Farm Girl's Small Blessings

Chapter 5: Points Galore

Man Bao squatted there looking for a relatively short vine. Da Tou and Da Ya also came over to help. Seeing Wu Shu and Liu Shu arguing, Da Tou and Er Tou joined in, while Da Ya squatted next to Man Bao and asked her what she was looking for.

Upon learning that she wanted to dig up a small thorny plant, everyone eagerly helped her search. They soon found a young thorny plant that had just sprouted. They used sticks to dig the soil and quickly pulled it out, although the root was too long and broke off.

However, no one minded.

Man Bao held it in her hand, as it was still small and without thorns, so everyone was at ease letting her hold it.

Such things were common among them.

Da Ya picked some wildflowers and wore them on her head, asking her cousin, "Do I look pretty?"

Man Bao stared at her blankly, finding it hard to say it was pretty, but not wanting to hurt her cousin's feelings, she nodded and said, "The flowers look pretty."

Da Ya became delighted and happily skipped away with Er Ya.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Man Bao slid down from Wu Lang's back and picked a snake berry from his hand, but didn't eat it. She walked while handing everything over to Ke Ke.

It had been over a year, and with Ke Ke's reminders, Man Bao had learned how to secretly hide things to give to Ke Ke.

The other children didn't notice this at all, and Da Ya's wildflowers were lost at some point.

As they walked on, Wu Lang suddenly exclaimed and looked around, curious, "Where's Fourth Brother? Wasn't Yao Mei pointing to this place on the mountain?"

Everyone looked around, and Da Tou exclaimed, "Fourth Uncle is missing."

"Wait, can you all hear..." Da Ya made a hushing sound, making everyone quiet, then they faintly heard snoring.

Right next to Man Bao, she was the first to push aside the grass and saw Zhou Si Lang sleeping soundly in the grass.

Man Bao was so angry that she ran up and stomped on his chest, but Zhou Si Lang didn't wake up.

Man Bao was about to continue, but Da Tou had already grabbed a piece of wild grass and squatted down next to him, using the grass to tickle his nose.

Curious, Man Bao stopped stomping her brother and squatted next to Da Tou, asking, "Does this work?"

Da Tou used the wild grass to stroke Man Bao's face and asked, "Little cousin, does it tickle?"

Unable to resist, Man Bao scratched her face and exclaimed, "It tickles, let me try!"

She took the grass from Da Tou's hand and experimented on Zhou Si Lang's face. Everyone gathered around and also plucked wild grass to tickle Zhou Si Lang's face. He waved his hand after being tickled, turned over, and continued sleeping.

Man Bao was unhappy with this reaction, so she stopped playing with the grass and directly shouted into Zhou Si Lang's ear, "Snake~~~"

"Ah—!" Zhou Si Lang sat up abruptly, jumping and turning in place, "Where's the snake, where's the snake?"

Man Bao stared at him, "Fourth Brother, Father asked you to clear the land, but you're sleeping here. I'll tell Father to punish you."

Seeing her chubby younger sister, Zhou Si Lang couldn't help but pinch her cheek and said, "Besides tattling, what else can you do?"

Wu Lang immediately knocked his hand away, "Fourth Brother, you're bullying your younger sister."

Feeling the pinch on her face, Man Bao teared up, and she stomped on Zhou Si Lang's foot and pressed down hard, saying, "Besides tattling, I can also hit you. Will you dare to hit back?"

Zhou Si Lang, Zhou Si Lang didn't dare!

Zhou Si Lang was so angry his nose was about to flip. Man Bao, feeling triumphant, coldly said, "Hurry up and clear the grass for work, Fourth Brother, I'm helping you, you know?"

With her ability to learn many words and languages from Ke Ke, Man Bao reasoned with Zhou Si Lang, "Mother said that we haven't saved up fifteen taels of silver in three years. That money was supposed to be for you and Wu Ge to get married. But you squandered all the family's money in one go, even owing money to your sisters-in-law and the village elder brother's family. You have to pay back all that money!"

"You may not marry, but Wu Ge must. Your sisters-in-law have saved money, isn't it hard for them? You have no other skills except farming and repaying debts, what else can you do?"

Zhou Wu Lang blushed slightly but stood up and said, "Fourth Brother, I'm fourteen. In two years, I must get engaged. How much money can you pay back to the family?"

Zhou Si Lang was shocked, "Do I have to pay back all that money?"

"Of course, who told you to lose it in gambling?" Thinking of the neighbor's niece who was sold because of him, Man Bao felt a surge of anger ready to burst forth. She stared at Zhou Si Lang coldly and said, "People who don't stop gambling should have their hands and feet cut off and thrown into the mountains to feed the wolves, so they won't harm others."

Zhou Si Lang couldn't help but step back, shivering, pointing at this little brat, "How can you be so heartless? I'm your Fourth Brother!"

