With a few words, Zhuo Yun consoled Xu Ran. It was, after all, a personal affair between him and Du Xin. Furthermore, because he was unfamiliar with Du Xin, he was unable to say anything that could only be thought out by Xu Ran himself.
And Zhuo Yun now understood why Xu Ran disliked Du Xin in the first place. He only changed his mind after helping them in finding a location to sell the fruit trees. It came out that this person had a shady past. It's no surprise that Xu Ran was like this.
In the end, this incident was shown to be a ruse. It was unsurprising that Xu Ran became angry.
Of course, Zhuo Yun deduced that Du Xin was probably after Xu Ran's twins. After all, the twins were attractive and intelligent. What's more, there were two of them, and Du Xin didn't have any children. So, in Zhuo Yun's perspective, this was the most likely scenario.
He had never given Liu Tong a second consideration. It wasn't because he despised Liu Tong's appearance; rather, he assumed that Du Xin, a wealthy playboy, would be turned off by Liu Tong's kind.
The two talked while eating. Xu Ran was still unhappy, so he drank some wine, but Zhuo Yun didn't let him drink much. No matter whether they succeeded, they still had to go back tomorrow. It would be bad if they got up late because of a hangover. However, Xu Ran had a good night's sleep because he had drunk a few glasses of wine.
He was up early the next day and appeared to be in good spirits. The two packed their belongings and went to the inn for breakfast. Before traveling to Li Village, they asked the waiter to make some solid meals for them.
Xu Ran listened to Lu Qi's words since they were plainly more trustworthy than Du Xin's. Whatever the case may be, they had to visit Li Village.
_____
When they arrived in Li Village, they noticed a huge line of oxcarts. The oxcarts in front of them were already laden with fruit trees, while the ones behind them were loading. With such pace, it wouldn't take long.
Xu Ran and Zhuo Yun were thrilled when they saw this sight. For the time being, Du Xin had not had the opportunity to announce that they would not allow the Li Village residents to sell the fruit trees to them. It'll be OK as long as they get rid of all the fruit trees before Du Xin arrives.
Xu Ran and Zhuo Yun exchanged glances. They each understood what the other was saying. They needed to do their task swiftly and depart, so they began to push the villagers. Everyone assumed they were eager to go home since they had never been encouraged before, which they could understand. They then accelerated their efforts. After all, they'd be able to receive the money once they'd completed their task.
Xu Ran and Zhuo Yun also helped. After all, the more helpers one have, the faster you can get things done. Fortunately, once all of the fruit trees had been placed onto the oxcarts, Du Xin and his men did not appear.
Xu Ran requested Zhuo Yun to check on the fruit trees for any issues before going to the village station to settle the accounts.
The money was handed over to the village head, who had kept track of how many trees each family had sold. The village chief then distributes the money to them, saving Xu Ran a lot of effort.
Xu Ran paid the large quantity of money after Zhuo Yun's examination, and then allowed Zhuo Yun accompany them to the official path. He drove the carriage to the inn to check out and catch up with them because the carriage was faster than the oxcarts. As a result, the layout was quite effective.
Du Xin, on the other hand, was attacked by mosquitoes last night and did not make it to Li Village. He didn't sleep well for the entire night, and he didn't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning. Then, as is normal, he awoke late.
So he and Xu Ran missed each other just like that...
Xu Ran returned to town to check out and filled the carriage with the substantial meal and drink served by the waiter. After that, he drove the carriage to catch up with the large troops carrying the fruit trees. Xu Ran had tried everything he could to avoid Du Xin, so how could he say his goodbyes to him?
With no one to stop them along the road, they were able to leave Half Moon Town without incident.
When Du Xin awoke, the first thing he did was walk to the inn to look for Xu Ran and the others. They had checked out this morning, it turned out. Du Xin was worried that everything were going wrong and that he would be late, so he rushed to the Li Village.
He noticed the village chief delivering money to the villagers as they arrived at Li Village. Du Xin made a stomping motion with his feet. He was really late.
