Chapter 163

The other team members also went all out at the end of the year, each submitting over ten jin of meat, eggs, fungi, and other supplies.

"Alright, as a department newly formed this year, it's already quite good that we can hold our own against the Second Section. As for me, the Section Chief, since you brothers have all worked hard for over half a year, I must show some appreciation."

"Let's have a get-together tonight. I'll provide the ingredients, and we'll have hot pot here."

"Oh, oh! Boss is awesome!"

"Boss is mighty!"

"Boss..."

Everyone was incredibly excited. Zhang Ping'an usually treated them well, occasionally handing out candies, melon seeds, or cigarettes to everyone.

Now, he was even treating them to a meal, and hot pot at that. What could be more satisfying than eating hot pot in the winter?

Their room already had two charcoal stoves for heating, which were perfect for setting up pots.

"Alright, alright, everyone keep your voices down. I'll go prepare the hot pot and ingredients. If you have nothing to do this afternoon, don't leave, but keep it low-key. Section Chief Xu, go borrow a stove from the Second Section this evening."

"Done."

Zhang Ping'an first went to the Pharmacy to tell Wang Xiaoling and his father-in-law about the department get-together that evening, then returned to pedal his tricycle, taking out three steaming pots of 'Overlord Separates the Chicken' to keep them frozen, and prepared some side dishes and a few braised snacks to go with the drinks.

In the evening, Zhang Ping'an left two packs of cigarettes at the Security Department and told them that the Procurement Section might be late returning due to the annual inventory.

"Done, Section Chief Zhang. Don't worry about the inventory; it just so happens I'm on duty today," Hu Tao said with a wink.

Hu Tao was the son of the Accountant, Tao Jing. Seeing him act like this, Zhang Ping'an figured Tao Jing had likely told him.

"Good, sorry for the trouble."

Returning to the Third Section, everyone had already consciously moved the tables to the side, with three stoves in the middle, and twelve stools placed around each stove.

"Five people come over and move the pots onto the stoves first, and bring in the ingredients too."

Inside the room, everyone was drooling as they looked at the frozen soft-shelled turtle shells and chicken chunks. They looked at the upcoming ingredients: tofu, cabbage, bean curd sheets, and vermicelli, all in very large quantities. There was also quite a bit of sliced meat, estimated to be around ten jin, and finally, the staple food: steamed buns made of two-part flour.

"Don't just stand there, let's start."

Zhang Ping'an didn't prepare alcohol; after all, drinking late at night easily leads to trouble, and if everyone finishes eating quickly, they can go home earlier.

Half an hour later, the pots were already bubbling and stewing.

"We were in a rush this time, so I didn't prepare alcohol. Let's drink when we get together next time. Alright, everyone don't be polite, start eating. Once the 'Overlord Separates the Chicken' is finished, we'll add more ingredients."

As Zhang Ping'an's voice fell, everyone picked up their lunchboxes and chopsticks and got busy.

"Whew~ so fragrant!"

"Yeah, I feel all warm inside after eating it."

"Boss, this meal must have cost you half a month's salary, right?"

"Yeah, this old turtle is at least five or six jin, and this rooster is even bigger, seven or eight jin at least, plus all that meat and side dishes."

"Ahem, as long as everyone eats well, it doesn't matter about the money. Money is just a bastard; if it's gone, we'll just earn more."

"Talking about money is too vulgar. Money is the easiest thing to get in this world. I rarely touch money; I have no interest in money. My happiest times were the days of fishing and hunting before."

"..."

Everyone had been busy eating, but they were suddenly shocked by Zhang Ping'an's pretentiousness, and the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Ahem, everyone eat, eat."

Zhang Ping'an also felt he had overdone it; why did he subconsciously use Teacher Ma's pretentious remarks?

"Right, right, eat, eat." Seeing everyone return to their lively state, Zhang Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief.

A meal without alcohol ends quickly. In less than an hour, everyone had finished eating, and the ingredients Zhang Ping'an brought were all cleared out, with only the soup base left in the pots.

Everyone didn't waste it, dividing up the oily soup base.

"Alright, it's getting late. Everyone clean up and go back. Be careful on the road."

