Chapter 284

The schedule this year was the same as last year. The New Year passed without incident.

By the 10th day of the first lunar month, the Red Tower was open for business normally, as was the coal factory.

The efficiency of the coal factoryt during the last few months could be said to be excellent. At least King Yan could use this money to repair a lot of houses. These beggars who worked in the coal factory could also have a place to live.

This was something that Xu Ran did not expect at first. They had known that it would be good, but they had not expect it to be so good. Most of the credit came from the people who work in the coal factory and the sales team who had to went out for business often.

Most of the time, Xu Ran and Lu Qi were just giving advice and suggestions behind the scenes, and king Yan has never paid attention to the coal factory since he first came to it.

This money was earned by these people, and it was reasonable to use it on them. It also made it easier for these people to settle down and work in the coal factory. It could also help King Yan cultivate a group of loyal subordinates, which might be useful one day.

It was during the Spring Festival that King Yan told Xu Ran about his plan to build the house, and it would get started when it got hot next year. Because if it got hot, there was no need for honeycomb briquet any more. There were so many people who had to find something to do. These people were not likely to refuse to build a house to live for themselves .

On the other hand, Xu Ran thought of a new way to make money during the New Year, which also could help many people get rich. In any case, Xu Ran’s current goal was to make Yanzhou rich. When the new emperor ascended to the throne, king Yan would have nothing to worry about, and the people of Yanzhou could also support him.

And then, their family would be able to leave with peace of mind. What a good plan!

As for the new method that Xu Ran came up with, it was from the alcohol they drank during the New Year. There were not many fruits in Yanzhou except for apricots, which were quite useful.

Apricot flowers could be made into wine, and the apricots could be eaten and canned. Even these almonds were available, and in modern times, almonds were the most expensive.

Xu Ran had nothing to do on the New Year’s Eve, so he went to the places where some poor families lived. He found that there were almond trees in front of every door and along the road. The trees were not small, and they were arranged in a long row, which was almost an avenue.

Xu Ran was very happy about this scene. Because of this, he saw hope that the people of Yanzhou could make good use of these resources.

He had kept the idea to himself. Even when he came to see these almond trees, Xu Ran also came with his family, saying that they were taking a walk to know more about Yanzhou.

Liu Tong didn’t think much about it. They had been in Yanzhou for more than a year, but they really didn’t know much about Yanzhou. It was good to go out and take a walk. Anyway, there was nothing to do on the New Year.

Xu Ran’s thoughts came to form in his heart after seeing it. After returning home, he hastily wrote down his plan and practice, and then took it to King Yan.

At the same time, Xu Ran also got a good news from King Yan. It was a letter from Xu Village. Xu Ran was quite excited when he received the letter. It had been over a year and he finally received the letter, and it was on the New Year’s Eve, which was a very good New Year’s gift.

Xu Ran couldn’t wait to open the letter. It was written by Zhuo Yun and there were several pages of it. It was also very detailed. First, he mentioned some important things that happened to Xu Village after they left. Then he told them about the situation of these people and finally asked Xu Ran how they were in Yanzhou.

At the end of the letter, the handwriting was obviously scrawled. Xu Ran guessed that Zhuo Yun was still angry, otherwise he wouldn’t have greeted them in the end.

The situation in Xu Village was just like what King Yan had said to Xu Ran. They was indeed infected with the plague, but because of their previous preparations, there was nothing wrong with Zhuo Yun and the rest. They hid in the mountains for a while, and when the plague was over they went back to their homes. That was good news.

Of course, there was also bad news, and this bad news had to do with Xu Ran. His Daddy died in the plague, but the other three members of the his family were still fine.

Seeing this, Xu Ran only paused for a moment and didn’t think much about it. Daddy Xu was not very close to him. Even though his relationship with Xu Houcai had improved a lot over the years, he was still the same as ever. So looking at the contents of the letter, Xu Ran felt like he was watching a stranger die. He did not feel happy, nor did he feel sad.

The rest of the letter was about some people he knew well, which was two or three pages long. The last line of words said that Qing Shu missed Baozi. Xu Ran couldn’t help smiling when he saw that. It was estimated that Baozi would be very happy when he saw this, and then he might cry after that.

However, the specific results would only be known after Baozi saw it. Xu Ran anxiously continued to read the following content, which was nothing more than complaints that they had been gone for a year and did not sent them a letter.

After reading it, Xu Ran wrote a reply in King Yan’s residence, and still handed it to Yan Chuan.

After reading the letter, Xu Ran was finally relieved. It was good know that they were fine.

