“All right, no problem.” Xiao Ran agreed as well.
Xiao Ran wanted to start with Kaolao Village and slowly establish himself in the Great Tang through his own efforts.
Li Shimin, Li Lizhi, and the others were a form of insurance for him. If something happened in the future, he might be able to ask them for help.
Xiao Ran watched the two children eat with genuine relish.
The way they focused on their meal was adorable, too.
Li Lizhi was always elegant. Truly, elegance never went out of style.
With Li Shimin and the others providing several big appetites to finish everything, there was no way anything would be left over.
Before leaving, Xiao Ran gave each of the two little princesses a tomato.
There were no stir-fried dishes in the Great Tang. Since the others did not recognize tomatoes, they probably would not know what to do with them either, so Xiao Ran simply had the two little princesses eat them as fruit.
Li Shimin and Cheng Yaojin also took several fish with them. As before, Xiao Ran returned the rest to the water.
Before leaving, the two little princesses hugged Xiao Hei.
Li Lizhi was also very reluctant to part with the cat and returned it to Xiao Ran.
It was obvious that the sisters liked Xiao Ran’s pets very much, but they were also very important to Xiao Ran.
Only after the group had gone far away did Xiao Ran begin tidying things up.
After putting everything back inside the mountain cave, Xiao Ran also looked over the things Li Shimin and the others had given him earlier.
There was quite a lot of fine silks and satins, though Xiao Ran did not understand much about them.
However, he knew that fabric was hard currency in this era, equivalent to precious metals.
Although he did not know what they were made of, they felt very comfortable to the touch and were probably worth a great deal.
Besides the fine silks and satins, there were several boxes containing jade.
There was also a pair of cups that seemed to have been made of gold and silver.
“What a generous gift!”
These things were worth quite a lot of money.
Xiao Ran took all the Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and other things off the vehicle. Earlier, he had been reluctant to eat them because he wanted to save them.
Now that the motorhome could refresh its supplies, he could eat these things as well.
He only needed to save a few seeds.
Once Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes appeared, they should shock the imperial court.
Unfortunately, Xiao Ran still did not know what year it was.
He felt that the customs of this era were quite good. As for why he felt that way, even Xiao Ran could not explain it.
After putting everything away, Xiao Ran took doggie to stroll beside the water pool, found a patch of grassland, and lay down to bask in the sun.
Every so often, he picked up the telescope and looked around, discovering that Third Lady was not the only one gathering millet ears. There were other children as well.
They should all be from Kaolao Village, and quite a few women also gathered millet ears in the fields.
Basically, anyone he saw with their head lowered was gathering millet ears.
Xiao Ran drifted into a hazy sleep, while Xiao Hei lay beside him and kept watch.
In the horse-drawn carriage, each of the two little princesses held a tomato as if it were a priceless treasure.
“Sizi, let elder sister take a look.” Li Lizhi did not have one herself, since there had only been two left and Xiao Ran had given them to the two little princesses.
“Mm-hmm~” The little princess handed the tomato to Li Lizhi.
Li Lizhi gently squeezed it. Remembering eating it earlier, she found it incredibly delicious.
It was just that she had eaten it cooked as a dish before, and did not know what it would taste like raw.
“Sizi, aren’t you going to try it?”
The little princess shook her head. “I’m saving it for mother!”
“Tomato is so yummy~”
“Mother hasn’t eaten any~”
“I want to save some for mother, too!” Little Princess Chengyang declared.
“Mm, all right.” Li Lizhi smiled and handed the tomato back to the little princess.
“Elder sister~ When can we come play again~”
“You little girl, aren’t we only just heading back?” Li Lizhi was both amused and exasperated.
“The young master is so amazing~ And he has so many yummy things~”
Hearing the little princess say this, Li Lizhi glanced at the bread they had not finished earlier.
“The doggie was so cute, too, and the kitten as well,” Little Princess Chengyang said excitedly.
The three little princesses were very satisfied with this outing.
As he rode his horse, Li Shimin considered how he could buy a fishing rod from Xiao Ran.
