Chapter 268: Setting Off for Xiangjiang 2.0

After coaxing Wang Xiaoling to sleep and wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, Zhang Ping'an, who had originally intended to make a trip to the Black Market, extinguished the thought.

"Sigh."

The night passed without incident; for once, Zhang Ping'an did not get up early for his morning exercises, but instead slept in while holding his fragrant, soft wife.

"Mm..."

"Awake?"

"Brother Ping'an, let's get up."

"Mm, alright."

For the next few days, as soon as Wang Xiaoling got off work, she would cling to Zhang Ping'an, terrified that her father might suddenly notify her that it was time to leave.

However, during this month, the Lou family did not announce a departure time; on this day, Zhang Ping'an found Tong Laosi.

"Laosi, I need a piece of high-quality jade stone; do you have any?"

"Uh, I only have finished products like jade pendants; would those work?"

"Forget it then, I'll go take a look in the Black Market."

"Wait a moment, Brother Divine Doctor, let me ask about those few pieces of raw jade stone Jin Ye has."

"Alright, sorry to trouble you; this is a small token of my appreciation." Zhang Ping'an handed over a two-tael bag of tea leaves.

"Fine, wait for me here for a moment."

"Good."

After Tong Laosi left, Zhang Ping'an did not remain idle; he activated his space to quickly scan the items in the Black Market, but unfortunately, it did not contain what he wanted.

Meanwhile, Tong Laosi returned to Jin Ye's residence and informed Jin Ye of Zhang Ping'an's request.

"Hmm... give him all those unopened stones; whether there's anything inside depends on his own luck. Also, tell him our approximate departure time; if he's interested, he can come directly."

Jin Ye still would not give up; he wanted to pull Zhang Ping'an onto his boat, after all, he had lived too comfortably this past year.

"Understood, Jin Ye."

Six raw stones of similar size were moved onto a flatbed cart by Tong Laosi and the others; the largest was the size of a basketball, and the small ones were about the size of a soccer ball.

"Brother Divine Doctor, these are the raw stones Jin Ye gifted you, though he isn't certain if there is any jade inside."

"Good, thank Jin Ye for me."

As soon as Zhang Ping'an scanned them with his space, he discovered that all six contained jade of varying sizes and qualities.

"Also, we will be departing at the end of December; Jin Ye still hopes Brother Divine Doctor can accompany us."

"My apologies, I have to return to Jilin Province at the end of January, and I will depart from there at that time. Here are two bags of tea; thank Jin Ye for me." Zhang Ping'an bluffed.

"Alright then." Tong Laosi was also quite regretful.

Loading four raw stones into a wicker basket and carrying one in each arm, Zhang Ping'an left under the shocked gazes of the group.

"This, Fourth Master, these six stones must weigh nearly three hundred jin, right?"

"Mm, Brother Divine Doctor really is full of hidden talents."

After entering the darkness, Zhang Ping'an stored the raw stones in his space, pulverized the outer stone skins, and used the power of his space to carve six thumb-sized jade gourds; he placed one Life-Saving Pill inside each hollow gourd.

These were life-saving pills he had refined based on the Yin-Yang Medical Arts, combined with the alchemy methods from the space he had originally obtained; as long as the person was not dead on the spot, taking the pill immediately would at least guarantee they would not die for seven days.

Finally, Zhang Ping'an strung the jade gourds together with red string, intending to give one to Wang Xiaoling and each of the children.

In late November, his master, Lao Wang, called Zhang Ping'an over and handed him the land deeds for his own home and his father-in-law's home.

"Ping'an, take these; if there is a chance to return in the future, you can give them back to us."

"Understood."

"Also, we will be departing at the end of the month; make arrangements for whoever you have as soon as possible."

"Alright, Master, I only have three people here." Zhang Ping'an then briefly introduced the identities of the three people to his master, Lao Wang.

"Fine, sigh, who knows if there will be a chance to return after this departure."

"There will be, Master; that day won't be too far off, and I will come to visit you all when I have time."

