Chapter 1

Xiao Qian's wife quietly walked to the school kitchen entrance, carrying a basket on her back. She took out her niece from the basket and placed her on the threshold, whispering, "Manbao, you sit here. Eldest Sister-in-Law will go cook, and I'll take you home later."

Manbao nodded obediently. Once her sister-in-law turned to enter the kitchen, she ran with her little legs toward the classroom.

Inside, the children were reading the "Thousand Character Classic" under the teacher's guidance. Manbao, familiar with the routine, dragged a stone to the window, stood on it, and peered inside, her bright eyes fixed on the scene.

Bai Erlang, sitting not far from the window, noticed Manbao's gaze and secretly turned his head to glare at her fiercely.

Manbao glared back, sticking out her tongue at him.

Bai Erlang's eyes widened in anger. Just then, the teacher walked by and lightly tapped his head, scolding, "Pay attention."

Manbao couldn't help but laugh, delighted. When the teacher looked over, she playfully winked at him.

The teacher, with his white beard, couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. He didn't stop her, allowing her to lean on the window and listen to their reading.

The teacher said, "Today we will learn the last part of the 'Thousand Character Classic': 'Mao Shi Shu Zhi, Gong Pin Yan Xiao, Nian Shi Mei Cui, Xi Hui Lang Yao, ... Gu Lou Gu Wen, Yu Meng Deng Jiao, Wei Yu Zhu Zhe, Yan Zai Hu Ye.'"

The students recited line by line, and Manbao, standing outside the window, also chanted in her little voice, quite loudly. The students in the classroom were used to it and continued to recite along with the teacher.

Manbao had been reciting the "Thousand Character Classic" since she could speak and had long memorized it. When the teacher put down the book and let the younger students practice on their own while he taught the older ones, Manbao hopped off the stone and ran to the teacher's residence.

When the teacher announced the end of class and walked to his adjacent residence, he saw Manbao had already swept the front area and was sitting on the ground organizing the discarded manuscripts.

Seeing the teacher return, Manbao happily showed him the organized manuscripts, "Teacher, look, these backs can still be used."

"These are the ones I wrote and discarded. If you want them, you can take them home."

Manbao shook her head, "The backs can be used for writing practice, Teacher. You use them first, and when they are full, I'll take them home."

The teacher couldn't resist her and took the manuscripts, placing them on the table. He pointed to another stack of written papers, "Take these home. If you don't understand any characters, bring them to me."

Manbao happily agreed, folded the papers, and tucked them into her clothes, then happily bounced to the kitchen to find her sister-in-law.

Xiao Qian's wife had already prepared the meal and was serving the children.

Manbao slipped into the kitchen, greeted her sister-in-law, and brought the teacher's meal to him.

The teacher pointed to the opposite mat, "Sit and eat with me."

Manbao shook her head, "I'll eat in the kitchen later. This is for the teacher, please eat, Teacher."

The teacher didn't insist, picked up a piece of meat, and offered it to her. Manbao happily ate it but couldn't sit still, playing for a while before running out.

The teacher chuckled and shook his head, not calling her back.

Manbao ran to the kitchen, and Xiao Qian's wife scraped the remaining rice crust from the bottom of the pot into a bowl for her to eat.

Manbao obediently grabbed the rice crust and put it in her mouth, even breaking a piece to give to her sister-in-law. Xiao Qian's wife smiled, eating while pushing it away, "You eat, you eat, there's not much."

It was just one pot of rice, and the rice crust was limited. If too much was burned, the students wouldn't be full, and her job might be at risk.

Xiao Qian's wife had been the school cook for three years and knew exactly how to manage it.

Mr. Zhuang, the teacher, was invited by the landlord Mr. Bai to teach at the school, which was mainly funded by the Bai family and donations from the village.

Mr. Zhuang initially taught here with his wife and children. Since students from nearby villages also attended, they couldn't go home for lunch. Mr. Zhuang, feeling sorry for their hunger, charged each student six pounds of rice and thirty coins per month to eat lunch at the school.

Initially, Mr. Zhuang's wife managed the kitchen, buying vegetables from the village and using the rice brought by the students. Occasionally, she would buy some meat to cook for everyone. Each month, she saved about twenty to thirty coins as her hard-earned fee.

The parents understood that Mr. Zhuang wasn't making a profit and was genuinely concerned for the students. Since the children needed to eat at home anyway, they were happy to provide the food, even the local students brought rice.

Later, Mr. Zhuang's wife fell ill and passed away, and his grandchildren were taken to the city by his children. He was left alone to teach, and no one was left to manage the kitchen. Mr. Zhuang then paid Xiao Qian's wife one hundred coins to be the cook.