Du Xin was irritated to the point of tears, but he didn't know who to blame. After a long period of being at home, he returned home depressed and hurried out to play. Despite the fact that he had recruited a posse of pals, he remained uninterested. Mm, and perhaps more significantly, Lu Qi did not come out to console him, which was strange.
They recalled the path when they returned since they had previously examined it when they arrived, saving them more than a day.
Many people in the village were naturally drawn to the army of oxcarts moving along the road.
Everyone in the town was aware that Xu Ran had purchased a piece of land on which he wanted to cultivate fruit trees. A large number of individuals also went to take a look. It was so barren at the time that even the grass struggled to thrive. Xu Ran was often regarded as a prodigal son.
No one could have predicted that half of the slope would be planted with mature fruit trees in only a few months. The villager's jealousy grew as a result of this.
Especially this time, Xu Ran returned with a large number of fruit trees. Many people in the village who knew Xu Ran aspired to acquire one slice of pie from him. They assumed that the trees would be inexpensive, but that if the fruit trees produced fruit, they would make a lot of money.
These persons were not rejected by Xu Ran. He stated unequivocally that a tree would cost one tael of silver, and that if the money was given, he would deliver the tree. Only he could see such apparent price gouging. The fruit trees could not be sold at this price, everyone realized. To keep them out of it, Xu Ran just stated so.
But, from Xu Ran's point of view, why should the things he had worked so hard on have to be shared with others? Did he lack these pence? Did they consider him to be a fool?
Xu Ran didn't want to cause a ruckus. He wanted to raise the price to send them away.
These people will never be content with their lives. He believed he had treated the people in his village well, so he hired villagers to take care of everything except home problems and house repairs. As a result, these people still wanted to bite him, which was difficult to do.
Xu Ran suspected it had anything to do with his benevolence after the Xu Cheng incident. More significantly, despite the fact that his identification as a Scholar was known in the village, he never used it to oppress others, thus no one seemed to mind.
But today, Xu Ran decided to try it.
The oxcarts were barred as they approached the entrance. He couldn't even enter his own home. Outsiders would laugh at him, and he himself would be uncomfortable. Fortunately, the scene was too much to bear, and the village chief was summoned.
Xu Ran has no qualms about upsetting these people. After all, there weren't many people about save for a few Families. If he needed to hire someone, he could look for people from other villages, and they didn't have to be from his own.
Xu Ran thought he didn't have to show mercy because these people wanted to meddle with him over this problem today. The commotion was eventually quieted by the village head, and Xu Ran informed him straight, "Village chief, from today onwards, the job of my family, no matter if it's in the fields or anything else, I will never hire people of our village again. Since I have to pay anyway, how can I not find someone who pleases me?"
The village chief was upset by Xu Ran's words. However, he could tell Xu Ran was upset when he saw all these people vying for a piece of the pie.
The village chief said, "Xu Ran! I know you're not feeling well. Don't be angry. Listen to what they have to say."
Xu Ran waved his hand. "Village chief, there are certain words that I don't want to hear again. All you have to do now is tell them what I said. If they insist on making a fuss, I have no intention of being nice. The Yamen can fix the problem if the village chief can't. Please direct them to take a step back. I'm still waiting for the oxcarts to be unloaded."
When he stated this, Xu Ran didn't even try to save the village chief's face. He was really angry. The village head also saw that Xu Ran could no longer listen to anything, so he requested that the residents talk less and apologize to Xu Ran. As a result, Xu Ran might not be bothered. However, he seemed to have misjudged these people's greed.
When the people below raised an unified opposition, he had only uttered a few words to convince them not to do so.
The village chief couldn't help but get angry at this scene. He was furious and shouted, "If you continue to cause trouble today, the Xu Ran family will have nothing to do with you in the future. As you please. It's your own business!"
The people who had ever worked for Xu Ran's family calmed down when the village head said this. They were aware of Xu Ran's treatment, which was far superior to anything available in the town. If Xu Ran were to get upset, he would never hire them again. These people were terrified at this point. They were still relying on making more money, after all.
Of course, this were just a small portion of the population. Others who had not worked for Xu Ran's family, or who had wanted to but were turned down by Xu Ran, naturally declined. They started a squabble. The two families of Xu Ran's uncle and third uncle, in particular, were out of control.
