Unequal Suffering

Mǎn Bǎo was ignorant of these matters, and she was very envious that her fourth brother could live outside. At this moment, she squatted in front of Zhou Silang's grass shed, feeling reluctant to go home.

Zhōu Xǐ and the three younger brothers cleaned up the grass before taking Mǎn Bǎo back home. As a result, Mǎn Bǎo ran into the grass shed and squatted on the ground, looking up and asking, "Big sister, can I stay here with Fourth Brother tonight?"

Zhōu Xǐ: ...

Zhōu Sìláng immediately said, "Sure, you can sleep next to me and help me deal with the mosquitoes."

Zhōu Xǐ went forward to pull her back home, saying, "Don't stay here overnight. When it gets dark, you'll cry; there are too many mosquitoes outside."

They had already had dinner and took advantage of the coolness when the sun went down to weed the grass, so Zhou Silang didn't need to go home. He stood at the grass shed and waved to Mǎn Bǎo, "Younger sister, don't go back, stay here and feed the mosquitoes with Fourth Brother."

Mǎn Bǎo also reached out to Zhōu Sìláng and tried to break free from Zhōu Xǐ's hand, "Big sister, let me go, I want to stay here with Fourth Brother…"

Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng laughed heartily as they each grabbed one of her arms and carried her home. As they said to her, "You are tender; the mosquitoes love you the most." If you stay, Fourth Brother will wake up laughing every night.

Mǎn Bǎo finally stopped struggling and asked, "Since there are so many mosquitoes, why does Fourth Brother stay here?"

"To watch the ginger." No one steals the sweet potatoes, but our ginger has been dug up several times. Such a large piece is worth at least two or three taels. "These people are too malicious."

Mǎn Bǎo heard for the first time that someone was stealing ginger and thought it was a bit silly. "If they want ginger, they can just buy it from our family. Why steal it?"

Zhōu Wǔláng teased her, "If they can steal it, why spend money to buy it?"

Mǎn Bǎo widened her eyes and said, "Isn't buying things the right thing to do?" "I've never heard that stealing is also the right thing to do."

This puzzled Zhōu Wǔláng, but he chose not to elaborate on it further.

But Mǎn Bǎo was clearly very interested in this topic and went to ask Mr. Zhuāng about it.

Coincidentally, Bái Shànbǎo was also there, so Mr. Zhuāng asked him, "Why do you think the villagers would steal ginger?"

"Because they also want to grow ginger," Bái Shànbǎo said, "I've never grown ginger before, so I didn't know it was so easy." "The ginger in my garden," my grandmother said, "doesn't need to be sold to others." She'll buy it all for forty yuan per catty.

Mr. Zhuāng chuckled and stroked his beard, "Well said." In the past, no one in the village grew ginger; everyone was the same, buying it from the grocery store on holidays, so there was nothing different. But now someone is cultivating it, and producing a significant amount. This is not a case of scarcity, but of unequal suffering. Think about it: if you were an official and your people behaved like this, how would you handle it?

Bái Shànbǎo and Mǎn Bǎo looked at each other and said, "Stealing is against the law; it should be punished."

Mr. Zhuāng smiled and encouraged them to continue.

The two children spoke openly, considering the current situation. They were all fellow villagers, and it would not be good to suddenly arrest people. Therefore, it would be better to conduct some investigation before making any arrests. For instance, informing everyone that theft is not only morally wrong but also illegal.

Finally, Mǎn Bǎo said, "Since they also want to grow ginger, why not give them a piece to grow? I can also provide instructions on how to cultivate it. "If they are as diligent as Bái Shànbǎo and water it regularly, they will end up killing it."

Bái Shànbǎo turned to glare at her and said, "My ginger is growing better than yours."

Mǎn Bǎo said, "Because I'm helping you."

Mr. Zhuāng cleared his throat and redirected the children's attention. He then asked Mǎn Bǎo, "Will you always share things with others when there is unequal suffering?"

"Of course not," Mǎn Bǎo said, "I'll share if I want to, and I won't if I don't want to."

Mr. Zhuāng: ... A very childish response, but he also grasped the concept. Mr. Zhuāng was relieved; he had noticed that his disciple did not appear to lack intelligence.

Mr. Zhuāng waved his hand and said, "Then go and try." Give someone a piece of ginger to grow and see what happens.

He also wanted to see how the two disciples would handle it.

Mǎn Bǎo and Bái Shànbǎo looked at each other and walked out of Mr. Zhuāng's yard together. One of them said, "The ginger isn't ripe yet."

"Now everyone is busy harvesting beans; there's no time." "Let's wait until the beans are harvested," Mǎn Bǎo was still reluctant to give away her ginger. She had just spoken too quickly in front of Mr. Zhuāng, but reneging on her word was not advisable. She didn't know if Mr. Zhuāng would forget about it after a while.

Bái Shànbǎo also disapproved of Mǎn Bǎo's hasty words and declared, "I've already sold all my ginger to my grandmother; I have nothing to give away."

Mǎn Bǎo hummed, "So stingy."

Bái Shànbǎo thought about it and felt it wasn't right, so he said, "If your family hasn't sold all the ginger, maybe my grandmother and I can buy some from you."

Mǎn Bǎo asked, "Can your family use so much?"

Bái Shànbǎo said, "My grandmother and the others use ginger to make tea every day. If we can't use it all, we can give it to others."

Mǎn Bǎo thought for a moment and said, "If your family needs it, I'll sell it to you." If not, there's no need to buy it specifically. I've already made a deal with Mr. Zheng from Jishitang. When winter comes, the old ginger can be sold to him, it can also be sold to the grocery store, and it can be retailed in the county. "Anyway, ginger can be stored, and we can sell it gradually."

There seemed to be a lot of ginger, but in fact, there wasn't that much, especially since it can be stored. It could be sold during the holidays when many people would be interested in purchasing it.

Mǎn Bǎo was in no hurry to sell; as Kēkē said, this was a seller's market. As more people begin to cultivate ginger in the future, she may need to consider selling it.

Thinking this way, it seemed that giving the ginger to the villagers would do more harm than good, but Mǎn Bǎo disagreed.

In the village, people would recommend good seeds to each other, sometimes giving less expensive seeds as gifts. Valuable seeds could also be exchanged for other items if you had extras. Mǎn Bǎo felt that their family should not disrupt this balance.

As for why, she couldn't figure it out with her current young mind. She just felt that it shouldn't be disrupted.

Fortunately, it was the busy farming season, and everyone clearly didn't have time to pay attention to the Zhou family's ginger.

Despite the high cost of ginger, it was perceived as a mere condiment in everyone's eyes, not essential like the crops in the fields.

That was their livelihood for the year.

The sun had been shining brightly in recent days, causing the beans, which were already starting to turn yellow, to ripen quickly. Consequently, people began harvesting them.

Lǎo Zhōu estimated that it would be sunny for the next few days, so he took his whole family to the fields to harvest the beans.