Chapter 207

Everything was ready in the kitchen, and they were all waiting for Xu Ran. Mr. Chen called a chef over and asked him to learn from Xu Ran. Xu Ran had not done it personally, but he still remembered the steps. He rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands, feeling itchy to try.

Liu Tong acted like Xu Ran’s assistant and passed items to Xu Ran.

The dough was kneaded and ready. Xu Ran just needed to add butter and other ingredients onto it and put it into the steamer.

Although baking would have a better effect, but since they didn’t have an oven, they could only use a steamer instead.

Once the hamburger buns were put into the steamer, Xu Ran began to prepare the stuffing, such as chicken and some vegetables that could be eaten raw.

Since everything was fully prepared, Xu Ran went on very smoothly.

After he finished preparing the stuffing, the hamburger buns were almost ready too. When they cooled down a little bit, Xu Ran took two out and put meat and vegetables on the bun, as well as chilli sauce. Then he cut it into two halves, one for himself and one for Mr. Chen to have a taste.

Xu Ran took a bite and felt it was fine. Despite the fact that the taste of the buns weren’t ideal, the rest was quite delicious, just like what he had eaten in modern times.

Xu Ran didn’t care that there were others in the kitchen. He took a bite and sent the rest to Liu Tong’s mouth.

Since Xu Ran was staring at him, Liu Tong could only eat it.

After taking a bite, Liu Tong stared at  Xu Ran with a funny look, “Ran, it’s so hot.”

Xu Ran took the hamburger apart and had a look. He discovered that Liu Tong had had all the chilli sauce. No wonder he found it spicy.

Xu Ran smiled and sent the hamburger over again, “You just had the chilli sauce. Now it’s gone. Take another bite.”

Liu Tong obediently took another bite. Xu Ran looked at him, waiting for his feedback.

When Liu Tong finished chewing and swallowed it,  Xu Ran asked him, “Tongtong, is it delicious?”

Liu Tong didn’t nod or shake his head. He just said, “It tastes a little better than steamed stuff bun.”

Alright! In fact, steamed stuff buns could also be considered one of the quintessence of Chinese cuisine, and hamburgers were comparable with them. However, Liu Tong said that it tasted better than steamed stuff buns, which could be an indirect positive feedback.

After listening to Liu Tong’s opinion, Xu Ran shifted his eyes to Mr. Chen, “Mr. Chen, what do you think?”

Mr. Chen put on an act and commented, “It does taste better than steamed stuff buns. But when I bit it, apart from the stuffing, it felt empty in the front. There’re not many goods inside! They must not be that hunger-resistant than steamed stuff buns. Besides, there are a lot of meat and vegetables inside, and they must be more expensive than steamed stuff buns. Xu Ran, do you think this thing will sell?”

Xu Ran said, “Mr. Chen, they sure will, but not by that many. How about this? Don’t sell them at the entrance. You don’t sell breakfast now, do you? After all, few people have rice in the morning. People usually have steamed stuff buns, steamed buns or noodles for breakfast. You might sell this specially as breakfast in the future. I will tell you another thing and you could sell it with this.”

Xu Ran shoveled the hamburger in his hand into his mouth and ate it. Then he wandered around the kitchen and found the beans.

Xu Ran scooped up a handful of beans and said to Mr. Chen, “Mr. Chen, since you have these here, you should know the benefits of them. Not only could you make doufu and raise sprouts out of them, but you could also grind them and make soya milk. You might sell hamburgers with soya milk and chips as a set meal in the future. The price can be set now and you might start selling them when they are all ready.”

Mr. Chen looked at the beans in Xu Ran’s hand and stared at him suspiciously, “You could make soya milk by grinding them? Is it drinkable?”

