Chapter 295

For a moment, the field went silent. After a long while, King Yan asked, “Did you change because of this?”

Tangtang answered, “Maybe! Dad said that I am now the hope of the whole family. I should do something for Guoguo.”

King Yan asked, “Are you tired?”

Tangtang shook his head, and then nodded. Even he himself didn’t know whether he was tired or not. He knew that Dad had said those words to cheer him up, but he had kept them in mind. He really wanted to do something.

King Yan himself had used to be a child too. When he had been at Tangtang’s age, no one had ever told him what to do. King Yan had had made all decisions himself, no matter on what he should do or not. Therefore, he didn’t know what to say to Tangtang now.

King Yan sat quietly with Tangtang. No one spoke again, until it was noon.

During lunch, King Yan did not mention what had happened to Yanzhou, because once it was mentioned, the lunch would be ruined. Instead, King Yan told some interesting stories of the capital.

The other thing he mentioned was the new fief bestowed upon him by the Emperor. This was great news, and everyone was happy for it. The news also diverted everyone’s attention rapidly.

Because of Guoguo, the Xu family were sad and regretful. After lunch, they hadn’t stayed in King Yan’s Mansion for long and went back to their own home.

This year, they had a rich harvest of corn and potatoes. Next year, all the people of Yanzhou could grow these two crops. Xu Ran also sold them in Red Mansion. Naturally, they were well accepted. The moment Xu Ran got home, he grabbed a writing brush and paper and started to write a plan. The Xu family still had to stay for a long time in Yanzhou because they had to wait for Guoguo to come back, but he didn’t want to do anything else.

Xu Ran decided to write down everything he could think of. Not only did he write down the development plan of Yanzhou, but Xiangzhou was also included. When Guoguo came back, and when Yanzhou broke away from poverty, Xu Ran would take his family back to Xu Village. The family would lead a peaceful life. Of course, he would also help Tangtang and Guoguo achieve their ambitions.

He wrote very seriously, wanting to explain everything he wanted to make clear.

After writing the plan, Xu Ran did not show it to King Yan immediately, but put it away himself. Now that Red Mansion’s business was on the right track, he did not have to worry about it at all. He did not intend to think of other ways to make money either. They did not want to be filthy rich. They just wanted enough money to live life.

All that Xu Ran was thinking about now was how to develop the existing resources of Yanzhou so that the people of Yanzhou could live a well-off life.

He was not the only one who was busy. The whole family were busy, but in different fields.

October was the time when the fish and shrimps in the river were the fattest. They could definitely sell for a good price, and there were many of them.

Lu Qi was busy with the military camp, so Xu Ran went to King Yan and talked with him about raising aquatic products in the river.

There were fish and shrimps in the river, as well as many crabs. These three aquatic products could all sell well. Xu Ran also wanted to raise loaches, but they could not be raised in the river. He told King Yan all his thoughts.

King Yan was quite satisfied with the plan, but he had one doubt. Were these creatures edible? Could they sell?

Xu Ran replied, “Please rest assured about it. Since I’ve mentioned it, that means I’m confident about what I’m doing. I won’t launch any project without having done enough preparations, and you could tell that from what I’ve done before.”

What Xu Ran said made sense. King Yan nodded in agreement. “In that case, let’s carry out your plan. I’ll find someone to do it, but when we see the result, you cannot give it up halfway.”

Xu Ran smiled, “Of course not.”

This issue was settled for the time being. However, before long, Xu Ran came again. This time, he was going to talk about milk and wool.

Watching Xu Ran gushing over his plan in front of him, King Yan could feel Xu Ran’s anxiety.

After Xu Ran finished talking, King Yan didn’t nod or shake his head. Instead, he asked Xu Ran, “Why do you want to leave so badly?”

Xu Ran was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what King Yan meant. He shook his head. “I’m in a hurry, but not in a hurry to leave. I’ll be staying here for two more years! If you make Yanzhou rich in two years, then I will have no more worries when I leave then.”

King Yan didn’t answer. He remained silent for a long time and then sighed softly.

Xu Ran ignored that and went on elaborating his plan. Since he laid all the details on the table and put them in an interesting way, King Yan finally agreed.

And then, one plan after another was brought up by Xu Ran. King Yan agreed helplessly, and it could be seen that Xu Ran was really anxious.

When Xu Ran finished saying what he should say, it was almost the Spring Festival. Xu Ran gave King Yan the plan he had written down earlier, but didn’t bring any presents with him when visiting King Yan during the Spring Festival…

The next year, Xu Ran’s plan came to fruition little by little. It seemed that God had been kind to them this year, and everything had gone smoothly.

The only bad news was that Guoguo was still missing, while Xu Ran and his family had never thought of giving up.

For the third year, which was the fifth year since Xu Ran had come to Yanzhou, each plan was on the right track. Finally, Xu Ran felt that he could worry about nothing anymore, which also meant that they could go home.