Xu Ran gave a chilly look at the group of people before turning around and saying to Zhuo Yun, "In any case, they've created a show here. Allow them to first unload the fruit trees. Also, make sure they don't come over and raise a commotion, as this might harm the fruit trees. I don't need to talk to these people properly since they are so shameless."
Zhuo Yun looked at Xu Ran with concern, "Ran, what will you do?"
Xu Ran smiled and said, "Don't worry, Zhuo Yun, I won't do anything wrong. After all, I'll still be living in this town. But, as the saying goes, I will not attack unless they attack me, and if they do, I will repay them tenfold. I can't be bullied in the first place!"
After that Xu Ran turned his head back.
Zhuo Yun didn't say anything as he stared at him. He proceeded to tell the employees that they needed to unload the fruit trees. They could take the money home sooner if the fruit trees could be unloaded sooner. They wanted to witness the fun, but it was not their business, and it would be best if they stayed out of it.
So when Zhuo Yun instructed them to unload the fruit trees, they jumped right in. The folks' attention was drawn to the loud boom. Xu Ran could only smile hopelessly as he looked at the people next to him and then back at them.
Xu Ran said, " Folks, I, Xu Ran, have never done anything bad to you. I don't understand why you treat me like this. I just bought a variety of fruit trees in the mountains, but that didn't hinder you! What do you mean by this?"
Thinking that he was a Xiucai, Xu Ran began to speak in a literary way. But he just said a few simple words so that the villagers could understand.
Someone began to protest when Xu Ran claimed that he didn't take them to sell items and was just concerned with himself. Xu Ran, in short, was a selfish man who had never considered the villagers.
Hearing this, Xu Ran burst into laughter and said, "Who are you? Why should I take you to make money? Who are you to me?! How can you say that in front of me?" Xu Ran was so angry that he was even incoherent!
How shameless they were!
Many people went quiet as they heard Xu Ran's words. They understood that Xu Ran had nothing to do with them other than the fact that they shared a village. Some people, however, used this as an excuse.
Xu Ran sneered, "Haha, You must have forgotten who the village chief is, don't you? What does it have to do with me if the village chief leads you to enrich your family? I'm not going to say anything to you today; if you want to argue with me, let's go to Yamen and ask Lord Zhubu what you'll be charged with if you robbed Xiucai's family's forest? "
When he said this, everyone in the crowd looked at each other. They had no idea what Xu Ran had said? Who stole Xiucai's house's forest? Many of those who reacted immediately recalled that the Xiucai was just Xu Ran, and that they were doing exactly that.
"Xu Ran, we're in the same village. You won't really do that, will you?"
"Yeah! Xu Ran, Xiucai Xu, we are all neighbors. How could we go to Yamen?
"Right, right, neighbors, we don't have to go to Yamen? We were just joking, nothing more."
_____
Neither Xu Ran nor the village chief who stood next to him said anything; he just stood there and observed them. He didn't want to persuade these people because he had been the village chief for so long and knew what they were like. He felt that someone will give them a lesson sooner or later.
In a flurry, the people said. They begged Xu Ran to pardon them and not tell Yamen about it. After all, Xu Ran was a well-known person. They couldn't bully him since they were ordinary people. It it be their fault if they truly traveled to Yamen.
Xu Ran simply listened but did not respond. Many of the people standing behind him had already discreetly gone away, and those who had seen them had followed them. The more people that departed, the louder the commotion became. Only a few people remained towards the end. They glanced at Xu Ran and then ran away after seeing the others go.
Xu Ran did not intervene, and he did not intend to communicate with them in the future. Every time anything like this happened, he was pleased he had picked the house at the village's far end. When he went to town, he didn't pass by the houses of the people he didn't like.
Seeing them leave, Xu Ran apologized to the Li family," I'm sorry to have you seen these."
They all waved their hands to show that they didn't mind and continued to do their work.
After that Xu Ran walked back to the village head and said, "Village head, come inside for a while! What I just said was a little serious, but I will do as I said. I will never ask the villagers to do anything in the future."
