Chapter 233 Chapter 233 Xu Yaba
Qin Run stepped forward and pulled Xiaobao out of Xu Yunfan's arms, and helped Xiaobao comb down his messy hair with his five fingers. He thought to himself that Xu Yunfan was afraid of ghosts, but he loved telling Xiaobao ghost stories. Xiaobao was always scared, and Xu Yunfan was also scared by Xiaobao's sudden actions several times. He talked about it several times, but the father and son seemed to become more and more courageous. Once he was gone, the two of them loved to hide under the quilt and tell these creepy stories.
Xu Yunfan touched his chest and said, "How did you get in? You scared me. If you scare people, you'll kill them."
Li Liu choked up. "I think you almost scared us to death." A grown-up man was acting like a child. Li Liu didn't know what to say. "Don't you feel scared at this hour?"
After all, it was his brother-in-law's room, so Qin Feiyu couldn't stay there for long. He took Xiaobao from Qin Run's arms and went out first.
Seeing Qin Feiyu carrying Xiaobao out first, Xu Yunfan snorted, "Why should I be afraid? I have someone to sleep with, and you don't, so you're afraid."
Li Liu: “…”
Another 10,000 points of critical hit!
Don't think he doesn't know that Xu Yunfan has to get up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and Qin Run has to accompany him. Qin Run wants to put a chamber pot in the room for him to use, but Xu Yunfan is not happy and is disgusted.
It's not that Qin Run is lazy and doesn't want to accompany Xu Yunfan to the bathroom, but getting out of the warm bed in the middle of the night is really a challenge. Xu Yunfan had a fever once before, and Qin Run was scared. How could he dare to let Xu Yunfan get cold again? But Xu Yunfan was too picky, and he couldn't do this or that. What could Qin Run do?
Before, Xu Yunfan was warming himself by the fire with them in the kitchen. When he got in the mood, he insisted on closing the kitchen door and turning off all the lights. Xu Yunfan said that he wanted to create an atmosphere, and then Xu Yunfan told them a ghost story.
As Xu Yunfan spoke, he was afraid that his words were not vivid enough, so he pinched his throat and imitated them, which almost scared Li Liu and the others to death.
No one knew where Xu Yunfan heard the story, but that night it made the scalps of the older and younger children tingle. They had to call their friends to go to the toilet.
Thinking of those stories, Li Liu pulled Qin An and Qin Mu back to the house. Xu Yunfan straightened the quilt on the bed and asked, "Is the room tidy? It will be very warm for my father-in-law and Xiaobao to sleep in it."
The child is so warm when held in arms. If Qin Run wasn't worried and Xiaobao is a person who is a bit heavy and it would be tiring to hold him, Xu Yunfan would really like to use Xiaobao as a pillow when sleeping.
Seeing Xu Yunfan licking his lips, Qin Run poured him half a bowl of hot water and said, "Clean up. Xiaobao usually sleeps in the room all the time. It's inevitable that there will be some dust in other places besides the bed. Just wipe it down. Don't lick your lips anymore. The more you lick, the drier it gets."
"Oh, then you should go take a shower quickly. I checked tonight and the cinnabar is almost dry. Let's print out a batch of three-book paper first, and then ship it to the capital together with the paper from the factory in two days."
After the paper mill produced the first batch of bamboo paper, a batch of bamboo paper was transported to the warehouse for storage every day. Now the warehouse covering an area of half an acre is almost full. Qin Run planned to sell a batch first to recover some funds for turnover, so yesterday he asked the Qi family ship merchants at the dock in the town and discussed with them about chartering a cargo ship.
Qin Run had naturally discussed this matter with Xu Yunfan. Qin Run could make the decision on the sale of other goods, but the matter of bamboo paper was of great importance. He had previously signed a contract with Qi Xiuyuan, which stated that bamboo paper could be sold in all major stores under the Qijia Trading Company.
Although Qi Xiuyuan was shocked at Xu Yunfan's words that he could make paper, he was still skeptical and thought that the paper Xu Yunfan made was probably "miscellaneous paper".
