Chapter 37 - Transmigration: The Farm Life of a “Fool”

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Chapter 37: Touched

 

Following Xu Ran's instructions, the next day Liu Tong took another twenty bamboo segments of chili sauce to town and conveyed Xu Ran's conditions to Manager Chen. He happily agreed.

 

"Xu family's husband! You have no idea how well that chili sauce sold yesterday. Aside from one segment I used for cooking, the rest sold out completely. Some customers even placed large orders after tasting it. Do you think you could bring more tomorrow?"

 

"Of course, Manager Chen. Tomorrow, I'll bring more. In fact, why don't we set a regular delivery schedule? I'll bring you twenty segments each day."

 

"Perfect! How about you deliver to me once every seven days, and bring one hundred and fifty segments each time?"

 

An increase of ten segments wouldn't take much more time to prepare, so Liu Tong quickly agreed. He realized they'd have to gather more peppers from the mountains soon.

 

After settling the bill at the restaurant, Liu Tong headed to the rice shop. They were completely out of rice at home—not even any coarse grains remained—so he needed to buy some.

 

Thinking of how Xu Ran struggled to eat the coarse rice, Liu Tong decided to buy white rice instead. He didn't mind eating the rougher stuff, but he couldn't let Ah Ran and the children endure it too.

 

A bag of white rice cost five hundred copper coins. Liu Tong also bought some meat for Wu Mei's family and the other neighbors, along with seasonings, and he picked up some pastries for the children.

 

Lastly, he selected a few bolts of cloth. Their family badly needed new clothes; each of them only had two outfits to rotate between. While it wasn't too bad in this heat, the colder days were approaching, and they'd need something warmer. He also realized they'd need to insulate the house with oiled paper before winter came.

 

After adding it all up, Liu Tong realized he would need to spend several taels of silver. He only had twenty taels left, and they needed to save some for buying land. Liu Tong hesitated, but thinking of the children, he gritted his teeth and bought everything.

 

By the time he returned, the ox cart was loaded with goods, though they were hidden under oiled paper to avoid attracting attention.

 

There were two routes from the village to their house. One ran through the village center, and the other, longer one, went around the outskirts. The latter was much less traveled, which suited Liu Tong perfectly, as he preferred to avoid gossip.

 

As he approached home, his two children came running out to greet him excitedly.

 

But Xu Ran was nowhere to be seen. After unloading the goods and carrying them inside, Liu Tong asked the children, "Tangtang, Guoguo, where did your daddy go?"

 

Tangtang, munching on the pastries Liu Tong had bought, quickly swallowed and replied, "Mama, Daddy went up the mountain to pick peppers. He told us to wait at home for you, and that after you returned, we should go ahead and make lunch, then eat without him. He said not to worry about him since he already brought food with him. He also wants us to go pick him up later this afternoon."

 

Tangtang barely finished speaking before he resumed stuffing his mouth with more pastries. "These are so tasty," he thought, "even better than the ones Ah-mo usually buys."

 

Seeing how happy his children were eating, Liu Tong let them be. He headed into the kitchen and divided the meat he had bought into four portions, keeping one for their family and setting the other three aside. He wrapped the other portions in oiled paper, placed them in a basket, and then stepped out the door.

 

Before leaving, Liu Tong called out to the children, "Tangtang, Guoguo, Ah-mo is going to return the ox cart to Wu Mei's family. You two stay here and be good."

 

"Mhm," came a muffled reply from one of the children, their mouth still full of food.

 

Wu Mei's family and a few others had finished harvesting their grain and were now drying it in the sun. With the good weather, they were trying to get it all done quickly, so everyone was busy.

 

Liu Tong parked the ox cart in front of their house, and Dahu came to open the gate for him. "Liu Tong Ah-mo, are you here to return the cart?"

 

Liu Tong patted Dahu's head with a smile. "Yes, I'm here to return the cart."

 

He pulled a few pieces of candy from his basket and handed them to him. "Here, have some candy."

 

Dahu, delighted, accepted them eagerly and called out, "Ah-mo, come quickly! Liu Tong Ah-mo is here to return the cart!"

 

Wu Mei was busy, so Xu An came to collect the cart. Liu Tong pulled out one of the meat portions and handed it to him. "Xu An, I went to town today and bought some meat. You've all helped our family so much, I don't know how else to thank you."

 

Xu An knew that refusing the meat would make Liu Tong feel uneasy, so he accepted it graciously. "I'll take the meat then. But really, don't worry about it. You and Wu Mei are friends—it's only natural we help each other."

 

Liu Tong smiled. "Thank you, Brother Xu An. I'll be heading back now."

 

"Take care."

 

Liu Tong then delivered the remaining meat to the other two families before returning home to prepare lunch.

