Liu Tong awoke on the second day as soon as the rooster crooned. He got up and went to clean the stone mill, one by one carrying the well-prepared soybeans in buckets to the mill's side. He then proceeded to carry several buckets of water over. The noise from outside awoke Xu Ran after all had been prepared.
He had intended to lie in bed for a little longer, but when he realized he still had work to do, he stood up and dressed quickly before washing his face to help Liu Tong. Of course, Liu Tong was in control of the grinding, while Xu Ran was in charge of the soybeans and water.
After a while, Xu Ran asked to swap duties with Liu Tong, but he was rejected. After a short time, Xu Ran made a strong offer to switch roles with Liu Tong, which Liu Tong reluctantly agreed to.
They alternated working on their works. When they finally finished grinding a bag of soybeans, it was just before dawn. They were both tired, but they couldn't sleep because they had work to do. In the morning, they didn't cook anything and instead ate bean dreg.
And because Liu Tong had been too preoccupied with soaking the beans the night before to mow and cook the pigweed. It was just too much work. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning when the family finished their housework and were about to go work on the farm.
There were pits here and there because the field was planted with radish. However, since it had just rained late at night, the field was relatively loose and easier to dig. There were still plenty of rotting leaves on the ground, so all they had to do was row them over and let them rot as fertilizer.
Fertilizer was quick to come by now that they had raised pigs at home. It would be much safer with ash than what they had spread on the field back then. Tangtang and Guoguo went to the strawberry field to see if any grass or insects were present. They also took four dogs and spent every day on the field.
The four dogs were very comfortable in their own environment. They would bark hysterically if they saw someone by the side of the strawberry field trying to do something, and only stop when they left. And if they didn't go, they'd all run over each other in a horde, scaring everyone away.
Liu Tong said it was all taught by Tangtang and Guoguo.
Xu Ran gave his compliment with pride. 'They are indeed my good sons.'
Xu Ran's family had lunch with the construction crew at noon. They couldn't find time to cook now that they were so busy, so eating together would suffice. During lunch, the group finally had the opportunity to question Xu Ran about He Shui Town. Xu Ran chose a few stories to share because they were eating and didn't want to waste time.
After lunch, they started to work on the field again.
It was five days later when the two of them came to their senses.
At home, the soybeans were almost ground. To keep the tofu from molding, the first batch was cut into large chunks and placed on top of the flames, while the other half was cut into small pieces and covered with dry grass. Mr. Hu had helped feed pigs and horses with pigweed at home, which Xu Ran had initially refused to allow him to do, but as Mr. Hu explained, they were so busy when he was idle and could still do anything like this.
Xu Ran reflected on the many and varied practices of old men and women in the modern era. What old people could do was far less than what they could do now. Xu Ran considered forming an old people's Yangko Dance team or something similar when he had the opportunity. (Yanko Dance Team: is a traditional Chinese folk dance commonly performed in the Northern provinces of China.)
After a few more days of hard work, the field work was successfully completed at the end of March. The corn had been planted one by one, and batches of dried bean curd had been smoked at home; the fermented bean curd had mildewed and required jarring. Xu Ran felt compelled to go into town and purchase some jars.
In addition, vegetable seedlings could also be taken out for sale.
Xu Ran, thinking there was nothing urgent to do at home, asked Liu Tong to go to the mountain and check if the bamboo shoots had grown, as well as mark the location so that future digging would be easier. Since rice seedlings could be planted in the field in April, and no one would dig up those bamboo shoots at that time anyway.
The busy days passed very quickly while people were exhausted from the work also!
For the first time, Xu Ran drove his carriage to the town. Big Black had been raised very well recently and was quite close to Xu Ran. The trip had been a smooth ride along the way without any troubles.
Xu Ran stopped the carriage after arriving in town and went to Zhuo Yun's seed shop to get a few seeds before rushing to buy jars. He was so preoccupied that he didn't have time to pay a visit to Zhuo Yun's home. In the morning, Xu Ran ran back and forth from home to town, then from town to home. When he got home, he started to put the fermented bean curd into the jars nonstop.
After he was done, he washed and stashed the dried bean curd, piece by piece.
The day of the imperial examination result was released on the 1th of April. Xu Ran planned to rush to He Shui Town before that and bring with him things like tofu curd and chili paste.
Xu Ran did not send Mr. Hu to the town because the trip would be brief, and instead invited Wu Mei to stay at home. Liu Tong was too preoccupied these days to speak to his brothers, so he took advantage of the opportunity to chat and interact with them.
