Chapter 109: A Small Gathering

"Zhang Shu, I'm fine, I can still provide a chicken."

"Hehe, that works. Then I'll show off my skills tonight."

Zhang Ping'an looked at Shazhu in surprise. Could that foul mouth of his actually say something humble?

"Done."

"Alright, then everyone go prepare. There will be good stuff when you come over later."

Zhang Ping'an prepared to take out an old soft-shelled turtle. Over the past two years, the descendants of those original old turtles had become rampant. Except for the initial ones, almost all those over five years old had been slaughtered by Zhang Ping'an.

These old turtles laid eggs three times a year, with over a dozen each time, a batch every six months. One could imagine how many Zhang Ping'an had accumulated over these two years. The key was that Zhang Ping'an couldn't process them all, so he simply stored them away.

Zhang Ping'an took a five-jin piece of venison and a simply processed soft-shelled turtle of about five jin from his space. After thinking for a moment, he took out half a rack of lamb.

Before long, Shazhu arrived carrying a kitchen knife and a sea fish, which looked like a Big Yellow Fish, while Damao carried a clucking rooster in his hand.

"Zhuzi, is this a Big Yellow Fish?"

"Zhang Shu, you know your stuff. It was... cough, it was brought home by my dad." Hehe, Zhang Ping'an knew that this Big Yellow Fish was most likely given by Lou Bancheng.

Zhang Ping'an had guessed correctly. He Daqing had been invited to the Rolling Mill by Lou Bancheng. Sometimes when Lou Bancheng invited guests to his home, he would also have He Daqing come over to cook. This yellow fish was one of the rewards given by Lou Bancheng.

"Not bad, not bad. Zhuzi, I have some things here too, you handle them."

"Done, Zhang Shu, this..."

Shazhu was stunned. He recognized the venison, but this old turtle was probably seven or eight years old—definitely a great tonic. And the lamb rack—it was going to be quite a nourishing meal today; even a worm could be used as a nail.

"Zhang Shu..."

Two heads poked out from the courtyard gate; it was Yushui and Xiaoling. The two girls were nine years old now and looked like little adults.

"Don't stay at the door, come on in."

"Mm, okay." Yushui was still holding a little tot dressed like a ball; it was her two-year-old brother, He Yuliang.

"Damao, you help Zhuzi, I'm going to call Dongxu and the others over."

"Done." Damao wasn't good for much else, but peeling garlic or tending the fire was fine.

Zhang Ping'an walked out of the courtyard gate. As soon as he reached the Middle Courtyard, he saw the Yi siblings and Xiao Zi and the others building a snowman.

"Uncle."

"Zhang Shu."

"Mm, go to my courtyard, several of your little friends are already there." Zhang Ping'an watched the four children struggling to build the snowman.

"Mm." The four of them walked hand-in-hand toward Zhang Ping'an's courtyard.

"Dongxu, come over to my place for a drink later."

"Alright, Uncle."

Zhang Ping'an went out again, and when he returned, he had over a dozen candied hawthorn skewers and a large bag of stir-fried chestnuts in his hands.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Zhang Ping'an was stunned. It was packed with children; it seemed like all the kids in the courtyard had come over. Some were having a snowball fight, others were building a snowman. Zhang Ping'an looked at the candied hawthorns in his hand and hurriedly snuck in ten more.

"Wow, Uncle, candied hawthorns!"

"Stop playing, everyone line up, one skewer each." They were all seedless, so Zhang Ping'an wasn't worried about the children choking.

"Dongzi, Donglai; Jiecheng, Jiefang; Guangqi, Guangtian, Guangfu; Jiabao, Jiabei..." There were twenty-three children. By the end, only four skewers were left in Zhang Ping'an's hand.

"Guangqi, you distribute these chestnuts to everyone too." Zhang Ping'an estimated that each person would get at most two.

"Alright, Zhang Shu."

"Yushui, keep an eye on your brother while he eats." He also gave instructions to the other younger ones one by one.

"Alright, Zhang Shu."

"Dongxu, these are for you, Zhuzi, and Damao." Zhang Ping'an kept one for himself and ate it with a crunch.

Jia Dongxu had originally felt embarrassed to accept because of his age, but seeing Zhang Ping'an eating one after another, he took it too.

"Silly Mao, what's the rush? Zhang Shu definitely saved some for us." Shazhu couldn't leave while handling the ingredients, so he had to hold Damao back.

"Done, I won't go. Shazhu, you can let go of your greasy claws now."

"Oh, hehe."

"Here, one for each of you." Just as the two separated, Jia Dongxu walked in.

