Chapter 186

The seventh day of the third lunar month, the day little Baozi was a hundred days in the world.

Xu Ran family had grown busy since dawn.

Having asked for leave from Fuzi in the previous day, Tangtang and Guoguo did not go to school this day.

The tables, stools, bowls, and chopsticks that Xu Ran had borrowed from neighbors were being sent to his house continuously from early morning. By dawn, breakfast was already ready.

After breakfast, they started to prepare the formal feast.

Xu Ran knew that all people in the village would come, so he added two more tables for Qin family.

There would be two rounds of feasts, for each twelve tables of dishes were arranged. With all tables set, the originally empty yard looked a little crowded.

The melon seeds and candies were already prepared by Xu Ran. He had to go to welcome guests himself, so he assigned the task of registering the list of gifts to the village head.

The village head’s family came quite early as well. They arrived not long after they finished their breakfast.

The village head’s family brought five kilograms of rice and some vegetables.

Compared to the money sent from the town, the gifts from the village might not look good, but they were practical.

Rice and vegetables could be cooked to eat, and the favor was easy to return in the future.

Xu Ran preferred these.

Then, people from Xu Village came over on and off. It was a busy day, but not too busy, as everyone was using it to chill out.

At about nine o’clock, Xu Ran saw two carriages coming from the far end of the village.

Xu Ran guessed that it might be Qin Shuwu and the others. Although they did not specify when to come, it was about the time.

As the carriages got closer and closer, Xu Ran walked over to greet the guests.

He was right. The carriages carried Qin Shuwu and the others. One of the carters was Qin Shuwu, while the other turned out to be the shopkeeper.

The old couple of Qin family were also in the carriages. The others included the brothers of Qin family, whose spouses did not come.

Several kids got off from the second carriage, after them came Housekeeper Zhuo.

Xu Ran greeted them one by one, “Sworn Dad and Daddy, Housekeeper Zhuo, shopkeeper, Brother Qin…”

After greeting all of them, the children of Qin family also went to greet Xu Ran as uncle.

When Xu Ran turned back, he saw Liu Tong standing by the doorway. He waved at him, asking him to come over.

Today, the whole family were in festive clothes, especially the three kids. Tangtang and Guoguo were still wearing the red coat, and Baozi was in a new outfit made by Liu Tong.

Since the previous croton seeds incident, Baozi had been healthy. Plus good nutrition, he was chubby and fair, really looking like a steamed bun, tempting people to tease him.

Baozi could grin now. After Liu Tong came over, Elder Qin Daddy immediately carried Baozi, calling him as dear grandson.

Elder Dad Qin also circled around him. Xu Ran went to greet Housekeeper Zhuo and the shopkeeper.

Xu Ran said to Qin Shuwu, “Brother Qin, there are too many guests today. I might not have the time to accompany you. Since you’ve been here before and Shuwen is also inside, you can find him yourself! Well, take your younger brothers with you.

Qin Shuwu smiled. “It’s rare for me to come to your place. Are you treating me like this?”

Xu Ran said, “Didn’t you say not to stand on ceremony with you? I’m following your words. Go find a place to play. I’m going to greet others. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Fine, you brat, go!” Qin Shuwu gave him a nudge.

Xu Ran walked to Housekeeper Zhuo and the shopkeeper. “Housekeeper Zhuo, shopkeeper, I didn’t expect that you will come.”

Housekeeper Zhuo looked very happy, “Of course I shall come. Today is not only your child’s special day, but is also a joyous occasion.”

“Oh, what is it?” Xu Ran asked with curiosity.

Housekeeper Zhuo took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Ran. “That’s it, Young Master’s letter arrived yesterday!”

Housekeeper Zhuo was beamed with joy when he said this. Xu Ran took the letter, on which were four words, “For Shuwen’s Eyes Only.”

Although he was not familiar with the handwriting of Zhuo Yun, Xu Ran was sure that it was written by Zhuo Yun.

He returned the letter to Housekeeper Zhuo and said, “Housekeeper Zhuo, please come inside and hand this letter to Shuwen. He has been waiting for it for a long time. I wonder how happy he will be when he receive it.”

“Sure, sure, sure. I’ll send this letter to master. I’ll go now,” With the words, Housekeeper Zhuo pulled the shopkeeper inside.

Originally, he had planned to take a closer look at his house, but now he completely forgot it.

Xu Ran turned his head and saw that Elder Daddy Qin was still holding Baozi and talking to Liu Tong. Qin Shuwu and the rest were nowhere to be seen. Xu Ran said to Liu Tong, “Tongtong, why don’t you take Sworn Daddy into the room? Zhuo Yun has sent a letter to Shuwen. Let Sworn Daddy go and take a look. I’ll deal with the affairs outside.”

