Chapter 77

On the second day of the lunar new year, everyone began to visit their relatives. Liu Tong’s dad and daddy had died, leaving behind his detestable uncle’s family. He would certainly not go to pay them new year’s greetings. As for Xu Ran, he would never want to go to his vicious dad’s house. Anyway, their relationship was broken. If he wanted to, he could send some gifts. If he didn’t mean that, people would not say anything bad about him.

Wu Mei’s and the others’ families all went to visit their spouses’ homes, so they would not come to them today. Tangtang and Guoguo had already taken their dogs out to play with their little friends. Thus, Xu Ran and Liu Tong were left with nothing to do at home.

Xu Ran was not quite familiar with the people in the village. More importantly, they shared few common topics, so Xu Ran was reluctant to go out all the time, while Liu Tong today felt it was not good for him to go out by himself because Xu Ran stayed alone at home.

Sitting at the door, Xu Ran was in a daze for a while and then he said to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, let me teach you how to write.”

Liu Tong knew how to read, but he couldn’t write. He had recognized about ten words after meeting them over and over again. He was surprised to hear Xu Ran say that he was willing to teach him to write. And he was naturally happy to be able to recognize more words. Thus he immediately agreed, “OK!”

Xu Ran did what he meant. He and Liu Tong moved the table from the house to the yard and got everything ready for writing. Xu Ran then asked Liu Tong to hold the writing brush while he stood behind him holding his hand. They began to write down Liu Tong’s name on the paper, and then they wrote his name as well as the names of both Tangtang’s and Guoguo’s.

Liu Tong was very active in learning and writing. After practicing for some time, his handwriting became quite good. Xu Ran praised him greatly with a thumbs up.

In this way, on the second day of the lunar new year, the couple practiced writing all day long.

On the third day of the new year, Wu Mei’s family invited them for dinner.

According to the custom of Spring Festival, several friendly families would take turns to invite each other to dinner. Every year, in such a festival, the whole family always went out together.

And then, during the following two days, on the fourth and the fifth were Wu Lan’s and Liu Qing’s families’ turns to stand treat. And on the 6th, it was the turn of Xu Ran’s family. On that day, however, an unexpected guest came.

At that time, Xu Ran was chatting with Xu An and the others in the courtyard. In the kitchen, several Ge’ers were busy cooking, while a group of kids were playing and walking the dogs outside the yard.

The approaching sounds of the horses’ hooves attracted the attention of all the people. Xu Ran thought of the bandits who had robbed the village and immediately went out to drive all the children into the yard.

It was not until the carriage drew near that Xu Ran saw who the visitor was.

The driver of the carriage was the shopkeeper in the Zhuo Yun’s seed shop. They had met several times, so Xu Ran recognized him at a glance

Xu Ran touched his chin and said to himself, ‘How could he come here? Does he have any relatives here?’

“Who is he? Do you know the man who is driving the carriage? ” Xu An asked suddenly, which scared Xu Ran.

Pointing at the carriage that had stopped outside their yard, Xu Ran said, “I know this person. He is a shopkeeper selling seeds in the town. Let’s go and see what he is doing.”

The shopkeeper had seen Xu Ran and stopped the carriage. And then he saw Xu Ran coming out. He even ignored the people in the carriage, and quickly said hello to Xu Ran, “Happy New Year, Mr. Xu!”

“Happy new year!” Xu Ran politely replied.

Then he asked, “Are you here visiting your relatives in the village?”

“No, Mr. Xu, it’s my master who wants to express his gratitude. Hey, look at my memory. My master is still in the carriage,” said the shopkeeper. He was about to turn around when he heard Zhuo Yun’s voice, “No need. Your master is right behind you.”

Zhuo Yun looked gloomy. He didn’t expect that Old Qian would dare to ignore him, his own master, and go to talk to Xu Ran directly.

Looking at the master and his servant, Xu Ran was amused for no reason.

“Hello, Mr. Zhuo! Here you are!” greeted Xu Ran.

Zhuo Yun started complaining as soon as he saw Xu Ran, “Mr. Xu, you don’t know how difficult it is to find you. I only heard that you live in the Xu Village, but I didn’t know where the Xu Village was. I asked for directions. As a result, people pointed us to another village. We went around like this for several times before we knew where the Xu Village was. Fortunately, your family lives at the entrance of the village, so we saw you as soon as we entered the village.”

Xu Ran touched his nose silently. He wanted to tell him that this was the end but not the entrance of the village. But looking at their pathetic appearance, Xu Ran decided not to let them down for the time being.

“Mr. Zhuo, your shopkeeper told me that you are looking for me? Then please hurry into the house! Take the carriage to the yard, too,” Xu Ran said as he made way for zhuo Yun to enter the house.

Zhuo Yun had been tossing about on the road all morning, and had never even had a mouthful of water, so he didn’t stand on ceremony.

After entering the yard, Xu Ran called out to the room inside, “Tongtong, get two bowls of warm boiled water for us. Here comes Mr. Zhuo.”

Then Xu Ran introduced Xu An and the others to Zhuo Yun. Although Xu An and the others were from the rural area, they could speak in a proper way, and they all chatted happily.

When they were about to have dinner, Zhuo Yun suddenly remembered the gift that he had brought with him was still on the carriage. He quickly asked the shopkeeper to take it out.

