Game
Xu Ran didn't stand at the door for long before he entered the room, Mainly because he was too embarrassed to eavesdrop too long.
He was about to ask what they were talking about so happily when he entered the room, but Qin Shuwu pulled him over and started complaining, "Xu Ran, you're also the owner of this house, right? You didn't say a word before you left, so we looked for you everywhere. I thought we scared you away."
Xu Ran hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Brother Qin, don't make jokes like that. Why would I think so? I was out to send some rice to my father. But it took a long time before they opened the door for me, so I came back late. It was all my fault."
Hearing Xu Ran's words, Qin Shuwu got a little angry. "Why are you apologizing to me? It's not your fault. I didn't mean to criticize you. We all know about your family's affairs. You sent these things to them in such a heavy rain, but in the end, they were not even grateful. You'd better not go there in the future. What kind of father he is!"
Xu Ran didn't say much since the Qin family were still there. He just smiled and said, "I guess they didn't hear me because of the heavy rain, speaking of which, what are you looking for me for? what can I do for you?"
Although Qin Shuwu was dissatisfied that Xu Ran had changed the topic, he still answered him, "Here's the thing. Look, there are a lot of people here and we all have nothing to do.It's too boring, so we come to you to see if there is anything for us to do."
Xu Ran looked at them and saw that there were a large group of people in the house. He must find something for them to do.
However, it had been so many years and everyone was probably not interested in chess any more. As for the rest, he couldn't think of anything else!
Xu Ran touched his head in embarrassment and said, "I really can't think of anything now. Why don't you give me some advice? Do you want to sit like this or do you want to stand up?"
Qin Shuwu said, "Let's all get up ! Anyway, it's not hot, so it's boring to just sit here."
Xu Ran thought for a moment and came up with an idea. He said, "How about this, all of you stand up and step aside, then move all the beds and stools to the side to see how much space we can make in the middle. We'll play in the middle."
After Xu Ran said that, everyone started to move. They all stepped aside and moved their things away to empty the space in the middle of the room. In the end, there was actually a lot of space in the middle.
In fact, the thing that Xu Ran wants to play was very simple, that is to kick the shuttlecock, to pass the shuttlecock from one person to another and the one who kicks the most wins.
Of course, this game was not suitable for all members, so Xu Ran asked if they were willing to play it.
Although these guys knew about it, they had never played it before, so they all felt interested.
Xu Ran ruthlessly separated the twin brothers and asked them to choose their teams by playing rock-paper-scissors.
The team who lost would be responsible for dinner tonight and the straw weeds of tomorrow.
The atmosphere instantly heated up.
It wasn't too difficult to do these tasks, but the feeling would be different if it's the punishment .
Tangtang and Guoguo each chose five people to form two teams, six in each team, and they were holding hands to make a circle.
Xu Ran wass the referee. The rules of the game was to pass the shuttlecock. One person kicked to another to see which team kicked the most. If the shuttlecock fell on the ground, then it would pass to another team. And when the game is over, the team who kicked the most would be the winner.
Everyone found it quite easy. Xu Ran even organized two cheerfulleaders for each team to cheer them up. Finally, the atmosphere became lively.
Although it was childish, the people present were all in high spirits, which made Xu Ran expected for it a little bit.
Tangtang beat Guoguo with the rock-paper-scissors and she picked Gao Quan. He thought that Gao Quan was good at kung fu and there must be no problem for him to kick the shuttlecocks. However, Tangtang felt very regretful when the game started!
Gao Quan behaved very well when the shuttlecok was passed to him, but when he passed it to others, there were a lot of problems. It was either too high or crooked. Sometimes, it could even go to the opposite direction, so their group had never played a full circle.
On the other side, Guoguo's team was much better, sometimes they could even kick two or three rounds. Instantly, the gap between the two teams was widened.
All eyes were fixed on Gao Quan when he was kicking, even the cheerleaders stopped cheering, because they were afraid to disturb him. As a result, they got disappointed after he finished kicking, and then started to laugh at him instantly.
Every time Gao Quan was playing, Xu Ran consciously ran to pick up the shuttlecock, as if he knew that it was going to fall, which made everyone laugh again.
No one knew if Gao Quan was sorry from his expression. Anyway, he still kicked it the way he should, and it was obviously not that masterly.
At last, when the game was about to end, Xu Ran specifically asked Gao Quan to kick alone. Anyway, there were all kinds of situations, and the people watching by the side were laughing very hard.
