The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 1947 - 1922: Angry

After all, Manbao and the others didn’t wait for Xia Yi and his wife to return. They set up all three beds. Seeing that it was getting late, Manbao decided to head back to the city.

Before leaving, Ms.Qian pulled Manbao aside, took out three strings of coins, placed them in her hand, and gave her a look, "Take these, consider them meet and greet gifts from you, as the elder sister, to your younger siblings."

Originally, she wanted to say it was a meet and greet gift for the cousin, but remembering that Manbao didn’t seem to like Xia Yi very much, she changed her wording.

Manbao’s eyes lit up; it was the first time she got to be an elder sister by age.

She reached out to take them, and instead of giving them in public, she pulled the three aside and quietly handed the coins over, whispering, "Don’t tell your parents, keep this for yourselves, it’s my meet and greet gift to you all."

Xia Dalang didn’t want to take them, pushing them back. Seeing his younger siblings grabbing the coins and even trying to return them to her, Manbao pushed back, saying, "I’m an official with a salary now. Hey, our two families are the closest, sharing the same great-grandfather. Since I live far away and might not return many times each year, remember to clear the weeds when you visit my great-grandparents’ graves in the future..."

Manbao then remembered the most important thing, stamped her foot in frustration, and said: "Oh no, I forgot to visit my great-grandfather and great-grandmother at their graves."

Saying this, she turned and ran.

Xia Dalang didn’t have time to stop her, watching her run off with the three strings of coins in his hand.

Old Zhou, who was waiting outside, kept muttering, "...she was supposed to give it in front of everyone, why did she give it secretly?"

This was unexpected for Ms.Qian too, but she still tightly held onto Old Zhou, quietly reprimanding, "Be quiet, a secret gift is fine. If you go in there loudly proclaiming it, a kind gesture becomes an ill-intentioned one."

Old Zhou muttered, "You shouldn’t have given so much, three hundred wen."

Ms.Qian thought: How was she to know Manbao was so earnest, actually giving it secretly?

She was willing to give that much to have it given publicly, to make a good impression in front of Ms.Xia.

Old Zhou continued to mumble, "Knowing this, giving ten wen would have been enough."

Ms.Qian, annoyed by his noise, said, "Shut up."

Old Zhou lowered his voice slightly, but he couldn’t help but continue to mumble.

Ms.Qian unconsciously thought, maybe he’s getting old, or maybe life was too easy, he’s become more and more of a nag lately.

Manbao dashed out from the house, urgently saying, "Dad, Mom, we forgot to visit my great-grandparents’ graves."

Old Zhou and Ms.Qian: ...

Ms.Qian couldn’t help but turn around and scold Old Zhou, "What have you been remembering all day long? How could you forget such a thing?"

Old Zhou, "Does this also blame me?"

When Manbao and the others hurried back to the patriarch’s house, Mr. Zhuang, who was chatting happily with the patriarch, smiled and said, "Are you done?"

Manbao opened her mouth to speak, but Mr. Zhuang already pointed at the chicken, fish, and meat on the table and said, "The offerings are all prepared for you, are you going to start visiting your ancestors?"

Manbao was so touched that her eyes filled with tears. She grabbed Mr. Zhuang’s hand and said, "Sir, you’re always so reliable."

Mr. Zhuang gently patted her head and jokingly scolded, "Naughty, quickly pack up into a basket and go. I’ve arranged with Patriarch Xia, he also prepared hoes and sickles for you, and your cousins are all waiting for you."

Manbao looked around and asked in confusion, "Where is Patriarch Xia?"

Mr. Zhuang chuckled, "Patriarch Xia drank too much tea, his stomach feels a bit off, and he went to rest."

Patriarch Xia sat and drank tea with Mr. Zhuang for half the day, couldn’t find out much about Zhou Man, but instead, gave away quite a few offerings. Reflecting on how the Zhou Family led by their youths helped at Xia Yi’s house, he drank more tea out of frustration, causing a stomach ache and had to go lie down.

Seeing Patriarch Xia’s sons and grandsons waiting for them, Manbao asked no more questions. They packed up the offerings and went out, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang helped carry the sickles, while Zhou Dalang and Zhou Wulang carried the hoes.

The great-grandparents’ grave wasn’t far, just on the mountain at the edge of the village, and they arrived there with a short walk.

But on arriving, even the son of Patriarch Xia, who had visited beforehand, took a while to find it.

The place was covered in wild grass, with a rather large tree growing next to the grave, completely concealing it.

So much so, even from up close, you couldn’t tell it was a grave.

The son of Patriarch Xia felt a bit embarrassed and said to Zhou Man, "Your parents haven’t come back for years, so no one has visited, though occasionally your paternal uncle does."

But the last visit was many years ago.

Manbao furrowed her brows, nodded, and began cutting and clearing the grass with everyone else.

In fact, she wanted to ask, doesn’t the clan visit the solitary graves during Tomb-Sweeping Day every year?

In their Qili Village, each household has a bunch of graves they visit together. The village went through a few major disasters in the past, wiping out many families, some still are related by blood.

Other holidays aside, during the Qingming Festival, the village organizes young men to visit and tidy up those graves, after all, the offerings are the same, it’s just visiting a few more graves, you take back the offerings to eat at home anyway.

Among countryside folks, visiting a few more graves might even bring more protection.

In Manbao’s memory, she didn’t know the graves next to her grandparents’ were her biological parents’, the village even uniformly claimed not knowing whose they were, seemingly wild graves; yet, every year Zhou Dalang and the others would clear the weeds off them on their mountain visits, they would also worship at them, she never thought anything was wrong.

Thus she couldn’t quite understand why her great-grandparents’ graves, right on the edge of the village, remained untended, not to mention, there must be plenty of close kin in the village.

Humming in her heart, after clearing the wild grass off the grave and completing the worship, she went back and didn’t stay long in Hongtian Village; she galloped away on horseback with Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, switching to the carriage only after exiting the village feeling gloomy.

Just out of the village, they encountered Xia Yi and his wife returning. Still upset about her great-grandparents’ graves not being tended, Manbao greeted from the carriage window, shouting loudly, "Uncle Yi, why are you just now coming back? I’ve tidied up your house already."

Daji didn’t stop but slowed the carriage. As the carriage rumbled past Xia Yi and his wife, Manbao could clearly see their eyes widening in shock. She laughed delightedly, "Your bed, your trunks, your tables and chairs, we’ve all set them up again, many in the clan helped; if you don’t believe it, go and see."

Xia Yi was startled, thinking she did something to their home, and in his fury, he jumped and said, "Xia Man, that’s my house, what did you do to it?"

"Nothing, Uncle Yi, I care for my younger siblings and care for you too, I’ll come back to see you next year, goodbye."