With a forlorn sigh, the village chief said, "Xu Ran, There has never been so much stuff in all the years I've been the village chief. It's not your fault; it's their own ineptness and envy. For years, you've been the greatest in our village, with a good reputation and the ability to generate money. It's no surprise that they are envious of you."
Xu Ran sneered, "I earned all of these on my own, village chief. We're all men, but they haven't been as foolish as I have been for the past seven years. They don't have any skill of their own, so why are they bothering me? What a bunch of jerks! Do you notice these people, village chief? They are also farmers, but not in the same way that the people in our village are. Village chief, They can't blame anyone but themselves for being greedy and incompetent."
"That's true, but they've always been like that. The village has a school, and all of the children go, but none of them have been successful. They're obsessed with other people as well. Do you have any suggestions? I can't change them since they've been this way for so long."
Xu Ran said to the village head as they walked, "Chief of the village, You have no influence over these things; it is up to them to decide. I offered them opportunities to become wealthy, but they refused to listen, so there is nothing I can do. In any case, I'm not going to worry about them in the future. As long as they don't bother me, I won't disturb them. But if they are still going to target my family, I will definitely report them to Yamen."
Xu Ran's meaning was also grasped by the village chief. He simply didn't want him to get into any sort of trouble.
But he was still the village chief! What could he do?
Xu Ran was perplexed by the village chief's powerlessness. He invited the village chief into the house without hesitation.
Liu Tong and the others had been waiting outside the entrance for them to enter. Liu Tong didn't go outside since they knew what had transpired outside and didn't want to bother the two children. He just requested Gao Quan to walk outside and keep an eye on Xu Ran in case he was harassed.
Of course, he believed that Ran could not be bullied.
Although Xu Ran could not be intimidated, he had likely insulted everyone in the village this time. He wouldn't rely on them anyhow, even if it didn't matter to him.
They didn't say anything when Xu Ran welcomed the village head into the house to relax for a bit. Xu Ran soon walked outside to unload the trees. The village chief felt ashamed to stay there since Xu Ran was busy. He realized it had to be that way; even if he stayed, Xu Ran wouldn't be able to change, so he abandoned the plan.
Xu Ran and the others had been unloading fruit plants till late at night since there were so many. Xu Ran was incredibly busy feeding the oxen and preparing lodgings for the people.
The next day, people from the Li family went back after lunch. After that, Xu Ran led the whole family to plant trees.
He even sought Wu Mei's help. They didn't know when to stop because they had so many fruit trees and relied on so few of them. They needed to hurry up and plant all of these trees because if they were left outside for too long, they would die.
When Tangtang and Guoguo returned home, they were embarrassed. There were two scratches on Guoguo's face, indicating that they had battled with someone. They had obviously been scraped by nails.
Xu Ran was enraged when he saw the scratch marks. He knew it had to do with what had happened the day before. "Tangtang Guoguo, are there a lot of people bothering you today?" Xu Ran inquired.
Raising their heads in surprise, Tangtang and Guoguo wondered how Xu Ran knew.
Xu Ran continued, "You should know what happened yesterday and do you think Dad did the right thing?"
The two children thought for a moment and nodded seriously. Tangtang said, " Dad, you're right. We spent money buying the mountain and the fruit trees. Why should we share with them? Dad, don't worry, we know how to deal with it."
They were so considerable as if they were not just little kids.
Guoguo also promised, "Dad, I'm sure I won't get hurt again. My face was scratch since there were so many of them today, and we didn't dare to utilize the kung fu that uncle Gao Quan had taught us. However, not everyone was against us, such as Hu Zi's brother and others."
When Xu Ran observed Guoguo's wound, he had two thoughts: one, he could keep the children at home and teach them on his own, but he instantly disregarded it. The second was to allow Tangtang Guoguo to beat up on the bullies. It was only two kids arguing, and their parents were unable to intervene.
Anyway, his children were in danger today, so he had cause to inquire. Xu Ran decided to go door to door with his children to their homes.
He was well aware that these people would not apologize to them, instead claiming that the altercation was caused by the children. While it was exactly what he wanted, he might also say so in the future if Tangtang and Guoguo defeated them.