Chapter 155

When Zhang Ping'an arrived at the Zhengyang Gate East City Branch, Li Baoguo and the others were already waiting at the entrance; clearly, Li Aiguo had tipped them off.

"Li, Chief Li."

"Hehe, Ping'an, has it been half a year that you've become so formal? Call me Uncle Li."

The few people behind Li Baoguo felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing Li Baoguo say this. It seemed the boss had a very close relationship with this young comrade, and they all silently memorized Zhang Ping'an's appearance.

"Alright, Uncle Li, this is the Wild Boar I hunted..."

"Done. Liu, take it to the canteen to be weighed. Ping'an, come with me to the office."

"Alright."

In the office, the two sat down as host and guest.

"Ping'an, thank you for still thinking of your Uncle Li. I won't say anything else; your uncle remembers it. Here are two sets of clothes, for you and your wife. They should both fit."

"Alright, Uncle Li, then I won't stand on ceremony."

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

"Chief Li, the wild boar is two hundred and eighty-two jin in total. Here is the money."

"Mm, put it down and go back to work."

"Yes."

"I heard you killed a few highwaymen. How do you feel?"

"Don't mention it, Uncle Li. I threw up right then and there, and I even threw away my Long and Short Spears." Zhang Ping'an did not want to use these Long and Short Spears stained with human blood to stab prey in the future.

Fortunately, all the supplies had been put into his space in time that day. At the Police Station, the only things reported were the harvest from Fang Family Village, aside from the two hundred-plus jin of meat from Fang Dahu.

"Hahaha, that's very normal. It's about the same for everyone the first time. But in the future, if you encounter such things, you must run at the first opportunity. Safety first."

"Mm, I know. But Uncle Li, please don't tell my second uncle and the others about this. My family still doesn't know."

"Done."

The two chatted about family matters for a bit longer before Zhang Ping'an took his leave. It was only when Li Baoguo returned to his office that he discovered a package had appeared on the spot where Zhang Ping'an had been sitting. He opened it to find two packs of tea, two bottles of Medicinal Wine, and an instruction manual.

"Heh, this kid."

Zhang Ping'an was also in a rather beautiful mood. He hadn't expected extra gains from these two trips; not bad, not bad, he hadn't made the trips in vain.

Humming a little tune along the way, he arrived at the Small Tavern without realizing it. Zhang Ping'an was surprised to see Cai Quanwu there, and Cai Quanwu looked up and saw Zhang Ping'an as well.

"Ping'an, why did you run over here?"

"Oh, I have an acquaintance over here, so I came over to stroll around. Brother Cai, why are you here?"

"Cough, well, my wife is over here, so I came to deliver some food."

"Ah?"

"How come I didn't hear Brother He mention it?"

"We didn't hold any wedding banquet. Getting the certificate and living our own little life is better than anything."

"Mm, that's true. Who is your wife?" Zhang Ping'an really hadn't expected Cai Quanwu to be so fast; he had already gotten the certificate.

"It's the Private Manager of this Small Tavern, Xu Huizhen. I'll introduce you when I have the chance. I'm in a hurry to get back to the Rolling Mill now."

"Done, let's go together. I'm heading back too."

"That would be great, we can keep each other company on the way, hahaha."

Returning to the Rolling Mill, Zhang Ping'an parted ways with Cai Quanwu. As usual, he handed over ten skinned wild rabbits. Today, Tiezhu and the others had actually come over as well, also with ten air-dried wild rabbits.

"Tiezhu, you guys come eat at my place today."

"No thanks, Brother Ping'an, we haven't eaten at the canteen yet."

"Then fine, I won't go back either. Let's eat at the canteen together; it's cooked by the Master Worker in our courtyard."

The four of them took their lunch boxes and went to line up early. It had to be the Master Worker cooking; originally, He Daqing, his son, and Cai Quanwu were all in the same canteen, but as a result, almost no one went to eat at the other Second Canteen. The leaders had no choice but to transfer Shazhu over, and only then did things become balanced on both sides.

Shazhu thus became the Squad Leader of the Second Canteen, shouldering the burden of the entire Second Canteen, and his salary increased by two yuan.

Today happened to be He Daqing's shift, and even the ordinary stewed tofu was made with extra flavor, not to mention the cabbage stewed with meat.

