Chapter 173: Purchasing in Zhang Village

The father and son parted ways at the intersection; Zhang Ping'an stored most of the pork into his space while in the alley, leaving two hind legs to be handed over.

Upon returning home, he took out ten jin of pork produced in his space.

"Mother, let's make some Braised Pork tonight; let's taste the pig we raised ourselves."

"Alright."

In the evening, when everyone got off work, Zhang Ping'an carried ten eggs to Liu Dapang's place.

"Uncle Zhang, are you looking for my father? He is inside the room."

"Yes, how is Guangtian's studying lately?"

"Heh, although my studies aren't as good as my older brother's now, I am at an above-average level in class."

Liu Guangtian became spirited as soon as he mentioned this; after all, as someone everyone considered a poor student, he had made huge progress and was now even in junior high school.

"Impressive." Zhang Ping'an praised him sincerely; he hadn't expected this kid to have such great perseverance and to have actually stuck with it.

"Alright, stop bragging, hurry up and go take your dump; Ping'an, come in and talk."

"Ah, right."

Liu Guangtian ran off while clutching his buttocks; he had been too busy showing off and had forgotten he needed to take a dump. Reminded by his father, he realized that the stool was already starting to poke out.

"Brother Liu, Sister-in-law, I really envy you two; the children are all so promising now, especially Guangqi. He's graduating from Technical School next year, right?"

"Hahaha, that's right, that's right, my Guangqi is..." Liu Haizhong also bragged without restraint, though Liu Guangqi was indeed impressive—the first Technical School Student in the courtyard.

"By the way, Ping'an, what did you come to see me about?" Liu Haizhong stopped after bragging for ten minutes or so, still feeling unfulfilled.

"This time, I'm here to trouble Brother Liu to forge two more Butcher Knives for me."

"Is that all? Alright, you'll have them in these two days."

"Good, many thanks, Brother Liu. I'll be heading back first."

"Hey, hey, come over to sit often when you have time." Liu Haizhong felt that Zhang Ping'an was the only one in this courtyard who understood him; not only did he never come empty-handed, but he also said things that were pleasant to hear.

"Hehe, alright."

After Zhang Ping'an left, Lao Liu's wife counted the eggs.

"The head of the house, ten eggs, ten yuan, and half a box of this... what is it, cigarettes?"

The ten yuan was for the cost of materials, though there was certainly a small surplus; the eggs and the cigarettes were considered the fee for asking someone for a favor, as one couldn't let Liu Dapang work for nothing.

"Hmm, hiss—hoo—still gotta be cigarettes; Brother Ping'an is a solid man." Liu Haizhong was extremely satisfied in his heart and decided to forge one extra for Zhang Ping'an.

"Boil six eggs tomorrow to send to the eldest, and we'll have one each for the remaining four."

"Okay."

Wang Cuihua agreed; ever since Lao Liu stopped hitting the children, the children had also become more motivated. Now, life at home was getting better and better, and the atmosphere was also improving, unlike the chaotic mess it was before.

At noon two days later, Liu Haizhong brought three cold, gleaming Butcher Knives to Zhang Ping'an's small courtyard. At this time, Zhang Ping'an was lying under the grape trellis basking in the sun, with a small stove nearby boiling tea.

"Ping'an, I forged three for you while I was at it; take a look." As he spoke, Liu Haizhong handed over the three Butcher Knives.

"Brother Liu is here, sit down quickly, drink some tea to warm up." Zhang Ping'an took the knives and poured a cup of tea for Liu Haizhong.

"Ah, good."

Liu Haizhong downed a mouthful of hot tea; his previously hazy eyes suddenly became much clearer, and his gaze grew wise.

"Ping'an, this tea..." Liu Haizhong scratched his head, feeling his scalp very itchy, as if his brain was about to grow.

"Wild Tea, I discovered it in the deep mountains while hunting occasionally, and I roasted it myself." Zhang Ping'an refilled his cup.

"Oh, oh, good, good tea."

Liu Haizhong didn't know anything about tea; usually, the most he drank was High-end Tea Dust, the kind where you had to spit out the tea leaves after drinking. However, this tea was different from High-end Tea Dust; drinking it really made his mind much clearer.

"If it's good tea, drink more." Zhang Ping'an didn't mind.

"Alright."

