The Importance of Etiquette

Not only did Mr. Bai give them New Year's money, but Mrs. Bai and Mrs. Bai also gave them, which made them feel overwhelmed. Even though Man Bao and Bai Shanbao were still young, they understood this principle very well.

So, the two recipients of the gifts held Bai Erlang's hands, one on each side, and took him to play together.

Bai Erlang reluctantly ran with them and asked, "What are you playing?"

"We are going to find mushrooms growing on decaying leaves and manure, and move them to my compost pile to help them decompose further and enrich the fertilizer," Bai Shanbao replied.

Bai Erlang was astonished, "What's so fun about that?"

Bai Shanbao explained, "It's fun because even if we transplant them along with the soil they grew in, they may not survive." Man Bao and I are competing to see who can achieve a higher survival rate after transplantation.

Man Bao nodded, "It's only after a light drizzle a few days ago that there are more mushrooms on the mountain." Otherwise, they are hard to find.

Bai Erlang shook off their hands and said, "I don't want to play with you." "I want to play hide and seek with my friends."

Bai Shanbao sneered, "What's so fun about hide and seek?" "I always find you, and you always hide in the haystack."

Bai Erlang glared and asked, "How do you know?"

Man Bao chuckled, "Out of ten games, you've hidden in the haystack nine times, and the other time you didn't hide properly." "We all know."

"Nonsense, they don't know." "They often can't find me, and there are several haystacks," Bai Erlang retorted.

"That's because they are foolish," Man Bao said. "Just look for scattered straw near the haystack, and we'll know where you're hiding." Hmph, you always hide in the haystack. "It's not fun at all."

With differing opinions, they parted ways at the village entrance, and Bai Shanbao added, "It's not that we don't want to play with you, it's that you don't want to play with us." "You can't complain to your uncle."

"I won't complain." "Whoever complains is a tattletale."

So, they reached a consensus and went their separate ways to play.

Bai Shanbao and Man Bao ran hand in hand towards the mountains at the village entrance.

Of course, it wasn't a big mountain, just a hill, but because it hadn't been cultivated and had various beautiful flowers and wild fruits, it was popular among the village children. Many families had vegetable gardens near the foot of the mountain, so the adults never discouraged the children from going up to play.

This year, Man Bao's family had three compost piles, two of which were located at the foot of the mountain, next to the three plots they had cultivated.

To compete, she and Bai Shanbao each took one mushroom and actively searched for them in various places, then transplanted them to the compost piles.

For the decomposing mushrooms they found, Man Bao tried her best to keep them alive and cultivate more mycelium and spores, which had already been recorded. For those not recorded, she willingly submitted one to be recorded, awaiting points and records.

Bai Shanbao found this game very fulfilling. It was like planting ginger. Every time she found a mushroom, she experienced happiness. Her joy grew even more when the transplanted mushrooms survived.

If she woke up to find more small mushrooms growing next to one, it made her even happier.

As a result, Bai Shanbao was very keen on squatting next to the compost pile to observe how plants grew, not minding the stench at all.

Bai Shanbao was like this, and Man Bao's happiness from the harvest was even greater.

This puzzled the members of the Zhou family. What was so interesting about the compost pile? Why were these two children so enthusiastic about transplanting these inedible mushrooms?

Although they didn't understand, they knew the children valued these things. When the Zhou family was composting, they instinctively avoided damaging the transplanted mushrooms.

Mrs. Liu was curious and specifically called her grandson and Man Bao to ask. After learning that the two children were doing it to "decompose difficult-to-decompose substances like decaying leaves and speed up composting," she fell silent for a moment. She didn't quite understand the first half of the sentence, but she grasped the second half, and it was evident that this was their objective.

Mrs. Liu had initially thought it was a simple game, but she didn't expect them to have such a purpose.

She couldn't help but ask, "Who told you this?"

Bai Shanbao scratched her head and looked at Man Bao.

Man Bao also scratched her head and said, "No one told us." Isn't it visible to the eye?

Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, it's visible to the eye."

Mrs. Liu didn't know what else to ask. She never discouraged her grandson from being mischievous, especially when his mischief was unconventional compared to traditional children's pranks.

So she could only smile and let the two children continue playing.

Mr. Zhuang granted them an extended holiday this year, starting from the day before the Lunar New Year and lasting until the Lantern Festival.

The two children had been studying diligently recently and had no time to play. Perhaps because they had been restrained for so long, they were now like wild horses let loose.

Man Bao had always managed her own affairs. Since she was very young, Mrs. Qian had stopped receiving New Year's money. Therefore, Mrs. Qian didn't know at first that she had received a "generous gift" from the Bai family. It wasn't until a particular day in the first month of the lunar year that Man Bao decided to use various colored threads to create a hollow knot and hang it on her bed because she admired the appearance of the gold ingot that Mrs. Qian had found.

It was already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

Mrs. Qian was taken aback. This was gold!

Although a gold ingot was not very large, it was still very valuable to a family like theirs, especially considering the craftsmanship.

After looking at it, Mrs. Qian opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything. She just said to Man Bao, "We have to give a gift in return to the young masters Bai." Man Bao, can you give this gold ingot to your mother?

Man Bao asked, "Mother, do you want to give it back to them?"

Mrs. Qian sighed, "This is too valuable."

Man Bao scratched her head, feeling that something was amiss, but she couldn't explain why. She just held onto the beautiful gold ingot and refused to give it up.

Old Mr. Zhou also saw the gold ingot. His eyes lit up, and when his wife looked over, he coughed lightly and said seriously, "It is a bit valuable, but for families like ours, the Bai family doesn't care about this amount of money."

Mrs. Qian frowned.

Old Mr. Zhou hurriedly added, "We also gave New Year's money to the two young masters. Although it's not as much as what they gave Man Bao, it's the thought that counts."

He was also very fond of the gold ingots and planned to discuss them with Man Bao later.

Man Bao nodded, "Yes, it's the thought that counts."

Seeing her daughter holding onto the gold ingot like her father, Mrs. Qian knew she wouldn't be able to get it.

Mrs. Qian sighed with worry, realizing that they still needed to prepare some gifts to reciprocate the Bai family's kindness; otherwise, the disparity in their relationship would be too noticeable.