The Farm Life Of a "Fool"

Chapter 27

The dogs' names were thus decided. Peach, Plum, and Orange were the names of the three males, while Peanut was the name of the female. Spite of the fact that the dogs' names had been settled, Xu Ran and Liu Tong had an uneasy relationship.

Both of them had not spoken to each other after Xu Ran apologized the day before yesterday. Xu Ran was guilty, nevertheless Xu Ran scared Liu Tong. His daddy was the last one to apologize to him, but his daddy left with his father the next day. 

Ever since then, these three words had become an untouchable wound in his heart Today, Ran went out early in the morning. No one even knew when he left, much less where he went.

It was now noon, and he still hadn't returned. Xu Ran also hadn't returned after Liu Tong had done his chores at home. Liu Tong took a walk around the courtyard after the lunch was ready. Still, he saw no one out there.

Liu Tong had intended to wait for Xu Ran for lunch, but he was worried that the two children would be hungry, so he let them eat first. Liu Tong entered the room after feeding the puppies.

He retrieved the small bag from under the bed, which had been covered in the soil. It was profitable to sell chili paste these days. Liu Tong poured out all of the money and carefully counted it. It also had one hundred taels of silver and seven taels of small change in it, enough to feed their entire family for a long time.

Liu Tong refilled the tiny bag with silver and clutched it tightly in his hand. He could bring Tangtang and Guoguo up with this money. Besides, he could make money on his own. In the future, their lives will not be difficult. The only thing that made Liu Tong sad was the fact that Tangtang and Guoguo would have to go through it all over again. They will be subjected to the slander of others.

However, he didn't think about himself at all, nor did he think about keeping Xu Ran, let alone the fact that Xu Ran would not even want to leave them. Xu Ran came back in the afternoon. At the gate, he called, "Hey, Tongtong, is there water? I am so thirsty."

He walked in as he spoke, and after entering the house, he sat down on a bench, his head drenched in sweat. Tangtang and Guoguo had left food for Liu Tong, but he was looking blankly at it. When he heard Xu Ran's words, he immediately responded, poured him a bowl of water and brought it to him to the door.

Xu Ran quickly downed the entire bowl before handing it to Liu Tong, showing that he needed more. Liu Tong understood it and poured him another bowl of water. He didn't come back to himself until he drank a few bowls of water.

Liu Tong then went to fetch a basin of water for Xu Ran. Watching Xu Ran washing his face, Liu Tong asked, "Ran, what were you doing? How did you get so sweaty?"

Xu Ran exhaled a sigh of relief before informing Liu Tong of his activities outside. He first went to Xiaobudian's granddaddy's house to send money to them. Then he went to the village chief's house to discuss the wheat-growing matter. Finally, he approached many families in search of long-term employees. He told Liu Tong that in the future, all field work will be contracted out to the workers. And, as a result of these businesses, he lost track of time by rushing around. Besides, it was so hot today that he was drenched from head to toe.

Hearing these, Liu Tong felt relieved. Although Ran hadn't waken him up in the morning and hadn't reported where he was going, at least he was now back at home.

"I didn't wake you up this morning because I saw you sleeping soundly," Xu Ran explained to Liu Tong as he turned around. "I was thinking about resolving the problem of recruiting long-term employees when we were not so busy. We'll go to the mountain one of these days."