Chapter 261

Liu Tong took Tangtang and Guoguo,  Gao Quan was with Shao Yu. They divided into three groups to visite the people nearby in the afternoon. Those who were easy to talk to, and those who were not easy to get along with, they all told each other when they got home. At last, Xu Ran summarized which family they could associate with more, and which they needn’t. And what kind of people lived in the house, they knew it all.

Today was the Chinese New Year’s Eve, but there were still people selling things on the street. Since they had already figured out who to keep up with, Xu Ran took Tangtang, Guoguo and Baozi to buy presents on the street.

It was New Year, so they would definitely visit people with gifts. They couldn’t go to their home empty-handed, it was impolite.

Not only these families, but also King Yan, they also had to prepare a gift. No matter what, Liu Tong was younger than King Yan, and he was sure to give gifts to his brother.

Xu Ran was not stingy with the gifts. All he bought were good things, they were expensive and carefully chosen.

Xu Ran went to the pharmacy to buy some soaked medicinal wine for the old people. And he also bought many pastries and toys for children. The gift for each family was different and they was chosen by Xu Ran himself. The three children were beside him to give him ideas.

They were empty-handed when they went out, but came back with both hands full. Besides, there were also many people following them, carrying different things that Xu Ran bought.

When they brought the things to the house, Xu Ran paid the servants who came to deliver the things. Then he did not check the things but silently calculated how much he had spent today.

Some gifts were placed on the table, and some were on the ground. Seeing that Xu Ran was keeping accounts, Tangtang and Guoguo started to tidy up themselves. When they bought the presents, Xu Ran had told them which gift was for which family, with their good memories, they put everything in order soon.

On the other hand, Xu Ran also finished accounting. The gifts given to King Yan’s residence were the most expensive. It cost nearly a hundred taels, and the others total was just more than one hundred taels. So in all,  he spent nearly two hundred taels.

They had to work hard for two days to earn so much money! They had been out for only four hours but spent two hundred taels. Closing his eyes, Xu Ran scolded himself in his heart for his extravagance.

But looking at the gifts he bought, Xu Ran didn’t feel so sad. After all, all the gifts were ready. People had to pay to get along with each other, otherwise, they moved here late and seemed powerless, no one would want to associate with them.

Xu Ran checked the presents again, and then took out some paper and wrote their names on it. He placed the paper on the corresponding gift, in order not to worry about getting it wrong.

Xu Ran said to Tangtang and Guoguo, “Take these gifts and put them away. Remember to put them in a higher place which can protect them from moisture and rats can’t reach them.”

Tangtang and Guoguo nodded and started moving the gifts into the house.

Baozi still remembered the pastries Xu Ran bought for him, so he took them out in a sneaky way and stuffed some into his mouth.

Seeing there were a lot of pastries, Xu Ran said to Baozi, “There are children who are about your age here. Go and find them to play. Remember to share the pastries with them, then you won’t be bored in the future.”

Baozi, stuffing another piece of pastries into his mouth,  nodded in a daze. Although he didn’t want to share the food with others, thinking about that he would not play alone in the future, Baozi immediately resurrected and ran out with the pastries in his arms.

Liu Tong and Shao Yu were still busy making dumplings in the kitchen. There must be dumplings on New Year’s Eve.

Every year, there must be a copper coin in the dumpings and everyone’s favourite dumplings were available as well. Watching Liu Tong’s busy figure, Xu Ran who was standing at the door smiled. Life was just like this, daily chores and a home .

……

On the first day of the New Year, Xu Ran and the others didn’t visit other families but just stayed at home. Perhaps their laughter was too loud, it attracted the children from the neighboring families. Xu Ran asked Baozi to invite them to play together. Slowly, besides the children, adults also came out to join the fun.

Seeing there were adults coming, Xu Ran was embarrassed to play with the children. He asked Liu Tong to take out sweet potato seeds, candy, and pastries, putting them on the stove, and chatted with them in the yard.

Friendship was born out of communication. If the neighbors didn’t interact with each other, they won’t have any feelings. Originally, the people who didn’t have much contact with each other, after sitting in the courtyard of the Xu Ran family and chatting, they became bosom friends.

Most of the people who came here were Ge’ers. It was not appropriate for Xu Ran to get involved, so he asked Liu Tong and Shao Yu to serve them. These two people had a feeling of familiarity, and were easy to talk with, in addition, they came from the south and could say many things that they didn’t know.Then, imperceptibly, they became the central figures.