Miscellaneous paper is waste paper. It not only has many impurities on it, but is also rough, easy to tear, and hinders writing. However, miscellaneous paper still has a certain market. Many children who are just starting to learn calligraphy and think that hemp paper and rice paper are too expensive will choose to use miscellaneous paper for daily calligraphy practice.
Although the miscellaneous paper looks rough and is a defective product, it is not cheap and the market is not small. But if we can make the miscellaneous paper well and continuously improve it later, we may be able to make authentic white paper.
Therefore, a big part of the reason why Qi Xiuyuan was excited at the time was that he was thinking long-term. In fact, from the very beginning, he never thought that Xu Yunfan could really create white paper.
However, when a batch of bamboo paper appeared, which was whiter in color, absorbed ink more evenly, and was of higher quality than the white paper sold in major bookstores today, the Qi family's jaws almost dropped to the ground.
It’s not that hemp paper and rice paper are inferior to bamboo paper, but the papermaking process is too crude, so that under the supervision of Xu Yunfan and strict control of every step, the bamboo paper made by the factory is naturally of higher quantity and better quality than the paper made by other families.
What was even more unexpected for the Qi family was that along with this batch of bamboo paper, there was also a stack of three-book paper.
After learning that these were all made by Xu Yunfan, Grandpa Qi was completely stunned.
…
The next day, Qin Run learned that Xu Yunfan would take him to make three-book paper today. He couldn't sleep early in the morning, so he "secretly" got up in the dark and made preparations.
In Xiaobao's room, Qin Feiyu was holding a warm little baby. At first, he was very careful, afraid of crushing the baby. After all, he had not slept with a child for a long time. But he soon got used to it. After all, Qin Run and Qin An slept with him when they were young. The awareness of not crushing the child was deeply rooted in his bones.
Qin Feiyu was so excited that he woke up early in the morning. He thought he woke up early enough, but soon he heard a very light sound of a door opening outside.
The wooden door of Xiao Qin's house has been installed for a long time. It is like a spring without oil. No matter how careful you are, it always squeaks when opening and closing it.
Qin Feiyu quietly got out of bed, turned around and tucked the corner of the quilt for Xiaobao. Xiaobao was sleeping soundly on the bed, with his chubby little hands clenched into fists and raised on both sides of his face. He was snoring non-stop. Qin Feiyu touched the child's face before tiptoeing out.
The father and son were busy in the kitchen. Such a warm moment was something Qin Feiyu had been longing for for a long time. If Xiao Hengzhi was there, everything would be even more perfect.
"Run'er, isn't it too early to prepare breakfast now?" Qin Feiyu saw that it was still dark outside.
Qin Run: "Not anytime soon. Yunfan will be up at daybreak. He'll go out for a run for about 25 minutes, then come back for some boxing. By then, the buns will be ready."
Qin Feiyu asked uncertainly, "Can Yunfan get up that early?"
Qin Feiyu chatted with Xiaobao for half an hour last night. In Xiaobao's words, his little dad is the best little dad in the world, and his father is also the best father in the world, but sometimes his father is not very obedient and does not want to be a human being.
Qin Feiyu found it amusing to listen to. Xu Yunfan was a bad boy. Qin Feiyu had seen this last night. He knew that Xiaobao and he were just as bad as each other, but he still had to scare the child with horror stories. As a result, Xiaobao was afraid to sleep alone recently. Even after lying down last night, Xiaobao still had to stick his butt out to look under the bed several times, for fear that a ghost would suddenly pop out and eat him.
He said his father told him that ghosts love to eat chubby, fair children, and they are so crunchy when they bite.
Qin Feiyu had no choice but to coax the child, saying that he was sleeping outside, and even if something came out from under the bed, it would eat him first. His original intention was just to comfort Xiaobao not to be afraid, and that he would be the first to suffer. However, Xiaobao became even more scared, and although his arms were obviously not long enough, he still stubbornly wanted to hug him, saying that no, his little grandfather didn't want to be eaten by ghosts, and that he was a man and had to protect his little grandfather. Qin Feiyu's eyes were filled with tears when he heard this.
In order to coax Xiaobao, Qin Feiyu changed the subject and asked Xiaobao why he said that? What was wrong with his father?
Xiaobao was distracted by Qin Feiyu's questions and his mind was diverted from the ghost.