Xu Ran accepted the gift, but he didn’t open it. He thought that no matter what was presented by others, he should be grateful, because it represented the kindness of others.

There were a lot of dishes on the table today, many of which Zhuo Yun had never eaten before, especially potatoes and fried pork with edible fungus. Zhuo Yun tasted a mouthful of them and felt very surprised. And then, he could not stop his chopsticks. In the end, he had finished more than half of the two dishes by himself. As a result, several children present could only cast him a look of reproach.

As the children’s dissatisfaction was too obvious, Zhuo Yun realized it and had to stop his chopsticks. He felt embarrassed and apologized with a smile, “I’m sorry, but I’ve never eaten this kind of food. I just couldn’t help eating a lot.”

All the people present showed him a knowing expression, which made Zhuo Yun more embarrassed.

Xu Ran didn’t expect this to happen. He smiled and said, “Mr. Zhuo, Never mind. People are always attracted to something new to them. We were also like you when we first ate it.”

“Really?” Zuo Yun rubbed his nose and tried to pick other dishes, but his eyes still didn’t leave the two dishes.

Others sitting at the table were amused inwardly.

After lunch, Wu Mei’s and the other families went home. As there were guests in Xu Ran’s home, it was not very convenient for them to go on staying there. Tangtang and Guoguo also went away with Dahu. It was still Chinese New Year and children could always find something new to play with.

When the other guests left, Zhuo Yun said happily to Xu Ran, “Bro Xu, I’m here to thank you. My spouse is pregnant! Ha ha, it’s nearly two months now.” He jumped about excitedly.

Hearing the news, Xu Ran was also happy for him. He knew that Zhuo Yun had been looking forward to it for five years, and now his hope came true at last. Xu Ran said to him, “Congratulations to you. Don’t forget to invite me to have happiness candies then.”

“Of course. How can I forget you, Bro Xu?”

However, Zhuo Yun suddenly showed a worried look, “Bro Xu, do you think it’s because I promised my spouse I’d let him go after he has a baby? He’s been a little glum since he got pregnant. It’s no use trying to coax him.”

As a love “expert” who had never been in love, Xu Ran thought that this should be a good phenomenon, “Mr. Zhuo, I think your spouse should also have you in his heart, but it’s only that he can’t let go of you.”

“Ah!” Zhuo Yun opened his mouth wide, “Bro Xu, are you telling the truth?”

Xu Ran rolled his eyes and said to himself, ‘I’m not your spouse. How can I know if it is true or not?’

Xu Ran could only explain patiently, “Mr. Zhuo, how is the person you are looking for? I think your spouse’ heart knot is on that person. If you find that person, bring him to see your spouse. If he has already got a family, bring them with him. As long as they live well, I don’t think your spouse will blame you. In addition, it’s still the Spring Festival. Take your spouse to visit his dad and daddy. Your spouse must be homesick at the moment. ”

Zhuo Yun believed that Xu Ran said was reasonable, “Bro Xu, I’ll go back today and prepare a gift well. I’ll make both my dad-in-law and daddy-in-law satisfied. By the way, can you give me some of those two dishes on the table just now? I think my spouse will love them. I can pay you for them.”

Xu Ran waved his hand, “You’ve been too polite and regarded me as an outsider. When you go back, I’ll ask Tongtong to prepare some of that kind of food for you. I’ve also made a new flavor chili paste. You can take some back with you. Remember, the potatoes are the yellow things you just ate. When you go back, let the servants cut them into shreds and fry them, and then put more vinegar and chili to mix with them. Your spouse must like to eat hot and sour food now. The weather is not hot these days, and the food won’t make him sick. ”

“Alright, Bro Xu. Thank you so much,” Zhuo Yun was very glad and thanked him. How he wished he could fly back to prepare the food for Qin Shuwen.

Noticing his eagerness to go home, Xu Ran didn’t try to keep him, “Mr. Zhuo, wait a moment. I’ll let Tongtong get the food ready for you.”

At the moment, Liu Tong was busy washing in the kitchen. Just now, so many people had dinner together, and many pots and pans were used. Therefore, he had to work for a long time.

Xu Ran went into the kitchen and said to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, Mr. Zhuo wants some potatoes and edible fungus. You put these things in bags and give them to him. I’m going to get him some chili paste. His spouse is pregnant.”

“Oh, that’s great. Then I’ll get some more potatoes for him,” said Liu Tong happily.

“Yes,” Xu Ran nodded and went to the cellar storing the chili paste.

After all the things were put on the carriage, Zhuo Yun started to go back home. Now his state of mind could only be described in one sentence, that was, he wanted to get home right away.

When Zhuo Yun was about to leave, Xu Ran said to him, “Mr. Zhuo, I wonder if you’ve ever heard a saying that people don’t usually leave home on the seventh day every lunar month. And people don’t go home on the eighth day of every lunar month?”

Zhuo Yun smiled, “I’ve never heard of it before, but now I’ve heard of it. Thank you, Bro Xu.” After he finished, he jumped into the carriage.

After the carriage left, Xu Ran clapped his hands and entered the gate. He was a little depressed. He wondered if he did not work hard enough, otherwise why was Tongtong still not pregnant yet?