Chapter 149

Although little Baozi’s Red Egg and Ginger Party wasn’t big, those close friends and relatives were invited. Fortunately, Liu Tong and Shao Yu had prepared the food materials needed for the party in Xu Ran’s coma.

Xu Ran thought that those who came were all close acquaintances, so only some daily dishes would be cooked.

The sausages were ready to be eaten. Some shredded meat dishes, a chicken for stewing soup, and a duck dressed with sauce. Plus some other vegetable dishes, it would be enough.

Early on the morning of December 25th, Liu Tong changed a brand new red outfit for little Baozi, who looked like a lucky doll.

Wu Mei’s home was the closest, so they came first. Wu Mei sewed a suit of clothes for little Baozi and a pair of tiger-head shoes, while Xu An gave a rattle-drum to him, which made the rattling sound, and little Baozi liked it very much.

Not long after, Wu Lan’s and Liu Qing’s families came with presents.

As soon as they arrived, they went to the kitchen to help.

Xu An and the others played chess in the living room.

The children played Five-in-a-Row, or looked for fun themselves.

After a while, Zhuo Yun family came as well. Zhuo Yun drove the carriage by himself with Qin Shuwen and little Qingshu. He even brought clothes and quilts with him, which was the preparation of staying long.

Xu An and the others had known Zhuo Yun, but they had never seen Qin Shuwen. Zhuo Yun was quite easygoing. Very soon, he got familiar with Xu An and the rest.

Qin Shuwen, on the other hand, went to meet Liu Tong with the baby after greeting everyone. The two could exchange experience of child rearing.

By noon, when they were about to have lunch, some people from the village head’s family had also come. It was Xu Shao, the eldest son of the village head. He came with two kids, Xiaobudian and Xiaomi. As a matter of fact, it was inappropriate for the village head, as an elder, to come in person.

Except Zhuo Yun, Xu An and the others all knew Xu Shao but they never met. After Xu Ran introduced them to each other, the group of people sat together and chatted while eating dried beancurd as the snack.

Xiaobudian was very excited. Because of the cold weather recently, he hadn’t been allowed to come out to play, and he hadn’t seen Tangtang and Guoguo for a long time. He rushed to Tangtang and Guoguo quickly as soon as he came, and Xiaomi followed closely behind him.

Seeing that Guoguo and Tangtang were playing Five-in-a-Row, Xiaobudian kept shouting that he wanted to play, too.

However, there was only one set of Five-in-a-Row game. Not enough to distribute. As kids, no one was willing to give way to anyone else.

Seeing them quarreling for a long time without deciding who would play first, Xu Ran couldn’t stand it anymore. He fetched a flint and several stones and drew a grid on the ground, placing two stones on each square.

After finishing it, Xu Ran clapped his hands. “Come here, everybody. Stop playing Five-in-a-Row. I’ll teach you a new game.”

At Xu Ran’s words, the group of children all ran over to him. Xu Ran drew five identical big grids, which were all divided into many small squares inside. Then one more square was drawn outside each of the four sides where a stone was placed.

Xu Ran pointed to the grid and introduced, “I don’t know the name of this game. It needs two players. Firstly decide who go first by playing rock-paper-scissors. When your stone meet the one of your rival’s, his stone has to retreat to the starting point. The first one who occupied the ten middle squares will be the winner. Tangtang, come here and let’s demonstrate for them.”

At Xu Ran’s words, Tangtang walked over and squatted in front of a stone, with Xu Ran being opposite him. Then the father and son started to play. When Tangtang was moving, Xu Ran would instruct him which was better way to go. The other children all listened attentively, more serious than doing anything else.

Shortly after, they were surrounded by a group of adults too, who looked itchy for a try.

This was simpler than playing Five-in-a-Row. After watching a round of game, one could grasp it .

Xu Ran had played with his classmates when he was in primary school. They drew grids on the desk with chalks, and as soon as the class recess began, they started rock-paper-scissors.

Xu Ran only remembered the way of playing and drawing the grid. As to the name, he really couldn’t remember.

After Xu Ran taught them, he let them play on their own. With an adult around, they could not enjoy themselves to their full.

Zhuo Yun was very interested in it. He wanted Xu Ran to draw another one and play with him.

Such childish behavior was seriously rejected by Xu Ran. “You have been a kid’s father now, How embarrassing it is for you to play children’s games!”

Zhuo Yun looked at Xu Ran with a not-embarrassed expression, and then reasoned plausibly, “I learned it to teach my kid in the future. Otherwise, how bored he will be if he cannot play any game!”

Facing such a righteous excuse, Xu Ran failed to talk back.

Zhuo Yun wanted to continue, but Xu Ran quickly raised up his hand, “Stop, stop, I will play with you.”

Xu Ran had to draw another grid, picked up two stones, and played the extremely childish game with Zhuo Yun.

When Qin Shuwen and Liu Tong came downstairs, they saw the two squatting on the ground the same manner as the group of children. Qin Shuwen couldn’t help laughing at them.

Zhuo Yun was indifferent to it. He even ran to show off to Qin Shuwen, explaining that it was all for their son.

Only Xu Ran shrugged helplessly, “I was forced.”

Liu Tong smiled and didn’t say anything. He gave the child to Xu Ran and went to the kitchen with Qin Shuwen.

It had been a long time since he had cooked. It was time to practice a bit.

Wu Mei and the rest had never met Qin Shuwen, but they knew Zhuo Yun. To intimate people, Qin Shuwen was very easygoing. To people with bad relationship, he could not get along with them whatsoever.

