foolish," Man Bao looked at him disdainfully. "This is risk prevention." If you save it, when something significant happens in the future, it will circulate. Otherwise, if you spend all your money now and need it in the future, where will you get it from?
Zhou Siliang was at a loss and said, "You've said it all." "You didn't say that to your big sister just now."
Man Bao said matter-of-factly, "But you're not big sister."
Zhou Siliang: ...
Man Bao made a decisive decision, waving her hand, and said, "It's settled."
She approached the vendor with the money and sweetly asked, "Since we're buying so much, could you please give us an extra plain bun?"
The vendor had been paying attention to them. After all, there weren't many people eating before noon at that time. With four people standing in front of his stall, all of them drooling over his steamed buns, he found it hard to ignore them. So, he heard what Man Bao had just said.
He had always thought of himself as clever, but the calculations Man Bao had just made left him feeling a bit overwhelmed. After counting on his fingers, he found that sixteen buns did indeed cost twenty coins. After hesitating for a moment, he added an extra plain bun for her and said, "Alright, I'll give you one."
Man Bao smiled sweetly at him.
The buns were wrapped in lotus leaves, and each person took a package. They couldn't help but salivate and unanimously decided to go back and find the others.
Man Bao ran ahead with her short legs, first going to Jishi Hall to find Zhou Xi, and then dragging her to the county office to find Zhou Dalang and the others.
Zhou Dalang and the others were waiting in line, slowly moving forward.
There were quite a few people rushing to pay their taxes today, so they had been waiting for a long time. The head clerk in front was calculating the grain taxes with his subordinates, while others were weighing the grain. Only after paying the required amount of grain taxes could they receive a token and proceed to the side to collect the receipt, confirming that this year's grain taxes had been paid.
Zhou Wulang rushed forward with the buns to find Zhou Dalang. Soon, Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang came out. Upon holding the lotus leaves in his hands, Zhou Dalang felt distressed. "Man Bao wanted to eat, just buy her two." "Why did you buy so many?"
Zhou Wulang said, "Fourth brother told us to."
Zhou Siliang glared at him, and Zhou Dalang glared back at Zhou Siliang, asking, "Whose money?" Where did you get so much money?
Zhou Siliang said, "Big brother, we sold ginger and made some money. It's only once a year." After the autumn harvest, everyone worked diligently for two months. What's wrong with enjoying a good meal? Besides, this is also Man Bao feeling sorry for us, right, Man Bao?
Man Bao nodded and squatted down to open the lotus leaves, picking out a larger bun and handing it to Zhou Dalang, eagerly saying, "Big brother, eat quickly."
Zhou Dalang couldn't help but soften as he took the bun, broke it open, and saw that it was a meat bun. He handed it to Man Bao and asked her to eat the filling inside.
Man Bao took a bite from each of the buns and then handed the lotus leaf to Zhou Dalang.
They all sat on the ground to eat, knowing that there was one plain bun and one meat bun for each person, so they divided and ate them.
Zhou Dalang didn't eat much. After eating two, he stood up and said, "I'll go and switch with the third brother."
Man Bao was still struggling to eat her bun. She thought the meal was delicious, but her stomach seemed a bit small. After finishing one, she couldn't eat any more.
She felt a little regretful and looked eagerly at her brothers and sisters.
Zhou Siliang teased her while eating, "You have to grow taller, and in a couple of years, you'll be able to eat two buns."
Zhou Xi glared at him, signaling him not to provoke Man Bao. She opened her meat bun, removed the filling, and gave it to Man Bao to eat.
Man Bao took a bite and shook her head, "I can't eat anymore." "I'm very full."
Zhou Xi patted her slightly protruding belly, smiled, and then finished the rest.