32. Success (ii)

Xu Ran was a little low-spirited on the way back. He was wondering whether it was really the only way out for him to become an official.

In the memory of the fool, there were so many days that he got up early while stayed up late to study and read. However, he still failed eventually. The fool also had some regrets and pity.

Xu Ran was considering whether to become an official. He didn't like the intrigue against each other in the official career, but he wanted his families and children to have a better life.

Xu Ran remembered what he read before that the officials didn't need to serve the army or pay the tax.

Xu Ran was not concerned with the military service. However, the tax issue was a big problem indeed. Although he didn't have any farming land now, he eventually would. He didn't want to hand in the things that he got by working so hard.

Xu Ran made up his mind that he would take the examinations for officials and try to become a scholar. If he had such a title, it would be good for his children as well.

After thinking it through, Xu Ran finally felt better and began to talk to Xu An.

By the time they got to Xu An's home, Xu Ran saw the two kids looking around at people passing by the door and looking for them. He suddenly felt his heart melted.

Xu Ran jumped out of the cart happily. "Tangtang, Guoguo, I'm back."

Seeing Xu Ran come back, Tangtang and Guoguo immediately ran to his arms. "Dad, you are back! We've been waiting for you for a long time. "

Tangtang didn't say anything but looked at him eagerly.

Xu Ran kissed each of the two kids' faces, and then put them down so that he could help Xu An unload the cart.

After the cart was unloaded, Xu An went to the farmland to work, leaving Xu Ran and the kids at home.

Xu Ran didn't plan to eat the fat meat at noon, so he salted it first and then put it in a in a wooden basin in a relatively cool room. After cleaning up the intestine, he used it for oil refining. The dregs of fat were stir fried with potatoes.

Pig's heart was marinated as well. They couldn't eat that much at one meal. The pig bone he bought was used to make some soup.

The other stuff was cooked with potatoes. With such a large pot of food, Xu Ran finally felt that there would be enough food for everyone.

The scent of the food also attracted the children. Xu Ran gave each of them a bowl of soup given that he made so much of it.

When it came to noon, Xu Ran boiled some water and put some salt in it.

Those adults consumed too much energy to do the farming, so it would be better to drink salty boiled water.

However, he never thought that he was bantered by others because of his thoughtfulness.

At noon, Liu Tong and Wu Mei came back and drank the salty boiled water prepared by Xu Ran. Wu Mei bantered, "Xu Ran, you are even more caring than Ge'ers in this village. You are so good in the kitchen."

Xu Ran was rendered speechless by the word "caring". How could Wu Mei use this word to describe a man?

Xu Ran thought of himself as a tough man and therefore shouldn't argue with a Ge'er, so he completely ignored Wu Mei's words.

It was until the meal time that Xu Ran felt that other people were staring at him meaningfully. Even Liu Tong looked at him differently than usual.

Xu Ran finally got angry. "If you guys keep looking at me like this again, I won't cook for you tomorrow."

"Please don't! You cook so well. We're just kidding. Don't be angry." As soon as Wu Mei found Xu Ran angry, he immediately tried to comfort him.

"I agree. Ran, please don't be angry. Everyone is just joking around." Liu Tong was afraid that Xu Ran would really get angry, so he stopped eating and came to comfort Xu Ran.

Xu Ran felt even more upset. The way they looked at him was like how they looked at a Ge'er. It was like thinking of him as a woman. He just couldn't bear this.

As a result, before he said anything out of anger, they all came to comfort him, which made him look even more stingy and mean. However, he still wanted to show some respect to Liu Tong. He sat down and explained to Liu Tong, "Tongtong, I'm not angry. I just think you guys shouldn't take me as a Ge'er. Although I can cook, I'm still quite manly."

Being afraid that Xu Ran might lose his temper again, Liu Tong quickly comforted him, "I know. We won't do that again. Enjoy your meal now!"

After hearing his promise, Xu Ran finally began to eat. He also kept putting food in Liu Tong's bowl.

The kids were at the other table and were eating happily. The bicker happened among the adults did not affect them at all.

…

Wu Mei's family had the most farmlands, which took them seven or eight days to finish the harvest. The other two families had much less land, so they finished the harvest within five days. Xu Ran had to come to these three families every day these days. He was so familiar with these families that he knew where the salt pot and hog lot was.

When they finally finished, Xu Ran went back home with his family and slept all day long. Everyone was exhausted.