Charcoal Pen

Da Ya and Er Ya busied themselves lighting sticks in the kitchen, while Man Bao squatted on the ground, immersing herself in the task of studying the pens she had found.

She couldn't chat with the sellers in the mall, but the product pages were very detailed. Just by looking at the pen barrels, she couldn't have imagined that they were made of bamboo. But Keke mentioned it, so now she had a rough idea of how they were made.

The Zhou family was never short of bamboo. There were cut strips, freshly chopped, and dried ones, all readily available.

Man Bao, along with Da Tou and Er Tou, hurried into the woodshed to find suitable bamboo and quickly chopped several pieces.

When the children returned from the vegetable garden, their hands, faces, and bodies were all covered in soot. As soon as Xiao Qian called out to Man Bao, the children all looked towards the door.

Then, the four middle-aged women in the house fell silent for a moment. Three of them immediately rushed over and picked up sticks to beat them.

Abandoned by Zhou Xi: ...

Man Bao was frightened. When she saw her sister-in-law reaching out to hit her, she immediately dropped everything and ran into the house.

Before long, the house was filled with scolding from Qian Shi, followed by Man Bao's wailing.

After disciplining the children, Xiao Qian and the two sisters-in-law had to go boil water to bathe them.

With so many children, it was impossible to bathe them one by one. Since they had already been bathed once, they simply washed the boys and girls separately, wiped their faces and hands clean, and changed their clothes.

There weren't many clothes in the house, especially for the children, so there were only a few extra sets. Clothes would wear out faster with more washing, so Xiao Qian's face looked very unpleasant.

Man Bao looked guiltily at her sister-in-law and whispered that they were going to make pens, not just fool around. Xiao Qian's expression improved slightly, and she said, "In the future, let your brothers handle this kind of task when they return." You're so bold, using a knife by yourself. What if you cut your hand?

Afterwards, Xiao Qian sought out Zhou Silang, Zhou Wulang, and Zhou Liulang, and reprimanded them, saying, "The adults are not at home, and I'm not feeling well." You three are at home and don't even know how to take care of the children. "You let them play with knives..."

After Zhou Dalang and the others had dinner, they took all the remaining money from the children and went out to cut bamboo. When they returned and learned that the children had not only used a knife but also started a fire, they immediately remarked, "They got what they deserved."

However, Zhou Erlang still helped them make the charcoal pens. He was always skillful, even more so than the women in the house.

He also burned many extra charcoal sticks for them because the children had previously played with charcoal sticks and gotten very dirty. He also fashioned a piece of bamboo to cover the charcoal pen tip, which could be opened when needed, similar to a stopper.

He put the remaining charcoal sticks in a cloth bag and handed them to Man Bao, asking, "What do you need these for?" Have you run out of ink?

"This is not for me, it's for Fifth Brother," Man Bao said as he took out a piece of white paper and started writing on it. He noticed that the characters were still a bit large, but much better than before.

Zhou Erlang also thought the characters were too large, so he carefully sharpened the charcoal stick with a knife, making the characters much smaller when written slightly slanted.

Man Bao was happy and ran to find Zhou Wulang to teach him how to keep accounts.

Zhou Silang, who was lying in bed holding five coins, was about to fall asleep. When he heard this, he couldn't help but sit up and ask, "Are you going to keep my accounts?"

"Yes," Man Bao said matter-of-factly, "not only your accounts, but also those of Fifth Brother and Big Sister when they go out." "When they come back, they have to give us money."

"Oh," Zhou Silang lay back down. He remembered that Man Bao had provided the ginger seeds for Big Sister's field, and Lao Wu had also made an effort. It seemed that they had agreed to share the profits at that time.

Feeling that he was not being treated unfairly, he was satisfied and lay back down, feeling drowsy. But Man Bao pulled him up and said, "Fourth Brother, you should also listen." If Fifth Brother doesn't know how to write a word, you can teach him.

Zhou Silang was exasperated and said, "If Lao Wu can't write, then I definitely can't write."

Zhou Wulang burst into laughter and said to Man Bao, "Don't force Fourth Brother." He always lies down and sleeps as soon as he returns to the room. He hasn't reviewed anything. "He knows fewer characters than I do."

Man Bao gave Zhou Silang a disdainful look and continued teaching Zhou Wulang. He even wrote a sample account for him to use as a reference so that he could write it the same way the next day.

Zhou Wulang said it was no problem. He could write numbers, jin, and wen, so he didn't think there would be any problem.

Man Bao happily ran back to her room, took out four large sheets of paper from a box, folded them into quarters, and cut them with a knife. She then took them to Xiao Qian to sew a few stitches, and a small book was born.

When Man Bao handed the account book to Zhou Wulang, Zhou Xi happened to come looking for them. She wanted them to help her carry a basket of ginger tomorrow. Even if they couldn't sell it individually, it would be beneficial to sell it at a lower price to the grocery store.

But Man Bao encouraged Zhou Xi, "Big Sister, why don't you go with them?" "There's not much farm work to do at home right now, and going out will broaden your horizons."

Zhou Xi hesitated, "Is that really okay?"

"What's wrong with that?" "With Fourth and Fifth Brothers taking care of you."

Zhou Silang perked up and got up from the bed, joining in, "Big Sister, come with us." Some people are very particular. When we knock on the door, they see that we're just kids, and they are unwilling to open it. But you're different. You're a woman. If you knock on the door, they will be less guarded.

"Yes, yes," Man Bao added, "Big Sister, a pound of ginger sells for only 35 wen at the grocery store, but it sells for 47 wen when sold separately." "That's an extra 12 yen."

Sure enough, Zhou Xi felt sorry for them when she heard this. "Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow."

Man Bao smiled and said to Zhou Wulang, "Fifth Brother, remember to keep Big Sister's accounts separately."

Zhou Xi was puzzled, "What accounts?"

"The accounts for selling ginger." By keeping track, we will know if we have received the correct amount of money, and we will have a clear idea of how much we have earned.

Zhou Xi laughed, "Younger sister knows a lot." "Big Sister can't read, so we'll have Lao Wu keep track when we get back."

Man Bao said, "Big Sister, come and learn to read with us. I'll teach you how to write your own name."

"At my age, I'm still learning to read?"