Chapter 58

“Ran, what’s wrong with you?” Seeing Xu Ran falling down suddenly with the pack basket, Liu Tong loosenewd the handcart in panic, but before Ling Tong even touched the horns, he had fallen to the ground.

Liu Tong ran over quickly to check what happened, “Ran, Ran, what’s wrong with you? Are you fine?”

Liu Tong raised his head and held him in his arms, “Ran, please, don’t scare me. Talk to me, please.”

Lying in Liu Tong’s arms, Xu Ran gasped for breath. The moment he saw that worry had written all over Liu Tong’s face, he wanted to say something to comfort him. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but didn’t make a sound. He even couldn’t move his fingers.

Knowing that worry would not help, Liu Tong hurriedly went to fetch the water. It had been quite a few days since they came to the mountain. Because they often ate pears these days, they didn’t drink much water.

Liu Tong fed Xu Ran some water to moisten his lips and then fed him some more after he looked better.

After he drank the water, he could barely speak. After a while, he could also raise his hands. He suddenly raised his hand to touch the face of Liu Tong, “Tongtong, don’t…worry. I… I just felt kind of tired…”

The moment he finished talking, he smiled at Liu Tong. But his face was so pale that his smile was even uglier than crying.

Liu Tong’s eyes reddened, and he didn’t stopped crying Xu Ran’s nickname while holding Xu Ran tightly.

“Tongtong, let me just lie down for a while.” After he finished his words, he lost his strength.

He was really beat. Previously, he had been relying on spirit to support himself. Now he fell down, he was short of strength. He had been a fool for seven years. Although he had been busy during this period of time, he had a good rest, so he didn’t have any symptoms.

After all, the life in the mountain was somewhat worse than at home. Once he felt tired, he just couldn’t hang in there.

While Xu Ran was lying on the ground, Liu Tong was standing guard at one side, with anxiety written all over his face.

Looking at the sky, Xu Ran found that it was already noon as they had troubled halfway. As long as he couldn’t move, Liu Tong couldn’t feel relieved and focus on his business. They had carried their things to the mountain pass, so they had no choice but to carry these back as soon as possible.

He struggled for a few times and tried to get up. Yet he was so exhausted that he couldn’t move at all. It was Liu Tong who helped him up. He then said to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, don’t worry about me. I have lain there for a while and I will just recover. Go ahead and carry these chilies. We must carry everything back today.”

“No, you can’t even move. How can I do things without worrying about you?” Liu Tong refused without thinking twice.

“Ahem… Tongtong, listen to me. We have been working hard for so many days. We can’t let these things be taken away by others. I’ll be fine after a rest. Trust me.”

Seeing Xu Ran was quite confident, Liu Tong was also a little shaken. He certainly knew how much effort they had spent on these things. Putting aside this, chili sauce was their only income now, and the land in the family had not been harvested yet. Without this, it would be too difficult for them to survive with only one hundred taels of silver. Winter was approaching, everything in the family needed be added.

Xu Ran held Liu Tong’s hand and said, “Tongtong, you just go mind your business! Remember to eat some food first before going. If you are tired, you just rest. I’ll come to help you if you are angry. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yes,” Liu Tong nodded. He didn’t have any objections to Xu Ran’s words. He held Xu Ran up and said, “Ran, I’ll take you back to the cave first. Let’s have some food before we go.”

“Alright.” He was really too tired. As he had been held by Liu Tong, he had been lying in his arms.

The tall and handsome Ge’er walked forward with his husband in his arms. Every step was steady.

Xu Ran was thinking that he was lucky enough to marry such a Ge’er.

After arriving at the cave, both Xu Ran and Liu Tong only ate a few pears. Now it was too troublesome to roast meat, so Liu Tong gave it up, but he still make a fire for Xu Ran.

After a hasty meal, Liu Tong left Xu Ran with only some words.

After Liu Tong left, Xu Ran took out a few potatoes in the basket and buried them in the fire. They could eat them immediately when Liu Tong came back.

Extremely exhausted, Xu Ran leaned against the wall and soon he fell asleep. When he woke up again, the fire was extinguished and his body was covered with clothes. There were only some potatoes left in the cave.

He stretched out his arm and felt himself recover all the strength. He took away the clothes on his body and stood up. He walked out of the cave and stretched his body to relax. It was a sound sleep.

Looking at the gloomy sky outside, the sun was setting. He also slept a lot. He suddenly turned back and took out the potatoes buried in the fire for a long time. Thanks god, the firewood didn’t burn a long time. Otherwise, all the potatoes would have been burnt into black stones long ago.

