Chapter 169

Xu Ran had not expected this kind of thing would happen to him. In fact, there had been signs, but he never thought about it.

Gao Quan’s identity was not simple. He knew it from the beginning, so did Tongtong, who said that Gao Quan had the same kung fu as his Dad. Xu Ran thought Gao Quan and Tongtong’s dad, no, Tongtong’s foster dad, were both men working for Tongtong’s biological dad. People from the same place naturally had something in common.

Tongtong’s uncles looked very ordinary and simple, who were real farmers. However, his foster dad was different. He knew hunting and kung fu, and he was even literate. How could he be a simple farmer?

Even if other people couldn’t figure it out, how could he, a person from the 21st century, not know about it? He was just unwilling to think too much.

As for Du Xin and Lu Qi, they must have been watching over his family! He put on an inexplicable guard against Du Xin back then. He didn’t know why, but now he understood clearly.

He had not expected that they still found his place.

Thankfully, Gao Quan didn’t agree to take Tongtong away, otherwise he wouldn’t know where to find him. It was possible that he would never see Tongtong or his children again in his life.

He knew very well that the gap between the nobles and a commoner in this era was huge. King Yan was the only king who was not a royal member, and his father was a famous general. It was easy for King Yan to hide a person or make a person disappear from this world forever.

Xu Ran suddenly felt scared. He didn’t understand why such things happened.

The person who was so close to him suddenly turned out to be an aristocrat. He was only a commoner, and the gap between their social statuses was too huge.

It made him panic.

His Tongtong, who belonged only to him, suddenly had an older brother. It turned out he came from a noble family…

‘Tongtong!’

Xu Ran abruptly turned around to look for Liu Tong. Tongtong was his, and he could only be his!

Liu Tong was holding little Baozi in the room while talking to the twins, who got scared by what they were told and would not leave Liu Tong.

When Xu Ran entered the room, he heard Guoguo saying, “Daddy, don’t worry. Brother and I will learn kung fu from Uncle Gao Quan, and we will protect our little brother.”

Xu Ran saw Liu Tong stroking Guoguo’s head and smiling gently. “You both are good children. I’ll let you protect your little brother from now on.”

The twins nodded earnestly. “Daddy, we will.”

Xu Ran stood at the door for a while. He was touched deeply. This was his family, his beloved family.

However, someone wanted to break them apart.

“Ran, why are you standing at the door? It’s cold outside. Come on in!” Liu Tong looked up and saw Xu Ran standing in a daze at the door, so he called him to enter the room.

The twins quickly walked up to Xu Ran when they saw him. “Dad, don’t worry, we will protect our brother.”

Xu Ran smiled. “Great. You are so sweet.”

Xu Ran walked in and pretended he didn’t hear what they just said, asking what they were talking about.

Therefore, the twins repeated their promise of protecting their brother.

Xu Ran said, “You need to protect not only brother, but also Daddy. Don’t forget that he gave birth to you.”

Tangtang Guoguo did not understand what he meant, but they always listened to Xu Ran, so they nodded earnestly.

The family sat together and chatted for a while before Shao Yu called them for dinner.

During dinner, Xu Ran said to everyone, “When I was building the house, I made a high wall to prevent people from climbing over, but I didn’t expect someone to be able to climb in. I think we need to add something on the wall.”

Liu Tong asked, “To add what?”

“Porcelain and iron nails. Shatter the bowls or the jars and put the sharp pieces on the top of the wall. Buy some iron nails, and put them on the wall, too. Let those fearless ruffians climb over the wall!”

After the accident, no one objected to Xu Ran’s decision.

Xu Ran continued, “Not only that. We have to keep two dogs at home all the time. One will guard the sheepfold and the stable at the back, and the other will guard the front door. Tangtang, Guoguo, ask the children in the village to see who has puppies. We can buy two and let them guard the orchard when they grow up.”

Liu Tong nudged Xu Ran and said, “Ran, don’t buy puppies from others. In spring, Peanut will probably give birth to puppies and we can raise them ourselves.”

Xu Ran clapped his head, “I forgot that Peanut is a female dog. In this case, we won’t buy any puppies. Let’s get the wall ready as soon as possible. I will go to town tomorrow and buy all the stuff. Gao Quan, please watch over the potato planting these days. Shao Yu, please stay with Liu Tong. Tangtang and Guoguo, watch out when you go to school, okay?”

