Chapter 259

After the breakfast business had been started, people in Red Tower were always busy from morning to evening, because there were guests coming at any time.

Xu Ran had promised that Lu Qi would come over to tell stories four times a month and he made it. It was not a problem. The problem was himself. He had to deal with the pig’s internal organs just after selling the pancakes. And a large number of guests came to eat hotpot before he could eat and take a rest for a while. They wall asked him to tell stories.

Xu Ran felt very regretful at this time. Why did he have to tell these stories? He had been busy enough before he started selling breakfast , and now he felt very exhausted.

The thing that Xu Ran was most glad about was that the New Year was about to come, and he could finally have a rest then!

Another day after closing of the doors, everyone was counting money when Xu Ran patted heavily on the table, scaring everyone else. Half of the copper coins in their hands were dropped down on the ground.

They all looked at Xu Ran and asked what was wrong with him.

Xu Ran had already prepared an excuse, but he suddenly couldn’t speak under everyone’s attention .

So Xu Ran could only change the subject and said, “Let’s close the door early this year! This is the first new year we would celebrate in Yanzhou. We should prepare for it well.”

Liu Tong didn’t know what Xu Ran was thinking. He just felt that he didn’t have time to prepare special purchases for the Spring Festival. “Ran, don’t you have to worry about this. Didn’t we have ingredients delivered every day? I’ve already told them to keep everything for us. We’ll just have to wait for the New Year’s Eve to get it. Our business is getting better these days. Let’s not close the door for now!”

It was because of the good business that I wanted to close the door! Xu Ran said silently in his heart.

However, he couldn’t say this. It was all his idea. Even a child like Baozi did not complain, so it was even worse for him to say that, so Xu Ran could only hold back the words he had to say before.

Xu Ran said, “If that’s the case, then let’s keep it open as usual! But don’t prepare too many ingredients recently. I’m afraid that there were family reunion dinner already in some people’s homes. If we buy a lot of ingredients and only few people come, that would be wasteful.

Liu Tong nodded and said. “Ran, I got it. Right, Ran, everyone is very tired these days. We’d better employ a few people next year! A few days ago, quite a few people had already asked me about Honeycomb briquettes. There were also people who wanted to buy the noodles we had made and cook themselves. No matter if we sell these things to them or not, we won’t be able to handle it ourselves. We might as well hire some people.”

Xu Ran looked at Baozi, who was propping up his chin, and saw that he was already nodding. He must sleepy now..

Liu Tong said exactly what he thought. So Xu Ran nodded without further ado, “Mm, I’ve mentioned before that we will open the door for business next year in the early tenth of the year. And we will start recruiting people then. If it gets is hot, we will stop selling hotpot, and we have to sell something else.The recruitment would be necessary.”

Although no one said anything, it was a fact that they were all tired. They got up and prepared from dawn until the moon hung up high in the evening. They didn’t have a rest during the day, and the days had lasted for more than 20 days. It was impossible that they were not tired.

Of course, no one objected to Xu Ran’s words. If they continued to work like this, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it. It was true that they needed to make meoney, but they also needed to be healthy.

Xu Ran looked at Baozi who was lying on the table and was afraid that he would get cold, so he held Baozi in his arms. Then he said to Tangtang and Guoguo, “You check the money first. We will go back after that. Baozi already sleepy. Let him sleep for a bit more tomorrow morning, you two must take care of him.”

Tangtang Guoguo counted the money in their hands quickly while listening to Xu Ran. Hearing Xu Ran ask them to take care of Baozi tomorrow morning, the two children nodded and said, “Don’t worry about it! We will look after Baozi. But can you handle it if we don’t come here? ”

Xu Ran waved his hand and said, “It’s alright. It’s just a day. We can handle it. Those come in the morning are all acquaintances, and they would understand. ”

Hearing Xu Ran’s words, Guoguo and Tangtang were not worried anymore. They quickly counted the money in theur hands and gave the account to Xu Ran. Xu Ran asked Liu Tong to take the money and everyone went back to the yard  together to sleep.

Right now, the courtyard was really just a place to sleep, and they always came and went in a hurry.

It had been almost a month and they had not get to know the neighbors.

Every day, when they came back, their neighbors had already closed the door and been sleeping. When they went out in the morning, the others hadn’t gotten up, so it was not strange that they didn’t know each other.

Baozi slept very soundly. His small face looked even smaller and he seemed thiner when he was sleeping. Xu Ran held him in his arms and his heart ached. He was too busy recently and he didn’t have time to pay attention to Baozi.

Fortunately, Baozi was lively and active every day. If he gets enough sleep and plays for a few days, he’ll be able to bring it back.

