Chapter 263

After entering the house, Xu Ran started to complain to King Yan, “Your Highness, no offence. You are a prince! How could you greet us at the gate on the New Year’s Eve. What if this made people suspicious?”

Knowing that his behavior was improper, King Yan didn’t talk back.

On the New Year’s Eve, Liu Tong naturally didn’t want to see them make a ruckus, so he pulled Xu Ran to stop him.

Xu Ran was only annoyed for the moment. As he said it out, he was not angry anymore. With Liu Tong’s reminding, he was completely alright.

Seeing that Xu Ran was not angry anymore, Liu Tong smiled and offered King Yan a New Year blessing.

“Brother, happy new year!”

At Liu Tong’s words, King Yan was rident with joy. Xu Ran rolled his eyes in his mind and addressed him the same way following Liu Tong.

King Yan was even happier. Next, it would be the turn for three kids. Xu Ran felt that King Yan’s face would convulse with such smiles today. Of course, he didn’t want to curse him, but he just laughed too much.

The moment they had offered King Yan New Year blessings at the door, Xiao Qingyun came out with the kids. When he saw Liu Tong, he expressed his hospitality.

Similarly, several kids were also warmly welcomed by Yan Lan and Yan Hao, and the only one who got cold-shouldered was Xu Ran.

Xu Ran silently retreated to the side and watched the others’ lively scene.

Of course, he was not the only one being excluded. King Yan was ignored too after receiving Liu Tong’s blessing. All attention was on Liu Tong.

At this moment, King Yan was in a contradictory mood. He both wished that Liu Tong would come over often, and expected that they would not come over so frequently. The reason was simple, it was because he would steal away Xiao Qingyun’s attention. After all, in the past, Xiao Qingyun’s eyes saw nobody but him.

King Yan felt that he was facing a huge challenge and he couldn’t think of a way to solve it.

He could neither ban Liu Tong from coming over nor forbid Xiao Qingyun not to like Liu Tong! This was definitely not possible. After all, the younger brother had finally acknowledged him.

As he continued to struggle innerly, Xiao Qingyun had already led his men into the room, leaving Xu Ran and King Yan staring at each other.

Xu Ran sighed helplessly, “This is the first time I experienced this feeling. Tongtong used to think of me first in all matters before.”

King Yan also spread out his hands and said, “The same as you. This feeling is really bad.”

The two felt helpless again.

Xiao Qingyun and Liu Tong, who were walking in the front, snickered. Xiao Qingyun looked back at them and whispered to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, look at the two of them. At ordinary times, they kept a straight face even when we talked softly. Today, we will give them a taste of being ignored.”

When Liu Tong thought about how Ran would never keep a straight face when he was talking to him, he suddenly felt a little guilty.

Seeing his expression, Xiao Qingyun naturally guessed what Liu Tong was thinking.

Xiao Qingyun said, “Tongtong, don’t think too much. Just for once.”

Liu Tong also looked back at Xu Ran and his companion. Seeing his bitter face, he felt a little funny, so he didn’t bother about it. As said by Xiao Qingyun, just for once.

The atmosphere didn’t last long. It changed as they entered the house.

As soon as he sat on his throne, the temperament of the prince on King Yan came out, making people unable to ignore him.

Xu Ran sat next to Liu Tong, who obediently allowed Xu Ran to hold his hand and listened to Xu Ran talking to King Yan. Such an instant reversal!

Xiao Qingyun was sipping tea at the side, growing unsatisfied again. He got up and was about to pull Liu Tong into the house to chat.

The living room must be colder than their own bedroom, so Xu Ran agreed, and sent the kids to play on their own too.

After everyone left, King Yan asked Xu Ran, “Your hotpot restaurant is pretty good. I heard that you’re also selling breakfast. Can you manage without hiring a few staffs?”

Xu Ran said, “I can, but it is too exhausting, so I plan to hire some hands a few days later when it opens.”

King Yan frowned, “Can’t the people from the Prince Residence come to help?”

Xu Ran shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. The servants of the Prince Residence are after all working for the Prince Residence. It is fine if they come over to help out occasionally, but it’s impossible for them to work there for a long period of time. Even if you don’t say anything, you can’t guarantee that the other people have no complaint in their mind. As time goes, they might say something bad, which you don’t expect to see, right?”