Thus, Liu Haizhong was in no rush to leave and began to savor the tea slowly. Watching Zhang Ping'an read, he couldn't help but think about some forging knowledge in his own mind; he hadn't expected that things which were usually confusing and blurry would suddenly become clear at this moment.

"Ping'an, it's getting late, I have to go back to work." At this moment, Liu Haizhong couldn't wait to go back and verify it.

"Alright, Brother Liu, take it slow on the road."

"Good."

As soon as Liu Haizhong returned to the Rolling Mill, he headed straight to the workshop and swung his small hammer. After a while, he picked up his tools to measure, and his fat face couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Master, what are you so happy about?"

"Ahem, nothing, I just figured out some key techniques. Call your fellow apprentices over in a bit; I'll teach you all."

"You got it."

Three days later, Zhang Ping'an returned to his hometown again. At this time, there was half a month left until the New Year. Zhang Ping'an didn't go home and went straight to the village head, Zhang Laiyou's house.

"Uncle Laiyou, have a smoke."

"Hmm, good. Ping'an, you came just in time. After I helped you shout it out, quite a few people have come to ask; I'm afraid there will be a thousand or two thousand jin."

"That's good. I'm not afraid of having too much, only of not having enough. Uncle Laiyou, then I'll wait at home; please have everyone send the meat over."

"That's fine, I'll use the loudspeaker to notify everyone."

Zhang Ping'an returned home and first released a Wolf. This time, over a thousand jin of goods couldn't possibly be hauled away in one trip by a tricycle, and if stored at home, there was no guarantee someone wouldn't have bad intentions; this Wolf could deter a large group of people.

Zhang Ping'an tied the Gray Wolf not far from the front gate, while he himself set up the scales and filled his satchel with money.

Not ten minutes after the village head's loudspeaker notification, quite a few people arrived at Zhang Ping'an's door, but upon seeing the wolf, they all bypassed it in fear.

"Ping'an, is this a wolf?..."

"Second Uncle, it's fine, this is a wolf-dog, it's very obedient. Go, go lie down further away." Upon hearing this, the Gray Wolf wagged its tail and moved away from the entrance, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Second Uncle, I'll weigh it, you help me record it."

"I'd better be the one to weigh it; I'm not very good at writing." Second Uncle scratched his head in embarrassment.

"That works too."

"Zhang Laiwen, 130 jin; Zhang Laiwu, 123 jin; Zhang Laiyou, 120 jin; Zhang Lai..."

Zhang Ping'an recorded the numbers quickly, calculated the total payment, and settled it on the spot; soon, the doorway was piled high with pork.

"Whew~ Ping'an, how many jin in total?" After working for over two hours, everything was finally weighed.

"1,983 jin."

"Whoa, that's quite a lot. Are you going to make one delivery first, or what's the plan?"

"That works. I'll make one trip first."

Zhang Ping'an checked his watch; it was only 10:30. His tricycle was modified, so carrying 1,300 to 1,400 jin was no problem.

"Done."

The three of them loaded the meat into sacks, stopping once they had loaded about 1,200 jin.

"Drive slowly on the way back, Ping'an. Take the Wolf with you, too; your third uncle and I are here."

Zhang Laiwen had just seen Zhang Ping'an cut a piece of meat for that Wolf; although it was called a wolf-dog, those glowing green eyes were no different from a wolf's.

"Mm, that works. Second Uncle, you and Third Uncle can just cook lunch at my place; the kitchen has everything."

"Sure." The two men didn't decline.

Zhang Ping'an covered the tricycle with straw and tied it down, then unhitched the dog's leash before setting off toward Sijiucheng. Of course, he didn't actually intend to make the round trip; once he was far from Zhang Family Village, he took the person, the tricycle, and the dog into his space, ate and drank his fill, and only started heading back once he calculated that enough time had passed.

At 2:00 PM, when Zhang Ping'an arrived home, three more families had delivered over 300 jin of pork. He handed out cigarettes to the three families, settled the payments, and the uncle and his two nephews began packing and loading the tricycle again.

"Second Uncle, Third Uncle, here is 300 yuan. If anyone else brings meat over, accept it; I will come back again before the end of the year."

"Done."

After seeing his two uncles off, Zhang Ping'an locked the door and returned to Sijiucheng.