This book will proceed to its regular schedule :D
The Arrival
Qin Shuwu talked about making a couple more dishes as they ate. Xu Ran recalled that they had planted a fiddlehead last year, and it should be in leaf now.
Xu Ran said, "Brother Qin, I'll go back to see if there's anything more I can eat. The fiddlehead in the highlands should be good now, in my opinion. It may be utilized to prepare cold meals in that instance, and it tastes great."
"Alright, it's up to you. Anyway, just send anything fresh you can get!" Qin Shuwu said.
Xu Ran nodded and continued, "Brother Qin, You should make touch with such restaurants once again. Mr. Chen's restaurant, for example, will undoubtedly charge a higher price for these goods. Both he and us will make more money this way."
Dishes may be purchased at the store for a low price and in a convenient manner. It would be more expensive to eat the foods at the restaurant, and it would demonstrate a lifestyle. Although people didn't know much about lifestyle at the time, there were a lot of wealthy individuals who would be ashamed to shop at this store.
Qin Shuwu took some vegetables and said to Xu Ran, "You are really clever. Of course, I'll ask about this. However, you should plant more veggies in your farm because it would save you money. I don't have a lot of land, but I intend to put vegetables on it all. It should be plenty if you plant more."
Xu Ran nodded, "I agree. Several acres are left uncultured and I will plant vegetables there soon."
"Good." Xu Lan replied.
Then they went through the specifics, and by the time they were done, other people were full and had departed.
Xu Ran remembered the fruit trees and inquired of Qin Shuwu, "Have you gone to Half Month Town, Brother Qin? In a letter to me, Zhuo Yun stated that he was told there are numerous fruit trees in the property. He requested that I come over and have a look."
Qin Shuwu thought for a moment and said, "I've been to this town once. I'm not sure if there are fruit trees there, but there are surely quite a lot of fruits. I was told local people planted them. There should be fruit trees since there are so many fruits. Zhuo Yun wrote to tell you this from far away. I think he is right and you should go and take a look."
Xu Ran nodded, "I agree, but I plan to go to Mr. Hu's first. They plant strawberries there, so there must be other fruits there."
Qin Shuwu nodded, "There are indeed, but not many. The most serious issue is that these trees have matured to the point that they cannot be transported here, even if purchased. Another issue is that people may be unwilling to sell them. I'm thinking of going up to the mountain to have a look. On the mountain behind your house, there are most likely several fruit trees."
On the mountain behind him, Xu Ran remembered seeing several wild cherry and pear trees. There were a lot of them.
He smiled, "Brother Qin, thank you for reminding me. I'm going out tomorrow to see what's going on. It appears that it will have to be postponed for the time being."
"You are welcome. You don't care about this deli very often, and I'm not going to care whether you grow fruit trees. I'll find as many as I can, and you can do anything you want."
Of course, courtesy necessitates reciprocity.
Xu Ran said, "Okay, thank you."
Qin Shuwu waved his hand, "You are welcome."
Xu Ran pouted and stopped talking.
Xu Ran waited until the store was ready to close before leaving. Qin Shuwu calculated that he could make at least a hundred taels of silver today, which was a staggering amount. Most restaurants struggled to generate so much money in one day. Qin Shuwu's friends, on the other hand, were the ones who paid the most, therefore he owed them a favor. At the very least, it was a good start.
______
Xu Ran and Liu Tong were planning to go out on the 13th of the month, but after Qin Shuwu mentioned that, they decided to travel up the mountain first. Two of the four dogs stayed at home with Shao Yu and Qin Shuwen. Huasheng was pregnant and became angry, so she had to stay at home.
Xu Ran, Liu Tong and Gao Quan went to the mountain with Taozi and Lizi.
They were familiar with a few typical fruit trees, and now that many were in blossom or had faded away, it was much easier to identify them. They could dig as many trees as they wanted because no one owned the mountain.
