Chapter 133: 1955

For over half a year, Zhang Ping'an and Jia Dongxu have maintained their monthly income from surrendered goods at around 500,000, excluding their wages; naturally, Wu Qiang is likely the only one in the Procurement Section who knows this.

With the children on vacation, the parents and grandparents are all home now, and since the doors aren't locked, Zhang Ping'an's small courtyard has become lively, with a dozen or so children playing inside every day.

"Ping'an is a king of children wherever he goes."

"Indeed, the children all like Ping'an, which shows that our dear grandson is well-liked," the two elders said, sparing no praise for their grandson.

On the morning of the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Ping'an and Wang Xiaoling went to the Eighty-five Courtyard with cigarettes, alcohol, candy, tea, and meat.

"Oh my, why did you make this trip in such freezing weather? Especially you, Xiao Ling, you must not be careless now that you're pregnant."

"Mother, I know. Ping'an Ge is with me wherever I go, so it's fine."

"You girl, then stay and eat at home at noon."

"Alright."

Wang Xiaoling's brother, Wang Jianjun, doesn't usually come back unless there's something important, and he is even busier during the New Year; fortunately, Wang Xiaoling didn't marry far away, so she can come over anytime to keep her mother company and relieve her boredom.

After finishing lunch, Zhang Ping'an took Wang Xiaoling back to the Pharmacy, as he also had to make a show of surrendering some supplies.

At the Pharmacy, Wang Lao treated everyone very well before the Public-Private Partnership; now that everyone knows Wang Xiaoling is pregnant, they scramble to do her work so she doesn't have to lift a finger, so Zhang Ping'an isn't worried about her getting tired.

Zhang Ping'an surrendered ten wild rabbits and was preparing to leave when he was stopped by Zhu Weiguo.

"Ahem, Ping'an, could you hunt two wild boars? The factory needs to distribute employee benefits, and the fat pigs obtained for the construction aren't enough."

"Section Chief, where am I supposed to hunt wild boars for you right before the New Year? If you had told me three or five days earlier, I could have prepared, but it's likely too late now. I can provide more rabbits every day, though."

"Fine, then get more rabbits."

Zhu Weiguo didn't force the issue; he knew that hunting wasn't a matter of a day or two, especially since it was still winter.

The main issue was that four large fat pigs had been reserved with the Meat Processing Plant, but two were snatched up by other factories; otherwise, there would have been enough to go around, and the originally planned two taels of pork per person had to be reduced to one.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an walked into the Police Station carrying several packages.

"Li Ge, this is two five-jin portions of fresh meat, plus some tea and alcohol for you and Li Shu."

"Haha, good. Ping'an, do you have any extra meat? Our Sub-bureau really has nothing decent to give everyone for the New Year."

"Li Ge, to be honest, I did hunt two wild boars, but there's only about three hundred jin of meat left, and I can only spare you half at most."

"That's enough, that's enough."

There are about two hundred people in the Sub-bureau now, so each person can get about half a jin, which is already much better than other sub-bureaus.

"Alright then, I'll bring it over for you in a while."

"Hahaha, good."

Zhang Ping'an turned and left; half an hour later, he returned carrying one hundred and fifty jin of pure meat, and the eyes of the on-duty Public Security officers lit up when they saw it.

"Ping'an, here is 1,200,000. If you have anything you need in the future, just come find Li Ge; I'll definitely handle it for you properly."

"You got it."

"Screech—" A harsh sound of jeep brakes came.

"Ping'an, you can't just consider Wang Shu's Sub-bureau; Li Shu here is also short on meat."

"Ahem, that was all Bureau Chief Wang showing off; I didn't say anything."

"..."

"How could that be? Li Shu, I was just about to send that hundred-plus jin of pork over to you."

"Haha, is that so? Then go get it now; I happened to drive here today, so I'll take it back on the way."

"Done."

Since he had made the decision, Zhang Ping'an didn't shirk; besides, this meat was for the Public Security comrades fighting on the front lines.

Zhang Ping'an found an empty alley, released one hundred and fifty jin of meat and three wild rabbits, and dawdled for quite a while before returning to the Sub-bureau.

