Chapter 18

Doctor Liu confirmed that Xu Ran was recovering slowly, and Xu Ran himself also showed amazing progress in his health. Thus before going out to work in the mountain, the adults left the children at home for Xu Ran to look after them.

Children were naughty, but because of Xu Ran, plus Tangtang and Guoguo, who had always followed Liu Tong’s advice to protect Xu Ran since their childhood, the adults didn’t have to worry about their children. Besides, there was nothing terrible around here, and one of them would come back to cook at noon.

Thus this was the case. After Liu Tong and others went up the mountain to chop the bamboo, Xu Ran began to play with a bunch of kids in the yard. These kids had known each other well, so Xu Ran didn’t need to pay much attention to them.

In the end, only Tangtang kept staying there with Xu Ran. He was not as active as Guoguo. He thought it his duty as an elder brother to protect his dad. He let his younger brother go to enjoy playing with others. Tangtang clearly remembered what had happened yesterday. His dad and daddy were both hit by his granddad. And they were even driven out of their house. Thus they now had no place to live. Today, his daddy and Daddy Wu Mei went up the mountain to cut bamboo to build a house for them.

Tangtang kept staying by Xu Ran’s side, while Xu Ran was staring ahead blankly.

Out there seen from the yard, it was a vast expanse of greenery.

In Xu Ran’s mind, this was the real rural area. He was somewhat glad that he had grown up in the countryside when he was a child, so that he was now not  like a parasite which knew nothing and never toiled.

According to Xu Ran’s memory, he knew that his place was called Qingfeng Land, his country was called Qingyuan Dynasty, and Xu Village was about located in modern Sichuan area.

Xu Ran was from Sichuan, so he knew a lot about the crops in the area. He believed as long as he could recover, his family would have a good life soon.

Sichuan people loved spicy food. It happened that in this era, chilli and pepper were available. Xu Ran thought that he could work later hard on food. After all, this business worked fastest. However, although he had this idea in his mind, he couldn’t implement it immediately. Anyway, he was still a fool, not to mention the new things in this era could always attract people’s eyes, and then might cause some disaster.

Now he had no background, and his weakness was too obvious, so he had to think twice about everything he did.

Xu Ran knew that the owner of this body was poisoned and mentally handicapped before he went to attend the scholar examination. If Xu Cheng had been a little slower and let the fool go to the examination first, his life now after the transmigration would have been much better.

Considering the tax situation of this era, Xu Ran suddenly thought he should first pass the scholar examination.

The more he thought about it, the more things he found he needed to do, and he instantly had a feeling that life was too limited.

Although he had so many ideas, Xu Ran still felt helpless, because he could not tell others these ideas, and he could only keep them to himself.  Xu Ran thus felt very depressed.

In this way, Xu Ran was in a daze all morning, while Tangtang sat beside him for a whole morning without even moving.

It was not until Xu Ran had returned to his senses that he discovered all this. Looking at the sweaty children running in the distance, and at Tangtang sitting quietly by his side, he felt quite guilty. He held the  boy in his arms and asked gently, “Tangtang, why don’t you go and play with your brother and other kids over there?”

Seeing his dad finally regaining his wits, Tangtang sighed in relief. In the past, his dad would sit in a daze like this for a long time. Even if someone called him, he gave no response. And he would even get sick if this kind of situation lasted for long, so today Tangtang was worried that his dad would be sick again. However, Tangtang was amzed to see his dad woke up himself after sitting for a long time today.

Hearing Xu Ran’s questions, Tangtang answered obediently, “Daddy said that I am a big brother and I must protect you and my little brother. As Guoguo has gone to play with others, I must stay behind to protect you.”

A five-year-old child showed such a serious look and made such a remark that Xu Ran was very moved. He kissed Tangtang on his forehead, “Tangtang, you don’t need to protect me from now on. I can protect myself, you and Guoguo. I can also protect daddy and the whole family.”

“Really?” Tangtang was obviously very happy. His eyes instantly lit up when he heard these words.

Xu Ran’s heart ached more. He knew how much the child expected his dad to protect his family, just like in all other people’s homes.

“Yes, of course it’s true. I have never lied to Tangtang, have I?”

Tangtang thought for a while and found that what Xu Ran said was true. His dad really didn’t lie to him, so he believed and said seriously, “Dad, I trust you.”

Xu Ran was very happy. He felt a sense of being completely trusted.

Xu Ran then put Tangtang down, “Go! Go and play with them over there. Don’t worry about me. ”

Tangtang shook his head, “No, I’ll talk with you!”

“Okay, then let’s talk. Tangtang, what do you want to do when you grow up?”

Tangtang tilted his head and thought for quite a while, but he didn’t think of what he wanted do in the future. Then he turned to Xu Ran bitterly.

This scene amused Xu Ran. He then asked, “Do you like reading?”

“I like it!” Tangtang replied without thinking.

“Do you like to learn martial arts?”

“I don’t like it.”

“Do you like farming?”

“I don’t like it.”

“Do you like to do business?”

“I don’t like it.”

…

They both asked and answered in this way. Finally, Xu Ran asked all the questions he thought about. He concluded that Tangtang liked reading. Xu Ran then touched his head, “Tangtang, since you like reading, I will send you to study in two years. Tangtang should study hard and try to become the No.1 scholar in the examination, okay?”

As if he had been bestowed with a sacred mission, Tangtang nodded seriously, “Yes, I will, Dad!”