Xu Ran ate another pear and collected all the potatoes in the cave into the basket. After he finished his business, Liu Tong came back with sweat all over his forehead. It seemed he was also quite tired.

Xu Ran was frightened by him, worrying that Liu Tong would also be exhausted. He immediately leaned over to wipe his sweat, “Tongtong, if you are tired, you can rest for a while. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Liu Tong frowned, “I’m fine. I’m just running in a hurry. On my way I just thought that the fire has put out. The sun is going to set. I’m afraid you’ll be cold.”

Smiling on his face, Xu Ran felt completely touched in the bottom of heart. There was no one else in the world who cared about him so much.

“I’m fine. I was fine just now. Wash a pear to eat. I have prepared a few potatoes. You just enjoy your meal. I’ll help you move those stuff together. We’ll be home soon.”

“Alright,” Liu Tong took the pear from Xu Ran and took a big bite.

Xu Ran let Liu Tong go and went to peel potatoes for him.

When the two of them finished eating the potatoes, they began to move the last thing in the cave out. And of course, they also tidied up the cave as this place might be useful next year.

When they reached the mouth of the moutain, they had piled up piles of things. There was no way to use the handcart to move the things downhill, and they could only carry them home bag by bag.

Both of them carried a large bag and walked back. They had not been home for a few days. The closer they approached home, the more excited they felt.

As soon as they approached the room, they saw Tangtang and Guoguo standing at the gate of the yard, surrounded by two little dogs. The other two dogs were held in their arms. Tangtang and Guoguo fixed their eyes on the moutain behind without blinking.

It just so happened that they didn’t see their dad and daddy as they walked downhill from the opposite direction. Wu Mei stayed with them and was talking to them for a while, but the two kids shook their heads in unison.

Suddenly, Xu Ran and Liu Tong exchanged glances and sped up tacitly. After walking in, they heard Wu Mei say, “Could you two please come back with me first? It’s getting dark. It is very likely that your dad and daddy would not be able to come back today. You can wait tomorrow!”

The two children still shook their heads. They turned a deaf ear to Wu Mei’s words. The two kids were quite stubborn.

“Wu Mei, Tangtang, Guoguo!” Xu Ran shouted to the three from their behind.

As soon as Tangtang and Guoguo heard his voice, they turned back and put the puppets in his arms aside, dashing towards Xu Ran and Liu Tong.

“Daddy, dad, you have finally returned.”

“Yes, that’s right. We have been left behind for so many days.”

One of the two brothers held Liu Tong’s legs, while the other held Xu Ran’s legs and echoed each other’s words.

Wu Mei turned his head and also saw the two of them. He walked to them and said in an amusing voice, “You guys, if you still didn’t come back, the two kids would have been looking through the mountain. They come to wait here every afternoon for you two to come back.”

Xu Ran rubbed the heads of the two kids and smiled. They were both sensible kids. But he felt somewhat sorry and bitter in the bottom of the heart. Their sensibleness belied their age. It was the trouble-free time that they just enjoyed their childhood. But now they were forced to grow up.

On the other hand, Ling Tong thanked Wu Mei for taking care of their two kids, “I have troubled you these days. Tangtang and Guoguo must have made you a lot of trouble! No words are strong enough to thank you.”

Wu Mei hurriedly waved his hands and said, “Why did you say these words? Both of them are obedient. They are adorable kids.”

And then, he said, “Enough. You still carry something on your back. I won’t say anything else. When you guys come back, I’leave the kids to you. Tomorrow I will ask Wu Lan to help together.”

“Alright, I’ll have to trouble you again. It’s getting dark, you can go back now! Be careful.” While chatting, Liu Tong held Guoguo’s hand and walked to the courtyard.

Xu Ran and Tangtang followed behind them.

Wu Mei walked quickly, so soon they couldn’t see him.

The family went into the room. The two little children hadn’t seen their dad and daddy for a few days. Excitement overwhelmed them that they didn’t stop chattering.

After putting down the pack basket, Liu Tong said to Xu Ran, “Ran, you stay home and take care of Tangtang and Guoguo. I’ll go carry the rest in the mountain.”

Of course Xu Ran wouldn’t agree as there were still many chilies left there, “Tongtong, you stay here to take care of them. I’ll go. You’ve been tired for the whole afternoon. I’m afraid that you have worn out.”

These words sounded like kind of playful, which made Liu Tong blush slightly.

Without giving Liu Tong a chance to refute, Xu Ran put the chilies in the pack basket on the ground and went out directly with carrying the empty basket.