Chapter 246: Director Zhang

Tong Siye had already witnessed Zhang Ping'an's prowess, so naturally, he would no longer act arrogant and let others call him Fourth Brother.

"Fine, Lao Si."

After sending Zhang Ping'an back to the main road, Tong Laosi returned to the residence, but Zhang Ping'an clearly sensed four people following him behind.

"Fine, fine, fine, so that's how you want to play."

Zhang Ping'an flashed onto a wall at the entrance of a hutong and lay quietly, waiting for the four to follow, and then Zhang Ping'an memorized their faces.

After the four searched the surroundings to no avail, they went back to report, and this time it was Zhang Ping'an's turn to follow them.

Sure enough, they returned to Jin Ye's residence, and the four shook their heads upon returning to the main room.

"Sir, we lost him."

"Lao Guan, you are simply acting recklessly. How dare you do things you aren't sure about? That Divine Doctor's martial arts are definitely not weak; you had better pray he didn't discover who it was."

"Jin Ye, weren't we just trying to probe that person's background?" the tall, thin man called Lao Guan said awkwardly.

"That's right, Jin Ye, we didn't have any malicious intent."

"Heh, things that could have been solved peacefully with money, you insist on taking the crooked path. All of you, go back."

Jin Ye was truly exhausted; if you dare to play tricks on a Divine Doctor, you wouldn't even know how you died.

The four looked at each other awkwardly and silently took their people back.

Hidden in the shadows, Zhang Ping'an saw the four who had just followed him standing behind the Guan, Na, Fu, and Lang families respectively; they separated at the entrance of the hutong.

Zhang Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then decided to follow one family first, and follow the others one by one in the coming days; once he figured out their residences, he would teach them how to behave.

Early the next morning, Zhang Ping'an brought ten packs of medicine, went through the process for Lao Jin first, and only then decocted the medicine for them one by one.

Jin Ye at least knew that treating an illness required money, so Zhang Ping'an didn't intend to make things difficult for him; as for those eight who only thought about getting a free ride, he would have to make them bleed a little later.

Only after the eight finished drinking the Decoction did they realize why the two people's expressions were so exaggerated yesterday; their bodies felt warm and incredibly comfortable, as if they had returned to their mother's embrace in childhood.

After they finished drinking the medicine one by one, Zhang Ping'an spoke slowly.

"Yesterday, which one of you followed me?"

"I thought we could have a spirit of contract; you pay money and I treat the illness, it's that simple, yet you actually followed me."

The main room went quiet upon hearing Zhang Ping'an's words, followed by silence, and finally, Jin Ye spoke.

"Divine Doctor brother, I was unaware of this matter, and I didn't expect them to do that in private. How about this, let their consultation fees double as an apology to you; what do you think?"

Seeing that Zhang Ping'an could bring the matter up directly, Jin Ye let out a long sigh of relief; since it had been brought up, there must be conditions—just add money.

"Fine, I'll give Jin elder brother face. I don't hope for a next time, otherwise, I might add something to your Decoction and you wouldn't even know."

"Of course, since this has already happened and you are willing to pay, I naturally won't do anything that damages medical ethics."

"I am a very easy person to talk to. Lao Si and Jin elder brother should be able to feel that. We have been cooperating for three years, and there hasn't been any unpleasantness in between. I just want to earn enough money so I can go out and enjoy life; wouldn't it be nice for everyone to live in peace?"

"Yes, yes, yes, what Divine Doctor brother says is reasonable. Since we did wrong, we must accept the punishment; it mustn't affect our relationship."

"It won't. Jin elder brother, rest assured. Since I've brought this up, I don't intend to hold it against you anymore. Alright, it's getting late, I'll head back first."

It was still Tong Laosi who collected the consultation fees and handed them to Zhang Ping'an, sending him out of the residence.

This time there was truly no one behind him, but Zhang Ping'an doubled back to follow another family. Just like that, for four consecutive days, Zhang Ping'an figured out the residences of all four families. Once he found a suitable opportunity, he would take away the antiques and gold they were going to gift him.