Mr. Bai, upon learning this, had Xiao Qian's wife return the money to Mr. Zhuang and paid her himself, taking over the students' rice and money to allow Mr. Zhuang to focus on teaching.

At that time, Manbao was only eight months old and couldn't even walk. Xiao Qian's wife's main task was to take care of Manbao and her youngest son, San Tou. She often carried the two in a basket to the school kitchen, occasionally giving them a rice ball from the pot, raising them very well.

Now, San Tou was four and didn't like coming to the school, preferring to play with the older children. So, only Manbao was with Xiao Qian's wife.

Even though she only got a little rice crust each day, Manbao was well-fed and plump, not looking like a farmer's child, let alone a member of the Zhou family.

After Manbao and her sister-in-law finished the rice crust and cleaned the pots, they happily bounced home.

Xiao Qian's wife tried to put Manbao in the basket, but Manbao refused, running to the side, "I can walk by myself, I can walk by myself."

Xiao Qian's wife didn't insist, "Okay, walk by yourself, just be careful not to fall."

"I'm a big girl now, I won't fall," Manbao shouted and ran forward. From a distance, she saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of their home. She was about to run over when she heard a scream, which startled her.

Xiao Qian's wife, noticing something was wrong, hugged Manbao and rushed forward.

The crowd immediately made way for Xiao Qian's wife, "Sister-in-law Zhou is back, make way, make way."

"Sister-in-law Zhou, your fourth uncle lost money gambling, and they've come to collect."

Some were warning, while others were gloating, "He owes a lot. Old Zhou is about to beat him to death. Sister-in-law Zhou, please persuade him. Money can be earned, but a life lost is gone forever."

Xiao Qian's wife's heart trembled as she pushed through the crowd. She saw her fourth uncle being held down by her second and third brothers, while her father-in-law was hitting him with a stick.

In the courtyard stood about ten strangers, the leader of whom had a stern look and interrupted Old Zhou's anger, "Old Zhou, even if you beat your son to death, you still have to pay me today. Otherwise, we wouldn't have come all this way for nothing."

Manbao directly broke free from Xiao Qian's wife's arms and ran to her father, looking at her fourth brother and the surrounding crowd, she frowned and asked, "Father, how much did Fourth Brother lose?"

The young leader looked at Manbao in surprise, "Eh, Old Zhou, your daughter is quite pretty. If you're short on money, you can use her to pay the debt. She's a bit young, but we don't mind."

Old Zhou was furious, pushing his daughter behind him, "If you want someone, take this beast. He owes the money, let him pay it."

Fourth Brother wailed, "Father, Father, save me, Father. I really won't do it again, I promise. If you let them take me, they'll beat me to death, they really will."

The young leader glanced at Old Zhou, sneered, and stepped on Fourth Brother's hand, causing him to scream.

Seeing Old Zhou's face turn even more pale and grim, he smiled satisfactorily, "It's just fifteen taels of silver. Look at your newly built house; you don't seem poor. Even if you are, you have so many daughters. Just sell a couple. But I must say, daughters aren't worth much now. Your little daughter is a must, otherwise, it would take at least four to five taels to settle the debt."

This scared Xiao Qian's wife and Feng's wife, who pulled their daughters back. They were the only ones with daughters in the family.

Old Zhou was so angry that his hands and feet trembled. Fourth Brother was both shocked and scared, almost wetting his pants. He grabbed his father's sleeve, pleading, "Father, Father, save me, save me. I really won't do it again, I promise."

Second Brother, who was holding him down, couldn't resist hitting him. The family had just started to get by, and he had ruined it.

He had two daughters. If they really had to sell a child...

Thinking of this, Second Brother hit him even harder, "For not listening, for not listening."

Fourth Brother covered his head, begging for mercy.

Manbao watched, her lips tightly pressed, turned to look at her three nieces, and then ran into the house.

Her mother, Qian, was lying on the bed, holding her chest, and her sixth brother was worriedly supporting her.

Her mother's health had always been poor and was likely scared now.

Manbao ran over and asked, "Mother, how much money do we have?"

Qian opened her eyes and looked at her little daughter, wiping away tears, "Why are you asking this?"

"Is the money enough to pay the debt?"

Qian cried, "That scoundrel, if only we had drowned him when he was born. We are short by four or five taels."

Manbao asked, "Should we let them take Fourth Brother?"

"They came from far away. If we don't give them any money, they'll beat him to death before they leave the village. Can we bear to see him die?"

Qian understood this, and Old Zhou certainly did too. It was just a matter of being unwilling.

Manbao, with a serious face, emphasized, "We can't sell the nieces."

Qian stroked her head, "We won't sell them. Even if we sell Fourth Brother, we won't sell them. That wicked one."