When they arrived at the mountain, Xu Ran remarked, "Let's split up. Tongtong will go with one dog, and I will take the other. Dig only small trees and leave the larger ones alone. Don't wreak on the roots. It's blooming season, and if the trees' roots are damaged, they may die."
Gao Quan and Liu Tong nodded and split up.
Neither of them knew the mountain as well as Xu Ran did. Xu Ran was unconcerned. He didn't dare to walk too far into the woods, so he only looked around. There weren't many fruit trees, but there were plenty of delicious wild bur trees. This ripened about the same time as cherries. It had a pleasant sweet and sour flavor when fully ripe.
Xu Ran had an idea. He reasoned that this would take up little space and that he could plant it in a corner. Even if they couldn't sell it, he felt the family could eat it! It must be delicious when dipped in sugar. Xu Ran appeared to have forgotten the objective and dug the bur tree instead.
He still hadn't seen a fruit tree by midday, or he had seen one but didn't do anything about it. He just hung out in the woods. As soon as they exited, Liu Tong noticed him. Liu Tong was carrying a bunch of tiny saplings, some of which had blooms and even fruits on them.
He saw the bur trees piled beside Xu Ran and felt a little strange. Liu Tong asked him, "Ran, why are you digging this? Do you plan to plant this too?"
Xu Ran said, "Yes, I will try! After we plant it, the kids could eat this even if we can't sell it. Besides, as long as it is planted well this year, we can eat the fruit next year."
It was up to Xu Ran to decide. Anyway, it was simple to grow, and they could pick it up in their own backyard. Liu Tong saw that there were a few little cherry trees near Xu Ran, so he dug them up with a hoe. Gao Quan returned after a while with a mound of fruit trees, similar to Liu Tong's, and there were many different types.
Xu Ran looked at the pile of bur trees in front of himself and touched his nose with embarrassment.
Gao Quan didn't say anything and only looked at the bur trees in front of Xu Ran. Because Xu Ran didn't work hard in the morning, he spent his afternoons planting fruit trees, especially while he was digging holes.
Because the sun was not too bright, the roots of the fruit trees were not damaged, and there was dirt on them, at least half of the plants would live after being planted and watered.
They searched the mountain for fruit trees for three days but came up empty-handed. They were planted sparsely on at least five acres of land. Xu Ran set aside a plot of ground and planted the bur trees he had brought back on it, which were fairly thick. It looked lovely when several of them blossomed.
Xu Ran saw the fiddlehead sprouting as they searched the mountain for fruit trees. Xu Ran remembered telling Qin Shuwu about selling fiddlehead, so he and his family spent two days getting it. It was March 18th by the time he walked out. When he traveled through town, he prepared to present everything to Qin Shuwu, and he briefly left the family in the care of Gao Quan.
This was the first time Xu Ran and Liu Tong had gone out together. More significantly, it was Liu Tong's first trip out of town, and he couldn't help but be excited.
It was sunny spring, and it was great pleasure to travel with his lover.
The more Xu Ran considered it, the more enthralled he became. He even want to have sex with Liu Tong outside. Of course, he merely thought about it for a moment and realized that it was impossible. Even if he could be shameless, Liu Tong would be too shamed to accept and would refuse.
In the driver's seat, Liu Tong and Xu Ran sat. They conversed while admiring the landscape along the way. It was really relaxing!
When they came across a large number of fruit trees, they would occasionally stop and inquire about the price, but no one was ready to sell. On the other side, there were instances when the trees were too large to be moved, and they were disappointed.
They didn't sleep in the carriage that night since Liu Tong was with him. They tracked down a farmer and handed him some copper money before spending the night in his home. It was already the morning of March 20th when they arrived.
Xu Ran observed a lot of people this time since it was a busy agricultural season and many families were plowing land.
The locals were surprised to see two strangers arrive in a carriage from nowhere, and they drew a lot of attention. Someone approached and inquired about the person they were looking for in the village. Mr. Hu was the subject of Xu Ran's search.
