Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

Unfortunately, even with the change of position, Xiao Ran still lost.

Fortunately, Hongxiu returned just then, and Xiao Ran quickly got up.

"You guys have fun, I have something to do, I'm leaving now."

After saying that, Xiao Ran left in a hurry.

Seeing this, Hongxiu was completely baffled.

"What's wrong with the young master?"

The three people at the card table laughed. After they had finished laughing, Li Lizhi said, "He's lost too much. When he saw you coming, he quickly left."

Hongxiu glanced at the empty desktop and then realized what was happening.

"So that's what happened."

After finishing the mahjong game and returning home, Hongxiu told Empress Zhangsun about the incident as a joke. Empress Zhangsun found it very amusing and even told Li Shimin about it when he came.

Xiao Ran was thoroughly ridiculed by Li Shimin.

But that’s all for later.

Now, Xiao Ran hurriedly escaped the card table and stood outside to breathe in some fresh air.

"I will never play mahjong again!" Xiao Ran said with great ambition.

"Ah Lang, should we plant this seed?" a servant suddenly asked.

Xiao Ran asked in confusion, "What kind of seed?"

Then a servant came out carrying a cloth bag.

Looking at the familiar cloth bag, Xiao Ran remembered that these were the seeds he had bought from that foreigner in the West Market, though he wasn't sure what kind of seeds they were.

"Plant it!" No matter what it is, we have to get it planted first.

Logically speaking, different seeds require different sowing times, but Xiao Ran doesn't know what these seeds are, so he simply sows them all together, leaving their survival to fate.

Everyone knows how to simply dig holes and bury seeds, so after receiving Xiao Ran's reply, the servants went and planted the seeds in the open space of the vegetable garden.

It was at this moment that Xiao Ran remembered that he still had cotton seeds.

I've been so busy lately, with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, that I completely forgot about planting cotton.

So Xiao Ran returned to the living room.

Inside the living room, Li Lizhi and the others were still playing mahjong. When they saw Xiao Ran return, Li Lizhi covered her mouth and teased, "Young master, why are you back again? Do you want to give me some more money?"

Xiao Ran chose to ignore everything, pretending he hadn't heard anything, and asked Li Lizhi, "Where did you put the cotton seeds before?"

Xiao Ran had Li Lizhi keep this item for him from the beginning.

Hearing that it was important, Li Lizhi also straightened her expression.

“It’s in my room. I remember the young master valued this cotton seed very much and didn’t dare to leave it lying around. Wait a moment, I’ll go get it now.”

Xiao Ran nodded, but didn't go with them.

After all, it was a girl's private room, and Xiao Ran wouldn't go in unless there was something important to do.

Li Lizhi went to fetch cotton seeds, and Princess Yuzhang asked, "Young master, are you planning to plant cotton?"

Xiao Ran nodded, "Yes, if we calculate the timing, now is the perfect time to plant them."

A short while later, Li Lizhi returned with the seeds.

"It's all here."

There weren't many cotton seeds, so Xiao Ran simply gave the order to have the servants who were planting unknown seeds plant them as well.

Once the orders were given, there was nothing more for Xiao Ran to do.

Stealing a half-day of leisure from his busy life, Xiao Ran simply sat in the courtyard and watched the clouds drift by.

Until the little princesses finished class.

"Little Nang-kun~ I'm here!"

The little princess's clear and melodious voice rang out, and a smile unconsciously appeared on Xiao Ran's face.

"Little Nang-kun~ What are you doing here~"

The little princess leaned close to Xiao Ran, tilted her head, and asked.

Xiao Ran said with a smile, "Of course, we're waiting to see when our Sizi will come back."

The little princess smiled instantly upon hearing this.

Xiao Ran asked, "Si Zi, would you like some hawthorn cake?"

Since he had said he would make candied hawthorn balls, Xiao Ran had already ordered people to collect hawthorns.

The villagers of Kaolao Village are all busy planting crops and have no time to go up the mountain to harvest hawthorns. However, after they heard the news, they told their relatives, which saved Xiao Ran from having to spread the word.

People kept coming to deliver hawthorns. They were all from the surrounding villages. Most of them were honest people. The hawthorns they brought were all plump and not rotten, and there were quite a lot of them.

So we don't lack hawthorns at home now.