All was finally ready on March 27th. They had made the chili paste at home before because they didn't have time to make the new paste. Xu Ran tidied up and drove alone to He Shui Town.
Since the jar and bamboo tubes were secured to the cart, they stayed in place across the bumpy roads. On March 29th, Xu Ran returned to the inn where they had previously agreed to meet and awaited Lin Hua and Zhao Chen. Xu Ran returned to his room after handing over the items, intending to sleep as long as he could. He was completely exhausted.
Lin Hua and the rest knew that he had been tired from the journey, so they did not disturb him. Instead, they ask someone else to help move the things and were planning to find a place for further look.
It was already April 1st when Xu Ran awoke, and it was an incredibly busy day. Some people had already started celebrating with firecrackers before they even saw the exam results. It was impossible to say whether these people were self-assured or arrogant.
As Xu Ran descended the stairs, he noticed Lin Hua and Zhao Chen were already waiting for him. He didn't waste any time, ordering a few steamed buns from the waiter and eating them while walking with Lin Hua to see the exam results. It was a lie to say he did not care. It didn't matter what his ranking was as long as he could pass.
He will be able to take the following exams after passing the test. He could only become a Xiucai who was excluded from taxes after passing the imperial examination at the county level. Xu Ran believed he had gone to great lengths to suit himself into the tax exemption policy. It was inevitable, given his family's vast farmland, which would continue to expand in the future.
The three of them followed the people who came to see the exam result and waited outside the door. People came here with all kinds of emotions. Besides self-confidence, Xu Ran was also worried, and the other two were all worried.
After standing for a while, an official finally came, beating gongs along the way to ask the people to give way, and eventually stuck the final four pieces of paper on the wall.
From the floor, Xu Ran looked up one by one. He saw Lin Hua's name on the last one, and Zhao Chen's name on the second last one. Xu Ran's emotions were a bit jumbled. They had both passed, but they would be near the bottom. That was indeed a close call.
But these two couldn't care less about their rankings; all that mattered to them was passing the test, and they were all happily hugging each other. With a shake of his head, Xu Ran continued his search for his name. On the last three papers, he couldn't find his own name, and there was only one left. Xu Ran couldn't help but be a little nervous.
However, Xu Ran continued to go down the list, one by one, starting at the bottom. Xu Ran was about to give up when there were just three names remaining. However, he was able to find his name in the third place. He wasn't even sure if this person was himself. He skimmed through these scraps of paper a few times and discovered that there was only one person called Xu Ran.
There will be a town name marked directly with them in the case of name repetition. If there was no error, Xu Ran believed he should be in third place. Before he became overjoyed, he breathed a sigh of relief. Even though it was just a regional exam, third place was a decent result.
After Lin Hua and Zhao Chen calmed down from the excitement, they immediately came to Xu Ran. Lin Hua poked at Xu Ran's shoulder, "Hey, Xu Ran, have you found your name? What's your ranking?"
Before Xu Ran could answer, Zhao Chen had called out, "You're amazing, bro! You're actually the third place."
Zhao Chen's voice was so loud that it was heard by several people, who all turned to face them. The two people ranked ahead of him were both from He Shui Town and were proud students of the He Shui Academy master, so it was almost a foregone conclusion that they would take the top two spots.
As a result, Both of these individuals were vying for third place. Aside from the two students who ranked ahead of him, there were still a number of students with a prestigious family background and social status. Nonetheless, these individuals received the fourth, fifth, and sixth places, respectively, and none of them received the third place, which was won by an unidentified person.
Not only did students with a prestigious family background and social status find it difficult to accept, but even some prominent people from other places found it difficult to swallow; as a result, Xu Ran received an increasing number of unkind looks.
Xu Ran was also aware of this. He didn't want to start a fight. He only wanted to get home as soon as possible so he could prepare for his money-making business, so he drew Lin Hua and Zhao Chen and was about to quit. There will, however, still be those who refused to let them have their way.
One student in a green gown stood up, "So you won the third place, I could've expected better than someone who looked as weak as a Ge'er. Tell me, what did you use to bribe the chief examiner?"
Lin Hua was about to curse him but stopped by Xu Ran. Xu Ran stepped forward, faced the man and then spoke with smile. "Sir, it's fine that you abuse me but you can't slander the chief examiner. Think about it, it would not be the first time that the chief examiner supervised a test. How come for this time he is accused of being bribed by a student? It's not okay to say that."
