Chapter 152

When Xu Ran and the others went back, everyone else returned home too.

As it was not dinner time, they didn’t have to cook and there was nothing else to do, so the group of people were warming themselves by the fire in the living room.

Xu Ran thought that it was really boring. After all, they could not play chess all the time, and they had to find something fun to do.

The point was that everyone turned their eyes to him. Xu Ran grabbed his hair and racked his brains!

There were quite a lot of entertainments in modern times. Later on, they were taken over by computers and mobile phones. What he remembered were still the ones in his childhood.

However, it seemed that they were not suitable for so many adults to play. More importantly, there was no TV to watch! He was really annoyed!

TV!

Xu Ran suddenly realized that he could act himself without TV! He remembered that he had told Tangtang and Guoguo about the stories in ‘Journey to the West’.

Even Liu Tong, Mr. Hu as well as Tangtang and Guoguo’s friends were lucky enough to have heard of them many times.

Xu Ran turned around and asked Tangtang and Guoguo, “Tangtang, Guoguo, do you still remember the stories of Monkey King that I told you before?”

Tangtang and Guoguo nodded hard, “Yes, I do.”

Xu Ran asked again, “Then to whom have you told the stories? Can you find a few people who remember them? Let’s do something fun.”

As soon as they heard the word ‘fun’, Tangtang and Guoguo’s eyes widened. It must be fun since dad had said it.

Thus, the two kids began to report to him to whom they had told the stories.

Xu Ran said, “You two, go to find some of these friends. Dad will prepare props for you. Go quickly!”

Tangtang and Guoguo saw that Xu Ran was serious about it, so they ran out in a hurry. While they were running, Xu Ran heard Tangtang saying the names that he was going to look for and the ones that Guoguo would seek.

Xu Ran went to prepare props instead. The others looked in a daze while Zhuo Yun and Qin Shuwen didn’t even know what Monkey King was.

Every time Xu Ran came back into the house, he carried in some stuff. Firstly, it was a bamboo stick. Next, a wooden rake which had a big plank attached to a wooden stick, looking like a halberd. Then there were all sorts of other items.

In short, they looked very weird.

Tangtang and Guoguo ran back soon, followed by a large group of kids, some familiar faces and some strange ones.

Xu Ran asked them how many stories they had known and how much they remembered. The children told him what they knew, and then Xu Ran started to assign roles.

Since Tangtang and Guoguo knew the most, Tangtang acted as Tang Sanzang (the monk), and Guoguo played Monkey King. Dahu played Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), and Xiaobudian was Sha Wujing.

After the four important roles had been assigned, it was the turn for the other characters. Today’s scene was called Monkey King Subdues the White-Skeleton Demon.

It was the first monster that Tang Sanzang encountered after taking three disciples.

The three people whom White-Skeleton Demon was going to transform into were also arranged by Xu Ran.

Then he taught them to repeat their lines. As to the action, they could improvise!

Xu Ran acted as the voice-over and background.

“Today’s story started as Tang Sanzang, escorted by his three disciples on his journey to the West Heaven (the ancient Buddhist name for India) in search of Buddhist scriptures. This day, they reached Mount Wanzi, where lived the one-thousand-year-old demon–White-Skeleton Demon. She was cruel and sly and learned that she would be immortal after eating the meat of the Tang Sanzang. To reach the goal, White-Skeleton Demon came up with a trick.

She changed into the form of a village woman. She passed by the Tang Sanzang and his disciples and said that she was going to send lunch to her parents…

The village woman played by Yueya’er came out.

She carried a basket with a piece of cloth over it. However, the basket that Xu Ran found was too big. As Yueya’er had exerted himself to lift it up high, he stuttered and gasped when he spoke her lines.

The audience didn’t hear clearly what he said, but Yueya’er’s appearance made everyone laugh. However, Yueya’er was quite composed, and he continued his acting.

Tangtang and the rest were alright. They spoke their lines when it was their turn as if they were really acting a serious play.

If someone had made some mistakes, Xu Ran would give the reminder. When everything went smoothly, he would just watch or read his voice-over.

The others had stopped laughing after that incident. They watched the performance of the group of children attentively.

What they cared was the jolly atmosphere, rather than whether the performance was skillful or not.

Xu Ran arranged about three scenes, with every kid assigned a role, and they did give a satisfactory performance.

Zhuo Yun gazed at the group of children and said, “Though their acting was not very good, it’s quite fresh. If you go to the town to perform, you can make some money.”

Xu Ran nodded. “That might work, but I didn’t intend to let them perform in the town. They are still children, whose parents will be worried about them. Besides, I can’t take care of so many children. However, maybe during Spring Festival, we can set up a platform in the village, and we’ll give the villagers a free show. I’ll take some time to talk about it with the village head.”

Seeing that it was almost noon, Xu Ran couldn’t ask so many kids to stay for lunch, so he asked Liu Tong to cook a bowl of sweet wine for everyone to drink. Then he sent the kids back home.

Since they came here happily, naturally they should return in the same manner too.

Xu Ran originally wanted to ask Dahu to tell his family to come over for dinner in the evening, but he also needed Wu Mei and the others to prepare some food. Being afraid that the child would not be able to explain it clearly, he decided that he should make a trip later in person.

