Chapter 224

The next morning, hardly had the Xu Ran family finished breakfast than they heard the sound of bells coming from outside.

The moment Liu Tong heard the noise, he said, “Probably the cattle are put out on pasture.”

Xu Ran thought that it might be Zhuo Yun with the people from the caravan. After all, trolleys couldn’t be carried by the carriage.

Just as Xu Ran was about to say that, they heard a knock on the door. Xu Ran opened the door instantly. The person who was knocking was exactly Zhuo Yun. Xu Ran said, “How come you guys are so early? Have you had breakfast?”

Zhuo Yun nodded. “Yes, the caravan said that they were in a hurry, so they wanted to come over earlier, so that they could rush back after loading up.”

“Well, okay, let me tell my family and we’ll go to Brother Xu An’s house.”

After that, Xu Ran yelled to his family inside the house, “Tongtong, the caravan is here. I’m leaving now!”

Before Liu Tong could respond, Xu Ran left with Zhuo Yun and set out for Xu An’s house with the caravan.

When Xu Ran had come back yesterday, he had told Xu An that people would come to take the trolleys away today, so Xu An was not surprised when they came to his house. Xu An had planned to entertain them, but Zhuo Yun told him that the caravan was in a rush, and Xu An gave up the idea. He carried all the trolleys at home to the outside and let these people move them onto the ox carts.

Although these people were from the caravan, they were also good at doing labor. They were quick. It took each of them 20 or 30 trips before they finished loading up the ox carts, and it was not noon yet.

Xu Ran had been watching the time. Since they had finished the work so soon, it was not the right time to ask them to stay for lunch. But these people showed no intention of staying for lunch either. They were about to leave after finishing loading up.

Seeing that neither Head Li or deputy head had come, Xu Ran asked Zhuo Yun, “Have you discussed with Head Li about the charge? Besides, we haven’t charged him for the chess yet. Also, do they still want the cured meat or not?”

Zhuo Yun answered, “I will leave with them later to collect the money. As for the cured meat, they will take it with them within this trip. They won’t come back later.”

Xu Ran nodded. “Alright, I’ll go home first and move the cured meat out. As for collecting money, I’ll go with you. I don’t feel easy letting you go alone.”

Zhuo Yun had no objection to it. After all, the total sum would be about several hundred taels of silver, and they didn’t have complete trust in the caravan. It would be troublesome if the caravan bilked them, or did something else to them. Therefore, it would be better for Xu Ran to go with Zhuo Yun, so that they could take care of each other.

When all the trolleys were loaded onto the ox carts, someone came at once to ask Zhuo Yun about the cured meat with a linen pouch. Probably Head Li had told him to do so.

Zhuo Yun said, “Someone is on his way fetching it. Please wait for a while.”

Zhuo Yun didn’t know any of the people who had come this time, and they weren’t the same people from the previous business trip. If Head Li hadn’t come to Zhuo Yun with these people in person this morning, Zhuo Yun wouldn’t have believed these people if they had come straight to him.

The cured meat at home was put in one place. Xu Ran took it off from the rack quickly and carried it to the outside with Gao Quan. Zhuo Yun also went to help. But those from the caravan didn’t go into Xu Ran’s house. Instead, they took the meat from them and put it into the sacks.

When all the cured meat was loaded onto the ox cart, it was still early. Xu Ran had counted all the cured meat and sausages, and there would be no problem later when they collected the money, no matter by weight or number.

Just as the caravan was about to leave, Zhuo Yun told Xu Ran, “Xu Ran, these people are not the same ones from my previous business trip. Do you think we should be wary of them?”

Xu Ran gave up his original thought of going with Zhuo Yun and said, “It’s better to keep an eye on them. How about this? I’ll let Gao Quan go with you. He is an expert on martial arts, and can protect you, no matter what. Since you were the one who met Head Li this morning, and you know the price, you are the right one to negotiate with him about the price.”

Zhuo Yun nodded. It was quite reasonable to make such arrangement. After all, it was impossible for Xu Ran to leave three Ge’ers and two infants at home. Now, people in the village hated his family. If there was no man at home, Xu Ran would definitely feel worried.

Zhuo Yun said, “Alright, I’ll go with Gao Quan. You stay at home. By the way, how much cured meat and sausages did we give them? Tell me the exact numbers.”

Xu Ran told him the numbers. He worried that Zhuo Yun would forget about them, so he ran into the house and wrote a note to him.

Xu Ran went to Gao Quan, told him about the situation, and asked him to go with Zhuo Yun.

Gao Quan naturally had no objections. He said to Xu Ran, “Let me wash my hands and I’m leaving.”

“Okay,” Xu Ran nodded and took out Big Black.

Then Xu Ran warned Zhuo Yun, “No matter what, safety first. It’d be best if we get the money back, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t. We can just take it as a lesson. Of course, you could also destroy everything when necessary. Just play to the score.”

Zhuo Yun said, “I see. I will keep an eye on them. You don’t have to worry too much. Maybe they are simply new to the caravan, and that’s why I don’t know them.”

Xu Ran also felt that he was overthinking it. Indeed, a burnt child dreaded the fire. After what he had gone through in Mr. Hu’s village and Ban Yue Town, Xu Ran always believed that he needed to be warier of others, but it wore him out.