King Yan frowned when he heard Xu Ran’s words. However, as he thought carefully, he felt that Xu Ran’s words made sense. It was likely that such things would happen.

King Yan said, “Then you have to choose carefully when you recruit staffs. Otherwise, if you hire some bad guys, it will be me to clean up the mess for you.”

Xu Ran smiled, “Of course. Please rest assured, Your Highness! I definitely won’t use inappropriate people. Today, the first reason we came today is to offer the new year blessing. The second one is to discuss with you about Honeycomb coal.”

“Honeycomb coal?” King Yan muttered, then asked, “What is in your mind?”

Xu Ran said, “Before the new year, many people asked me about the way to heat the hotpot, which can keep it boiling and the fire burning. I have told some frequent customers, who all wanted to buy some honeycomb coal back to keep warm. My idea is that you organize a gathering when everyone is available at home during the New Year, and then showcase the people of Yanzhou how to use the Honeycomb coal. In addition, get the beggars together and instruct them to make the Honeycomb coal. Thus, they can have a skill to live on.”

“Are you willing to share the method of making Honeycomb coal?” asked King Yan.

Xu Ran stood up. “Why not? It wasn’t complicated at all. The publication of the method may enable countless people to have enough to eat, which is better than I maintain secrecy of it, isn’t it? Besides, as you have mentioned before, although Yanzhou is small, there are many places for me to exhibit my talents. The Honeycomb coal will serve as my first step.”

“Alright, since you said so, I will arrange this matter properly. However, you have to tell me first, if too much Honeycomb coal is produced, which exceeds the demand of the people of Yanzhou. What should we do?”

Xu Ran smiled and said, “Your Highness, isn’t this simple? This Honeycomb coal can also be transported to other places. As long as it can be transported, why do we worry that it can’t be sold out? You should know that in the north, Yangzhou is not the only place that will be cold in winter. From now on, the days that the Honeycomb coal can be of use will last at least until April. In the four months, a lot of Honeycomb coal might be sold. The profit that can be brought to the Yanzhou is also considerable. As long as you calculate it yourself, you will know whether it will not work.”

Not to mention whether King Yan would make the calculation, Xu Ran’s words themselves sounded like a big cake, and it would take one a long time to chew it.

Seeing that King Yan didn’t say anything, Xu Ran asked him, “Your Highness, do you know how many beggars are there in Yanzhou?”

King Yan thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know the exact number, but there are at least one thousand or eight hundred. Last year, I saw only a part of them at the city gate. Didn’t you also find that many of them didn’t come a second time? This was the rule among these beggars. Everyone’s idea was simple. As long as they could survive, eating less or worse was not a problem at all.”

Xu Ran remembered that he had indeed asked King Yan this question back then, because the amount they prepared was the same every day. Every time, they were exactly distributed, and many people would watch from the side without going over to take a portion. Xu Ran even discovered that people who came the previous day would not appear the next day.

He thought it was strange and asked King Yan, but King Yan only smiled mysteriously and did not answer him.

Now as he heard King Yan explaining it, Xu Ran suddenly felt touched. These people were not doing great deeds, but what they did allowed the others to survive.

Xu Ran seriously wondered what would happen if these people rose in the world?

He still remembered the old saying, ‘Don’t discriminate against a poor young man.’

Even if one wasn’t young, you couldn’t discriminate against him as being the poor. As long as one was alive, nothing was impossible.

Xu Ran went to the door and asked Yan Chuan to get him pen and paper. King Yan looked at him in confusion. “What are you doing?”

Xu Ran handed the pen and paper to King Yan, “Draw a map of some nearby villages and towns and then I can arrange the route. Do you want to visit those beggars during the New Year? If you go, tell them our arrangements. If they’re willing to do it, it’s fine. If not, it doesn’t matter. If fewer people went begging, the rest should have a better living.”

Xu Ran had always advocated self-reliance. If these people would come, Xu Ran would respect them, but if they would not, they probably won’t leave any good impression on Xu Ran.

King Yan could tell from his tone, but he didn’t say much. King Yan drew a few lines on the paper with the pen, then wrote a few names to Xu Ran. Then he gave Xu Ran an introduction of the names and sizes of the places, as well as the living standards of the residents there.

It seemed that King Yan really knew a lot about the neighborhood.