Chapter 129: The Mischievous Qin Jingru

At noon, the two of them made a simple meal, then lay under the grape trellis reading medical books; Zhang Ping'an secretly put the sea cucumber into his space to soak for two hours.

At five o'clock, Zhang Ping'an started getting busy, and at six o'clock, Jia Dongxu bought some peanuts and braised meat, and also brought the three children back.

"Brother Ping'an, how is this possible? This sea cucumber has only been soaking for seven or eight hours, and it's already done?"

"It might be the water quality here in Sijiucheng."

"That's the only possible reason."

Wang Xiaoling had already started simmering the seafood porridge, the cold-tossed kelp was ready, and the remaining sea cucumber and abalone were all prepped; they were all to be stir-fried over high heat, which would be quick enough once everyone arrived, and the garlic lobster was about ready too—just steam it and pour a ladle of hot oil over it at the end.

Zhang Ping'an took charge of the shredded pork with sweet bean sauce and the stir-fried chicken; he used the Linyi stir-fried chicken method from his past life, stir-frying the chicken pieces over high heat, then adding water to simmer slowly until the meat was tender, and finally turning up the heat to reduce the sauce, which would be just about right by the time Lao Jia and San Jie got off work.

By six-thirty, everyone had gathered in Zhang Ping'an's small courtyard; his two dishes were already done, and as for the rest, Wang Xiaoling, Zhang Xiaohua, and Qin Huairu were in the kitchen learning how to cook seafood.

After returning from Jinmen, Zhang Ping'an had distributed some dried seafood to each household, but since they didn't know how to cook it, it had just been sitting there.

"San Jie, Huairu, I learned this from an older woman by the seaside; it's simple and tastes good."

Next was the start of our Teacher Wang's little class, with the two "students" listening while tending to the fire.

The two dishes were out of the pot quickly; it didn't even take twenty minutes total.

"Stop reading those comic books, everyone, go wash your hands and eat."

"This has to be eaten while it's hot."

"Mmm~ This sea cucumber is so bouncy, and the abalone is similar, though not quite as bouncy as the sea cucumber; and this lobster tail, the meat is firm but not tough."

The three children were all eating with grease smeared all over their mouths; of course, Bang Geng was still young, so he only had a little taste.

"San Jie Fu, Dongxu, let's have a drink."

"Sure."

"San Jie Fu, Dongxu, neither of us has been to the factory these past few days; how is the food situation now?"

"It's quite good, we get a bit of meat every day. I heard from Wu Qiang that it was Zhu Jianshe from your Procurement Section who procured the big fat pigs, and do you know that Zhu Jianshe is actually your Section Chief's nephew?"

"I had guessed they were related, but I didn't expect them to be uncle and nephew. No wonder he tried to make Dongxu and me take his place to go to Beijiang last time."

"Your Section Chief has no integrity; he couldn't bear to send his own nephew away, so he sent you two instead. In the future, just procure according to the minimum standard; he's the one responsible for the bulk of it anyway, with his nephew there."

"Got it."

Anyway, they weren't short on money now, and as long as they completed the daily procurement tasks, Zhu Weiguo couldn't find fault with them.

"By the way, San Jie, do Xiaochen, Xiaojing, and the others have partners now?"

"I don't think so? I see them in the shop every day, and I've never seen any girls looking for them."

"What about on their days off?"

"I haven't paid attention to that. Xiaomei and the others probably know. Did Big Sister ask you to inquire?"

"Yes, Xiaochen is twenty this year, and Xiaojing will be twenty next year."

"Then it really is time for them to get married. I'll ask them for Big Sister tomorrow."

"Yes, good."

Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoling was whispering something to Qin Huairu, her eyes enviously fixed on Qin Huairu's large chest; Zhang Ping'an shook his head with a smile—Wang Xiaoling's small frame didn't really match having such a large chest.

"San Jie Fu, Dongxu, let's keep drinking."

"Come, come."

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an dropped Wang Xiaoling off at the Pharmacy before catching up with the main group, parting ways at the factory gate.

"Dongxu, let's go get the cart and go fishing later; it's been a long time since we went fishing."

"Alright, there's a wild river near Qin Family Village; I heard from my brother-in-law that there are plenty of big fish in it."

