The Lucky Farmgirl

On the second day of May, Ms. Liu set off for Yizhou to celebrate a birthday, and Old Master Bai happened to have business in the county town. He got on his horse early in the morning and took Ms. Liu part of the way there.

Bai Shanbao, with the small book box on his back, stood at the entrance of the village, waving his hands with particular eagerness, and greeted them cheerfully, "Grandma, have a smooth journey."

Manbao, who happened to be going to school, also joined in the excitement and waved, "Grandma Liu, have fun."

Bai Erlang knew that the wheat was going to be brought in today, so he had not slept well the night before, making it hard to keep his eyes open now, but he also waved and called out, "Dad, have a good trip."

Old Master Bai, who had just mounted his horse, almost fell off.

He glared at his son and barked, "Early in the morning and you’re closing your eyes; what did you get up to last night?"

Bai Erlang then woke up.

Old Master Bai angrily said, "If I come back and find out you haven’t been paying attention in class, I’ll give you a thrashing."

Bai Erlang immediately said, "Dad, don’t worry, I definitely won’t sleep in class."

Even if he wanted to sleep, he couldn’t; Mr. Zhuang was now teaching only three students, and a glance down was all it took to see him. Every time Bai Erlang’s eyes closed, he would be called to stand up and listen to the lesson.

Although he felt he could fall asleep standing, the book striking his head really hurt.