The more he learned about xiao ran’s fishing rod, the more he disliked the bamboo fishing rod he had used before.
There was simply no comparison.
Third Lady, carrying a kaolao basket, appeared on the small hill beside the water pool. Seeing Xiao Ran and doggie on the opposite side, she said with a smile, “elder sister, the young master is here, and Xiao Hei is over there with him!”
Zhang Erya nodded. “Let’s go take a look!”
“Woof, woof, woof!” Doggie suddenly began barking.
Xiao Ran woke with a start and looked around. He had not expected the zhang sisters to come over.
He did not go back to sleep. Instead, Xiao Ran rose and walked over with doggie, as they seemed to have come looking for him.
“Second Lady, Third Lady!”
“Young master!” Third Lady ran up to Xiao Ran carrying a new kaolao basket. Beads of sweat covered her forehead, and she seemed very tired.
“Young master, elder brother went up the mountain and gathered some wild fruit. Please try some.” Zhang Erya spoke with a smile.
Third Lady handed the kaolao basket to Xiao Ran.
Only then did Xiao Ran notice that the kaolao basket contained persimmons, chestnuts, and even kiwifruit.
These should count as local specialties.
Realizing that this was the siblings’ return gift, Xiao Ran did not refuse. Relationships could last only when favors were exchanged.
“All right, thank you!” Xiao Ran accepted the kaolao basket, surprised that kiwifruit existed in this era.
He had always thought they were an introduced species that had only appeared in modern times.
“Young master, our family has prepared a meal and would like to invite you over to eat.”
They seemed somewhat restrained and embarrassed, but their sincerity was clear.
They were afraid that Xiao Ran would refuse.
“All right. I’ll definitely come later.” The meal was the evening meal, so he would have to go in the evening.
They had come to tell Xiao Ran in advance.
After making the arrangements, the two sisters did not linger.
Xiao Ran picked up a persimmon and took a bite. “It’s so sweet!”
He looked at the persimmon, then at the chestnuts, and suddenly had a bold idea.
“Could making persimmon cakes and sugar-roasted chestnuts be profitable?”
“This is a pretty good idea.” Xiao Ran was very pleased with it.
After returning to the motorhome, Xiao Ran poured out the contents of the kaolao basket. He needed to return the basket.
Knowing that the three siblings did not have an easy life, Xiao Ran naturally would not go there empty-handed.
He definitely had to bring something, and the kaolao basket was just the right container to carry it back in.
There were actually quite a lot of supplies in the motorhome. Since they could also refresh, Xiao Ran did not have to worry about giving things to the Zhang Siblings and then having nothing left for himself.
After considering it for a long while, Xiao Ran prepared rice and flour.
These should be what the Zhang Siblings needed most.
He also prepared one of the fish he had saved earlier to bring along.
At dusk, Xiao Ran arrived early and waited beside the water pool.
This time, Third Lady came.
Zhang Erya should have stayed home to prepare the meal.
Xiao Ran rose, feeling somewhat expectant about what ordinary people in this era would eat.
“Young master!”
“Third Lady!” Xiao Ran picked up the kaolao basket, carried the fish, and walked over. The Samoyed naturally followed along as well.
Third Lady also stroked doggie, clearly delighted with it.
Xiao Ran gave Third Lady a small bag of calcium milk biscuits.
Now that the motorhome’s supplies refreshed, Xiao Ran could not eat everything himself.
Third Lady led Xiao Ran toward home. Only then did he realize that the earthen wall he had seen earlier belonged to Third Lady’s family.
It could be seen from the hill beside the water pool, and it was actually not far away.
Their home was located at the very edge of the village.
When they reached the courtyard gate, he saw several thatched huts inside the small courtyard. The houses were also made of rammed earth.
“Young master, this is the place!”
“Elder brother, elder sister, we’re back!” Third Lady called out.
Zhang Dalang and Zhang Erya came out. Zhang Erya had a smile on her face, while Zhang Dalang still wore a stern expression.
The coarse cloth that had previously been wrapped around his forehead was gone, and Xiao Ran saw facial tattooing.
'Unfilial'