 

After lunch, Liu Tong took the children up into the mountains. Each of them carried a small basket on their back. They weren't just picking peppers; there were also soybeans to gather. The chili sauce was currently their only source of income, so it was important to harvest as much as they could while the season was good. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to meet Manager Chen's increasing demand.

 

Liu Tong brought Tangtang and Guoguo to the same spot they had visited before. He didn't dare go too far with the children in tow and guessed that Xu Ran had probably gone there as well. Last time, they hadn't picked all the peppers, and Xu Ran wasn't familiar with other areas of the mountain.

 

Sure enough, as soon as Liu Tong stepped into the forest, he spotted Xu Ran, bent over and picking peppers, his basket already filling with bright red ones.

 

The two children, upon seeing their father, dashed toward him with joyful shouts, "Daddy, Daddy!"

 

Xu Ran lifted his head and smiled at them. "You're here! Have you had lunch?"

 

"Yes, Ah-mo bought some meat today, but we saved some for you!" Guoguo said excitedly, waving his arms as he spoke, his face glowing with pride.

 

Tangtang, standing beside him, also looked at Xu Ran with expectant eyes.

 

Xu Ran chuckled. "You two are so thoughtful. I'll eat it when we get home tonight."

 

"Okay! We'll help pick peppers now!" the children chirped enthusiastically.

 

"Alright, but take your time and be careful," Xu Ran reminded them gently.

 

Once the children were busy, Liu Tong walked over to Xu Ran. Seeing the sweat on his forehead, Liu Tong used his sleeve to wipe it away. "Ah Ran, if you're tired, take a break before you continue."

 

Xu Ran shook his head. "I'm fine. I know my limits. But what about you? You've already been to town today—aren't you exhausted?"

 

"I'm not," Liu Tong replied with a soft smile. Compared to the hard labor he used to do in the Xu household, today's work was nothing.

 

"Ah Ran, I'll go pick the soybeans. Tangtang and Guoguo can handle the peppers."

 

"Alright," Xu Ran agreed, and with that, they each got back to work.

 

Xu Ran had eaten some potatoes he'd packed earlier, so he wasn't hungry. They continued picking until dusk, and by the end of the day, the family had gathered four baskets of peppers and two baskets of soybeans.

 

Xu Ran and Liu Tong had to make two trips back and forth to carry everything home.

 

That evening, Xu Ran ate the meat that Tangtang and Guoguo had proudly saved for him. He wasn't particularly fond of meat; he would eat it if it was available, but if not, he was fine without it. However, seeing how eagerly his family watched him enjoy it filled his heart with warmth.

 

After dinner, Xu Ran told the children a bedtime story and then helped bathe them alongside Liu Tong.

 

Once the children were fast asleep, Liu Tong and Xu Ran finally had a moment to themselves. Liu Tong recounted the details of Manager Chen's request. Delivering once every seven days was manageable, though they'd need to ramp up production quickly to meet the future demand.

 

"It seems we'll need more peppers and soybeans soon. This can't go on for too long. We really should buy land as soon as possible."

 

Liu Tong then pulled out the silver coins they had left, showing Xu Ran the six taels that remained after spending four taels. He explained everything he had bought that day, including the meat he had given to Wu Mei and the other families. His heart pounded as he confessed this, realizing he hadn't consulted Xu Ran before deciding to share the meat.

 

Seeing Liu Tong's nervousness, Xu Ran chuckled, "Tongtong, it's alright. You can make these decisions on your own. You know much more about dealing with people than I do. Just let me know so I'm aware."

 

Hearing this, Liu Tong finally relaxed. In the past, when Xu Ran was a fool, Liu Tong had made all the decisions, even managing the delicate relationships with their neighbors, always without the Xu family's knowledge. Now that Xu Ran had recovered, Liu Tong had momentarily forgotten who was head of the household.

 

Fortunately, Xu Ran wasn't one to hold grudges and trusted Liu Tong to handle everything.

 

Since Xu Ran's recovery, the things he had done only made Liu Tong more and more grateful.

 

The next day, Liu Tong carried 150 jars of chili sauce into town on foot, feeling embarrassed to always borrow Wu Mei's ox cart. Once this batch sold, they would finally have enough money to buy land.

 

Having bought everything they needed yesterday, Liu Tong returned home quickly. Xu Ran had gone up the mountain again, leaving the two children at home. Liu Tong wanted to send them out to play, but they refused. Their past experiences of being bullied at the Xu family's home had left them fearful.

 

Liu Tong felt helpless. Over the years, he had spent most of his time working at the Xu household to ensure their family wasn't driven out. The rare free moments he had were spent with Xu Ran, so he had paid little attention to the children. They had grown up understanding and mature, even helping care for Xu Ran. They had lightened his burden considerably, and Liu Tong felt a deep guilt for not having been more present in their lives.

 

But none of them had ever voiced these feelings.

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