Chapter 225: The Eldest Uncle's Home

"Brother Ping'an, it's so beautiful here. When we get old, how about we come here to retire?"

"Hahaha, sure." The mountains and rivers here are clear and beautiful; if one doesn't consider the remote location, it could indeed serve as a future place for retirement.

"Let's go, I'll take you to the river to pick Jade. I picked quite a lot back in the day."

Zhang Ping'an had sown the most grass seeds here, and being close to a water source, the pasture here grew exceptionally lush.

"Okay."

"Just stay by the river, be careful, and don't step into the water."

"Mm, okay."

The two followed the river course heading north, walking and stopping along the way. Zhang Ping'an collected quite a bit more Jade. Whether these Jade stones had washed down with the water or originated elsewhere, he didn't know, but after being scavenged by Zhang Ping'an a few years ago, there were many more now.

"Brother Ping'an, come quickly! There's a bright yellow piece of Jade in the water, it's so pretty."

"Let me see."

Zhang Ping'an walked over and took a look; it really was. Even in the water, that oily, lustrous sheen was still obvious.

"This might be Chicken Oil Yellow. You wait, I'll fish it out for you." Zhang Ping'an grabbed the reins for leverage and reached one hand into the riverbed to pull out the yellow Jade.

"So pretty."

Although it was only the size of a grass-fed chicken egg, it shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight, bright and clear, very close to the yellow of a dragon robe.

"Mm, it's not worth much right now. Keep it as a dowry for our daughter; I have a feeling this will be worth a lot of money in the future."

Although Zhang Ping'an didn't know much about this stuff, it felt like Chicken Oil Yellow, and the color was very pure. In his past life, these were valued at ten thousand per gram. This piece was easily ten or twenty grams.

"Okay, Brother Ping'an, you keep it. I'm afraid I'll lose it."

"Alright." Zhang Ping'an tucked it directly into his pocket; he didn't dare put it in the Space, fearing it might get absorbed.

This piece of Jade ignited Wang Xiaoling's enthusiasm, and the two continued searching along the way. In any case, Zhang Ping'an threw everything that looked like Jade into the Space Pond.

"Xiao Ling, it's getting late, let's head back. We still have to go to the eldest uncle's and second uncle's places tomorrow."

"Mm, okay."

At this moment, Wang Xiaoling's pockets were full of stones similar to Jade, and Zhang Ping'an had also symbolically tucked away a few pieces.

"Xiao Ling, what are you carrying in your pockets? They're bulging."

"Hehe, it's all Jade. Brother Ping'an said it might be worth a lot of money in the future."

"It really is true that 'people who aren't of the same family don't enter the same house.' Last time Ping'an came, he also picked up quite a lot. These stones aren't worth anything here; they're basically everywhere near the riverbed."

"Grandpa, you can collect more when you have time. Who knows, maybe they'll be valuable later."

"Alright, I'll pick up a few when I'm out walking the horses."

In Grandpa's view, these were all just stones, found everywhere on the riverbank, unless it was green, oily jadeite, which would be worth a little money.

In the evening, Lamb Soup paired with baked naan was also delightful. Zhang Ping'an found that he almost couldn't get enough of the delicacies in Beijiang; it seemed he really should consider retiring here in the future.

"Brother Ping'an, it's past eight o'clock in the evening here and there's still light in the sky. Back in Sijiucheng, we would have already gone to bed by now."

"That's right. The long daylight hours here are what make this a land of melons and fruits. A lot of the fruit we eat in Sijiucheng is shipped out from here. We happen to be going to town to have a good look around tomorrow."

"Mm, okay."

The night passed without incident. Zhang Ping'an woke up a little after six. He didn't call Wang Xiaoling or his parents; they didn't have his constitution, so it was better to let them rest well.

After rubbing his face, Zhang Ping'an got up to stretch and exercise. It was still pitch black outside; it would probably be another hour or more before dawn.

After seven, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, Grandma got up. Seeing Zhang Ping'an exercising, she hurried to wash up and make breakfast; she couldn't let her precious grandson go hungry.

Zhang Ping'an also heard the movement and knew Grandma was up. He finished his practice, slipped into the Space to wash up, and went to help.

