Chapter 127: The Vacation Ends

He Daqing brought Cai Quanwu to finish the onboarding procedures, collected his items, and took him straight to the back kitchen.

"Director He, this is your..."

Lao Liu hesitated, but still didn't mention her son. After all, she had already met He Yuzhu and had never heard of He Daqing having another son that old.

Lao Liu, Liu Erxia, was also a Kitchen Helper in the kitchen and had been at the Rolling Mill for some years. Her nickname was "Big Mouth"; anything that passed through her lips wouldn't take a morning to spread through the entire canteen.

"Ahem, Lao Liu, this is my younger brother Cai Quanwu, whom I was separated from for many years. We only recently reunited. He will be a member of the kitchen from now on. Quanwu, this is Lao Liu, you should call her Sister Liu."

He Daqing also wanted to use Liu Erxia's loose lips to spread Cai Quanwu's identity to save people from guessing wildly. After all, the two of them looked too much alike; the old employees would likely misunderstand if they saw them.

"Oh, oh, hello Master Cai."

Since Liu Erxia knew Cai Quanwu was He Daqing's brother, he would definitely be at least a Stir-fry Chef in the future, so calling him Master Cai was definitely correct.

"You're too kind, Sister Liu. Just call me Little Cai."

Then He Daqing took Cai Quanwu to introduce him to the rest of the people in the canteen one by one. Liu Erxia did not disappoint; by the time Shazhu arrived at the back kitchen, the name of his second uncle had already spread throughout the canteen.

In the morning, He Daqing had Cai Quanwu work on the chopping block. Cai Quanwu still had some foundation, but he hadn't had the chance to practice during the chaotic war years.

"Quanwu, your foundation is good, you just need practice. For the next two months, you will focus on the chopping block. When Zhuzi and I are stir-frying, you can learn by watching from the side."

"Alright, Big Brother."

All morning, the canteen staff watched He Daqing and his son guiding Cai Quanwu. While feeling envious, they also completely dispelled their doubts about Cai Quanwu being He Daqing's son. After all, no matter how foolish Shazhu was, he couldn't possibly accept an outsider brother competing with him for his father.

At lunch, everyone knew about this matter in the canteen, but with the explanations from the people of the Siheyuan, everyone accepted this version of the story.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ping'an and Wang Xiaoling were already back home in Zhang Family Village. Since it was the new bride's first time returning to the village, Zhang Laohan still set up two tables and invited his brothers and close relatives over for drinks.

After the banquet dispersed, Zhang Ping'an carried cigarettes and candy in his pockets and took Wang Xiaoling for a stroll around the village. Whenever they met someone, they would greet them, hand out cigarettes and candy, and introduce Wang Xiaoling.

"How is the countryside?"

"It's very good. I feel like everyone is very kind."

Ever since the Public-Private Partnership, Wang Xiaoling felt that the people around her family had changed. They weren't as close to her as before, and she always felt their smiles were a bit fake. Here, at least, everyone's smiles were from the heart.

"Well, our Zhang Family Village is a clan village. Everyone is related by blood or marriage to some extent. I wouldn't say we are perfectly united, but we are still very good to our own people."

"Especially someone as lovable as me. When I was little, everyone loved me so much; they all liked to chase after me to play."

"How come I heard from Mom and Dad that you were a troublemaker when you were little, and everyone was tormented quite a bit by you?"

"..."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Why does this old man Zhang say everything?

"Hee hee, alright Brother Ping'an. I don't know what you were like when you were little, but I remember you clearly from five years ago. I can't forget how good you've been to me all these years. Tell me the truth, did you really want to learn medicine back then, or were you aiming for me?"

"I was learning medicine. It's just that after I met you, it made my determination to learn from my master even firmer. What about you? Were you already coveting my good looks long ago?"

"Stop being so conceited. Where would I have?"

"You did. Last night you were still..."

"You're asking for death!"