Zhang Ping'an put the pots, bowls, and ladles into the tricycle, and everyone finished cleaning up before heading home to their respective families.

Of course, most of them lived in the Rolling Mill's collective dormitory, so going back was just a few steps.

Zhang Ping'an sent his mother-in-law to the Eighty-Fifth Courtyard and sent his uncle Zhang Laiyuan to his grandfather's courtyard, and on the way back, he put the pots, bowls, and ladles into his space.

Returning home, Wang Xiaoling had already coaxed the children to sleep and was quietly reading a medical book, waiting for him.

"You're back?"

"Yeah, I just sent my uncle back, and Mom is back too. I'm going to wash up; you stop reading too."

"Okay."

Zhang Ping'an slipped into his space, washed up briefly, and came out. Because the children were nearby, they had to call a truce. Before he knew it, Zhang Ping'an fell asleep holding his fragrant and soft wife.

In the blink of an eye, it was the afternoon of New Year's Eve. After leaving enough food for the two lynx, Zhang Ping'an pedaled the tricycle, which had a roof frame assembled, toward Zhang Family Village.

The carriage was lined with thick wheat straw and quilts. Wang Xiaoling held the two children and covered them with a quilt; although they didn't feel cold, it wasn't exactly warm either.

Zhang Ping'an's parents had long since prepared the meal and would look toward the gate from time to time.

"They're here, they're here!"

The gate opened, and Zhang Ping'an rode the tricycle directly into the courtyard. Zhang Laohan and Dong Dani immediately carried the two children into the house.

"My dear grandchild, are you frozen?"

"Grandma, I'm not cold."

The twins, Zhang Weijun and Zhang Weidong, were already a year and a half old. Except for breastfeeding in the beginning, they had mostly eaten Space Ingredients, so they had learned to talk and walk early.

"So well-behaved. Go to the kang and warm up first; your great-grandfather and great-grandmother are both in the room."

"Okay."

Zhang Ping'an was the eldest grandson of the eldest branch, and his grandparents had favored him since he was young; they loved his children even more than they loved him.

"Great-grandfather, great-grandmother!"

"Oh my, my dear grandchildren, you must be frozen. Come up and warm yourselves." After Zhang Dadan finished speaking, he carried the two children onto the kang.

Although Zhang Ping'an's grandparents were nearly eighty, they had long been drinking Space Water, so their bodies remained sturdy, with physical fitness equivalent to that of a sixty-year-old, so carrying a twenty-plus-jin child was still no problem.

Originally, I was going to spend the New Year at Third Uncle's house, but upon hearing that Zhang Ping'an's family was coming back, I decisively stayed home to wait.

Zhang Ping'an had just finished eating at home when Second Uncle and Second Aunt came over carrying air-dried Sichuan Province style sausages, and Third Uncle followed closely behind holding a cured pig leg.

"Ping'an, I know you love to eat this, so I had your Second Aunt make quite a bit more; take it back to eat after the New Year."

"That's right, Ping'an, this pig leg was specially smoked by your Third Aunt."

"Alright, thank you Second Aunt and Third Aunt, and thank you Second Uncle and Third Uncle."

Zhang Ping'an accepted them without standing on ceremony, but he also knew how difficult it was to hand-stuff sausages in this day and age.

Before Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Third Uncle, and Third Aunt went back, Zhang Ping'an gave each of them a tin of malted milk extract and some fruit snacks; they only accepted them after a long time of back-and-forth persuasion.

"Your Second Uncle and Third Uncle came to thank our family for the wheat seeds provided this year."

"Dad, did our family have a bumper harvest this year?"

During May and June, the factory was busy recruiting people, and Zhang Ping'an was also busy with the affairs of Procurement Section Three, so he didn't have time to come back.

"Hahaha, and how! In all my years, I have never seen such a high yield; the yield per mu exceeded three hundred jin."

"That's right, Ping'an, you don't know how shocked everyone was at the time. We kept enough wheat seeds for our family, exchanged the rest with your uncles and grand-uncles' families, and handed the surplus over to the village chief to handle. Next year, our whole village will be able to plant high-yield wheat."