Chapter 162: Year-End

Just like that, Zhang Ping'an spent half a month tossing about, scouring all four known large Black Markets, yet he still hadn't gathered enough cattle, horses, sheep, and donkeys to fill even half a mountain.

In the past, because the space was too small, he basically kept two pairs for breeding and slaughtered the rest to store; now, it was the opposite—he couldn't even get his hands on live ones when he wanted them.

Zhang Ping'an prepared to go into the deep mountains to take a look; there should be wild goats like rock sheep or antelopes on the mountains near Sijiucheng, otherwise Dahu wouldn't have brought him one every time.

However, Zhang Ping'an didn't intend to find Dahu this time, but rather to see Sanhu; he seemed to have only visited once since he released Sanhu.

With a plan in mind, Zhang Ping'an prepared to go to the Back Mountain of Qin Family Village; if it didn't work out this time, he would take Sanhu into the space.

Speaking of Shazhu, with the pointers from Foolish Mao, the changes in him at the cafeteria were enormous.

Including He Yuzhu, there were four people in the Second Canteen cooking large-batch meals: Liu Dahai, Wang Daniu, and Qian Dali. Now, when he cooked, he would give pointers to the other three chefs, and he had also integrated well with everyone in the Second Canteen.

"Master, what's going on with you?"

Ma Hua and Pangzi felt that Shazhu was going to take the three large-batch chefs as apprentices, and they immediately felt a sense of crisis; regardless of anything else, those men had decades of culinary experience, far better than the two of them, the novices.

"What do you mean, what's going on?"

"I see you teaching the three masters how to stir-fry."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Then when can we get some hands-on practice?"

"You two? Finish practicing your chopping first."

However, Shazhu also realized that these two were afraid he wouldn't take them on as apprentices.

"The three masters are limited by never having had systematic training. Me helping them is for the sake of improving the flavor of our cafeteria's food; I have no other intentions. You two just cooperate well with the three masters and practice your chopping."

"Oh, oh, okay."

Everyone saw the changes in Shazhu; even when he got married, his father He Daqing hadn't been this excited.

Originally, when they were in the same cafeteria, he could still suppress him, but ever since Shazhu was transferred to the Second Canteen, he acted as if he were the most important person in the world, offending all his colleagues with his decent cooking skills without even realizing it. In the past two years, He Daqing had spent plenty of time cleaning up his messes.

Now, seeing the support the Second Canteen staff had for Shazhu, He Daqing was deeply gratified. He finally felt that his son had grown up, and his own efforts had finally paid off.

The Cafeteria Director naturally knew about this; he had been rebuffed by Shazhu when he asked him to cook a dish before, so he ran to the Second Canteen, half-disbelieving, to see if it was true.

"Director Ma, what wind blew you here? Come, come, have a cigarette."

"You are He Yuzhu?"

"Ahem, Director, look at what you're saying. I was a bit stubborn before, but I've thought it through now. I've offended you plenty in the past, please don't take it to heart. From now on, whenever you need anything, Director, I will never refuse."

"Hahaha, good! This is what a good comrade serving the people should be like." Ma Guozhong then patted Shazhu on the shoulder with satisfaction and turned to leave.

"Foolish Mao's method is actually quite useful," Shazhu muttered to himself.

He could feel the change in everyone's attitude these days; if they had been following orders before, now they were supporting him, their Squad Leader, more from the heart.

Especially the three large-batch chefs; they had definitely been unhappy at first about being suppressed by a young punk, especially since he had taken the position that should have been theirs.

Now they were convinced; Shazhu's chef rank was not only higher than theirs, but he was now willing to guide them in their techniques, which was equivalent to being half a master—how could they not be convinced?

Zhang Ping'an had already arrived at the Back Mountain of Qin Family Village by this time. Taking advantage of the morning mist, he released the Huangmao Eagle and plunged deep into the Taihang mountain range.

"Roar!"

Half an hour later, a tiger's roar sounded in front of Zhang Ping'an. It was naturally Sanhu, who had come after receiving the notification from the Huangmao Eagle. Perhaps because he blamed Zhang Ping'an for feeding him too little, this guy's build was a bit smaller than Dahu and Erhu's, but it was still not something a North China tiger could compare to.

