Chapter 147

Xu Ran was confused by the question. He had done so many strange things before and Liu Tong had never asked about them. Why he would suddenly ask the question when talking about this, and his face looked a little serious. Xu Ran wasn’t sure.

He wanted to fob him off, but when he saw Liu Tong’s face, he suddenly couldn’t speak.

Xu Ran closed his eyes. Liu Tong was not the fool he had been with for seven years, so he was afraid that once Liu Tong found out the truth, he would have nothing to do with Liu Tong and his family.

Liu Tong had been looking at Xu Ran as if he must get an answer from him.

After Xu Ran closed his eyes, he dared not open. He didn’t know what he was afraid of seeing, but he just didn’t dare to look.

“Wawl… Wawl…”

The sudden sound of crying broke the silence between them.

Xu Ran stood up with the child in his arms and said to Liu Tong, “Baozi pissed. You eat first, and I’ll go change his diaper.”

The moment he moved away, Xu Ran felt relieved. Little Baozi helped him get off. Even if he had to face this question sooner or later, he hoped that he would be well prepared instead of being questioned suddenly like this.

Liu Tong looked at Xu Ran’s back and his eyes darkened. In fact, he didn’t know what answer he wanted. Whether it was yes or no, this Ran was the one living in his life. He would take care of them, make money to support the family, and would rack his brain to make this family better.

The old Ran was nothing but his husband and Dad of the two children.

In fact, he always knew that Ran’s change was too unusual, but he chose to remain silent, play dumb and not to ask.

He was afraid that once he asked, the person whom he had accompanied for so many years would suddenly leave.

But today, when he heard Ran say that two men could love each other, he suddenly panicked. He was afraid that Ran would meet a very capable, smart and good-looking man one day. Ran was so good now but he himself wasn’t that competitive.

The question escaped his lips unconsciously, and Liu Tong was also flustered while waiting for Ran’s answer, but he put on a straight face and didn’t show it.

However, Ran’s silence made him increasingly uneasy. He was actually thanking Baozi for crying. If not… none of them knew what would happen after tonight! And he didn’t dare imagine it.

In fact, he should be satisfied that Ran was so good to him and his two children were obedient. Little Baozi was cute, too. He didn’t need to worry about food and clothing at home, and they had also built a house. He should be content, and he didn’t even understand why he asked that question. He never did before.

Liu Tong was a little upset, but he couldn’t show the feeling because Ran was coming back soon. How should he face him?

As Liu Tong thought about it, he fell into meditation, and the food was left cold and untouched for a long time.

However, Xu Ran didn’t come back for a long time after he left.

Liu Tong, who had been waiting in the room, was getting more and more disappointed.

After Xu Ran changed the diaper for little Baozi, he left Baozi to Tangtang and Guoguo and asked them to take care of him. If they wanted to sleep, they could take Baozi to Daddy. He needed to go out.

Tangtang and Guoguo were able to hold Baozi, so they agreed and didn’t ask where Xu Ran was going.

Xu Ran left the door alone. It was dark and he didn’t know where to go.

The place where Liu Tong and the child were was his home, but now he didn’t dare to stay in this home.

Xu Ran did not dare to wander around in the dark. He walked to the bamboo house by feeling.

There was no one living in the house and the door was locked, but the courtyard door wasn’t.

Xu Ran opened the courtyard door and walked in. He stood there for a long time.

This was the place where they lived when they had nothing but each other, and then their life was getting better little by little. At that time, Liu Tong always did more work than he did, and was also more tired. The calluses on Liu Tong’s hand were much thicker than his, but Liu Tong never said that he was tired.

They supported each other and went through that period of time. But at that time, he never thought that this would happen.

Maybe he should have thought about it. After all, his performance was too unusual. Liu Tong, especially, should know it better than anyone else.

He knew many things that were strange to others. At that time, he had just woken up, and even if he read, he wouldn’t learn that fast. More importantly, they didn’t have the money to buy books?

Xu Ran looked up at the sky. There was no moon tonight but a few stars hanging there. Black, that was all it got, just like his mood.

The door of the bamboo house was locked and he couldn’t enter. In fact, he didn’t intend to enter, nor did he plan to go back because he had no idea how to face Liu Tong when he went back.

Xu Ran walked under the eaves, found a wooden stool and sat down. He held his chin, looked at the pitch-dark sky and finally fell asleep.

…

When Liu Tong saw that Baozi was sent back by Tangtang and Guoguo, he felt that things were not good. He asked Tangtang and Guoguo where was Xu Ran. They told him that Dad wanted to go out, but they didn’t know where to go and what to do.

And little Baozi was with him, so he didn’t dare leave him and go out to look for Xu Ran. More importantly, he didn’t knew where to find him. It was dark, and he could see nothing outside.

Liu Tong fed little Baozi ewe’s milk, then untied the rope on him and put him on the bed to let him sleep.

However, Liu Tong himself did not sleep. He had been sitting at the bedside and waiting until dawn.

That whole night, Xu Ran did not return and Liu Tong did not sleep.

…

On the second day, Liu Tong went out of the room and asked Shao Yu to help take care of little Baozi for a while. Then he went to look for Xu Ran with Tangtang and Guoguo.