The lunch was made by Shao Yu. Beisdes, the work in kitchen had grown on Qin Shuwen, and he kept claiming that he wanted to learn cooking. In view of his persistence, Zhuo Yun let him do as he liked, but kept reminding him to be careful so as not to hurt himself.

Qin Shuwen slapped him on the forehead. “Why do you have to mention hurting myself? Are you expecting me to hurt myself?”

Zhuo Yun covered his head with grievance. “I didn’t. I just cared about you.”

Then Qin Shuwen slapped him again. After they finished arguing at the kitchen door, Shao Yu had begun to stir-fry the dish.

Qin Shuwen, who went in and took a look, wanted to come out to slap Zhuo Yun again, but he held back. He could learn to stir-fry with Shao Yu, which was a skill too.

Shao Yu saw that Qin Shuwen really wanted to learn, so he taught him seriously, such as, to what degree when the oil was heated the vegetables could be placed in pan, and to what degree when the vegetables were cooked the salt and the other ingredients could be added in.

Shao Yu stir-fried the ingredients and instructed him at the same time. Qin Shuwen watched and kept Shao Yu’s words in his mind.

When the last dish was to be stir-fried, Qin Shuwen rolled up his sleeves and said to Shao Yu, “Shao Yu, let me have a try. You can supervise me. If I do it wrong, you can remind me. ”

Shao Yu had no objections. After washing the pan, he moved aside and let Qin Shuwen try it.

Qin Shuwen waited until the water in the pan was heated dry and put the oil in. As it was a bit too much, Shao Yu scooped some of it out. When the oil was hot, he put some garlic slices in the pan to add to the flavor. When the fragrance wafted, he put the ingredients in and stir-fried them in the pan.

Although Qin Shuwen’s action was a little slow, he did all the steps quite smoothly.

However, he was not sure about the amount of salt.

Shao Yu told him, “You can put in a little salt first. After you stir-fry for a while, taste it to find out whether it’s enough. If it’s not, add a little more. Don’t add too much one time. You’ll grasp the amount after a few more times.”

Qin Shuwen nodded. “Thank you, Shao Yu.”

“Lord Zhuo, you’re being polite. It’s my pleasure,” Shao Yu said with a smile.

When they were having dinner, Shao Yu specifically introduced which dish was stir-fried by Qin Shuwen. Then Zhuo Yun immediately put it in front of him. Others simply smiled and would not compete with him.

However, Qin Shuwen was quite embarrassed.

Although Qin Shuwen’s dish wasn’t extremely delicious, it was tasty. Liu Tong also praised Qin Shuwen, while Xu Ran was too embarrassed to speak.

As for Zhuo Yun, most of the dish ended up in his stomach, fully demonstrating his love for Qin Shuwen.

After lunch, Xu Ran asked Shao Yu to prepare several kinds of vegetables, starch noodles and so on, and slice some potatoes, flake some lean meat, and cut some sausages. Generally speaking, to take some out from all the food materials at home.

After Xu Ran instructed Shao Yu, he stepped outside. It was still snowing. Not many people came out in winter and a thin layer of snow had accumulated on the ground.

Xu Ran went to Wu Mei’s house, and Wu Mei’s family were still having lunch. When they saw Xu Ran coming, Wu Mei immediately called him to join them for dinner. “Xu Ran, have you eaten? Do you want to have lunch with us?

Xu Ran waved his hand and entered the house. “I have eaten. You go on!”

It was very cold outside. After Xu Ran entered Wu Mei’s house, he automatically squatted beside the heated brick bed.

Having finished eating, Wu Mei asked Xu Ran, “What do you come here for? Are you coming to invite Dahu to act as Pigsy again?”

Since Wu Mei had said so, it must be because Dahu came back and told him what he had done in the morning. Xu Ran smiled, “If you want to watch, I will ask Dahu to perform for you!”

Wu Mei said, “I really want to watch it. When you summon them to perform next time, take me along with them so that I can see how my son acts.”

Xu Ran nodded, “Sure! Next time, I will ask Dahu to call you.

After a pause, Xu Ran continued, “I’m here to ask you to have dinner with us. Let’s eat something novel today, but you also have to prepare some kinds of vegetables. There are only a few kinds in my house. Each family brings some, then we can taste more kinds.”

“How can we go to your home to eat every day? I have lost count of times I’ve eaten in your place in the past year. I’ll take a pass today!” Wu Mei said.

“Don’t. As it’s cold in this snowy day, I specially prepared such a meal. Besides, I didn’t only invite you. There are other people in your family. Dahu, Yueya’er, do you want to go?” Xu Ran asked Dahu and Yueya’er, who were eating.

They had heard the conversation between Wu Mei and him. Dahu was a little shy to say yes, but little Yueya’er, thinking of the delicious meal in Xu Ran’s home, nodded in a hurry.

Seeing it, Wu Mei was both annoyed and amused. “Greedy!”

Xu Ran said, “Look, Yueya’er has agreed. Don’t be polite. Prepare some vegetables and take to my house. Remember to get early. I’ll go to Wu Lan and Liu Qing’s place.”

Xu Ran warmed his hands on the fire for a while and left.

Wu Mei didn’t see him off, just saying that he would be there in the evening.

Xu Ran nodded and walked out of the courtyard.