"Hahaha, good. The Lou family in Xiangjiang operates in jewelry and real estate, and they are also involved in Western medicine and ships."

"If you can really go to Xiangjiang, just look for Lou Jewelry, and you will naturally be able to find us then."

"Alright, Master, I've noted it."

"Mm."

On November 25th, his father-in-law "fell gravely ill," and his brother-in-law's family came back to visit; Wang Xiaoling knew the time to depart had arrived.

"Brother Ping'an..."

"It's alright, I said I would come to see you all within five years."

"Mm, you must come; you promised me."

"I will."

"Pinky swear."

"Pinky swear, a hundred years without change."

That night, Wang Xiaoling was exceptionally wild, as if she wanted to make up for the five years she was about to lose with Zhang Ping'an.

Zhang Ping'an's parents knew the in-laws were ill and even went to visit them specifically; they didn't think there was anything wrong with Wang Xiaoling taking the children over to visit their grandfather.

At Qian Dahu's house.

"On the 28th, Dahu, Xiaohu, pack your things. And Second Brother, have a safe journey; I won't be coming over these next few days. This is some food I've prepared for you all for the road."

"Understood, Master, we can finally set off."

"Ping'an, take care."

Jia Youwei knew that the departure of his wife's family would certainly affect Zhang Ping'an, though the problem shouldn't be too big.

"Mm."

In the blink of an eye, it was already the early morning of the 20th; Zhang Ping'an followed the family closely in the darkness until they met up with the Lou family, watching the car depart.

Since he was already there, Zhang Ping'an rummaged through Lou Bancheng's house again; there were indeed quite a few antiques left behind, but they were all worthless items, so Zhang Ping'an did not touch them.

This time, Lou Bancheng had prepared very thoroughly; apart from a few bottles of red wine, the basement was basically cleared out.

Zhang Ping'an did not understand red wine anyway; it was just a string of letters, seemingly French, so Zhang Ping'an packed them up and took them away, then quietly returned home.

As for the remnants of the old regime who had offended him before, since Zhang Ping'an already knew their approximate departure time, he would certainly have to go and collect some interest when the time came.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an went to work as usual and did not return until he got off work in the evening.

"Big Brother, why didn't Weijun and the others come to school today?"

"They are probably taking care of their grandfather."

"Oh."

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an's small courtyard was surrounded by Public Security; the one leading them was Li Aiguo, who was looking at Zhang Ping'an with a complex expression.

The people in the courtyard were also startled, not understanding why the Public Security would surround Zhang Ping'an's house.

"Li, Officer Li, what is the situation?" Zhang Ping'an had originally wanted to address him as Li Ge, but seeing that the dozen or so Public Security officers he knew all had serious expressions, he also put away his smile, though he still pretended to be completely bewildered.

To be honest, Zhang Ping'an had not expected such a big commotion, with them directly surrounding his house.

"Ping'an, Uncle, Aunt, you all sit to the side first; the others, go in and search."

Zhang Ping'an had long since stored everything beyond his capabilities into his space; the basement contained mostly cured meat and Medicinal Wine.

"No, Little Li, what is the situation?"

"Captain, there is nothing here."

"Withdraw the team. Uncle, Aunt, don't go far today. Ping'an, you come with us for a trip."

"No, Little Li, Ping'an he..."

"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, it's fine. They probably made a mistake. I'll go and be right back, don't worry."

After Zhang Ping'an was taken away, the courtyard exploded with chatter, but everyone was completely bewildered, not knowing what had happened.

Lao Jia thought of how much the Factory Director valued Zhang Ping'an, so he didn't even care about eating and went straight to the factory.

At the Xicheng Branch Bureau, inside the interrogation room, Zhang Ping'an was facing interrogation from his former colleagues, but Zhang Ping'an claimed ignorance to everything.

Wang Weiguo naturally learned of everything, and he immediately arranged for his son, Wang Zhiyong, to completely sever the relationship between Zhang Ping'an and Qian Dahu.

"This brat, I still have to clean up his mess."