Gratification

Man Bao held Bai Shanbao's hand and ran towards Zhou Siliang's wasteland.

Datou, along with the Bai family's servants who appeared unexpectedly from behind, followed closely behind.

Mrs. Liu had instructed the servants not to interrupt Bai Shanbao if he was playing with the young lady from the Zhou family. They could bring him back at dinnertime. However, if he was causing trouble with other students, they should bring him back immediately. Therefore, the servants were merely following along and not intervening at the moment.

Zhou Siliang and Er Tou were resting in the field, nibbling on a slender sugarcane stalk that they had stumbled upon.

When they saw Datou bringing Man Bao and a chubby little child over, Zhou Siliang reluctantly broke off a few sections of the sugarcane to give to them.

Bai Shanbao didn't recognize the object and was unsure how to consume it.

Man Bao, on the other hand, had eaten it before. It was one of the few snacks that her family would bring back from the fields for her. She taught Bai Shanbao how to eat it and said, "This thing can be used to make sugar."

Before Bai Shanbao could speak, Zhou Siliang expressed doubt, "I've never heard of sugarcane being used to make sugar."

"It can," Keke had told her, and she was sure of it. She added, "Wheat can be used to make sugar, so why can't sugarcane?"

Most of the sugar they bought from the market was made from wheat, and Keke said it was called maltose.

Zhou Siliang was at a loss and couldn't help but ask, "Then how do you make it?"

Man Bao didn't know, so she went to ask Keke.

The system asked, "Does the host want to search for sugar-making techniques?"

Man Bao replied, "Yes," and the system generated a string of data, sounding somewhat excited, "It will cost one hundred points." Are you sure you want to search?

Man Bao blinked and asked, "Why does it cost points?"

The system's voice lowered slightly and said, "This is technical knowledge." The sweet cane you have recorded in the system currently only has basic descriptions. For a comprehensive description of sugar-making techniques, you will need to purchase this knowledge from the encyclopedia in the system.

After a pause, Keke said, "Once the host searches for this technique, the technical content will permanently exist in the system, and the host can access it at any time."

The implication was that it was worth it.

But Man Bao was someone who didn't want to spend extra money on a bag of sugar. She refused Keke's offer and then accessed the recorded information about the sweet cane. Anything she recorded would be researched by others and transformed into entries in the system, allowing her to access it for free.

The sugarcane had been documented for a long time, but the entries were very brief, only covering its history of cultivation and distribution areas, as well as its utilization in producing sugar and wine.

Man Bao scratched her head and said to Zhou Siliang, "Making sugar should be similar to making soup." Just chop it up and boil it in water. You should ask someone how wheat is used to make sugar; it might be similar to that.

"That's someone else's skill." "Why would they tell me?" Zhou Siliang said.

Man Bao replied matter-of-factly, "Then you can try it step by step." "After all, sweet cane doesn't cost anything, so just try it."

Zhou Siliang was left speechless by this bold statement.

Bai Shanbao, however, thought for a moment and said, "Didn't the gentleman say there is a wealth of knowledge in books?" "Perhaps the method of making sugar is in the books?"

"I don't have books at home," Man Bao said.

"I do," Bai Shanbao said. "I have a lot of books at home!"

Man Bao's eyes lit up. "Really?" Can I read them?

"Yes, you can." Come to my house after school tomorrow, and I'll take you to see the books," Bai Shanbao said. When they left their old home, they didn't bring much else, just several carts of books. His grandmother said that those were their treasures, and their future success would depend on these treasures.

Bai Shanbao actually had a secret plan that he hadn't shared with Man Bao. He thought there were too many books, and he was afraid of having to read them all as his grandmother had instructed. So, he wanted to give some to Man Bao. In the future, if he made other friends, he would also give books to them. For every book he gave away, he would have to read one less. This idea had just occurred to him.

For example, Zhou Siliang had so many candy canes just now, but if he gave each of them a piece, he wouldn't have many left.

If Mrs. Liu and Mr. Zhuang knew how resourceful Bai Shanbao was, they would probably be both amused and annoyed. But at the moment, no one knew. Man Bao just felt that Bai Shanbao was indeed a good person. Not only did he play with her, but he also wanted to give her books and even whispered to her about it.

Man Bao was deeply moved when she saw Bai Shanbao eagerly looking at the mountain, so she volunteered to take him up the mountain to play.

If Man Bao wanted to go up the mountain, Datou would definitely follow to protect them. Er Tou and the maidservant couldn't sit still and also wanted to go along.

Upon Man Bao's arrival, she took all of Zhou Siliang's helpers away.

Zhou Siliang was furious and shouted, "Are they here to help or not?"

However, the children, who could only see the wildflowers and grass on the mountain, couldn't hear him anymore. They were running and shouting, chasing each other up the mountain.

The Bai family's servant silently followed them. He felt that he should report back to the old lady and that the young master should have a larger book boy to have the energy to keep up with the young master's running around.

The mountain was not large, and the larger mountains and forests behind it were where they usually went to cut grass. Therefore, there were few wild animals, and the adults felt at ease letting the children run up the mountain.

It was called a mountain, but it was actually a hill.

When they reached the mountaintop, the children were exhausted and sat down on the ground. After catching their breath, they stood up and looked down at the village not far away, where smoke was rising. Bai Shanbao couldn't help but shout in excitement.

This startled Man Bao, but when she saw how much fun he was having, she also opened her mouth and shouted into the sky.

Datou and the others joined in, and the mountains echoed with their shouts, nearly deafening the servant.

Keke in Man Bao's mind also became interested and pointed out to her, "Put your hands around your mouth when you shout; it will make the sound louder."

Man Bao covered her face with her hands and asked herself, "Like this?"

"Cover your mouth..."

With Keke's guidance, Man Bao finally made the right gesture and started shouting again. After shouting, she asked Bai Shanbao next to her, "Do you think mine is louder?"

Thinking that she wanted to compete with him, Bai Shanbao imitated her and shouted as well, then said, "Mine is louder than yours."

The two children argued, and the servant, afraid they would fight, quickly pointed to a nearby cluster of flowers and said, "Young master, do you think those flowers are beautiful?"

Man Bao looked over and immediately said, "I know these flowers." Would you like me to create a flower crown for you? "It will look good on your head."

So, the two children stopped arguing and ran over to pick flowers and grass. They then sat down to make flower crowns.

Man Bao's skills were a bit rusty, but the flower crown she made was much prettier than Bai Shanbao's. Therefore, she generously gave her own flower crown to Bai Shanbao and assisted him in putting it on.

Bai Shanbao reluctantly accepted the flower crown from Man Bao, even though it was ugly. To save face, Man Bao insisted on wearing it home.

Bai Shanbao also wore the flower crown on his head and went back to see his grandmother and mother.

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Zheng saw Bai Shanbao coming back from school like this, and they couldn't help but laugh, feeling relieved to see him so happy with rosy cheeks.