"Delicious, delicious."

All four of them were wolfing down three or four Steamed Buns made of two types of flour each.

"Satisfying! Tiezhu, we have to come here often in the future."

"Yeah, it's much better than at home."

"Hehe, next time you come, I'll take you to the Second Canteen to try the Sichuan Cuisine. It's spicy and numbing, and goes great with rice."

"You got it."

After finishing lunch, Zhang Tiezhu and the others returned to their hometown. There was nothing to do in the afternoon, and with only a few days left before the New Year, Zhang Ping'an planned to prepare some New Year food for his family.

Chicken, duck, fish, meat, seafood, and soft-shelled turtle were a must. He happened to have coupons for pastries, so a trip to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative would take care of that. Firecrackers were also indispensable, and he would get three to five jin of each type of fruit.

Zhang Ping'an ducked into an alley, rummaged through his space, put all the prepared items into a tricycle, and covered them up before heading home.

Zhang Laohan was still watching people play chess, his younger brother had followed San Jie to the shop, and his mother was at home with the children making small clothes for the twins. Hearing the commotion and seeing Zhang Ping'an with another cart of New Year goods, she spoke.

"Didn't your father and I already bring chicken, duck, and meat over? Why did you buy so much more?"

"It's all seafood, fruit, and firecrackers. I'll buy the pastries a bit later."

"You, which family dares to eat like this for the New Year? When I was little, I didn't have as much as you have now."

Zhang Ping'an's maternal grandfather had been a Regimental Officer in the Kuomintang, so it was no surprise that his life was good and his mother had eaten such things when she was young.

"Doesn't that just make up for the regrets of your childhood?"

Dong Dani felt both gratified and pained. She shook her head and returned to the room to continue her clothing-making enterprise.

Zhang Ping'an went out again. He hadn't carefully looked at the coupons the four big shots had given him, but they were mostly coupons for non-staple food.

"Comrade, look at how much I can buy with these pastry coupons." Zhang Ping'an handed a small portion of the coupons to the Salesperson.

The woman looked up, her eyes lighting up when she saw the military overcoat on Zhang Ping'an, and she hurriedly took the ration coupons.

"Young man, wait a moment, I'll pack it up for you right away."

"Alright, thank you for the trouble."

"All set, young man. It comes to thirteen yuan and six jiao in total. By the way, young man, do you have a partner? My daughter just turned eighteen this year~"

"Ahem, comrade, I already have children. Here is the money." Zhang Ping'an counted out the money, took the package, and left.

"What a pity."

The middle-aged woman looked regretful; it was hard to come across a handsome young man with a good job, yet he was already married.

Zhang Ping'an went to three more Supply and Marketing Cooperatives before he finished using the ration coupons in his hand, and almost every middle-aged Salesperson at the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives would ask, "Young man, are you married?"

In this day and age, if you are good-looking and have a good job, enthusiastic Salespeople will really go out of their way to push their own daughters or their relatives' daughters on you.

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Ping'an and his family of four went to his father-in-law's house to deliver gifts, and incidentally delivered the New Year's gifts for his master as well.

In the evening, Zhang Ping'an also brought some tea, Medicinal Wine, and Honey to Li Huaide. At this time, Xu Lijuan had become increasingly thin, and her figure's curves were showing. Although her face could not be called very beautiful, it was above average. He wondered if Huaide would still mess around in the future.

"Ping'an, take these things back to eat. I heard from Li that you were injured before. Take these, take all of these."

Zhang Ping'an could be said to have given her a second life. In the past, because Xu Lijuan's body had slow digestion and absorption, she also suffered from constipation and bad breath, and she didn't smell good either; Li Huaide had rarely touched her since they had children.

However, Xu Lijuan could understand; she even disliked herself, let alone others. Now it was better, and her whole person was brand new. She felt as if the whole world around her had come alive.

Therefore, Xu Lijuan would not be stingy with any gifts. After packing two large bags for Zhang Ping'an, she was still shoving more into his hands.

"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, that's enough, that's enough. I won't be able to carry any more. Li Ge, hurry and persuade your wife."

"Hahaha, Ping'an, just take whatever your sister-in-law gives you."