Of course, there were also some who were depressed, such as our little Baozi. He was not very happy ever since he went out, and he looked upset all the way. It was obvious that he was unhappy and a little bit angry.
Xu Ran actually knew that he was unhappy. After all, he was young and had played with Qing shu ever since he was very young. He definitely couldn’t bear to leave, but they couldn’t leave without him and let him stay at home, so they had to be separated.
Xu Ran thought he wouldn’t be angry for a long time. After all, he was just a chiled. But he didn’t expect Baozi to be very stubborn. They had been gone for two days, and he had been angry for two days, too. He did nothing besides eating. He did not even talk.
Liu Tong was afraid that he would get sick, so he asked Xu Ran to talk with him.
Xu Ran comforted him a few times but Baozi ignored him.And Xu Ran said, “Are you gonna be angry all the time? Cuz if you go on like this, then we will never go back and you will never meet Qing Shu again.”
Baozi suddenly cried when he heard Xu Ran’s words.
Liu Tong wanted to comfort him but was stopped by Xu Ran. “Let him cry. Let ‘s see how long he could cry. We had a deal before we left. But he had been angry as soon as we left. I don’t believe that there is nothing I can do with you. He didn’t do what he promised me, but he still dares to cry. He can cry if he likes! Tongtong, leave him alone.”
Xu Ran said fiercely and Liu Tong looked at him helplessly. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Baozi secretly looking up at Xu Ran while wiping his tears. Xu Ran was so angry that made Baozi too frightened to cry.
Baozi looked at Xu Ran, his eyes still filled with tears. After a while, he said, “Dad, I know I was wrong.”
Xu Ran looked at hime and didn’t say anything, Baozi continued to say, “Dad, I shouldn’t have broken my promise. Dad, please don’t be angry, I promise I’ll be good. Let’s go back to the village in the future, okay? I’ve already told Qing Shu that I’ll go back to marry him.”
It was alright at first, but when Xu Ran heard what he said later, he was even more angry. He looked around and found that everyone else had stopped. They were surrounding them to watch the show, especially Du Xin. He looked so exciting.
Xu Ran glared at him and asked, “What are you doing?”
Tangtang explained, “Dad, we just heard Baozi’s crying and thought something happened, so we came over to take a look.”
Xu Ran waved his hand and said. “It’s okay. I was just talking to him. He’s been depressed for two days without saying a word. You can all go back now! And I’ll follow you after I teach him a lesson.”
Baozi looked at Tangtang and Guoguo injuredly. Obviously, he wanted his two brothers to save him, but Tangtang and Guoguo didn’t say anything. After all, they knew that Xu Ran was doing it for Baozi’s own good.
Du Xin wanted to say something, but was pulled away by Lu Qi before he could say anything. After all, it’s their own business. Xu Ran was the father of Baozi and it was appropriate for him to teach the child a lesson. Besides, the Second Childe hadn’t say anything yet. And Baozi was his own child, so it was obvious that he was on Xu Ran’s side.
And didn’t you see that the two young men just didn’t speak? Only Du Xin, who was unwise, would do such things. Lu Qi really didn’t understand why he liked such a stupid man.
Baozi, who had no one to turn to for help, looked so sad and tried hard to blink his eyes. He wanted to make himself look more pitiful, so that Xu Ran would not scold him anymore.
But he didn’t want to cry any more, so he struggled for a long time and could not muster a single tear.
However, Xu Ran was amused by him. He said, “Alright, you can stop it now. I won’t scold you any more.Recite all the books you brought in the carriage these days. If there is a word you don’t know, ask. You’re in trouble if we get there and you still don’t remember them.”
Xu Ran ignored him after he said that. He put down the curtain and sat down to start driving the carriage.
Baozi looked even more upset in the carriage. He threw himself into Liu Tong’s arms and said, “Daddy, please help me and plead with dad for me. I can’t recite so many books.”
Liu Tong touched his head and said, “Naughty boy! Didn’t I tell you before not to be upset and angry? But you didn’t listen to me. You just won’t stop until your dad scolds you. Don’t beg me now, I can’t help you either. You know how stubborn your dad is when he gets serious. He wouldn’t listen to me.”