Tangtang's team lost in the end. Mmm, unfortunately, none of this team was man. Moreover, none of the them could cook besides Tangtang, and Tangtang was not a very good cook, either.
Tangtang felt a lot of pressure with the expectations of so many people!
Just as he was about to ask if he could ask other people for help, Xu Ran said, "No one is allwed to help them with the dinner! If it was something else, but they lost the game today and they must be willing to admit defeat. Everyone knows this principle, we would rather eat worse and later than to help them. "
Tangtang looked at Xu Ran bittely after Xu Ran said that.
In fact, there was also a reason why Xu Ran said that. These two children have had a good time these years, and they were admitted as a scholar at the age of 12. They had never suffered any setbacks. Xu Ran was worried that they would think that world outside was that easy and simple, so he wanted them to suffer a little.
The thing happened today was quite suitable for Tangtang to learn his lessons. We should pick out and promote talents. If you want to choose a person to work for you, he must be qualified and suitable for the things you wanted him to do. If not, you'd better not choose him.
Just like Gao Quan, although he was very good at kung fu, but he was not good at kicking shuttlecocks. But Tangtang only saw his advantages and chose him blindly.
Tangtang understood what Xu Ran meant when Xu Ran said he wouldn't let others help them. Although he still had some resentment, he could understand Xu Ran's care and thought.
Tangtang glanced at Xu Ran and didn't say anything. He just turned around and went to the kitchen to cook.
Tangtang made dinner mostly by herself. Some of thers just made a fire or helped wash the vegetables, and the rest of them couldn't do anything. In the end, Tangtang was so tired that he could barely stand up straight.
It was certainly not that delicious, but no one said anything bad about it. Instead, they all complimented Tangtang, saying that it's good that he can cook, just like his dad.
Even Guoguo comforted his brother, but Xu Ran didn't say anything. He was not angry, but he was all silent.
After dinner, Tangtang took the initiative to find Xu Ran to apologize.
Xu Ran asked him, "What did you do wrong?"
Tangtang said seriously, "Dad, it's my fault. I prejudiced by first impressions. I should not take it for granted that Uncle Gao Quan could kick the shuttlecock well just because he is good at Kung Fu."
"It is just a little thing, and it doesn't matter much, but Tangtang, you should understand why you worked so hard.I won't stop you if you want to engage in the official career, but if you can't do something as simple as that, how are you going to survive in the capital?" said Xu Ran.
"You are now thirteen years old. You can take the exam for provincial graduate when you got fifteen, and then you will have to go to the capital. Dad can not always be by your side. More importantly, we can't do anything for you even if we are here. As you know, I'm just a scholar. There are so many dignitaries and nobles in the capital, what can your I do? So, Tangtang, you can only rely on yourself and get stronger step by step. However, the premise is that you have the ability to protect yourself. I just need you to remember one thing today. You can't judge a person by his appearance. You have to weigh a person's strengths as well as her weaknesses. "
Tangtang didn't answer him immediately. Instead, he lowered his head and started to think seriously about Xu Ran's words.
Xu Ran was not in a hurry, and he was just holding his arms and waiting for him.
He knew how ordinary he was. What he said would not matter in this era. He couldn't pave the path for the child. All he could do was to teach him how to be an officer since he was a child, and to teach him how to learn and ask, how to survive. As for the rest past, the children would have to find their way slowly.
The two children were too obedient, and Xu Ran couldn't help but spoiled them too much. Now, he couldn't see any shortcomings of them. They were even much smarter than the children of their age, but Xu Ran knew that this was not enough, far from enough, and they needed to experience some more before he knew the cruelty of this world.
Unfortunately, the village was too small and they could not go through anything.
Xu Ran was wondering if it was time to let them go out? Or should he go out and take a look at the world. He is only in his thirties. If he stayed in this village for teh rest of his life, he wouldn't know how to educate his descendants in the future!
While both father and son were thinking of their own business, Guoguo, who is eavesdropping behind the door, has thought of a lot of things.
He knew that Dad was not only talking about his brother, but also him. It was his brother who made a mistake today, so Dad would talk to his brother alone.
"Just come out!"
The sudden voice from inside stunned Guoguo, but he quickly realized that he was talking about himself.
The person who called him in was Tangtang. After Guoguo came in, Tangtang turned to Xu Ran and said, "Dad, I have remembered and understood everything you said, and I will not let you down."