Liu Tong nodded and said to Elder Daddy Qin, “Daddy, Let’s go inside now. We cannot keep talking at the doorway. You haven’t seen Shuwen for a long time, have you? Let’s go and find Shuwen.”

Elder Daddy Qin nodded. “Okay, let’s go in and talk.”

Liu Tong led the way in front while Elder Daddy Qin followed behind him.

As they walked, they talked about the house.

After they left, Xu Ran was going to the doorway to welcome guests. As he turned around, he found that a carriage was coming from the entrance of the village, which was obviously heading towards their home.

Xu Ran couldn’t figure out who it was. After all, he only knew a few people who could drive a carriage over, and they were already here. Was it possible that Zhuo Yun is back?

Just as Xu Ran was guessing the identity of the comers, the carriage stopped in front of his house. Xu Ran didn’t wait long to see the people coming out of the carriage.

He wasn’t familiar with the person driving the carriage but he knew very well the two people who got off.

Mr. Chen and Doctor He!

Xu Ran never expected that the two would come.

They were already at his doorway, which allowed him no time to be surprised. Xu Ran smiled and went up to greet them, “Mr. Chen, Doctor He, you two are really rare guests!”

Mr. Chen glared at Xu Ran, “You don’t even inform me of the child‘s one-hundred-day celebration, Xu Ran! With our relationship, you don’t even tell me something like this.”

Xu Ran rubbed his nose and said in his mind, ‘Our relationship is between a buyer and a seller! Don’t make it feel like that I have failed you, okay?’

Before he could answer Mr. Chen, Doctor He came over too. He said, “Xu Ran! I’ll call you that way! What’s your relationship with that Qin? When I met him today, he said he was coming to your house, but he refused to take me here with him. Tell me whether he is here. If he has come, I’ll beat him up. Don’t think that I can’t find my way here without him taking me.”

Xu Ran was sweaty. It turned out that he was here to fight, not for him.

However, Xu Ran honestly answered Doctor He’s question, “Doctor He, Brother Qin’s father is my adopted father, and he is also my big brother. This is our relationship.”

Doctor He slammed Xu Ran on the shoulder, “Is he here? I will settle the score with him!”

Xu Ran said, “Doctor He, don’t be angry. Today is my son’s day, you can’t be like this! Even if you want to beat him up, you’ll have to wait for a few days.”

Mr. Chen also consoled him, “Old He, Xu Ran is right. You can beat him up tomorrow. After that, I’ll treat you in my restaurant for dinner.”

Doctor He was being childish. Hearing Mr. Chen’s words, he nodded and agreed, saying, “Don’t forget what you said. You have to treat me to dinner.” The dinner worked!

Doctor He did not sense anything, but Mr. Chen was a little embarrassed. He was really just casually talking.

Xu Ran smiled. “Mr. Chen, Doctor He, please come in. I’m a little busy today. Help yourselves.”

Mr. Chen waved his hand. “We are the crashers in the party. It’s good that you didn’t kick us out.”

“What are you talking about? Mr. Chen, as you said, we’re already so close. How can I kick you out? Speaking of which, why are you here together with Doctor He?” Xu Ran asked.

“Well, it’s a long story.”

Then Mr. Chen started talking about his experience of meeting Doctor He.

The two had met a few times, but they weren’t very familiar.

This morning, Doctor He met Qin Shuwu family and found out that Qin Shuwu was coming to Xu Ran’s house. Then he proposed to come together.

However, Qin Shuwu rejected him mercilessly. Then as Doctor He was strolling around, he bumped into Mr. Chen who was going to the restaurant.

The two had known each other, so Mr. Chen casually asked, and then Doctor He told him blah blah blah. Thus Mr. Chen found out about Xu Ran’s child’s one-hundred-day celebration. Then he casually said that he was also coming to Xu Ran’s house too, and as Doctor He said that he was going to find Qin Shuwu to settle the score, the two came together.

Xu Ran was speechless after listening the whole story.

Was Doctor He dim-witted?

Xu Ran glanced at Doctor He and thought to himself that this Doctor He was completely different from the one who battled with Qin Shuwu in the clinic back then!

However, it only showed that he didn’t know thoroughly about him.

Xu Ran ushered Doctor He and Mr. Chen into the room, and then led them to Qin Shuwu and the others. The possible brawling later would be none of his business, since he had to go to the front to greet the guests.

Tangtang and Guoguo were still in charge of distributing the candies today. They were already very skilled at it.

More or less, people from the village all brought things over. But there were too many people coming, almost all the members of each family had been here.

Xu Ran estimated that his preparations today were not enough.

He now understood why many people were displeased when they were distributing candies earlier. The whole family of them had been here to eat!

However, seeing that these people being so accustomed to the occasion, he assumed that they probably did it often. Xu Ran was in no position to say anything. However, as more people were coming, he went to the kitchen to instruct them to prepare more food, in case it would be awkward if food was not enough.