Chapter 255

It was also from that day that Lu Qi never left the mansion, and all the people who ever mentioned this in the mansion were drugged by him… They all ended up kind of miserable.

However, the most miserable man was Du Xin who had not been out of bed for three whole days. As for the reason why he could not get out of bed, no one would know.

Apart from hotpot, there were also porridges and pancakes for “Good deed in a day”.

The porridge was very ordinary, but the pancake was something that no one had ever eaten.

However, it was also because of this that apart from the drama of the Master of Yanzhou, the daily food at the gate of the city had also become the second most popular topic. It was always discussed after tea.

Taking advantage of this popularity, Yan Chuan also found a suitable house for Xu Ran. It was a small two-story building, and it was a stall downstairs. It’s perfect for Xu Ran to set up the business, and it would be fine for the family to live upstairs .

Xu Ran thought about it and finally decided that he still needed a small yard. After all, this building was not very big, so it’s better to use upstairs to make a private room. In addition, the smell of hotpot was very strong, and they might have to smell it all day, and they still had to sleep here at night.

As for the money, it was to be spent anyway. Xu Ran was not stingy about it. The house in Yanzhou was not very expensive. One hundred taels would be enough for a small yard, which was even cheaper than their previous house in town.

The location of this small building was also quite good. It would cost about 500 taels to buy it. In addition to the decorations, 600 to 700 taels would definitely be necessary. Aand Xu Ran intended to buy a yard about three hundred taels.

He had made some money from the fruit trees and one thousand tael of silver would not be a problem for him. He calculated the cost of hotpot business and estimated that it would not be long before he could make ends meet. When it got hot, he would change the hotpot restaurant into a dessert shop, which could be regarded as a multi-purpose store.

However, he didn’t tell anyone about that yet. These things were what he had wanted for a long time. The only thing he wanted now was a house.

Yan Chuan spent two days looking for a small yard according to Xu Ran’s requirements. This yard was still newly repaired. After Yan Chuan came back and told Xu Ran about it, Xu Ran took his family to check the house.

It was a pretty large yard and there were plenty of rooms and two entrances. There was also a well in the backyard and a separate shed at the back of the yard. It could be used to raise chicken and ducks. There was an empty space on both sides of the front yard, which could be used to plant flowers or vegetables. It was up to them.

The ventilation of the room was also good, and the kitchen was a little far away from their rooms, so they would smell anything which came out of kitchen. On the whole, they were quite satisfied.

Xu Ran asked Yan Chuan, “How much is the house?”

Yan Chuan stretched out three fingers. He had been looking for the house according to Xu Ran’s budget.

Xu Ran could also accept it, but he still wanted to save a little more money, so he asked Yan Chuan, “Can I get a discount? Even 10 or 20 taels less would do, Butler Yan.”

Yan Chuan was shocked by the way Xu Ran called him for a moment. How could he refuse him? So he said, ” Second Brother, I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise you how much of a discount you’ll get.”

Xu Ran said, “That’s fine. I just wanted to give it a try. It’s fine if it doesn’t work. If it’s okay, then it’d be the best. We want this house, and you can meet the person selling the house later!”

Seeing that he was so straightforward and decided, Yan Chuan couldn’t help but ask once again, “Second Brother, don’t you want to  look at it again?”

Xu Ran shook his head and said. “It’s okay. It’s not easy to choose if you see too much. It’s better not to look at it anymore. I can accept the price and it is not far from the small building. That’s perfect. And thank you, Butler Yan.”

Hearing Xu Ran’s thanks, Yan Chuan hurriedly waved his hand and said. “Second Brother, please don’t say so. This is what I should do. I’m glad you two like this place. I will ask the owner of the house tomorrow to deal with the contract of this house.”

Xu Ran nodded and stopped saying thank you again.

Xu Ran started to think about how to decorate these two places after ge went back. How long it would take, where to buy the additional things, what was the price and so on, all of these must be understood.

He definitely couldn’t manage it on his own, so Xu Ran simply wrote it down and divided it into three portions. He left one for himself, and the other two for Guoguo and Tangtang, let them investigate on the street. In any case, the final choice must be at the right price and the best quality.

Xu Ran had been running outside every day. And Liu Tong had also been sewing gloves and backpacks. As for the scareves, Xu ran was too busy and to tell him how to make it, so he had not started doing it.

On the second day, Xu Ran met the owner of that house, and he went to Yanzhou’s office to change the name of the title deed for the house. The business was concluded at the price of two hundred seventy-two taels in the end. Yan Chuan had made a lot of efforts for that.

Coincidentally, that small building also belonged to this person. Since he was here, and Xu Ran wanted it too, so he talked about the price and bought it for 400 taels.

