Chapter 274

Baozi had already fallen asleep when he was in Xu Ran’s arms. It was unknown whether it was because he had cried so hard previously or of anything else, his little nose was still twitching while he was asleep.

It was after Xu Ran had crooned Baozi for a while that he slept sound, and then Xu Ran went back to his own room.

Liu Tong was waiting for him. The first thing he asked when Xu Ran went back was, “Ran, how’s Baozi going?”

Xu Ran answered, “Asleep. He’s probably exhausted.”

Liu Tong said worriedly, “He has cried so hard today, and that scared me. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have said that to him.”

Hearing Liu Tong blaming himself, Xu Ran walked over, hugged him from behind around the waist, and said over his shoulder, “You’re not to blame. I had something to say with Tangtang and Guoguo to begin with. Even if Baozi wanted to talk with us, he could have waited in the room. He shouldn’t have squatted outside for so long. He could even have hung out in the yard, but not squatted there like that.”

Liu Tong said, “Actually, I didn’t expect Baozi to be so serious about what I said. When Qingyun left with the kids, I told him I wanted you guys to see them off, but Qingyun said you were talking and asked me not to interrupt you, and then I repeated it to Baozi. Who knew that he would wait for you at the door for so long? I was busy in the kitchen and didn’t pay attention to him.”

Liu Tong sounded guilty. He believed that it was because he hadn’t paid attention to Baozi that Baozi had waited at the door for so long.

However, Xu Ran disagreed with him. When Tangtang and Guoguo were at Baozi’s age, they hadn’t done anything like this.

It was not that Baozi was disobedient. Compared to other children of the same age, Baozi was already very docile. Baozi had grown up being doted on by all of them since childhood. Although he wouldn’t make trouble out of nothing, he could be fractious at times. Xu Ran assumed that they might have been too strict with Baozi. Not all children were so obedient as Tangtang and Guoguo.

Xu Ran said to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, just let it go by. We won’t scold Baozi any more. He has learned his lesson today. After all, he will be wiser when he grows older.”

Liu Tong nodded, indicating that he got Xu Ran, and then turned to take off Xu Ran’s clothes. “Then let’s go to bed early! Tangtang and Guoguo hardly come back, and I have to get up early tomorrow to cook some delicious food for them.”

Xu Ran chuckled, “It’s only been two months, though. If they go further away from home in the future, how will you miss them?”

Liu Tong said, “That is a worry for the future! But we still have Baozi. He will always be by our sides.”

Liu Tong had a mind of his own. Tangtang and Guoguo were destined not to stay at home for long, while Baozi was different. In the future, Baozi would stay at home anyway no matter he married as a spouse or husband, but Liu Tong had never mentioned this idea to Xu Ran. Therefore, on this point, Liu Tong really hoped that Baozi would marry Qingshu home.

…

During the three days Tangtang and Guoguo had spent at home, they had barely gone out. They were either eating or studying Thirty-six Stratagems with Xu Ran. Tangtang, who had not been interested in it before, also got interested after Xu Ran told them the stories. The twins had started to carry out their study plan to have a thorough research on Thirty-six Stratagems.

Since the twins had to ask questions from time to time, Xu Ran couldn’t go out. Baozi had also taken time off and hung on in home for days, but Xu Ran didn’t blame him. After all, both Tangtang and Guoguo were at home. The kids could only spend time with each other for three days, and it was unknown when they would meet again.

Three days later, Tangtang and Guoguo went back to the military camp, while Baozi continued taking the course in King Yan’s Residence. Meanwhile, Liu Tong went to Red Mansion from time to time. During the rest of the time, he was either in King Yan’s Residence or busy embroidering the work clothes alone.

Xu Ran, on the other hand, went to the site where the workshop was being built. He spent the whole day on the site. He was out in the early morning and back in the late evening. But due to his supervision and guidance, the progress was much faster.

In the blink of an eye, April had passed and it was May. It got rather hot in Yanzhou in May, and it wouldn’t cool down until September.

Yanzhou had the extreme rise and fall in temperature. It only had two seasons, summer and winter. In winter, it was bone-chilling cold, while in summer, it was scorching hot.

It was hot, day or night, and the sun was fierce in the daytime.

During this season, the people of Yanzhou missed the winter so much.

In summer, if people wanted to cool down a little bit, ice was the best solution. The stoves and braziers were replaced with porcelain bottles filled with refreshing juice. The business in Red Mansion was even better than in winter.

Xu Ran had spent much time in developing the products to sell in summer. Besides fanning themselves, people in Yanzhou could think of no other way to cool themselves down.

Ice was an absolute necessity in summer. Many rich people in Yanzhou would store up a lot of ice in the cellar, and it could last till the hottest part of the year. When the hottest weather passed, the ice would melt completely, and the temperature would fall gradually, so the heat didn’t make much difference to the rich.

But not to the poor. They could only get through the summer like how they did it in winter.

Xu Ran could feel the heat of this summer. He couldn’t help but exclaim that it was not easy for King Yan to govern Yanzhou, a place with extreme weather conditions, and so far, he had done a great job.