Xu Ran now was highly alert, assigning tasks to everyone.

Gao Quan said, “I’d better go to town with you tomorrow. We don’t know where Xu Cheng is now. If I go with you, I can help you if anything comes up.”

Liu Tong said, “Ran, that’s right! We’re fine at home. Shao Yu and I stay here. Besides, Xu Cheng is no longer in the village, so don’t worry.”

Xu Ran thought about it and nodded. “Alright, Gao Quan, go with me to the town tomorrow!”

They had been working for a whole day, and they could only sit down for lunch in the afternoon.

Tangtang and Guoguo couldn’t go to school today, so they stayed at home with Liu Tong and spent time on reading and writing. Xu Ran went with Gao Quan to look for workers to continue the farming. Only after the farm work was finished would they have time to do something else.

After planting the potatoes, they had to take care of the weeds in the strawberry field and planted the new seedlings. After they were done with the strawberry field, they might need to plant the corn. They would be busy until the end of February, and then they would have time to buy the mountain and look for fruit trees.

He didn’t know when Zhuo Yun would leave. He had to find time to send the meat to him and bring Qin Shuwen over. He might as well ask them when he went to town tomorrow.

Besides, Spring Festival was over, and they had to deliver potatoes to Mr. Chen’s restaurant. The dried pork and sausages at home were ready to be sold.

Xu Ran found that there were a lot of things to do. In order to leave early tomorrow, after dinner in the evening, Xu Ran and Gao Quan packed up the things and prepared to go out early the next morning.

Xu Ran didn’t sleep well at night. His mind was filled with pictures of the dead sheep and Liu Tong being taken away.

Later on, he even started to talk in his dream. Liu Tong heard him calling his name and he woke up to find Xu Ran was talking in his dream. Xu Ran kept begging him not to leave and tangled him with his arms and legs.

Liu Tong guessed that Xu Ran had a nightmare because of what happened during the day, so he wanted to wake him up. “Ran, wake up. You are having a nightmare, wake up.”

Liu Tong called Xu Ran as he shook him, but he didn’t dare to raise his voice, fearing that he would wake Baozi up.

However, Xu Ran didn’t wake up, and his forehead was sweating. Liu Tong reluctantly pinched Xu Ran.

Xu Ran screamed and suddenly sat up, clearly frightened.

Liu Tong said, “Ran, wake up. It is only a dream. Don’t be afraid.”

Xu Ran rubbed his face and turned to Liu Tong. “Tongtong, did I have a nightmare?”

Liu Tong nodded. “Yeah. You were sweating. You kept calling my name, asking me not to leave. You’re here, where can I go?”

Xu Ran hugged him, “My Tongtong is still there.”

“I’m here with you. I’m here all the time.” Liu Tong stroked Xu Ran’s head like he was comforting the twins.

Xu Ran had not recovered from his dream, and he didn’t notice Liu Tong’s movements. Xu Ran couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. He sat in bed for a while and felt better. He told Liu Tong, “Tongtong, go back to sleep. Don’t worry about me. I’ll get up and walk around.”

It was still dark outside, so he guessed it was probably midnight. Liu Tong was quite sleepy, and he lay down in bed when he saw Xu Ran was fine. He told Xu Ran, “Ran, if you’re sleepy, go to sleep. It’s still early. You are going to town tomorrow, and you will feel tired if you don’t go back to sleep.”

Xu Ran nodded. “I know. Go to sleep! Don’t worry about me.”

Xu Ran got out of bed and put on his clothes. He lit the oil lamp and went to the other side of the room. He was worried that Liu Tong and Baozi might not sleep well because of the light, so he lit up the hibachi and sat there in a daze.

He was stricken by Gao Quan’s words. If someone really came, he would be devastated, but his mind was blank, and he couldn’t think of a better way. King Yan was wealthy and powerful with soldiers in his command, while Xu Ran had nothing but Liu Tong and the children. He was not King Yan’s rival at all!

Xu Ran had been sitting on the stool all the time, but he didn’t feel cold with a hibachi in front of him. When the sky was about to light up, he heard someone talk outside. There were no other families nearby, so it must be his family.

Xu Ran thought that it was almost dawn, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep for long if he went to sleep. Therefore he dropped the idea of going to sleep and went outside to take a look.