A good part of his one thousand taels was spent, and it was still the price after the discount. Xu Ran couldn’t help but sigh.

Since they’ve bought the house, what remains was the matter of decorating. What Xu Ran meant was that they could only find two masters for the decorations and left the other works for these beggars outside the city. It was also a favor for them becausehe would provide them food.

King Yan was very happy to hear that. He said that he would pay for the decoration of the house. Xu Ran accepted his offer, so he could save some money.

Xu Ran had been telling people how to decorate his house. They had to buy a large quantities of tables, stoves, and most importantly, coals. The table and stove were easy to buy, but it was hard to get coals. Xu Ran had almost looked everywhere in Yanzhou and still couldn’t find any coal without smoke. And that with smoke wouldn’t work definitely.

Xu Ran could only roll up his sleeves and make it himself If he couldn’t find it. He did not know if he could succeed. He learnt it on his way home from school when he was young. He saw someone else making it and he memorized all the steps and materials, Probably because of his good memory.

Every time he needed to use his brain, Xu Ran hated how little he had learned in his previous life. If he had known about the transmigration earlier, he would have definitely force himself to study hard.

Xu Ran remembered that it was called Honeycomb briquet. Because there was round holes in it and it was similar to Honeycomb. It was made of raw coal, soil lime and so on. And there were a lot of these things in Yanzhou.

Everyone in the mansion opened their mouths in shock when they heard that Xu Ran wanted to make coals himself.

They have even repeatedly dampened Xuran’s enthusiasm. Xu Ran was not confident that he could make it, but he just wanted to give it a try. It would be fine if he didn’t make it. However, after being dampened by these people, Xu Ran was more determined to make it.

However, none of the people who had dampened him expected it to turn out like this, which aroused Xu Ran’s fighting spirit.

According to his memory, Xu Ran started to look for materials, and then made a model. If he didn’t know how to do it, he would hire someone else on the street to help him. After a few days of busy work, Xu Ran’s early preparation was done, and the final step was all that was left. If he would make it depended on this step.

He had distributed all the materials in proportion, then mixed them together. Then he used the model to make it into the shape of a honeycomb, and waited for the Honeycomb briquettes to dry. As long as it could burn after it was dry, it means that he had made it.

There were rows of Honeycomb briquettes in the yard of the mansion. He had made all the efforts, and the only thing he could do now was to wait.

However, Xu Ran didn’t sit in the yard and  wait. He still continued to go outside because he wanted to set up the hot pot restaurant as soon as possible and attract more guests to take advantage of the current topic of providing hot pot for beggars at the city gate.

At the same time, the courtyard they lived in also had to be decorated. Apart from large furniture such as beds and cupboards, everything else was still needed.

The whole family went shopping together. They bought things that they liked. Everything they had picked up would be sent to their house the next day. When they almost finished shopping, Xu Ran asked Liu Tong and Shao Yu to deal with the things in the kitchen.

Xu Ran counted Shao Yu and Gao Quan as their family members, although King Yan was more obliged to take care of them. After all, they were under his father’s command, and they must feel very constrained to live in King Yan’s residence. It was better for them to live here. Xu Ran asked their opinions and they agreed without thinking.

Xu Ran thought that it was better to have two more people at home, it must be more lively than usual. Moreover, he and Liu Tong would not be enough for the hotpot restaurant. It was not easy to hire people at first, so Shao Yu and Gao Quan were more suitable.

Seeing that they were willing to leave with Xu Ran, King Yan definitely knew what they were thinking.

So he wouldn’t do anything useless.

The decoration in two places were carried out at the same time, and the place where they lived was faster. The hotpot restaurant should only open after they moved in.

As for Honeycomb briquettes, they were almost dry after three or four days in the yard. Xu Ran took one to try it in the kitchen. It could burn up, but it was extinguished soon. Xu Ran felt that it was a failure at the time. After such a huge amount of work, he would naturally be sad. He as so upset that he wanted to throw away the rest of the Honeycomb briquettes in the yard.

Liu Tong immediately stopped him, “Ran, don’t be like this. It’s probably because they are not dry enough, so it can’t be burned. Don’t worry, wait a few more days. It’s cold in Yanzhou, and there’s still frost in the morning. It’ll definitely make the coals wet. Put it on the fire for a while. And let’s see if it can burn up after it’s dry. Okay?”

Hearing Liu Tong’s gentle persuasion, Xu Ran t was embarrassed to do impulsive things. He agreed to put the Honeycomb coals by the fire. Xu Ran went to grab two stools for Liu Tong and himself and sat beside the fire to wait for the Honeycomb coals to get dry.

Happy Chinese valentine’s day! ! ! !