Chapter 96

After cooking, Xu Ran looked at the sky outside and found that it would rain again. When they had come back, it had been almost four p.m. After he cooked the meal, it was almost five.

Having guessed that Liu Tong must have cut lots of pigweed outside in the whole afternoon, Xu Ran placed the food on the table, then found a pack basket and asked, “Tangtang, do you know where your daddy has gone to cut pigweed? It will rain. I want to bring your daddy home.”

“The place where you cut pigweed last time. Dad, go there quickly! Don’t care about us.” Tangtang started to ask Xu Ran to leave as soon as he finished talking, afraid that Liu Tong would get caught in the rain.

Xu Ran said with a smile, “Got it. You guys have dinner first. You don’t have to wait for us.”

After finishing his words, he went outside with a pack basket on his back and closed the bamboo fence of the yard behind him.

The place where he had cut pigweed last time was a little far away from their home. Xu Ran had just been there a few times before, but he had never been there again later. From afar, he saw a person cutting something with his back bent. The sickle in his hand was being moved fast, and a lot of cut grass was beside him.

Xu Ran walked over and said, “Tongtong.”

Liu Tong stood straight and looked back, saying, “Why are you here, Ran? I asked Tangtang and Guoguo to tell you to just stay at home to cook, didn’t I?

Xu Ran went over and wiped away the small drops of sweat on his forehead. “The meal is ready. I found that it would rain and estimated that you must have cut a lot of pigweed in the whole afternoon but would never be able to carry it back alone, so I’m here. What? Don’t you feel happy?”

Liu Tong shook his head hurriedly and said, “You’ve been on the carriage for a few days, and you also went to pick up Mr. Hu in town today, so I was afraid you would get too tired!”

“You really think I’m weak! Besides, I also had a sound sleep last night. How could I be tired? Compared with me, you’ve been busy with the internal and external affairs of our family all these days while I was away. You had a tough time.”

Liu Tong shook his head and said, “It was not tough.”

Xu Ran pinched his cheek that was not fair and said, “All right, let’s go back! If it doesn’t rain, we can come to cut grass tomorrow. It is the same. I’m coming with you.”

“I’m afraid I will be too busy to come here tomorrow. I’ve planted all the vegetable seedlings, but I didn’t dare to deal with the corn seedlings. Their growth shows that it is just right to plant them these days. Tomorrow we should begin cleaning the radish field and then plant the corn seedlings.”

“Right, I think so, too. Almost all the radishes in the field have been pulled out, but I’m afraid we will have to sow a few vegetable seeds this year, otherwise we won’t have enough vegetables to eat then. When I go to town someday, I’ll get some from Zhuo Yun’s place and bring them home.”

Liu Tong nodded and said, “OK.”

The two put the pigweed into their pack baskets while talking. Although they had filled up the two big pack baskets, they had just put half of the grass in. Sure enough, his Tongtong had high work efficiency!

They had made two trips before carrying all the pigweed home.

After returning home, Liu Tong took a handful of grass to the chicken coop and duck pen and then scooped up some pigweed from the pot to feed the pigs.

When he saw the black horse beside the pigpen, Liu Tong was surprised. He guessed that it should be theirs, not Zhuo Yun’s family’s.

He also remembered those few big bags that Xu Ran had unloaded from the carriage yesterday when he had returned home. Since Xu Ran hadn’t told him what they were, he hadn’t cared about him, so now they were still in the shed where their sundries were placed.

Surely, the horse’s fodder should not be the same as the pigs’, so Liu Tong took some of the chickens and ducks’ green grass to it. Afraid of strangers, the horse turned to anyone who gave it food. Seeing the green grass in Liu Tong’s hand, it even rubbed against him before starting to eat.

Seeing its intimate look, Liu Tong couldn’t help feeling delighted and reached out to touch it.

Xu Ran had been waiting for Liu Tong to eat. After back home, the latter had been busy with all kinds of things, and Xu Ran didn’t know how to help him. Thus, he could only sit at the table and ask Tangtang and Guoguo about their daddy’s daily work schedule.

Tangtang and Guoguo told him his tasks one by one. From the moment of getting up in the morning, he had to boil grass for their pigs, clean up the chicken coop, feed the pigs, cut green grass, cook meals, sweep the floor, and so on. If all of them were put together, they were more than ten tasks. Xu Ran sighed and felt that he had been raised so well that he knew nothing about human life and farm work.

Xu Ran waited for Liu Tong for a long time but still didn’t see him. Seeing that he had just gone out with a bucket of pigweed, Xu Ran guessed that he was going to feed the pigs. He walked toward the pigpen but saw Big Black eating green grass while licking the palm of his spouse in a way of currying favor. “Tongtong didn’t withdraw his hand but touched Big Black. Lord, the stinky horse is flirting with my spouse!”

First, he glared at “Big Black”, and then he went over and pulled Liu Tong to himself. “Tongtong, I bought a carriage before discussing it with you. You won’t be angry, will you?”

Liu Tong shook his head and said, “How could I blame you? But there isn’t really much money left in our family these days. Ran, you have to spend money more carefully.”

Seeing that Liu Tong was really not angry, Xu Ran heaved a sigh of relief and instantly spoke of the way of making money. “You don’t have to worry about this. Bamboo shoots are probably coming out in a few days. You still remember the place where we went to pick the chili peppers, don’t you? I saw bamboo trees there. I guess there should be a lot of bamboo trees on the other side of the mountain. When it is time, we should go there early to dig a few bamboo shoots and sell them in town. Anyway, Mr. Chen’s family is sure to want them.

