Chapter 118: Preparing for Marriage

The gate was opened with a clatter, and both elderly people stepped forward excitedly to grab Zhang Ping'an's hands.

"Ping'an, did you come here by yourself this time?"

"Yes, Grandfather, I came to Beijiang on a procurement mission for the factory, and I stopped by to see you both on the way."

"Good, good, good, come into the house first."

"Mm."

The three of them spent the morning busy in the kitchen, and Zhang Ping'an told the two elders about his life over the past six months; it was a pity he had left in such a rush that he hadn't taken any photos to bring along.

At noon, after finishing two bowls of beef mixed noodles, Zhang Ping'an patted his stomach with satisfaction; it had to be homemade, with half noodles and half meat.

"Ping'an, how many days are you staying this time?"

"Two days, I suppose. I still have to return to Wushi."

"Mm," Grandfather nodded to show he understood.

That night, Zhang Ping'an replaced all the water in Grandmother's house with Space Water, and then spent a day turning over all the soil in the front and back yards of his grandparents' house; the daytime temperature in Beijiang was currently over ten degrees, but it sometimes dropped below zero at night.

The next day, Zhang Ping'an sat with the two elders on a horse-drawn carriage reminiscing about the past; mostly Grandfather was talking and Zhang Ping'an was listening, and it was only then that Zhang Ping'an learned that Grandfather had originally been with the Kuomintang, and later joined the Chinese Military.

Zhang Ping'an had originally intended to let his grandparents go to Sijiucheng to live for a while, but Grandfather's background made him hesitate.

Forget it, he wouldn't bring it up; it was quite good staying in Beijiang now, with their sons and grandsons all here, and the old couple was free and at leisure.

Early on the third day, after saying goodbye to Grandmother's family, Zhang Ping'an bought a stallion at Wasta's house and galloped across the land of Beijiang.

It took him four hours to reach the hunting spot from last time; he put the horse into the space, released the entire family of seven yellow-haired eagles, took his machete, shouldered his spear, and plunged into the Tianshan mountain range.

By this time, the original two yellow-haired eagles had grown to the height of Zhang Ping'an's waist, and their wingspans were roughly estimated to be two point three or four meters—proper large birds of prey; their five children were slightly smaller, but they were also anomalies among their kind.

This time it was just Zhang Ping'an; moving at full speed, after three days, Zhang Ping'an had harvested a group of five argali sheep in Tianshan, two pairs of wild horses, a pair of red deer, and so on; he packed up and took away any rare species he encountered on the road, provided he didn't disrupt the balance.

Afterwards, Zhang Ping'an felt his way down the mountain; the four wild horses had already been tamed in the space, and Zhang Ping'an began traveling day and night, with the four horses taking turns, resting in the space when tired; after three days of non-stop travel, he finally arrived in the Hetian region.

In this vast land, Zhang Ping'an didn't encounter many people along the way, which made him even more unscrupulous in collecting Jade.

At this time, the bottom of the Space Pond was already covered with Jade, but the pond water hadn't overflowed in the slightest, and Zhang Ping'an hadn't discovered any changes in the space.

Unwilling to give up, Zhang Ping'an scavenged here for another three days without sleep or rest; he no longer remembered how many tons of Jade he had thrown into the bottom of the pond, but the space still showed no changes at all.

Zhang Ping'an felt discouraged and stopped persisting; after resting in the space for one night, he prepared to rush back to Wushi.

At this time in Wushi, twelve days had passed since Zhang Ping'an left, and Jia Dongxu had already completed the verification of most of the procurement tasks and had also bought quite a few local specialties himself.

It wasn't until the fifteenth day that Zhang Ping'an returned to Wushi, and only after working overtime with Jia Dongxu to finish the inventory did he set off to return.

This mission could be considered a complete success, but Zhang Ping'an couldn't feel happy at all; he had wasted over half a month for nothing.

By the time he returned to Sijiucheng, it was the last day of April, and the day after tomorrow was the day of Zhang Ping'an's wedding.

The first thing Zhang Ping'an did upon returning to Sijiucheng was to go see Wang Xiaoling; looking at the exhausted Zhang Ping'an, Wang Xiaoling hugged him with a heart full of pity.

