Chapter 183

Liu Tong introduced Shao Yu and Qin Shuwen to Lin Hua one by one. Lin Hua was a very straightforward person. He thought that since they were all Xu Ran’s family, they were definitely not outsiders. Thus, he said carelessly, “You don’t have to worry. I already have someone I like. He is a man like me. I won’t do anything. Can I hold the child?”

When Liu Tong and the others were still astonished, Lin Hua had already taken the child away from Shao Yu’s arms.

Xu Ran had told Liu Tong about the story of Lin Hua and Zhao Chen, and they had argued with each other over this, and Xu Ran had been in bed for days. Thus, Liu Tong was just stunned for a while before he came to his sense.

However, the other two, Qin Shuwen and Shao Yu had never heard that two men could also be in love with each other, so they opened their mouths in surprise.

Shao Yu didn’t even react when the child in his arms was taken away.

It seemed that Lin Hua adored children. When he took Baozi over to himself, he started to tease him. Baozi was awake, and a three months old baby was able to giggle. Being teased, Baozi couldn’t stop giggling.

When Qingshu, who was in Qin Shuwen’s arms, heard the giggle, he started to giggle too. Lin Hua just took Qingshu into his arms, too.

Because he saw little Baozi, Qingshu was not shy with the stranger either. The two children had got familiar with each other for over a month.

Therefore, when Xu Ran brought Zhao Chen into the living room, he saw Lin Hua holding a child with each arm.

Xu Ran walked over and took the child in Lin Hua’s arm back to Qin Shuwen, and then took Baozi into his own arms, “You entered the door, and held my child without even greeting me. Also, didn’t you see that they were all Ge’ers here? You should have run into the room regardless. Lin Hua, tell me that there is no problem with your brain!”

Lin Hua was a little unhappy for the child was taken away, but when he heard Xu Ran asking him, he also felt a little embarrassed, “Don’t be like this! Anyway, we’re already so close. It doesn’t make any difference whether I greet you or not. Besides, it’s not like that you don’t know I like Zhao Chen, so I definitely won’t do anything to Ge’ers.”

Xu Ran clenched his teeth and stared at him, “You really dare to say anything! If some stranger comes to my house and what you said gets out, you will be killed by rumors. Can you knock some sense into your head?”

Lin Hua was taught a lesson by Xu Ran, but he was not angry at all. He thought about Xu Ran’s words and admitted that he had been too careless.

He smiled and apologized to Xu Ran, “I know I was wrong. Don’t be angry. You get angry the first time I come to your house. I would think that you don’t welcome me.” Lin Hua tugged at his sleeves like a child and winked at Zhao Chen standing next to him.

Zhao Chen sighed, stepped forward and said to Xu Ran, “Xu Ran, this is Lin Hua. Don’t bother with him. He’s right. We’re here for the first time. You can’t just ignore us because you’re angry.”

Obviously, Zhao Chen was here to be the peacemaker. Xu Ran also knew that. He glanced at Lin Hua and decided to ignore him for the time being. Xu Ran introduced Zhao Chen to Liu Tong and the others.

“Tongtong, Shuwen, Shao Yu, this is Zhao Chen, the one Lin Hua likes. I met them when I went to He Shui Town for the Spring Test.”

Xu Ran pointed at Liu Tong as well as the other two and introduced them one by one. They greeted each other, and now they were all acquaintances.

After Xu Ran introduced Zhao Chen, Lin Hua went over and wanted to hold the child in Xu Ran’s arms.

Xu Ran looked displeased. He just wanted to say, “Why don’t you have a baby of your own if you like babies?”

But at the thought that Zhao Chen and Lin Hua couldn’t give birth, Xu Ran bit his tongue. Forget it. He might as well be kind for once and wouldn’t provoke Lin Hua anymore.

When they arrived, it was almost noon. Now that they had been talking for a while on their feet, Xu Ran said to Zhao Chen and Lin Hua, “The two of you must be tired from your trip. You must not have had a good rest on the road. Take a warm shower first. After you have lunch, go to sleep for a while. By the way, have you brought clothes with you?”

Lin Hua was too busy teasing the child to listen to Xu Ran. Zhao Chen could only answer by himself. He said, “Yes. We thought that we would spend a few days here. You know that we have nothing to do, and it doesn’t matter to us if we stay here for a few more days, so we have long prepared clothes and stuff like that.”

Xu Ran said, “That’s good. You guys have a seat first. I’ll go to see Lin Xi. Your luggage is still kept by him. I don’t know why it takes him so long to unload the carriage.”

Xu Ran walked outside as he spoke, to the stable.

As a result, when Xu Ran arrived there, he saw Gao Quan and Lin Xi talking together. Xu Ran thought that no wonder it took Lin Xi so long to unload the carriage. It turned out that he met someone whom could talk to.

Speaking of it, the last time Lin Xi had left, Xu Ran was still unconscious. It was Liu Tong who had given Lin Xi all those stuff. After that, Xu Ran had also forgotten about it. It seemed that Xu Ran should apologize to him.

Gao Quan noticed Xu Ran as soon as he walked over. He raised his head but said nothing. Xu Ran was used to it. Gao Quan was a quiet person, and had always been like this.

Lin Xi also raised his head when he saw Gao Quan raising his head, so he saw Xu Ran. He walked forward hurriedly, “Young Master Xu.”