"Silly Mao, look, I told you."

"Fine, you win."

When it got dark, Zhang Ping'an didn't need to send them off; they were all called away by their parents one by one.

"Jiecheng, you and Guangqi stay too, let's have a drink."

Both of them were fifteen now. Since they had come, Zhang Ping'an wouldn't chase them away. As for the Wu brothers who hadn't come, he wouldn't go out of his way to call them.

"Zhang Shu, then I'll go home and get two bottles of wine."

"I'll go home and get two bottles of wine too."

"Done."

They were all Sijiucheng men at an age where they cared about face, so naturally, they couldn't show up empty-handed.

"Dad, pour me two bottles of wine, I'm going to eat at Zhang Shu's house."

"Done, just take this whole jar over." Yan Bugui had smelled the aroma of various meats long ago, and he was happy to see his son join in.

Liu Guangqi's situation at home was similar. Liu Haizhong now valued this "Crown Prince" highly and often sought his advice.

"Take these two bottles of wine, and bring a sausage over too. You and Guangtian didn't eat little while at Ping'an's courtyard this afternoon."

"Alright, Dad."

In Zhang Ping'an's main room, six dishes were set on the Eight Immortals table, served in basins: Overlord Steals the Chicken, Braised Venison, Steamed Big Yellow Fish, Braised Pork, Lamb Soup, and sausage.

"Come, come, eat some food to line your stomachs before drinking. Everyone try the main dish." The most eye-catching was the basin of Overlord Steals the Chicken placed in the center.

"Mm~ Zhuzi, your culinary skills have greatly improved; you're three-tenths as good as Brother He."

"Brother Zhuzi, the food you make tastes better than what my mom makes."

"That's right, it's really fragrant."

"Hehe," Shazhu started grinning foolishly as soon as he heard someone praise him.

"Come, come, drink. Guangqi, you and Jiecheng should just drink a little," the two were only fifteen, so Zhang Ping'an didn't urge them to drink.

"Alright, Zhang Shu."

"Come, Damao, Zhuzi, and Dongxu, this wine is made from grain; not drinking it would be a sin. Come, come, come, drink."

"If a man doesn't drink, he has lived in this world in vain."

"If he can drink two taels but drinks five, I admire such a comrade."

"If he can drink half a jin but drinks eight taels, such a comrade must be cultivated."

"If he can drink eight taels but drinks one jin, only then can one be at ease." (Note: Does not count towards word count.)

"Uncle, drink slowly."

Jia Dongxu hurriedly interrupted Zhang Ping'an's spell-casting; they hadn't eaten much of the food, but had drunk quite a bit of wine.

He wasn't good at drinking to begin with, but with the Tiger Bone Wine foundation over the last two years, plus the Body Refining Technique, his tolerance had increased quite a bit, so he wasn't drunk yet.

"Brother Dongxu, are you afraid your wife won't let you in the door?"

Although Xu Damao had also drunk quite a bit, Zhang Ping'an's drinking toasts made him suddenly enlightened. Originally, he and his father were the only ones at the Rolling Mill who were Projectionists, and he had thought his father might at least land some kind of official position, but things had turned out contrary to his wishes.

Xu Damao had been wanting to take advantage of the newly established Propaganda Department to see if he could land a position as an officer. He had already found out the preferences of several leaders and was just waiting to treat them to a meal to make his move; Zhang Ping'an's drinking toasts had come at the perfect time.

Xu Damao was staring at Zhang Ping'an with glowing eyes, while simultaneously memorizing these toasts in his heart; he was naturally unhappy about being interrupted by Jia Dongxu, but fortunately, Zhang Ping'an continued.

"Wine is the courage of heroes; we refuse to be managed by our wives."

"..."

"Wine is the essence of grain; the more we drink, the younger we get."

"Right, right, right, Zhang Shu, let's drink."

Liu Guangqi was also memorizing the toasts; he felt that his father would need these in the future.

People in this era generally had a capacity of eight taels to a jin, so these few cups were just a drizzle.

"How about it, Damao? Did you learn it?"

Zhang Ping'an was saying these things on purpose; this was much stronger than those two big and one small toasts of Xu Damao's in the original show. Xu Damao wanted to enter the department, and as his uncle, how could he not help him out a bit?

"Zhang Shu, you really understand me, hehe, I toast you one."

"Come, come, everyone drink."

Zhang Ping'an slowed down his pace and began to focus on eating the food. It must be said, this soft-shelled turtle was truly nourishing; eating it made his whole body feel warm.

"Brother Damao, why are you having a nosebleed?"