Chapter 130: The Marriages of the Nephews

"Hee hee hee, thank you, Uncle Zhang."

"Hehehe, go play."

The two of them giggled as they took the apples to the kitchen to share their joy with their mother.

"Brother Dabao, I think Jingru and Guodong are doing quite well, aren't they?" Zhang Ping'an handed over a cigarette.

"Sss-hoo~ Ping'an, don't even mention it. Jingru is mischievous, and Guodong covers for her. I don't know whether to call them siblings with a deep bond or..."

"Hahaha, Brother Dabao, you have to guide them."

"How do I guide them?"

"I heard from Dongxu that even though Jingru skips class, her grades are still good. That means she isn't stupid; on the contrary, she's very smart. You can motivate them."

"For example, if she gets first in her grade, buy her something delicious, or take her into the city to play, or support her in whatever she wants to do."

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

Before long, Jia Dongxu also returned, and he inexplicably laughed out loud at the dinner table.

"Dongxu, are you alright?"

"Cough, Uncle, I suddenly remembered that Jingru is a bit like you when you were a child..."

"Really? Uncle Zhang, you skipped class too?" Qin Jingru looked as if she had found a kindred spirit.

"..."

"You're wrong, Jingru. My uncle was just a bit mischievous when he was a child. He self-studied all the primary school knowledge by the age of thirteen. After he started school, he was always first in the school, and the same went for junior high. It was just that my maternal grandfather urged him to get married; otherwise, Uncle would at least be a Technical School Student."

"Cough, Dongxu, that's enough."

Although Jia Dongxu was telling the truth, he felt a bit uncomfortable being praised like this as the person involved.

"Uncle Zhang, is what Brother-in-law said true?"

"Mm, it's true. Since we were so similar when we were young, I believe you can also get first place if you study hard in the future." Zhang Ping'an was helpless and could only coax Qin Jingru into finishing this bowl of chicken soup first.

"Mm, I can do it too. Second Brother, eat quickly, we're going back to class in a bit."

"..." Qin Guodong.

The two of them finished their meal in a rush, grabbed their schoolbags, and ran off to school.

"They are still children after all."

"Ping'an, were you really that good at studying? You should have kept going."

"At the beginning, I was the only sprout left in the Zhang family, and I shouldered the heavy responsibility of carrying on the family line. Besides, for me, it's the same wherever I study."

"..."

For some reason, when Qin Dabao heard Zhang Ping'an's high-and-mighty words, he inexplicably wanted to beat him up.

After the meal, Zhang Ping'an left a few more packs of cigarettes for Qin Dabao, and he also dripped a few drops of Space Water into the water vat at home.

When watching the TV series, he had felt that Qin Jingru was quite a pity; limited by her household registration and vision, and also being schemed against, if she had studied hard, she might have really been able to change her fate.

"Dongxu, take two buckets of fish to the factory in a bit. I'll take the remaining six buckets back to the courtyard, and I'll hand in one more every few days."

"Alright, Uncle."

After Jia Dongxu left with the two buckets of fish, Zhang Ping'an sent the six buckets of fish back to his own small courtyard. He divided one drop of diluted Space Water into six parts and poured it into the buckets, which could at least ensure these fish wouldn't die for ten days or half a month.

"Jia Dongxu, fifty-three catties of fish; Zhang Ping'an, sixty catties of fish."

"That's right."

"Done."

The kitchen staff recorded the data and wrote two receipts for Jia Dongxu, who went directly to find Wu Qiang to cash them in.

"Not bad, not bad. You've already completed more than half of this week's task."

"Hehe, we got lucky."

Wu Qiang shook his head. He knew that both of them were hiding their true capabilities. Previously, each time was at least one or two hundred catties; he guessed they wanted to split it into multiple deliveries.

Zhang Ping'an subsequently went to return the tricycle. Seeing that it was still early, he went back to read medical books. Lao Wang was right; now that there were fewer opportunities for practice, if his theory wasn't solid, he shouldn't even think about making a living from this in the future.