Xu Ran thought for a while and decided that it was better to be himself.

Anyway, he had no loss.

As he was talking with Zhuo Yun, Gao Quan came out and waited for them by the carriage.

Xu Ran couldn’t let Gao Quan wait, let alone the caravan members. He patted Zhuo Yun on the shoulder, “Okay, that’s it!”

Zhuo Yun nodded and got into the carriage.

When Zhuo Yun came back, he was driving the ox cart. When they had departed, Gao Quan had been driving the carriage in the front. While Gao Quan had been driving, Zhuo Yun had been keeping an eye on those people, in case they played tricks. In fact, Zhuo Yun was the same kind of people as Xu Ran.

However, the situation had turned out far better than they had expected. These people were indeed hired by Head Li as casual laborers to specially carry the trolleys. As for the money, Head Li had paid Zhuo Yun generously. Head Li had also said that he was looking forward to their next cooperation, and mentioned intentionally or unintentionally the cured meat several times to Zhuo Yun.

Head Li was probably fearful that they would sell the cured meat to others. Zhuo Yun had promised to him repeatedly that as long as they could work things out, Zhuo Yun would definitely not sell it to others.

Head Li also understood what it meant by “working things out”. Naturally, the “things” referred to the price. However, it was hard to tell yet because it was still unknown how this batch of cured meat would be selling.

After taking the money, Zhuo Yun went back to Xu Village with Gao Quan. On their way back, Zhuo Yun told Gao Quan about Xu Ran and his concerns. Gao Quan didn’t say much but replied, “There are indeed people with ill intentions, but they have nothing to do with us.”

Zhuo Yun estimated that Gao Quan must have noticed something, but he didn’t ask him. He just pretended that he didn’t know about it, so as not to cause trouble for himself.

Zhuo Yun told Xu Ran everything when he returned. Xu Ran also smiled and said that he had thought too much, but was still very excited when he saw the bank notes given by Zhuo Yun.

Xu Ran took half of the notes out and put them in his top pocket. Those were for Xu An. Then he divided the remaining half into two equal parts. Because it was a round figure, it was very easy to share the money. Xu Ran handed the notes to Zhuo Yun. “Take it as your ‘thank you’ reward.”

Although Xu Ran said it was Zhuo Yun’s “thank you” reward, he said that in a decisive tone. Zhuo Yun took the notes over with a wry face. “This really is some rich ‘thank you’ reward.”

Xu Ran said, “Since you’ve already taken it, shut up. I can’t let you work for nothing. But this is just some easy gains for us. Brother Xu An is the one who has really worked.”

Zhuo Yun waved the notes in his hand and asked Xu Ran, “Shall we give more to him?”

Xu Ran shook his head. “You forgot that the cured meat and sausages were also included. We shouldn’t give him that money. It’s already a meager profit for me.”

Zhuo Yun thought about it and agreed with Xu Ran, so he didn’t say anything else. He took the money away and went to hold the baby.

While Xu Ran went to Xu An’s house with the notes. When he got there, only Xu An was at home, fiddling with a heap of wood.

Xu Ran called Xu An. Xu An stopped what he was doing and stared at him. “Why are you here? Did they take away everything?”

Xu Ran nodded, then took out the money and gave it to him. “I also got the money, so now you don’t have to worry that you are too poor to renovate your house.”

Xu An looked at the bank notes in Xu Ran’s hand and did not dare to take them. He had never seen the bank notes before.

Xu Ran pushed the bank notes into his hand and said, “These are bank notes. It’s the money for chess and trolleys. The price of the chess is 800 pence per set while that of the trolleys is one tael of silver per trolley. Do you want to count it?”

Xu An spread out the bank notes in his hands and looked at them as if they were hot potatoes. He still couldn’t believe it. “Xu Ran, don’t fool me. Is there really so much? It reads 100 on each note.”

Xu Ran said, “Why should I fool you? If you don’t believe in these bank notes, shall I give you silver instead?”

Hearing that, Xu An waved his hand at once. “No, no, I believe you. How could I not believe you? I just didn’t expect it to be so much. What about yours? Did you get your share?”

Xu Ran patted him and said, “Didn’t I promise that you will have enough money for renovation this year? This money should be enough for you to build a house with grey bricks! As long as it won’t be big as ours, it should be enough. As for my share, don’t worry about it! I will not mistreat myself, right? Count yours first.”

Xu An read the numbers on the notes. Actually, he knew it was enough without counting them. There might be even more. Xu Ran hadn’t taken advantage of him. Xu An didn’t know what to say when he saw so many bank notes.

Xu Ran said that he totally understood how Xu An felt. He only said, “Brother Xu An, put the money away. Remember to come to me when you renovate your house. I will help when I’m not busy.”

After that, Xu Ran left Xu An’s house and walked back home. About halfway home, Xu Ran wanted to go to the orchard to have a look first. When he reached the orchard, he saw Liu Tong working in the orchard and called out, “Tongtong.”

Liu Tong looked back at him, his smile shining brightly under the sunlight. Xu Ran was fascinated all of a sudden.

In the third year of coming to this world, Xu Ran had a home, a spouse and kids. Everything was perfect.