The little princess loves the sweet and sour taste of hawthorn cake. Since we have hawthorn and the cook knows the recipe, we simply make some every day.

When Xiao Ran mentioned her favorite hawthorn cake, the little princess's eyes lit up and she nodded quickly.

"Seven! Seven!"

Soon, a plate of hawthorn cake was served, and the little ones each took a piece, their eyes crinkling with delight as they ate.

Xiao Ran instructed, "We'll be eating soon, so each person can only have one piece of hawthorn cake."

Upon hearing this, the little princess, who had been taking big bites of hawthorn cake, immediately slowed down and began to nibble at it slowly.

It wasn't until mealtime that a small piece of hawthorn cake was left, and the little princess finally put it in her mouth.

Seeing the little princess's greedy eating habits, Xiao Ran couldn't help but laugh. He picked her up and said, "Let's go eat!"

The meal was not much different from usual, with a good mix of meat and vegetables, and the little princess ate a full small bowl of rice.

After lunch, the little ones took a nap, and then got up to play again.

The newly built slide is still a favorite of the little ones. After waking up, they run straight to the slide and line up to play on it.

When I get tired, I sit on the swing and watch other people play.

Later, they even took out sandbags and started throwing them.

Although the shuttlecock had been repaired, the little princess didn't take it out to play with it again, because she was afraid of breaking it again.

Time flies, and soon, several days have passed, and the cement steps at the foot of the mountain have completely dried.

For the past few days, people have been watering the steps.

At first, the villagers in charge of watching over the watering were confused, but when they saw that it was Xiao Ran's servants watering the plants, they knew it was Xiao Ran's order, so they didn't dare to ask. It wasn't until someone couldn't contain their curiosity and asked the servants that they got the answer.

The reason is that the surface of the cement is dry, but the inside is not. If water is not poured on it, the cement will crack.

They watered it for several days and waited for several more. The closer they got to the time when the cement was supposed to dry, the more people came to check on the cement steps every day.

The day finally arrived when the cement steps were completed. The villagers were eager to try them out, but they didn't dare to do it on their own. So, one by one, they went to Zhang Mingde to ask him for help.

There is only one main road leading up the mountain. Although the villagers usually go up the mountain to cut firewood or dig for wild vegetables, and they don't go up the mountain every day, there are always times when they need to go up the mountain.

Especially the hunters in the village, who make a living by hunting, naturally have to go up the mountain all the time.

Although there are shortcuts that lead up, they are still not safe.

So, on this day, Xiao Ran was playing beanbag toss with the little princess and the others in the courtyard when he received a message saying that Zhang Mingde had arrived.

Xiao Ran walked towards the door, opened it, and saw Zhang Mingde.

Just like when Xiao Ran first saw him, Zhang Mingde was dressed very elegantly, with Zhang Jinhe and Zhang Jinnian by his side.

But when Zhang Mingde looked at Xiao Ran, he felt as if he had been transported to another world.

I remember when we first met, Xiao Ran was a stranger of unknown origin who came to ask me for help.

He was sitting in a chair watching him.

Things are different now than before. Xiao Ran has made friends with all sorts of high-ranking officials and nobles, including even His Majesty and princesses, and he has even acquired a noble title.

In particular, the potatoes and sweet potatoes he brought, as well as the glass workshop and so on, have given the village a brand new look.

Xiao Ran himself has changed drastically. At first, he was still a bit green and had a noticeable sense of alienation from the people around him.

But now, dressed in a brocade robe, he looks elegant and exudes nobility.

Seeing Zhang Mingde arrive but remain silent, Xiao Ran asked in confusion, "Village head?"

Zhang Mingde then came to his senses.

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "Village Chief, is there something you need? Why don't you come in and talk?"

As he spoke, Xiao Ran made way for Zhang Mingde.

Zhang Mingde waved his hand, "No need, I just came to ask about the cement steps. Everyone in the village is asking if we can start walking on them today?"

Xiao Ran calculated the time and figured it should be done by now, but just to be on the safe side, he decided it would be better to go and check it out himself.

So Xiao Ran and Muramasa walked together toward the cement steps, and the little princess and her friends followed along to join in the fun.

At this moment, a group of villagers had gathered at the foot of the mountain, making it even more lively than when Xiao Ran and his group were pouring water for the steps that day.