“You just remember Mr. Chen’s family, but have you ever thought about the number of our bamboo shoots his family can buy? It is tasty to eat them when they are fresh. It’s troublesome when no one comes to buy, but we have many!” Liu Tong frowned and said.

Hearing Liu Tong’s words, Xu Ran then remembered that bamboo shoots really couldn’t be kept for too long, or they would become sour and lose their good flavor.

He also remembered the modern dish of bamboo shoots with pickled chili peppers, and he liked its flavor very much, but there were no pickled chili peppers in this era, so he couldn’t cook the dish. However, he could try putting them into the pickle jar by taking them as radishes. If he couldn’t sell the fresh bamboo shoots, he could still sell the dried ones!

This tasted good when it was eaten with bacon soup. Besides, their family’s potatoes could be harvested next month. Xu Ran thought that he could ask Mr. Chen to set up a barbecue stall and roast potatoes.

“I just don’t know how much this idea is worth,” Xu Ran thought joyfully.

Seeing the person in a trance before him, Liu Tong smiled helplessly and thought, “I always feel that Ran isn’t like a grown man.”

Liu Tong threw the rest of the green grass to Big Black before pulling Xu Ran into the house. As he walked, he said, “Ran, the horse has been brought into our home, so we should build a living space for it, right? We can’t let it live next to the pigpen every day.

Called back to his senses by Liu Tong, Xu Ran thought for a moment and said, “Add a small living space next to the pigpen. When our new house has been built then, we can rebuild it and make it larger, in case we raise other animals in the future.”

Liu Tong nodded and said, “OK, then let’s build it after finishing the work in the field. Ran, have you named this horse, by the way?”

“Of course, it’s called Big Black. It sounds so suitable for it, right?” Xu Ran said proudly.

But Liu Tong was speechless and thought, “It’s a really suitable name! It’s so perfect that nothing can match it!”

While eating, Liu Tong again remembered those big bags that had been taken down from the carriage yesterday.

Liu Tong asked, “What are those you and the shopkeeper carried home yesterday, Ran?

Once Liu Tong mentioned it, Xu Ran then remembered that he had forgotten another important thing, and he thought, “The cooperation with Lin Hua and others!”

Now Xu Ran stopped eating and stood up immediately. “Tongtong, I forgot something very important. Where did you put those bags?”

Seeing him in such anxiety, Liu Tong also stopped eating. Then he stood up and went out with him. “They are in the shed where our sundries are placed. Are they very important? You didn’t tell me anything about them, so I didn’t pay attention to them.”

Xu Ran found that Liu Tong was even more anxious than he was. Then, he knew that if he didn’t make it clear, Liu Tong would be crazily anxious. Therefore, he told him how he had met Lin Hua and Zhao Chen in He Shui Town as well as their cooperation.

“What are the fermented bean curd and the dried bean curd?” All I know is tofu. Are they made of tofu?

“You’re so smart, Tongtong.”

While talking, the two had been standing in front of those few bags for a long time.

Xu Ran picked up a bag and opened it for Liu Tong to see. “These inside are all chili peppers and soybeans. We need to make chili paste, fermented bean curd, and dried bean curb and send them to He Shui Town, but they will come here to carry them away themselves in the future.”

“Ran, it’s not convenient for us to make them during the day, so let’s do them at night. At most, we will have a tough time these days, but we will be fine after we finish the work in the field.”

Xu Ran nodded and remembered the members of the labor team. It was inconvenient indeed. It was not that they were too mean, but that if the members of the labor team learned it, but their villagers still didn’t know, it would be inconvenient for them to tell and do things in their village.

The two worked together to move these few bags into the house. The bags had been placed outside previously because they hadn’t paid attention to them. Fortunately, they kept four dogs, otherwise the bags might have already been stolen.

Therefore, Xu Ran’s plan to rest and have sex tonight had been ruined again. They had to start to soak beans tonight because they would need to grind beans to make bean curd tomorrow morning when they were up.

With all these things moved into the house, the couple continued to eat. Tangtang and Guoguo had already had dinner and taken food to feed their dogs.

Mr. Hu was sitting alone at the fire.

Xu Ran talked to him while eating. It was easy to deal with the fermented bean curd. They would just need to put it in the jar after making it, but the dried bean curd couldn’t be handled like that. It should be smoked over the fire. He and Liu Tong didn’t have so much time; Tangtang and Guoguo, who were still young, wouldn’t have the patience to watch it all the time, so Mr. Hu was their only choice.

Xu Ran had told Mr. Hu everything. Anyway, the man now lived in their family. Even if Xu Ran wanted to hide this from him, he wouldn’t be successful, let alone he also needed his help.

Of course, Mr. Hu was very happy to do this. Anyway, he had nothing else to do, and this job just required him to sit there to tend the fire and help watch the curd.

Xu Ran had explained things clearly to Mr. Hu while eating. As for Liu Tong, he had taken a wooden basin to start soaking beans after dinner.

Xu Ran ate a few mouthfuls of rice quickly and then went to help Liu Tong after washing his bowl.

The two only soaked a bag of soybeans. Even if they soaked many more, they couldn’t get all of them ground, so it was better to do this bit by bit.

When their job was done, they finally found that Tangtang and Guoguo were nodding to doze off at the fire, but Uncle Hu was still very energetic. He watched the two kids, in case they fell into the fire.

Xu Ran and Liu Tong, each holding one in his arms, went to wash their faces and feet. After they carried their kids to the bed, Xu Ran then went to the fire pit to help Mr. Hu up and poured him water to wash his face and feet.

By the time the two were in bed, the moon had risen quite high. It was believed that it would not be long before the rooster crowed. Xu Ran’s original plan of having sex had failed again, so he complained inwardly, “When can I have one more child?”

–