"Li Shu, here is one hundred and fifty jin of meat and three wild rabbits."

"Good, good, good. Here is 1,200,000, plus some cigarettes, snacks, and canned goods; take them all."

"This... alright."

After Li Baoguo left, Wang Weiguo walked out with an embarrassed look on his face.

"That, Ping'an, here are also some cigarettes, snacks, and canned goods; take them back to eat. Don't worry, from now on, your uncle will definitely keep his mouth shut."

It would be a wonder if Zhang Ping'an believed him; what's the fun in getting something good if you don't show it off to your comrades?

"Done." Zhang Ping'an took the items, walked to a secluded spot to store everything in his space, and brought out thirty more rabbits before heading to the Rolling Mill to deliver the goods.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad." Zhu Weiguo was very satisfied; rabbit meat was still meat, and although it wasn't as fatty as pork, it was enough to answer to Director Li.

After surrendering the wild rabbits, Zhang Ping'an didn't linger, but just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Secretary Liu.

"Team Leader Zhang, Director Li would like to see you."

"Oh, alright. Secretary Liu, you should just call me Xiao Zhang."

"Haha, done. Then you don't have to call me Secretary Liu either; I'm a few years older than you, so call me Liu Ge."

"Done, I'll call you Liu Ge in private."

"Good."

"Director, Team Leader Zhang is here."

"Hmm, you go get busy. Ping'an, come sit."

"Alright, Director. I originally wanted to bring you some tea and Tiger Bone Wine, but with the New Year approaching, there are too many people and gossip in the factory."

"Hahaha, good. Ping'an, actually, the reason I called you over this time is also for the wine and tea. I'm going to my father-in-law's place tomorrow, and he already has everything else, so I wanted to give him something different."

"Done, Director, I understand. I'll prepare it and send it to your house later."

"Good, Ping'an, you've done me a huge favor. Take this money and cigarettes; I can't let you suffer a loss. My house is on the top floor of our Rolling Mill's Family Building."

"Director, I'll take the cigarettes, but the money..."

"Eh~ you bought these with your own money, just take it," Li Huaide waved his hand, signaling Zhang Ping'an to accept it.

"This... well, alright then."

"That's more like it." Seeing Zhang Ping'an accept it, Li Huaide's stern, aged face finally broke into a smile.

"Then, Director, I'll head back first to get things ready."

"Mm, go on, go on."

Zhang Ping'an walked out of Li Huaide's office, and Secretary Liu also saw the strip-shaped objects in the black cloth bag in Zhang Ping'an's hand, unable to help but click his tongue; people usually gave gifts to their superiors, so how did it end up the other way around?

Li Huaide was also generous, giving two cartons of China cigarettes and two million in cash directly.

After leaving the Rolling Mill, Zhang Ping'an prepared some Tiger Bone Wine, homemade tea leaves, snacks, and meat, then went to his master's house.

"Ping'an, just bring some tea leaves in the future; your master and I can't finish anything more than that."

"Mistress, if you can't finish it, just share it with the families of my two senior fellow apprentices."

"Alright, alright, alright, stay and eat at home at noon."

"Sure, I've been craving Mistress's Braised Pork for a long time."

"If you want to eat it in the future, just come over, and Mistress will make it for you."

The old lady usually didn't have much to do, spending her time gossiping with the wives of the two senior fellow apprentices or visiting her two sons' homes.

Zhang Ping'an went to the Pharmacy in the front to take a look and found it bustling with activity, with mostly women bringing their small children in for colds and fevers.

"Xiao Ling, take a break, I'll handle the medicine dispensing."

Because Wang Xiaoling was carrying twins, her pregnancy was already clearly visible at four months; Zhang Ping'an watched her bustling about and was truly worried she might bump her belly.

"Brother Ping'an."

"Ping'an, come over and give us a hand."

"Alright, Xiao Ling, you go sit on the side."

"Mm, okay."

Zhang Ping'an had practiced dispensing medicine at the Pharmacy before; one could say his eyes were the ruler and his hands were the scale, so he took the prescription and dispensed the medicine with a flurry of movements, and the queue of people visibly decreased.