Xu Ran talked in a way that suggested he cared for the chief examiner, and others around him, including those who had just accused Xu Ran of bribing the chief examiner, were unconsciously affected and began to blame the student.
The student's face darkened as the blame became increasingly loud. He couldn't even talk properly when he saw his companion join the blame as well. "You... you..."
When an old man with a gray moustache approached from behind, accompanied by two young scholars, Xu Ran laughed and was about to give him a tougher time. He was the chief examiner, Xu Ran realized.
The chief examiner looked serious and asked, "Why is the noise, what happened?"
There were many students from the He Shui Academy. After they saw the man, they called him respectfully by "Fuzi (respectful appellation of teachers)."
However, there were few answers to his question.
Xu Ran stopped speaking and didn't need to, but Lin Hua couldn't restrain himself anymore. He jumped out and pointed at the student in the green gown and said, "Fuzi, Luo Cheng said that Xu Ran bribed you to get the third place. Only one day before the exam, Xu Ran arrived in He Shui Town. He had no idea who the chief examiner was, and there was no way he could bribe anyone. Fuzi, please punish Luo Cheng."
Zhao Chen echoed the suggestion as well.
They were really obedient students, despite the fact that they didn't study well. Plus, they won a few places in the rankings, not very high ones, but they made it. With a look of anger on his face, Fuzi smoothed his moustache and turned to Luo Cheng. "Luo Cheng, did you do what he said?"
"I..." Luo Cheng mumbled for a moment before he lowered his head.
This was unmistakably an acceptance of his behavior, and Xu Ran had no idea whether to call him smart or stupid. Others had taken advantage of him, and he had done little to protect himself. Who knew how many times they'd framed him.
Xu Ran was adamant about not saying anything else. These people weren't meant to be businesspeople, and he wasn't meant to be an official, so he wasn't worried. Xu Ran pulled Lin Hua away and said softly, "Do we leave, or you want to talk to your Fuzi?
Lin Hua hurriedly shaked his head, "No, let's go!"
Lin Hua and Zhao Chen applied for and were granted leave by Fuzi. The latter didn't want to get involved; their leave simply relieved him of the stress, and they could discuss it later. The three of them didn't get too far before being stopped again. Xu Ran raised his head and was certain that this was someone he didn't know.
But Lin Hua and Zhao Chen called him, "Senior brother Chu."
It was their another acquaintance, so Xu Ran silently moved aside and let them talk.
But he didn't expect that this senior brother Chu was looking for him. "Sir, I'm Chu Yuan. I just learned from junior brothers Lin and Zhao that you won the third place in the exam. I wonder if I can have a talk with you?"
He spoke in such a scholarly manner. Besides, he showed his geniality and won the first place in the test, even though they just met, it was hard for Xu Ran to turn him down, "It's my honor to be invited, so I will just obey."
"Take me, I want to go too," Lin Hua immediately ran over to join in the fun.
Zhao Chen didn't talk but followed Lin Hua, indicating that he also wanted to go.
Xu Ran smiled, "Please don't mind."
After all, Lin Hua and Zhao Chen were his fellow apprentices. Even if he minded, he couldn't say anything so he said with smile, "Of course not. Junior brothers Lin and Zhao, let's go together then!"
Lin Hua took the lead as soon as he heard what Chu Yuan said, and the other three followed closely behind. Many of the people who stood around watching the four of them leave were enraged, with gnashing teeth and distorted faces, but none of the four saw it.
Lin Hua and Zhao Chen were only interested in food, so they could be found wherever delicious food was available. Lin Hua would have gone to a restaurant and had a decent meal if Chu Yuan's scholarly manners had not prevented them from going to a genteel tea house.
The tea house was well decorated and looked genteel indeed, so Chu Yuan was quite satisfied.
They requested a comfortable, quiet private room, and there were only four of them, so Chu Yuan abruptly turned to another person and sat down, saying, "It was too tiresome to pretend to be a decent scholar."
The other three twitched their mouths simultaneously for Chu Yuan indeed changed too fast.
However, what he was now was more agreeable. Xu Ran smiled and sat down to pour tea. "It turns out that senior brother Chu also has such a moment not to stick to trifles. It's really rare."
Lin Hua and Zhao Chen had seen Chu Yuan a few times and had overheard Fuzi mentioning Chu Yuan often. They were also shocked because they had no idea Chu Yuan possessed such characteristics.