It was December 21st, and there were four days before he went out of his postpartum confinement.

Liu Tong didn’t tell Shao Yu and others that Xu Ran didn’t come back last night. He asked Lin Xi to wait for a while and said that Xu Ran had gone out.

But he couldn’t hide it from the two kids.

Liu Tong said to Tangtang and Guoguo, “Tangtang and Guoguo, bring all the dogs and I will take you to find Dad.”

Tangtang and Guoguo looked at Liu Tong while tilting their heads, confusingly. Tangtang asked Liu Tong, “Daddy, where’s Dad and we have to find him?”

Liu Tong squatted down and told them, “It’s my fault. Dad didn’t come back after going out last night.”

Tangtang and Guoguo’s big eyes widened and they couldn’t believe it. Guoguo immediately asked Liu Tong, “Daddy, do you know where has Dad gone? Where should we find him?”

When Liu Tong heard Guoguo’s words, he seemed to be discouraged. “I don’t know. Where do you think Dad would go?”

Tangtang and Guoguo shook his head. “Daddy, we don’t know, either.”

“Then let Peach and Plum find him. I am worried sick about Dad. He hasn’t come back for the whole night,” Liu Tong said as his tone unconsciously changed.

He shouldn’t have asked that improper question last night. If he didn’t ask Ran, Ran would still be at home. They should be happily eating breakfast and playing with little Baozi.

Tangtang wiped Liu Tong’s face with his small hand and said, “Daddy, don’t cry. We’ll let Peach and Plum find Dad right away. Daddy, don’t cry.”

Guoguo also said, “Daddy, don’t cry.”

Liu Tong held the two children in his arms and couldn’t say a word.

After that, the three of them brought four dogs to find Xu Ran. They didn’t dare to shout Xu Ran’s name, so they could only look for him all around.

…

Xu Ran woke up in the daylight. He found his eyelids heavy to open and his body heavy to move, as if his body was loaded with lead.

He knew he had caught a cold, a serious one.

Xu Ran smiled bitterly. He was suffering from the consequence of his own deeds!

There seemed to be a dog’s  bark in his ears. Xu Ran looked up and saw two figures walking towards him. He wanted to stand up, but he collapsed to the ground before he could stand up staright.

Then he heard Liu Tong calling him by his name. He tried hard to open his eyes to answer him, but no matter how he tried, it was futile, and then he was unconscious.

Liu Tong didn’t know where to find Xu Ran, so they simply searched all the places nearby. First, they went to the shed set up by the construction workers in the past and no one was there. Then they headed towards the bamboo house.

As they walked, Peach suddenly barked. Guoguo pointed to the bamboo house and said, “Daddy, look, there is someone in the bamboo house.”

“Ran,” Liu Tong called softly and hurtled towards the bamboo house.

When he arrived, he happened to see Xu Ran falling to the ground. He didn’t even have time to catch him.

“Ran!” Liu Tong shouted loudly.

Then he immediately ran over and helped Xu Ran up from the ground. Tangtang and Guoguo ran over and called Dad non-stop.

Xu Ran, who fainted from the high fever, didn’t know anything anymore.

Xu Ran was carried home by Liu Tong while Tangtang and Guoguo followed behind them with tearful eyes.

As soon as he arrived home, Liu Tong asked Gao Quan to find Doctor Liu, Shao Yu to heat the Chinese baijiu, and Tangtang and Guoguo to look after Baozi.

As for Lin Xi, Liu Tong had no time for him now.

Lin Xi also saw that Xu Ran was carried back by Liu Tong. He knew that something must have happened, so he didn’t say to leave in a hurry but helped Shao Yu make a fire in the kitchen.

Shao Yu quickly heated the baijiu. Before Doctor Liu came, Liu Tong kept rubbing the baijiu on Xu Ran so as to help him cool down. The fever was so bad and that was why Xu Ran fainted.

As long as Liu Tong thought of the scene he had seen just now, he couldn’t stop feeling heart-wrenching. It was all because of him. If he didn’t ask Ran, he wouldn’t have ran out and caught a fever and suffered this.

Liu Tong cried until Doctor Liu came. He immediately gave the position to Doctor Liu.

After Doctor Liu took Xu Ran’s pulse, he said, “Liu Tong, don’t worry too much. Xu Ran is just in a bad fever. As long as his fever goes down, it’ll be fine. I’ll make a prescription. Hurry up and ask someone to buy the medicine for him. Keep rubbing the baijiu on him, which will help cool his fever.”

Doctor Liu then went to make the prescription. Liu Tong took the prescription from Doctor Liu and handed it to Gao Quan. He said, “Gao Quan, please come back quickly.”

Gao Quan nodded. “My lord, I get it. I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

Liu Tong paid the consultation fee and asked Shao Yu to walk the doctor away.

After everyone left, Liu Tong went back to the bed and looked at Xu Ran who was lying on the bed with a red face. He couldn’t help but cry.

So what if he knew the answer? Ran was still his Ran. Even those young and beautiful Ge’ers couldn’t get to seduce Ran, let alone other men. He really shouldn’t have asked.