43. An idea

After arriving at the town, Liu Tong first went to the place where the ox cart was parked and spent a few copper coins to have someone keep watch.

Then he led his family to Mr. Chen's restaurant.

For the first time, Mr. Chen saw Xu Ran whom Liu Tong pampered so much.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Liu Tong handed all the chili paste to Mr. Chen and said, "Mr. Chen, this is all we had in our house. The next batch might take a few days, so you might want to sell them sparingly for the time being."

"Well…" Mr. Chen was a bit awkward, "Couldn't you pick up the pace a little? The customers have already made a habit of buying them; I fear they won't be pleased if I suddenly cut down the stock. Those are my regular customers."

Regular customers were indeed very important for a shop. As their living expenses nowadays depended on the high prices Mr. Chen offered for the chili paste, Liu Tong was also a bit hesitant and turned his eyes towards Xu Ran.

Xu Ran grinned and said, "Mr. Chen, it's not something you can make easily, as the paste tastes better after it's left for some time. However, I do have a way to satisfy your customers."

Mr. Chen's eyes lit up from hearing these words and he asked, "What's your idea, Mr. Xu?"

"Mr. Chen, don't you have a lot of porcelain bottles in your restaurant? You can put the paste in these bottles, tell the customers that they're the last few bottles of chili paste left in this batch, then put on a strict sales limit per person and give away a porcelain bottle to each of them for free. You can also take pre-orders from customers and supply them when the next batch arrives. I'm sure they'll be glad to."

The restaurant definitely had a lot of porcelain bottles, and in order to keep his customers, Mr. Chen agreed in a snap, "Alright, great idea. Mr. Xu, you don't mind if I just call you Ran, right? You're quite the smart one."

"Not at all." Xu Ran shook his head.

"Mr. Chen, if some of the customers miss the deal, you can also offer them a discount, just tell them something like you'll treat them to a few dishes for free! Or lower the price of his dish orders by half. I'll leave it up to you. I'm sure the customers won't be dissatisfied."

"Alright, alright, I'll go make the arrangements as you said." Mr. Chen got so excited he was about to leave without even picking up the chili paste.

"Mr. Chen," Xu Ran stopped him, "you forgot this."

Mr. Chen patted his forehead in vexation, "Look at me. How about you come to my place for lunch then? My treat."

Xu Ran didn't feel like being too polite either, "Don't mind if I do then, Mr. Chen."

"Then it's settled. I like straightforward people like you."

Smiling, Xu Ran replied, "Same to you."

After Mr. Chen paid for the chili paste, the family of four went for a stroll on the streets.

Last time Xu Ran was in a hurry and didn't get a good look at what was on the street, but this time he looked around carefully and found many things he had never seen before, especially some trinkets. They were quite exquisitely made.

Xu Ran saw some kites on sale by the street; the two kids had been staring at them for a while, so he took these kids over to the shop and said, "Choose one you like."

Although Tangtang and Guoguo liked them a lot, they knew kites were very expensive. There was a child who had one in the village and it was an object of much envy.

The two kids knew that life wasn't easy, so they shook their head sensibly. Tantang said, "It's fine, dad. I'm okay with just looking at it."

Looking at the two kids made Xu Ran feel sorry for them, as when he was a child, he could ask his parents whatever he wanted and they would buy it as long as it wasn't expensive. Compared to him, his kids couldn't even own a kite.

He patted Tangtang's head and said, "Go pick! I can afford two kites."

"Really?" Guoguo looked at Xu Ran with sparkly eyes. Xu Ran nodded and said, "Of course, ask daddy if you don't believe me."

Liu Tong would never go against his will, not to mention that he always pampered the kids to begin with. So he nodded and replied, "What your dad said is true, go choose!"

The variety of kites was extremely limited, with only two variations: the swallow and the eagle. The two kids picked one for each and held them with joy.

Afterwards, the family went on to check other things and bought whatever useful.

Xu Ran did find some corn kernels in town, but the shopkeeper refused to sell them. Apparently he wasn't allowed to sell the corn kernels without his master's permissions.

The master just happened to be away, making Xu Ran feel a little bummed. So he said to the shopkeeper, "I want you to keep these for me, please. When your master comes back, please tell him that the Xu Ran from the Xu Village wants to buy them, I'll come back after a few days."

"Alright, Mr. Xu, I'll keep them for you."

Xu Ran made a bow politely and said, "You have my thanks."

Although disappointed by the turn of events, Xu Ran didn't let it show. The family then went to the bookstore and bought some books as well as various writing materials, which cost about two taels of silver. No one minded, because they all thought the money was well spent.

Xu Ran was also going to buy some cotton quilts, but considering it was too big, he decided to go eat first.

As the family was making its way to Mr. Chen's restaurant, they had no idea that a few pairs of eyes were dead fixed upon them from behind.