Chu Yuan didn't care. He took a piece of cake casually and stuffed it into his mouth. After he chewed it down and swallowed it, he said, "You don't know how tiresome it is to act so modestly and courteously every day. It's good this way to pose whatever you want."
Xu Ran couldn't help but wonder why Chu Yuan seemed so happy despite the fact that they had only just met. Xu Ran posed the question unintentionally with this in mind.
Chu Yuan stuffed all the pastries into his mouth, and then said, "You grinned when I was talking to you just now, so I knew it."
Xu Ran rubbed his nose, 'Well, this guy is really careful to notice that.'
The other three dropped their courtesies as a result of Chu Yuan's casualness, and the four of them then had a general conversation. Chu Yuan had been on a study tour and had seen a lot of things, and because of his eloquence, the other three were drawn to what he had to say.
From what Chu Yuan said, Xu Ran could tell that he was a talented person. He asked, "Senior brother Chu, I see you have a good literary cultivation. Why you just attended this exam of province?"
"Oh!" "I went on the study tour at 17 and was planning to take the exam when I returned, but I unintentionally drifted outside for a couple more years, so the tour ended a little late," Chu Yuan said as he leaned back in his chair.
He said that calmly, but Xu Ran could imagine the look of his family when they expected more and better from him.
It must be ferocious!
It was also joyful to talk with smart people, Xu Ran thought so. It was Fuzi's will that Chu Yuan came to Xu Ran because Fuzi wanted to take Xu Ran as his student.
Xu Ran flatly refused, stating that he had no intention of being an official. He would not study further until he passed the imperial examination at the county, so it didn't matter whether he had a teacher or not. Furthermore, this was not his home, and he could not study here.
Chu Yuan did not say anything else besides showing his pity. Everyone, after all, had their own ambitions. Knowing that Xu Ran was on his way to deliver food, Chu Yuan offered to assist for free. In He Shui Town, the Chu family was unquestionably big. The business will be great with Chu Yuan's help.
Xu Ran carefully explained the fermented and dried bean curds, as well as some dishes made with the dried bean curd. The mere sound of them would mesmerize one's appetite. Chu Yuan said that he would certainly pay them a visit once their business was up and running.
They left the tea house after finishing their tea and two plates of pastries. Then they parted ways, with Chu Yuan returning to his teacher and the other three going to check out the shop.
On their way back, Xu Ran bid Lin Hua and Zhao Chen to keep a good relationship with Chu Yuan for Chu Yuan looked like a capable man, which might be helpful when necessary.
Zhao Chen and Lin Hua had bought a shop with their own money last time, thanks to Xu Ran's advice. They both had empty stores in their homes, so they didn't want to work for them. As a result, they scraped together some cash and asked the help of a friend to purchase a shop, despite the unfavorable venue.
As the saying went, "Gold will glitter forever". As Xu Ran had said, they believed the goods would sell well.
Xu Ran examined the shop, which was of adequate size but lacked proper decoration due to its newness. Xu Ran didn't think it needed to be heavily decorated. They might simply place some shelves there, on which all of the products would be organized and tagged with a price.
Xu Ran left things like getting a shop manager to the two of them. He also scribbled down the recipes and ingredients for the dishes he described, and told Lin Hua and Zhao Chen that if customers paid a certain amount of money, they would be given a dish recipe.
Xu Ran did not say more methods of the publicity. After all, they only had a short list of things to be sold, and it could wait when they had more.
Before returning, Xu Ran stayed in He Shui Town for three days. He bought some local food for his family, as well as trinkets and books for Guoguo and Tangtang, and he brought several bags of soybeans home with him.
Lin Hua dispatched Lin Xi, his errand boy and also servant of Lin's family, to accompany Xu Ran to find the way.
Xu Ran slept on the soybean bags while Lin Xi drove the carriage. On the sixth day of the lunar month of April, they returned home. After this stressful experience, Xu Ran said that he would not go out unless absolutely necessary. The return of Xu Ran didn't cause much of a stir, and Foreman Li and others were presumably used to it.
After Xu Ran came back, Wu Mei returned home.
Lin Xi spent the night at Xu Ran's house. The next day, Xu Ran took him around the village and showed him around. Lin Xi took a lot of fermented and dried bean curd with him when he left.
The family was the only ones who knew that Xu Ran had placed third in the exam. And Wu Mei was unaware of it. Since the official messenger will be there shortly to deliver the news. All in the village will know by then. Those days were set aside for Xu Ran to make more dried bean curds.
04.29.30