The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 30 - 19 Seduction

Qian, unable to withstand Manbao’s cajolery, could only persuade Old Zhou, “What’s the big deal?

You’re idle anyway, just weave a few for the kids, it’s not like it takes much effort.”

With his wife speaking up and his daughter and grandkids looking at him with eager eyes, Old Zhou had no choice but to drag out the discarded bamboo strips from his second son’s storeroom to weave bamboo baskets for them.

Seeing Datou and Second Son squatting down to watch the fun, he picked them up and said, “Come, Grandpa will teach you.

You’re not that young anymore, it’s time to learn a craft.”

Not many in the village knew how to weave bamboo, but it wasn’t particularly rare.

However, just learning this skill didn’t mean one could excel at it.

At least among all the villagers, young and old, only Zhou ErLang was able to sell his bamboo weaving in the market or the county.

His bamboo baskets and containers were sturdy and tight, so tight that not even wheat could fall through.

But some people, when they weaved baskets and containers, ended up with goods that were just for show.

They looked no different from those sold in the market, but after a few uses, the bamboo strips would warp, holes would appear, and the items would be rendered useless.

Old Zhou’s craftsmanship belonged to the latter kind.

However, he couldn’t weave large baskets; the small bamboo basket that his little daughter held, only as big as her small head, couldn’t be that difficult to make, could it?

Those were goods just for show, at most capable of holding ten eggs.

Old Zhou felt such a basket could last a decade without breaking.

Because he didn’t take the task seriously and was using bamboo strips discarded by Erlang, he didn’t mind letting his grandkids join in and make a mess.

Manbao looked on with envy and picked up some bamboo strips to learn as well, also bringing along Daya and Erya.

Old Zhou glanced at his granddaughters.

This craft wasn’t something girls should learn.

But looking at the bamboo strips on the ground, Old Zhou thought, let them learn; once used, the strips were hardly usable again, and he wasn’t like his second son, unable to restore them.

Once the bamboo was used up, there would be no need to weave anymore.

Manbao didn’t know about her father’s scheme and was earnestly staring at his movements with wide eyes.

Old Zhou weaved slowly and said to her, “You little kid, can’t even bend the bamboo strips.

What are you doing in the mix?

Be careful not to hurt your hands.”

Ms.

Qian sat in the sun on a stool, smiled at the sight, and beckoned Manbao, “Manbao, come here, Mom will teach you.”

Manbao happily ran over with bamboo strips in hand, “Mom, you know how to weave bamboo too?”

“Having watched it all my life, even if I never actually did it, I have a good sense of it.” Ms.

Qian was ill and unable to do heavy work, but bending some bamboo strips while sitting was still manageable.

So she sat there, weaving and explaining to Manbao.

This small bamboo craft wasn’t difficult and was quickly done; Ms.

Qian’s first product was soon ready.

Manbao compared it to the two her dad had finished and wrinkled her nose, “Mom, yours looks pretty ugly.”

Old Zhou laughed proudly, “Your dad has weaved quite a few bamboo crafts, of course, they look better than your mom’s.”

Ms.

Qian wasn’t discouraged and beckoned Manbao, “Bring a few more strips, I’ll make another one.”

She smiled and said, “Practice makes perfect.

It’s just a matter of learning something new a few times over.”

Manbao thought what her mother said made sense, and so she brought another handful of bamboo strips to her.

The four kids had just shifted from learning from Grandpa to Grandma, and feeling that Grandma’s weaving looked ugly, they moved back to Grandpa’s side.

Now, seeing left and right, they were unsure who to learn from.

Manbao frowned at them, “You can’t be so indecisive.

Forget it, Datou and Second Son, just stick with Dad, and Daya and Erya, come and learn from Mom.”

With that, the four kids settled down and stopped wandering around.

Ms.

Qian watched warmly, feeling that it was still their daughter who was decisive.

The most idle person on the scene was Manbao, at least that’s how it appeared.

In truth, she was also quite busy.

As soon as a bamboo basket was made, Manbao took it to discuss with Keke, “What do you think, can my mom’s bamboo baskets be put on sale?”

The system said, “There is nothing in this world that can’t be turned into merchandise.

You can do secondary processing.”

Manbao: “Then I’ll just give it the prettiest flowers.”

Manbao began to pick what she considered the most beautiful flowers from the pile and inserted them into her mom’s flower basket.

A mix of colors filled the basket, which she really liked, and she beamed happily, “This flower basket looks so pretty.”

Keke was silent for a while before saying, “There might not be many people in the world who share the host’s aesthetic sense.”

Manbao repeated the sentence and, after a delayed realization, asked, “Keke, are you saying my flower basket is ugly?”

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“Flower baskets are not supposed to look like that.” The system couldn’t help but search for some images in the encyclopedia and threw them at Manbao, “This is how a flower basket should look like.

Yours is more like, um, a bamboo woven trash can for flowers.

And it’s a failed trash can.”

Manbao was no longer listening to what Keke was saying.

Her eyes brightened as she stared at those pictures, almost ready to roll on the floor with joy, “So pretty, so pretty!

Keke, can you give me one?”

Old Zhou and Ms.

Qian only saw their daughter clutching her ruined bamboo basket, laughing so hard that her saliva was almost drooling.

The couple exchanged glances, and after looking at the chaotic flowers stuffed into the basket, they felt they needed to pay more attention to their child’s education on beauty and ugliness—truly, how could she be so happy with such an ugly basket?

Datou and the four kids lowered their heads, wishing they could bury themselves in the bamboo strips.

Their little aunt must be thinking of their big money-making scheme again, but could such an ugly basket really sell?

The system glanced at Manbao’s points and said, “Host, you indeed have enough points to buy a bamboo basket, but you haven’t reached the permission to open the mall, so I can’t buy it for you.”

It was Manbao’s first time hearing about the mall, and she inquired, “What’s the mall?”

“It’s similar to your market.

The host can buy all sorts of things there, including flower baskets.”

“When can I open the mall?” Manbao thought, if she could open this mall, wouldn’t she be able to go to the market whenever she wanted?

“Once the host’s accumulated points reach one thousand, and you have no past debts, you can open it.”

Manbao slumped her shoulders, mimicking her second brother’s haggling, “That’s a lot, can’t it be cheaper?”

Keke mercilessly refused her, “No!”