"That works, let's go back and get our gear after we pick up our assignments."

"Okay."

At the Procurement Section, the two copied down the day's procurement price list, picked up the tricycle, and went home to get their fishing rods and buckets.

Lao Jia's two broken bamboo rods had really done a great job; Zhang Ping'an's first pot of gold had been earned using them.

Forty minutes later, the two parked the cart by the river and started fishing; half an hour later, two of the four buckets were already full.

"Uncle, I'm going to send some to Huairu's family; they have a lot of people working there now, so eating something good will help them put in more effort."

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Less than half an hour after Jia Dongxu left, Zhang Ping'an had also collected three or four hundred catties and put them in his space; when he looked up, he saw Qin Dabao carrying a fishing rod.

"Why did you come here to fish, kid? Whoa, you've got quite a haul."

"Dabao Ge, you're fishing too? Dongxu said there were a lot of fish here, and since we had procurement tasks, we came over. Dongxu went to deliver fish to your eldest brother's house."

"Hmm, that kid is alright. My niece Huairu married the right person, and it saves me some trouble."

"That's for sure, he's my nephew."

Upon hearing this, Qin Dabao didn't even bother to look at Zhang Ping'an; he had originally brought the game he'd hunted to his second brother, but Qin Dahu refused to take it, which was why he'd had the urge to go fishing.

Just as the two were chatting, Jia Dongxu returned.

"Third Uncle, so you're here. Jingru seems to have skipped school again; I saw her and a few other children swinging on a tree at the village entrance when I came back."

It was only ten o'clock now; normally this would still be class time, so if she could appear at the village entrance, it was eight or nine times out of ten that she was skipping school.

"..."

Qin Dabao had black lines on his forehead; this daughter was too much of a worry, and if her grades weren't decent, she would have been expelled ten times over.

"Ahem, I'm going back to check. Ping'an, Dongxu, come to my place for lunch," Qin Dabao said, running off in a hurry without waiting for the two to answer.

"Dongxu, what's the deal with Jingru?"

"Ahem, this girl has been mischievous and naughty since she started school last year; she's a total tomboy. She finds school boring, so she skips class every few days, and in the end, she even dragged a few other kids from the village along with her."

"Third Uncle can't do anything about her, and Third Aunt can't control her either, but fortunately, the girl's grades are still passable."

"Hahaha, that girl. Let's fish for a while longer and then go over to take a look."

"Good."

The two of them fished for another half hour or so; Zhang Ping'an's four fish buckets were already full, and the fish he caught were all tossed into Jia Dongxu's bucket.

These fish buckets had been made for Zhang Ping'an by the Style Lei two years ago; they were larger and deeper than ordinary wooden buckets, each capable of holding fifty or sixty catties of fish, and four of them fit perfectly in the bed of a tricycle.

The houses of the three Qin brothers were not far apart, and from a distance, one could see a group of people at Qin Dahu's place working away with great enthusiasm.

"We're having fish for lunch today, everyone put in some extra effort!"

"One, two, three, heave, ho!" The men, in groups of two or three, shouted slogans as they lifted stones to ram the ground; it was quite a lively scene.

"Brother Dabao."

"Ping'an, you all ride the cart inside; your sister-in-law is cooking right now."

"Third Uncle, I'm going to go tell my dad."

"Mm, that's fine."

Only then did Zhang Ping'an notice two figures, one tall and one short, in the corner of the courtyard facing the wall in penance; they were nine-year-old Qin Jingru and her fifteen-year-old second brother Qin Guodong, while Qin Dabao had another son serving in the military.

Perhaps hearing the commotion, the Qin siblings both secretly turned their heads to see who had come to the house, and Zhang Ping'an waved at them when he saw them look back.

"Come over here and greet him; this is your Zhang Shu."

"Zhang Shu."

"Zhang Shu? Are you the person who gave me an apple to eat before?"

"Hahaha, that's right, good memory."

As if performing a magic trick, Zhang Ping'an took two apples out of his satchel and handed them to the two; Qin Jingru's eyes lit up as the taste from the depths of her memory was awakened, but she still looked toward Qin Dabao.

"Go ahead and take them."