Chapter 118

No one knew whether Xu Ran’s heart was softened or what happened to him, but at night, he secretly went to see Xu Houcai. He brought him two bowls of meat left during the day and gave him a tael of silver. After that, he left without saying anything.

From the moment he moved out of the Xu Family, the responsibility of supporting the family was shifted onto Xu Cheng. Xu Cheng was an adult and a father of two children. He should have taken up his responsibility.

Thinking of these, Xu Ran felt quite annoyed. At night in bed, he hugged Liu Tong in his arms and did not fall asleep after a lot of twists and turns.

Liu Tong knew that Xu Ran was vexed in his heart, so he let him be.

Originally, the family could have happily celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, but now Xu Ran was not in the mood after such a ruckus caused by the Xu Family. He had planned to make delicious food for the family, and it didn’t come true, either. Only on that evening, he sat on the stone bench in the yard and told the family two stories about Chang’e flying to the moon.

The Xu Family never came again, and Xu Ran also heard that they had destroyed two mu of the village head’s land.

Sometimes, Xu Ran would meet Xu Houcai when he went up the mountain. They didn’t talk much. However, Xu Ran would sometimes give him some herbs and let him sell them. As for the money Xu Houcai might get from the sale, Xu Ran never asked for it.

It was September in the blink of an eye. Wheat and rape were about to be planted. Winter potatoes were almost ready. Xu Ran was going to take the test for Xiucai, while the expected date of Qin Shuwen’s childbirth was approaching.

In general, this would be a busy month. Xu Ran told Gao Quan to plant wheat and rape first. If he had anything he didn’t know, he could seek advice from Liu Tong. Xu Ran stressed that he didn’t have to worry. He could plant as many as he could and he would plant them together when he came back from the test.

Gao Quan had no objections about all these. Anyway, he would do as Xu Ran said.

…

Zhuo Yun didn’t come when they moved into the new house. Qin Shuwen’s stomach was getting bigger and bigger. Only by looking at him all the time could Zhuo Yun rest assured. However, when Xu Ran went to his house, he still sent him a generous gift: one hundred taels of silver! At that moment, Xu Ran really wanted to exclaim, ‘Rich man, this is really a substantial gift!’

Xu Ran didn’t stand on ceremony. After taking the sum of money, he added another 400 taels of silver and gave them all to Zhuo Yun meaning to return the amount of 500 taels of silver that he had borrowed from Zhuo Yun before.

As Qin Shuwen was going to give birth, Xu Ran also brought over all the eggs he had saved in his home. He told Zhuo Yun to cook them for Qin Shuwen after their baby was born.

This time, Xu Ran’s Autumn Test would be held in the county, one more day’s trip farther than He Shui Town. Xu Ran had to go to He Shui Town to send some things, so he had to set out on the third day of September.

As Gao Quan was at home, Xu Ran was not so worried. He didn’t send Mr. Hu to the town, either. After all, Qin Shuwen was about to give birth now and Zhuo Yun had no time to attend to Mr. Hu even if he went there.

After handing over all the work in and out of the house to both Gao Qian and Shao Yu, and specially going to tell Wu Mei, the village head and the rest about his leaving for the test, Xu Ran started off with reluctance at last.

When he arrived at the town, he first went to say hello to Qin Shuwu. As for the Qin Family, he didn’t make a detour to visit them. He planned to see them when he came back.

There were many people who participated in the Autumn Test. Xu Ran also saw many candidates on the road. Later, he met a person who was quite like-minded and gave him a free ride.

This person was called Du Xin, from Xu Ran’s neighboring town. After Du Xin got on the carriage, Xu Ran noticed that he had misjudged him. He found the person in front of him was by no means a castaway student, but a complete rich young man!

However, Du Xin showed his disdain for Xu Ran’s carriage as soon as he was inside. He kept complaining about the weak points here and there in the carriage. He commented frankly what should be put in the carriage to make the people inside more comfortable. Xu Ran was so annoyed by him that he almost threw him out.

Seeing that Xu Ran was really angry, Du Xin stopped and explained why he, though rich, was going for the test on foot.