The person asked them, "Who are you? Mr. Hu left the village last year. Don't you know?"
Xu Ran was stunned at this, "Didn't Mr. Hu come back on Spring Festival? I sent him back myself!"
Xu Ran sensed something was amiss and rushed towards Mr. Hu's house, leaving the carriage behind.
_____
Xu Ran went with a group of rural residents. Liu Tong didn't accompany him because he was afraid the carriage would be stolen, so he waited by the side of the carriage. Xu Ran was a lightning fast runner. It seemed surprising that the villagers were unaware that Mr. Hu had returned. Even though Mr. Hu had his own home, he couldn't remain there all of the time.
Mr. Hu had been picked up by his son, so Xu Ran assumed that those who didn't know him well in the village would be unaware. But the expression on their faces just now, as if no one knew, was odd.
When Xu Ran arrived at Mr. Hu's house, he saw that it had a flat space in front of it rather than a yard, where he might have done some housework, such as drying things. It didn't appear to be an occupied residence from the outside. Xu Ran also saw that the items outside the home were in the same order as they were on his previous evening visit. He could see it even at night.
Looking back at the villagers behind him, Xu Ran asked, "Are you sure none of you have ever seen Mr. Hu?" It was me who sent him back on the New Year's Eve. And I was also driving a carriage at that time. Didn't you see me? "
Xu Ran remembered that he had met two people that night.
"Was it about to dark, at the entrance of the village?" someone asked.
Xu Ran nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, I brought Mr. Hu back during the day, but when we got to the entrance of the village, he didn't let me in. I was worried something bad could happen, so I came over late at night. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. After all, I had seen Mr. Hu enter the village, so I didn't give it much thought. I returned because I assumed he had fallen asleep."
They believed Xu Ran's words since they saw him that day and because he drove a carriage over today. They couldn't tell what had happened by looking at each other.
Suddenly, someone said, "What smells so smelly?!"
Everyone in the room smelt it as a gust of wind blew over. It smelled like something had rotting in there.
"It's coming from inside!" The person who smelled the smell first said again, then all eyes turned to the house.
Xu Ran went up to the door and kicked it open without pausing to consider. Suddenly, an even stronger stink emanated from it. Something had died and began to decay in the house, indicating that it had been dead for a long time.
Otherwise, it was March, and the weather was mild; how could it have given off such a foul odor?
The locals approached Xu Ran's side after smelling the foul odor. The blood on the doorsill caught Xu Ran's attention just as he was about to enter. "Look here," he continued, pointing to the doorsill, "this is blood, and the hue indicates that it was left a long time ago. I believe Mr. Hu was involved in an accident. Let's have a peek around inside.
It was clear what he was implying. They wouldn't be accused of killing Mr. Hu until they walked into the home jointly. They were all from the same village and had no problems, so they all went in together.
Everyone entered a room in the direction from where the foul odor had emanated. There was a bed in it, just like in any other room. The fact that someone was lying on the bed was all that mattered. No, it looked more like a corpse than a human being.
And it was a rotting body.
The stench grew considerably worse as they entered the house. Many individuals couldn't take it any longer and left. Only a handful of people remained with Xu Ran.
"Ah! This is Mr. Hu! "Someone recognized him.
Xu Ran recognized Mr. Hu and observed that he was holding something in his hand. Xu Ran could still make out that the hand was a block of wood, as if it had been taken down from another piece of wood, despite the fact that it was rotting. Xu Ran paused for a moment before walking away. He returned the door button by going to the door. It was clearly shattered, and blood was still on it.
"Look at this," Xu Ran remarked as he displayed the deadbolt to the individuals in the house, "the piece of wood in Mr. Hu's hand appears to have been pulled off the deadbolt."
