Chapter 219: Returning Home

As soon as Zhang Ping'an entered the courtyard, the children playing inside rushed toward him.

"Daddy, you're finally back!"

"Hahaha, did you miss Daddy?"

"Mm, we did."

"Let's go, let's head inside first; you all must be cold." After soothing the excited children, he took their hands and led them into the house.

"Great-grandpa, Great-grandma, Grandma, Daddy is back!"

"Good, good, good. Stop jumping around, you're making Great-grandpa dizzy. Ping'an, I heard from the eldest that you were commended again, eh?"

"I think so? I just got back, so I'm not sure."

Grandma and his mother also came out from the workshop.

"My good grandson, how many days are you resting this time?"

"Two days, why, Grandma?"

"Your grandfather and I want to go back and take a look."

"Alright, tomorrow is a rest day too, so we'll all go back and take a look."

It was now mid-March, and the weather wasn't too cold; Zhang Ping'an could just stop by on the way to collect Dahu into his space.

"Good, good."

Zhang Ping'an went to the basement to pick out a piece of venison, took some dried shrimp and shrimp meat, and planned to make rice, braised venison, egg and dried shrimp soup, and stir-fried shrimp meat for lunch, plus a few oysters to replenish zinc and stock up the ammunition depot in advance.

"Eat slowly, everyone." Watching the children wolfing down their food, Zhang Ping'an felt a great sense of satisfaction.

"Grandpa, let's have a drink."

"Good, good."

A bite of venison and a sip of wine—it couldn't be more satisfying.

In the evening, Zhang Ping'an went to the Pharmacy to pick up Wang Xiaoling after work, and brought two bags of tea along to visit his master.

"Master, reading?"

"Mm, back from your business trip?" Lao Wang was in the room reading a medical book and asked without lifting his head.

"Mm, I brought you two bags of tea."

"Not bad, this is acceptable. Go on, don't be an eyesore here in front of an old man like me; Xiao Ling will be off work soon too." Lao Wang finally put down the book in his hand.

"Hehe, alright, I'll come back to see you and Grandma another day."

"Mm." Lao Wang looked at Zhang Ping'an's retreating back and sighed imperceptibly.

Zhang Ping'an walked into the Pharmacy from the back, and Wang Xiaoling, who was concentrating on filling prescriptions, had no idea.

"Yo, Junior Brother, you're back from your business trip?"

Hearing Wang Chang'an's words, Wang Xiaoling knew it was Zhang Ping'an who had arrived. She hurriedly finished filling the prescription and turned around; the surprise bursting from her eyes was such that if there hadn't been others around, she would have thrown herself into Zhang Ping'an's arms without hesitation.

"Yo, yo, yo, Ping'an, Xiao Ling, you two better hurry home. If you stay any longer, I feel like I won't even need to eat dinner."

"Hahaha, alright. Senior Brother, thank you for your hard work. Xiao Ling, let's go home."

"Mm!"

Once they stepped out of the Pharmacy, Wang Xiaoling grabbed Zhang Ping'an and buried her head in his chest.

"Brother Ping'an, I missed you."

"I missed you too. Let's go, let's head home first." Zhang Ping'an patted her back.

"Mm."

When they got home, the seafood porridge was almost done simmering; they just needed to stir-fry two simple dishes and wait for Zhang Laohan to return before they could eat.

At eight o'clock, full and satisfied, it was time to wash up and stretch their limbs. The six children were taken away by their parents and grandparents to be put to sleep.

"Phew~" The great battle ended at nine o'clock, and Zhang Ping'an fell into a beautiful sleep while holding his wife, who was as white as glowing jade.

At one o'clock in the morning, Zhang Ping'an went to another Black Market, where grain prices still showed no signs of falling.

After scanning the woods next to the Scar Black Market and finding no one, Zhang Ping'an released one hundred thousand catties of potatoes, one hundred thousand catties of corn cobs, ten large Wild Boars, and one thousand molting Wild Rabbits.

"Go call your Brother Daoba over."

"You got it, Brother." The guard was a sharp one; although Zhang Ping'an's appearance was different every time he came, his voice hadn't changed.

"Brother, you're finally here."

"What, sold out already?"

"No matter how much I have, it's never enough to sell."

"True. Let's go, there's quite a lot of cargo this time. Bring more people, otherwise I'm afraid you won't finish hauling it by daybreak."