"Eat."

Zhang Ping'an didn't dawdle; he released a large basin of Space Water and threw down some skinned wild rabbits for Sanhu.

After Sanhu had his fill, Zhang Ping'an caught a wild goat in the space and released it.

"Are there any of these nearby?"

"Roar."

Sanhu took a step and looked back three times, signaling Zhang Ping'an to follow, while the wild goat was so scared it collapsed; Zhang Ping'an threw it back into the space.

Zhang Ping'an was afraid that catching all the wild goats would affect the ecological balance. Now, every few miles, he would release a litter of wild rabbits, at least enough to provide the carnivores in the mountains with a sufficient food source so they wouldn't go down the mountain to wreak havoc on the villages.

As Sanhu went deeper, Zhang Ping'an felt the altitude must have reached a thousand meters. He saw more animals, too—Siberian roe deer and antelopes. Zhang Ping'an didn't let any of them go, collecting them all into the space; at worst, he could release a few back later when the space had more.

Not bad, not bad: twenty-five Siberian roe deer, thirty-five antelopes, and he also conveniently collected a family of Wild Boar.

Zhang Ping'an also released seventy or eighty litters of rabbits, at least three or four hundred in total; this way, it wouldn't disrupt the ecological balance and would also keep the carnivores fed.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a tiger the size of a wolfhound darted out, but it was directly pinned down by Sanhu with a single paw. Zhang Ping'an also conveniently collected it into the space and threw it onto the mountain.

"Sanhu, is that your child?"

"Roar."

Usually, male tigers wouldn't participate in raising offspring, but the tigers from the space had slightly higher intelligence and would hunt for the female tigers to nurture their own offspring.

"Then forget it."

Zhang Ping'an threw the little tiger back out; he had originally intended to raise it in the space for a few months and then kill it for its bones and tiger whip.

"Roar," Sanhu let out a roar, and the tiger cub ran off.

Zhang Ping'an used the space to carve a water trough into a giant rock, filled it with water, and instructed Sanhu to be a good guardian before he went down the mountain and left.

This trip could be considered a success; in a year, one of the mountains in his space would be filled by these wild goats. As for the others, he would have to wait until he went to Jilin Province or the Beijiang and Nanjiang regions.

Time passed unknowingly to the end of the year, and it was once again the busiest time for the Procurement Section. Zhang Ping'an basically sat in the Third Section, only going out a few times a month, but the tasks he handed in never fell short, although most were things like wild rabbits and pheasants.

This day, Zhang Ping'an looked through the procurement records and found that everyone was just barely completing their tasks. Compared to the Second Section, although their Third Section had completed their tasks, the total volume was quite a bit less than theirs.

"Section Chief Xu, can we get a few fat pigs by the end of the year?"

"We can, under three pigs shouldn't be a problem."

"Done. I also have to go hunt two Wild Boar to bolster our Third Section's standing; after all, this is the first New Year since we were established."

As for whether it would make Wu Qiang uncomfortable, that didn't exist; Wu Qiang was just there to make up the numbers anyway, and besides, their Second Section's overall strength was not to be underestimated.

"That would be great. With five pigs as a base, we'll definitely be able to show our faces to the leaders."

As for Dahu and his uncle Zhang Laiyuan, Zhang Ping'an didn't set tasks for them, but as the team leaders who had passed the assessment, they would certainly lead by example. There was also another team leader named Huang Daniu, who was also a hunter by trade.

On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Ping'an had finished all his visits and delivered all the gifts he needed to, including a Wild Boar for each of the two Sub-bureaus.

Li Huaide remained generous, packing two large bags of various items for Zhang Ping'an again, and the two Sub-bureaus each gifted one overcoat to Zhang Ping'an's father and mother respectively.

Zhang Ping'an had secured three Wild Boars for the Rolling Mill, but he had one credited to the Second Section under Jia Dongxu; after all, his nephew was now a Deputy Section Chief and needed to set an example for everyone in the Second Section.

The three team leaders, including Uncle Zhang Laiyuan, seemed to have discussed it beforehand, as each of them turned in half a carcass of a large Wild Boar.