When Xiao Ran arrived, the villagers were discussing the cement steps enthusiastically. They fell silent when they saw Xiao Ran and the village head arrive.

Looking at the cement steps, Xiao Ran couldn't really be sure if they were dry inside, but they looked fine for now. He went up and tried them himself, and they felt solid. So he said, "These steps are safe to walk on now, everyone can rest assured."

Upon hearing this, several bold villagers stepped forward and stomped on it.

It felt more solid underfoot than on bluestone slabs or dirt roads; it was very firm and resilient.

It's not as narrow as stone or bluestone steps, where you have to be careful when going up or down, lest you slip.

After walking back and forth a few times, the villagers who had gone up first came down with smiles on their faces.

“These steps are different from the ones we used to have,” a villager said.

Many people don't believe this. They think they're all steps, so what difference could there be?

According to Xiao Ran, it simply means that it won't crack like ordinary steps after a few years.

However, once you actually step on it, you'll realize just how different it is.

In particular, Xiao Ran had drawn anti-slip patterns on it, so it wouldn't slip at all when walking on it.

The villagers went up one by one to try it, some even jumped on it a few times, and even the little princess and her friends stepped onto the steps and carefully touched it.

Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the steps, Xiao Ran said, "Everyone can walk on them without worry, the steps won't break."

The villagers responded in unison, and Xiao Ran looked at the little princess who was still standing on the steps, taking her short legs to walk up.

"Sizi, come up quickly."

The little princess lifted her leg and stepped up a step.

She's small and has short legs, so it's impossible for her to climb stairs one step at a time like an adult.

She could only step up with one foot first, then put the other foot on top, so that both feet were on the same step, and then continue walking up.

Looking to the side, Princess Gaoyang and the others were in a similar situation, only Di Renjie was in a better position.

They swayed from side to side as they climbed the steps, like little ducks, which made Xiao Ran laugh.

"Shall I carry you up?"

As he spoke, Xiao Ran tried to hug the little princess, but she refused.

"No duck~ I'm leaving~"

The little princess was fascinated by the steps; for her, going up and down the steps was like a game.

Xiao Ran turned to ask the other little ones, and without exception, they all wanted to walk by themselves.

So Xiao Ran could only helplessly instruct, "You can walk by yourselves, but take it slowly. Don't run or jump, okay? Otherwise, it will hurt a lot if you accidentally fall."

These steps have anti-slip textures, one after another. If you accidentally fall while running or jumping, you'll definitely get a bruise.

Xiao Ran also reminded the villagers, "The texture on these cement steps is for slip prevention, but if you're wearing thin clothes, it's easy to slip and hurt your hands if you fall and scrape against them, so everyone should be careful."

The villagers nodded, but for them, even a small scratch was nothing; country folk weren't that precious.

After much hardship, the little ones finally reached the steps where Xiao Ran was standing.

Xiao Ran didn't dare let them come down on their own. If they accidentally fell and rolled down, it would be a fatal thing.

So Xiao Ran ignored the little ones' protests and carried them off the plane one by one.

Di Renjie was a little embarrassed when Xiao Ran held him in his arms.

After sending all the little ones downstairs, they were fine, but Xiao Ran was exhausted.

Carrying several solid little bundles of flesh up and down back and forth was truly a difficult task for Xiao Ran.

Fearing the little ones might still be thinking about the steps, Xiao Ran simply took them home.

After returning home, Xiao Ran sat down and started drinking water. Before long, he had finished two cups of tea.

Li Lizhi, who was standing nearby, asked in confusion, "Weren't you going to look at the cement steps? Why are you so tired?"

Watching the little ones start throwing beanbags, Xiao Ran recounted what had happened on the steps, concluding, "These kids of ours really are all solid little dumplings."

Li Lizhi burst out laughing at these words, and Princess Yuzhang added, "Of course! Just look at what they eat every day, especially the 'Sizi,' whose little mouth is almost never stopping. It would be strange if it wasn't solid."

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

The children were confused by the adults' laughter. Yan Yao looked at them and said, "Let's continue playing. The young men are always acting strangely, just like my grandfather."

Upon hearing this, the children stopped playing and surrounded Yan Yao, asking her what was wrong with her grandfather.

Thus, without Yan Liben's knowledge, Yan Yao revealed a number of rather unrefined matters. (End of Chapter)