According to Xiaobao, there were many examples of Xu Yunfan's inhuman behavior. One of them was that Xu Yunfan would get up early every morning and bang on the wooden man, disturbing people's sleep, and he would not change despite repeated warnings.
Qin Feiyu was skeptical about this, because Xiaobao said last night that Xu Yunfan used to be very lazy in bed, and sometimes he and Qin Run had to take turns shouting to wake him up. Even so, how early could he get up?
Qin Feiyu was thinking this when the water in the pot had just heated up and Qin Run had entered the room. Not long after, Xu Yunfan followed behind Qin Run and yawned. The corners of his eyes were wet with tears forced by yawning, and he looked like he had not woken up yet.
Qin Run poured some warm water, and Xu Yunfan, with his eyes "closed," fetched a towel and started swishing. After washing his face and waking up completely, Xu Yunfan rinsed his mouth and greeted Qin Feiyu, "Father-in-law, why are you up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
This guy really doesn't know how to enjoy life. If he wasn't thinking about his future happiness, he would still be kissing and kissing me on the 1.5-meter-tall bed and never leaving me.
Qin Feiyu smiled and said, "I'm old now. I get up when I can't sleep."
Xu Yunfan snorted in disapproval, "Hey, father-in-law, I don't like what you're saying. You're so young, you look only about 27 or 28. If someone doesn't know you, they'd think you and Run'er were brothers. How can you say you're old? That's just nonsense!"
Even though he was a general, at heart, Qin Feiyu was just a boy. How could he not be happy when he was praised for his youthful appearance? Qin Feiyu said with some embarrassment, "My father is already over 30 years old. How can he be as young as you say? You are good at coaxing people."
"No, I'm telling the truth. Father-in-law, you're already very young." Xu Yunfan hung up the towel and waved to Qin Feiyu, "Little Daddy, I'm going out for a run first."
"Go!" Qin Feiyu admired Xu Yunfan's point very much. He used to get up early every morning to practice martial arts in the military camp, even after returning to Beijing. He only slacked off for a few days after arriving in Dali Village. He looked at Xu Yunfan's back, then turned his head to look at Qin Run who was busy rolling noodles, and an idea quietly arose in his heart.
Especially when he saw Xu Yunfan blindfolded and "fighting" with the wooden man, Qin Feiyu's idea quickly sprouted in his heart, but unfortunately, Xu Yunfan was focused on the imperial examination and had no intention of learning martial arts.
Throughout history, there have always been very few people who are both civil and military.
After staying at Xiao Qin's house for three days, the New Year was getting closer and Qin Feiyu wanted to stay, but he couldn't.
There are four elders in the capital who need his company, and the Qin family also needs him. If Qin Run and the others return to the capital, Xiao Hengzhi might be angry at the moment.
Qin Feiyu will be going back the day after tomorrow, so Qin Run started preparing some things so that Qin Feiyu can take them back.
Knowing that the Qin family had four elders and Qin Feiyu had two nephews under ten years old, Xu Yunfan saw Qin Run packing a bag of candy. When he wanted to put more in, he quickly reached out and pressed on the bag, "That's enough."
Qin Run's hand, which was untying the bag, seemed to be burned and he reflexively withdrew it. It seemed like a risk-avoidance move, but also like a clumsy cover-up. Xu Yunfan's simple two words made him feel a little embarrassed.
So, does Xu Yunfan dislike him for pretending too much?
Xu Yunfan didn't look at Qin Run. He bent down and tied up the candy bag. "This stuff is very sweet. Children will get cavities if they eat it all. It's okay for the elderly to eat it occasionally, but eating too much can cause high blood pressure. I heard from my father that some grandfathers are addicted to sugar. Why are you giving so much away? Why don't you give something else?"
I see.
Qin Run breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt a little aggrieved and resentful: "Then what should we give?"
The light coming in from the eaves was not bright enough. Over the past few months, Xu Yunfan's hair had grown a lot longer. The fine, unkempt hair on his forehead covered his delicate yet heroic eyebrows. The warm orange light coming in from outside outlined his long and narrow eyelashes, casting a small shadow.