Xu Ran said, “Naturally, but it will take a little more procedure. You could definitely get soya milk by grinding them. As for drinking, I wouldn’t have mentioned it if it’s not drinkable. How about this. I will write the steps down for you. I don’t know whether someone sells doufu in town or not. If yes, pay him and ask him to grind the beans for you every day. But you have to reach an agreement in advance that he can’t sell it.”

Mr. Chen thought for a moment and said, “Well fine, I’ll try it. As for the mills, I know someone who can do it. I’ll just take the beans with me and have a try. Then write the steps down for me now! You might go back when you are done writing.”

Xu Ran could imagine the scene that the whole table of people were waiting for them to have lunch, and he got embarrassed, so he hurried to write the steps down for Mr. Chen.

When Xu Ran left, he took the rest of the hamburgers with him. He found them delicious, and could take them home and let his family have a taste. As for Mr. Chen, he had the ingredients anyway, and making hamburgers was simply an easy thing to do. If they wanted to have more, they could make them themselves.

It was already late when Xu Ran and Liu Tong came out of the restaurant. They had planned to buy some fabric today, but according to the time now, they might as well buy it next time!

On their way home, Xu Ran drove faster than before.

As a result, it was already noon when they rushed back.

As soon as Xu Ran entered the gate, Zhuo Yun started to complain, “Xu Ran, you are the master of the house at least. Doesn’t it bother you that I’ve been waiting for you for so long?”

Xu Ran spread his hands, “Did I shut the door upon your face or did I not allow you to have lunch? You went into someone’s home while the master of the house was out, and now you’re complaining about me. Don’t you feel ashamed?”

“Why should I feel ashamed? Let me tell you… Alas! Shuwen, don’t pull me! I haven’t finished yet.”

Before Zhuo Yun could finish his words, Qin Shuwen suddenly pulled him up from the chair and dragged him outside the door.

Qin Shuwen said to Zhuo Yun, “Don’t do that. The moment you are back, you bicker with Xu Ran. Do you want to eat or not? If not, stand by the door.”

If Qin Shuwen put his hands on his hips, the show would be more wonderful to watch. Xu Ran smiled smugly at Zhuo Yun with his arms crossed at the gate.

Zhuo Yun glared at Xu Ran, and then suddenly begged Qin Shuwen for mercy like a lamb.

“Shuwen, at least save me some face. Don’t let that guy Xu Ran have a good laugh at me, Okay? I know that you cooked all the dishes on the table. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely finish them all.”

Xu Ran smiled knowingly. So that was the reason!

Xu Ran knew that since Zhuo Yun said so, Qin Shuwen definitely wouldn’t bother with him anymore. Xu Ran stopped watching the show, went back to his seat and waited to eat.

A variety of dishes was all over the table. Xu Ran asked Shao Yu, “These are all cooked by Shuwen?”

Shao Yu nodded, “Yes, I just helped him. They are all cooked by him.”

Xu Ran exclaimed, “Impressive!”

Shao Yu nodded, “Exactly! Shuwen just started learning and now he is able to cook so many dishes. I tasted them and they are quite good.”

Xu Ran stuffed a chopstick of food into his mouth and then nodded, “Really nice. He’s talented.”

The two people at the door were still talking, and Xu Ran didn’t bother waiting for them. After all, absence made the heart grow fonder. Moreover, it had been months since they had been apart. Their scene could have been hotter.

Xu Ran said, “Let’s eat first! There is no need to wait for them.”

After that, Xu Ran shouted at the door, “Zhuo Yun, if you don’t come, we’ll finish all the dishes!”

However, hardly had Xu Ran finished shouting than Zhuo Yun rushed in. Xu Ran rolled his eyes. How could this be so effective?

Qin Shuwen also came in after Zhuo Yun. It was better since everyone was here.

Zhuo Yun wouldn’t go back today for sure. After lunch, the group could finally sit together and chat.

As soon as Zhuo Yun sat down, he held his baby and did not let go. If the baby needed anything, he did everything by himself. He enjoyed every moment of it.

