Chapter 109

After the man left, Xu Ran turned his head and explained to Qin Shuwu. Before he could say anything, Qin Shuwu patted him on the shoulder and said, “Well, well, well. You are just thinking of something else soon after the strawberries have just been sold out. How about you quit farming and go into business with me?”

Xu Ran smiled awkwardly, “Brother Qin, don’t make fun of me. I am too stupid to go into business, otherwise I wouldn’t be still a farmer until now. I’m already in my twenties.”

Qin Shuwu did not take it seriously, “Stop thinking that I don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve been stupid for so many years, but you were in the third place in the imperial exam in less than a year. You have a quick wit. If that is nothing, then what should I be like? However, you are a scholar after all, and the status as a businessman is low. It is good that you don’t choose to be a business man.”

Xu Ran waved his hand. “This isn’t what I am caring about. Taking the entrance examination is just to avoid land taxes for my family. I’m just an ordinary person who likes to reconcile myself to my situation. I’m content to stay with my family for the rest of my life. I don’t think about anything else. Businessmen are often on the go outside. I really didn’t think about it. Anyway, thank you for your kindness, brother Qin.”

“Haha, you don’t need to thank me. I know what you mean. You can bring me a few more guests if you sell things in front of my door. I won’t overthink about it.”

Xu Ran chuckled, “Brother Qin, I am glad that you think so. Don’t worry, it won’t affect your business.”

“Alright, you don’t have to explain. The strawberries have been sold out, so it’s time for me to treat. Come to my house and have lunch!”

Xu Ran wanted to refuse his invitation, but he wanted to have a good relationship with Qin Shuwu, so he agreed.

Qin Shuwu also called Zhuo Yun and Qin Shuwen to come.

Qin Shuwen had been pregnant for seven months and his stomach looked quite big. Xu Ran, who had never seen a man get pregnant, was already used to it.

The Qin family had a good impression on Xu Ran. Especially after hearing what Qin Shuwen had said about Xu Ran, his daddy felt so sorry for him, saying that it would be great if he had such a child.

The other children of the Qin family rolled their eyes, thinking ‘Aren’t we good enough?’

When Elder Daddy Qin was talking, Zhuo Yun also came to join in, suggesting Xu Ran regard Elder Dad Qin as his sworn dad.

As soon as Zhuo Yun finished his words, Elder Daddy Qin looked at Xu Ran with sincerity, “Child, Zhuo Yun is right. What do you think?”

Looking at Elder Daddy Qin’s expectant face, Xu Ran felt so sorry to refuse and nodded involuntarily.

The youngest child of the Qin family immediately went make two cups of tea. Xu Ran took the tea and gave the elders of the Qin the tea in front of everyone’s eyes.

“Sworn dad, please drink the tea.” Elder Dad Qin took the teacup and drank tea saying, “Good boy.” But it was extemporaneous that Dad Qin did not prepare anything. He directly gave the money bag which was a bit heavy to Xu Ran.

Xu Ran was embarrassed to take it, but he was persuaded by Qin Shuwen. “It’s just a gift to you, so you should accept it. There is not much money inside.”

Xu Ran said in his heart, ‘There was much money inside? It must be a lot in total.’ However, he didn’t say that he would refuse to take it.

After serving Elder Dad Qin the tea, Xu Ran needed to offer the tea to Elder Daddy Qin as well. But Xu Ran was stunned for a long time and didn’t say anything. He was still a little frightened. People around could see that he was scared. Elder Dad Qin saw that Xu Ran was a bit embarrassed and asked him, “Child, are you okay?”

Xu Ran was holding the teacup in one hand and scratching his head with the other hand. Then he said with embarrassment, “Oh, sorry, I don’t know what I should call you. ‘Sworn Daddy’ always sounds a bit weird.”

As soon as Xu Ran said that, others also felt that it sounded a bit weird. Elder Daddy Qin smiled gently, “Child, just call me daddy like they do.”

Xu Ran didn’t feel it strange anymore and he knelt down and toasted the tea, saying, “Daddy, please drink some tea.”

Elder Daddy Qin took the teacup answering. “Good, good, I am glad to drink it.”

After taking a sip, he put the teacup on the table, then pulled out a jade bracelet around his hand and handed it to Xu Ran. “I know your spouse is pregnant. Since you’ve regarded me as your daddy, I have nothing to give to you but this bracelet to your spouse. If there is a chance, bring him here to visit us.”

Since Elder Daddy Qin had said so, Xu Ran couldn’t refuse. He thanked Elder Daddy Qin and accepted the jade bracelet.

Xu Ran was about to go back home after lunch. Elder Daddy Qin knew that Liu Tong was also pregnant, so he went to the house to get a lot of things to Xu Ran. He kept telling him that what a pregnant Ge’er could not do or eat.

ElderDaddy Qin was treating Xu Ran even closer than his own children, which made Qin Shuwen jealous.

However, Qin Shuwen was not so mean. After all, they had a good relationship with the Xu Ran and his family. Now that they became relatives with the Xu Ran’s family, they could just help themselves if there were anything good to eat in the future.