Tangtang even clenched his fists. Xu Ran didn't say anything but stared at Guoguo and asked, "What did you hear just now?"
"Everything." said Guoguo.
"What do you want to say then?"
Guoguo answered the same way as Tangtang, "Dad, I've also learned my lesson today. And I won't let you down."
Xu Ran will not doubt whether their words were true or not, because they would say it themselves if they didn't understand what he said, and they wouldn't be perfunctory about it. Since they all said they had remembered and understood it, it must be true. Xu Ran smiled with relief.
They were really good boys.
_____
Xu Ran Xu Ran gave the two children a lecture on the shuttlecock thing, and the two children were more close to Xu Ran.
Of course, Xu Ran did not forget to let them take good care of Baozi. After all, Baozi was favored by their family. Apart from eating, he had no advantages, nor disadvantages.
He would learn whatever you told him to, but he wouldn't be good at it, and wouldn't know much. But you couldn't blame him either. After all, he knew a little bit about everything. Xu Ran deeply felt that that if you introduce Baozi to others, the only quality you could say about him would be no leftovers when he ate.
Helpless as he was, he would still have to spoil him because he was still young after all. More importantly, both of his brothers were very capable, so he wouldn't have to worry about food or clothing in the future.
The village had been quite calm for the past few days, mainly because it was raining heavily. People barely went out and no one knew what was going on outside.
Xu Ran wanted to let Gao Quan go to the town to take a look, but the rain was too heavy and it was not convenient for him to go out.
However, the quite days would not last long. The rain had just become lighter and Xu Ran was ready to go out to take a breath.
As soon as he was out, he stretched himself a little at the door and noticed something was going on at the back of the mountain. Someone was talking, and more importantly, Xu Ran saw vaguely what those people were carrying.
Xu Ran felt something was wrong. What was it so important that they had to carry it up a mountain on such a rainy day?
He called Gao Quan over again and said to him, "Let us follow behind them quietly to see what happened, Could it be that someone has been infected by the plague?"
Now, this was the only thing Xu Ran could suspect.
Gao Quan had no objections. Each of them took a stick and quietly walked up the mountain.
When they got close enough to them, they found that there were seven or eight people there, and all of them were from the village. Young and old, and six of them were carried three people while the other two were each carrying one, and it looked like a family.
People who were carried seemed to be dead. Xu Ran and Gao Quan couldn't be sure because they were far away. Xu Ran just said to Gao Quan, "Remember these people's faces. I'll go find the village chief. There must be something wrong with these people. It's better to be on guard early."
Gao Quan nodded, indicating that he would keep an eye on these people. Xu Ran quietly slipped down the mountain after he said that. He didn't go home but went straight to find the village chief.
Xu Ran met someone on patrol on the way and Xu An happened to be there. He pulled Xu An over and told him what had just happened. Xu An didn't believe it at first. Then, he patted his hand and said, "Oh, no!"
Xu Ran quickly asked him, "Brother Xu An, what's wrong?" What's the problem?"
Xu An said to Xu Ran, "We saw footprints at the entrance of the village the day before yesterday when we were on patrol. They went from the outside to the inside. We found it strange but we didn't see anyone coming in so we didn't take it seriously. However, we have been thinking about this for the past few days, so we would pay more attention to them when we were patrolling."
"Isn't it normal to have footprints at the entrance of the village?" Why is it strange?" asked Xu Ran.
"But the village chief had already asked us to wipe out the footprints before the village was under lockdown. Apart from the patrolling team, no one else was allowed to go to the entrance of the village. Even if there were footprints, they could only be from the inside to the outside. That's why we felt strange, but we didn't find anything unusual in the past few days. Just as we were about to feel relieved, you came. " Xu An answered.
Xu An and Xu Ran muttered to each other while the others were waiting by the side. They finally called Xu An because the two of them had talked for a long time.
So Xu An told them what Xu Ran had just seen and they all got anxious. It seemed that someone from the outside had came in, and they were probably still infected with the plague.
Xu An said, "Guys, I'll go to the mountain to see whose relatives they are. If they were really infected with the plague, these people who have come into contact with them can't live in the village anymore. People are dead, and these people might be infected with the plague."
Everyone agreed with Xu An and they all ran up the mountain one after another.