Xu Ran asked Zhuo Yun, “When did you arrive?”

Zhuo Yun said, “This morning. I didn’t do anything when I got home, and asked the shopkeeper to drive me here.”

Xu Ran could understand his impatience and nodded, “We’ve been anxious waiting for you these days. We thought you would come back in two months, but you didn’t. Then it has been three months, and you still didn’t. There has been no letters from you either. Shuwen has been really anxious.”

Qin Shuwen felt a little embarrassed when he heard Xu Ran say this in front of so many people. He covered his face secretly.

Zhuo Yun said, “It was just because I wanted to come back sooner that I didn’t go too far. We’ve been really fast on the road. It would originally have taken us one month to come back, but we managed to reduce the journey to 25 days. The guide is rich in experience so we haven’t had any accidents. We were lucky, but I won’t go again.”

It was easy for Zhuo Yun to say so, but those who had been away from home all knew what the situation was on the road. This was not modern times, and one could go anywhere as long as he had money. In this era, when one went away, the most roads he would be on were mountain roads. Sometimes the journey would last for days in wilderness with no villages or shops. People could only sleep in the open.

And not to mention the food. If one was skilful at hunting, he could hunt, roast the prey and eat it. If one was good at nothing, he could only eat his rations. If there was no rations, he could only starve.

However, Zhuo Yun didn’t mention that because he didn’t want Qin Shuwen to know it. He wouldn’t go on a long journey in the future anyway. He wouldn’t be gone for months again, which would be good.

Zhuo Yun also told them something interesting on the road. Those who had never heard of it before were amused.

Xu Ran thought of that letter from Zhuo Yun and asked him, “Zhuo Yun, where did you learn that there were fruit trees in Ban Yue Town?”

“Well, about this!” Zhuo Yun held Qingshu, let him stand on his laps and answered Xu Ran, “I learned that from a person in the caravan. He was from Ban Yue Town. He told me that there were a lot of fruit trees in his town, and advised me to go there and have a look, as I wrote in the letter.”

“Did you know any detail?” Xu Ran continued.

“I asked about it. That person also told me that they had everything there, peaches, plums, cherries and so on. I figured that there was no need for this person to lie to me. I said that it was my friend who wanted to buy them, not me myself.”

Xu Ran nodded, “Indeed. Here’s my opinion. I’ve planted more than 500 trees now, but half of the field is still empty. I’ve been waiting for you to come back so that you could make another trip to Ban Yue Town with me. No matter or not there are that many fruit trees there like what that man said, we could definitely buy some back more or less. Together with the ones I get from other places, that should be enough. If there’s still not enough, we could make plans next year.”

Xu Ran finished his words and waited quietly for Zhuo Yun’s reply. Since Zhuo Yun had just come back, and now he had to leave soon, he must have something to say.

Zhuo Yun didn’t answer Xu Ran. Instead, he turned his eyes to Qin Shuwen.

Qin Shuwen knew Zhuo Yun’s choice when his eyes met Zhuo Yun’s. Qin Shuwen said, “Yun, you should make a trip to Ban Yue Town. After all, we run the fruit tree business together, and Ran is the one who has been working on this all the time. Since he has bought those fruit trees back, you have to do something!”

When Qin Shuwen said this, he wasn’t treating all present as outsiders. Xu Ran and the others did not chip in and just listened to them.

Having heard Qin Shuwen, Zhuo Yun hesitated, “Shuwen, I understand what you said. It’s just that I just came back and I’m leaving again. I don’t want to be apart from you.”

Zhuo Yun even started to act coquettishly and leaned his head against Qin Shuwen’s body. Qin Shuwen pushed him away, “Why didn’t you say that when I asked you to join the trade caravan? Now you are being sentimental. I put it very clearly. You must go, no matter you want or not.”

Seeing that there was no room for rebuttal, Zhuo Yun pouted discontentedly like a child.

Then Xu Ran smiled unkindly again.