At 6:30 in the evening, Zhang Ping'an first went to pick up Wang Xiaoling and take her home before going to the Clothing Shop.

"Uncle, why are you here?"

"I came to ask if you have a partner yet?"

San Jie Zhang Xiaohua hadn't had a chance to ask because she was busy today, and she was in a hurry to get home after work to cook for her husband, Lao Jia.

"Uncle, I..." Xiaochen was rarely embarrassed.

"Uncle, my Second Brother has one; it's Officer Cao from the Street Office."

"Oh? Xiaoqing, tell me about it."

"Second Brother and Officer Cao have been seeing each other for several months now, and even Jing has one."

"Xiaochen, Xiaojing, why didn't you tell your Eldest Sister and Second Sister?"

"Uncle..." Both of them found it a bit hard to speak.

"If there's anything, just say it directly. Is it a housing problem?"

Seeing that the two didn't make a sound, Zhang Ping'an knew what was going on. This was indeed a problem. After the Public-Private Partnership back then, the entire courtyard, except for the main rooms, was within the scope of the partnership.

Li Cheng and Li Ze's families had also moved into the Ear Room of the main house. Because it was a large two-courtyard compound, the Ear Room wasn't small either, and it was more than enough for a family of three or four to live in.

"How about this: there are currently two rooms empty in each of the West Wing Rooms. You should apply for them and see. One of you is a Private Manager and the other is an Accountant; there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Ping'an is right. If there's a need, my room can also be cleared out."

"Aunt."

"Fourth Sister, you don't need to move your room. Is Zhuangzhuang asleep?"

That's right, Fourth Sister had given birth to a child in April, a boy, and her current room had also become half a nursery.

"Mm, he played until he was tired and fell asleep on his own."

"There are only so many employees in the shop; if you occupy two rooms, the others won't have any objections, so the probability of it passing is very high, and Public Manager Zhao should also agree."

"Alright, then we'll try tomorrow."

"You all go back; I have something to discuss with your aunt."

"Si Jie, didn't your husband come to pick you up?"

"He's working overtime, and I told him I'd wait for him here; if he doesn't come by eight, I'll just sleep here."

"That's fine too. Si Jie, how are the partners of Li Chen and Li Jing?"

"I don't know about their personalities, but I have met them; they look quite average."

Zhang Ping'an nodded; he could roughly guess the reason. Li Chen and the others all came from the countryside, and while they might not show it on the surface when facing city girls, they were likely somewhat insecure inside. This was caused by their upbringing, and they could only adapt or change it themselves.

"Si Jie, have Xiaomei and Xiaoqing observe them more."

"Alright, I understand."

Zhang Ping'an had no other way; in fact, he was more inclined to have the two of them marry wives from the countryside, as he was afraid they wouldn't be able to handle girls from the city.

The ancestors were right about social standing being important; two people who grew up in different environments, with different experiences and even different worldviews, coming together is hard to sustain unless you have the ability to accommodate upward, though of course, those with cheats are the exception.

Zhang Ping'an returned home, and Wang Xiaoling had already prepared the meal: simple white porridge, small pickled vegetables, and scrambled eggs.

The next morning at work, Li Chen and Li Jing went to find Public Manager Zhao Fangyuan.

"Uncle Zhao, we would like to apply for housing to get married."

"Li Chen, it's with that Zeng girl from the Street Office, right? Uncle will give you a heads-up: that girl's parents are both Workers, they might not necessarily look favorably upon you, and that girl's job will most likely be left to her younger brother in the future."

"I... don't care about those things, as long as Ceng Lifen can live a good life with me in the future."

"Fine, I agree in principle."

Zhao Fangyuan shook his head and said no more; the family of Ceng Lifen lived in the same courtyard as him, and they were a notorious presence in the Siheyuan.

The Zeng family had seven people, three of whom were Workers, and the two youngest sons were spoiled to the heavens; at thirteen or fourteen years old, not only did they bully other children all day, but they were also constantly stealing, feeling a bit like Bang Geng from the show, and the people in the courtyard absolutely detested this family.