"If Da Ya, Er Ya, San Ya, and Da Tou are also my nieces, next time you gamble and can't repay the family, the people from the gambling den will come and take them away. Once they're taken away, it will be my turn, along with Da Tou and Er Tou. After selling off the nieces and nephews, Da Ge and the others will have to spend their lives repaying your debts. Although you're a relative, you're just one person. You can't harm so many of us because of you alone, so..."

Even Da Ya and Da Tou hadn't thought about it this far, but now, hearing their little cousin say this, they also looked at Zhou Si Lang with some animosity.

Even Wu Lang and Liu Lang couldn't help but step forward to confront Zhou Si Lang.

Zhou Si Lang quickly waved his hands and said, "Man Bao, stop making baseless accusations. I have already made up my mind to change and never gamble again."

Man Bao coldly snorted, "Let's see your determination then."

"Yes, let's see your determination!"

So, under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhou Si Lang had to pick up a sickle and start cutting the grass, while the others stood around, occasionally pointing and giving directions, "Fourth Uncle, there's a lot of grass here, cut here!"

"Fourth Brother, the soil is thicker here, cut here quickly."

Meanwhile, Man Bao, led by Da Ya and Er Ya, picked many flowers and made a flower crown to wear on her head.

Da Ya and Er Ya sincerely exclaimed, "Little cousin, you look really pretty!"

Man Bao was delighted, "Of course, you all look pretty too."

Zhou Si Lang, listening and watching, felt increasingly annoyed, "Why don't you all help out? How long will it take me alone to clear this land?"

Thinking she was still quite diligent, Man Bao immediately led some people forward to help.

Seeing Man Bao start working, the others rolled up their sleeves and joined in.

Wu Lang took the sickle and cleared the grass, Da Tou carried the grass away, while Wu Lang and Zhou Si Lang took hoes to dig up the shrubs in the ground.

Man Bao led the remaining people to pick up stones, removing stones, dry wood, and placing them in a pile to be carried back as firewood.

Clearing the land was indeed difficult, with all sorts of things in the soil. Seeing this, the system sighed slightly and decided not to ask the host to find plants anymore, at least for tomorrow.

Just hoping the host would still be willing to come out tomorrow.

Tired of picking up stones, Man Bao chatted with the system, "Ke Ke, are there any plants here that haven't been recorded?"

"No."

Disappointed, Man Bao asked, "Why are so many of these wild plants recorded in your encyclopaedia?"

Ke Ke explained, "These wild plants will still be common in the future, but the quantity will greatly decrease. Some plants have even become extinct, hence my existence."

Feeling embarrassed, Man Bao said, "So I recorded them."

Ke Ke solemnly stated, "Yes, each recording earns you one point as a reward."

Even though it was just a small reward, Ke Ke still had to allocate some points from its own reserve to buy her candy, as her efficiency was too low.

Because the Zhou family spoiled her too much, the other children in the family were left to roam freely from the age of two, running around the village with the older children, as long as they stayed away from the water.

But not Man Bao, she always had someone looking after her.

While the nieces and nephews rolled in the mud in the fields, she sat on the clean kang at home being taught to speak.

When the nieces and nephews went to weed and plant in the fields, she was taken to the school to eat roasted rice cakes. It could be said that the farthest she had ever been was under the big banyan tree at the village entrance. It was her first time on this mountain.

The reason she could go to the big banyan tree was because Old Zhou took advantage of the New Year's leisure time and took his little girl to chat with his old friends under the big banyan tree.

Of course, only Man Bao had that privilege in the family because every time she made a round, she would always receive a penny or two in lucky money.

The plants in the village were the most common, and she would pick one and give it to the system. That year, the system was only busy identifying plants for her. Just as she handed it over, the next second, she would pick another one exactly the same, leaving the system internally in turmoil.

Fortunately, Man Bao now knew to ask the system directly if there were any new plants that needed to be recorded, instead of picking a bunch of wild grass for it to identify one by one, only for the system to helplessly inform her that the plant had already been recorded.

Tired from moving stones, she wiped the sweat off her forehead with her small hand and asked the system, "Ke Ke, you guys are really strange. Why record these wild plants? We have to clear them out, it's so annoying. How long will it take to clear the land?"

"It's because the technological development of this host's world isn't advanced yet. In the future, clearing land will be done by machines, and although these wild plants will still exist in the future, their numbers will greatly decrease. Some plants have even become extinct, hence my presence."

Man Bao's focus was a bit off, as she was surprised, "So many grass, trees, rocks, and it will be cleared by machines? What are machines, and can I buy one?"

After a moment of silence, the system replied, "No, the level of technology is far beyond that of this host's world, so it cannot be purchased. Even if it could, you, host, don't have any points."

Man Bao blinked and suddenly realized the importance of these points. She had always thought they were of no use, just for exchanging candy.

Even without points, she could still eat candy as her second brother or father would buy her some whenever they went to the market.