Thinking of this, Qin Shuwen was pleased again.

Xu Ran felt that he was so lucky after moving out of the Xu Family. It was estimated that the days over the seven years when he had been a fool had taken away all the bad luck.

When Xu Ran returned home with a bunch of things, of course he was interrogated again. Xu Ran honestly told Liu Tong the truth and gave him the jade bracelet that Elder Daddy Qin wanted to give him.

Liu Tong liked it very much, but he did not wear it on his hand. Not to mention that his hand was much bigger than Elder Daddy Qin’s, he had already been pregnant for three months. He had been well nurturing during this period of time, and now he had to work. Therefore, it was inconvenient to wear a jade bracelet.

Because Xu Ran had already had lunch, he didn’t eat at home. Liu Tong asked Xu Ran that there were mushrooms on the mountain, and then he went up the mountain to have a look.

It had just rained and the mushrooms hadn’t come out yet. Xu Ran was just checking around so it would be convenient to find some mushrooms tomorrow morning.

Xu Ran intended to ask Wu Mei’s family and another two families to help find the mushrooms, but this time it was not a cooperation, so he would pay them.

The people here thought that mushrooms were poisonous and very few people dared to eat them. Even for a few of them were bold enough, they dared not to eat a lot.

In fact, the way to distinguish mushrooms was very easy. Xu Ran often ran in the mountains when he was a child and was very familiar with mushrooms. He knew poisonous mushrooms, so he was not worried about that.

What’s more, he had a secret method. When frying mushrooms with garlic, it could not only distinguish whether the mushrooms were poisonous or not, but also help seasoning. Killing two birds with one stone was just perfect.

At the beginning of the year, Xu Ran asked Liu Tong to plant a lot of garlic in his own fields, and now, it was just right time to dig them out.

After coming back from the mountain, Xu Ran went to Xu An’s home and told them about picking the mushrooms, but he was rejected immediately on the spot. Wu Mei and others were very sure that mushrooms were poisoned and couldn’t be eaten, so they were unwilling to help him.

Xu Ran explained to them patiently for a long time and promised that he would check the all the mushrooms one after another so that they agreed reluctantly.

Because Xu An was busy preparing furniture for Xu Ran’s new house, only Wu Mei came, while the other two family were all here.

The next morning, they gathered at the door of Xu Ran’s home

Xu Ran did not let Liu Tong go up the mountain because the road on the mountain was slippery. He could not guarantee that Liu Tong would be fine, so it was better for him to watch the child at home.

Once they reached the mountain, Xu Ran began to tell them how to distinguish the mushrooms.

“Remember, it’s so easy to tell whether the mushroom is noxious or not. After you find a mushroom, look at the gear under the mushroom. As long as it is white, it can be eaten. As long as it is not, it can’t be eaten. But there are two exceptions. One is a pine mushrooms, which is yellow and its gear is also yellow. This is easy to recognize. If you are not sure, you can ask me. The other is a black mushroom, but don’t pick them. For the sake of safety, we don’t pick such mushrooms. Remember, as long as you are not sure, just ask me, okay?”

“Alright, we get it. Let’s find mushrooms separately!” Wu Mei added.

Xu Ran nodded and went separately to find mushrooms.

He particularly went to a place with lots of pine trees to find pine mushrooms. After all, they were valuable.

After the rain, the mushrooms were growing so fast. Soon, Xu Ran had already picked quite a lot. He carried two backpacks, one for the pine mushrooms, and the other for other mushrooms.

Occasionally, Xu Ran could hear someone call him by his name and ask him to go over to tell if it was a poisonous mushroom. After coming over to each of them once, they could recognize it by themselves. After all, mushrooms were really easy to tell the difference.

They arrived at dawn. When the sun came out, everyone had picked up quite a few. The mushrooms nearby were almost all picked up, so they started to go home.

After they went back home from the mountain, Xu Ran checked everyone’s basket and picked out a few mushrooms that were not edible. He separated the pine mushrooms and put them in a basket.

After putting all the mushrooms together from each of then, they had picked three baskets of mushrooms which was quite a lot.

There were also a lot of pine mushrooms, filling almost two baskets.

The mushrooms could be eaten directly but they must be boiled and soaked in water before eating.

Because Xu Ran was worried that some people would just eat them directly and went wrong after they bought the mushrooms, Xu Ran decided to cook all the mushrooms at home.

Although the mushrooms did not look good after being boiled, it would be safer after all.

As for the pine mushrooms, this can be fried directly. Just add some green peppers in, and it would not only look good but also smell good.

After frying a plate of pine mushrooms, Xu Ran put them in the water to cool them down, and then put them in bamboo tubes.

It was almost ten o’clock, and everything was ready. Xu Ran started to load the carriage and put all the staffs on it. He also brought some garlic which was completely free. There wasn’t much garlic, so, each family could get two heads of it.

Actually, Xu Ran had seen garlic on the street, but it was only a small amount.

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