Xu Ran gave the plan he had written to king Yan and left it alone. After reading the letter, he returned home happily.

As soon as he reached the door, Xu Ran called Baozi loudly, “Baozi, come out, Dad will give you something good.”

Of course, Baozi was not the only one who called out but everyone at home. They all stood at the door and waited for Xu Ran to bring out what he called a good thing.

Xu Ran walked over and took out the letter from his arms. “This is a letter from Zhuo Yun. This is good stuff, right?”

Everyone nodded. Not only Xu Ran, all iof them were waiting for a letter from Xu Village, a letter that could reassure them.

Xu Ran opened the letter, took one out of them out and handed the rest to Tangtang, letting him read it to everyone.

Xu Ran lured Baozi to the other side with the paper in his hand. He waved the letter and asked Baozi, “Baozi, do you miss Qing Shu?”

Baozi nodded without a second thought. “Yeah, Dad, did he write a letter to me?”

Xu Ran shook his head. “No.”

Baozi looked disappointed, but when he saw the paper in Xu Ran’s hand, he felt that Xu Ran was probably teasing him. Otherwise, why would he take this one out of so many pieces of paper?

Baozi reached out to grab thepiece of paper in Xu Ran’s hand. But Xu Ran wouldn’t let Baozi get it so he held it high. Baozi puffed up his face and tried to grab it. They went on like this for a long time when Xu Ran saw that Baozi was about to cry, so he handed the paper to Baozi and kindly pointed at the last sentence for him.

But even if he didn’t point, Baozi could see it at a glance. After all, there was the word “Qing shu” on it, which made him feel yearn day and night.

As Xu Ran expected, Baozi was very happy when he saw this. He even jumped several times and acted very lively.

But when the excitement passed, Baozi suddenly looked sad.

He missed Qing Shu. He hadn’t seen him for more than a year. Although he used to stay home often, it hadn’t been so long!

Baozi looked dispirited and asked Xu Ran, “Dad, when can we go back? I’m homesick.”

Xu Ran patted his head with a smile, “I don’t think you’re not homesick. You just miss Qing Shu!”

Although it was exposed by Xu Ran, Baozi didn’t think feel embarrassed. He nodded solemnly, “yes, I miss him. I want to see him now. Dad, let’s go back early! It’s not as good as home here.”

Xu Ran reached out and rubbed Baozi’s face. “Baozi, I know you miss Qing Shu, but we can’t go back now and we have to wait a few years. By that time, you’ll be old enough to marry Qing Shu after we go back. So you must work hard these years or he won’t like you in the future.”

Hearing Xu Ran’s words, there was a very a contemptuous disregard expression on Baozi’s face. He slapped Xu Ran’s hand and said, “Dad, I didn’t say such things because I miss Qing Shu. I really want to go home. This place is different from Xu Village. I don’t like it here.”

“Fallen leaves return to the roots.” This idea suddenly popped up in Xu Ran’s mind after hearing Baozi’s words. And it was not hard to understand. After all, Baozi was born in Xu Village and was very familiar with every tree and grass there. And after living there for so many years, they suddenly decided to leave, so it’s normal for him to want to go back.

As for the other point, Baozi said that this place was different from Xu Village. There were really a lot of differences. First of all, the temperature was different. second, the accent was also different. The last difference was the habit of eating.

Just like some people in modern times who went out to work in big cities . They were still not used to staying in thsebig cities even when they had been working there for more than ten years. They would go home when they were old.

Xu Ran didn’t know how to comfort Baozi, because he suddenly had that idea in his heart, which he never had had before.

Perhaps it was because of Xu Ran’s embarrassment, Baozi started to comfort Xu Ran instead. He put his little hand on Xu Ran’s face and pinched his face. “Dad, you don’t have to feel bad. I’m just saying it. I know that you and brothers have important things to do. I will grow up here obediently. And I will marry Qing Shu when we go back. I made an agreement with Qing Shu that he would wait for me.”

For a moment, Xu Ran really thought that Baozi had grown up but he returned to reality when he saw Baozi’s bitter face.

Seeing that Baozi was not that sad, Xu Ran  felt a little relieved, but he also felt that it was a little funny. He had already pledged to marry without the permission of parents at such a young age. Perhaps he should have promised Zhuo Yun about Baozi’s child marriage.

First of all, thank Xiaomi for finding the mistake. I went to flip through the original draft. It was younger male cousin at first, but I changed it into elder male cousin carelessly. There was also one thing that the elder male cousin and the cousin childe were different. I have already contacted the editor and it would be corrected later. Sorry for the inconvenience to all the readers. I am really sorry.