During his half-month in Beijiang, Zhang Ping'an had only slept three times, not to mention the time on trucks and trains, which was why Zhang Ping'an looked so weary.

"It's okay, I'll be fine after a sleep; I need to go back and clean the house properly to marry you the day after tomorrow."

"Mm."

Zhang Ping'an didn't plan for the wedding banquet to be overly ostentatious, just one person from each household in the courtyard, but there seemed to be several new faces in the courtyard now, so it would probably take two tables.

With two tables for Wang Xiaoling's family, the number of people on his side would be higher, probably six or seven tables; Zhang Ping'an thought as he walked, and upon arriving at the Siheyuan, he discovered that the East Wing Room in the Front Courtyard was also occupied, by two families at that.

"Ping'an is back?"

"Teacher Yan, our courtyard has new people again."

"Yes, quite a few, too; three families in the Front Courtyard, two families came to the Middle Courtyard, and the Back Courtyard has the most, six families; it'll be lively from now on."

"Lively is good; that's the only way to have some human warmth."

"That's true; look at how tired you look, hurry home and get some rest."

"Okay."

When Zhang Ping'an reached the gate of his own courtyard, he found the doors wide open on both sides, and only after entering did he realize his parents had come.

"Brother."

"Hey."

Picking up his younger brother, Zhang Ping'an then noticed that both inside and outside the house had been cleaned up spotlessly.

"Dad, Mom, when did you arrive?"

"Three or four days ago; you were going on a business trip right before your wedding, and you didn't even seem anxious; your grandparents are also inside."

"I couldn't help it, it was a temporary mission, but I have ten days of wedding leave."

"Mm, it's a good thing you came back in time, otherwise no amount of wedding leave would be any use; did you see your grandparents?"

"I did; time was too tight, so I only stayed at their house for two days; Mom, don't worry, Grandfather and Grandmother are both in very good health."

"Mm."

"Good grandson, come in quickly and see what's still missing," Grandmother called out from inside upon hearing the commotion, urging Zhang Ping'an to come in and take a look.

"Okay, Grandmother, I'm coming."

As soon as Zhang Ping'an entered the room, he saw that his main east room was a sea of red; the curtains, bedsheets, quilt covers, and pillowcases were all red, and there were several large red wedding basins.

"These were all made by your San Jie and Si Jie in their spare time over the past few months, and your nephews also helped out."

"Mm," Zhang Ping'an was very moved; this was also the benefit of having older sisters.

That evening, Zhang Ping'an's whole family was discussing and calculating how large the scale of the wedding should be.

"Grandparents, Dad, Mom, I think six dishes or eight dishes and one soup is enough; I'll just go hunt a Wild Boar tomorrow."

"No need, your second uncle will bring over a big fat pig from home tomorrow, and we'll slaughter it fresh on the morning of the day after tomorrow; if there's any left, we'll salt it; go to the morning market tomorrow to see if there are any live fish."

"The ten big roosters from home were also brought over, that's definitely enough; your San Jie Fu, Youcai, also had He Daqing write up a menu for you to look at."

"Braised Pork, Braised Carp, Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms, Shredded Pork with Green Peppers, Four Joy Meatballs, Stir-fried Eggs, Vinegar-Glazed Bean Sprouts, Stewed Tofu, Mushroom and Pork Rib Soup."

"Grandparents, Dad, Mom, this is already very good."

Although Zhang Ping'an felt it was a bit over the limit, this timing was still acceptable; it would be hard to say if it were two years later.

"Alright then, it's settled. Besides your second uncle and third uncle, the branches of your granduncle and second granduncle from the village will also come."

"Good."

After eating dinner, everyone went back to rest; Zhang Ping'an had no pre-wedding anxiety, only anticipation for the day after tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, and the whole country is on holiday for one day, but since Zhang Ping'an's wedding is the day after, it shouldn't hinder everyone from coming to the banquet at noon.

In the morning, Zhang Ping'an only came out after exercising and washing up in his space; a night's sleep washed away his fatigue, leaving him feeling exceptionally refreshed.

Zhang Ping'an went out early in the morning with a bucket, riding his tricycle, and when he returned, the bucket was filled with ten lively, jumping big carp.

"Ping'an, did you buy these? The quality is quite good." His grandparents were getting on in years and didn't sleep much, so they were up before six.

"Mm, you could say that."