It was nearly four o'clock when Zhang Ping'an snuck back home, and entering the room woke up the sleeping Wang Xiaoling.

"Ping'an brother, where have you been?"

"Went to earn our retirement money. Look." Zhang Ping'an casually pulled out two Big Yellow Fish.

"Ah, hurry and put them away. My family had gold bars when I was little, and my dad even let me stack them to play house. You can't show them off now."

"Mm, then I'll put them in the iron box where you keep your money."

"Mm, good."

"Since you're awake and it's almost dawn, why don't we do some morning exercises?"

"No, you haven't slept all night, you'd better hurry and get some sleep."

Wang Xiaoling was no longer the naive girl she once was; she and Zhang Ping'an were almost of one mind, so she naturally understood his meaning.

However, she still hugged him affectionately and told him to hurry and sleep to rest. Seeing this, Zhang Ping'an gave up, and before he knew it, he fell asleep smelling the milky scent.

Zhang Ping'an worked for three more consecutive early mornings before he repaired five or six tenths of their kidneys, and at the same time, he sold each of them ten bottles of Medicine Liquid at the price of five hundred taels of gold.

Jin Ye saw it all but didn't say a word, knowing that Zhang Ping'an was punishing them; this price was twice his own.

Zhang Ping'an had a good impression of Jin Ye, so he was happy and gave him two extra days of acupuncture, although he charged for it too.

Time flew by, and it was quietly September; Weidong and Weijun officially became elementary school students.

On this day, Zhang Ping'an was slacking off in his office when he was called to the Factory Director's office by a phone call from Li Huaide.

"Ping'an, Factory Director Nie wants you to take over the logistics work ahead of schedule. What do you think?" Zhang Ping'an was one of his own, so Li Huaide didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

Zhang Ping'an understood after a little thought; the pigs at the pig farm would see a new breakthrough at the end of the year, and this Factory Director Nie was trying to secure some political achievements for his nephew.

Nie Haiquan and Li Huaide had a good personal relationship, and he would probably retire next year, at which point Li Huaide would definitely take over. Zhang Ping'an didn't care about this bit of political achievement, so why not do him a favor?

"Factory Director, I listen to you, I have no objections."

"Hahaha, good. Originally you were supposed to be after New Year's Day, but an early promotion is good for you too. Next, I'll leave it to Old Nie and me to handle; at the latest, one month."

"Very well, Factory Director."

Zhang Ping'an had been working since 1950, twelve years until now; being promoted from a small soldier to a Department Chief could only be described as standard.

However, strictly speaking, Zhang Ping'an only became a Deputy Section Chief in 1955; seven years to go from Deputy Section Chief to Department Chief could barely be considered an exceptional promotion.

"Mm, go get busy."

"Um, Factory Director, should I send something to Factory Director Nie?" After all, he was letting him become a Department Chief ahead of schedule, so the necessary gifts still had to be given.

"Mm... sending something is fine. Bring it over, and I'll give it to him for you. You are in a sensitive period right now, it's not appropriate to wander around; stay at the pig farm and settle down for a month."

"Alright."

After handing the tea leaves and Medicinal Wine to Li Huaide, Zhang Ping'an began to work honestly, working diligently every day and clocking in and out on time.

"What's wrong, Dad?" While eating, Zhang Ping'an saw his father looking at him with a strange expression.

"Don't you usually run off early? Why have you been so well-behaved these past few days?"

"Ahem, don't talk nonsense, I have always clocked in and out on time."

"Heh heh~"

"Brother Ping'an, is it because someone from above is coming to inspect?"

"Mm, something like that; you'll know in a month."

"So mysterious."

None of the family had ever worked in officialdom, so naturally they didn't understand; if Jia Dongxu had heard Zhang Ping'an say this, he would certainly have understood that his uncle was about to get a promotion and a raise.

In October, Zhang Ping'an was transferred back to the Rolling Mill, and the news that he would be serving as Logistics Director was posted on the display board.