People always said that a great achievement was accomplished on three conditions, the right time, the right place, and the right people. However, Yanzhou’s climate failed to meet the first condition already, so King Yan’s contributions could not be unnoticed.

It was not difficult to make ice. Long before, Xu Ran had learned from Qin Shuwu that as long as the right amount of niter was put into the water, the water would freeze after a while.

Naturally, it was Doctor He who had told Qin Shuwu about it. Later, they had tried a few times, and succeeded. Afterwards, the ice had brought in a lot of business for Qin Shuwu’s shop.

Therefore, Xu Ran was able to make ice with no difficulty now. With ice, as well as something else, the products Red Mansion would sell in summer could be developed soon.

Fruits were also sold in summer here, but there weren’t many kinds.

In addition, Xu Ran could get fresh milk from the cows. Besides, ewe’s milk was also available, which could be used to make milk popsicles.

Moreover, they could also make red bean paste and green bean paste by themselves. In short, anything frozen would be very popular.

They could also sell cold dishes, cold bean jelly and cold noodles. Xu Ran had also got in touch with a caravan to deliver fruits to him specifically. Frozen fruits were more popular than ordinary ones.

They were still selling breakfast, and the only item that was removed was hotpot. If someone came for lunch, they could order a few dishes. The dishes weren’t exquisite, but absolutely delicious, because they were cooked by Shao Yu and Liu Tong.

Fewer people came to Red Mansion for meals now, and most of the customers came for various drinks and cold dishes. The costs of drinks and cold dishes were less than that of hotpot. The customers usually finished the drinks in the restaurant. Sometimes, they also ordered some pastries, and that would cost them a little more than 100 pence in total. Now that there were more customers, they could also make more money.

Of course, the customers could also have takeaways. Xu Ran just charged them another bottle’s price.

Xu Ran had also designed the style of the porcelain bottles. Then he had asked the manufacturer to produce the first batch, which was quite good.

At first, Xu Ran needed to explain to the customers what these new products were. After some time, the shop assistant in the restaurant could also do it, so there was nothing else he had to worry about.

When it was getting warmer, someone asked Xu Ran if he would also sell hotpot in summer. Xu Ran told him that he would not sell hotpot in summer. After all, there was no air conditioner or iced beer here. Eating hotpot in summer was a rigorous trial, and wouldn’t be accept by many.

Xu Ran didn’t tell them directly what he would sell. He just asked them to wait, and that had aroused the curiosity of many people.

…

The best employee among the new staff was Liu Yu. He was able to memorize everything sold in the restaurant, their prices, even their looks, colors and flavors. He could even remember the customers, even if they had only visited the restaurant once. For those frequenters, he knew what they wanted, which made the job so much easier.

Meanwhile, the customers were satisfied too.

Xu Ran also thought that he had made the right choice in hiring Liu Yu. Since Liu Yu did the least physical work but the most talking and thinking, at first, he had always been target by some other jealous employees. Xu Ran solved the problem in a very simple way. That was, to have them try it on their own, and they were usually fired after trying, because they weren’t competent enough. Xu Ran handled the situation in a simple yet crude way.

After two jealous employees were fired, the atmosphere of the restaurant was quite peaceful. Now it was summer, and six employees could totally manage the business, so Xu Ran didn’t intend to hire more staff.

After the winter, the business of Red Mansion had stabilized. Even if they only sold breakfast, the restaurant wouldn’t fail. Thus, Xu Ran didn’t have to worry about the livelihood any more.

The flocks and herds that King Yan had mentioned were all delivered in mid-April straight to the grassland. Since the military camp was also there, ordinary people were not allowed to go there. Therefore, no one had known the existence of that grassland so far.

The livestock were raised by the soldiers of the army. In King Yan’s words, they were their food this year. If the soldiers didn’t take good care of them, they could only starve themselves in winter. In order not to be starved, they had been working very hard. King Yan had also invited some old hands to teach these soldiers who knew nothing about keeping cows and sheep.

After studying for more than ten days, these soldiers were able to raise a large flock of livestock on their own. After all, they were their hope and anticipation of this year.

As for the livestock, King Yan had arranged everything himself. Xu Ran did not step in, nor did he want to step in, because he was not good at it.

Now, Xu Ran had to work on two things that he had brought from Xu Village, which were potatoes and corn.

Because it was cold before, Xu Ran hadn’t grown the potatoes, in case they froze to death. The seeds were limited, and there would be none left if they all died out of low temperature. Instead, Xu Ran had secretly grown the corn. He had asked Lu Qi to find the right land. He hadn’t even told King Yan about it, because Xu Ran wasn’t sure if these seeds were really able to survive in Yanzhou.

In Xu Ran’s memory, the temperature here was quite similar to that of the Northeast. In the Northeast, potatoes and corn seeds were able to survive. The potato seeds were grown in May, while the corn seeds were also grown around this time. Therefore, Xu Ran had brought these two kinds of seeds with him. Now, Xu Ran was performing an experiment. If he succeeded, Yanzhou would not be short of food in two years.

Now that it was getting warmer, the time was also enough.