At this moment, Qin Run couldn't help but feel a little jealous!
This person must be God's favorite, even the light favors him!
Qin Run stared at Xu Yunfan who was thinking. "Little Daddy said that both of my grandpas like to eat softer pastries. Do you want me to pack some bread for you to take back?"
Prefer softer pastries?
Xu Yunfan thought for a moment and said, "Those breads won't last long. How about this? I'll make some egg yolk pies and other breads that can be kept longer and let Xiao Dad take them back. Xiao Dad will ride back on horseback and it will only take two or three days to get to the capital. You can let him stay for two more days. I'll make the food as soon as possible in the next two days."
"Will this be too tiring for you?"
"No, it's nothing. Xu Yi and the others won't be back for a few days. You can ask the factory manager to distribute the New Year's goods. Tomorrow, can you help me go to Xiaoli Village?"
Qin Run immediately understood why Xu Yunfan asked him to go to Xiaoli Village. "How much meat should I bring?"
Xu Yunfan touched his chin and said, "About five or six pounds, and some bacon will be fine."
With so much meat being sent to Xu Zhifeng, Qin Run must bring back a chicken tomorrow.
Xiaoli Village.
The Xu family is considered a marginal family in Xiaoli Village. Why? Because they are poor.
No one cares about the poor in the downtown, but the rich in the mountains have distant relatives.
Xiaoli Village is a big village like Dali Village. The land in the village is fertile. Although some villagers cannot afford to eat meat and fish every other day, they at least have food stored at home. After working hard for a year, they can save some money.
Only the Xu family is different.
Sometimes, as the poor become poorer, their relatives become distant from them.
In the early years, the Xu family was just like other villagers. They had more than ten acres of land. They were not rich, but as long as they were diligent and took good care of the land and crops, they would never have to worry about food and clothing. Unfortunately, for Xu's mother, Xu's father sold more than ten acres of land. Now the family only has a vegetable garden left. It would be strange if they didn't starve.
Later, the Xu family became a chicken farmer, which was enough to make ends meet. But then the youngest son...
It’s all tears if I talk too much.
As a result, the Xu family was gradually isolated by other villagers. Several relatives, probably afraid of being borrowed money from poor relatives, gradually stopped interacting with them.
What no one expected was that when the Xu family's eggs couldn't be sold, Xu Zhifeng brought back a man from somewhere. When the two entered the village, they were "talking very happily" and "talking and laughing". Xu Zhifeng gestured with his hands so much that they almost left afterimages, and the man looked at him, and made humming and ohing sounds from time to time, as if he really understood what he was saying.
The man went to Xu's house and left after sitting there for half an hour without even having dinner. The villagers were curious and wondered if he was a friend Xu Zhifeng had met somewhere. However, they didn't know that Xu Zhifeng sold all the eggs in his house the next morning.
That’s not all. Later, Xu Zhifeng’s muteness was cured. That was not the worst. What shocked them even more was that Xu Zhiyuan was no longer mute and he even started to study. Every day he either went out to sell eggs or read and write. This… doesn’t this mean that his muteness was cured but his brain started to become abnormal again?
You said Xu Zhifeng wants to study. Fine. Then you can go to school or find a private tutor. Which one is not better than studying hard at home?
Without a teacher's guidance, Xu Zhiyuan would probably not be able to learn even the basics if he studied alone at home.
If self-study at home is really useful, is there any need for this thing called a teacher?
But they didn't know that Xu Zhifeng had a teacher. The teacher delivered eggs to the cafeteria every day. When Xu Yunfan didn't have classes, Xu Yunfan would answer his questions and resolve his doubts. In addition, Xu Yunfan had a photographic memory and extraordinary comprehension, so it was not difficult for him to teach Xu Zhifeng.
Not only did the Xu family sell more than a hundred eggs every day, but Xu Zhifeng also taught Xu's father to buy eggs nearby in his spare time. The Xu family naturally made a fortune, but Xu Zhifeng spent more on purchasing pens, ink, paper and inkstone than they earned.
Now, no one envied the Xu family anymore. Some even shook their heads and sighed, talking behind their backs about how Xu's father and mother were as stupid as pigs, doting on their young son too much and letting Xu Zhifeng waste money.