Xu Ran gently patted Baozi’s back as he walked, trying to make him sleep more comfortably. After arriving home, Xu Ran didn’t help Baozi take a shower. He just took off his clothes and let Liu Tong wash his face. After washing his feet, he put him on the bed and let him sleep.

Xu Ran was also exhausted. He had to be sell pancakes in the morning, and then to deal with the internal organs. The rest was to go around. He hadn’t stopped all day long, so it would be strange if he didn’t feel tired.

Liu Tong wanted to talk to him, but he said nothing when he saw how tired Xu Ran was.

He suddenly regretted saying that they shouldn’t close the door. He shouldn’t have made Xu Ran so exhausted to make money. Liu Tong rubbed his face in annoyance. He didn’t know if he should say to Ran that they would close the door tomorrow. Anyway, the Spring Festival was only two days away.

He turned to see that Xu Ran was asleep and his breathing was steady. Obviously, he was asleep soundly.

Liu Tong naturally couldn’t wake him up in this case. He was also sleepy, so he  fell asleep and without thinking too much.

The next morning, apart from the three children, the whole family went to work.

No one woke Baozi up but he still woke up himself. He was just a little later than usual. When he opened the door, he saw that it was bright outside and the sun was rising. Baozi knew that he got up late and ran to Liu Tong’s room without even wearing his coat.

There was no one inside. Baozi was a little anxious, and thinking aloud muttering, “Dad and Daddy are gone and they didn’t take me. is it because Igot up late?”

Tangtang and Guoguo suddenly appeared behind him. Guoguo picked up Baozi and Tangtang stood next to Guoguo to comfort him, “Baozi, it’s not because you got up late that Dad and Daddy didn’t bring you. It’s because you had been too tired these days. Dad said that you should get more sleep. Are you awake now? Do you want to go back and sleep for a while?”

Baozi was just about to shake his head when he yawned. Seeing that he didn’t even wear his coat, Guoguo carried him into the room.

He put Baozi on the bed and covered him with a blanket. Guoguo said, “Baozi, you should sleep first and your Big Brother will be with you. I’ll go to the Red Tower to get you some food.”

Baozi yawned again. Guoguo nodded at Tangtang and left the door without waiting his response.

Tangtang was still thinking about whether he wanted to coax Baozi to sleep. However, he saw Baozi wrapped himself in a blanket and fell asleep very soon.

Tangtang smiled at him and leaned against the bed to look at him. As a result, he was too bored and fell asleep, too.

No one has had a lie-in these days, so naturally they were very sleepy.

When Guoguo went back, no one opened the door though he had knocked on it for a long time. He didn’t bring his keys, so he found a place where no one saw him and went in over the wall, with pancakes in his hands.

Guoguo entered Baozi’s room. The door was gently shut when he left. He pushed the door and saw Tangtang leaning against the bed with his eyes closed.No wonder no one opened the door, they were all sleeping.

He could not let Tangtang sit and sleep like this on such a cold day. He had no chice but to wake him up because he didn’t thinnk that he had the ability to hold his brother to bed.

He could only gently touch Tangtang’s shoulder. Tangtang was still vigilant at all times since he had to take care of his younger brother,  Although he was asleep, he was woken up by Guoguo’s touch. Tangtang stared at Guoguo with his eyes wide open. Only when it was clear who it was did he let down his guard.

Tangtang stood up and said to Guoguo, “I just fell asleep, so I didn’t open the door for you. How did you come in?”

Guoguo rolled his eyes and replied, “I came in over the wall. Go to bed if you want to sleep!  What if you got cold? You’re my big brother and you don’t even know that.

Tangtang was speechless when he heard Guoguo’s words and did not refute it. Guoguo was afraid he would say something else, so he simply handed over the pancakes in his hand and said to him, “Brother, you can stay with Baozi at home! I’ll go over there to help. When Baozi wakes up and if he is hungry, you can bring him over.”

Tangtang wanted to refuse, but as soon as he thought that it would be unsafe for Baozi to stay at home alone , he nodded and agreed. Guoguo was more healthier than him. They were the same at first, but after the martial arts, the gap was obvious between them. Tangtang accepted his offer, thinking that he could pick up Guoguo  in the afternoon and let him deal with the bill.

Tangtang wanted to continue to sit at the bedside and look at Baozi. Guoguo was worried that he would fall asleep again, so he said to him, “Brother, eat this baker first, then go to bed. It’s about the New Year, you can’t catch a cold.”

Tangtang thought that he was right, he was a little embarrassed because he still needed his brother to remind him, so he just urged Guoguo to leave quickly.

As his twin brother, Guoguo knew him well, so he didn’t expose him. He just left with a smile and carefully closed the door.