Chapter 1543: Chapter 1519: Skill

Yin Huo was feeling uncomfortable while fiddling with the straw hat on his head. This was provided by Manbao, as she thought even they needed hats to prevent sunstroke, and Yin Huo needed it even more.

So, she brought along the remaining two straw hats from home and handed them over when they met Yin Huo and Liu Huan at the crossroads.

They put them on as soon as they got off the vehicle, since Zhou Man, Bai Shan, and Bai Erlang were wearing them too. Liu Huan didn’t feel much about it and continued to enjoy himself as usual.

But Yin Huo was not used to it. Mainly because the hat was a bit large, it pressed down against his eyes once worn.

Hearing Bai Shan’s words, he lowered his head to glance at the pile of lotus pods on the ground, quickly selecting the largest one to hand over to Manbao.

Manbao held it alongside, while Liu Huan began to carefully pick, though somewhat cluelessly, finally selecting one for some unknown reason.

Bai Shan paid for all of them together.

The vendor was quite savvy, at least good at counting. The capital was unlike Luojiang County, where one might skip counting if confused with money; the vendor insisted on counting the entire string of coins.

With the transaction done, Bai Shan took the lotus pods from Manbao and handed them to others, holding onto two he chose himself, saying, “Let’s go, let’s rent a boat. Bai Er, where are Ren Ke and Qiao Tao?”

Bai Erlang was peeling lotus seeds, looking around as he answered, “No idea, let’s follow the lakeside, we’ll find them eventually. We agreed to meet at the lakeside during the 9-11 time slot. It’s already past that, they’ve probably boarded the boat by now.”

Bai Shan didn’t bother searching further. Seeing the crowd, he reached to pull Manbao aside for a moment to avoid them, and after they passed, he led Manbao across.

Yin Huo followed closely, holding a lotus pod in one hand and the straw hat with difficulty using the other. Changsou, who parked the vehicle and caught up, immediately offered to help carry the lotus seeds and escorted him forward.

After walking a while without finding Ren Ke and the others, Bai Shan said, “Let’s not look for them now, let’s rent a boat first.”

Manbao nodded repeatedly, scanning the idle boats by the shore, and pointed at one that seemed to be pleasing to the eye, “Let’s rent this one.”

Daji, who caught up with them, went ahead to rent the boat.

The two quickly agreed on a price, and everyone boarded the boat.

This boat was meant for wealthy tourists, and the cabin was arranged quite nicely, with a fixed table, tea set on top, and a tea stove in the corner for brewing tea.

The boatman, having welcomed several Young Masters and ladies before, was momentarily surprised at seeing the five people with straw hats.

His gaze swept over their hats, then checked their attire, finally understanding upon seeing their accompanying attendants, who weren’t wearing straw hats and were wiping sweat. He quickly bowed respectfully, inviting them aboard.

Then, treating them like other wealthy Young Masters and ladies, he recommended the tea on board, successfully selling them a pot before navigating out of shallows and into the lake…

The boat slowly drifted toward the center of the lake, with Manbao removing the straw hat, feeling her hair loosening, she reached up to fix it.

Bai Shan, unsatisfied, helped her tidy it up. Liu Huan found it unsightly too, so he and Bai Erlang turned their heads away, also removing their hats and tossing them aside.

Yin Huo truly heaved a sigh of relief, handing the straw hat to Changsou and sitting down somewhere inside the cabin.

He turned to instruct Changsou, “Go brew some tea.”

Taking the lotus seeds from his hand, he was momentarily unsure how to peel them, he glanced at Bai Shan and Manbao opposite.

Manbao and Bai Shan had already peeled and removed the seeds, eating them directly without concern.

The sweet with a hint of bitterness was quite tasty, the lotus seed’s fragrance refreshed the mind.

Seeing Yin Huo looking at them, yet not moving his hands, Manbao couldn’t help but ask, “You don’t know how to eat lotus seeds?”

Yin Huo awkwardly admitted, “I haven’t been well, at home they never gave me these kinds of things, nor do they eat them in front of me.”

Upon hearing, they all looked at him sympathetically, also feeling for his family, especially his three sisters who were of similar age.

Who knows if they had eaten lotus seeds.

Bai Shan said, “First, just peel out the seeds.”

Yin Huo imitated their method and peeled a hole, but found the seeds inside were very tiny. Thinking for a moment, he set it aside and continued with another; it was hollow once opened.

Even Bai Er turned his head sympathetically towards him.

Bai Shan reached to take the lotus pod from his hand, squeezing it around and finally realized though large, nearly a third was empty or with very tiny, barely edible seeds; another third was smaller, and the remaining size varied but was within a normal range.

Bai Shan placed the few “last remaining” seeds into his palm, stifling laughter, “Go ahead, eat.”

Bai Erlang stuffed a handful of seeds into his mouth, sympathetically picking a big pod from the three remaining ones for him, “Here, it’s for you.”

Yin Huo thanked him, looking at the seeds peeled by the others, noticing the pods chosen by Bai Shan and Manbao were still the best, curiously asking, “How do you choose them?”

The three hadn’t truly learned, just purely relied on experience and feeling.

Manbao said, “We’ve picked quite a few pods before.”

Bai Shan reminisced, “Those pods were particularly tasty.”

Bai Erlang pointed out the reason, “Free pods, and large ones as well, obviously delicious?”

Liu Huan curiously asked, “Why free?”

Bai Shan quickly replied before Bai Erlang, “Because nobody owned them, anyone could pick them as seen, so they’re free.”

“Were the lotus ponds wild then?” Liu Huan perked up, saying, “It’s said Jiangnan is abundant with lotus; I know in some waterside areas there are many wild lotus ponds. Didn’t expect the same in Luojiang County.”

Manbao replied, “The place we picked lotus pods wasn’t in Luojiang County, it was in Yizhou City.”

Liu Huan marveled, “Yizhou City is so nice, such a place exists?”

This time Bai Erlang finally agreed with the two, the three all nodded, “Sure enough, and it’s great; not only lotus ponds there were free, but many flowers and grasses were ownerless too, hahaha…”

Liu Huan, seeing their happiness, couldn’t help but yearn for it too.

Bai Shan and their laughter were so loud and joyful that it quickly drew attention from other nearby boats on the lake.

From a boat not far ahead of them emerged a head, shouting in their direction, “Bai Shan, Bai Cheng, is that you?”

Bai Cheng, sitting near the cabin entrance, leaned out immediately upon hearing, happily exclaiming, “Qiao Tao, we’ve finally found you guys; why didn’t you wait for us before boarding, made us search so hard.”

The people on the boat:…They barely made an effort to search.