We didn’t know if Baozi has understood what Liu Tong’ said, but he stopped acting coquettishly. He came out of his arms and found the book as if he had accepted his fate.
Liu Tong thought that he didn’t recognize many words and couldn’t help Baozi, so he said, “How about you go to your brothers’ carriage? The two of them knew more, so you just need to listen to them.”
Baozi thought that it was a good idea and hurriedly opened the curtain and said. “Dad, stop the car please. I’m going to my brothers’ carriage?”
Xu Ran had heard what Liu Tong said from outside. Seeing Baozi being so energetic, he couldn’t help smiling and stopped the carriage. “Your brothers are in front of us. Do you want to run over to them yourself?”
Baozi looked at the fast carriage in front of him and said unhappily, “Dad, let these horses run faster to keep up with them.”
After Baozi finished talking to Xu Ran, he climbed out of the carriage and sat next to Xu Ran. He shouted to the carriage in front of him, “Brother, brother, stop and wait for us.”
Of course, he did not forget to ask Xu Ran to hurry up.
Xu Ran smiled and waved the whip in his hand. Then the carriage moved forward quicky.
After catching up with the carriage in front of them, Xu Ran asked Baozi to call Tangtang and Guoguo. And Baozi also called loudly, afraid that they wouldn’t hear him.
Tangtang stopped the carriage and ran to Xu Ran. “Dad, what’s wrong? Did something happen? ”
Xu Ran handed Baozi to him. “I’ll leave Baozi to you. As for what happened, let him speak for himself!”
Xu Ran then took out a bag of books and handed it to Tangtang. Then he waved at Tangtang and said. “Just take him and these things and drive forward. Me and your Daddy will follow you guys.”
Tangtang took the heavy bag and Baozi, who was also quite heavy, and walked back helplessly.
Xu Ran sat leisurely on the carriage and looked at Tangtang. He didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with his behaviors.
When the carriage in front moved, Xu Ran let Liu Tong out and talked with him. Then he drove to follow the carriage in front.
After they left the village, they went north and encountered some refugees on the road. However, Xu Ran and the rest did not do anything with them. After all, there were so many of them and no matter how kind they were, they could not help so many people.
The most important thing was that even if they had saved these people, they still didn’t know if these people would repay their kindness or bite the hand that feeds them.
Their carriages were stopped, but it was all solved by Lu Qi.
And there was no trouble along the way.
Because the plague was in the south, the heavy rain in the past days was also in the south, it did not affect the north much. Lu Qi has been leading the way and he must have known the route long ago, so they had a very smooth journey.
They didn’t spend the night in the wilderness because there were childe and children. They always rushed to a town and found an inn before it got dark.
The food was also prepared by themselves. Xu Ran made a lot of steamed stuffed buns and pancakes so they wouldn’t have to starve.
After five or six days walking on the road, they arrived at a town called Qianhua Town.
This town was very prosperous and it was the main road of traffic from south to north. There were many merchants and visitors passing by.
The group of people were also a little tired after travelling for so many day. Xu Ran meant to rest here for a day before going on.
Although Lu Qi was anxious, he didn’t say anything. There was still a long way from here to Yanzhou, and there was no waterway to go. They could only ride in a carriage and move cross mountains like this. And the farther north they went, the more barren hills there would be.The following days would be more tough. He also thought that Baozi was only seven years old and he was definitely too young to stand such bumps.
After a day’s rest in Qianhua and a taste of the local customs, they set out for the next place.
There were too many people, and the carriages had been exchanged for sevral times, so it wasn’t boring on the road. And there were problems with Baozi from time to time, which was quite lively.
Lu Qi said that the old emperor was fatuous and incompetent and unfit to be an emperor. Therefore, the world was not very peaceful, and they were very unlucky to meet bandits not long after they left Qianhua Town.
There were a lot of them, at least 20. The first thing they said was “Money or life? If you want life, leave your money behind; and if you want money, leave both behind.”
Xu Ran shouted at the time, “You should say like that, “This road is mine, this tree is mine, and you want to go through here, leave your money behind.”
Everyone was quiet at once…
The number of collection has decreased! What’ was going on here?
Sorry. I was complaining and I didn’t mean anything else. After all, this was the first time I saw the number decrease.