Xu An walked at the back of the line and he asked Xu Ran what he was going to do. Xu Ran said, "I was about to go out to take a breath, but as soon as I went out the door, I saw someone on the mountain and I felt something was wrong. So I followed them with Gao Quan and saw someone walking up the mountain. I was afraid that something might happen, so I decided to go find the village chief, then I saw you on the way."
Xu An said, "Since that's the case, let us go there and take a look first. And you should continue to go to the village chief and ask him to come together. It would be much easier to deal with if something really happens."
Xu Ran nodded. "All right, you go ahead first! And I'll go find the village chief."
So the two of them ran away separately. Xu Ran was thinking as he ran, what if the village was really infected with the plague? There were so many people in his family, young and old, it would be quite difficult to deal with. Fortunately, they had enough precautions, and they barely had contact with people in the village except him. They should be fine.
Xu Ran could only comfort himself now.
Xu Ranran to the village chief's home quickly and called the village chief aloud. The village chief soon came out. Seeing that it was Xu Ran again, he had a bad feeling instantly.
The village chief asked, "Xu Ran! What happened again? Don't tell me that someone in the village had been infected with plague. That would be a big trouble. "
Xu Ran waved his hand and said, "It isn't the case, but not much of a difference. I just noticed that some people from the village were carrying others to the mountain, and the people who were carried didn't look like the villagers. I came to you because I was worried that something might happen. I ran into a patrol team on the way and I told them. They were probably rushing up the mountain now."
The village chief felt a sudden dart of panic when he heard this. He hurriedly said to Xu Ran, "Let's go to the mountain and take a look. If someone from another village really came in and got infected with the plague, it would be a big problem."
The village chief said very urgently, but Xu Ran could understand him. He hurriedly rushed to the mountain with the village chief. He also went home and told them not to go in any case.
Hearing to Xu Ran's words, everyone knew that something had happened in the village, so they all promised that they would not go out.
The patrol party had already arrested all of them when Xu Ran and the Village Chief arrived. There were five people lying on the ground, four adults and a child. Some of them had already died and the others were almost dying, too.
These people looked pale and there are a lot of red spots on their faces.What else could it be but the plague?"
The village chief asked the patrol party, "What's going on? These people lying on the ground are not from the village!"
Everyone of the patrol party looked at each other and no one said anything. They probably didn't know what was going on themselves.
Xu Ran looked around and found that Gao Quan was not there. He guessed that he might be hiding somewhere.
But it would be okay. If there was something wrong, he would handle it all by himself.
Since no one was speaking, Xu Ran asked Xu An, "What's going on? Have you seen these people when you checked?"
Xu An shook his head and said. "We've never seen them before. There were no outsiders in Xu Dafang's home when we were checking, so I guessed that these people had probably sneaked in the day before yesterday."
Being caught, Xu Dafang's family was also frightened. They told the truth before the village chief ask.
These people were distant relatives of Xu Dafang in the town, and they had secretly come to the village the night before yesterday. It was raining heavily and the sky was very dark, so the patrol team did not notice them.
Initially, the Xu family was unwilling to take them in because they were afraid of the plague, but these distant relatives gave them fifty taels of silver and asked Xu Dafang to allow them to stay here for a few days. They promised they were not infected and they would leave immediately as soon as it was over.
Xu Dafang agreed for the sake of the silver. They thought that since they were not infected, it would be fine if they stayed for a while. After all, this was 50 taels of silver! They hadn't earned so much for so many years.
However, things did not turn out as he had expected. Xu Dafang's family had suddenly suffered a fever and their faces gotten red the morning before yesterday. They didn't even speak very flueThe Xu Dawang family was frightened and wanted to chase these distant relative away.
But his distant relatives were not easy to deal with. He clearly told Xu Dafang that their family had long been infected with the plague but it was not that serious. However, it got worse and worse after the rain. He also threatened that if he chased them out, he would tell the villagers that the Xu family was infected with the plague.
His words frightened Xu Dafang and he did not dare to drive them away.
Therefore, Xu Dawang did nothing about it. He even thought that there might be a chance that they would get well soon .
However, Xu Dawang noticed there was something wrong with his relatives this morning. A few of the children were dead, and two young men also stopped breathing. Only this distant relative and his eldest son was alive, but they also looked like they were dying soon.
Xu Dafang was frightened again. He discussed with his family and decided to bury the corpse to destroy the evidence.
He decided to carry them up the hill and throw them down the cliff, so no one would know that they were there.
However, they were not that lucky. They got caught by Xu Ran when he came out of his home.