Xu Ran smiled and said, “Lin Xi, I apologize to you for what happened last time. Please forgive me.”

Lin Xi waved his hand instantly, “Don’t say that. I brought everything back.”

“It’s great that you don’t mind it. You must be tired from the long trip. Go to the front yard and have a rest for a while. Lin Hua and Zhao Chen are still waiting for their luggage.”

Lin Xi heard Xu Ran and scratched his head awkwardly, “I forgot about it. I’m going now.”

After that, he went to the carriage, took out two big bags and walked to the front yard.

Xu Ran was amused. He felt that the three of them were all careless.

On the other hand, Gao Quan was already feeding the horses with the hay. He seemed to enjoy feeding horses so much. Xu Ran didn’t say anything, stood for a while and headed to the front yard.

No matter what, it was improper to have Liu Tong and the others talk with Zhao Chen. Besides, there was now a Lin Xi, so it was better for Xu Ran to keep them company.

When he got into the living room, Xu Ran found that there were only Liu Tong and Qin Shuwen in the living room. Both of them had a child in their arms. Xu Ran didn’t see Lin Xi who had just come over here. Xu Ran asked Liu Tong, “Tongtong, where are they?”

Liu Tong said, “Shao Yu has heated up the water. They went to take a shower. Lin Xi went over to send them clothes.”

Xu Ran nodded, signaling that he got it, “Then I’ll go upstairs and check the rooms they are going to live in. The rooms have been empty for too long, and they need to be cleaned up.”

There were so many rooms in their house, but only four were occupied. Lin Xi had been here before, so he could live in the room he had stayed last time. Lin Hua and Zhao Chen could share one room. But it hadn’t been decided yet whether they would live in the room on their side or opposite them.

Liu Tong glanced at Qin Shuwen next to him and said to Xu Ran, “Ran, let Lin Hua live in the opposite room!”

Xu Ran thought about it. Qin Shuwen’s room was next to theirs. Tangtang and Guoguo’s room was on their right. If Lin Hua lived in the room on their side, it could only be the room next to Qin Shuwen’s, which was really inappropriate.

Xu Ran nodded, “I got it. I’ll ask them to stay in the room next to Lin Xi’s. I guess that my godfather and the others will arrive tomorrow, and they will definitely stay, so I will just tidy up the rooms! Tongtong, help Shao Yu cook!”

“Okay,” Liu Tong nodded and stood up, handing Baozi to Qin Shuwen, “Shuwen, take care of Baozi for me. I’ll go help Shao Yu.”

Qin Shuwen took Baozi and held him in his arm. With each baby in one arm, Qin Shuwen stood up and said, “I’m going to the yard to have a walk. I haven’t been out for a long time.”

That was the truth. When Liu Tong went to do chores, it was Qin Shuwen who helped him take care of Baozi. It was not convenient for him to walk outside with two children in his arms, so he decided not to go out.

However, the making of wheelbarrows Xu Ran had mentioned before was delayed because he had been busy.

Now everyone had work to do. Since there were two people cooking, the meal was made very quickly. When Lin Hua and the others came out, they started to have lunch soon.

After making beds, Xu Ran went downstairs to have lunch. The quilts were prepared by him before, just in case they had visitors but no quilts, which was so embarrassing.

After lunch, Lin Hua and the other two went to rest. Xu Ran went for Wu Mei. Now they were about to prepare for the food tomorrow. He also went to someone else’s house to borrow the table. Originally, Xu Ran didn’t want to put a table in his own yard, mainly because he didn’t want people to get in and see the interior of his house.

But eating outside in this weather was not good either. Everyone knew that they no longer lived in the bamboo house, so they could not put the table outside.

After much consideration, the front yard was the most suitable place. Fortunately, Xu Ran was familiar with the people he hired to cook for them, and he didn’t need to worry that there would be strangers wandering around his home.

There was nothing valuable downstairs, and no one would go upstairs without invitation. Xu Ran thought about it carefully and felt that it was acceptable.

In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that the village was far away from the town and there were too many people, he would go to the restaurant as how Zhuo Yun had done it.

But it was not very appropriate to invite people from the village to the restaurant, because the quantity of food in the restaurant was small. Having attended the banquets in the village twice, Xu Ran knew the general situation of the village banquets. As for the idea of eating out in a restaurant, Xu Ran just thought about it once and then gave it up.

Wu Mei and the other Ge’ers were responsible for cooking, while Xu An and the others serving the dishes. With the help of the two eldest sons of the village head, there was enough help. Xu Ran didn’t intend to invite anyone else.

Xu Ran went to tell Wu Mei and the others about what to do, and soon everyone gathered at their house.

Xu Ran specifically told them that there were guests sleeping in their house, so they had to talk gently.

Wu Mei and the others were very curious about the guests Xu Ran mentioned, so they kept asking him who they were.

Xu Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry since he felt that they were too gossipy. But judging from the current situation, they wouldn’t stop if Xu Ran didn’t tell them the truth.

Xu Ran was helpless and could only say, “I met them in He Shui Town when I took the Spring Test. Later, I met them again when I went to the county to take the Autumn Test. That’s why we got familiar.”

They heard Xu Ran’s explanation, and thought that they couldn’t just continue asking him anymore. Since they took the Spring and Autumn Test together, the guests must be intellectuals.

Thus, they all got back to work.