The two chased and fought all the way, and without realizing it, they arrived at the Back Mountain, where they happened to run into the three Zhang Tiezhu brothers setting traps.

"Brother Ping'an, Sister-in-law, are you here to hunt too?"

"Ahem, Tiezhu, your sister-in-law and I are just walking around. You guys have quite a harvest this time." Zhang Ping'an saw that all three of them were carrying sacks.

"It's all pheasants and hares. Mom and Dad won't let us go deep into the mountains, otherwise, we would have definitely bagged a Wild Boar. By the way, Brother Ping'an, Sister-in-law, do you want some?"

"No, you take them home and process them well. I'll come to collect them in a while. You are still too young; it won't be too late to go in a couple of years."

"Alright, Brother Ping'an. We've each saved up about twenty or thirty of them."

"Good, it's hot, go back and process them quickly."

"Okay."

After they walked away, Wang Xiaoling asked:

"Brother Ping'an, you said they were still young, but how come they look older than you?"

"Ahem, they just look mature. Actually, they are only fourteen or fifteen years old this year."

"That age is indeed not big, but they are also very skilled at hunting."

"Yeah, I taught them all. They followed behind me playing when they were very small. If there's a chance in the future, I'll find them jobs in the city."

"Mm."

"It's getting late, let's go back too." There were only two more days before work, so they would stay in the village for one more day tomorrow and go back the day after.

At night, the two naturally couldn't avoid a great battle. The newly built house had rammed earth walls that were half a meter thick, so the soundproofing was decent, and besides, they were the only ones in the west wing.

Now, Wang Xiaoling barely had the qualifications to arm-wrestle with Zhang Ping'an, and she wasn't as utterly defeated as she was at the beginning.

In the morning, Zhang Ping'an got up feeling refreshed. He didn't exercise; he hadn't been to the Back Mountain in a long time, so he grabbed his gear and headed straight for the Back Mountain, releasing the two Huangmao eagles as well.

"Go, call Dahu over."

"Screech!"

Zhang Ping'an strolled through the Back Mountain and discovered quite a few pheasants and hares. At this time, there was still plenty of game on the mountain, though, of course, it couldn't compare to the Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province.

After the three-year special period, he would still have to put them all into his space just in case, to avoid them being hunted by people starving to death.

As Zhang Ping'an ventured deeper, the fog grew heavier, and many Wild Boars appeared.

"Roar!"

Another wild goat was carried over by Dahu. The Wild Boars were startled and scattered in a flurry. The good fellow had grown quite a bit more, and a massive tiger head rubbed against Zhang Ping'an.

"Drink." Zhang Ping'an took out a large basin of Space Water and some space-grown hares, pheasants, and fish to feed Dahu.

Suddenly, Dahu, who was eating, had its fur stand on end and let out a low growl at a certain spot. Zhang Ping'an also heard a rhythmic whistle; it was the exact hunting communication method he used with Zhang Laiyuan.

"Uncle, it's me. Don't shoot. This tiger is one I saved by chance; it has no hostility toward humans."

"Dahu, it's okay. You keep eating and drinking, I'm going to talk." Zhang Ping'an soothed Dahu.

"Ping'an, you come over here first."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an walked quickly toward Zhang Laiyuan, his body consistently blocking Dahu. Seeing Zhang Ping'an move away from the tiger, Zhang Laiyuan finally let out a long sigh of relief, though he remained on guard.

"Ping'an, you are too Dadan. Even if you saved this tiger, you shouldn't touch it while it's eating."

"Uncle, it's really fine. When I saved it three years ago, it was still small. Later, whenever I went deep into the Back Mountain, it would come to find me, and every time it would bring me some prey," Zhang Ping'an said, half-truthfully.

"Fine then. Since it has human-like intelligence, we won't touch it. You tell it not to come out of the deep mountains in the future."

"Alright. Uncle, how did you end up in the deep mountains?"

"I originally came over to set traps, but I was attracted by the roaring sound, and then I saw you touching the tiger while it was eating."