Anyone with a bit of common sense would know that Xu Zhifeng was just wasting money, but they didn't stop him. Instead, they indulged Xu Zhifeng. Isn't this stupid?
After an "investigation" by the villagers, they all knew who the unforgettable young man Xu Zhifeng had brought back before was. It turned out that it was the famous Xu Yunfan from Dali Village.
I heard that Xu Yunfan was still working as a teacher in the town. Xu Zhifeng would harm the hens at home every once in a while. Most of the villagers thought that Xu Zhifeng was dreaming and actually wanted to worship Xu Yunfan as his teacher. He was so ignorant that he wanted to use chickens to bribe people.
Stupid, so stupid!
He's a tutor in town, earning a few dozen taels a month. Would he be interested in a hen from your house?
The villagers have gotten over the novelty of the Xu family’s affairs, but what did they see today?
Qin Run had come to the village chief's house to work in Xiaoli Village before, but the village chief's daughter looked down on him, saying that he ate too much and was a loss, so after that, the village chief's family stopped letting him come because they were digging a pond.
Qin Run had always worked diligently when he came here before, and had never been to the village before, so naturally he didn't know where Xu Zhifeng's house was. He was standing at the village entrance with his backpack on his back. He saw a few old women sitting by the well at the entrance, mending clothes. He went up to them and asked, "Excuse me, old lady, how do I get to Xu Zhifeng's house?"
"Xu Zhifeng?" The old woman raised her wrinkled face, confused. Seeing that the man in front of her was a boy, she couldn't help but look at him twice. "Little boy, have you come to the wrong place? There is no Xu Zhifeng in Xiaoli Village."
Most of the children in the village have nicknames and rarely are they called by their real names. Not to mention that Xu Zhifeng was bullied by the children in the village in his early years and he didn't want to go out to play anymore. After Xu's father and mother went to their house to ask for an explanation but were ridiculed, they also reduced the number of times they went out in the village and lived a life of seclusion and peace of mind. Therefore, the older generation of villagers really didn't know that there was a person like Xu Zhifeng in the village.
Qin Run thought for a moment and said, "Grandma, the Xu Zhifeng I'm asking about used to be a mute in your village. He raised chickens and sold eggs. Do you know that?"
Probably because of her age, her reaction was slow. However, the younger woman next to the old lady slapped her knees and said, "Oh, you are asking about Xu Yanba, right? I know. Are you going to Xu Yanba's house?"
Xu Zhifeng's nickname used to be Xiaofeng. Later, he stopped talking, and the children in the village called him Little Mute. Over time, no one remembered his name as Xu Zhifeng or his nickname as Xiaofeng anymore. Everyone only knew that there was a little mute in the village, and his surname was Xu, so he was called Xu Mute.
Qin Run frowned. He didn't like the practice of giving people nicknames. Because Li Liu liked men, the people in Dali Village gave him a nickname, calling him Little Rabbit. Every time a man called Li Liu Little Rabbit, other men who knew the other meaning would either show contempt or laugh in an obscene and disgusting way.
But Qin Run couldn't say anything because of this. "Yes, I am looking for this family. Grandma, can you show me the way?"
"Of course. His house is right in front of the big vegetable patch at the end of the village. There's a circle of thorn trees planted in his backyard. You can tell it's Mute Xu's house at first glance. Young man, are you a relative of the Xu family?"
The Xu family has few relatives. Xu's father is an only son, and Xu's mother married from far away. When her parents had some money in their early years, they moved to the town. Xu's mother once returned to her parents' home, but later she never went back. The villagers have never seen Xu's mother come to her parents' home. I guess they looked down on their poor relatives and stopped interacting with them.
"No." Qin Run shook his head, "I'm from Dali Village."
"Oh, you're the boy from Dali Village?" The old lady glanced at Qin Run and immediately recognized him. "I remember now, aren't you Run from Dali Village?"
It was clearly a question, but it was said with unusual certainty.
There was no other reason. Qin Run's physique and height were there, and he was a boy from Dali Village, so several people immediately thought of Run from Dali Village.
"Yes, it's me."
"What are you doing at the Xu family?"
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