Du Xin said, “You don’t know how terrible my father is. Just because my spouse is infertile, he insists on me taking a concubine. Back then, when I didn’t want to marry my spouse, he forced me to marry him. After a few years, my spouse and I finally have feelings for each other, while my father changed again, forcing me to marry someone else because of my spouse’s infertility. Can you imagine there is such a father? ”

Xu Ran nodded. “Yes, there is. It’s your father. But your father probably thinks that if your spouse can’t have a baby, and he will be sorry for an array of ancestors.”

“Hey, how did you know about it? It is exactly what my father has said. Did your father force you like this?”

Xu Ran rolled his eyes and muttered secretly, ‘It’s like this on TV. I’ve seen it more than 800 times. Can’t I know it?’

Then he replied, “I’ve already broken off with my dad. How can he force me?”

Du Xin gave Xu Ran a thumbs-up and praised him, “You’re great. I can’t do it well. Look, as I fight against my dad, I can only go out on foot instead of by carriage. I am now almost penniless. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have known where I would starve to death.”

Xu Ran asked him, “Did I tell you that I’ll offer you food and accommodation?”

Du Xin scratched his head and replied, “It seems not.”

‘God knows where he got such a feeling!’

Xu Ran thought and then turned to focus on his driving and ignored him.

Du Xin, however, acted as if he had been resolute in following Xu Ran. Thus whenever Xu Ran got off for a rest or went on driving, Du Xin kept close to him by the side.

No way out, Xu Ran had to let him stay and went to He Shui Town together with him.

The things in the carriage were to be sent to He Shui Town. Du Xin knew nothing about all these until they reached He Shui Town and realized that they shouldn’t have stopped at this place.

Du Xin pulled Xu Ran and asked, “Xu Ran, aren’t you going to the county? Why did you stop here? There is still one day’s journey to the county.”

Somewhat, Xu Ran smiled maliciously, “I plan to sell you before going to the county.”

Du Xin immediately crossed his arms and looked like he was really about to be forced, “Don’t come near. I’m worthless. Don’t sell me.”

Xu Ran looked helpless, “Just you? I don’t like you either. Even if I want to sell you, I will sell you to the butcher‘s. ”

“Mr. Xu, you are so ruthless! Just because I can’t earn money to support my family now, you’re going to sell me to the butcher’s. Do you still remember the solemn vow we once made… ”

Xu Ran was speechless and covered his face. Then he moved his steps to leave this incurable lunatic. He really didn’t know him and he didn’t want to know him.

Their current position was where many carriages were parked, so there were still a lot of people passing by. Soon enough, Du Xin noticed that there were more and more onlookers around. Suddenly, he blushed and ran with covering his face.

Xu Ran sighed. He wondered how this man grew up and how his dad and daddy were so relieved to let him out like this. They were really too careless about their child.

After the crowds had dispersed, Du Xin appeared out of nowhere.

As there were still things in the carriage, Xu Ran was worried about leaving the carriage there. Thus he found a staff boy who was looking after the carriages and asked him to send a message for him.

Xu Ran paid him ten pence, and told him, “Go to the Lin Mansion, whose young master is called Lin Hua. Tell Lin Hua that a Mr. Xu is looking for him. Then you will bring him over here and ask him to take more people with him to move things back.”

“Alright, Young Master. You can rest assured about it. I promise to do all these for you.” The young man immediately ran away after he got the money.

And Xu Ran sat on the carriage with his legs dangling and waited leisurely for Lin Hua.

Du Xin stopped making trouble. He sat down next to Xu Ran and asked, “Hey, are you here to find someone? How long will you stop here? Can we still catch up with the Autumn Test? ”

Xu Ran patted him on the head, “You’re so chatty. It is only the sixth today and we’ll just need one day more to get there. Our test will start on the ninth, so we’ll definitely be able to catch up with it. And if you can’t wait, how about you leave first?”

Du Xin shook his head, “No, I won’t. I just have no idea when we can go. I’ll follow you. I am sure you’ll definitely find a way to get there.”

Xu Ran rolled his eyes, “Now that you’ve already known it, why are you asking so much? Oh, my! Why should I be so softhearted and bother myself at that moment to give you a free ride?”

