Chapter 508: Chapter 262 Kite and Willow Flute_2
"I’m not playing, I’m working. This is sunflower seed planting, I’m planting sunflower seeds," Lian Manman patiently explained to Shen Qian.
"Oh, then let me plant some too," Shen Qian accepted Lian Manman’s words without any difficulty and became even more interested in planting the sunflower seeds.
The extent to which Fatty was clingy was something Lian Manman had experienced. After thinking it over, she nodded. Digging holes was clearly something Shen Qian couldn’t do, and it wouldn’t be good to let him get covered in mud. That left only one task that Shen Qian could barely do.
"Then you can water the plants," Lian Manman said, "Watering is very important, you should watch how much water Xiao Qi adds. It can’t be too much or too little; otherwise, the planted sunflower seeds won’t survive."
Shen Qian was truly happy after hearing Lian Manman’s words, and turned his attention to Xiao Qi, seemingly giving up the idea of taking over the task from Lian Manman.
Xiao Qi demonstrated for Shen Qian and then handed over the watering scoop to him.
Shen Qian was so delighted that he couldn’t close his mouth, carefully pouring water into the holes with the scoop and continuously asking Lian Manman how he was doing.
After all the sunflower seedlings were planted, Lian Manman breathed a sigh of relief. Fatty’s arrival, thanks to her clever arrangements, hadn’t caused any significant trouble and even provided a little help, although they didn’t really need Fatty’s assistance.
Shen Qian looked at the rows of planted sunflower seeds, seemingly overjoyed.
"These will grow into sunflower seeds? The kind you eat?" Although Lian Manman and the others had explained it to him for a long time, Shen Qian still couldn’t quite connect the small seedlings in front of him with the sunflower seeds he ate.
"Exactly," Lian Manman nodded.
Lian Manman needed to go back inside to wash her hands, and of course, Shen Qian followed. His two attendants had already informed Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin that Shen Liu would be staying overnight in Qingyang Town to handle some matters. Shen Qian, unable to stay put in town, insisted on finding Lian Manman and the other children to play. Shen Liu agreed and assigned a few attendants to follow him.
Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin, knowing the relationship between Shen Qian and Imperial Doctor Shi, valued Shen Qian even more than Shen Liu and naturally agreed to everything. They reminded Lian Manman and the other two children repeatedly to take good care of Shen Qian.
Lian Manman was slightly troubled. Shen Qian was of noble status, and not like the rugged country kids, so taking him along was not so easy.
Shen Qian, however, seemed completely unaware of Lian Manman’s concerns. He had a servant bring in a large assorted snack box filled with delicate pastries.
"Manman, these are for you to eat," Shen Qian offered Lian Manman the pastries, "Wu Lang, Xiao Qi, you both can have some too."
Lian Manman picked up a piece of pine nut cake and put it in her mouth.
Shen Qian also picked up a piece, muttering softly, "You don’t give me any of the fruit from your home." After saying this, he glanced at Lian Manman with his narrow eyes.
Lian Manman almost choked. She recalled that in the morning, she had taken some pastries and fruit, but when she saw the attendants wouldn’t let Shen Liu and Shen Qian eat anything from outside, she brought the snack box back. At that time, Shen Qian had also seen the snack box.
She hadn’t allowed Shen Qian to have any, and he hadn’t said anything about it at the time; who would have thought, the little Fatty would hold a grudge.
Lian Manman squinted her eyes, pretending not to hear Shen Qian’s comment. She had planned to eat just one piece, but deliberately picked up another, savoring it with relish.
Shen Qian wasn’t angry, but instead very pleased.
"Manman, do you love eating pine nuts? Then I’ll leave this piece for you too," said Shen Qian, pointing to another piece of pine nut cake in the snack box.
Seeing him like this, Lian Manman found herself at a loss for words.
After nibbling on snacks for a while, Shen Qian became restless again.
"Manman, let’s go out and play," he suggested.
"There’s nothing fun to do outside, why don’t we just sit inside and eat snacks and chat? It’s really nice," replied Lian Manman. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go out and play, but Shen Qian’s status made her wary.
"Oh..." Shen Qian didn’t get discouraged and, shuffling his bottom on the mat, he perked up and said, "Manman, I’ve brought a kite, let’s go fly it."
"Sure," agreed Lian Manman, after thinking about it for a moment upon hearing Shen Qian’s suggestion.
The wind today was strong, perfect for flying kites.
The kite Shen Qian brought was a Prosperous Swallow Kite, constructed with bamboo strips for the frame, and covered with top-quality silk. The kite was brightly colored, and the swallow design was strikingly lifelike, with beautiful bat patterns painted on its firm wings. Even the kite’s reel and string were of the highest quality.
Clearly, this kite was quite valuable.
The children of tenant farmers also flew kites in this season. However, they usually couldn’t afford to buy ready-made kites or were reluctant to spend the money, so most of them made their own kites for fun.
Lacking bamboo, they typically used flexible willow branches for the kite’s frame, creating the simplest diamond shape, and mostly pasted the cheapest white paper on them. However, don’t underestimate the children’s creativity due to the lack of materials. Even with the coarsest black ink lines, they could draw a variety of realistic patterns.
Lian Manman, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi had made such a kite and even attached streamers to its three corners. The reel for their kite was a thick stick, and the string was made by twisting together several cotton threads.
Such a simple kite still brought them a lot of joy.
When coming out to fly kites with Shen Qian, Lian Manman also took her family’s kite out. They chose to fly their kites on the new piece of land her family had just purchased. The land was vast and unobstructed, making it ideal for kite flying.
"Manman, what’s drawn on your kite?" asked Shen Qian curiously as he saw Lian Manman bring out her kite.
Lian Manman handed the kite over, allowing Shen Qian to see it more clearly.
"Can’t you tell? It’s quite obvious," said Lian Manman.
Shen Qian furrowed his brow; the round shape drawn on Lian Manman’s kite somewhat resembled something, but who would draw that on a kite?
"This couldn’t be... a steamed bun, could it?" Shen Qian ventured a guess.
***......***(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