"Grandma, I'll help you. I'm very skilled at rolling out dough wrappers now."

"Good, good, good."

Zhang Ping'an took the rolling pin and started working the dough pieces. Very quickly, round bun wrappers that were thin on the edges and thick in the middle were ready.

"How's this, Grandma?"

"Mm, not bad, not bad. It seems you haven't done little of this work at home."

"Hehe, Grandma, how do you season this filling? Teach me too, so that when I go back and miss you, I can make buns with Grandma's flavor myself."

"Sure, what's there to it? You just do this, then do that, and it's done."

"Got it, I've remembered."

Before long, Grandpa, his parents, and his wife were all up. After washing up, they came over to make buns. Once Zhang Ping'an finished rolling the wrappers, he went to tend the fire.

"Ping'an, Xiao Ling, go call the children to get up and eat."

"Got it."

"Wanqiu, Weijun, Weidong, Weiping, Weibing, Xile, hurry up and get up to eat! The sun is already hitting your bottoms, and we have to go to your great-uncle's house in a while."

The children now basically slept until they woke up naturally. Zhang Ping'an planned to start training them appropriately when they turned ten.

"Hurry up, don't keep your grandparents and great-grandparents waiting."

Wang Xiaoling's face turned stern and her voice became serious. The five children quickly got up and dressed. Zhang Ping'an quietly gave her a thumbs-up.

It was nearly nine o'clock after breakfast. His parents divided part of the Sijiucheng specialties they had brought into two packages, locked the door, and then the whole family set off with two horses and a carriage.

They weren't in a hurry to travel, enjoying the scenery along the way. It was nearly eleven o'clock when they arrived at the eldest uncle's courtyard.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Eldest Aunt, Eldest Uncle, Cousin Ping'an, Cousin-in-law, Cousin Xile, eldest nephews and nieces."

"Jianwu."

"Cousin." (x3)

"Weidong, this is your second cousin-uncle, hurry and greet him."

"Hello, Second Cousin-uncle." (x5)

"Mm, very well-behaved. Cousin, you have five children all at once, more than Cousin."

"Then why don't you hurry up and have some?" Grandpa glared, and Dong Jianguo wilted.

"Yes, yes, yes, Grandpa, Grandma, everyone, please come in quickly. My mother and sister-in-law are already cooking. My father won't be home until twelve o'clock, and my second uncle and little aunt will be here around the same time."

"Mm, work is important, no rush."

Hearing the commotion, the eldest aunt and second aunt inside the house also put down what they were holding and came out to welcome them.

"Quick, quick, quick, everyone come in and sit down first."

Zhang Ping'an began to look over the courtyard of his eldest uncle's house; it was a bit smaller than his grandfather's house, and the Front Courtyard was not large either, but it had plenty of the fruit trees that should be there.

It seems that in this day and age, every household in Beijiang has a residential plot of no less than two mu, allowing a whole big family to live together; this is about as large as a Sijin Siheyuan in Sijiucheng.

"Cousin, come, let me take you to the Back Courtyard to pick some fruit. Xiaoxiao, take your cousin and younger cousin to play."

"Okay, Dad." Xiaoxiao, Dong Xiaoxiao, Dong Jianwu's youngest daughter, is nine years old this year.

Just like at his grandmother's house, there were mulberries and strawberries; at this time, only these two were ripe.

"Cousin, let me tell you, if you had come in July or August, our family would have had plenty of fruit."

"Mm, I ate until I was stuffed at Grandmother's house in previous years."

"Ah, right, you came over before you were married; I forgot," Dong Jianwu said with an awkward smile.

At that time, he was working and would only go to his grandfather's house to gather with Zhang Ping'an and the others on his days off; only Dong Jianguo from his second uncle's family was the closest with Zhang Ping'an.

"It's normal; we haven't seen each other for some years."

"That's right, seven or eight years, right? I have to say, your job is really good, being able to travel all over the country. I heard from my father that you are now at the Deputy Division Level?"

"Deputy Division Level? A division chief?"

"Ah? Doesn't that mean you're at the same rank as my father?"

"Hahaha, just joking. The rank is indeed Deputy Division Level, but it's all about serving the people; it's the same."