BEING DRUNK
Xu Ran, now that he was free, lived a quiet life at home with his spouse, teaching his children, or reading books on his own.
At the end of June, Foreman Li came to tell Xu Ran that the house was built.
Xu Ran hadn't been to the scene much since Foreman Li had taken over the construction of the building. When Foreman Li announced that the building was finished, he couldn't help but praise their performance.
On second thought, he realized what he had done. After all, they were seasoned professionals who needed to work long hours to help their families. They were, of course, competent and effective. Xu Ran led Foreman Li to the new house to inspect it. He was fully pleased. It was a shame there was no furniture in the room. It seemed to be deserted.
It was constructed in accordance with Xu Ran's initial request for a quadrangle residence. It had a limited number of spaces. The downstairs and upstairs layouts were identical, with each having eight rooms, but each being very wide.
The new house didn't have a basement. It seemed that they could return to the bamboo house if they had something to store in the future. The courtyard, on the other hand, was very wide, and the house was completely surrounded. People couldn't see anything inside if they didn't enter the house.
When designing the house, Xu Ran had already planned well what each room would be used for and what to put inside.
Xu Ran informed Foreman Li of his plans and requested his assistance in making some improvements to a few rooms. The rooms on the second floor were used for family living according to Xu Ran's plan. With the exception of two rooms on the first floor for guest reception, the remainder of the building will be converted into storage and production areas.
The kitchen was located on the westernmost side, and eating would be also done there. One or two stone tables could be added to the yard, while a few fruit trees could be planted.
Xu Ran was aware that these changes would add to the cost, but he believed that as long as the new home was comfortable for the family and looked nice, the additional cost was insignificant in comparison to the amount of money that had already been invested.
The lime paint needed to be applied to the new house. It appeared brighter inside this way. Any room should have windows that can be forced open from the inside. The new house's overall construction impact was very positive.
Considering the changes that would be made later and the time it would take to ventilate the new house after the lime painting, Xu Ran believed that his family would be able to move into the new house before the Spring Festival.
After discussing the improvement of the new house, Xu Ran said, "Foreman Li, today the house is basically completed. I'll invite your team to have a good meal. You can order whatever you want. I'll buy the food if I can't make it."
Foreman Li didn't stand on ceremony with Xu Ran because he was being especially gracious when chatting. He immediately exited the yard to summon his entourage. Soon after, the whole team emerged to place their orders. The argument was that they needed meat in any dish they ordered, and it had to be fat meat. Xu Ran couldn't help but feel sick at the prospect of so much fat meat. He didn't understand why they liked to eat such fat meat.
Xu Ran couldn't remember the names of so many dishes, so he simply went home and took a writing brush and paper to note them down.
He took the matter so seriously that it made the people around busy ordering food feel quite ashamed.
For a few months, Xu Ran had been living with them. He understood what was going on in their heads when they saw the sight, despite the fact that they were all busy and didn't speak much. As a result, he smiled and said, "You're the ones who designed the house for me. You have my gratitude. This is the only time I'll be able to feed you a decent meal. There will be no more chances if you don't catch it!"
Hearing this, the group of simple and unpretentious men all laughed, and they gave up standing on ceremony in front of Xu Ran.
Xu Ran dried the ink on the paper, folded it, and kept it in his arms after noting down the menu. He then went to town with Foreman Li to buy vegetables and meat, and he asked Liu Tong to invite Wu Mei's family and the other two families to dinner. Xu Ran also intended to speak with Xu An about the furniture.
Xu Ran really spent a lot of money on this treat. Just in buying meat, he had spent 30 taels of silver. In the Xu Village, so much meat was estimated to be enough for many people to eat for their lifetime; let alone Xu Ran had also bought other food.
They bought quite a lot of wine too. A group of rough men couldn't get together without some wine. Although Xu Ran didn't drink much, he could still cope with the occasion.
After they returned all of the food, it was already noon. The construction crew had been waiting a long time for Xu Ran and Foreman Li to return, so they simply made some noodles. Since they wanted to save space in their stomachs for the evening feast, each of them had only eaten a bowl of noodles.
Xu Ran and Foreman Li indeed returned with a full load. When they got back, each of them had a bowl of noodles for lunch, too.
After Xu Ran returned, the workers started to get busy. Wu Mei and Shao Yu also came over for help.
Xu Ran ran around the mountain after eating the noodles, and then decided to invite the village head over for dinner. After all, the last dinner was not very good, and he had been busy lately, so he had not yet visited the village head.
Tonight, he felt he had better invite the village head for dinner. After all, this was a joyous occasion. The building of their new house was completed.
As Xu Ran arrived at the village head's residence, however, he paused. Zhang Yue exited the carriage at the village head's house gate the last time. Xu Ran had no idea whether he was still alive. It would be impolite not to invite him if he was still there. People would talk about it if he did invite him. It was a true conundrum. He wished Zhang Yue wasn't around at the time.
Xu Ran wandered around at the gate of the village head's house and was just seen by Daddy Chen who came out to pour water. Daddy Chen opened the door of the courtyard and called Xu Ran, "Xu Ran, what are you doing? Why are you here? Why didn't you knock at the door? There's someone at home."
Xu Ran had no choice but to give up his search for Zhang Yue now that he had been identified. He walked into the yard after Daddy Chen. He then rubbed his temples and said, "Daddy Chen, the construction of my new home is nearly complete. I'm planning on inviting some friends over for a nice meal tonight, so I'm hoping you and the village chief will be able to join us."