Liu Tong introduced them to each other. Liu Tong mentioned that the several families were on very good terms, and that Wu Mei family had helped them in his most difficult time.

Qin Shuwen got along well with Liu Tong. According to Liu Tong’s words, he also had a good impression on Wu Mei and the rest.

Though he had a better descent than them and married well, he didn’t look down on them.

Qin Shuwen didn’t know how to cook. He had been spoiled since childhood. After marrying Zhuo Yun, he was more indulged. Thus when he went to the kitchen, he found everything so novel that he was eager to learn some from them.

Wu Mei alone could handle cooking. Liu Tong had planned to show off his skills, but found no opportunities. So he might as well teach Qin Shuwen.

Qin Shuwen was very smart. Although he didn’t have much practice experience, he got the hand of it quickly. At least he had known how to slice the potatoes, and the potato shreds he made were not thick .

After slicing two potatoes, he laughed. “I did a poor job. Don’t laugh at me.”

Wu Mei said immediately, “It’s good enough for you to slice that well for the first time. In my childhood, when my Daddy taught me to cook, I started from scratch. I could cut my fingers whenever I used a knife. Later, the pain taught me to be careful when cutting vegetables.”

“Yeah, when we were young, we couldn’t do as well as you.”

Wu Mei took the lead and the other two Ge’ers also began to talk about their childhood stories, which greatly intrigued Qin Shuwen.

Many hands made light work. The meal was ready before noon, a full table of dishes. To celebrate that little Baozi was one month old, Xu Ran warmed the brown sugar wine to drink, which was an auspicious symbol.

Xu Ran even took the lead to play the drinking games.

He didn’t know a lot of lines, which were all learned from TV.

Zhuo Yun, who had made a lot of business trips, knew quite a lot.

Xu An and the others did not travel a lot, knowing only one or two of them.

Generally speaking, they fully enjoyed themselves at the meal.

While eating, Liu Tong suddenly said, “Ran, we haven’t tasted fish mint this year. How about digging some back later?! It would be great if it could be planted by ourselves.”

As Liu Tong seldom had great craving for food, Xu Ran would naturally satisfy him, “Alright, we’ll go after dinner. Anyway, there’s nothing else to do. We can also grow some fish mint. Let’s dig some back and plant it in nearby fields. When spring comes, new sprouts will come out.”

Liu Tong was very happy when he heard that fish mint could be planted. “Ran, let’s plant a lot of them. The stuff is very appetizing. Mix it with chili paste, you can eat a few more bowls of rice.”

Xu Ran nodded. If that was the case, the deli that he would open with Qin Shuwu next year could also sell it, and they could also recommended it to Lin Hua. Anyway, it was easy to grow.

After lunch, Wu Mei with some went to do the dishes. While Xu An with the others went home to fetch hoes, to dig fish mint.

The fish mint in this winter was relatively tough, but was more fragrant. It was good to dig some more back and store to eat during the new year. It’s appetizing to eat some fish mint while eating a lot of oily meat dishes during the festival.

After the house was tidied up, Xu Ran carried the packbasket, and went to dig the fish mint with a large group of people. What a bunch of idling people!

The children played by themselves and didn’t join in the fun.

Liu Tong and Qin Shuwen carrying the babies, were just onlookers.

The others each carried a hoe. People not knowing would think they were going to work in the field.

Xu Ran was very familiar with surrounding areas of their home now. The ten mu of land that had just been bought were all plowed by their farm-laborers. But as Wu Mei and the other families said they wanted to plow by themselves, their lands remained what they were.

Xu Ran thought for a moment and said, “Let’s dig in the wasteland that we bought. Just consider it as plowing the land.”

Looking at the wasteland that yet to be plowed, Xu An and the others naturally had no objections.

Zhuo Yun and Qin Shuwen didn’t know what fish mint was. As to Qin Shuwen, he had never heard of it before. When he heard that it would be dug from under the ground, he had thought it must be something black.

So when Liu Tong handed him a stalk of fish mint, he even called out, “So it looks like this. It smells quite fragrant.”

Liu Tong said, “It does not only smell fragrant, but also tastes very good. When we have dug enough, let Ran dress it with sauce and you can have a try.”

“Okay, Liu Tong, you’re really lucky. Your Xu Ran could cook anything.” Qin Shuwen said with a look of envy, whose focus was always on eating.

Liu Tong smiled, “How can you be so fond of eating. Since you can go around freely now, just come to our house with your baby at your leisure time. You can both keep me company and taste whatever novel foods in our home.”

Qin Shuwen agreed without hesitation, “Okay, I’ll definitely be your frequent visitor.”

“Oh, right. I wonder if Xu Ran have told you. Next year, I might stay at your house for one or two months. Zhuo Yun is going to make a business trip next year. He is worried about me if I’m alone at home, so he told Xu Ran that I’ll stay with your family for a while.”

Xu Ran really did not tell Liu Tong about this, but Liu Tong nodded. “Ran has told me. As long as you like, you can stay with us forever.”

Liu Tong did not mind Qin Shuwen staying in their home. Not to mention Xu Ran’s good relationship with Zhuo Yun, even Zhuo Yun’s affection to Qin Shuwen who was apple in his eyes could be seen. Of course he would not be jealous, but why didn’t Ran tell him about it?

Liu Tong wondered how many things he didn’t know? Perhaps they really needed a good talk.

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