“Hehe, isn’t that because you’re kind?”

Xu Ran shook his head and didn’t reply him. He didn’t think he was a kind person.

A while later, the staff boy brought Lin Hua over. There were four or five people behind Lin Hua, including Lin Xi, but Xu Ran didn’t see Zhao Chen among them.

He jumped off the carriage, clapped his hands and walked forward greeting, “Lin Hua, long time no see.”

Lin Hua gave him a thump, “It’s been a long time indeed since I last saw you. I didn’t expect you to detour to the He Shui Town.”

“I just come over to take a look. I’ve sent you some things by the way. I don’t know if you will participate in the Autumn Test. I just come to try my luck. I didn’t expect you haven’t started off yet.”

Upon hearing the Autumn Test being mentioned, Lin Hua looked grieved, “Start off? How to start off? I didn’t even have the plan to go. My father didn’t force me this time. He just asked me to wait a few more years. At the moment, I am managing the shop.”

Xu Ran nodded. Lin Hua was indeed not good at learning. It was better for him not to take the test

“How about Zhao Chen? Why didn’t he come with you?” Xu Ran asked.

Speaking of this, Lin Hua became even more depressed, “Don’t mention it. He was being locked up by his father at home to recite books. His dad pushed him to participate in the Autumn Test. As he refused, his dad locked him up. His dad even stopped me from seeing him.”

Well, it was really a trouble then. What Xu Ran could do now was to silently pray for Zhao Chen.

Xu Ran just wanted to say something when Du Xin suddenly jumped out, “Hey, hey, I came with you. Don’t forget me when you meet someone you know!”

Xu Ran rubbed his nose. He had indeed forgotten about Du Xin…

Lin Hua looked at Du Xin, who was rushing over and asked Xu Ran, “Xu Ran, who is this guy?”

Before Xu Ran could say something, Du Xin took the initiative to introduce himself, “My name is Du Xin. Xu Ran and I met each other halfway through the journey. We plan to go to the county to participate in the Autumn Test together.”

Lin Hua turned to Xu Ran and Xu Ran nodded, “Exactly.”.

Lin Hua said with a smile, “Since he’s your friend, Xu Ran, he’s naturally my friend. Let me see what good things you’ve brought to me. Then let’s go to an inn to rest. Are you going to leave tomorrow?”

“Yes, or I’m worried that I won’t be able to catch up with the test. Thus I’ll leave tomorrow so that I can go to see Zhao Chen today, or maybe I can persuade his dad to let Zhao Chen go to the county with me.”

“Alright,” Lin Hua nodded. As you ranked the top three during the last test, Zhao Chen’s dad would definitely agree with it.

Lin Hua went to see what Xu Ran had brought over. They were just potatoes and dried bamboo shoots, which were not rare. Lin Hua asked his people to move them back into the shop and took Xu Ran and Du Xin to find an inn for the night.

Lin Hua was familiar with the town’s restaurants, and he knew the inns quite well. Thus they soon found an inn called Fu Lai Inn and booked two rooms before taking them to dinner.

After lunch, Lin Hua took them to see Zhao Chen.

Zhao Chen’s dad refused to let them in after hearing Lin Hua’s name. He was really relentless.

Getting the report of Xu Ran‘s name as well as his ranking the third place in the last the test, Zhao Chen’s dad at last agreed to let Zhao Chen come out, but he didn’t invite Xu Ran and the others to enter their house.

Xu Ran touched his chin and looked at Lin Hua in disdain. He always felt that Zhao Chen’s dad didn’t let him in only because of Lin Hua. He guessed that after they two met each other,they might discuss how to flee away from home.

Lin Hua, who was despised, felt puzzled about it, but as he would soon see Zhao Chen, he would not care about Xu Ran’s distain.

Looking at Lin Hua, who was obviously very happy, a thought popped up into Xu Ran’s mind, an idea that was unacceptable in this era.

He pulled Lin Hua aside and asked him quietly, “Lin Hua, tell me honestly, do you like Zhao Chen?”

Lin Hua’s body stiffened when he heard Xu Ran’s question. Then he nodded, “Yes, I like him.”