"Hey, that's a joyous occasion. Why didn't you dare to come in just now? The village head isn't at home right now. I'll tell him later and we'll definitely go at night."
Xu Ran nodded. Daddy Chen was amused when he noticed how Xu Ran behaved there– about to speak, but saying nothing.
He smiled, "You are wondering if Zhang Yue is still here, right? Don't worry. Zhang Yue is home now and he and Xu Cheng have already divorced. He probably won't come to our Xu Village anymore in the future. You can rest assured now!"
When Xu Ran learned that Zhang Yue was not present, he felt relieved. The latter news brought a greater sense of relief to Xu Ran. It was obvious that he wouldn't have to feel guilty about it in the future. After telling Daddy Chen that they needed to come to the evening dinner, Xu Ran returned and immediately told Liu Tong of Zhang Yue's divorce from Xu Cheng.
Liu Tong only commented that Zhang Yue was also a poor person, and then he didn't say anything further about it.
Xu Ran considered it and agreed that Zhang Yue was a pitiful human, but that half of his pity was due to himself, and the other half was due to the Xu Family. Poor people are supposed to be hateful, according to popular belief. Xu Ran didn't want to forgive Zhang Yue because of what he had done previously.
Xu Ran shook his head and told himself that he was no longer in the Xu Village now, so why should he think so much?
He then changed his stance and began speaking to the unborn child in Liu Tong's womb. Of course, he was conversing with himself. Liu Tong would sometimes bang on his head because he couldn't stand listening to it any longer. It was a beautiful scene.
The dinner began as the sun began to set, and everyone was able to eat what they desired. On a large table, a variety of dishes were served. Except for those who were unable to drink, everybody else had a small glass of wine. Xu Ran had purchased a large quantity of wine. Many who were good at drinking had begun to compete.
Xu Ran sat next to the village head, clinked glasses with him and apologized for what had happened last time.
The village head didn't care about it. He pulled Xu Ran and said, "Xu Ran, I appreciate your point of view, but I am, after all, the village chief. It's preferable to not know something than to know something but not be able to use it to support people in the village. Okay, I've been the village chief for a while now. I grew up with your younger generations. I've thought of you as the most talented from a young age. You could go up the mountain at that time and sell some mountain produce in return for money to pay your private tutor. You are literate and intelligent. You have no idea how sorry I felt when you turned into a fool at that time. Fortunately, you have recovered and started your own family business. I am so happy for you."
Speaking of all this, the village head was very emotional. Xu Ran was moved, too, so he made another toast to the village head.
Xu Ran wasn't a big alcoholic. Worse, he didn't eat anything before drinking, and all he drank was alcohol. As a result, he was slightly inebriated after a few cups of booze. He continued to converse with the village chief. After that, he went to Liu Tong's bowl to get some food to eat.
This made Liu Tong at a loss whether to cry or to laugh. He could only let Xu Ran eat something. After watching him drink a few more cups, he helped him back to their bedroom.
The weather was hot and Xu Ran had been working outside all day. Liu Tong went to prepare some hot water and asked him to take a bath before going to sleep.
Xu Ran was uncooperative, but Liu Tong said that disturbing the unborn child in his belly would make him miserable. Xu Ran immediately obeyed and behaved in a respectful manner. Others continued to feed. Tangtang and Guoguo were both having fun with their friends. At the time, no one was paying attention to them.Liu Tong thought it was lucky that Ran was obedient, otherwise he really couldn't take care of him alone.
However, this thought only lasted for a while. After taking a bath and got into bed, Xu Ran started to toss about. This time, he didn't disturb himself, but he disturbed Liu Tong.
He kissed, stroked, and even attempted to undress Liu Tong. Xu Ran had never behaved in this manner before, according to Liu Tong. There was a time when Ran's enthusiasm was difficult to contain. However, they were both clear-headed at the time, and Liu Tong was not pregnant. As a result, he will leave him alone. The situation had changed dramatically now that he was expecting a child.
Liu Tong said to Xu Ran while stopping him from tearing his clothes, "Ran, Ran, don't do that. I have a baby in my belly and you will hurt the baby..."
The drunken people were not sober at all and their strength would be much greater. Liu Tong dared not push Xu Ran too hard. As a result, his clothes were stripped off by Xu Ran after a short while.
Liu Tong wanted to cry. He could not understand why Ran changed like this when he was drunk.
After removing the outerwear, it was time to remove the pants. Liu Tong clung to his trousers, determined not to let Xu Ran succeed. Xu Ran purposefully started with Liu Tong's most vulnerable areas. As Liu Tong realized his pants were about to be taken off, he eventually gave in and embraced Xu Ran, kissing and comforting him.
"Ran, don't move. Listen to me. I'm pregnant now. You can't mess around and hurt the baby. If you really want to do that, just listen to me, okay?"
Liu Tong's tone of coaxing the children at last worked and calmed Xu Ran down.
Liu Tong didn't care about other people outside now. He just wanted to appease Xu Ran first.
Liu Tong climbed onto the bed after removing the clothes for Xu Ran that he had only worn for a short time, as well as his own remaining pants. Then Xu Ran, who had been drinking, couldn't control himself any longer. He went ahead and did it anyway.
05.7.21
________
My gosh, Xu Ran, chill. (〃▽〃)