King Yan didn’t want them to leave, but he also knew that he couldn’t change their mind. They had lost two children here. One of them had never been seen ever, and could never be seen in the future, while the other one had been raised for over ten years, and it was unknown when they could see him ever. More likely, he could never be seen in the future either.

To the Xu family, Yanzhou was a sad place.

Therefore, King Yan wasn’t surprised when Xu Ran mentioned that they were going to leave, because King Yan knew that day would come.

In the past five years in Yanzhou, Tangtang had changed from the teenager to the current graceful childe. He always had a smile on his face, but no one dared to look down on him.

Baozi had also changed from the young child to the beautiful teenager now. His each move was so unique and elegant.

Five years had passed in a blink. Some had grown up while others old.

Both Xu Ran and Liu Tong were about to reach 40. Wrinkles started to appear on their faces. Even if they were inconspicuous, it could still be seen that they were getting old slowly.

Before they left, King Yan announced Liu Tong’s identity to the people of Yanzhou and officially recognized him.

Since the two of them had identical faces, no one doubted it. But it was until now that the people understood why Xu Ran had done so much for Yanzhou, and it was all because of Liu Tong.

Xu Ran and Liu Tong had no objections to King Yan’s public announcement because they didn’t know when they would meet again. After all, Yanzhou was too far away from Xu Village.

King Yan also gave a banquet at his mansion to see them off. Many people came but they were all related to Xu Ran.

Gao Quan and Shao Yu didn’t want to leave Yanzhou, so Xu Ran gave them Red Mansion. If he came to Yanzhou again in the future, he wouldn’t have to think of a way to make money anymore.

Shao Yu really wanted to go back with Xu Ran. He had lived in Xu Village for so many years, and was familiar with the people there, so he must have been missing Xu Village. Besides, the Xu family had never treated him as a servant.

However, Gao Quan was the last King Yan’s subordinate and belonged to King Yan. It didn’t matter if he was not back to King Yan’s Mansion. Now that he was here, it made a difference.

Xu Ran understood that, so he didn’t force Gao Quan to go back. He even secretly suggested Gao Quan adopt a child.

Ever since the loss of the last baby, Shao Yu had never got pregnant again. It would be a lie if they said that they didn’t care.

Gao Quan nodded without saying anything. He must have taken Xu Ran’s advice.

In February of this year, the Xu family left for Xu Village from Yanzhou.

King Yan had wanted to arrange for people to escort them, but Xu Ran declined him. It would be a long journey, and they might have to spend the rest of this year on the road. It was not worth it. They wouldn’t flaunt themselves. They would drive two carriages and dispense with all unnecessary formalities. Besides, Tangtang was getting better at martial arts, so they didn’t have to worry about anything.

King Yan’s efforts were to no avail, so he could only agree to Xu Ran. On that day, he personally sent the family out of the city gate.

Xu Ran waved at the crowd. After all, they had been living here for five years, and he was reluctant to leave.

The return trip took them one month less than before. The new Emperor had done a great job administering the country and it was peaceful everywhere. There were fewer bandits robbing outside, so they arrived at Xu Village smoothly.

When they walked in from the end of the village, it seemed to be another life for them when they saw the familiar scene. It had really been a long time since they had left this place.

As soon as June came, everywhere was green. The strawberries in the field had been picked and only the leaves were left. The corn in the field was also flourishing, as if it was not afraid of the hot sun at all.

The fruit trees in the orchard were also thriving. There were ripe apricots and green peaches. The fruits covered the branches while the birds were hopping from one branch to another joyfully.

In the distance, smoke came out of the black-brick house. It was noon now, and someone must be preparing lunch.

The bamboo house nearby appeared dilapidated because it had gone through so much wind and rain. Just like an old man, it would collapse at any time.

Watching the bamboo house, Xu Ran sighed, “That’s our first home. In the blink of an eye, it has been over ten years.”

Apart from Baozi, both Liu Tong and Tangtang remembered the days when they had lived in the bamboo house. Years had passed, but the only thing that remained unchanged was their memories.

“Giddyap!” Xu Ran didn’t feel more anxious when getting closer to his house. He sped up and the horse ran towards the black-brick house.

The door creaked open from inside the moment the carriage stopped.

A beautiful teenager popped his head out from inside. Seeing the carriage parking at the door, he covered his mouth in surprise. When he saw the people in the carriage clearly, the teenager seemed to be more surprised.

“Qingshu, you have grown up!”

“Uncle Xu!” Qingshu exclaimed, and then shouted at the inside of the house, “Dad, Daddy, Uncle Xu and his family are back.”

Soon, the sound of footsteps came out from inside. Qin Shuwen’s eyes turned red the moment he saw the carriage outside the door.

Smiling, Xu Ran stared at them and said, “We’re back.”