Xu Ran was able to figure it out so fast because he didn't kick the door too hard, leading him to believe it wasn't locked. Mr. Hu quickly deduced that the door was not unlocked because the deadbolt was broken and too short to lock when he saw the piece of wood in his palm.
Looking at the deadbolt in Xu Ran's hand and then the block in Mr. Hu's hand, they noticed that the breaks in the two pieces of wood were identical, and the most significant fact was that they were both stained with blood.
Xu Ran said, "Mr. Hu had to break the deadbolt, and he accomplished it with a lot of effort. Mr. Hu's death was most likely caused by other factors in that situation. He wouldn't have broken the deadbolt for no reason if he didn't have to. Let's go to Yamen and make a report!"
No sooner had Xu Ran said that than someone immediately objected, "No, we'd better inform the village head to come over first and wait for him to decide!"
"Yeah, yeah! I'll ask the village chief to come." the man said and walked out.
Xu Ran knew that it happened in their village after all, it was better to inform their village chief.
After that, Xu Ran stood there silently staring at Mr. Hu's body. "Did goodbye imply we'd never see each other again?" he thought.
He should not have permitted Mr. Hu to return if he had known what would happen. At the very least, Mr. Hu was still alive, no matter what his son did.
He had formed a strong relationship with him after over a year of being together. Apart from being sad, he was also regretful at this time. Nothing would have occurred if he hadn't sent him back or if he had answered the door when he knocked.
After a long time, Xu Ran heard someone say, "This must be done by his goddamn son. He is a real jerk to kill his own father."
Being stunned for a moment, Xu Ran asked, "What do you mean?" Is Mr. Hu's son very filial? Mr. Hu said that his son had gone on business somewhere else.
The man sighed, " He is not in business. His son is the family's black sheep. His family had previously generated money by cultivating strawberries, but his son stated that he intended to put the money into business. However, for whatever reason, he developed a gambling addiction. He returned for his money as soon as he had lost it all in a bet. We visited the town and were well aware of the situation. We pretended we didn't know since we didn't want the elderly couple to be upset. It was acceptable if just a few people knew about it, but as word spread, it became impossible to conceal."
Another person continued, "Mr. Hu's wife was murdered by his son, as well. Mr. Hu kept it hidden from our village's people, so we didn't know about it at first. When I was in town, I heard about it. We didn't say anything because Mr. Hu no longer lived in the village and his son never returned. I would have informed the government if I had known what was going to happen today."
Xu Ran was a little skeptical after hearing it. If this is true, then everything Mr. Hu stated to them was a lie. Was Mr. Hu acting in order to protect his son?
But why did he request to return so abruptly while he was doing well with his family? Did his son really go to Xu Village and how did his son know that Mr. Hu was in Xu Village?
Xu Ran asked the two people, "Have you ever seen his son return to the village after Mr. Hu left? Mr. Hu insisted on going home on New Year's Eve. He said that his son would come to pick him up so that they may have a happy life together. As a result, I brought him, but I did not see his son."
Then someone said, "We met his son once, but he was always scruffy. He always returned just as it was becoming dark and departed at the crack of dawn the next day. He didn't return to the village very frequently since the villagers didn't like him."
"Then do you remember the last time you saw him?" asked Xu Ran.
"It seems to be on New Year's Eve! Quite a few people in the village saw him, but all didn't speak to him .
"If Mr. Hu's son killed his father, how could he be so cruel?" Xu Ran asked, shaking the deadbolt in his hand. Mr. Hu was also injured at the door, but he is currently laying down in his bed. Why didn't his son ask a doctor for his father since he must have brought Mr. Hu onto the bed?"
Someone immediately added, "His son is a wolf with white fur. What right did he have to ask Mr. Hu for a doctor? He's undoubtedly looking forward to Mr. Hu's death, but because we don't know what happened, we'll have to wait for the village chief to make his decision."
These people had a blind faith in the village chief.
After all, Xu Ran was not a resident of this village. It was not good for him to say more.