Xu Ran hugged his arms and smiled behind them. In the past few years, Liu Tong had indeed changed a lot. He was very careful at first, but later he started to joke, refute him, and even tease him. It was a big improvement.

Compared to the Liu Tong then, who once thought about others first, he liked the Tongtong now more, because these changes were all because of him.

“Hey!” A group of Ge’ers are chatting, why are you smiling here?”

The voice in his ear made Xu Ran immediately turn his head. He found that the person who came was Liu Yu and he was looking at him with a look of disdain. Xu Ran became unhappy and asked, “Why are you here?”

Hugging his arms like Xu Ran did, Liu Yu said,”Why can’t I come? You didn’t write that I couldn’t enter your house!”

Xu Ran really wanted to hang a sign at the door on which wrote that Liu Yu and dogs couldn’t enter.

Seeing that Xu Ran getting angry, Liu Yu put down his arms and put a hand on Xu Ran’s shoulder, asking him, “Hey! You’re angry! Don’t be so petty! I’m just joking with you.”

Xu Ran pushed the hand on his shoulder away and replied, “I’m not angry and I just think if I should hang a brand.”

Liu Yu asked curiously, “What brand?”

Looking at him, Xu Ran answered seriously, “Liu Yu and the dog can’t enter the house, what do you think of it?”

When Liu Yu heard Xu Ran’s words, his face changed immediately and said angrily, “Hey, you can’t really hang up? I’m just joking with you. You’re really so petty.”

Seeing Liu Yu’s wrinkled face, Xu Ran couldn’t help laughing.

Seeing Xu Ran smile, Liu Yu knew that he was teased, and became more dissatisfied.

Xu Ran smiled for a while and then said, “You can joke with me, then why can’t I? You are the one who started messing with me.”

Liu Yu couldn’t say anything. After all, what Xu Ran said was the facts. He came to provoke Xu Ran first. If he wanted to blame someone, he had only his own incompetence to blame! He was inferior to Xu Ran even in jest.

Then Xu Ran asked Liu Yu, “Tell me, why are you coming here? I don’t believe you just came to chat with me.” Xu Ran knew that Liu Yu didn’t like him very much.

Hearing Xu Ran’s straightforward words,Liu Yu’s face suddenly turned red, and then he made an ambiguous statement for a long time, but didn’t say anything.

Xu Ran waved his hand impatiently,”If you have anything, say it quickly. A man shouldn’t be hesitant.”

Looking at Xu Ran hesitatly again, then Liu Yu whispered, “I come to ask if the Red Tower wants to recruit a waiter. My Daddy nags me all day, he said that all I knew was staying at home and he wants me to look for a job. But I have asked a lot of places, no one hired me.”

Liu Yu unconsciously lowered his head after he said this, like a child who had made a mistake.

Then Xu Ran said, “Raise your head, look at yourself. People like you who just keep their heads down without saying a word, I won’t hire you. Others don’t hire you, I definitely won’t either. If you want to say something, just speak it out loudly. I haven’t asked you anything yet, but you’re just like this.”

Being criticized by Xu Ran, Liu Yu looked up reflexively and explained,”No, I’m just afraid you won’t agree.”

After saying this, Liu Yu wanted to lower his head again, but when he thought about what Xu Ran just said, he refrained.

Xu Ran said, “You weren’t like this when I went to your house yesterday. You said that you wanted to be a buddy at my hotpot restaurant. Then tell me what can you do?”

Hearing Xu Ran’s question, Liu Yu immediately lit up his hope and answered seriously, “I can read, and I have a good memory. I can work hard and you can let me just serve in the hall.”

Serving in the hall? Looking at Liu Yu’s weak face, Xu Ran was sure that he definitely wasn’t up to the job that serving in a hall. Xu Ran had wanted to recruit a few waiters serving in the hall and two working in the kitchen, in that case Liu Tong and Shao Yu could rest, and he would keep accounts.

But he also needed someone at the door to greet guests. Xu Ran looked at Liu Yu up and down seriously, and found that Liu Yu’s appearance was good. If only he had a smile on his face and was a little more confident.

The waiter that standing at the door should be good-looking, with a sweet smile, butter-tonsiled and have a good memory, that was the best.With more and more familiar guests, he must remember what different people liked to eat. He just needed to ask if they were the same as yesterday, then their dishes could be served quickly.

For the restaurant, there might be some new customers, but more of them were old customers. Xu Ran had run the restaurant for a month, and there were quite a number of frequent visitors. He could remember a lot of them himself, and he needed to maintain these relationships. So Xu Ran wanted a waiter standing at the door to greet guests.