"Good, good, good. Brother, wait for me a moment, I'll gather some men."

"Done."

Daoba hurriedly told his underlings to gather men, while he went into the room to make a phone call.

"Squad Leader, he's here. Big cargo, at least ten carts."

"Oh? I'll be there immediately."

"Good."

Ten flatbed carts and twenty underlings were already prepared.

"Let's go, Brother."

Five minutes later, at the edge of the small woods.

"Hiss~"

"No way, Brother, just how much is this?" Daoba looked at the small hill and couldn't help but grit his teeth.

"Two hundred thousand catties of grain, plus some Wild Boars and Wild Rabbits. Hurry up and settle the account, I have other things to do."

"Alright, alright, alright, brothers, leave half the meat, hurry up and weigh it."

"You got it, Brother Daoba."

"Brother Zhang Ping'an, how much for these corn cobs?"

"The same, twenty-five cents each." Anyway, cornmeal is ground up with the corn cobs included; as for corn flour, that's a different price.

"Good, good, fifty thousand for the grain, seven thousand three hundred for the meat, see if that's correct." Daoba quickly organized the stacks of banknotes.

"Mm, I'm pulling out."

Zhang Ping'an could already hear the roar of a truck, and all the way, he used Space Water to erase his tracks, quickly disappearing into the dark night.

"My goodness, Daoba, how much grain is here?"

"One hundred thousand catties each of potatoes and corn cobs, plus five Wild Boar."

"Keep thirty thousand of the potatoes, I'm taking all the rest."

"Fine." Anyway, he didn't have a machine to grind the corn cobs, so it was better to let him take it all away.

The next morning at nine o'clock, the father and son of the Zhang family had their two tricycles packed and ready to go; laughter filled the journey, and they arrived at the village entrance CBD at ten-thirty.

Since they hadn't seen each other for a long time, it was inevitable they would chat for a while; Zhang Ping'an also handed out cigarettes to the elders and youngsters, and a piece of candy to each woman and child.

Returning home at eleven, he tidied up a bit and prepared for lunch.

"Uncle, Aunt, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, you're back."

"Oh, it's Laiyou, sit, have a cigarette."

"Our production brigade owes a lot to your Ping'an; otherwise, who knows how many fewer people we'd have." Zhang Laiyou was also filled with emotion.

"And my Lao Er, he wouldn't have become a team leader without Ping'an."

"Heh, when it comes down to it, we're all of the same lineage; if I can help, I certainly will."

Meanwhile, Zhang Ping'an was already deep in the Back Mountain; he first gave Dahu a spa, then collected all the sweet potatoes and simply cleaned up the cabin in the woods.

He also pruned the Tea Tree; the original tea branches had grown as tall as him, with twigs everywhere. Zhang Ping'an took all the pruned branches and planted them as cuttings, watering them with Space Water; in the future, this area might develop into a Tea Plantation.

"You all must guard this Tea Plantation well." The animals that were originally guarding it had also developed into small groups.

Zhang Ping'an poured Space Water into the stone trough again, and after all the animals had their fill, he refilled it. Now, these animals had also broken their own shackles, and their lifespans would be at least twenty years starting out.

"Dahu, I'm leaving."

"Roar!" The space was once again in a state of chaos.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Zhang Ping'an thought for a moment, released a Wild Boar, killed it, drained the blood, and began to gut it.

Afterward, he made a simple sled and dragged the Wild Boar back, because he saw the attitude of his grandparents, who wanted to live in their old home for a while; this half of the pork would be enough for them to eat for several months.

"Uncle Laiyou, you're just in time; I caught a Wild Boar, take half back to the brigade in a moment."

"This..."

"Laiyou, follow the rules."

"Alright, I'll listen to Uncle Dadan."

"Dad, is this a Wild Boar?"

"Hehe, that's right, is my daughter scared?"

"I'm not scared," Zhang Wanqiu said, then shrank behind Zhang Ping'an.

"Hahaha, let Grandpa take you to find your little uncle to play; Dad has to get to work." The dissection was a bit bloody, and he didn't want his daughter to see it.

"Oh, okay."

After his daughter walked away, Zhang Ping'an's hands moved with the knife, and with a few quick motions, he finished cleaning it up; in the end, Zhang Laiyou took away the pig's head, a pair of front and hind legs, and the Big Bone.

"Let him be, Ping'an, your Uncle Laiyou also wants to thank you."